The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1876-09-11

NOEneea Who AAbhtAOSas sAasst = $50 = a.
laboring under a mistake for good while
Il he was in favor Of putting down the
rebellion ! must have been In favor OF the
rebellion, because be was directly opposed
to me In every particular; and so in re-
gard to Mr.. Hendricks. Mr.. Mcdonald,
and all OF them. They antsgoniIed every
position that l occupied and every po1
sition that the Republican party occupied
whatever we we're in favor Of, they were
against; so that II they were against lne
rebellion II follows that we must nave
been In favor oft. Laughter and cheers;
Now, my friends, II may not Be InpfOt !.
liable 10 review the history o. lndlah u. !"
little during the war, and see Il these as us
tinvuished leaders Of the DemoGrauc
naEty and that party itself were In favor
r. pII hitting down the rebellion, Let US
ox az nina and acc who were the friends oil
the Government in the hour .. .tisi Is -
that YOU may determine what trust ana
confidence should be put in their present
pfTTISe S October election Of 1852, for mem
hors NJ the Legislature and State officers,
o oe1S NJ Governor and members Of the Su-
nrsHie Court, was carried by the Demo-
cratic party; almost by default, by nearly
eleven thousand majority. a great many
Republicans were in the field. The Ma
ton was IN gloom. We had been some
what unfortunate in our arms, and many
were departing Of suppresSing the rebel
lion. Tie Democratic party with one
accord said: "You can not put down the
rebellion in that way" and the hearts Of
many were failing them. The result was
that the election went almost by default,
and they elected a large majority In each
branch Of the Legislature and the State
officers; and thus had all the polit-
ical power in the State except
that Of the Governor; and lacking
that, as II turned out, they lacked a good
deal. [Cheers.1 The Legislature met
the first week in January. The two
houses were organized under the law.
The custom had been in this State, ever
since its formation, that when the two
houses we're organized they would come
together in joint convention in the Hall
OF The House, and the Governor would
read his message in person. There was
no law requiring the message TO be read
by the Governor in person, but that was
the practice. They did not come togeth-
or in joint convention, and ] was given TO
understand in various ways that they did
not intend to do 1t, and had no use Tor
the Governors message. Now the Consti-
tuition required the Governor to commu-
nicate with the Legislature, and It re-
quired them to hear the communication;
but as they failed TO come together, l had
nothing to do but to print my message,
and adopting the practice of the Presi-
dent OF the United States and some Of the
other States, send a copy Of my message
into each house. The House passed a
resolution instructing the Clerk to re:
turn my message to me, and he did 80. |
was not in the office when it was returned,
but was told that II was
BROUGHT BACK ON A sHINdLE.
A day or two after that they passed a
resolution indoising the message OF Gov.
Seymour, Of New York. gHa
This was a very bad beginning Tor a
Legislative body, and il went on from bad
to worse. Disloy al resolutions were intro
duced from time to time; disloyal speeches
were made; the Government was denounc.
ed; the war was denounced: | was dc.
nounced as the Governor Of the State,
and every measure Of the Government
for the suppression Of the rebellion was
denounced as unconstitutional and wick
cd. In three or four weeks after the
opening OF the session, bill was brought
forward, called the Military Bill. 1t
provided that the four State oflicers-the
Treasurer oil. the State, Secretary ofState,
Auditor OF State, and Attorney General
should constitute a Military Board; that
they should have the appointment Of all
officers in the militia Of the State OF In
diana;that they should have the command
Of the militia; that they should have the
control Of tho arms and munitions OF war,
placing tho whole military power OF the
State in the hands Of these four State
officers. Now, the command OF the mill
tia belonged to the Governor Of every
State, necessarily and properly, as the
executive power. The bill further pro-
vided that the Indiana Legion, which
was then organized, and which was guard
ing the border counties from the incur
slons OF the gucrrillas from Kentucky,
and rendering valuable services, should
be dissolved, and the arms deliy-
cred up into the hands Of these four State
officers or their agents. II provided,
further, that the commission Of officers
in the Legion, instead Of being issued by
the Governor, a. the Constitution re-
0uires, should be issued by these four
officers. The bill was unconstitutional
in every particular; it was simply rev.
olution in the form Of a legislative act.
Now, when that bill was brought forward,
| could not belieye for moment that 1t
was their intention to pass it.
IT WAS so INDUSTRIOUS.
| knew that il it passed II would in
yolye the State in civil war in twenty.
four hours. The result would have been
10 take the State bodily into the rebellion,
or, II that could not be done, make her
neutral, 90 as to furnish no aid TO the
/ found before long that II
was determined to pass It; that it had
been resolved upon in midnight caucus,
and that il would be enacted unless pre-.
vented by some bold and daring step. l
could have vetoed It, but mere majority
could pass il over my veto. Under the
Constitution OF Indiana mere majority
can pass bill over veto. Every hour
that the bill was pending It endangered
the peace OF the State. II created alarm
throughout all the loyal States, and ex-
cited the most intense interest on the part
Of the Government. / knew that II the
bill passed 1 could not afford to surren.
der my authority as Governor. l had
taken an oath to administer It according
10 the Constitution and the law, and !
knew that the Government Of the United
States would be bound TO sustain me. !
knew / could hold my position, but II
would involve the State in civil war, and
our people would be cutting each others
throats in every county. ! knew there
was but one way to prevent the passage
Of that bill, and that was to h.
BREAK up THE LEGISLATURE.
The Republican members determined
10 withdraw from the House. They did
not commit the folly Of resigning, so that
they would not be counted In making a
quorum, but quietly got upon the cars
and went to Madison, where they could