The democrat. [volume] (Weston, W. Va.) 1868-1874, 1870-05-02


pies involved in the late war, both Ma
tionul aud State, as being settlcd--setlled
too BY the only party which had the wis
dom and moral courage to deal fairly and
squarely with the questions at issue,
This is glorious record for the repuLli.
can parly-a record which will tell upon
The future of the world-a record which
even its bittercst enemies must admire aad
commend"
And this is another portion ofthe record
Of which tho gentleman is so fond-"That
rebels no less thau negroes shall enjoy The
rights of full citizenship Well, SO far
as we are concerned, we would DO per-
fectly willing to eoncsde to tho radicals all
the honor that is due from the achieve
ment; but it is we'll enough to stick to tho
facts. lie leaves the impression that the
action of the Legislature left the rebel.
and negroes oa the same footing. Is this
the casel Most assuredly net. by the
upwarrnntcd action of that body, the
WITH Amendment was adopted, and
negroes are noe Icing registered as ,o'ers
under ihprorisions. But do rebels also
have a right to vote? Not at all; nor
can they, BY any possibility, acquire such
right, $50 far as the action Of the Lcgis-
lature is concerned" until after tue session
ofls72! 8i Isl
And another point Tho gentleman
sscribes all the credi. for passing the Flick
Amendment to his radical friends. They
DO not deserve it, for it was opposed by a
large portion Of that party, including the
editor, ofthe journal, il we have no. been
nisinformcd.l aims ~ ,.i,Fa isilsrlre'
But be continues: siia ~ 'bia
"ln the last Legislature NO settled all
our apparently conflicting differences, and
by mutual concession nutured policy
which accomplished all that could have
been desired. and thus secured to ourselves
that strength which comes alone from full
organic unity. There is now happily no
OCCASION for tho discussion Of rebel en-
reimbursement or negro suffrage. These
are things Of the past. We hope there.
fore that, when our State Convention
meets, it will meet simply to make the
usual nominations, and thnt it will sctthe
example for once in political lifetime Of
having no res lut:ony-no platform. We
mood none. Let our record in the past BE-
our platform. That speaks for itself;
hut speaks more eloqueatly than rounded
periods. or tho platitudes Of political bum
eonbo.'", 7aigtl.s Lss .liosI 4 d. I;.
q This we consider the NEST remarkable
paragraph sver.found ia tho columns Of a
paper claiming to be an authentic expo.
ncnt Of party politics, and We must give
the author credit for originality at least.
Such political bantling has never been
hatchod in the history Of politics, and We
can only grie,eshat the weary process. of
incubation has only resulted as did the la
Dor Of the mountain. tits. however, only
original in that portion in which he be-
seechcs tho party to adopt no platform, to
which We shall presently refer; fer tho
idea Of avoiding issues, or rather declaring
that they do not exist, is an old dodge
which tho radical party has practiced un-
til it has become threadbare. The gen
tlcmaa tells US, With a. dir ofdcci.ion and
assurance that is sublime in its "ridicu.
losity,' that "tbere is now. happily no
occasion for the discussion Of rebel en-.
franchiscmcnt or Negro Suffrage" Tha.
they arc "things ftho past" Will be
kind enough 10 tell us when they ceased
to DO living issues-when they became
'"things of the past" 1t is true that ne.
grocs arc being now registered as voters,
bu. they are being illegally registered.
Just so long as The word white" remains
in our State Constitution. just solopg no
negro can be legal voter in this State,
for as wo before said, theright to regulate
itb own franchise is one that is expressly
reserved to the several States by tie terms
ofthe compact. 5et'' ''F
Bet aside from this, in our humble
opinion the cnfraHcliscmcnt Of tile rebels
is one Of the most important, vital. living
issues that can DO presented for the con.
sideration Of the people ofthis State. It
certainly cannot be called d "thing Of tile
past" for while tile Flick .Amcndntnt is
not to be directly voted on at the present
fall election, the Legislature which WILDE
then elected, will decide It's fate. Ifthey
refuse to pass 1t, It becomes ds if it nevor
had existed Will tho gentleman deny
this ? But this is the old way of lodging
disngrecaLlc issues, and sc do not wonder
fiat nur r,J;,,1 lf.;a,J, J.,... 4. III.