The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1872-05-17
Q1eQntelliqeureos:
THE LIBERAL MOVEMENT IN
WEST VIRGINIA.


Another Letter from Mr.. Church.-.
lie Defines His r Political Views and
His Relations to the Liberal Move.
ment.
PARKERsDuRO, W. Va, May IA.
To the Editors OF tho 1ntelllsencer.
SRs:-I have no desire to prolong a
controversy with one who has done such
ample justice where possible injustice may
have resulted had 4 not called your at
tention to what seemed 10 me q misap.
prChension Of fact. Your reply 10 my
'card" Is entirely satisfactory, and thank
you fOr. your courtesy. There Is. one para.
graph, however, In yours Of the 18th,
about which would like to say q word.
The paragraph to which I allude, Is as
follows:
I'VE feel tempted TO add that II the Cincinnati
Convention nAd been strictly Republican move
ment, Rs we supposed, and had Mr.. Church been
al sssFTPIoSSS o. ae psopesS hS Nigh!
least such prominent participation In Its delIbe.
rations, out OF como uoubt as 70 bis own party
status In 1858 Mr.. Chase was In full communion
with the Democratic party, and sought nomIna-
a9n at 10 hands for the Presidency: He has Ger
I
Cd Democrat In good standing. For two or
three years Mr.. Church has been laborinR active.
L. to promote Mr.. ChAse's aspirations to the
White House; and when man works 30 jealous.
y as NJ. Church has done % promote the election
OF Democrat 10 tho Presidency, his right TO call
himself . Republican, or Liberal Republican"
might be open TO faint Suspicion. Itnot being
Republican movement, however, from Mr..
ohut6h's point OF view, this improprety dlsAp-
pears and all Is serene"
do not know that my political views
should claim the attention Of the public,
except as they may have bearing upon
the action OF others, or compromise their
personal or public position. AS you seem,
however, to attach some importance TO
them, and by inference have placed me in
an improper attitude, beg to claim your
attention only Tor moment.
At the breaking out OF the war be.
longed 10 what was known at that time as
the Union Democracy, In contradistinc.
tion to the Secession Democracy. As,
consequence l sided with the
Union cause. l acted with the
Union party throughout the entire
struggle, and with the Republican
party until the passage Of the Fifteenth
1ulCuuluCuLs W uCu tuhL ulGuauEe was
consummated which placed in the organic
law the results OF the war, l considered
that the mission OF the Republican party
was at an end, and that was free TO re.
choose my future political affiliations. l,
however, voted for Grant, and in our State
election, for Governor Stevenson, without
taking any active part in politics. Since
that time have not considered myself as
belonging to either party. I could not 90
with the Democracy for it had declared
the,war for the Union a failure, and had
repudiated the three amendments which
were vital TO my political faith. I
could not support the admins
tration of President Grant, for I considered
it a departure from the principles upon
which the Republican party was founded.
The Enforcement Act and the Ku.Klux
Bill are especially, In my view, unconsti.
tutional. AS Chief Justice Chase more
nearly represented my preference and my
political principles, l did all l could, in
connection with others Of like political
training, 10 bring his claims before the
country. In the meantime the Cincin.
natl movement was started, and we
yielded our wishes to what at the time
seemed Of more vital importance. The
managers Of the Cincinnati Convention
invited US to participate with them in the
deliberations Of their body, as we
were laboring with them for a common
object. This explains my presence there;
and being invited, and being fully in, &C.
cord with the objects Of that Convention,
l was not considered an intruder, nor did.
l ieel any "delicacy" in participating In
Its proceedings. II 1 happened to have
some prominence" in the matter, It has
been through the kind Partially of my
associates, rather than through any sell.
seeking OF my own. I trust therefore,
that you will dome the justice to think
so II others can be found who will lead
the Liberal Movement with more salts.
faction than ! can IN my present provi.
sional relation, / will take great pleasure
in yielding my place. / desire only the
success Of the principles Of the Liberal
party, and the candidates elected to carry
them out These principles reflect pre-,
cisely my own political faith. would
have preferred the Chief Justice to Gree
ley. But believing Greeley to be an'hon.
est man, and that he will bring about the
reforms now oi pressing Importance, I
shall give him my cordial support.
AS you have called attention to the
subject, 1t may be proper for me to say
that there has been no plan determined
upon in advance Of the Charleston Con.
vention, nor have we discussed any point
except that Of organization. l suppose
that Is all that will be done when we
meet. We have no candidates selected;
nor have we an electoral ticket under
advisement. In other words, we have
made no coalition" with the Democracy.
We stand simply upon our platform Of
principles, and pledged to the support of
the nominees Of the Cincinnati Conyen.
ton. Those who accept these are invited
to join with US in the preliminary work
Of organization. After@Wes have organ.
lied It will be time to discuss, candidates
and an electoral ticket rltE :
As no one had any authority to say
what the Convention would do on as
sembling, no object was stated In the call.
On reflection you will see that our present
relation Is only provisional one, our
functions ceasing when the Convention Is
organized, Our duty Is simplysto get the
movement upon lis feet in West Virginia.
When that Is done tho policy Of the Lib
eral party will then be determined. Until
that time M Onn Ia outhnr;,nd - rv>noI, tor