306 



CONGRESS, U. S. 



BOD, Wood. Jackson, Wirt, Roane, Calhoun, Gilmer, 

 Barbour, Tucker, Lewis, Braxton, Upshur, Randolph, 

 Mason, Putnam, Kanawha, Clay, Nicholas, Cabell, 

 Wayne, Boone, Logan, Wyoming, Mercer, McDowell, 

 Webster, Pocahontas, Fayette, Raleigh, Greenbrier, 

 Monroe, Pendleton, Hardy, Hampshire, and Morgan, 

 according to the boundaries and under the provisions 

 set forth in the constitution for the said State of 

 West Virginia and the schedule thereto annexed, pro- 

 posed by the convention which assembled at Wheel- 

 ing on the 26th day of November, 1861. 



2. Be it further enacted, That the consent of the 

 Legislature of Virginia be, and the same is hereby 

 given that the counties of Berkeley, Jefferson, and 

 Frederick shall be included in and form part of the 

 State of West Virginia, whenever the voters of said 

 counties shall ratify and assent to said constitution, at 

 an election held for the purpose at such time and under 

 such regulations as the commissioners named in the 

 said schedule may prescribe. 



3. / it further enacted, That this act shall be trans- 

 mitted by the executive to the senators and represen- 

 tatives of this commonwealth in Congress, together 

 with a certified original of the said constitution and 

 schedule, and the said senators and representatives are 

 hereby requested to use their endeavors to obtain the 

 consent of Congress to the admission of the State of 

 West Virginia into the Union. 



4. This act shall be in force from and after its pas- 

 sage. 



Mr. Colfaz, of Indiana, urged that West Vir- 

 ginia was entitled to admission as a State, for 

 the following reasons : " Two things are re- 

 quired by the Constitution of the United States 

 for the admission of this new State : first, the 

 assent of the Legislature of the State out of 

 which it is to be formed ; and secondly, the 

 assent of Congress. The decision then turns 

 to a great extent upon the question whether 

 the Governor now acting as the Governor of 

 Virginia, and residing at Wheeling, and the 

 Legislature to which he communicates his mes- 

 sages, are really the Governor and Legislature 

 of the loyal people of Virginia. I think they 

 are, and that the history of events in Virginia 

 will prove that fact. 



" When, in February, 1861, *he traitorous 

 authorities of Virginia attempted to take that 

 State out of the Union, the people of Western 

 Virginia nobly resisted that conspiracy; and 

 instead of joining with their fellow citizens in 

 other parts of the State, they called together a 

 convention elected by the loyalists of that 

 region, and some other counties not' included 

 within the boundaries of the new State, and 

 determined to stand, at every hazard and 

 through every persecution, by the Union as it 

 was. That convention, speaking the voice of 

 all loyal Virginians, called all the members 

 elect of the Legislature chosen as they were 

 on the day prescribed by their State constitu- 

 tion who would take the oath of fealty to 

 the Union, to meet at Wheeling ; and thus a 

 loyal Legislature, chosen in accordance with 

 the constitution and laws of Virginia, assembled 

 and was organized. This machinery of the 

 State government had been abandoned by Gov- 

 ernor Letcher and by the Legislature which 

 participated with him in his treason. It hav- 

 ing thus lapsed, the loyal people of Western 

 Virginia took possession of thia machinery, in 



order that all the State might not be driven 

 into this wicked rebellion. 



" The next question is, has this loyal Legisla- 

 ture been recognized ? There are facts enough 

 in the action of the various branches of this 

 Government to prove to us that they have, one 

 and all, fully, and in various ways, recognized 

 this as the only true and rightful government 

 of Virginia." 



Mr. Teaman, of Kentucky, said : "Mr. Speak- 

 er, I do not desire to debate the question, but 

 prefer to avail myself of the kindness of the 

 gentleman from Indiana to ask him a question. 

 I understand the theory on which Virginia is 

 now represented in this House and hi the other 

 wing of the Capitol to be this : that the ordi- 

 nance of secession was null and void, and did 

 not take the State out of the Union ; that the 

 government at Wheeling is not merely the do 

 facto government, but is the legal government 

 of the people of the State of Virginia, as sht> 

 heretofore existed in the Union, and that if 

 those disloyal people east of the mountains do 

 not choose to avaU themselves of that govern- 

 ment, it is their own fault. Now, the question 

 is, if Virginia is already in the Union, and is 

 represented on this floor, and in the other end 

 of the capitol, what need is there for another 

 act to let her in again ? If it is intended to di-. 

 vide the State, what fact takes her case out of 

 the constitutional prohibition that no State 

 shall be divided, and no new State shall be 

 erected in the jurisdiction of another State, 

 without the consent of the Legislature of that 

 State ? " 



Mr. Colfax replied : " I will answer the gen- 

 tleman from Kentucky with great pleasure. 

 This is not Virginia that is being admitted into 

 the Union. It is West Virginia, a different 

 State. It does not embrace the whole territo- 

 rial limits of Virginia, and I am glad to say 

 that it does not even embrace all the loyal 

 people of Virginia. It embraces only forty- 

 eight counties. But 'there are people left ia 

 the old State of Virginia, in the Accomac dis- 

 trict, along the Baltimore and Ohio railroad, 

 and fronting Washington City, that are loyal. 

 The loyal people thus remaining are not many, 

 to be sure, as far as we know now ; but I tru^t 

 that in time they will be enough, with the 

 power of the Government aiding them, to 

 leaven the whole mass. These people, loyal as 

 they are, are left with old Virginia; but what 

 we propose to admit by this bill is a differet.t 

 State. It is West Virginia." 



Mr. Crittenden, of Kentucky, opposed the 

 measure, saying : " Sir, can any argument 

 make stronger the case than the mere stato- 

 ment of the question ? The Constitution sa) s 

 you shall make no new State within the ju- 

 risdiction of another State without its con- 

 sent. You are asked to make Western Vir- 

 ginia into a State. The Constitution requires 

 that the State of which the new State has 

 formed a part shall give her consent. Where 

 is there room for doubt? If the Constitution 



