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C 0N? Tl TU;T 1 N: AN D g AiE: OrARDlANS- OP OUR LIBERTY.
" Vol.
HILLSBOROUGH; N. C.y SEPTEMBER 2, 1863.
No. 2210.
111 9
'; From tha Raleigh 8unda'rd. ' ' ' '
. NORTH OAUOLiX.C POLITICS.
We copy under this head to-day, a very
able and interesting F.ditorial from the
Kayetteville Obttrvtr, to which wt invite
tiv attention of ur readers.
The Obttrvtr if correct, in laying that
the real originator of part feeling are
those who, administered the State govern
ment in 1 86t when our people determined
to resist Mr.. Lincoln's proclamation. But
we go farther and say , that tli was only
a part of the party programme that Ird tu
. r J 5 - I...!.' -I.ll III! - . I . I 7
Toe sniuivovn ui mr v iiii, anii wiucn nai
Irons ft inauguration at Mao turnery to
the present moment. When oar people
t pirated from the federal Union and Bait
ed themselves with the ' government at
Montgomery," thrf did to in the belief that
tneu anauea m opinions wuum mence-j
forth he political equals, and that the form
wf government adopted would be so ad
ministered aa to preserve the right of the
sovereign Stafea, and protect the free ex
predion ol thought andopinion." In thia
il.ry hate teen grievously disappointed.
The administration of Confederate affairs
l.a been atrictly partitas. No man who
did not regard the election of Mr. Lincoln
s good tauc lor ditanlving the Upion haa
ern adroittrd t the Cabinet coanrils of
the Preident. Pmacriplion ( och men,
(h in the field anil council, hat been Uie
urdrr of the day; and not only thia, hat
when tfcry hae complained of'sach treat
ment. and endeavotcd to Correct the errors
and blunders of the admintatratlon, ther
hale ben aaaailrd in venomooa ter-os.and
iltieatened with a hideous mat k vhich
would disgrace tliem and their childen.
Hot ern this could have been bore for
the sake of the conatrr, if the rights of the
Stitrt and the Itbrrtv of the citizen had
beeo rrtpected. Vhrn Nrth Carolina
eced'd the States were regarded as the
Matters d the Msteni.and tii government
the servant of the Statra to eircute their
i!l. Ihw it it now? t'nd'r the opera
tion of laws not warranted by the Consti
pation the war has craved to be voluntary
in its character, and the (ernors of the
Stat'S hate becocne mere rpgiter of the
will of Congreas and the Ktecutive. The
conscription and the tithing law leave Both
in t the Slates, bat the central govern
ment takes our fighting men with onr
hand, and lb? tenth of our substance with
the ether. If the first was reall? nrcensrv
the States themselves could have enforced
and each State could have kept iti quo
a of men in the field in brigadra, duly of
ficrred; and if provisiona were needed,
aod could not be purchaved, the States
could have furnished them by svstem of
utrchaaes of thrtr own, and taken met.
change for them the currency of the go
vernment. Seizures f peranns and pro
perty have become as common as they are
m t'rance and Komi. Pervontl liberty
havbeen made depmdfnt on the mere wid
of army nfiicers appointed by the Presi
dent, "llundrrds have been arreated for
"pinion's sake, Immured in duncmns, ile-
lord trials before the civil tribunal, and
irleaied only when the militarr power
hoe to do it. Our Court, when they
tue intrrp'ad to protect theve unfortu
tiatea and to uphd the law, have bcefi
litegarded in uianf int4ncps, and their
i-iivgrity reflected on in gro tr'rm he thr
"ar Department at Richmond.' The Con-tt-Ucate
currency, which is the tife-bloud
d the tTitnn, arid the emanation of plight
d pihiic faith, hit been some client
I'V'lntr.l a a matter of eonvenitnee ;
and a puition of it m one in!ancr lias been
iluaMbt aCaVmet officer, on the same
(round, m optn violation el a law of ton
j,rM. Osr patient, uncomplaining, heroic
Id.tra hivt been placed in tht an of ev
fry battlt and in the rear if almeat tvery
tetreatj and ha xhty have fought with
n ardor and a ttsidiieis wkitfb- would have
itfltcttd credit en the old guard of Dana
parte itself, just praise hat been denied
them by journals tuppsitd teipcak fir tht
Jdrrw -suatioe, and their fathers and bro-
' na V lom ,rt Conservativtt, have
cen held up at disloyal aod uifrieadly to
the cauae.- brigadiers and Major Generala
from other States have bren Dlared over
Lthemin many instance, and when auch offi
cers nave bero appoiutrd from our State
they have been almost invariaMy of the
same politics with the administration.
Proscription has thus been practiced over
the very bonea, and blood el our people,
superadded to all this has been the ap
pointment of surgeons, enrolling efficert
and the like from other States over our re
giments and over our people at heme, un
til tno crowning outrage wa reached by
the appointment of MaJ. Bradford, of Vir
ginia, to collect the tithes. This led to
the first public meeting held in this State;
and bat for this and other meetings, and
the earneat remonstrances of Gov. Vance,
M.j. Bradford would ttitl beTithiegman
for this State. '
Sorb are'some of the ciuaet thai have
roused Uye people of this State to a sense
of their rights, and led to the meetings so
much deprecated by the Observer. Out
there are other causes, growing out of the
4rnzan policy referred to. ami out of the
inefficiency which mast aiwavs character
ize a party administration tn'the tniditof
a great revolution like the present. The
ami of the whole country, u U true, have
been dedicated to this struggle, but only
half iu mind, if n much aa that, has been
called into reaaisition. The counsels of
eery great stttesmsn and good man who
did not believe that Mr. Lincnln'a election
was sufficient cause for inaugurating civil
war, hae bren as e flVctu a Ur excluded
from, the ear of the President fn bis prac
tical administration of the government, as
if thee had bren exiles ia foreign land.
The idea thai secession would be peacea
ble is the great misUke that underlies the
whole movement The President was
rged at Montgomery to purchase' the
stock of cotton then 4111 band as a means of
procuring ahips, munitions of war, and
other necessary supplies, and also a a ba
i for our paper currency ; and also to
rail for and accept fe hundred thousand
vlunters. U dfclinell to d it, aud pis
Congress ordered ffltm thousand tand of
arms, and borrowed fatten millions of dol
lars! Seeing his mistake? but nt admit
ting it by calling statesmen who had thus
advised him to his aid, he adhered to his
party policy, and ran tit the other extreme
of a general conscription of seven hundred
thousand men, without due regard to the
firoductive interests, on which a auecess
ul prolongation of the war muit mainly
depend. Under the lead of pet General,
whose incompetency is nuw known to all,
the great valley of the Mississippi has been
lost to us our own aeaceast has been lust ;
and hut for the genius of two or three of
our General in Virginia, and the sublime
courage of our veteran troops, the Con
federate capital itelf would Jiave pied
from our hand. Meanwhile the people
have bf,en deceived by the promise thst
cotyn would bring peace; that France or
Kngluul, or both, would interpoie ; that tHe
Northern people themelvre woolJ divide
and arrest the wf ; that invtsiona of the
at a I . -1 -
enemy territory wouid o turn rest mem
that they would .Yurce their government tu
negotiate; that Providence, seeing our
c.ooeto be jut, and our enemies altogether
Aiiktfd, would speedily lead u t with
lli strong right hand nfo the light of in
dependence. None of tiiese !vpe hae
been real. zed. U i the other hsnd, our ar
mies are nut materially increasing, while
our enemies re recruiting from twenty
millions of their own i. people, from thou
sands of emigrants from purope.'and what
is infinitely worse, from our slave popula
tion. Nn one, it seems to us, who will look
dispassionately at tht facts, wilt deny that
the foregoing is true. Tht Obttrvtr traces
the mischief" of division and ill-feeling
in thit State to the Ellis administration;
we ascend to tht main stream, aod shew
that thit mischief," aod many, il est ill
our misfortunes, originated in the policy
inaugurated at Montgomery, and which has
been continued. to thit day. Humble at
we are, and feeble, as ia our judgment in
public affairs, we would venture to sug
gest tome remedy for this condition of
things, arid some plan , for the future ; but
we could not hope tha! any thing we might
say would have aoy influence with the ad
ministration at Richmond. .
Toe Obttrvtr reminds us that wjten this
Stale ttcsded (for they would pass Mr.
Craige'a tecet$ion ordinance,) from tl old
government, that act waa " final." So
was to all human appearances,' and to we
hope it may be. Y e hope the State acted
finally,". and we still think she acted
V wisely." When two evila are before os,
and there is no escape, trot wisdom it
shown in choosing the lesser evil. Qur
State d'rd that. Her people did not desire
to secede. They were willing to try the
adminiatrationof Abraham Lincoln, and to
rely meanwhile on the great body of the
American-people to rescue the government
from sectional conflicts, 0 restore to it a
national administration, and thus perpetu
ate it, if possible, for all time. They felt
that, having with them both branches of the
Cangress and the Supreme "Court, Presi
dent Lincoln could not seriously injure
tneir property in slaves, nor deprive them
of their rights in the territories, even if he
would. They intended, if he attempted
aogh a thing, to resist him in the Union,
a iced as they would have been by one mil
lion of national men in his own section.
If, daring his. trial, he had driven our peo
ple with their slaves from the common ter
ritories, or attempted in any way by on
overt act to impair our right to. our slaves
in the States, they would have succeeded,
with the help of their Northern allies, not
only in checking hire, but in punishing him
blanch maladministration and corruption
in office." But the precipitate and wicked
action of the cotton state on the one
hsnd, and the cruel and wicked policy of
President Lincoln on the other, left as 00
alternative. We were obliged to fight our
full brother of the South or our half bro
ther of the North. We chose to do the
latter, jnd we acted " wisely." Jf wc bad
not done so, we should have been trampled
by both armies we should have had civil
war among ourselves the North would
have deopised us for our want of manhood,
and the South would hate rrguded us as
false t our own instincts and our own
blod. We repeat, nor State was cot a
free agent she was obliged to pursue, the
course she did. Thoughtful and sagacious
men, while they trod unshrinkingly the
path of doty', saw before them the fires of
civil war, but beyond these fires all was
darkness and uncertainty. Acting" final
lv" as ihey hoped, they put everything nn
the arbitrament of arms. Te result is
partialis- before us. The abolitionists or
the North and the original secessionists of
the South, acting and reacting on each
other, have in all probability "proved
themselves the most skilful architects of
ru'n that any age has produced." Slavery
ha stifle red more injury during the lat
t veara than would probably have be
fallen it in the long sweep of fifty years
under the old government. The peculiar
champions of the institution have placed iti
we lear, on the high road to extinction.
And just here, e beg leave to say to the
Obttrvtr, in th source of one ol the most
serious apprehensions of our people. The
sodden euiacipatiiin of our slaves in our
midt would be t'ie greatest blow which
cuM be inflicted on Southern society. It
would ruin thiS generation beyond redemp
tion, and its tflects would be felt for ages
to come. Nor would thit ruin be partial.
It would include the non-slaveholder as
well at the slaveholder, and finally the
slave himself. Subjugation, f it should
be in reserve for qs, would be emancipa
tion. Hence our people, while they are
for continuing the struggle, and while they
are still anxious if possible to make geed
their final" separation, are nevertheless
deposed to pry into the future, te. tee If,
in the hit rttort, tomtthing better than
tubjugation csanot be obtained, - If the
Went should stare thein ia the fact; it it
diet net new, but at it may, they would
have peace vader' certain circumstance! ;
yet if tht worst should come, and "they
cos Id itt no honorable tiodt of escaping
it, they would all die together with their
slaves and their little ones, fiirhtin with &
desperation which , the world hat never
wuuesseu. , V w ...
The Observer it disbosei to twit na on
our declaration in Msy, 1881, that thia
O . x a a a 1 .7 .
oiaie.nati pieuged to the cause her " latt
man and last dollar." Let ua a if ski.
pledge has not been redeemed. Thit Stato
has sent 95,000' men to the field. Tbis
comprises all her fighting papulation, (of '
course we did not mean to include the old
men ana yearling boys,) save those between
40 and 45. now beinr 'eonscrinttd. and
about 10,000 able-bodied original ttcet
sionisis, wno refuse to redeem the pledge
which they authorized as to make in May,
1861.' So much for the last msn." Our
debt, County and State, it equal in amount
to one-tenth of what the whole State would
bring in market, in silver and gold. The
"last dollar" in. specie, or ia convertible
paper, has long since ditappeared. The
State could no doubt borrow Confederate
money at a premium of two for one that
is, ahe could sell one of her one hundred
dollar bonds Tor two hundred dollars; bat
ten dollars in rnlrl aill hnrcbu. .!....
- - inib.i, vmw una. .
dred dollars in Confederate money; and it
ll -L t I. ... T
louowi -mar. sne couia test her Donas for
onlv ten cents in the dollar in ante!. s
much for the " last dollar." We reeret to
have to make these statements, but we are
obliged to do te in self-defence.
The Obttrvtr, very . ingeniously, and
very jus'tly in one sense, says that aegetia
tions tor peace can be -instituted pnlv
through the Confederate gevernment. Bat
we must look at things at they are, and not
at we would havebcm-U Mr. Lincoln -should
ao far recognize Mr. Davit aa to
open negotiationi with him, he would sur
render the whole question of the war. To
treat with the Confederate government for
peace is to recognize that government.
Will Mr. Lincoln do that? No. Will he
ever do it f Not unless the Northern Go.
vrrnors and Legislatures shall rise on anJ
Command him to do it. Is that probable?
Not in the present ttatut of things, ffe
msy irorry tiie Northern people to such n
point, or we raitht so interest foreign now.
ers as to induce them to tike steps which
would lead to inch a result; but ire these
things probable ? Not just now not,' we
a a . .
tear, ior some lime to come, wnat thenf
Shall we again invade the Northern States, '
and to distress them by fire and tword aa
to compel them to sue for peace ? ' Can we
do that f Are we able to do it ? We fear
not. What then?,. If the. Federal govern-
ment will not hear the Confederate govern
ment, it mav hear the sovereign Stitea. .
The people of theStates, North and South. '
1., ...
oy mutual co-operation, may 001 am an cr
miilice. If that can be dene, the tear imill
be at an end. Is it not worth the trial ? If
the two armies thould once rest to listen to
the voice of negotiation, our word far it
hostilities would , not be resumed. The
whole question would pass.nd pass fine
ly into the-hands of the statesmen of the
two sections.4 " Grim-visiged war would
smooth hit wrinkled front" the arbitra
ment of the sjivord would give place to the
voice of discussion and negotiation rea-'
son would be substituted for nasaion -and
revenge, and the exasperations ot the two
. -.1 1 k - o - :
and a calm aoevar of (he entire situation.
past, present, and future, would, leave the
mind of the country in a condition to de
vise tome mean tor rettar.ng peace on
terma honorable to all. Nor will these
movements by the States dtprest or dis
course one aaldie'rs in the field. On tbo
contrary, they will fight and endure with
. 1 J r .i .i .l 1 .. .
rcntwea cncenuiness wneu invy Know mat
thair tr'imnA at homa am omltf in ma
that may premise to crown them with the
1 f - l..J t
rewara 01 an mcir iwus jun ana noner-
ahl nor Hut it ia csid that inm. f Ilia
cotton States are 'already greatly distress
ed, and that ney mav toon indicate a wish
for negotiationi. Batjthey are already;
lubjogattd, and at tht mercy of the enr-
my. Mississippi aad Louisiana are pros
trate, suIUa and silent. They have cell
ed, m far as their people at bote are can
ccrned, both to fitt and talk for peace.
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