752 



WEST VIRGINIA. 



Motions to adopt the one or th'e other report 

 were successively made, and a warm discussion 

 took place, several delegates favoring, others 

 opposing either motion, respectively. The mo- 

 tion " to adopt the minority report, as a sub- 

 stitute for the majority report," was finally 

 put, and carried by a vote of 324 to 242. This 

 report constituted the platform on which the 

 Democratic party of West Virginia stood in 

 1870, and is as follows : 



The Democratic and Conservative citizens of "West 

 Virginia, desiring to aid in preserving free govern- 

 ment and in promoting the best interests of the State 

 and country, present to the voters of the State the 

 following declaration of principles, and invite their 

 cooperation in giving them effect : 



1. That the Federal Government has no right to 

 deny to States of this Union the privilege of equal 

 participation in its affairs, and that all distinctions 

 against the equal representation of States in Con- 

 gress, and. all Federal interference in the. purely 

 domestic concerns of the States, are unwarranted by 

 the Federal Constitution and ought to cease. 



2. That the present system of national taxation, 

 raising, as it does, the bulk of the Federal revenue 

 from the" labor rather than from the wealth of the 

 country, is unfair and oppressive, and that this sys- 

 tem should be so reformed as to relieve the industry 

 of the country from its unjust burdens, abolish the 

 unnecessary and vexatious features of stamps, licenses 

 and income taxes, dispense with the swarms of Fed- 

 eral spies that pry into the private business of the 

 people, eating out their substance, and provide for 

 the collection of the Federal revenue by State and 

 county officers. 



3. That the Republican party, by voting to ratify 

 the fifteenth amendment to the Constitution, has 

 shamefully violated its pledge, that the question of 

 suffrage should be retained within the control of the 

 people of the States. Calling to political power an 

 alien and inferior class, it has declared the white 

 man incapable of self-government. In opposition to 

 this monstrous doctrine, we invite all intelligent 

 white men to unite with us in asserting the principle 

 that the white race is the ruling race or this republic. 



4. That the bill to enforce the fifteenth amendment, 

 lately passed by Congress, is contrary to public morals, 

 in that it offers premiums on perjury, subversive of 

 the States, in that it gives Federal authority control 

 of State affairs, and destructive of the peace of the 

 country, in that it invests the negroes with exclusive 

 and peculiar privileges, lifting them to power and 

 dignitv through the degradation of the whites. 



5. T_ hat wo are unalterably opposed to the bill 

 lately introduced into the United States Senate by 

 Senator Sumner for enforcing the social equality of 

 the races, placing negroes upon juries, and abolish- 

 ing all distinctions between the races. 



6. That for the advancement of West Virginia in 

 all her interests, and especially to secure good gov- 

 ernment to her people, we demand : 



Thorough reform in our system of local offices and 

 the greatest reduction in the number of such offices 

 that may be consistent with the public interests. 



Prompt collection of the large tjalances in favor of 

 the State which, through Republican incompetency, 

 have accumulated in the hands of delinquent sheriffs, 

 such faithful management of the State finances as 

 will prevent further deficiencies in the revenue, and 

 such economy in appropriations as will secure the 

 administration of the Government at the least cost to 

 the tax-payers of the State. 



A public policy that will invite immigration, capital, 

 and enterprise into our State ? in lieu of the measures 

 of the dominant party for driving these elements of 

 growth and greatness from our midst. 



The continued exclusion of negroes from the public 

 schools attended by white children, in opposition to 



tbe radical policy of mingling the races in those in- 

 stitutions. 



Full protection to the people against the outrages 

 provided for by the registration law, and constantly 

 committed by registration officers. 



The prompt abolition of every test-oath upon the 

 statute-books of the State. 



And, finally, to wipe out the injustice and the dis- 

 grace incident to the disfranchisement in our midst 

 of twenty-five thousand men of our own race, while 

 negroes exercise the elective franchise without hin- 

 derance or condition, we demand a free ballot for 

 white men, and the immediate enactment of such 

 measures as will secure it. 



The nominations were as follows : For Gov- 

 ernor, John T. Beach ; for Judge of the Court 

 of Appeals, 0. P. T. Moore ; for Secretary of 

 State, John M. Phelps ; for Treasurer, J. S. 

 Burdett ; for Auditor, E. A. Bennett ; for At- 

 torney-General, Joseph Sprigg. 



The enfranchisement of the negroes and the 

 disfranchisement of the whites, together with 

 the registration law and the manner of its 

 execution at the hands of the ^Republicans, 

 seem to have been the subjects which have 

 almost entirely engaged the' attention and im- 

 pelled the action of the Democrats for some 

 years past, but chiefly in 1870. 



The Eepublicans met in State Convention at 

 Parkersburg on June 22, 1870. The Com- 

 mittee on Platform submitted a majority re- 

 port, which fully indorsed the action of the 

 representatives in the last session of the Legis- 

 lature, and also recognized the right of each 

 individual to think, speak, and vote according 

 to his best judgment and the dictates of his 

 own conscience. 



A resolution was reported favoring the re- 

 moval of the disqualifications and restrictions 

 imposed on late rebels, in the same measure as 

 the spirit of loyalty directs, and as consistent 

 with the safety of loyal people, and recom- 

 mending such legislation as will be necessary 

 to carry it out. 



The whole State ticket was renominated. 



The government of West Virginia was or- 

 ganized in 1861, and her organic law, subse- 

 quently framed and adopted by the Constitu- 

 tional Convention, was ratified' by the people 

 in 1863 almost unanimously, the vote having 

 been 27,748 for, and 572 against it. The only 

 oath which this constitution authorizes the 

 Legislature to require of the citizens is that of 

 supporting the Constitution of the United 

 States, and the constitution of the State. The 

 restrictive provisions of the registration law, 

 which the Legislature has subsequently enact- 

 ed, the Democrats denounced not only as arbi- 

 trary and unjust, but also as contrary both to 

 the letter and spirit of the State constitution. 

 The report of the Auditor for the previous 

 year showed the number of the disfranchised 

 citizens in the State to have been 29,316, of 

 whom the Democrats averred that " fully one- 

 half were wrongfully debarred from the right 

 to vote." 



Concerning the duty of registration officers, 

 and the right of citizens to register and vote, 



