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160 West Virginia’s Civil War–Era Constitution C h a p t e r 7 Controlling Banquo’s Ghost in a Changing Political Wind Although West Virginia Civil Era politics never knew a dormant season, around 1 September1869normalpoliticalintensitytraditionally magnifiedpreparatorytothe annual October legislative elections. Over the previous months, Granville Davisson Hall and Wheeling Republicans, suffering from electoral losses to Democrats in Ohio County and anticipating a less than promising political future there and in the state at large, had framed the general outlines of future “letup,” or liberal, Republican strategy. Consistent with dynamic change in the national Republican Party’s course, they hoped to align the state party with progressive change in the treatment of proscribed former Confederates to reap the possible political benefits. Implicit in their approach was the attempt to control the timing and conditions of removal of disabilities and of enfranchisement. Many conservative Republicans, or the “truly loyal” as their opponents called them, fiercely resisted more liberal treatment of the formerly disloyal. Compared to Hall, Lewis Baker, because of his chairmanship of the State Democratic Executive Committee, probably exercised more direct control over his party’s strategy and policies. In his 19 August 1869 editorial, Baker had previewed what became in some counties the Democratic approach to the October legislative elections .BecausemanyDemocratsandespeciallytheirpartyleadersweredisfranchised in many counties, the editor urged eligible Democratic voters to eschew supporting their party’s legislative candidates, as they could not win. He urged Democrats to support liberal or letup Republicans over conservative Republicans. In this way, Democraticvotescountedmoreandmightsecurealiberalmajorityinthelegislature when combined with the few elected Democratic legislators. The 28 October legislative elections would decide the prevailing political strategy and, more important, the course of postwar Republican proscriptionist policy. Banquo’s ghost might become more than an image, and liberal Republicans might not harness prevailing political winds. 160 Controlling Banquo’s Ghost in a Changing Political Wind 161 On 1 September, 132 leading Ohio County Republicans issued in the Wheeling Daily Intelligencer an address to the county Republicans voters. Archibald William Campbellwrotetheaddress,andheandChesterDormanHubbardheadedthesignatorycolumns .ThisaddressbecametheclarioncallforliberalRepublicansthroughout West Virginia and set the Republican approach to the legislative campaign. Noting the national trend in all states, the address emphasized that all leading national Republicans favored liberalized treatment of former Confederates. It concluded, “It is also as near certain as anything in the future can be, that the day of complete enfranchisement for all men, white and black, is close at hand.” Willingly or not, all Republicanshadtoaccepttheresult.ThenextU.S.Congresswouldcompletelyrestore Confederate states to the Union. No doubt existed that the Fifteenth Amendment would soon be ratified to forbid “all political discriminations in any of the states on account of race and color.” To maintain Republican ascendancy, West Virginia party members had to adapt to reality and national party policy.1 TheaddressdefendedWestVirginiatestoathsadoptedin1865as“necessaryifnot absolutely indispensable.” The test oath laws protected weak and exposed counties against the “return of the disloyal element to power and influence.” They “served well throughout the whole State, as a part of the great moral lesson taught by the war.” Nevertheless, Republicans had to concede that abuses of power had developed, particularly in regard to voter registration. Ultimate responsibility for these abuses rested with the rebellion itself, but Republicans had to ignore the engendered provocationsandexcitementtoprotectsociety ,notpunishtheoffender.Afterpublicsafety was attained, rigor of enforcement of test oaths or “semblance of persecution” could not be maintained. Present conditions of public safety, “even in the most exposed counties,” permitted the inauguration of steps to end “war legislation.” The address emphasized that the signatories did not “advocate an instant abrogation of the disfranchising clause in our Constitution, for that is impossible.” It proposed that the next legislature initiate the two-year repeal process of the clause (amendment of 24 May 1866). The legislature should immediately repeal the lawyer ’s, suitor’s, and schoolteacher’s oaths. The statute providing for voter registration should be retained to guard the purity of the ballot box, but certain provisions of the law required modification. Instead of appointment of county registration officers by the state governor, popular election of the officers should occur in such a way as to secure the minority party one registration board officer. A liberalized political approach became the Republican Party and was consistent with its record of patriotism and statesmanship during the war. Consistent with the party’s record and “as a matter of expediency among ourselves,” Republicans “cannot afford to keep a large body of our fellow citizens perpetually disfranchised and thereby perpetually disaffected.” Political ostracism caused emigration from the state. Continuance of...

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