The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1870-10-05
The STATE OF WEST VIRGINIA, !
ATTORNEY GENERALS OFFICE,
CHARLESTON, Sept. 9, 1870. J
To His Ercel'sncn. ". Z. .Sterenson.

NhahbESiON, pSpl' Y, i'ip
To His Ercel'ency, w Z. Stevenson.
DEAR SIR. In reply to your favor Of
the Sth inst, requesting my views ii
writing "as to the kind of affidavit re
quired by the third section Of the act o.
Congress entitled an act to enforce the
rights Of citizens of the United States
to vote, &c, approved May 81, 1870
and who under said section would be
entitled to vote by virtue OF said afr
davit, | have the honor OF submitting
the following opinion:
In every case where the applicant for
registration has been refused TO be
registered, for the want Of quaiilica.
ton under the laws OF West Virginia,
the Supervisors and Inspectors OF
election should reject the vote OF such
applicant, because his name is not on
the register of voters, as required by
Section ~ of Chapter 3, of the code of
West Virginia But in the exceptional
case, provided for in the Sid Section OF
said Act of Congress, that is to say,
where a person has been refused
registration, J,cquse Of his "raee,
color or previous condition Of
serrjtide,' me should be allowed to vote,
Though not registered) i qualified ac-
cording to the laws of our State,
prowdci, he present to said officer
Of election, his affidavit, stating his OF
fer to be registered, the time and place
thereof, the name of the registrar or
board of registration that refused to
register him, and that he waS refused 10
be registered "on account ofracc, color or
prcVi6uS condition of SerUit,Ide. 1t must
be stated in said affidavit. that the
refusal to register him was ION account
of race, color or previous condition OF
servitude,' for the obvious reason that
in m other case can person be
allowed to vote, unless his name is
on the register of voters, as required by
said Section rs, OF Chapter 3 OF said
Code. The views above expressed are
fully sustained by Acknowledgement
Akerman, in his (recent) official instruc-
tons to General Golf, L. 5. District-At-
torney for this State, directing him to
dismiss all prosecutions against Regk
trars, except where the otfense consists
in a refusal TO register, on account Of
race, color or previous condition OF
servitude. and also, by Hon. Hugh L.
Bond, Judge of the 4th Judicial Circuit
of the United States in and for the Dis
trict OF West Virginia, in his decision
on the Doth of August, 1870, at Mar
West Virginia, in the HaJeaS
Corpus case of John McIlwee, Registrar
of Mineral county.
Yours, very respectfully, &c.
A. B. CALDWELL,
Attorney-General
II will be observed that Mr.. CALD-
WE'LL lays great stress upon the dis
tinction on account of race, color, &c,
though we are informed that he admits
that the discrimination spoken OF may
not be solely against the African race,
and that discrimination against white
men Is equally FORBIDDEN by the law.
II, for instance, in South Carolina,
where the negroes constitute a majority
Of the voters, they should attempt to
declare that white men should not be
permitted TO vote; that would be such
a discrimination on account of race and
color, as the act OF Congress forbids,
and the right of white men to vote
would he legally enforced. Now we
defy the Radicals to find in the
whole State of West Virginia a single
negro, possessed of the necessary quail.
fications, whose right to vote has been
denied. We defy them to point to a
single case in which negro who is
otherwise legally qualified has been re-
used registration or has been stricken
rom the list. On the other hand, there
Ire hundreds of legally qualified white
nen who have been denied the elective