The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1870-03-01
The Capital Qae.tion

The Senate bill repeating the act To-
eating the seat of Government at
Charleston, was rejected in the House
yesterday by a vote of 26 to "a. Mr.
LAMB, after the roll was called, changed
his vote to move a reconsideration. The
House bill, repeating the act of loca-
tion and fixing the Capital at Parkers-
burg, was also defeated, by vote of %
to2i. The latter bill, which was origi-
nally simple repeal bill, was amended
By the friends of Parkersburg and
Charleston so as to fix the Capital at
the former place. This amendment was
made, we understand, upon the pledge
OF the friends of Charleston, to stand by
Parkersburg until the end. We re-
member that one member who
favored Charleston, distinctly called
upon his friends in the House some days
ago, to support Parkersburg so that if
Charleston must lose the Capital loca-
tlOn mlBnU hUlll DC tueCOeu.
The roll call yesterday showed nine
members who had been supporting
Charleston, opposing Parkersburg, and
one or two others dodging. Charleston
has plead loudly against the "Lal faith"
implied in bill of repeal. The course
of Charleston yesterday towards Par
kersburg was in such remarkably good
faith that the "bad faith" argument
may be regarded as having received the
most forcible illustration possible.
Colonel SMITHS position, taken in his
speech yesterday morning, strikes us as
indicating a "desperation" no less in
tense than that to which he claimed the
people Of Wheeling had been driven. 1t
was that the repeal of the act locating
the seat of government would leave us
without any seat of government. The
Constitution, he said, fixed the Capital
at Wheeling only until a permanent
location should be made, Such peIma.
nent location he insisted had been made
last winter. This destroyed Wheeling's
title, and if the act were recalled the
Capital would be set afoat without To-
cal habitation or abiding place.
The act of last wiHter is either in op-
Grafton OF it is not. If it is, then the
Legislature and State offices should
now be at Charleston. If il not, then
no permanent llocation has yet been
made, and none will be made until
some law TO that effect goes into opera
tion. The law of last winter cannot
take effect until April 1st, either to re-
move the Capital or to make perman-
snt location. Its operation was sus
pended by its terms. Until that time it
is as if it had never been enacted. To
say that it has force now, when the
law itself says it shall have no force
until April lst, is to state q proposition
which on its face is self contradictory.
No amount of words or ingenious soph-
isms can disguise this plain fact.
But it is not our purpose to argue this
question. Nor do we deem it necessary
to refute the assertions of some of the
the friends Of Charleston about perse-
cutiou on the part of Wheeling. Con-
sideriDg the interest at stake, the peo'
pie and press of Wheeling have been
remarkably forbearing throughout the
whole of this contest. Could it have
been anticipated at the start that
Wheeling was to be so bitterly con-
demned for looking after her own inter
ests and what she believed pub
lie interests, and could it have
been known that she was to be so vigor-
ously denounced for advocating the
repeal of measure to which two-thirds
of the people OF the State are opposed,
the contest might have been made so
lively as to entertain even the dullest
witness thereof. Whatever the final
result may be, we hope the course and
motives of our citizens will cease to be
misrepresented. Our people have i'm
properly influenced nobody, they have
bargained with nobody, they have at