The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1867-05-15

70 AA3G WAN AEuLEDGer
THE celebrated Jef Davis IS now at
large on tie Insignificant bail of $780,
90, and is at this writing a passenger
on board an ocean steamer en- route
from Richmond to New York and
Canada The nation will say that the
conclusion of all the fuss and high pre-
teaee that has been made about Jea
Davis and his trial for tres son has
reached at length a most lame and i'm
potent, not TO say extremely larcicaI
conclusion. Indeed, the end l. little
else, As they say in the play bills, than
a screaming farce" That be viii zvsr
be tried any further is GO: in tLs least
dezrse ProSah!s- Already hs has bzen
Ia enuEEsmsnt for two yeaEs, and ap-
PasznsIy the SGoyszu1au-," Whatever
that Wczd may mean IN suea con-
ne:tIon, Is a. Az from readi-
hess so= triaI As al the
Outset Wbsther the responsibility
rests ~i;h President Johnson or Chiei
Jaasiee Chase Is yes to be fully known.
The latter has given out as a reason for
not trying Davis that Virginia was and
Ia under martial law, and that therefore
civil trial il incompatible with the sit
uaiiou. On the other hand, it Is as
serted by at least one who claims 70
know something OF the real reasons
that operated upon the Chief Justice,
thatthe latter did not care to encoun.ez
the great latitude OF the points tina,
would be raised In the trial, which it is
alleged would involve, d6 iattio. the
fundamental theories of our form OF
Government, as, for instance, the ques-
ton OF a war begun by the spontaneous
action Of States, and participated in by
persons claiming allegiance to those
States. And as, for further instance,
the precedent OF our Revolution, and
the dogmas laid down in the Declara-
ton Of Independence, and our recog-
nitious Of several uprisings in other
countries agaiilst established govern
ments, as in the case OF Hungary, and
80 on throughout the whole chapter Of
our history and our legislation. 81
Whether these supposed embarass-
ments constitute the real reason IN the
Chief Justices mind for not presiding
at the trial OF Davis is of course a mere
matter of speculation, unsupported as
they are by any avowals from himself
knownt to the public. They are prob.
able enough, however, and we think
1t likely that they operated even If
they did not determine him against any
attempt to control or interfere with
Judge Underwood's proceedings. The
latter has therefore the exclusive honor.
be same more or less, of cutting the
Gordlan knot and freeing the great
elephant LEFT on our hands by the re-
belIion from the acknowledgements OF the
law and a divided and hesttatiug pub
lie opinion.
As the case stands, the whole political
status of the rebellion, in the eyes ofthe
world, remains In allegiance. History
will be short Of material wherewfth to
lind a finishing touch that shall be in
keeping with its enormities. II will be
an open question as to what sort Of a
thing the late Confederacy really was,
and what sort Of characters are to be
assigned to its responsible agents. AN.
apparently, that Is to be written is that
We passed through the most
gigantic civil war that the
world ever knew; that hundreds OF
Thousands of lives were loaf. that
hundreds Of millions Of money we're
spent; and that at last after waiting two
year, for a practical and unmistakable
verdict, the generation that had wit
messed, participated In, and suffered
the horrors Of the unparalleled STRUGGLE
were unable to agree upon finiins
and to relieve their embarrassment
give the representative chief of the
rebellion the traditional benefit Of a
doubt, and refused to shed a single drop
Of blood WhsreWith to seal their alb
stract condemnation of all that he at
tempted during four years Of fragrant
war against the life Of the nation. mi
HENRY B. CLAFkIE, Of New York.
whose income In 1855 Wns half a mil.
IJAFN VsnN1rvA. cog No. A.. q