The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1868-01-22
The Governor. Message.

Probably the weakest document that
ever apologized for Governors mes
sayc.will be found in our columns to-day.
II is bundle Of balderdash and dema-
pogucry in every leading particular,
and its minor details are absolutely too
trashy to come from any other Execn-
tive but its author.
Its main design is to defend Governor
BoREMAN and his party from the
charges of bad government that have
been brought against them. The weight
of these charges is confessed by the la
bored effort a; their rsfutation, while
their force il in no way broken by any
thing that is said.
The PARTISAN policy that has imposed
military government on portion of
our Sta'e is upheld by the stale and
sonseless baLblc about lawlessnesS on
the part of the people who have been
outraged by that government. No un-
prcjudiced man will believe, in the face
of the facts, that civil lAw for just pur-
poses cannot be executed in any pOr-
tion of West Virginia.
In Wayne and Logan counties, for
example, there cannot he cited q
single case OF resistance TO the laws,
that faithful officers cOnld not control.
Indeed with but single exception, the
names. dates and localities have never
been given To show that anybody ever
so much as meditatcd resistance to the
laws i'll that region. The exception was
case of Jail delivery. 1t had its par
allsl in the similar occurrence at Nor
Santown, and troops might have been
sent into ionongala county with the
same propriety as into Wayne.
Generally, the talk about rebellion
has been of a very vague aud indetnits
character. Il lacks circumStantial ver-
ificatiOu, and for the simple reason,
that it cannot be verified. 1t is very
easy matter for interested parties to
convince the Governor who wants to be
convinced, and hence listens to but
che side, but il is not 80 easy to con-
vince the public, who want solid fact,
not partisan assertions.
Judged by its results, We contend
that the presence of troops in the
locality in question has been not only
unnecessary, but shameful outrage.
la that very region, a case is now pend
ing in which Union soldier, with
three honorable discharges, has sued
the Board of Registration for distran-
chising him. Similar acknowledgements
abound in that county. II this is the
fruit of bayonet rule, we should say that
it encouraged, rather than suppressed,
acts of lawless violence.
The same may be said of Barbour and
it's adjoining counties. The very man
wLO induced the Governor to send
troops TO that county, is now member
of the Legislature, by the disfran-
chisement OF several hundred men
whose names were stricken off through
the intervention of the military. Sup
pose the President of the Ohio county
Beard of Registration were to
desire to be elected to the
Legislature. And suppose he
were to notify five or six hundred
Democrats here to appear before him
with proof of their "loyalty," on pain of
Acknowledgement The result would
occasion degree of discomfort on the
parl of all parties, unequalled by any
thing yet witness I'd in Barbour. Would
that justify the interposition of the
bayoneti And Yet, while the people her e
would hardly submit 10 such wrongs,
the people of Barbour did and do sub
nit to the injustice done them, and that
with u forbaarance that is the best
proof Of their innocence of the Gov
ernor's charge. Were they to any ex-
tent the laNless people he declares
them, the now unprotected Registrars
who have disgrsced them could not re-
main in their midst. Nevertheless,
those officers pass to and fro through.
out the county without harm, and
without hindrance in any particular,
and the people have no idea of molest-
ing them.
The questions of taxation and cor
ruption are discussed by the message
in thoroughly partisan spirit. The high
taxes are attributed mainly to the Free
School system, and are claimed to have
been brought about by the people them
selves. At the same time, it is admit
ted that the State taxes due from large
portion of West Virginia have been re-
mitted, and, Of course, the deficiency
must have been made good by the "loy-
sl" portions of the State. In other
words, many counties have been rem