Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1872-02-27

Debate upon the Power of the Gonssi-
tuition in time OF War-The Conyan-
ton dees not believe in Military Ne
oessity. sss1
lCosrespondeac OF the Wheeling Rsgistsr.I
B. SsnIAaLEsToN, February 9.-The Conyen-
ton is now fairly launched. floating on. upon
space. aud it remains to be seen whether the
crew is sufficiently trained. or the officers suf.
ficiehtly well skilled 70 anchor in a safe har.
Dor. The subject under consideration to,day
was the Bill Of Rights, and no discussion wa,
selicited until the 10th section was taken up.
which read as follows:
"The provisions of the Constitution of tbs
United States aud of this State. appiy as well
IN time of war as in time of peace, and any
departure theretrom, or violation thereof.
under the plea of necessity, or any other plea,
! is subyersive of good government. and tends
to anarchy and despotism'
This brought.J. Marshall Harans on his
legs. And, by the way. did you ever know
nan who spelled his name in this way who
was not consummate ass? IF there be any
| such, Hagans is certainly not the man, for he
is living illustration of the fact that the old
couplet of Leigh Hunt is true
/ GNAtute tntlOrs n vacuum, 'tts said,
And yet to every dGsuy gfves a head,,.
/ He arose IN his place to oppose this section.
1t was mere al caphia6pnt declaration in-
lected, as it were. into the instrument, by. he
knew notwhom nor for what purpose, and
while herecpgnized the principles ennnciated
to be true, it was wholly unnecessary and use.
less to embody them in the organic law. It
was a matter "f history that in times eff war
aud public danger, the party.in power always
construed the Constitution to suit their own
purposes. de did not want to refer to the
! past, but wanted it to be buried out of sight.
but in the past the Constitution of the, ,JInited
! States has been violated to save the life of4ho
nation, and the Constitution of the Confed>
crate States was nntoriously violated before II
had been adopted year.
Mr.. Faulkner replied in his usually clear
and incisive manner. He thought Mr. H.'s
vision was certainly obscured The section
! contained great and grand fundamental
| principle ana he thanked the committee for
having proposed it It was but an endorse
ment of the luminous decision of the Supreme
Court of the United States in Miligan's case,
which had properly been called n second
Magma ChartaY which declared that in times
OF war no less than in peace, the Constitution
'cns the supreme law of the land. and could
not be violated with impnnity.
Haggns rCjnined: This vas new propos
siton to our people. and he could see no
reason for its adoption. 1t was injected. SO
to speak, and was mere clap'trsp. He again
alluded to the ''unhnppy past, to which he
Is so'tond of referring, and maintained that
he wanted to secure all-the rights of the neo.
l-ple; but this provision contained an insin,ta>
Ton that the constitution had been construed
wrong insths past. All constitutions went
down in times Of war and were worth noth-
ing. He wanted to forgive and forget the
past, although there was blood upon it. But
there was past which the gentlemen could
not rob the people of, and while he did not
desire to refer to it, he thought the provision
reflection on those who had held up the
arms OF the Uniou,i &C., &c, in a similar
strain.
Mr. Woods replied. and if ever poor boy
was literally demolished, it was our loyal
friend from Monongaia on this occasion. -
Mr. Woods is a man about fifty years of age.
fine lawyer, aud an able debate who never
descends to personalities. He. rose in his
place, and in his cool, quiet manner, with an
enuncation as distinct and voice as calm as
summer morning, said !: The words of tho
section were true, as the gentleman had ad.
mitted, and he would be glad to have that
section going echoing down the corridors OF
time; but he regretted, more for the sake Of
the gentleman himself than on his own ac.
count, the remark which, he made, when he
characterized the proposition as mere al
| cdptondtnl one, injected by he. knew, not
whom. The gentleman with all hia ability
| and experience. had much TO learn of the
I courtesy due to committee to whom such
subjects were always committed II had been
inserted after mature consideration, aud il
the gentleman could find no other objection
than that already urged, he hoped the Con.
vention would not reject proposition tpiver-
sally conceded to be true, because the gentle-
man had been pleased TO call it mere adcep.
fandumt Again he regretted the discourt-
esy and feeling displayed by the gentleman,
and thought it but charitable to ascribe it TO
his youth and iuexperepce. and trusted that
age and acquaintance with parliamentary
usages would improve him in this resrect. IL
in no other. -
can give yoti bnt an imperfect account Of
the debate. 1t was the manner more thah
the substance (Which have dnpted) which
made the rebuke so terrible. Itwas absolute
erucifixion, and so potent was this TO his
friends that MIR. Atkinson got up and insisted
that lie should withdraw his motion. The
proposition to strike out was lost by unsni-
nous vote, Haeans being too much demora-
lzed to open his msuth.
a WORD OF ADVICE The following from
the Haeerstown Free Psess, Is applicable
here as well as in Maryland. 1t says
We wish to give a word of advice. and st
the same time correct an erroneous idea il,
regard TO the meagre and indifferent manner
which many persons pnrsne in ADVERTISING a
sale OF real and personal effects. The great,
er number OF persons announce the sale OF
valuable property through the medium of q
few sale bills only. Through their short