IVhole Xo. C.S3.
Tarborough, (Edgecombe County, X. C.) Tuesday, January 10, 1833.
Vol. VIII Xo 21.
TlC "Xu'fi-CarcJina Free Press,"
1SV GEOKGE HOWARD,
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Convention. In the House of
Commons, on Wednesday, the 2Sth
nit. Mr. Whitaker, of Macon, presen
ted the following Preamble and Reso
lutions, which were read, ordered to
J e printed, and made the order of the
'ay for the following Tuesday:
Whereas manv of the good
people of North-Carolina enter
tain the opinion that the Consti
tution of the State is defective
in some of its fundamental pro
visions, and requires amend
ment; more especially in the
present mode of Representa
tion, which instead of being on
the just and equitable basis of
taxation and population, is ac
cording to counties, unequal in
i;ize and greatly disproportion
ate in wealth and numbers:
And whereas, local jealou
sies and divisions, growing out
of this state of things, have for
many years existed among the
people, distracting the councils
of the Slate, and obstructing
liberal and wholesome legisla
tion a condition of things
which the character and pros
perity of the State loudly require
should be removed from among
us, that we may become one
people, possessing common
rights and influenced by a com
mon principle.
And whereas, many of the
good people of this State enter
tain the opinion, that the Seat
of Government should be remo
ved to some place uniting more
advantages than the city of Ra
leigh: Therefore, for the pur
pose of removing these defects,
on principles of compromise
and mutual concession, and
with a view of restoring good
feeling among our citizens, and
harmony in the councils of the
General Assembly:
Be it Resolved, by the Gene
ral Assembly of the State, and
it is hereby resolved by the au
thority of the same, that it is ex
pedient to call a Convention of
the freemen of North-Carolina,
for the purpose of considering
the propriety of amending the
Constitution of the S'tate; and
also of removing the Scat of
Government.
Resolved further, that it shall
l)o the duty of the Sheriff's of
the several counties in this
State, on the day of
next, after twenty days notice,
to open polls at the places
where elections are usually held
in their respective counties, un
der the same rules and regula
tions, as elections for members
of the General Assembly are
now held; and all free white
men over the age of 21 years,
having been citizens of the
State twelve months immediate
ly preceding the day of elcc-'-'on,
arc requested to attend
said polls, and vote for Dele
gates to a Convention.
And be it further Resolved,
that the delegates so chosen,
shall be distributed anions the
several counties as follows,-the
same being on the basis of fede
ral numbers, that is to say:
the counties of Ashe, Bladen,
Brunswick, Columbus, Carte
ret, Currituck, Chowan, Cam
den, Gates, Greene, Hertford,
Hyde, Haywood, Jones, Lenoir,
Macon, Martin, Nash, Onslow,
Pasquotank, Perquimans,Robc-
son, Tyrrell, and Washington,
each, one delegate the coun
ties of Anson, Bertie, 'Beaufort,
Cabarrus, Chatham, Cumber-
laud, Caswell, Craven, Duplin,
Davidson, Edgecombe, Frank-1
in, Halifax, Johnston, MooreJ
Montgomery, Northampton,
iNew-Ilanovor, Person, Pitt,
Randolph, Rockingham, Rich
mond, Sampson, Surry, Wilkes,
Warren, and Wayne, each,
two delegates the counties of
Burke, Buncombe, Guilford,
Granville, Iredell, Mecklenburg,
luitheriord, Stokes, and Wake,
each, three delegates the
counties of Lincoln. Oranuo.
tnd Rowan, each, four dele
gates.
Be it further Resolved, that
the delegates so chosen, shall
meet in Convention, on the
day of next, and when du-
y organized, shall proceed to
consider the propriety of adopt
in? the following articles as a
send by the settled ratio. When
there are two or more counties,
adjacent to each other, having
fractions over and above the ra
tio fixed on, if such fractions
when added together, will a
mount to the ratio, then one
member shall be added to the
county having the largest frac
tion. The first arrangement
on the principle of the amend
ment, shall be made by the Ge
neral Assembly, in the year
1841, and until then, the House
of Commons shall be composed
of members from the several
counties, as follows, to wit: The
resolution is at present in blank
as to the arrangement.
Art. IV. Ike General As
sembly shall meet onccj in eve
ry two years, but should the
public interest require it, the
Governor, in the interim, may
call an extra session.
Art. V. The Governor, Pub
lic Treasurer, and Secretary of
State shall be biennially chosen
on joint ballot of the two Hou
ses. No person to be eligible
to the office of Governor longer
than four years, in eight suc
cessive years.
Art. VI. Whenever any town
in this State, not now entitled
to representation, shall possess
a population of souls, such
town shall become entitled to
semi one member to the House
of Commons; and when any
town, now represented or here
after to be represented, shall
art of the Constitution of the, cease to possess a population of
State: And said Convention souls, then such town shall
hull be restricted and limited , forfeit tlje tight of rcpresenta-
to the propriety of adoption or
rejecting these articles, or any,
or cither of them, and no other.
tion.
Art. VII. No higher taxes
shall be imposed on the slave,
Article 1. The Senate shall jthau on the white poll, and
Decomposed of members, bien- slaves shall not be taxed at an
nially chosen, one from each earlier age than 'twelve years,
county in the State. Senators nor at a later age than fifty
and Electors shall both possess ; years.
the same qualifications as are
now required of each respec
tively, by the Constitution.
Art. VIII. The Convention
shall determine ou the expedi
ency of removing the Seat of
brotherly love, Jwithout which
no people can be prosperous
and happy; and which will ex
pose this boasted palladium of
liberty to the will of rapacious
tyrants. It is therefore eonfi-
uuuuy oenevea mat a mere
mention of these principles will
awaken a spirit of justice in
those who enacted those ob
noxious and onnressive laws.
ami who have the power to en
force obedience to them.
Be it therefore resolved, by
the General Assembly of the
State of North-Carolina, that
we, the representatives of the
people, do believe that the pre
sent Tariff is an indirect tax
upon the Southern States, un
called for at this time, unwar
ranted by the spirit of the Con
stitution, and, if not speedily re
pealed, will cmpoverish our ci
tizens, and stern necessity will
drive us into measures, at the
very thought of which all our
better feelings revolt.
Be it further resolved, that
our Senators in Congress be
instructed, anil our Represen
tatives requested to make the
most strenuous exertions, and
to use all proper means in their
power to bring about a repeal
of the most obnoxious of the
Tariff laws.
Be it further resolved, that
the foregoing preamble and re
solations he signed by the Spea
kers of the Senate and House of
Commons, and that a copy of
them be transmitted to our Se
nators and Representatives in
Congress.
Art. II. The House of Com-. Government, and it they deter-
mons shall be composed of mine on removing it, then they
members, biennially chosen by
the free white men of the tetate,
in the same manner as herein
after prescribed; and the mem
bers and their electors shall
possess respectively, the same
qualifications as are now requi
red by the Constitution.
Art. 1H. Representation in
the House of Commons shall be
equal and uniform, and shall be
regulated and ascertained by
the General Assembly, once in
shall fix the place of removal,
which shall become the perma
nent Scat of Government until
removed by the people in Con
vention assembled.
Tariff Resolutions. la the Sen
ate, on Wednesday, the 2Sth ult. Mr.
Dishough presented the following
resolutions, which were laid on the
table, and a message was seni to the
House of Commons, proposing to re
fer them to a joint select committee:
Whereas, the good citizens
every ten years, on the basis ofjof the State of North-Carolina
federal numbers, that is, three-
fifths of the black population
added to the whole of the white
population. The ratio on which
the Representatives shall be
distributed among the several
counties, at the period of every
ten years, shall be so fixed by
law, as not to give lower man
are now convinced that the pre
sent Tariff laws of the United
States are unequal in their ope
ration, unconstitutional in their
spirit, and vaccillating in their
effect upon all the Cotton grow
ing States: And whereas the
confederation of the States was
formed in the spirit of mutual
tlmn nnn hnn-!rnmnmmise. conciliation and
drcd "members to the House of j protection; and therefore every
Commons, over and above the ! law tliat is subversive or me iun-
Rcoresentatives of the towns, if
the borougn system snouiu uu
retained. When a county may
uot contain a sufficient amount
of federal numbers to entitle it
to a member, and when the
fractions of the adjacent coun
ties added thereto, are still less
than the ratio, then two or more
counties may be joined togeth
er for the purpose of sending
one member or more, according
to what they may be entitled to
damental principles and spirit
of that holy compact is destruc
tive to the permanency and du
ration of the Union, by cooling
the ardor of the republican spi
rit that cements the States to
gether by engendering jea
lousies among the different
States alienating the love and
affections of the people from
their government; and if perse
vered in, will gradually estrange
the spirit of reciprocity and!
Frow Washington City. The
following letter from the Hon. John
Branch to a gentleman of this place,
has been furnished us for publica
tion. Hulifax fldv.
Washington City,
Dec. 21, 1331.
My dear Sir: I have received
yours of the 14th inst. and will
cheerfully attend to your com
mands.
The papers afford you full
details of the proceedings of
Congress the business of
which may be said as yet scarce
ly to have commenced. Nu
merous matters, however, of
high interest, have been refer
red to the several committees
and will probably be reported
to the House early in the next
month. We may then, I think,
look for a warm, and, perhaps,
violent discussion upon some
of them, especially those rela
ting to a reduction of the tariff,
internal improvement, etc. it
is difficult to conjecture what
may be the result of the propo
sitions on these subjects. We
are not without hope, however,
that a modification of these
measures, regarded as so im
portant to the South, will be
obtained. On these points you
know my sentiments, and it is
unnecessary to say,?.that I shall
join in every reasonable effort
to get rid of laws which, to say
nothing of their doubtful consti
tutionality, are unequal and un
just.
I have the pleasure to enjoy,
personally, the good will of a
large number of the members
of the House, and with some of
them the most friendly intima
cy. This., in a measure, recon
ciles one to the tedium of Con
gressional duty, and the ab-
Uence from homes and firesides.
You have, no doubt, seen that
the public prints, both in Oppo
sition and in favor of the Admi
nistration, continue to heap their
abuse upon me. They seem,
indeed to have clubbed their
talents in these attacks, each
trying to rob me of the small
share of reputation I have re
ceived, by a course of faithful
service to the public for years
past.
The Opposition prints abuse
me, because I have not taken
the stand of enmity to the Ad
ministration which they say I
had threatened, and which
might have contributed some
thing to the promotion of the
views of their party, etc. elc.
Of this conduct of the Oppo
sition presses, I have no right
to complain. They have been.
my enemies from the moment I
took sides with Gen. Jackson.
Every man who goes into pub
lic life must expect his share of
this partisan obloquy, and must
be prepared to breast it man
fully or suffer perpetual annoy
ance and vexation. 1 have ne
ver sought to conciliate the fa
vor or propitiate the enmity of
the party. 1 neither ask their
friendship or forbearance.
The Administration papers
abuse me, because they say,
that my feelings and wishes are
against them, though I dare not,
from fear of the indignation of
my constituents, take a stand
openly in hostility to them, and
that 1 am pledged by declara
tions, made during the pending
of my election, to give the Ad
ministration my support.
It is very true that 1 did de
clare, that I would use my best
efforts in its support, so long as
the principles which brought it
into power, should be acted up
on and this 1 should have done
as fervently without a pledge as
with it; and this, in the case
supposed, will be faithfully giv
en. But should it happen that
the Administration, regardless
of its pledges, shall depart from
that course of policy, and that
line of limitation of its powers
as fixed by the Constitution, it
will be seen, that I dare do what
I believe to be right what I
have all my life determined to
do that is, support principles
rather than men. And if the
intelligent district 1 represent
should be dissatisfied with this
exercise of my discretion, I shall
cheerfully surrender the trust
which has been confided to mo
to some less scrupulous on
these points, and who will be
ready, fas aut nefas, to obey
the dicta of the powers that be.
But I trust that ihis will be un
necessary; and that, adhering to
the principles which have al
ways governed my public con
duct, I shall be justified in giv
ing a fair, and decided support
to the Administration; and at
the same time promoting, as
far as my influence can go, the
best interest of the country.
Yours, with much respect and
esteem. JNO. BRANCH.
. Cold Weather. The Wheel
ing (Va.) Gazette says, that the
mercury in the thermometer,
(Far.) on Sunday morning the
18th ult. at that place, stood at
16 degrees below 0 which was
10 degrees colder than the col
dest day last winter.
Petersburg Times,,
4