Newspapers / The Durham Recorder (Durham, … / May 23, 1866, edition 1 / Page 1
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n;,-j-h-un;j rduMt , tthru.t.ysl Xa'w salt t.v nilk) vt;, . . -i.v'. .' ' j ,. . , . J ,.. ' .... I j''"1, ' nun i i .l. r I ! j..tJ in.', t .. . u , .rr ii k uows ill u J iun API u THE LA wa THE GUARDIANS OF OUR LIBERTY t. V t i ' .A ' " . ' J ' ' (1 i. t i 13 I I IIlXLSBOMUGH, N. C., MAY 23, I860 Nd.'2S38. t-i m rjrL-n: 'i " f I -r,'. ti 11: 1 ,w! Bilogy of Ei Got. Kanly on the Life and gerrlees li Kin.' worgi fi. siigtr r i takin; the cluif, Grnr. Mini r id fd thf irfeetifijii rolloWii" 1 ,; ' A pronilled iii jeerilT "i iMie we fr tluce tiUjr the rennrki M MVdiitliijttifch rd twnmn, Ki Grtt. Mihl piidi tTter Mi ielrction ai' p'resldinsf officer if the itier'tln which' convened here hit Satur day in ilo hftnor fo the memorj of Ex-Sih 4 On dreited .. FttliW titizent nd Ftlow member t aftkt Br : II I had th intellectual or physical abil itjr at this time to detfrer in .eloquent en lo;itim epnn the death of our frienJ, this i nnt the occatian. nor this the audience fer hirh I thou Id deem it neceMtrj to dmo. .From a ter , lwnf and intimie acquaint nice with the deceaed, commrncinx with ur bofhond. and reachinz tu the termina tion ofhia life aftec a prind ol fifiw '? ers r more of intimate political, saal ami peruana! friemUhip, without having a cloud intervening between 01 I think it, per hap, nt inappropriate to give to many her, who did not know the earlr hUterjr ol Mr. Hader ai.d hi career, a few fact ti'at war, perhp, intereftt them. , tie waa brn n the 13th of April. 1795, anl was eeotr-me yeara of afe last ronflih. He wat a pir vuun; man. Ilav in received frmn hia encle. Hrla Badger. f I'hitadelp'iU, a portion ol hi education, I e canie to New'jcrn and tdiel law in the office of his kinsman, the late Juhn Stanley. He came here in the summer of 1816 to obtain a license (being then !y twentjrone yer f age.) to gn into coort. It wa then that 1 6rt bream acijuainted with him. Ile obtained his )icrne and returned to Newbern, and. q jHf course of that Mmmer. V r --"-' nbf f the IeiiU' the'aixwoJr, lhu-h of rare prounsc and if 1i iiMll attainments, estrsoriiinarr colloquial abil it aO'l line debating puwer, ami instantl took a position that no other man ba'l khown or thought tike a mrteor that had at dn among them, no one kbowing front whence it came. I remcmbrr it well. it The late chief jtice ItufiJn. who wa at that time a member of the legulatiire from the tovn ol lIiilboruh, waa elecrd. du ring that session, a joUe ol the auperivr co-irt. Ileing attractnl bjr the brilliant ta lent develops at earl a period in Mr. . Jhdger, he invited him logo to llillsbor ueli, take his bundle of papers with him, nd tay there. He did so. He took Iii . practice in the courts and very earl be ta mi e dislinguishrd as one ol the leading members ol the bar, as he was. While on this circuit, (I forget how long.) he raarrird the daughter ol Uov. Turner in the town of Ijouubuig, where he lived but a hort time before be waa elected a judge of the fcuperwr coon, i rememner being there at the time wbea William Moure, a nten bcr l the legisliture from that count who wat a Irirnil of Mr. liadger's, came home wiiu pot haste to let us know he wit elect ed. 1 remember the joy we all hd in hav iaT ric procession at iiightmen, w. tueo and thitdrea tejoicing about (lie tie w. Alter a while his wtle died and he mirrieJ agiio-the daufhtcr of the late Cl.- Tolk, bs wimni he had two children. After onc ears lie died and he married the aco.ov plihi lad who is. now hit ic, Vhr eter he went he made hia iurk o account ol his iiidepvmtence ami bin great akill in the management of a raue he tMk a cae op and pursued it without rr fere me to par ly. lie continued but a liurt time a julge; the attractions f a lucrative iactite were too great for him and he resigned his posi tion on the beuch and returned to the bar. IH his career as a lawser it is unneces ear to speak to this audience, lor ou all a now it. , In social intercourse s a Iriead, as a politician, no man ever held a more fair or open hand than he. Kver one will remember in the memorable campaign when Harrison was etecte'd President of the Uni ted States, he was a whig in principle, and the course he took In advocating the claim! f the States the campaign papers that he ! add U ipteches thit It published. Kill ' The labor of writing was ver great to hira -the mere corporeal business, was . ver irasome 10 mm anu wnen u was nrzcu upon him to do anything for the' cause he would sa, I " w(ll, do anthing 4tn wards' making a speech but I cannot write' f he great campaign or State paper-whichever you ma call it which , was circulated all over the United States he drew up. , ve used to furnish him with an amanuensis while he would speak , r j ",,,, I remember being in .his office on that occasion seeing him' walking, across the floor making a speech, when Henr Yi Miller , was the amanuensis, sitting at the table writing down in short, as he rould( when it was afterwards riyised. That pa per was published b a committee and cir culated ever his State,' and re-published and reprinted over, the United States, a ad was, confessedly, the strongest parti san paper fur the life, character and histo ry of W illiam Henr Harrison. " Harrison was elected, as you know,' President, and he invited Mr. ftadger to take a seat in the cabinet, ami he did so. He was Secretary ol the Navy and continued .'so, I believe, until near! the close of the four ears when he returned home. He was after wards elected Senator in Congress, and )nu know htiw he stood up with such men as Lla, and Webster, Calhoun and Ben ton, and in the Supreme Court with Reyer d Johnson, Webster and others, inferior to none of them. And when the war sep arated this countr he had then buiness is the Supreme Court of the United States to a ver laige amount, which promised to be of citraonlinar benefit and profit, I believe, fetlow ciluen, this is all. 1 have to a, vou know his character. You know hnw kind and benevolent I man he wit, and, I suppose, he had no enemies In th" orld ; how h lived, pubhcl ind pri- .f-OeiefVai verbtKfrand eer bod, 1' believe, his friend. Tnese area few iostancM in his history which ever eili.eo in the State will cherish, and which ma not be inappropriate to those who are here. elves separatel , Disloal men should be excluded, but men should be admitted, even if the great majority of their constituents were actual disloyalists. The question of adm'iHsion should depend rather upon the character and qualifications of the claimant than upnn those of his constituents. If hia district was mahilest!' disloyal beond question, it would perhaps be a justifies tion for his exclusion. ' The witness thinks a tnajorit of the people would be willing to pa the federal debt; ahhdugh the tax payer do not regard it as a pleasant Sub ject a ver decided awl overwhelming majont would be opposed to the payment of the Confederate war debt. He does not know of any combination, open or secret, to wake lurther resistance to the govern ment or renew the war in an shape. He believes that Northern men going into North Carolina tu invest capital in lands, manufactories,' &c, would be received in a friendly manner and trrated with justice in the State courts. The freedinen in his part of the State were acting very well, and the general sentiment among the far raera and planter iv to treat them with fairness. There is a disinclination fr pro miscuHus schools for whites and blacks, but the better class oPihe people do not o jert to schools for blacks separately. The ofbcersof the Freedmen's Uureau have ge nerally been liberal toward both the freed men and the white people; but he hardly thinks there is an lurther necessity (or maintaining the Bureau, as black men would stand as good a chance in the State courts as white men, if the were of good character, and there are no particular pre judices against them. The poor whites are generally considered as having a high er claim to credibility than the negroe. Universal negro suffrage would be regard ed as very objectionable and wholly inad missible; but a good man persons would have no ohjectiou to seeing qualified nezro suffrage, lie does not think it possible to establish restricted suffrage smon the whites, snd thinks none of them would ev er surrender the right to vote if the could avert it. !WN. BEDFORD BROWN. In the report of the evidence before the Reconstruction Committee at Waahiugton, we fiud the following concerning this Sute: llort. Ueufonl lirown, formerly United States Senator from North Carolina, was examined tii respect t that Stale. Al though he served the people of North Car olina in a legislative capacity during the l.-ttWl i ' 1 war, ne nan always dccq union, ana nort seceionii on principle, lie tninsiwo thirds or ihree-lnurths of the people ol the State are unitedly opposed to secession. The mass of the people at he lime of kee's surrender were more gratified t'tan other- wie, because they siw that the result was inevitable. Many f them were fur peace, and believed there was no safety out f the Union. They were gratified the question had been settled in some way. Ol late they had become very despairing, perhaps, in part from the tots of slave property, though chiefly from the l.mr delay in being admit ted to the Union. Tl.ere is a wide feeling of discontent even among Union men. The great inaa ol the people are exceedingly anxious to have the relations between the State and the Federal government restored. borne lew persons would, perhaps, be grat ified by a loreign war, but the great mass are rcrlectly willing to lie under the laws oi me unnea states, provided tnev can have political equality widi the other Suits. The longer this is procrastinated the worse toj feeling of discontent will become. Some portions oi tne peopie, in me eveia ui a war with Orrat Hntain or France, woultl probably engage in another attempt at ac cession and the establishment of southern independence; but a great majority would uppreas such an attempt if there was a reasonable expectation that they could be admitted to equal political rights in the Union. The best way to remove the feel ing of discontent among the people would be to lec lire the State a member vf the lederal Uniott, and admit her representa tives t their setts, Congress, of course, Judging T the members pfcining tlicro- Frara th National Io(el!igrncrr. We consider it clear beyond dispute, that the members elected to the Senate or House f Representatives, by the States formerly in insurrection, are entitled to their seats, as-turning that the said elec tions are made by lawful Legislatures, in a lawful manner, snd the individuals so elec ted are under no personal disability. Un der the clause of the Constitution which makes earh House "the judge of the re turns, qualifications, and elections of its own members," each Houee has the power to examine, as a question of liw, whether each individual applicant is entitled to his scat. And this examination, and tne deci sion to grow out of it, should be made with out unnecessary delay. As soon as either House, by the exercise of reasonable tfili fence, can arrive at a decision, the dcci sion should be made, because the State or people to be represented are entitled to be represented without unnecessary delay. According to the letter and spirit of the Constitution, if a member presents himself as tne claimant of a seat in the House or Senate, it is the duty ol the House for ad mission into which be applies, t consider and determine the case as promptly as the circumstances oi tne case win jumj. .nu it is not within the intendment ol the Lon stitution that this claim of the member should be referred to a joint committee of a m Y .IS. both nouses, to be acted upon as tne result of sued measures of constitutional reform as such committee may think proper to re commend. In the case, then, of the appli cants for seats in Congress from the South ern States, we think it was the duty of each House to refer their credentials to the ap pronriate committee of each House, who were to have exactly ai large a scope of inquire is tne woum in tne case appli cants htr sests from a State which had ne ver been en;a?ed in rebellion, and no more. The committee, fur instance of ihe Senate, to whom might be referred the cats oi an applicant ior a seat irons Virginia shoul.1 have preciselv the' sanie latituuV of inquiry as if the anDlicaht were frbiis New Jersey, and no more. Whether there was such a political body as the State oPVir- fiinift waa mill.. ukSk -:tJ 11 .... m ,,,mts,t nilivil UIV1 IIOI aUliiK Ol stitution. inquiry, because it was settled by the Con- tifiltinn . Wli.tk.. ft T 1 -if. ' 'e tt'.L i Muiuiii me ucgisiaiure oi ir inia was' a lawful body might' be' a plVper ubject of inquiry, in the absence of the rcs rccuzniiion oi mis laci 0 nt el tiye and legiilative departments of the su exprei ecui Government, in the instanpe of the amend ment abolishinz slaver. . Such action b'v these two creat departments would seetm to be conclusive on the committee as to this fact. We object, then, with all respect, ti) the urse which both HmTses of Congress have seen fit to pursue on this Subject. Ve ob ject that each House did not, in"piirsua'iice of the power expressly conferred, and by me voiuuiution, 10 aci as "judge oi me elections of its membersV inveitrgateinthe case of cacti applicant the riht of sachi ap- piicaai 10 a seai, aciinz lor.itseii ana or itself. ' We object that it referred ' the renefal subject of reconstruction, indludin' the right of the claimants of leats, to a joint eommii'ee. which necesskrilv invn1a i-et - - - WP - - ------ " - -w. j wTvv-w.vawavv delay, when, according to the spirit of the Constitution, the States were entitled to a reasonably prompt decision of the rights of the persons sent as Representatives aad Senators to their seats. . We object, then, that this question of the rights of certain individual claimants to seats in the Congress should be involv ed in the general questions of policy as to what ir.nr. tm.ni mntl iF th IVn.tttn. tion should be made. Insteid of being kept out of Congress because the question of amending the Con stitution is to be considered bj Congress, vf tblftk Iharis an additional reason!) the Kepresentatives am! Senators from the seceded States should occupy their seats; because the, in behalf of the States they represent, should participate in the prepa ration of the amendments to be submitted IV 14IC 4JV9. . The Committee on Reconstruction pro pose that the amendments, reported by them lor the approval of Congress, shall be submitted to the Southern States. If they are entitled to vote upon the amend ments why should they not have the privi lege of the other States, and join in the de liberations upon them in the Congress? If the seceded States are States in' the Union which no one seems to dispute- and ss surh are entitled to vote on the proposed amendments to the Constitution, why concede to them this great right, in the imperfect form of voting upon the a mendmrnt, without having'been permitted to join in the deliberations from which the amendment sprung? ; In every point ol view we object, then, to the action of Congress in refusing tu consider whether the applicants from South ern States art entitled to their seats. , If there be an duty more pressing upon each House than another, it is the deter mination of the right of applicants to their seats. The Constitution has conferred, great powers of government upon Congress, but these powers are to be exercised by Representatives and Senators from all the States. The first great paramount ques tion before every new Congress is to de termine who are the members of both. Houses. This question should, in the logic of events, take precedence of all others. It is on the same principles that when a meet ing of ministers or ambassadors lakes place, the first question before all others is the verification of their powei s. The first do ty of Congress, in assembling in Decem ber, should have been likewise to verify their powers. All who were entitled to seats in Congress should have been, with as little delay as possible, admitted, be cause they were the depositaries of ihe powers of the country. To do otherwise, to go on exercising the functions of Congress with numbeisof per sons excluded whose rights to seats are perfect, is ihe grossest violation of the Constitution that can be coaceired'vf. ' cou
The Durham Recorder (Durham, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
May 23, 1866, edition 1
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