The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1870-11-28
The Hungry Jacobins...What they
Want a Convention for. ~


Want a Convention for. ~
The motives Of tho hungry crew who
are now bowling for convention 10 tear
the Constitution to pieces is openly avow.
ed in the following extract from an article
in the LewiSburg journal. The hungry
patriot who edits that paper evidently
wants the shoes Of some officer whose
term runs longer than he likes 10 wait for
them:
We think should there be cOnven'
vention) that all the judgeShtpS in tho St1tt
should al. .0Re6 b. pacdted. The judges oil
West Virginia, both OF the Court Of Ap.
peals and Of the Circuit Courts, with per.
haps one or two exceptions, have secured
their respective positions against the will
OF an Overwhelming majority of the peo.
pie Of the State, and by practices which
will not bear scrutiny. They are either
the radical appointees Of u radical Gov.
Crnor, under u radical law passed to aid
in the peFpetuation Of radical power, or
they have secured their election in virtue
OF the registration act passed Tor the same
purpose. Certainly not more than one Of
the present judges could be elected, If all
persons entitled 10 vote under the
constitution, before the DISTINGUISHING
clause was inGerted In that instru.
ment, (IOr 1t was never GGlOpted) were re-
stored 10 the exercise of the elective fran
chise. To continue these men any longer
in the offices which they have obtained
by means so base, when we have the pow.
or to deposc them, would be an outrage
upon the people Of the State. There are
other constitutional reforms which con-
vcntion would, no doubt, make. There
are thousands Of officers under existing
laws, with whose services and whose Of
fees the State could prot1tably dispense;
but acc confess that one principal fedSoh for
u convention is that in this tcay Ire IrluNlOst
speedily obtain another judiciary.
They who advocated convention here
aboutsdo not stop with the Judiciary; for
those to be provided for are many and
the Judgcships arc lew. But they declare
they want a convention to vacate al the
offices in Tue Slate worth having, to turn
out the clerks, the sheriffs, the record
ers, &c, Sc, as well as the Judges, so
the hungry patriots, who think their op.
pOrtunity has come, may have speedy
chance at the spoils. If convention is
called this demand for spoils will
bc tic chief motive for calling it.
The pretence that it is To do away with
the disabling laws, is too transparent II
fraud 10 cheat anybody; for all under
stand that the disGranchising clause Of the
Constitution can be wiped out several
months earlier BY the adoption and sub
mission OF the Flick amendment than by
b Convention, and that all disabling stat
utes can be repealed by the Legislature.
Not one single substantial reason for a
Convention can bc assigned except to
make q new deal oI spoils, andone that
would turn out nearly as many Demo-
Gratis as Republicans. For the sake of
this it Is proposed to subject the State to
the expense of Convention, to harass
our people with two or three extra elec-
tions, to tear the existing system Of laws
to tatters, TO render necessary several long
and expensive sessions Of the Legislature
to frame now set OF tsLatutes, probably
much worse than the present, and 10 pro-
long for two or three years more the con.
fusion and uncertainty as to what tho law
Is, now just about to be terminated. II
there Is any reason that would compen-
satc our people for all this, twill be well
for our Democratic brethren to show it.