National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1874-01-22

candidate had been nominated by eitlek po-
Htical party, and the me- ~ t66~ere
ignorant that any candid : woGe = voted
fas. II TIA othsr distn@ the cpelon was
nd nd nv eileessea "a the
Augl eltio6 II sfllegsl attn N can
daa fo ths1 befol the rssple in
atem. II IS
3. sAv1 hoxssst. uaderstcod I'd an
'nounced 4 Mr. Hereford. in the Third
district s4ids3lr. Wilson in the Fhst, that
the October election was the legal election,
and that, whatever might be the result Of
that held in. Aasusk October alone couh
legally determine who should be the MEM
bes Of Congress- elect r-
4. The code Of West Virginia QS6e) de-
signatedtAe. fourth TAuEsday Of October as
tho day upon which Congressionl elections
should Be held. That provision Of the stat
ute INV has never been repealed by any
a,lsequent Legislature, nor by any action
of The convention. Tho named body
possossed no Iesislative, powerh and 90 far
1ffum usutpinx them, expressly. disclairned
Faay 1fghtto stsenpt their exercise ar
8. The vote Il de election In August be-
tween Messs Wilson and Davis in the.
First district ,Was undoubtedly. full but
stfn the opinion a to the HlegHlsy Of Con-
gressionaf election there prevented polls
froa being opened II svaries points and
tlFus Alenced votes seaoagh. which, II cast,
would have changed the result Bufit ives
undestood that the i August canvass was
onlya trial Of >speed-the actual contest
lbefng only dcterminable in October. The
facs list M Davis declined to renew the,
contest then of course tan affect no legal
question now, as itdid not affect the well.
understood Mct that the August election was
conceded by the leading Republican editors,
among others, not to, be the legally ap-
pointed time for holding the Congressional
elections in West Virginia. = s1a-g5 ... Nv
g. Even If the convention had assumed q
power which Il. did not possess, any tordi-
nance or provision passed by iuwouh have
been void. : If this were even doubtful
question, It has been long since settled.
| Arguments from Story and Webster in the
Massachusetts convention. bearing directly
upon this point, have become authority
against the exercise Of such powers by q
notwithstanding. as they did with
singular power, the doctrine which confines
such powers tothe Legislatures Of the States
upon which it Is, directly conferred by the
Federal Constitution. 1t is not for the Re-
publican party to disregard all the prece-
dents which have been so long recognized !;
it is certainly no part Of the duty of Re
publican House to establish a new prece-
dent, now, which must be abandoned so
soon as it has served passing purpose.
2. All the facts and points bearing
upon this case appear SO sufficiently
in the papers accompanying the report
of the committee that it is useless for
us to repeat them now. 1t may not be
without significance. however, to say, as
may be said in defiance of any responsible
contradiction. that nine tenths Of the people
of West Virginia believed the October
election to be the true election, and that a
rejection Of their representatives, then
chosen, will be direct violation OF the will
and understanding of that people. Upon
this point We are satisfied that the proof, II
the Committee on Elections had asked for
il, would have been abundant and conclu-
sive. Ought not the popular win to be re-
spectedr It certainly should settle the
moral aspect Of the whole case. the legal
aspect being 80 clearly shown by arguments
which have yet to he answered.