Virginia free press. (Charlestown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1832-1916, 1872-04-13
AMNESTY.
Resolutions Offered in the Constitu-
tional Convention by Ex-senator
Wiley, and Remarks Thereon.

/ day morning, MATCH o. nj. h'"e!i Va nv
mongolia, asked and obtained leave Of absence
for the remainder of the session. lie then said:
Nh. PREsIDsNT-After consultation with
nv political friends and associates in this body,
| | have their unanimous concurrence in Offering
the resolutions which SHAH presently send TO
! the Chair. Before doing go, however, beg TO
| be INDUCED in submitting a remark or two.
The authority Of the United States Govern
ment is now restored and recognized in every
| State Of the Union. Every yes,ige Of organ
lied and armed resistance 10 it has been de-
stroyed; and from the Lakes to tho Gulf, from
the Atlantic TO the Pacific, It's laws and It's Off
GERS have unobstructed operation. Tho great
fundamental principles claimed to be necessary
to consolidate, secure and perpo,uato lis au-
| thority have been incorporated in the Consti-
/ tuition and everywhere acknowledged as the
supreme law Of the land, This Convention
/ has inserted such an acknowledgement in the
instrument which il is proposed to submit 10
the people Of the State as their organic law
/ The organization Of the State itself has been
accepted as valid and every gentleman on
| this floor stands pledged 70 its Integrity
Moreover, in the language Of the President OF
/ the United States in his late annual message.
More than six years having elapsed since the
last hostile gun was fred between the armies then
arrayed against each other-One for the perpetual
tion, the other for the destruction of the Union
/ il nav well be considered whether il is not now
time that the disabilities imposed by the fourteenth
/ amendment should be removed. That amendment
| does not exclude the ballot, but only imposes the
/ disability to hold Offices upon certain classes
When the purity of the ballot is secure najorities
are sure to elect officers rejecting the views OF the
majority. do not see the advantage or proprie-
/ " of excluding men from office merely because
! they were before the rebellion of standing and
character sufficient TO be elected to positions re-
| curing them TO take oaths to support the Consti-
tuition, and admitting to eligibility those enter
tanning precisely the same views, butOf less stand
| ing IN their communities"
Influenced by such considerations, the pop
ular branch Of the national legislature has, on
several occasions, passed amnesty bills, less or
more general in thei. terms and character;
some Of which are now on the calendar Of the
United States Senate awaiting consideration.
Mr. Presidsnt:-The past cannot be recalled.
! IL has gone into the province of history, by
whose impartial record all men. and all par
ties, must ultimately abide While we may
not wisely reject the lessons il would teach to
| all thoughtful men, yet our especial duties and
responsibilities relate to the present and the
| future. But the interests Of neither the pre-
sent nor the future will be promoted by cher
| ishing needless auimoSities, political or person
! al. For myself, desire to see all the causes
| Of such strife ACKNOWLEDGMENT removed Sir,
love peace, and those moral and intellectual
achievements which can be accomplished only
10 time Of peace l sbhor war and all its in
separabs atrocities; and to-day and here, on
| Il. F. ,oran,o1 aud cnniol
relations with the members Of this body, which,
although they have been brief, have been uni
formly cordial anl kind, can and do, with
the deepest sincerity of heart repeat the Lam
guage put by Shakespeare into the mouth Of
Henry " of England;
! "No more the thirsty entrance Of this soil
Shall daub her lips with her children's blood.
/ No more shall trenchng channel her fields
/ Nor bruise her howrets with the armed hoof
/ or hostile PAGES; those opposed eyes,
! Which, like the meteors OF a 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 wen beseeming ranks,
! March all one way, and be no more opposed
| Against acquaintance, kindred and allies
! The edge Of war, like an ilsheathcd knife,
! No more shall cut his master"
In all free governments political parties are
inevitable. Perhaps they are necessary
Properly controlled, they contribute 10 the
public welfare Uuregulated by reason and
patriotism, they will again as they have done
! in times past, lead to direct calamities Mr
| President, and gentlemen Of the Convention,
henceiorth lot our strife be the nober emula-
! ton Of the statesman, seeking who can best
promote the peace and advance tie prosperity
Of our beloved young State and Of our common
country.
! now perform what, have no doubt, will
| be my last act of public life, in offering the
resolutions which send TO the chair
The following resolutions, offered by Mr..
! Wiley, were then read by the Clerk:
! "Resolred. That in the opinion of this Conven-
ton, without distinction of parties, the time has
come when it would be wise and judicous, that all
political disabilities growing out Of any connec-
! ton with the late civil war should cease in West
/ Virginia; and our Senators and Representatives
! in the Congress OF the United States are hereby
requested TO use their influence in securing the
! passage of an Act Of Congress removing all such
/ disabilities.
"Re,olre5 That copies Of the foregoing resolu-
ton with the ayes and noes recorded in the vote
| thereon, be transmitted by the President OF the
Convention 20 our Senators and Representatives
in Congress, 10 be laid before the Houses TO which
they respectively belong"
Mr.. Farnsworth said that he rose for the pur-
pose of giving his hearty assent to the resolu
tons. lie thought the time had fully come
when perfect tolerance and political equality
| should prevail throughout the State and Ma
ton. For the first time since the war he had
mingled in this Convention with many Of the
gentlemen wh5 had BEEN engaged in fighting
the battle for the South and he must now bear
witness to their many high qualities as citizens
and as men. lie had found them gentlemen
ar9ently devoted to the interests Of the State
aud warmly solicitous for its prosperity and
lie, for one, wanted TO forget the unhappy past
aud join hands with any citizen without re-
gard TO party lines or affiliations, in sincere
efiort for the development and welfare Of the
State For his own part, he did not harbor
in his mind one thought of hostility toward
these gentlemen or one feeling Of resentment
and he hoped that all the ant9gonisms of the
past would be buried, and buried face down
wards, that they might have no resurrection.
He woula very cheerfully and cordially vote
for the resolutions offered by the gentleman
from Monongalia, as tending to wipe out the
last vestige Of the late strife, and inausurate
: new era Of harmony and good viii
Mr.. Smith, of Marion, said that the resolu
tionjust introduced by the distinguished gentle
man from Monongalia was both opportune and
eminently proper, and be felt assured it would
meet with the cordial appreciation Of every pa
triot in the land. Cherishing deep and fer
vent love for the Union on the one hand, and
r4ffi !