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THE WILMINGTON JOURNAL. WILMINGTON, N. C, MAKCH 15, 1866. Tlie Assembly, Liko an Alexandrine, stiU "drags its slow length along." Considering the embarrassed condition of the treasury, their patriotism would hare been more signal had their session terminated many weeks ago. In this, as in all similar bodies in our ' country, there are too few practical, working, or business men. The great bulk of the members are incapable ; qualified simply to say "ditto to air. Burke ;" and have not skill or learning suf ficient to draft a bilL Of those who have parts and attainments superior to the mass of their col leagues, too many belong to the class of orators in the American sense ; each is anxious to make his mark as a public man ; addresses Buncombe, and assuming Buncombe to be ignorant, discusses the simplest proposition, " ab ovo usque ad mala": each must spak and fret his hour upon the stage, repeating in the way of paraphrase, or patent tautology, the arguments of his file leader; the am bitions, emulous of the fame of Solon and Lycur pus. introduce bill after bill, in defiance of his tory, political economy and common sense. We will not say that there are inebriating li quids to be found in the vicinity of the Capitol ; but we must express our conviction .that there is something intoxicating in its very air ; members fancy that the eyes of the State, some the eyes of the Union, and others the eyes of the world, are fixed upon them. Such a belief inspires self-respect, tempts one to put his best foot forward, to compose his features so as to be most expressive of profundity and dignity, and to sport his glos siest broad-cloth. We flatter ourselves that we can point out a member, and especially a new member, though never seen before, with as unerring certainty as a "detective" a "file de joie nis clothes seem a Sunday suit, not worn long enough to adapt itself well to the body ; his walk imposing ; and his gravity of countenance serene and suggestive as that of a marble Jove. " Oh wad some power the giitie gie us, To feee ourselves as others eee us !" Were the good people of whom we speak, re ally aware of the little interest their constituents , not to say the whole world take in their endless disputations, inconsequential logic, and puerile rhetoric, we think a salutary reform might be ex pected. The people, even the liberally educated, though sometimes a speech of extraordinary merit may beguile a leisure hour, only look to the law passed by them because of its obligation on the citizen. To our remarks, there are an honorable few who are exceptions, to whom they do not apply ; we mean those who, forgetful of self, think only of the public good ; who never speak but when they have something pertinent or important to say ; and who, ignorant of bars, billiard-rooms, and restaurants, devote to the service of the peo ple, faithfully, their time and attention. We are of opinion that no law at all is as good as a law ever changing ; that the world is too much gov erned, and that statutes so multiplied that in the ordinary transactions of life, a lawyer must be re sorted to for exposition of the law, become a nui sance to be abated to simpler elements as soon as practicable. As regards laws demanded by our present rela tions to the United States, we have, for the sake of economy, a suggestion to make ; that the Assem bly forthwith adjourn, ordering and empowering their officers to authenticate and publish as laws whatever bills may be sent on from Washington City for the' purpose. Daily Journal, 107. Poverty. It has been said that poverty is never of equal dignity in the contrast with wealth ; and Dr. Johnson remarked that a poor man could not be a gentleman, and scarcely honest. Whatever truth there may be in these "dicta," in their application to more favored regions and more prosperous nations, they are undoubtedly false as regards the South at present. Wealth so far from determining the moral "status" of a man here, exposes to suspicion, if it be not a badge of disgrace. With us poverty, now, is general, if not univer sal. With us poverty is respectable, for all our people feel and know that "the true test of a pa triot 13 that his fortunes grow with the growing fortunes, and decline with the declining fortunes of his country." Multitudes of our purest and best are so reduced in circumstances by the late war, that did not pride forbid, they might cry "Da obolum Deli sario." The costly mansion, the luxurious equipage, and sumptuous apparel, are not here the "criteria" of merit ; rags if they cover a true and loyal body, constitute a robe of dignity. The man who has done his duty fearlessly can confidently look his neighbor in tho face, for the latter knows that ho who has done his duty in a period of severest tal, will henceforth in every contingency prove a good man and worthy citizen. Whatever may be his privations, whatever his daily vexations, sustained by a soul free from self Yeproach, the genuine Southern man, equal to all fortunes, may serenely face the storm of adversity, proudly exclaiming "memeavirtuteinvolco." Nr. Tlios. Settle. It seems by an article which may be found in another part of this paper, which appeared in the Baleigh Sentinel of the 7th inst, that Mr. Settle, late speaker of the Senate, after resigning his po sition as speaker, in consequence of his election as Solicitor of his District, took his seat upon the floor of the Senate, as senator from Rockingham, and entered into the contest for the election of his successor as speaker. We do not know, or do we care, how Mr. Settle voted in that election, but it appears to us that his conduct was indecorous in the extreme, not to question its legality. But in this we are not surprised. For during this ses sion of the Legislature Mr. Settle has strongly reminded us ot " uiiver Twist, asking for more." In the first place he was elected Speaker, then Solicitor, and it was understood that he would ac cept a seat in the U. S. Senate, or a, position upon the Superior Court bench. How insatiate. The horse leach could not exceed it. The City or Wilmington. If names do not change things, they 'often change opinions. Wilmington was a town yester day: it is a city to-day; but we arp content, for it is still nothing more or less hn Wilmington: it is still Wilmington, our home, connected with whose past are so many tender associations, and with whose future bo many sanguine aspirations. Those whom the boys call "old fogies " voted, we suspect, from; apprehension of imaginary evil, in the negative, while the boys, in anticipation of imaginary good, voted in the affirmative. The eagerness with which some of the latter advocated tho change, recalled to us the line "Please! with a rattle, tickled with a htraw." We sincerely trust that the fondest hopes of the friends of tho city may be realized, and not be be trayed by a test once applied by a hungry Irish man, of whom we heard the following story: He was seen with two equal morsels of bread in each hand, taking first a bite from one, and then from the other; and finally terminated his repast with this monologue: " I have heard much of the power of imagination and faith ! I've tried hard to fan cy this bread, and that meat; but, by the powers, a hungry stomach spurns the trick.." The New York Times in an article upon the re lations of the President to political parties, thus discourse th : The Tribune has thrown off the mask under which it has for some time assailed the President, and openly arraigns him on a charge of disloyal ty to the Union Party, by whom he was elected. It would be an amusing, though perhaps an un- Erofitable task, to trace the stealthy steps which ave led the Tribune to its present position. So long as a hope remained that the radicals might use President Johnson for their own purposes, so loner the Trz'iwneolaved the fawniner apologist and the sycophantic defender. At times it assumed the role of the patron, applauding tne course 01 h President, and nattine' Mm encourafirincrlv. Gradually, as events seemed to indicate the weak ness of the faith on which it had depended, it put on the broad phylactery of the Pharisee, implored the President with a genuine nasal sniffle, prayed for him at street corners, and, with upturned eyes, trusted that all would yet be well. When the Veto Message upset the last of the radical calculations, it might have been supposed that the Tribune would be ferocious. But it was not. It was sim ply for the moment paralyzed. With the return of consciousness came the cowardly manceuvering to which we have adverted the lie by implica tion, and the slander in a shape embodying the least possible responsibility. Now, after days of effort and nights oi cogitation, our coiemporary i jumps on the ground which a maniy adversary would have occupied at once, and natiy cnarges the President with cultivating rebel sympathy, and acting dishonestly toward the Union Party. The ebullition of spleen to which the IVibune treated its friends yesterday, has not taken out siders by surprise. Everybody has seen that to this complexion the affair would come at last, and there is a general feeling of relief now that the Pharisee is seen to be an unsanctimomous parti- san, and the virtuous revuer ana unmiswuiauie enemy. There are some, probably, who will be content, in the present aspect of the controversy, to exhibit in jUXiapobmuii uitj rt,"peciiu puiiucui uuutwtcia of the accuser and the accused. As between the Tribune, the complainant, and Andrew Johnson, the individual complained against, the popular judgment will not be difficult of interpretation, when the issue to be decided is one of patriotic consistency and party integrity. What has Andrew Johnson done, it will be asked, that he should be ar raigned for listening to " treasonable inculcations without rebuke, and dealing disingenuously with his Union friends '? Is not his record during the war an answer to all such accusations ? Is he to be abused as an ally of traitors who defied treason when it was powerful, and periled life and prop erty by resistance to their machinations ? Is he to be assailed as false to the cause and party of the Union who stood by both in the most trying hour, and worked for both with an energy that yielded to no difficult and a resolution that never succumbed to despair? Above all, is he to be con victed on an indictment of this nature preferred by a journakwhich before the war began counseled that the Southern States should be allowed to se cede in peace which, under the shadow of defeat, urged peace on the basis of a dismembered Union which intrigued with notorious rebels for the set tlement on terms that would have been alike dis astrous and dishonorable to the Union cause? Is Andrew Johnson to be suspected of casting, "in his lot with the Copperheads," and " disguise and equivocation" toward the Union Tarty, on the tes timony of a journal which a few months ago di vided, and by the faithlessness defeated the Union candidate for the Mayoralty, and on that occasion became the avowed and confidential ally of no less a " Copperhead" than Mr. Fernando Wood? The Election Yesterrtay To ascertain the will of tho people relative to the "Accep tance " or "Refusal " of the charter incorporating the "in habitants of Wilmington," and changing the town, into that of a city, passed off spiritedly, and we are pleased to say quietly. The result id as follows : For Acceptance 358 Refusal 210 Majority for Acceptance 118 FOR MAYOR. A. H. YanBokkclen 352 John Dawson 247 Majority for VanBokkelen 105 FOR ALDERMEN. WARD NO. 1. S. D. Wallace 123 R. J. Jones 96 Jas. Macomber 20 S. M. West 17 Scattering.. 5 ward no. 2. J. G. Burr 85 J. H. Ryan 93 J. Shackelford 49 Eli Murray 37 Scattering 1 ward no. 3. O. G. Parsley, Sen 70 W. H. Lippitt 66 Geo. Harriss 34 Dr. E. A. Anderson 33 Scattering 5 ward no. i. W. A. Wright 84 A. E.Hall 86 W. 8. Anderson 50 J. G. Banman 51 Scattering 5 The following gentlemen were chosen by lot, by the Sheriff, as Aldermen for the longer term : Ward No. 1. R. J. Jones. Ward no. 2 J. G. Burr. Ward no. 3. W. H. Lippitt. Ward no. 4 A. E. Hall. Daily Journal;, Wh. - Semmes Release. We are happy to see the statement made by the New York Worhi, of the release of Commander Semmes, late of the Alabama, We trust it may prove entirely true. The announeeme1' of his liberation is thus set forth by the World : " President Johnson has done a just and politic act in releasing Semmes, the late commander of the Alabama, from arrest. He was admitted to parole upon the surrender of Johnston's army, and until he violated it, our government is bound not to molest him. The national honor was vindica ted when the Kearsage sunk the Alabama, and it would be a pitiful business to punish a foe we had overcome in an open contest. Why not let by gones be by-gones ?" It appears from the legislative proceedings, that the Senate declared the Solicitorship vacant in the 1th circuit, and then made asses of them selves by re-electing the inevitable Settle. Surely some men have greatness thrust upon them. What next ? We had the pleasure of seeing General A. J. Dargan, the Commoner from Anson, in our office yesterday. He assures us that the General Assemblv will certainly adjourn on Monday next. Lieutenant General Grant. Senators TW;fTU - - r Cowan and Lone of Kansas, and several other rep resentatives, were in consultation with tr P,- dent on Saturday last. Judge Howard' Meport, i We published some days sivco the report of the joint select committee on Banks and Bunking, and iat that time entered our protest to the dangerous ' doctrines therein, and to the more dangerous con sequences, if acquiesced in, to which they would lead. We now call attontion to the very able argument submitted by Judge Howard, iu the Senate, on Monday last, published below, us a full and explicit answer to a report conceived in error, and sophistical in deduction. Judge Howard's report does credit not only to his head, but to his heart The mind is frequent ly the mirror of the feelings, and if we are per mitted to judge of these reports by this test, how much we see to admire in the one, and have rea son to fear, in the other. Judge Howard's Report upon tlie Report of tlie Committee on Bank and Banking. The committee on the Judiciary o whom was referred " the report of the joint select con aittee on Banks and Banking," have considered the r.me and instructed me to report their disagreement to the propositions therein set forth. The committee from the press of business, have not considered or adopted any particular course of reas oning, by which they nave arrived at this conclusion, but I do not deem it inappropriate to submit to the Senate, the following reflections upon the subject. From a very short tfme after the formation of the Gov ernment up to our civil war, the country was divided into garties, radically differing in their interpretations of the onstitution. All agreed that in the exercise of its powers the General Govern nment was supreme. All agreed that the General Government was a government of enumer ated powers and that the powers not granted were reserv ed to the States or the people of the States. The difficulty arose with reference to questions arising between the General and State governments, as to the "mode and measure of redress," should a State believe her rights invaded or her institutions in danger. To set tle these questions, it was contended on the one hand that the Supreme Court of the United States where tho matter could be brought before it, or where it could not, Congress was the final arbiter ; on th other haid, that these being but part of the General Government could not have been intended by the founders of the government as the ultimate tribunal ; that the States had to j'idgo for them selves, and the citizens of each State would owe primary allegiance to their own State and by its organized action would, in tlie final arbitrament of tho question, be free from any act of treason. These views were held with eveiy conceivablo jnoditication, and on nil sides by tlie purest and best men of tho country, men in whose hearts there never entered the slightest desire to overthrow our form of government. Enlarged freedom Liade our people tenacious of opinion and exacting imvhal. they believed their rights; while the thrist lor oflicc and power stimulated party leaders beyond the moderation of sober and safe counsel. The guage of battle was thro vn Mid accep ted, and the issue was decided against the. South. The issue was a plain one -neither party misunderstanding it and a successful effort to extend it to the destruction of a State Government or the extension of the power of tho General Government, Iwyond the Constitution, will be a direct assumption of power and will be the beginning of the end of our form of govcnuiont. . In the conflict of parties for place and power, when either being in the ascendency unsettles for their own profit or advantage the fundamental principles of the government, it is done to bo followed as a precedent and claimed as a justification by its opponets, should they afterwards succeed in attaining tlie ascendency, or should the party continue in the security of its new power, it will engender, as History teaches it always has done, the desire, and with it the attempt, to exercise a more full and unlimited sway, leading in both instances, step by step, to the concentration of all power, or a mighty revolution terminating generally in despotism. With regard to the question of Federal or State supre macy in matters of construction, the sentiment of North Carolina was decidedly in favor of the General Govern ment. Yet in its application where it became a practical issue, providence so ordered events that her interest, her affections and her honor, drew her irresistibly and unhesi tatingly to the opposite side No one can believe that she was influenced in the slightest degree by opposition to tlie form of Government or republican institutions, and her mission to the Peace Conference, her mission to Mont gomery and all her public act.-?, preceding the war, clearly show how anxious she was to find a peaceful solution of the question. She felt that independent of the principle involved, .one half of her-property was in jeopardy. On one side -public sentiment, which always executes its decrees in times of successful commotion, precluded hope on tho other its loss was surely incident to failure, but there was a chance. Freemen, worthy of tho nniie, never submit to deprivation of rights without a blnv. Manfully she faujht ; manfully she submitted to defeat. In honor, he stands to-day true and loyal to the Govern ment, and confidently expects, if that manhood in the cot ncils of t he nation, which vindicated the national con striction with the sword, that soon her lights, not involv ed or forfeited in the late contest, will bo nobly acknowl edged. Her constitutional right, to existence, to representation, to equality in the Union, have, never been in issue, except as incident to slavery, which i now no more, and tlie ob ligation of every representative and oiiicial bind them to guarantee their preservation. To destroy them must be done in the exercise of wanton, super-constitutional power. Not only is this true in principle, but North Carolina has so ordained. In her late convention, the delegates of the people unanimously agreed, that at tho closo of the war, without legislation, the ordinance of separation w as null and void; all but nine holding that it had at all times been null and void. A closer scrutiny than that taken by tho committee on Banks will also how that President John son's plan of restoration accords with this principle. The position of that great patriot and statesman, while an ex cited public sentiment, not yet calmed by the return of peace demanded stretch of power beyond the constitut ion, in its cry of passion and prejudice, was always more con servative than the position of this report. He has. indeed, ventured on debatable ground: vet it is apparent that, step by step, ho is withdrawing himself within the sacred precincts of the. constitution, and that done, he will stand forth its safe interpreter and sure de fender. We believe he will be sustained by tho "wooer President Johnson, yielding somewhat to the storm of feehng aroused by the assassination ol President .Lincoln, and doubtless believing that the public honor, iu justly according to those interested, whatover plighted faith might require, could be safely intrusted to those upon whom would devolve the duty of again putting in full op eration the organism of government, adjudged all the offi cials or tne state, executive, legislative ana judicial, to have been principals in the "rebellion," and by revolu tionary act, usurpers of powers, exercising the functions of then: respective offices, in violation of the authority of the United states, liy military nat, tie declared tho regu lar offices or the State, neither destroyed nor to be destroy ed, but vacant, and announced that "whereas, the rebellion has, in its revolutionary progress, deprived the people of the State of North Carolina of all civil government, therefore, lie directed such action as would reorganize, not destroy, the State Govern ment "whereby justice might be established, do mestic tranquility insured and loyal citizens protected in all their rights of life, liberty and property." The act purports to be so far from destructive, as to be positively restorative, and any destruction must be claimed not aa affected by the President as conquerer, but by the State of her own wrong. This is further elucidated by the whole proclamation. It was issued by virtue of that clause in the Constitution "that the United States shall guarantee to every State in the Union a republican form of govern ment," and was accompanied by no further interference with the laws of the State or the rights of its citizens, slavery excepted, than tho suspension usually incident to military occupation. The State being without a Legislature (whether right fully or not) there was no constitutional authority within the State whereby a Convention could be called. A Con vention was called. Its delegates elected by the recogniz ed loval citizens of the State when organized, become according to all republican theory, tho supreme authority within tne Mate, uorii oi necessity, and intended to re pair the damaged machinery of State Government, it was the exponent of the views of the President. Its action ap proved by him, recognized no disintegration of tho State its constitution, its Jaw, were never questioned, ex cept such as were in violation of the authority of the Uni ted States. The required modifications were proposed and adopted, and an ordinance, never supposed to be reme dial, but expressly declaratory, was passed, not to ordain laws, but to make known, what was well understood to be law. r Many of these proceedings were of course irregular. Executed by military force, they could only be recognized so far as they became facts accomplished. In the exercise of the constitutional authority, or tho rights of a conquer ing sovereign, did such pertain to our President, as they clearly do not, a proclamation, if so intended, might ex tend to the utmost limit of authority; but in the exercise of military power, force must execute its decrees irreversi bly, or they will have no binding virtue. With the exception of the abolition of slavery, President Johnson has exercised no purpose to destroy the civil rights of the Fouta. "Amid the clash of arms, constitution and laws are sometimes silent." Irregularities have to be submitted to, aad in view of surrounding circumstances, the coun try, especially the South, has great cause to congratulate itself, that amid the perplexities of a question so new and complex, the President has borne himself so well. The Constitution of the United States, th Crmv of North Carolina and President Johnson's plan of recon- bu ucuou, au speaa ior tne preservation ot the State and against the doctrines of the reDort. Yet it. is not. in. Ko a. nied that a party fearfully powerful has adopted the the ory and now press it with great energy and determination. Unintentionally I doubt not. this renort and its Wn-r.wc become their allies. How much more gratifying, how much mors glorious would it have been for our common country, if our Constitutional rizhts had ham mously recognised by all, in the spirit of conciliation evinc ed by Gen, Grant in the surrender of Gen. Lee, when the mutual interchange of civilities of th TWA armia s equals, gave promise to the country of a speedy return through the interventioa of commercial and social inter course, to the era of good feeling. But the assumption since, of the attitude of Congress, effectually debars all intercourse, save of an official or business character ex cept at the expense of feelings of personal degradation, and places our citizens iu a position seemingly equivocal to the government, when it is but the Candid PlVlihitirtn rt the instincts of honorable men. BeHevinc with President Johnson that th Hft;nn of a State would as effectually destroy our constitutional Union, as its secession, I have not thought proper to weitrh the crreat Drincinles nnon wbinh Hnnonia fun o w .., f, . -vjvuuo vuo Stabil ity of our Government, wj.th tho hopes of gain held out by thoBeport. These, howeYer, 1 deem entirely illusory. 1 Destruction, if lawful, would have made legitimate the seizing aud appropriating the effects of our citizens by tho despoiler; and tho banks to-day are either the property of the corporators, subject to their liabilities, or if the State w as destroyed, the property of the only government hav ing, at tho time, dominion over the land. The laws of a country, submitting to a conquering sov ereign of a separate and distinct kingdom, can, when sus pended, retain their vitality unt il expressly abrogated and annulled, and a new system of laws inaugurated. Our President, or Federal Government, stand in no such posi tion, possess no such power, and no acts, based on the assumption of such power, have yet transpired. GEO. HOWARD, Chairman. Many years ago, in General Washington's day, arose the first internal trouble of the United States. We allude to the whisky insurrection in Pennsylvania. It was prior, we believe, to Shay's rebellion in New England. Both of these rebel lions were quelled without trouble, and a full his tory of them, and of the law of treason, as laid down by the men who framed the Constitution, will be found in Wharton's State Trials the only volume of State Trials the United States as yet boasts. As curiosities of literature and memori als of a Tast acre) as the opinions and views of antiquated fogies, who were behind the times it may be well for the enlightened men and lawyers of the present day to recur to these State trials certainly not for information ; we do not insinuate so flagrant an insult. They will there find the opinion of that illustrious Virginian, Mr. Attorney General Edmund Randolph, on what constitutes treason, and the rights of the States ; and it was he unquestionably, more than any other man of that day, who participated most prominently in the framing and structure of the Federal Con stitution as it stood before the late war. His views on the subject will repay a perusal, as well as those of Judge Thomas McKean, and other Pennsylvania jurists and lawyers who were en gaged in the trial of the whisky insurrectionists who resisted the excise laws of the United States in Western Pennsylvania. These eminent jurists and statesmen of the North in those cases lay down tlie doctrine which is commonly known as "State Rights" very broadly, and in a way which would doubtless greatly shock some of their de scendants at Philadelphia or Harrisburg in the present day. However, the whisky riot was quieted mainly by the gfeat prudence and good sense of Gen. Washington and his advisers. But whisky will keep making trouble, whether iu the domestic or social circle or in political economy or government ; whether in the abstract or concrete, it is exciting. There is one right in this land of liberty of ours that the refined and polished, free and independent American citizen must have, and that is the right to drink when he pleases. You might suspend the writ of habeas corpus for many a man ; you might reduce the "intelligent voter" to the condition of Thaddeus of Warsaw, Kossuth or the chronic garlicky Ital ian patriot, damning the Austrians, and 3011 would not be treading on near as dangerous ground, nor infringing half as dear a privilege, -as if you cir cumscribed or abridged his liberty to liquor. Beranger said, we believe, that if he could but make the national songs for a people, he could do with them as he pleased. We say let us make toddies for them. But our remarks apply more particularly to "ye Western land the great Northwest inhabited by people of every nation and language under the sun Buck-eyes, Hoo siers, Pukes, Hawk-eyes, Suckers, Danes, Dutch men, Schleswig-Holsteiners, Norwegians and In dians, with sonieew Yankees. There free drinks (in consequence of the frequency of elections) and tree distilleries, before the war, were the rule, and the privilege of making and drinking liquor al lowed the largesl liberty. No excise, no internal revenue laws cramped whisky's expansive power. The smoke from the chimnies of thousands of distil leries marked the prairie and gladdened the eye of the thirsty traveler as he whipped his tired trotter over the dusty road. But now the smoke from those altars of Baal no lonerer rolls up towards Heaven. Tlie fires have gone out, the doors o the distillery and brewery are closed, and the pro prietor walks about " like one who treads a ban (iuet hall deserted. " Hoosiers and suckers, who a few weeks ago, were fine, portly, rosy-cheeked men, seem to nave couapsea ana tinea up, so much so as to be obliged to ballast themselves to prevent their being blow n away by the high winds on tho praines. And the fcuoux, Cheyennes, Blackfeet and other friendly tribes, are in danger of becoming total abstinence men. Many an 111 valid and sick woman (always sick when they have not got whisky) are surlering for their bitters. Now, we do not wrish to alarm any one, nor to raise the price of this article, to many men the stal A 1 it I J 11 01 lite; out it is a fact tiiat tlie uistilicrics anti breweries from Maryland to Minnesota are doing very little. All through the v est they are being closed by the government.,revenue officers for vio lation of its laws. In Huron county, Ohio, a great distilling country, there is not a distillery but what has been thus stopped. In Iowa, Indiana, and Illinois, the exciseman's magic wand has been wa ved with wonderful enect, and numberless frauds to enormous extent practiced on the government been detected. Hundreds of breweries and dis tilleries being "disloyal," i. e. not having paid the tax, were seized upon, and millions of dollars of material and high wines forfeited to the govern ment. These admirable proceedings have, how ever, created great discontent amongst the whis ky-makuig, whisky-drinking people out West. Deep are the imprecations of the Macs and the O's at the suppression of their stills and the confisca tion of their property. As for the Hans and the Ottos, when they behold a United States Marshal walking off with the keys of their beer cellars, it is more than German nature can bear. With the most uncouth oaths, they stamp and rage, and dance around as though bitten by a tarantula; their howls of fury and despair can be beard across the Father of Waters. As for the numerous and industrious crowds of beer bummers, they set them down by the shore and weep. As the in former gats half the penalty, there is no hope of any release; the grasp is closer than that of grim death to a defunct African. The natural results are that the frauds are enormous and great discon tent exists on the subject. At the present Con gress extraordinary efforts have been made to have the tax of two dollars per gallon reduced, but it has not succeeded, and probably will not, as there are a large number of total abstinence men in the lower house, and no people hate "drinking" more than reformed topers. Kick, t unes, President Johnson's Policy. Throughout the Northern States the democrats aro loudly applauding Andrew Johnson. The chairman of the Pennsylvania democratic central committee has issued an address in which, having suited that tho democracy of that State had an nounced their "unequivoccd endorsement of the res toration policy of President Johnson," he makes the following appea to them ; "Organize to sustain the President, to sustain your principles, to restore the Union, to vindi cate the supremacy of you race," frc. In the same spirit in which the address, from which we have above quoted, is expressed, the the Philadelplua Age, the leading democratic paper of Pennsylvania, in the course of an article says : " There are eighteen thousand democrats in the North a reserve guard to the conservative repub licans- wno are ready to sustain the President. xi i uisuuuuy luresnauoweu inac a grand na tional party, with Anorew Johnson as itsrecogniz ed leader, will be the triumphant constitutional Union party in the future. The fundamental is sues growing out of the President's restoration policy have utterly sundered the republican orga nization as it existed in '60 and '61. The radical elements of that party are unitine; under the lead ership of Stevens and Sumner and Chase, in a vio lent warfare upon the essential principles of a con stitutional Union of the States, while the conser vative portion, guidecl by 6uch men as Cowan, of Pennsylvania ; Raymond, of New York, and Dix on, of Connecticut, is fully committed to the policv of the administration. The breach already exist ing between these wings of the republican party is an incurable one. It is inevitable that, in the next autumn elections throughout the Northern States, the mass of conservative republicans and the democrats will boldly sustain the President and act together at the ballot box. Rich. Rc. Josh Billings said the other nitrht. that a prior" way for a man to train up a child in thA wo-, it should go, was to travel that way occasionally him self. 1 If you would tret rid of all lend money to the poor ones and hnrmv bl w " W TJ w WUV Practical Working, of the Frcetlmcn's Bureau. We published some days ago a letter of Major Henry C Lawrence, Agent of the Freedmen's Bu reau at Fayette ville, North Carolina, in which he recorded his experience in dealing with the plant ers and the negroes on the question of labor. In that letter, tho humane and considerate behaviour of the white population was contrasted most un favorably with the sullen, idle and unprofitable habits of the blacks. We have tho pleasure to day, of presenting to our readr-rs another commu nication from the pen of Major Lawrence, written before the President's veto of the Freedmen's Bu reau bill, but containing the most effective and unanswerable arguments against that measure. It must be kept in mind that Major L. is in full com munion with the Republican party, and lias been a constant member of it ever since it was organi zed. His letter is as follows : FArETTEvruLE, N. C, Feb. 14, 1866. I confess I am tired out and half worn out with the annoyances of my position and need rest; and am so far from having any sympathy with the views that seem to prevail in Congress that I am unwilling to be even an humble instrument in aid ing to carry them out. Whilst there was, and could be, no law but military law, or rather au thority, the bureau was a necessity to some extent. But to continue it after the States shall have given the blacks their civil rights seems to be t!ic: very reverse of sound policy, considered simply with reference to that. It will engender hatred toward the blacks on the part of the whites as a favored class to whom extra legal protection is given by the Federal Government hatred toward the Gov ernment itself, which, by this system, pronounces the people regardless of justice, and brands courts and bar and juries, in advance, as ready perjurers. It substitutes for men learned in the law, and soon to jidminister it for trial by jury and right of appeal the decision of men who, in many cases, if not most, will know nothing oi law; who will often be prejudiced, and some, judging from the past, will be corrupt. It will incite in the blacks, to some extent, a sense of independence of the local laws sanction their distrust of them, the conrts and the people, and certainly cannot tend to educate them in the duties of citizens. Instead of allaying, it will beget jealousy and ill-will between the races to a greater degree than now exists, and finally produce tho very evils it is intended to guard ngainst. And how such a system can be exercised except as a temporary military necessity in a conquered country I cannot conceive. It is liable to all our old objections to the "Fugitive Slave law," and, unlike that, will be an ever-present, ever-acting evil; and its provisions are very incomplete for the end proposed, unless it is assumed that mili tary authority is to remain paramount. For in stance, I can line a man $50 and imprison him thirty days; but in case of murder of a black, the district or department military commander must order trial by court-martial. Upon conviction, the casn may, of course, go to the Secretary of War for review. Such a trial is in progress now at Raleigh. If this system is to be retained after the States shall bo reconstructed whenever that may be and if this is republicanism or self-government, I shall despair of ever being able to comprehend the first principles of political science. But if a State should establish .such a judicial sys tem, I think the Federal Government might well be called upon to enforce its guarantee of repub lican government to the people of that State. I think it would be a less outrage upon the princr pies of self-government and upon the Constitution to treat the South as conquered territory, and govern it by our territorial system, than to do what is proposed to be done; and in that case Mr. Sumner might secure juries composed equally of white and black men. I felt ashamed for myself as an American, and for my Government, when, a few days ago. Judge Buxton of the Supreme Court of this State, called at my oilice to inquire as to the extent of the jurisdiction he would be permitted to exercise in u term he was about to hold. Tlie Public Debt. The following is the statement of the public debt of the United States on the 1st of March, DLliT UllAlilNG COIN LSTEKEST. When llerteemablv or J'aiable. Character 0 G p. ct. bds .Dee. 1, ..Jan. . .Jan. .Dec. 31, 13t7 and Julv 18C8 " 1, 1S71 1, 1871 31,1880 and June J1S,323,5'.)1 80 ip. 5 p. Cp, ct. bds. . ct. bds. . ct. bds. . 20,000,000 00 7,022,000 00 30, 1881 282,003,100 00 G p. ct. 5-20 bds. .Mav 1, 18G7or Mav 1, 1882 .Nov. 1, 1800, or Nov. 511,780,500 00 C p. ct. 5-20 bds. . Gp. ct. 5-20 bds... 1,1881 100,000,000 00 .Nov. 1, 1870, or Nov. 1, 1885 01,203,000 00 5 p. ct. 10-40 bds. . . .March 1, 1871, or March 1, 1D04 172,700,100 00 G p. ct. Oregon War bonds Julyl, 1S81 1,010,000 00 Total ?1,177,8G7,201 DEBT lJKARlXG CUHEEXCV INTEREST. 6 p ct. bonds, Union P. 11. II., Nov. 1, 1895 f 1,G32,000 6 p ct. bonds, C. 80 00 1'. 11. Li. Co Jan. 10, 1805 2,3G2.000 00 i, 5 and 6 p ct. tempo'ry loan . , Certifiers of in debtebness .... .10 davs' notice after 30 days' 118,577,930 50 .1 year from date C2,2G4,000 00 8,53G,900 00 171,012,141 00 818,041,000 00 1 aid 2 year 5 p ct. notes , . 1 and 2 years f 'm date 3 year compound interest notes 3 years from date 2 yr 7-30 treas ury notes 3 years from date Total .f 1,185,428,980 50 MATURED DECT XOT PRESENTED FOR PAYMENT. AlilOHlU. Texas Indemnity bonds $618,000 00 Three year 7-30 Treasury notes 107,350 00 Bonds 81,268 00 Treasury notes 118,161 G4 Temporary loan, coin 1.20G 00 Total .$985,979 G4 DEBT BEARING NO INTEREST. United States notes $423,435,373 00 Fractional currency ; 27,523,734 52 Gold cirtificates of deposit. . . . i 12,627,600 DO Total $463,586,707 52 Total debt.. . $2,827,868,959 46 Amount in Treasury, coin. . 55,73G,192 12 Amount in Treasury, currency 60,282,767 12 Total 110,018,959 21 Amount of debt, less in Treasury $2,711,850,000 12 The forecroincr is a correct statement of thn lic debt, as appears from the books and treasurer's returns in the department on the 1st of March, 1866. HUGH McCOLLOUGH, Secretary of the Treasury. Sad Affair. We aro pained to learn that th tournament at Laurinburg, on Wednesday last, was the scene of one of those heart-rending trag edies that sometimes mak and festivity, one of sadness and tears. Major D. G. Monroe and Mr. Angus Shaw, it appears, be came involved in a dispute, iu the morning, which was renewed several times during the day. Dur ing the last altercation Major Monroe knocked Mr. Shaw down, who immediately rose and shot his adversary through the head, killing him in stantly. These gentlemen had been warm per sonal friends, and tho tragic affair which has re sulted in the death of one and the unhappiness of the other, has evoked the deenpst. sorrow t'i hearts of their many friends. What a sad end to a tournament, which, but for this unfortunate affair, woidd have been one con tinued round of gayety and pleasure. Major Monroe was the son-in-law of Bev. J. P. McPherson, an esteemed Presbyterian minister of xvooeson county. mi. IJispalch, i)th. TT nr.. it t , U1HH -fi-sutauuAn A-KOEEssonsKrp ix at Ui1? " . f-enry lates Xiiompson, of Liv erpool, otters to endow a lecturesbin at nu.i England, for the purpose of teaching American geography, and modern American history He proposes to found tlie lectureship in Harvard Col lege, Cambridge Massachusetts, to bo devoted to the establishment of a series of Wtnma tu,. ter University in England, on the history, litera ture and institutions Of thn TTniWI Rtotc mi.. lectures would be delivered every two year, and the lecture would be chosen by Harvard College 1 .-vuoiiuui oi uamonage Having the rieht ' of veto on the appoiatment. . 1 From tho Knickerbocker. I Have No Wife. BY AN OLD AND INCORRIGIBLE MEMBER OF THE B.U'IILJ.. .nV CLUB. I have no wife ! young girls are fair, Cut how it is I cannot tell, No sooner they aro wed than their Enchantments bid them all farewell; Tlie girls, God bless them ! make us yearn To risk all odds and take a wife, To cling to one and not to turn 1 Ten thousand in tho dance of life. I havo no wifa! who'd have his nose Forever tied to one lone llower, E'en though that llower should bo a rose, Plucked with light hand from fairy bower; Oh, better far the bright bouquet Of flowers of every clime and hue, By turns to charm the mind away, And fragrance in the heart renew. I have no -wife ! I now can change From grave to gay, from light to sad, And in my freedom wide can range, Fret for a while, and then bo glad. I now can heed a siren's tongue, And know that eyes glanco not in vain 1 Make love apace, and being "llnng," Get up and try my luck again ! I have no wife! and I can dream, Of girls who are worth their weight in gold, Can bask my heart in Love's broad beam, And danco to think it yet unsold: Or I can gazo upon a brow Which mind and beauty doth enhance; Go to the shrine and make my bow, And thank the Fates I have a chance 1 I have no wife ! and, like a wave, Can float away to any land, Curl up and kiss or gently lave, The sweetest flowers that were at hand; A pilgrim I bend before The shrine which heart and mind approve, Or, Persian like, I can adore Each star that gems tho heavens above. I have no wife ! in heaven, they sav, Such things as weddings are not known; Unyoked the blissful spirits stray O'er fields where care no shade has thrown. Then why not havo a heaven below, And let fair Hymen hence be sent? It would be tine; but as things go, Uiiwedded folks won't be content ! Fokkeign Appreciation or Pkesidext John son. In the British Parliament, in the course ot the debate upon the Queen's speech, the Earl ot' Derby said: We all must concur in rejoicing that, after years of bloody warfare, sanguinary war has been put an end to in the now reunited States of Anieiii. I fully concur with the speech in commending the wise and prudent manner in which, after the w.u has terminated, the President has sought to re pair the ravages of civil war. Hear hear. J lie seems to seek tho best means of restoring the tran quility of the country, and wo cannot refrain from hoping that his efforts will be crowned with suc cess. The diminution of the slave trado and the abolition of slavery must always be subjects of congratulation, but I fear that the abolition of slavery in America has entailed much misery on the slaves themselves, and that they are but veiy imperfectly prepared to undertake tho duties ami responsibilities of freedom. Tin- Sponkilip. Hon. Thos. Settle resigned his Speakership on yesterday, because of his election as Solicitor in the fifth Judicial Circuit, took his seat among the members and joined in the voting for a neA Speaker. Tho precedent set by the Speaker is liable to se rious objection,' and as it may form a precedent" in future, it appears to us the principle should be settled. It is understood that tho Speaker accepts the office of Solicitor, to which he has been elected, and its duties commenced on Monday last, lie is understood to be the Solicitor of that District, and his commission should have dated from that time. The Judge of the Circuit appoints some one, what V Solicitor of the Circuit 'i We judge not. But he appoints some one to represent So licitor Settle in his absence. Mr. Settle, there fore, is either the Solicitor or the oilice is vacant. If the office bo vacant, the Legislature should pro ceed at once to till it. If the oilice bo not vacant. then Mr. Settle's seat is vacated and he of course has no right to vote. We simply look at the legality of the case. W will not allow ourself to investigate the propriety or the motives of his courso to inquire into tlu reasons which have influenced him. These may be called up, when it becomes necessary to exam inc the record of the late Speaker. IZaldiyh Sentinel, ItJi Greeley thinks K--Keleld Would be tlie llest Kepre- seiitntlTci. Mr. Sherman wants southern States represented in Congress represented now but insists that n person who has taken part in the Lite rebellion shall be admitted to a seat. Now, notoriously, nearly all the white people of those States ha'r taken part in that rebellion, and so aro excluded by the terms of the existing act and of Mr. Sher man's programme. Now; we object to that programme, that its suc cess will not conciliate, nor tranquilize, nor satis fy the south, and that it ovgld not to do so. It i all very well to insist that the south must bo repre sented by " loyid men "nobody disputes that. But to say tliat they must always have been loyal that Georgia and Mississippi and South Carolina must send to Congress no man who ever willingly aided the rebellion is to mock her with a sem blance, yet deny her tlie reality of representation is to tantalise, and irritate, rot her than tranquil ize and conciliate the south. What earnest Union ist wants to see Alexander H. Stephens denied tl seat in the Senate to which ho has just been elect a? ed, and some insignificant, who represents only his own audacious aspirations, admitted in his stead? Depend on it, the " south " is not to be satisfied, nor even "restored" by any sham rep resentation. Mr. Sherman means well: but Ins plaster is too small for tho wound, and will rather inflame than heal it. We are confident wo exnress the general feeling of the southern whites when we say that they prefer to be kept out of Congress rather than admitted, if, when admitted, they are allowed to send to Congress only representatives who can swear that they never voluntarily aided the rebellion. N. Y. Tribune. VSAth ntt. An Apr Semite. Mr. Mudie. the author of some popular works on "The Seasons," was originally a teacher in Dundee. He happened to bo one of a tea party at the house of Rev. Dr. M . The Doctor wasreputed for the suavity of his manners, and his especial politeness towards the fair sex. Handing a dish of honev to Olltt of the ln.f1ir lw said, in his wonted manner: "Do take a little honey. Miss : 'tis sr, sweet so like yourself." Mr. Mudie could not restrain his iii'v dency to humor, so, handing tho better-dish to me nost, ne exciaimea: "Do take a little butter. Doetor? 'tu like yourself." TIe Stule Credit. Under the delays and doubts created bv thn in action of the Legislature, North Carolina credit must continue to decline. Should tho Legislature fail to pass a bill funding the interest due on tho State bonds, it will bo useless for the State or v citizens to mane enort to extend their aer cr.edit. If that is done, the State could not bor safe terms 100,000 for five years. low on anv m.r o,a ; ' -cd m resolution.' '-ed in h lAn , I - tor a while, but capitalist, who loan -ar irom tlie rocket of a Or WllO II tllPV r r jJ""01' - . - 1 Ulil V LW I! II MI) , Till VTT1 O LTMI'w Tho obi iu iwiupouuuing uio States' mter- Hat not half so much so as the loss of credit. It is proposed simply as a remedy for the present exigency, until the State can rally from her de pressed condition, and as tho onlv resort left tin: State. It is an unsound maxim, w hen you cannot do as well as ypu desire, to do nothing. Wisdom demands that when you cannot do as you wish, do the best you can. Sentinel. The following beautiful inscription is to be t er a soldier's crav e in tho Alabama. TVrititoi-,- seen ov yB grave in tho Alabama Military Ccm- etery : " Unknown, is all thy epitaph can tell, IX Jesus know thee, all is well. A woman in Pennsylvania has petitioned for ivorce "because she and her LukI mud ilo 11 agree on politics." She is for Andy.
Wilmington Journal [1844-1895] (Wilmington, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
March 15, 1866, edition 1
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