The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1868-09-26
cases of impeachment. shall be by .

| be held to answer Tor q capital or otneF-
wise infamous crime, unless on pre-
sentiment or indictment of q grand jury,
except in cases arising-in the land or
naval forces, or in the militia, when in
actual service in time of war or public
danger; nor shall any person be subject
for the same offence to be twice put IN
jeopardy of life or limb /; nor
shall he be compelled in any GRIM
inal case to be q witness against
himself, nor be deprived Of life, lib
erty, or property, without due process
of law; nor shall private property be
taken for public use without just com
pensation."
The mode of trial is marked out as
follows: "The accused shall enjoy the
right to speedy and public trial by an
i'm partial jury; and to be informed oil
the nature and cause of the accusation ;
to be confronted with the witnesses
against him; to have compulsory pro-
cess for obtaining witness in his favor,
and TO have the assistance of counsel In
his defence" / shall not refer to any
other of the several checks to prevent
Legislation or Executive interference
with the rights and liberties of the
people, because this covers the whole
ground in these cases, and shows clearly
that neither the Executive, Legislation
crs nor any other officers whatever,
have so much as q shadow of authority
to hold any person or persons accounta-
lie for crimes in any other manner,
shape or form than by n jury. 1t
amounts to positive prohibition
against any such legislation; and
against all and every kind of legislative
interference with the lives, rights and
liberties or property Of the people. And
for that reason trial by jury has ever
been called "sacred privilege"-"The
main bulwark of liberty"-"The main
pillar in our temple of liberty" &c. &c:
Such were the phrases of the trainers OF
the Constitution, and they were not
alone. Therefore the enactments of
the test oath laws, registry laws, and
kindred measures are downright usur-
pations of the authority which belongs
exclusively to Courts and Juries. Twas
as strongly opposed to secession as any
person could be, from its beginning to
its end, but if had hated and despised
the rebels ten times worse than any other
person did or now does, should have
opposed those measures. The solemn
oath | had taken to support the Con-
stitution forbid me. If | had voted for
them it would have been, virtually,
voting for usurping the authority which
rightfully belongs to the Courts and
Juries, and thereby subverting and
tearing down this great bulwark of
nth - thn 1il,artN of 4 hons
ands of our citizens, which they could
only have been deprived of in the man
ner have stated without violating the
Constitution in this its most important
and vital part. If such course of leg
islation is to be continued the crash
may yet fall as heavy on the present
ruling party as it has on them. We
cannot foreSce futarc events; therefore,
/ think it the duty OF every friend OF
liberty and free government to look
back upon the history of the civil laws
of England, and the dreadful slaugh-
ters of their citizens which have grown
out of such legislation, Ito say nothing
of other nationS) which occurred
every time they have set aside
and subverted the right of trial
by jury since they first adopted it, which
was about six hundred and fifty years
ago. 1t is now difficult to judge of the
future. We have not SO much of the
freedom of elections as the people of
England now enjoy. The broad foun-
dation upon which the whole fabric of
orr republican liberty rests has become
so much shattered and torn that only n
portion of the voters are permitted to
Stand upon it. So that all the voters III
the State, in order to obtain permission
to cast their votes, are compelled to
leave and abandon the law which they
themselves have made to protect their
rights, aud have become dependent
upon boards of registration and their
deputies for permission to cast their
votes. Boards of Registration-a new
tangled name for boards of inquisition,
"ain't it ?" We are all at their mercy,
and dependent upon them for the priv
ilege of casting our votes, and from
their decision there is no appeal.
Oae of the ablest men of former times,
who had been member of the Congress
which declared the independence of
America, in a letter, written in 11oS,
after six of the States had ratified the
Constitution, with which ho was much
pleased, said, "The people will always
be the sovereigns Of their rulers, aud
hold all their rights in their own hands;
to hold them at the mercy of their ser
wants would be disgraceful to the dig
nity of freemen.' Ii he and the founders
of our Government were to visit the
people of West Virginia, what would he
or they think and say of our people!
How many grades lower would they
think and say we arc' Would they not
see that we are not only at the
mercy of our servants, but still a
few grades lower down; would they not
say that we are not only at the mercy of
them, but at the mercy of the appoin-
tees of our Governors chosen Boards of
InguisitIons, and their deputies. shall
not further attempt to foreshadow what
they would think or say, but leave it
to the cool and calm reflection of the
people, for them to consider and ponder
well; to take full view of the situa-
tion in which their most highly priced
rights as American citizens are placed,
and to determine whether they will
leave these sacred rights at the dispo-
sal of these Boards of Inquisition, or
place them under the safeguard of their
own law, as in old en- times.
DAN. RAYMOND.
An Electric Safety Lock.
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