Year: 1866

| lnSIltutipih- luOuSu lucy hdNO pCCl


our enemies, they are men, and brav


men too and if trampled upon, the.


will turn upon the oppressOr at ever,


opportunity Put yourselves for mo


ment in their places-would you not d.


so too?


There are sections of our State wher,


the people, owing to their locality, were


all more or less engaged in supporting


the rebellion Do you intend to depop


ulate this territory, and drive away its


inhabitants in order that malignant


and selfish men may seize upon then


houses aud farms, or purchase them fol


a mere tritie ? The people of portion


of the State have had no voice In framing
| your constitution-no vote upon the
| question OF its ratification. They were


not consulted when you included them


IN the State, and many of them did not
| know until recently that YOU had done
so They are taxed without representa-.
tion, and governed by laws they have
had no part in framing. They have
| had no voice in selecting the officers,
small or great, by whom they are gov
I'erned, fOr by your test oaths you have
hitherto deprived them of the right OF
voting and holding office If they hold
an election, the Governor sets it aside,
without scruple or hesitation, and fills
the vacancy thus created to suit him.
self. You have subjected this people to
the misrule Of men whom they detest,
and TO almost every oppression and in
dignity which the ingenuity of the rad
ical faction can devise; and now by the
proposed constitutional amendment, you
are going to eXtinguish every hope that
tn cir rights will be restored TO them, or
that they may look forward to any bet.
ter state of things under your govern
ment. Must they always be deprived
of the right of selt-government! BY an
act passed at the recent session, the Off
ces within the Ninth Judicial Circuit are
to be filled by men selected by the Judge
of the circuit, who is himself an ap-
pOintee of the Governor, and who, when
a candidate was signally rejected by
the people. Must the people OF that cir
cuitbe always governed By the pro.con-
suls you may send them You took
/ them into the State without their con
sent-if you govern, you are bound to
protect them, Is it thus you govern a
people whom it is your duty to protect 2
If you become the tyTants of Others your
own liberty cannot be secure. The
same men who persecute and oppress
them, will persecute and oppress you, If
they can obtain the power to do so.


The great rebellion has been over
thrown Those who were engaged in 1t
Were our enemies, but the war is ended.
1t is our duty now to support the policy
Of the President in restoring peace and
harmony to the land Our own interests
require it Shall we sacrifice the pros,
perity of our State TO the spirit OF
nersecntion aud revenge2 We can
not prosecute and punish
whole people for crime, however
great the crime may be. Though they
haye been enemies, waging war against
us, we must hold them as we hold the
rest of mankind, enemies in waT-in
peace, friends" The recent addresses of
President Johnson show the spirit which
ought to govern us, and it will be well
for us, if setting aside tho counsels of
vindictive men, we apply his principlesin
West Virginia. "IfyOu, and | and Others"
said the President, in his address to the
Baltimore committee, have been en-
ployed for four years in resisting sep
aration of the Union, and now have
reached a point when rebellion has
ceased-if we can be instrumental in
conciliating and bringing back all the
people to an honest, loyal and thorough
support of the Government, it seems to
me that we are doing good deed, and
accomplishing the work we undertook
n Of
families, that there are differences and
feuds, but when the differences are I'M
derstood and arranged, and when the
feuds subside, the parties can approach
each other, feeling more kindly towards
those from whom they had been estranged
than they did before" We can never
conciliate and bring back these people
to "A loyal support of the Government by
prosecuting them, aud the welfare of our
new State depends upon allowing these
feuds to subside in West Virginia.


The radical and extreme party claim
to be the only Union men And yet in our
own State, in Congress and throughout
the country they are the only men who
are resisting the restoration of harmony
and Union Their devotion TO the Union
consists In constantly prating about
rebels and rebel sympathiZers, while
they are indulging their own spirit of
vindictiveness and persecution. They
are continually repeating to u.s. that the
State Government ought to be in the
hands of loyal men, and that they are
themselves the only loyal men that it
should be in the hands of the friends of
the new State, and they are themselves
the only friends of the new State that
disloyal men ought not to vote or hold
Office. and that everybody who is opposed
to them is disloyal. BY their fruits.
fellow.citizens, yc shall know them Let
them be Judged by the measures which
they have adopted. Have they regarded
the constitution which they have sworn
to support ! Have they not violated
the principles of free republican govern
ment, and of natural right and Justice,
in the laws they have enacted Are
their measures calculated to secure good
government in West Virginia, aud pro
mote the welfare and prosperity Of the
State If you can answer these ques
tions in their favor then give credit to
the loud professions they make Their
chieftain in the Senate of the United
States. Charles Sumner, 0f Massachu-
setts. a man whose COunsels IN the end
have ALWAYS been followed by the radi-
cal party. has told US that a long proba-
tion will be needed before those who
were our enemies, can be admitted to
their former fellOwship-tha the state