The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1870-09-15

with the Radical party. They said that
the disfranchisement Of these men was
rendered necessary By the war to main-
tain the Union, the perpetuity Of the
State of West Virginia and the safety
of LOYAL citizens of the State. But is it
not strange that these things were not
thought of during the continu-
ance of the war 7 II ever
necessary, it was while the war was in
progress, but the first act for the DIS
reimbursement of white men IN the
State was passed one year after the war
was closed and the last rebel had lana
down his arms. During the continn-
ance of the war, the very same men
who are now denied the suffrage would
have been permitted to vote. In FACT
voting at every election in the State
was held to be test of loyalty in those
times, and he who voluntarily stayed
away from the polls, was liable to be
looked upon and denounced as a dis
loval citizen. But now, when peace
has been long since declared, when all
danger to Union men or to the integ-
rity of the State government has long
since passed, when the last rebel has
long ago surrendered, they claim that
it is necessary to disfranchise twenty
thousand men
Is it on account of any crime these
men have committed If so, when,
where and in what court were they le-
gally convicted Will they create
new judicial system and establish in
every Board of Registration petty tr'-
bunal to try, convict and punish the
citizen by the deprivation of the dearest
right he possesses, the right upon which
the endowment of all other rights de-
ponds? Is citizen to be denied suf-
frage without trial and conviction by
legal form and the verdict OF a jury OF
his peers? And yet this is what has
been done. One man, the Governor OF
the State, has supreme power over the
suffrage in West Virginia and permits
whom he wishes to vote and disfran-
chises whom he will. The Boards of
Registration are the creatures OF his ap-
pointment and subject to his order.
And yet they are by law invested with
powers superior to the Courts Of the
State. When the citizen is by them de-
MED the elective franchise, he has no
remedy by appeal to the State Courts.
And now, even when the Congress Of
the United States has passed an act un-
der whose provisions the right Of the
voter is enforced, these Radical gentle
men are denying that it has any ap'
plicability to white men and asserting
that its benefits rebound solely TO the
advantage and protection OF the
negro race. They assert that the doc
trine OF States rights" is dead, and yet
no sooner do the white men of the State
look to a Congressional enactment as
enforcing their right to vote, than they
declare that no act Of the Federal Gov
ernment can set aside or abolish State
law. When we talk of the sovereignty
of State, they call us revolutionary,
but with the utmost sang troid they pro-
coed to nullify an act OF Congress when
it conflicts with partisan scheme.
They find it very convenient TO assume
that an act is revolutionary when 1t
conflicts with their wishes. The Attor-
ney General of the State, in his opin-
ion upon the enforcement act, says in
substance that if the Congress Of the
United States attempted to interfere
with the right of suffrage in West Vir.
ginia. its act would be unconstitutional
and void. But for the benefit Of the
negro and through him for the Radical
party, such interference is highly legit-
innate and proper. In other words,
white people have no rights which Con-
gress is bound to respect.
Did the people of the United States
ever consent to the adoption Of the Fiji
teenth Amendment? Was it ever sub
mitted to You for approval or rejection ?
Did You ever have an opportunity of
expressing at the polls your opinion
concerning it2 The Legislature that
ratified it here was elected upon its
earnest profession OF opposition to
negro suffrage. They strenuously de-
MED while candidates that they could
ever be induced to support such meas
ure. and with such understanding upon
the part of the people and pledge
upon their part, they were cho-
sen; and, when the proposition
was presented they voted for it
and hurried it through with indecent
haste lest the people might have time
and opportunity to protest. They knew,
and you all know, that had it been sub
mitted to popular vote it would have
been overwhelmingly rejected, as it was
wherever the people were permitted to
vote. Only five years ago, Senator
Morton declared his opinion that the
negroes are not fit for suffrage, but in
1870 it is found that they are the supe-
riors of intelligent white men.
The right to vote carries with it the
right to hold office 1t is necessary
sequence. You are to have negro
Judges, if the people see fit TO elect
them, and negro jurors and justices Of
the peace. In fact they are eligible to
any office in the nation and even now
in the Senate OF the United States, in
the position once graced by Clay, a
Calhoun, or Webster there sits thick
Tipped, fat-nosed, kinky.haired negro.
Negro equality will follow. They
now call this "a Democratic lie" but
they so characterized our charge Of two
years ago that they were aiming to
bring about negro suffrage. Look at
the military academy at West Point,
school supported by the taxes wrung
from the white people of the nation.
There are now there two negro Lads
who will probably come forth some
day with epaulets on their shoulders
and commissions in their pockets au-
thorizing them to command and make
servants of white men, the sons Of
white men, in the United States army
And when the little white cadets in