The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1874-12-23

be preserved in the integrity OF TIT
States. Their fame and their principles
are our heritage, and it is our duty to de
fend the one and to reassert the other
Especially is it the present duty, wher
no man can stand up in the presence o.
so many acts of fragrant usurpations, sc
many tendencies to the centralization Of
power, and assert that the Executive
power can be held in check and as subor'
dinate to the Constitution and law with
out the principle Of strict construction,
which has always been the cardinal and
fundamental doctrine of that party; that
without this there is no limit to Congress
sional legislation, without this there Is no
restriction on judicial Interpretation to
restrain executive usurpatlon, or clrcum-
scribe the action of corrupt, or wlllful,
or factious majority in Congress, and SO,
nothing to prevent that drifting to i'm
peralism which protects mobs in power
that overthrow States, and hastens the
approaches of eentralism. Without this
there is no reactionary principle or sentl-
ment embodied in party to take us back
to the simplicity, economy and steadfast-
ness of constitutional, law, and so guide
our destinies that we shall not be num-
bered among the wrecks of republics.
There is u historical descent of these
principles, married, interrupted, and en-
dangered by the crvss-purposes OF the side
parties which inflicted upon the country
the terrible scourge of the unnecessary
civil war. Who, and what is most re-
sponsible for such result? Those who
were willing to live on under the Constr
tuition as it was framed by those who
established the liberties of the cOun-
try, and rs it was construed and
administered by Jefferson, Madison,
Monroe and Jackson, or those who, by
loose construction, sought to introduce
the measures and policies of kingly gov
ernmcnts, and all Heterogeneous doctrines,
which could shipwreck public confidence
in the instrument itself, until such a
course would introduce, and did bring
into fearful prominence, that party which
denounced the constitution rs u "cove-
nant with death and agreement with
hell"
This was their logic Of destruction. This
was that extreme Of violence which al
firmed the necessity of destroying at once
the American church, and the American
constitution, and which united the intdel
and the Christian in q common cause,
and which, on the other side, now unites
all good men to maintain the one and de-
fcnd the other. 1t was that folly and
wickedness which laid ut the foundation of
their movement and caused the Ameri-
can Anti-slavery Society solemnly to
resolve, (Ani-&arery Eramn1"r, vol. Xi.
PIP. Hip "that the exodus of the slave
to freedom, ulicss it be one Of blood, must
be orcr the remains Of the present Ansert-
ca,, chmch and the Craze Of the present
Union." 1t is a narrow mind which can
not see that both of these issues are yet
involved in the controversy of the
future, though they may, now, take sepa-
rate lines of action.
The Tyranny of Rndicaism.
Is it necessary to recall the condition
of West Virginia during that war, and
under the dominancy of Il party, who rs
a BODY of partizans had such II political
and religious paternity They were the
men under whom constitutions were first
subvcrted, then were act up by incompc-
tent and unlawful assemblies; then dis
regard in matters Of election, under laws
made in open and fragrant violation OF
their own constitution; then the consttu-
ton altered by legislative enactmcnts,
and imposed upon hcpcople by minor
itv against majority, thus distranchis-
inr and thus dcciminatcd; registry
laws passed in violation Of their own con-
stitution, and administered by men who
violated their oath to support that consti-
tuition and to decitizCniZe their old friends
and ncighbors; debts repudiatcd as be-
tween individuals; estates coniscated and
plundcrcd by attachment laws which
were void, and unconstitutional; teachers
DISTINGUISHED and the funds of the COM
mon schools plundcred; lawyers disbar-
red BY acts Of legislation, pronounced by
the Supreme Court of the United States
to be unconstitutional; this decision dis
regarded, and these. acts sustained and
enforced by the Court Of Appcals.of the
State in subscrvicncy to the dictates ofpo-
litiral conventions which nominated the
judicial candidates for such express pur-
pose; murdercrs acquitted manslaught-
crs justified; citizens inCarCcrated with
out charge Of any offence in word or
deed" Ms was extracted from Major Dorr
on oath; and the courts Of law was fatal
pit of litigation, where the causes
which were not decided TO carry
out party purposes, or execute private
malcvolcncy were lett 10 the caprice or
the chances of ignorance or incapacIty;
the press personally malicious, political
" vindictivc, and socially trucbulcnt,
mischcvous and lcvclling; Pirrpoint
Governor, Boreman Senator, and II
Major, whose cpaulettes were won in the
saloons, was their scrvile agent and their
confidential advisor. And what pro-
produced the reaction and brought West
Virginia up among the foremost, to the
vindication ufthc Constitution and the
restoration of liberty? What, but the
faithful and unilnching assertion OF
Democratic principles? 1t WAS this that
has redeemed and saved the State. 1t
was this that opened the doors to the dis
franchised and returned them to their
homes. that aroused the slumbering sense
of danger against the actual evils of the
administration Of the State and National
governments, and their tendencies TO
consolidation and which has melted and
fused So many of the old line Wings into
the ranks of the Democratic party, and
filled the bench of the Court Of Appeals
from their numbers, and given them
posts of honor in every branch of the
State government, while no Democrat
has been elected to any place Of distlnc-
ton, except Judge Moore and Mr. Byrne,
And this was done by Democratic prin-
ciples. in the name of the Democratic
party, and by the tolls, dangers and sac
rifccs of Dcmocrats-not without the
aid of honest men who had become alarm
ed at the condition Of the country; not
without the aid Of generous and just men
who could not be misled by the calum'
MES Of the malignant and interested
from restoring to their fellow citizens
n ~