The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1871-06-30
a baltimore SUM-

should, after such experience, have the
application OF emolients rather than r.
ritants-and in any case due time mus.
be allowed for restoration to heathlu'
normal condition. Meanwhile, we must
look at things as they are, and IN 'ne
discussion just now going on IN some
quarters about the propriety Of recog-
nizinp the validity ofthe last three Con-
st;tutiopsl Appointments, come to an uh-
derstandipg Of their precise scope and
;mnor. 1t seems inevitable that they
~, to settle the several questions to
which they relate, and therefore there
should be no misapprehension in regard
to them.
The Thirteenth Amendment, the rat
ifcatien of which by three-fourths OF
the States was proclaimed December Is,
1865, prohibits slavery or involuntary
servitude except as punishment for
crime. Practically, slavery had
already ceased to exist. 1t has been
abolished by the constitutions OF nearly
all, if not all of the States in the Union.
The amendment prohibits its restoration
which very few, probably, desire and
which nobody would be foolish enough
to agitate. The history of slavery is
very analogous to that Of the slave
trade. At one time justified by the
moralists, and recognized by the laws
of every civilized country, it has grad
ually disappeared until its speedy ex-
tinction at no distant day in the colonies
of Spain and the empire OF Brazil, where
alone among Christian nations it still
retains a footing and legal existence,
is not only highly probable, but alto
gether certain. In this country its his
tory may be briefly epitom;zed. Pro
tected by the constitution, it at one
time existed in or was tolerated by
every State. Gradually, under the
pressure OF physical circumstances ad
verse to it's existance and the growth o.
moral and political sentiment hostile
to its extension, it disappeared in one
half OF the States. 1t remained con
slant source of strife and dissenslor
between North and South, until in the
throes of a civil war it finally persisted
Iftbe Thirteenth Amendment were sub
mitted anew for the ratification OF thu
States, it would probably be accepted
without a dissenting voice among
them.
The Fourteenth Amendment declares
all persons born or naturalized in thu
United States, and subject to the juris
diction thereof, entitled to all the priv
leges of citizenship. 1t apportion:
representation in Congress according tc
population, with a proviso that wher
the right OF voting in any State is de
MED TO any OF its male inhabitant'
being twenty-one years of age ant
citizens Of the United States, its repre-
sentation shall be proportionately
reduced. 2. 1t disqualifies for any
office, civil or military, under the United
States, certain classes of persons who
were engaged in rebellion, but empow
ers Congress. by a two-thirds vote, tc
remove the disability. 3. 1t places the
public debt Of the United States under
the guaranty Of the Constitution. 4. 1t
prohibits the assumption or payment
by the United States, or by any State, o
any debt incurred in aid Of the rebel
lion, or any claim for the loss or cman
cipation Of any slaves.
OF these provisions the disfranchis
ing clause. being subject to the action
of Congress, with the continued growth
and ultimate triumph of the popular
sentiment in favor OF universal amnesty
will become practically imperative
The provision in regard to the public
debt of the United States is unobjec
tionable, and the clauses which relate
to the war debt OF the Southern States
and of the Confederacy, and the subject
of compensation for slaves, while they
may bear with undoubted hardship, i
not injustice, upon individuals, are thu
natural results of unsuccessful war
They are the incorporation into thu
Constitution of the United States o
terms which the victors had the powe
to impose, and the vanquished had no
the power to reject.
The other features OF the amendmen
are rendered unimportant by the subse
quent ratification of the fifteenth
which expressly prohibits the State:
from making any discrimination in law
by reason Of race, color or former con
dition Of servitude. This last provi
sion is, to some extent, corollary 10 the
Thirteenth and the first section Of the
Fourteenth Amendments. Taken alto
gether, the amendments as a whole are
but the recognition and embodiment in
the supreme law of facts and conditions
which already existed, or were the
probable if not the necessary conse
quences Of what did exist That q
gradual system Of emancipation, how,
ever, would have been in every respec,
better than the violent sundering at
one fell swoop, Of the long exist.
ing relations Of master and servant,
to which We had been accustomed, no
rational being will dispute, and with it
could have come in due course enfran.
chisement, thus so gradually incorpo.
rating the new element into the political
body as TO have occasioned no jar or
perceptible injurious effect. But liberty
having been abrubtly secured to the
whole body Of the colored population,
their equality Of civil and political
rights has as suddenly followed.
Whether it had not better have been
left to the States to regulate the condi-
tons under which these rights should
he eniov al is q nuestion which has LOST