The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1877-08-06
Tho SIArtInsburg Meeting Satur.
day Night.

say on behalf Of her claims to the seat Of
government Of West Yirginiu. The
Square is not us good a place to hold a
meeting as the Court House, on account
Of the large number Of Juveniles who
congrcgate there in the evening, and also
on account Of the fact that the acoustic
properties Of the back ground are not by
any means satisfactory. Another draw.
back was the lack Of volume to Judge
Hogc's voice, which could scarcely be
heard half way out on the pavement.
But Tor these drawbacks, his address
(which was the only one delivered on nc.
count Of the illness Of Mr., Doteler, his
coIIeague) would hayO been much more
effective, 1t was, in the main, very fair
speech, and in some respects was the
laireSt presentation Of the Capital qucs.
ton we have heard during the canvass.
lie aroused considerable, curiosity at
at the outset Of his remarks by
the declaration that in his judgement no
one Of the places nsuied in the bill, Meth.
er Martinsburg, Clarksburg nor Charles
ton, were ct points for. the location Of the
Capital. LeSSt Of all did he seem to
think Charleston a ct place for the Capt.
tai. He said that MArtinsburg had not
n,ked to be put in the bill. No lobby was
present from that locality cIectioneering
on her behalf during the pending Of the
bill in the Legislature. On the
contrary, her name was put in.
to the bill by those who had
other purposes to serve (meaning the
Charleston 'chemers) and tho wires be-
tween Wheeling and Martiusburg were
kept tremuIous with messages appealing
to influential citizens Of the Eastern Pan.
handlsto apply the pressure necessary to
secure the passage Of the bill. Judge
Hoge alluded to a declaration by Mr..
Ferguson in this canvass that Clarksburg
was put into the bill after calculation
by the Charleston interest that she
was the weakes! (lCat competitive) point
in the First District, but nevertheless
strong enough to bring the requisite
amount Of voters in the Legislature to
insure the passage OF tue bill. The whole
connection Of the Capital bill showed it
to be creation Of personal and local in.
trigue, got up without any reference to
the real interests Of the State. lie there,
fore denounced it as crime against the
people Of West Virginia. crime thai
no one man in the Legislature would
have dared to perpetrNte. He denounced il
as an attempt to forsetall the public judg.
ment, in thatit refused to allow the people
to designate their real choice in the mat
ter Of Capital location, and instead Of
that compelled them to choose between
three points, no one Of which was, in his
opinion, tho proper place for said lOca.
ton. He referred to the language OF the
constitution Of West Virginia, which
said that the Capital should remain at
Charleston until Otherwise provided by
law" This provision contemplated the
exercise Of the power Of the Legislature
over the question whenever it might see
ii: to exercise 1t, but in derogatior
Of this power the late Legislature
had seen ltto provide for bargain and
sale by which the .}oard Of Public Works
were to have the power to forever estor
any future Legislature from reopening
:he question Of location. Coming down
TO the matter Of choice between the three
points named in TIE bill, Judge lIogC
showed up, in modest way, what he con,
sidered the advantages OF Martinsburg
1t is accessible from Rll parts Of The
State. 1t is decidedly less trouble to q
from Wheeling to Msrtinsburg thar
from Wheeling to CIarksburg, as
those who have been compelled
10 stop and lie over at Orator
can testify. And as for Charleston, HI
related how that party OF legislator
had once upon a"midnight dreary
called upon him on their return from
Parkersburg, from whence they had vain
ly endeavored to get to Charleston, ant
from whence they had been turned bach
by the ice, thus compelling them to sees
their way to the then Capital OF the State
by Harper's Ferry and the Valley Of Vir
glnia. Judge Hose sRid that Martins
burg was only 81 miles distan
from the National Capital, and only 9S
from Baltimore. He thought that it wa
good thing for Legislature to be OK
posed to outside rays Of intelligence.
was benefit TO all men to come within
the focus Of such rays. The danger o
legislation ia no; in seeing and knowing
too much but too little Of the world
Acquaintance with the world gave
men broad and liberal ideas aut
enabled law makers to legislatC
in spirit Of statesmanship insteat
ola spirit OF local, personal and partisan