The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1878-02-14
EX-SENATOR WILEY
,x,,carED AGAINST THE Sue
GksTIONs OF &. H. NJ.
..u., OF Mr.. NIIley, Mr.. MOL
lett and Others In the '""
stituiiOnaI ConV'h'
lion of 1872,
ruEP PUBLIC DEBT QUESTION.
,..--.snondence OF the Register.

In your issue OF the hEulsi IN l"l 'ho
s,b inst. there is 8 correspondence signed
.G II. NJ" which requires q passing
-,,ics not SO much from what 1t con.
tain. ~ what it does not. There is no
,sresa,y Tor sdverting to any general
criticism appearing therein, as ths ten
5ency of the views of sc. Il. NJ. is to-
wards psrtizsnship rather than philo-
.oos,csl comment. But q few errors that
are apparent by way OF inuendo, rather
than direct affirmation, of impure motives
10 senator Wiley, need some exposition.
In the first place Senator Wiley did
no, give uttersnce to the language at
tributed to him by your correspondent.
What he did say was as follows:
There is yet another kind of crime
which cannot forOear 10 no'ice. IL Is a
rrIIne OF tue deepest dye 1t strikes direct
~ al the national integrity. refer 10 the
violation OF the public falth-the Tepuol-
alton OF the obligation OF fcontracLS-W hich
d.snunOrs the records OF some OF The States
and u some of our municipalities, ana
II.
M itself into the chief council chambers
nfthe nation 4 reatening 10 lay its lei rous
hands Oh the ialr escutCneon Oh the kepub'
lie No personal sovereign dare be gully
OF such perhdy. He would be hlssed rom
inc recog nized fraternity OF all the mon
archles IN christiandpm. And can repub.
uCan Institutions survive such dishonOr:
Never. Honor and ustice are the life and
soul OF liberty. Liberty is u cha>te god
deSs To >ully her virtue Is 10 destroy her
claim to the homage and respect OF man
kind. IL is with a sense OF the most polg-
uant humIlIa lou that l have To acknOWl-
edge that West Virginia Is not altogether
lcrt T ON this contamination. when she
H,krI recognition as a state she presented
herself 10 Congress with CONSTITUTION eS-
p.essly and huuOrbly providing for the
assumption ana pay tnent OF an equitable
nroportiun of IN pubic debt OF Virginia "a.
My conn G. ion with that iransa tlun en-
Yg.rs me To know lha. she never would
nave been ecogDiZed with Vt That as
.umuilOu. But this solemn obligation has
han eXcmdel from the organ c law, and
fUr luly Included I'm tt - lett - legislative
discretion. II Is TO be hoped that the in-
rlence OF our public schools upon the
popular Intelligence and moral sentiment,
and the reclining and elevating culture
I,stminHlcd by our universities and coll
lrg,~, will ultimately etr'eNc this disaster
ana restore our young state TO the conf
u-ucr ana fellows lp Of all NlrtuOuS ana
honorable communities
The foregoing was obtained i,om Seas-
tor Wiley on requests IN Il nOte. accom-
paving It he says it contains AL the ref
erence, directly or indirectly" to West
Va. in the lecture. Let Us see whether
this be the "Stsb Of Brutus,' as q. Ill. |
NJ l. pleased TO term il. To support ttIs |
view OF the matter, he cites 'reminis-
rence' of the constitutional Convention |
of ls72-in which he mentions the report |
Of the Committee on Taxation and Fl. |
nance, aud the adoption OF the present
clause IN the Constitution on the question |
Of the State debt. Ii there be no imprO-
pr!ety in referring 10 a thing that does /
no. appear TO exist IN the document It.
self, as sufficient TO furnish the basis of |
bis charge mark how plain tale shall
pI. him down. On page IS Ot the jour-
nal of the Constitutional Conven-
ton in ls72, will be found
Cpmmunic Stion, and subsequent snd sc-
C,mpanylng documents, giving the
smount Of the NIfgIria bonds held by .
residents Of West Virginia, and the
names OF such holders. Senator Willey's
name :s not N thls list, and he is very
emphslic in saying 10 the writer hereof,
IN the note above referred 10 and else-
where, that he never did, and does not
now, own, hold or possess any Virgins
bonds, or sny form ol Virginia indebt-
oduesS of ary ca rsCler, either In1ivIdu-
ally or in trust. The ntims,ion, there
tore. that he Was 10 favor of the resOlu-
ton introduced hy Gen. Wheat raising
special committee 10 consider the "Nir-
gnIs debt because ot sny individual in
ierest IN the subject matter of the debt.
iss wholly grstutous, not TO use harsh
er expression, assertion on the part Of
"G Ii. NJ"
The resolution of Whest's was offered
on the lst o February 1872 (See Journal,
psge So, srd Mr. Woods, OF Barbour,
moved TO isy It on the table. A vote |
wss hsd on this motion by ayes and |
noes, and resulted in sn affirmative of25 |
and negative OF 4j. 1t may be q. Ii.
NJ. viii ind his own name in the affirm
s.ive. Senator Wiley voted in the |
negative Just why it was that "G. Ii. |
NJ. sud those who voted with him did /
lot think it proper 10 consider the ques.
tIOn OF the Indebtedness of West Nir- |
gjnis, If any, it is unnecessary TO enquire |
into. Every man is presumed 10 set .
from sense OF his own consciousness,
sad hss right TO act upon his own con-
y.cIl0ns, moral or otherwise. The
next day, February ID (See page
81 the commItte WAS announced. Mr..
W nest was the chairman snd M. Willey
r member Of it. On the following day,
February Sd, see page 92). Mr. Campbell
moved = reconsideration Of the vote rails
Ipg the committee, (which. upon vote
beng taken. was decided in the stirms.
tive Now, how it can be drawn from
the simple story OF the record that Sens-
tor Wiley is hsble 20 the imputsiion Of
being cismorous about the reputation of
the State whilst his individual interests
let him 10 join in lob, i! is impossible
- conceive. Ii il were not thst "G. II.
NJ. Iss genus, il might be suggested
ths: he is in danger of falling into q cst-
esory where the prerogsilves Of tbs!
high quslty would not avail. Mr..
Wiley did rot own then, never had
owned, snd does not now own one dollar
Of Virginia bonds or Indebtedness. There
were three members Of the committee who
die, Messrs. Brown OF Preston. Faulkner
snd Maslin. the two former As
slso the President, Hoa. Samuel Price.
the latter for what reason does not
sppesr) were excused from voting on the
motion to lsy Gen. Whesi's resolution
on the ;sble With as equal propriety
might every one OF the iorty.fve who
voted sgsinst the lstter motion be
charged with Composing sob" as Sen
Aior Wiley, and certainly &c H. M
would scarcely srrogste 10 himsel: so
much virtue Is 10 be able TO ST. in juds-
ment on this respectable number OF gen
tiemen, who, if they were not gifted
with such great powers OF discernment ss
he, be might permit TO pass as common
herd whose instincts were pSsssbly