The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1872-04-06
AMNESTY.
Resolutions Offered In the Constftu-
tionaI Convention by Ex-senator
wiley, and Remarks Thereon.

Wiley, and Remark Thereon.
In the Constitutional Convention on
Saturday morning. March so. Mr..
Wiley, of Monongalis, asked and OBJ
tanned leaveo of absence for the remain
der Of the session. He then said:
Mr.. PREsIDENT-After consultation
with my political friends and associates
in this body, l have their unanimous
concurrence in offering theIresolutions
which l ehall presently send TO the
Chair.
Before doing SO, however. l be- to be
INDUCED 10 submitting a remark or two
The authority of the United States
Government is now restored and recog-
nized in every State Of the Union.
Every vestige OF organized and armed
resistance to it has been destroyed and
from the Lakes to the Gull, from the
Atlantic to the Pacific, its laws and its
officers have unobstructed operation.
The great fundamental principles
clsimed to he necessary to consolidate,
Secure and perpetuate its authority have
been incorporated in theConstltutlon and
are everywhere acknowledged as the
,un!eme law Of the land. This Con-
ycn,;on has inserted such an acknowl-
e.lsment in the instrument which 1t is
proposed to submit to the people OF the
| Stat. as their organic law. The organ
J iza,ion OF the State itself has been
| accepted rs valid; and every gentleman
on this floor stands pledged to Its integ
rity
Moreover, in the language OF the
p President OF the United States IN his
lat annual message:
More than six years having elapsed
siner the last hostile gun was fired
between the armies thea arrayed against
each .o,her-one for the perpetuallon,
ths other for the destruction OF
tlr lrniou--;t may well he CON
,;Ge:el whether it j. not now
time tEat the disabilities imposed
hy lie fourteenth amendment should
be removed. That amendment does
not exclude the ballot, but only imposes
the disability 10 hold offices upon
certain classes. When the purity OF
the tallot is secure majorities are sure
to elect officers rejecting the views o:
the majority. do not see the ad-
vantage or propriety Of excluding men
from office merely because they were
before the rebellion Of standing and
character sufficient to be elected to
positions requiring them to take oaths
to support the Constitution, and al
hitting to eligibility those entertaining
precisely the same views, put OF less
standing in their communities.
Influenced by such considerations,
the popular branch Of the national
legislature has, on several occasions,
pa. Sed amnesty bills, less or more gen.
eral in their terms and character; some
of which are now on the calendar OF
the United States Senate awaiting con-
sidera;ion.
Mr.. President: The past cannot be
recalled. 1t has gone into the province
Of history, by whose impartial record
all men, and all parties must ultimately
abide While we may not wisely re.
iect the lessons il would teach 10 all
thoughtful men, yet our especial duties
and responsibilities rea'e TO the present
and the future. Bnt the interests oil
neither the present nor the future will
he promoted 10y cheri,hing needless
animosities, political or personal For
myself, | desire TO see all the causes OF
such strife emoved-fore,e removed.
Sir, ! love peace, and those moral and
intellectual achievements which can be
accomplished only in time OF peace. l
abhor war and all it's inseparable afro
cities; and to day and here, on the eve
of sundering those personal and social
relations with the members Of this
body, which, although they have been
brief, have been uniformly cordial and
kind, | can and do, with the deepest
sincerity OF heart, repeat the language
put by Shakespeare into the mouth OF
Henry " OF England:
"No more the thirsty entrance OF this soil
Shall danb her lips with crown cinldrens
blood.
No more shall trenching war channel her
fields
Nor bruisc her fiowrets with the armed Eoof
or hostile PAGES those opposed eyes,
Which, like the meteors Of troubled sky,
All of one nature-of one substance bred,
Did lately meet in the intestine shock
And furious close OF civil butchery,
Shall now, in mutual we'll beseemlng ranks,
March ali ons way, and be no more OPP
posed
Against acquaintance, Kindred and allies.
The edge OF war, like an ill-sheathed knife,
No more shall cut his master"
In all free governments political
parties are inevitable. Perhaps they
are necessary. Properly controlled,
they contribute TO the public welfare.
Unregulated by reason and patriotism,
they will again as they have done in
times past, lead to direct calamites.
Mr.. President, and gentlemen Of the
Convention, henceforth let our strife be
the noblcr emulation OF the statesman,
seeking who can best promote the peace
and advance the prosperity OF our
beloved young State and Of our common
country.
now perform what, have no doubt,
will be my last act Of public lie, 10
offering the resolutions which Isend to
the chair.
The following resolutions, offered by
Mr.. Wiley, were then read by the
Clerk:
"Resolred, That in the opinion Of this
Convention, without distinction OF par
ties, the time has come when 1t would
be wise and judicious, that all political
disabilities growing out Of any connec-
ton with the late civil war, should cease
in West Virginia; and our Senator'S and
Representatives in the Congress Of the
United States are hereby requested to
use their influence in securing the pass
age Of an Act of Congress removing AL
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