The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1873-07-22
1.-THE PENIrENTIARY CASE,

The opinion ofthe Supreme Court OF
Appeals in the Penitentary case is one
that must he heartily coucurred In by
every honest man who reads it. 1t
states the law so plainly, liz reasoning
is so close and conclusive, and withal
so strongly fortified by citations Of au-
thority, that no person. desirous oi
learning the truth can fail to be con-
vinced that the opinion is correct, and
the Judges could not have decided
otherwise than they did with proper
regard t. their judicial character and
their oaths Of Office.
The completeness and comprehen.
sive character OF the opinion will at
tract general attention. Every point
raised, every argamens adluced in sup
port OF the extraordinary claim pat
forth by the Governor and bis specia!
adherents, was carefully and copscien-
tious,y examined. Nothing was lett
unconsidered nor unanswered, aud the
strong legal reasons for the decision
were found to stand unassailed and un-
assailabe. Chief Justice RAYMOND,
President of the Court aud the au:ho.
ofthe opinion, deserves credit for having
expressed il go clearly and marshalled
with such irresistible force the reasons
upon which it is based. Itleaves abso-
lutely no ground for cavilling; no
single point of weakness o. defect.
In short it is simply plain common
sense, which he who runs may read
and understand, and the wonder is that
even Governor JACOB should have
been betrayed into the assumption o.
powers which the law so clearly shows
TO be preposterous and absurd.
1t is to be expected nevertheless that
narrow minded rartisans will fail to
openly acknowledge the force OF the ar
gumeuts which they can scarcely be SO
stupid as not to ieel. We have Gn eI-
ample in the melancholy case OF the
Wheeling In!s!Ggsncsr which yesterday
morning raved through nearly two
columns OF frantic nonsense IN
deuunciation OF TIE Supreme
Court, the mythical CAMDEN
ring" the Public Printer,aud everybody
else in general, aud yet failed to pro-
duce single spark o. solid argument
to show that the decision Of the court is
not founded upon the plain and obvious
Interpretation of the constitution and
thela In all probability the exam
pie of the lnts!ligencer will be followed
by other Radical papers throughout
the State, and we are in anticipation OF
general howl from
"Mongrel puppy. whe'p and hound
And ours OF low degTcs,'
who will not be able to render any Tea
son for their raJ;ts, or show wherein
the Supreme Court has failed to DIS
charge the duty it could not AVOID,
The high character OF the
gentlemen now upon the SUI
preme bench, their spo:iess integFi-
ty aad the good reputation they have
always enj Dyed, beth for legal learning
and for purity Of purpose, sTe, it seems
70 coun, for rotbirg 10 the est'ma;lon
OF those who desired decision at VAR
ance With the law. But il Governor
JACOB and the plotters who have lea
him into his present humil,Gtiog fo'
sition eau afford to continue the con-
test, we presume that the Supreme
Court OF Appeals will nc: shrink 'som
the mainta,nsuc of the position il bss
assumed.
Personally, we cannot deny That II
gives us pleasure to know thai the ar
puments which satisfied Us ss TO
the correct Interpretation OF the Con-
siitutiou and which we have adduced
over and over again in support OF the
authority OF the Legislature to gronplrs
to one body styled the Board OF Public
Works such OF the executive officers OF
the State as seemed to it most fit, and TO
make it the duty Of these officers 10
confer certain appointments, have been
held by the supreme authority in the
State to be conclusive OF the question.
We make 20 claim Of legal eruditIon
either equal or superior to that OF men
whose life has been devoted to the
study of legal principles aud the COL
latiou and comparison Of the
decisions of the Courts. We would not
have maintained our opinion as our
neighbor of the Intslkg.nccr does, "des-
pite the ruling OF the highest court to
the contrary" But We confess to come
feeling OF pride in having taken the
right side OF this controversy in the
beginning, and furnished another proof
Of the fact that "tbe REGISTER is always
right" relating TO any question relating
to the proper Interpretation of the Con-
stitution and tie proper policy to be
pursued for the prosperity OF tie State.