The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1867-01-28
An Act =. AheIi.h Elections.


Should the registration act now be-
fore the Legislature of West Virginia be
passed and enforced, the election to be
held by the citizens Of Wheeling to-day
will be the last election by the people
held within this State. The act in
question will effectually destroy elec-
tions and make all future voting
merely record aud give effect to the will
of the Governor Of the State. The Gov
ernor is to be the supreme dictator In
political affairs, and men will go
through the farce Of voting, and the
tax payers of the State will pay the eI-
penscs Of so-called election, merely
for the purpose Of giving effect to the
DEGREES of a despot. By the act now
under consideration, and which will
probably be passed by the super-ser-
Went Legislature in session in this city,
the elective franchise will DO taken
from every man in the State who does
believe in the superior wisdom and
craftsmanship Of \ FERGUSON or a
FARNswoRTH OF Q BOREMAN, and at
least ten thousand men who cast their
ballots in this State in 1864 will not be
permitted again to exercise the rights Of
freemen.
The first section Of the proposed act
provides that "The Governor Of this
State shall, on or before the first day Of
March in each year, appoint FIVE ft and
proper persons in each Of the counties
thereof, who shall constitute board Of
registration for said county" The ad-
jectives aft and proper" refer, ofcourse,
only to men whose mental, and moral,
and political delinquencies render them
eft and proper persons to perform the
dirty work contemplated by the sre-
mainder of the act. There is certain
fitness and propriety in the use of these
adjectives in this connection which
probably the author Of the bill never
dreamed of. The boards of registration
to be appointed by Governor BoRIMAN
will certainly be eft and proper" for
tho performance Of any work his
mightiness may suggest.
The fourth section Of the act pro-
vides that "the records Of the said
board shall have the same verify in oil
respects as the records of the circuit
courts of this State" and the fifteenth
section declares that "the board Of reg
istration shall have cole jsrisdiesioa "a
try and determine the right Of any per.
son to vote therein, under the constitu-
tion and laws Of this State, and theil
decision thereon shall be faaI, except in
cases of contested election before either
house Of the legislature" There 10 no
appeal. II this board composed Of five
"it and proper persons declares that
any man is not entitled to vote. that is
the end Of tho matter. The decision OF
the board is final and not even the Su.
preme Court Of the United States 10 to
be permitted to interfere with the do
ings of the eft and proper" per.
sons whom our immaculate Governor
may select as arbiters over the rights
of citizens Of this State. This board OF
registration is to be invested with dis
cretion equal, if not superior, to that Of
the Circuit Courts, and the dearest
right of the citizen 10 placed within
its absolute disposal. The ffth sec.
tion provides that the board Of regis
tratiOn shall, on the FIRST Monday in
April, 1867, "strike from the register
the names of all person who IN their
opiaios are not entitled to vote, and to
add thereto the names Of all persons
who IN their opinion are 50 entitled" )"
What sort of . registration this will be,
aud who will be entitled to vote, accord
ing 10 the opisios Of the registrars, is not
difficult to imagine. Our readers know
full wen what is the meaning Of and
what Interpretation win be given to
such clause in the Law.
But this is not AL. A II fearful that
the At and proper" persons whom the
Governor might sslset would not sase-
tually exclude from the registry Of 70
ssa sll Who would not consent IA b