The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1871-01-04

| lndlvluual or some Omcer nau neglected
or refused to do some act or to discharge
some duty which was supposed to be re-
quired of him, and a suit or process Of
some kind was instituted to enforce fuch
supposed duty. And the final question,
as the first act in this drama Is, did the
first actor conform in his conduct to the
provisions OF the Constitution Ii he
did, he acted rightly, if be did not, the
Constitution will be, at least in theory,
INDICATED. The first step Of action, as
the last act of judicial determination, is
the rightiulness or wrongiulness Of the
originator o. the suit or the process,
and to whom. probably, was or may
have been put the question, will you
obey the Constitution or this unconstltu-
tional law. Somebody must affirm a
right, before there can be case for the
Court Ii ali unconstitutional law is
passed and it affects fifteen thousand
men who may bring fifteen thousand
suits it is their right either TO bring the
suits or apply to subsequent Legsla'
lure composed, as they may think, OF
wiser or more liberal men or both, and
ask that the unjust, obnoxious and un-
constitutional law shall be repealed
and avoid multiplicity Of litiga-
ton, and the question still will BE-
or may be What is the Constitution ?
And now under the new mode OF
amending constitutions by the joint &C
ton Of the Legislature and vote OF
het people, in manner and mode poInt-
ed out and fixed by the Constitution
for such amendments, the question will
be and must be, in the greater necessl.
ty which now exists tor preserving and
enforcing Constitutional limitations,
and securing regard for these essential
r. o'iirements, have the requirements
for constitutional amendments been
fairly and strictly complied with ? And
| rom first 10 last, and all the way
through, the question is, the r; ghtiul-
ness or wrongfulness OF the original
actor in the matter under consIdera-
Oh. And ardon me, l say
that it strikes me almost as an
ab,urdty to hold that legislature
whose duty it is at all times to pass upon
the constitutionclty OF its own acts,
cannot at any time repeal its own law
expressly because 1t is unconstitutional ,
but must wait until some individual
who is aggrieved shall 60 through ali
the tedious and expensive forms OF llti-
CATION and bring 10 them the formal
Judgment Of the final court, written on
piece of paper And, in all cases OF
legislative action, the laws are made
without consulting the court as to their
constitutlonaIty.
Before approach the special cOnsid.
Grafton Of your letter in detail, | beg
leave to remind YOU. that you admit,
what every citizen Of the State ir the
slightest degree conversant with the his
tory OF the DISTINGUISHING amendment
knows full well, that it was passed after
an unconstitutional act Of the leglsla.
ture dcpriving a large body Of our citi-
zens OF the right OF suffrage had been
passed, and had been put into effective
operation by the machinery of partizan
agents, before this DISTINGUISHING amend
ment had been submitted, and that its
Submission was under such disfranchise
ment, and that you suppose the Su-
preme Court might, but | will not do
YOU the injustice to think that you
would ray or held, that they ought to
resort TO the subteriuge OF legal
maxim to uphold the consttutionalIty
of that measure, and which would re-
quire them TO belle the wcllknown pub
lie history of the State.
You divide the subject OF your letter
into three propositions. will not
restate them. | accep; them for the
purposes of calculation, but not as OF
the necessity of the case or Of the
argument, for if the DISTINGUISHING
Amendment is unconstitutional, which
is the first and leading proposition,
there is no necessity whatever for con-
sidering the two others SO far as any
action may be deemed necessary by the
Legislature at its coming session, or as
may be required or apprehemdcd by the
action OF the Courts or Of the Supreme
Court. But it is due to you, and it is
due to the subject to consider your
views in the order in which you have
placed them. TO you, for have con-
idenre in your fairness and integrity
AID respect for your ability. | believe
that yon would only seek the right
that Won would proceed with candomr
md ,ution, AMI that you would I'll iy
re ,ecm any pledge personally ann un,-
ed BY YOU III language or justly lnIerrl-
bic from Your conduct Of your willing
mesa to accept the situation, to obliterate
a. far as possible the acrimonies OF the
past and promote the welfare OF the
State. the solid parpetuity of the Union,
and bv IA strict adherence 10 laws which
are wise, just and constitutional, settle
and secure more permanently than
ever the prosperity Of the people. 1t Is
due to the subject, Tor it is a grave
question involving the moral and politi-
cal vitality of the Democratic party Of
which we are both members and with
which we have both acted through
fairly long and not uneventtul lives, in
the belief that the Constitution was a
sacred thing, that it, itself, was only a
charter of limitations upon all the de
rartments of the government both
National and State, and "a between the
States and the National government,
and that they were selt-impoSed limita-
tons upon the powers Of the people
themselves, from whom thew emanated,
and only to be set aside or modified in
regular and prescribed methods. Nay
more, that from the complex form OF
our government, there were positive
limits in many respects. and now more
stringent than ever, on the power OF the
people in the States in regard to al'era,