Newspapers / The Era (Raleigh, N.C.) / April 20, 1876, edition 1 / Page 4
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V X jj Li I :1 8 i:. li h i ft I - !. i i 1 y 'I 8 t rl I fi i i , .i L1 t t 9 I i :j .ii !5 ft i ii 4 it . S I - , I 1;, 1 t f ' ' 1 editorlIl. A Wine Man. It is a full days ride from llaleigh to Norfolk, If you leave Kalefgn at 10 a. M, you cannot reach Norfolk before some time in the night. Yet tnnhrn D. Pool can JTO down on Wetlnesday, transact considerable business and pet back to Kaieign the next evening by 4 p. M. He can, do all this without leaving Wake county five minutes. He'd got wings, sure. ' Will the teacher in Madison county who is said to have been swindled by Superintendent Pool out of the money due him from -the Peabody fund, please communicate with us giving full particulars? It is due to the poor teachers and chil dren throughout the State that this matter should be fully ventilated. Pool says one teacher holds an or der which will be paid on presenta tion. Has it not been presented several limes, and has not the holder been told that there were no funds on hand? We ak for information. Perhaps the Democratic State Exec utive Committee has made arrange ments to have such claims met tn J the future. No ex post facto dodg ing, if you please. Will the female teacher, who is slid to have made several applica tion to S. D. Pool, the Democratic Superintendent of Public Instruc tion, for the money due her from the Peabody fund, and who was told by the said Pool that he did not have it, and who wrote to Dr. Soars and received a letter from him stating that the money had long since been sent to the said Pool for distribution, please furnish this paper the said letter for publi cation? She owes it to herself and to the public lu have the swindle fully exposed. In auother column we publish an article from the New York Tiibune headed : "Democratic Profession and Practice," uhL-h is worthy of careful perusal and study by that class of iersons who have heretofore voted the Republican ticket, but who are now or who have been in clined to vote the Democratic tick et. It is well known, that since the Greeley campaign, the Tribune has been against the Republican party, but the inefficiency, the blundering and the betrayal of every promise, the profession of one thing and the dojng of another, has brought down the Tribune on its allies of 1872, in terms which are plain and uumis takablc. Surely, the way of the transgrrssor is hard. Ilobbins, the bribetaker! Rob bins, the hypocrite, who, a few years since, blubbered and asked for mercy at the hands of the Sen are of North Carolina, is now figur ing at Washington on one of the leading investigating committees. "Set a rogue to catch a rogue" seems to go down well with the un terrifietl. White women who live with and cohabit with negro men, and white men who live with negro women, should be put in a chain gang and made to work the streets, along with other criminals. Such people de serve no sympathy. Char. Dem. IJro. Yates is hard on his brother Democrats. How many voters would be kept from the polls if this advice was enforced ? Worse and "Worse. Dr. Sears the Agent of the Pea lK)Jy fund deposited a considerable sum of money in one of our Wes tern Ranks for the teachers of poor children. When application was made for the money it was found that Stephen I). Pool, the Demo cratic Superintendent of Public In struction had drawn it out for pri vate use. Does Pool dare deny it? If so, w e will call for the testimony of Rev. John Ammons a respectable Vestern gentleman. Stephen D. Pool in his card does not deny having used a portion of the Peabody fund entrusted to his care forthe education of the poor children of North Carolina. He dodges the question. He says in substance that 1 is behind, but will settle on thejSOth of next June, if called upon. yfhy does he not t publish his , statement as he prom ised to do? He says he has sent to Dr. Sears a full account. If so, let the people see it. We should think that in the last tfo weeks he could have gotten it up. -The statement, tho statement, a kingdom for a statement ! Flat, Oh ! how Flat. Tho daily News, of Wednesday, 12th Inst., publishes PooPd card, but it la evident to every man who knows anything of editorial life, that thcex plana tion of Pool is not at all satisfactory to that pajcr. The following is the editorial no tice, from which it is plain that the Hexes la sadly disappointed, and "somewhat indignant, at the lame effort put forth by Tool for his vin. dlcation. Here is the manner In which tho News talks: On the third page will be found a card from Col. Pool, which we re gret he had not before given to the public It would have corrected at least the misapprehension in regard to his control over the public school fund. His ropiest that he should be allowed time to make his expla nations, precluded us from attempt ing to do the same. The card is with the public. Ouilty or uot Guilty 7 We call ujK)n Gen. W. R. Cox, the Chairman of the State Demo cratic Executive Committee, to in form the public whether he did not know of the misapplication of the money belonging to the Peabody school fund by Stephen D. Pool, the Democratic Superintendent of Pub lic Instruction, at the time of the meeting of said committee in Ra leigh, on the loth of March last The people have a right to know, and we Intend they shall know, whether Gen. Cox was not apprised of Pool's misapplication of the school fund, which was unfortunate ly confided to his care as a sacred trust, and which he dishonestly ap propriated to his own private use. Gen. Cox is a lawyer and knows that a man who conceals stolen goods, knowing them to be stolen, is also guilty. Now, Gen. Cox, we call upon you to fay whether you are guilty or not guilty. Did you know of Pool's mismanagement of the Peabody school fund ? Answer without delay. They Bolster him Up. Every indication oints to the conclusion that the matter of Pool's defalcation to the Peabody Fund was laid before the Democratic State Executive Committee, at their late meeting in this city, and thatthe committee, in view of the exposure called upon him to decline being a candidate Sot re-election. Nqw, why is it, that certain Demo cratic journals affect surprise at the exposure ? Why is it, if they were so anxious, as they would have the people believe, to ferret out and ex !ose all official rascality, that this outrage upon the poor children of the State was not promptly de nounced. Even now, when every fair minded man must be convinced of Pool's guilt, the Sentinel of this city attempts to bolster him up. Turner professes to be the very soul of honor, and has for the past year or to been crying out lustily against the rogues of his own party, yet this glaring outrage of Pool's meets with no rebuke in his paper. It will be useless for Turner to keep up his howl against Hawkins, Bu ford, Chatham rings, ttv., when he winks at the wrick-sale robbery of the innocent children of the State. XX Robbing. The notorious XX Robbins has again exhibited his egregious folly by a letter he has written to the ed itor of the Western Sentinel dated Washington, D. C, March 2o, 187G, in which he invites all persons in his district, as well as the Gth and 8th districts, who know of any ille gal, oppressive, or corrupt conduct on the part of any revenue official, or any judicial officer in aid of such, to forward to him, without delay, the names and placed of residence of responsible witnesses who can tes tify to the facts, and also as fqll a statement, as possible, of what each witness will prove. This is the most extraordinary proposition that the inevitable XX Robbins has made since he has been a member of the ex-Confederate House of Representatives. Accord ing to our constitution and laws it has ever been the duty of the grand juries of the country to inquire into all violations of the criminal laws, in order that the persons charged with crime might be tried by an impartial jury of their countrymen. Ourexcellent constitution declares that "no person shall be put to an swer any criminal charge but by in dictment, presentment or impeach ment." And yet, XX Robbins wants to drag people out of their State to appear before a Star Cham ber . Inquisition at Washington City. Shame on the miserable wretch who would wantonly vio late the great fundamental princi ples of constitutional liberty, for the purpose of manufacturing par ty capital. Well may the honest people of the 7th Congressional District con demn the course of XX Robbins, who has done what no other repre sentative has ever before done. He would usurp the constitution and laws for party purposes, by forcing people away from home and out of the State, to be tried on trumped up charges by a Democratic Star Chamber. He would have office re, whose duty it is to execute the laws, hurried out of the State to be tried contrary to every principle of right and Justice. He would create large drafts upon the public treas ury merely to gratify an unworthy spirit of revenge and persecution. Stop, Robbins, stop, In your mad career, for you are the embodiment of hypocrisy and meanness. The U. S. Court Is In session in Greensboro. Pool, tho Artful Dodpfer The long looked for Card He de nies what lias never been charged but fails to convince any body tliat lie lias not ap propriated a portion of the Peabody fund to his private use. We published in this week's issue a card from S. D. Pool, Supennten dent of Public Instruction, attempt ing to defend himself from the charge of having appropriated to private use a portion of the Pea body fund sent to him for disburse ment in North Carolina. It will be remembered that this charge was first openly made to the public In a communication (from this rity to the Washington JtepuMUm, about two weeks since. Since then, the matter has been! the common talk, not only in Raleigh, but through out the State. This paper and others, have al most in every issue called loudly on Mr. Pool to defend himself. From day to day he has promised to the public a full statement of the mat ter claiming that he could and should exhibit such a statement as would convince not only his friends, but his enemies, that he had been a slandered man. The card proves conclusively in our mind, that Mr. Pool not only did use the funds entrusted to his care,buU that he has been guilty of the double crime of endeavoring to hide and screen himself in a man ner that should not entitle him to any mercy. In thefiist place, Pool attempts to divert attention and martyrize himself by denying what has never been charged against him. He says in substance, that the law does not put the disburse ment of the school money of this State in his hands. No body has ever charged it did, nor . has any body charged, that he has used the money appropriated by the State of North Carolina for school purposes. What has been charged is, that he has appropriated a portion of the money set apart by the Trustees of the Peabody fund and sent to himfor dis tribution in North Carolina to his! own private use. This is the direct charge, and Superintendent Pool in his card does not and will not dare deny it. If he is an innocent man, why don't he publish a lull state ment in detail of his transactions ? Why did he allow the matter to run so long without any attempted explanation ? Will, this artful dodger, explain to the people of the State, why he has twisted and squirmed so much ? Does it look like he was an inno cent man, when for days, he absent ed himself from his office, not dar ing to meet even his own political friends who were endeavoring to bring him to an account. If he is the innocent lamb he would lead the people of North Carolina to believe, would he have given out that he had left the city, on business and gone to Norfolk, when the truth was, that he was closeted in his own house in Raleigh to prevent the frowns of indignant friends. Will this man dare say, that he has not attempted the most shameful equiv ocation in this entire transaction? But the closing part of his card clinches the nail. He says: " The present school year will expire on the 30th of June, when it closes, and I am called to account with Dr. Sears, I will settle with him fully, promptly and to his satisfaction." The italics are ours. Exactly. On the 30th of June, you will settle, will you ? Did you tiOt state, sir, in a short card a few days ago that you had sent your accounts to Dr. Sears, and did you not ask him to examine and report. Has Dr. St-ars reported, and if so, sir, why don't you publish that report as you promised to do? The fact of this whole matter in our opinion is simply as follows : Stephen D. Pool, the Democratic Superintendent of Public Instruc tion did use a part of the school money sent to him by Dr. Sears, Agent of the Peabody fund for dis tribution among the teachers of poor children in North Carolina. When the matter was exposed Pool laid the status of thiugs before the Democratic State Executive Com mittee, and leading Democrats agreed to aid in raising a sum suffi cient to cover up the rascality. Thai a part of this sum has been raised ', we do not doubt, but taking Pool even at his own words the balance is about the difference between $14,150 and $12,600. which Pool hopes to raise between now and the 30th of June. The card published by Pool places him outside the pale of mer cy. No such man deserves any. Had he confessed manfully, his mis fortunes would have excited pity. As it is, the naked truth shall and must come out. In the meantime, Dr. Sears owes It to the memory of the great Philan thropist whom he represents to give to the world an unvarnished statement f this Infamous transac tion, and tit- hhould not wait until the 30th or June, but d nnand of the defaulter Pool a full settlement at once. Old Winter is a little weak-kneed. He has slightly "fell back" on Spring, ami wo are not so warm this morning as wjq was yesterday. From the Ashevllle Pioneer.' Is there more Democratic Fraud? ; Mb. Editob :-Havo we a Super intendent of Public Instruction? Does not the Constitution provide for such an officer In North Caroli na!?4 and yet, slrt If we have such a dignitary it is only evidenced by a few copies of a Journal of JEduca tion and Our Living and our Dead, which, ostensibly, are edited by "S. D. Pool, Superintendent of Public Instruction.!' If there is nothing for such an officer to do why have such an official ? but if Mr. Pool has done anything to for ward the work of education in tho State I have yet to learn it. He has neglected his correspondence, and withheld money due to parties who had earned it by faithful labor, and even when he does condescend to send checks to teachers, after long delays, those cheeks are pro tested at Bank. Now why is this? Somebody ought to explain. Mr. Pool needs to be making up his record. What right has he to detain money due to parties to whom it has been promised, and how will he explain the fact that the money deposited by Dr. Sears in the bank, to pay teachers, was gone when called for? Is this subtraction or extraction, or leakage ? The Superintendent can explain, as he is a mathematician. But, sir, I only wish to call atten tion to these matters and hope if the Superintendent can throw light upon the case he will do it. JOHN AMMONS. We publish to-day a communica tion from Rev. John Ammons, in which he directly charges Stephen D. Pool, Superintendent of Public Instruction, with culpable neglect of duty, and malfeasance In office, in withdrawing the Peabody funds deposited in Bank by Dr. Sears, and withholding the same from teachers to whom it properly be longed. Numerous have been the complaints of teachers in this sec tion of their inability to get their hard earned and scanty salaries from the Superintendent. When they made application for the same, payment was delayed by all kinds of pretexts and excuses, and finally, when these failed, and a draft was sent, it was protested at bank when presented for payment. The case of Mr. Ammons is not an isolated one. We know of others in this county, and of one in Madison. Let the case be investigated. Bring Mr. Pool to the books. We have a witness in the person of a local fi nancier that we desire to place upon the stand. The people wish to know what has become of this money. Has the philanthropic Peabody fund been expended in running Our Living and Our Lead, or some similar literary project for the enlightenment of the illiterate children of the State, or has it all been appropriated to individual use? Ashevule Pioneer. Some business men would rather sponge on a country fence than pay a newspaper anything for advertis ing, which is so true that it is enough to make a printer crack himself on the head with the "shooting stick" or drown his 'devil" in the ink kesr. Some 44 business" men will walk through the mud a whole day with an old paint pot in their hands, daubing upon every board they come to: ugO loSmlThsiOr yOuJB lARd," when one soft dollar would add several more lines and put them in decent shape in any respectable newspaier in the country. x- change. An old edition of Morse's geogra phy says: "Albany has four hun dred dwelling houses and twenty our hundred inhabitants, all stand with the gable ends to the street." General News. A panic prevails in Paris. A. T. Stewart's business will be resumed on Saturday by his agents. The wheat prospects of Illinois are poor. Fulton, Mo., had a 75,000 fire on the 13th. Nothing doing in Congress yes terday. A terrible storm passed through Kentucky yesterday. The Legislature of South Car olina adjourned yesterday. Coffee is very animated and prices are advancing in South America. Severe storm throughout the North-west on the I3th. Immense destruction of property by rain. The Senate has been sworn as a Court of impeachment and has entered into the Belknap trial. There is over 8,000,000 millions pounds of iron in the main build ing of the Centennial Exhibition. The funeral of the late A. T. Stewart takes place to-day (Thurs day.) On the 13th inst., the heaviest snow of the season fell in some parts of England. Vegetation will suffer greatly. John Quincy Adams, of Boston, lost three children within twenty four hours last Week, who died of diphtheria. Twenty-one car-loads of goods were recei ved yesterday at Phil adelphia for the machinery depart ment at the Centennial. y ' Senator Morton has received a dispatch;: denying the statement made by the Associated Press dis patches I with regard to.Governor Chamberlain controling; the Be-, publican delegation. On the 13th inst., at St. Louis, Gen John McDonald ; was sentenc ed to three years' imprisonment and a fine of $1,000, and W. O. Avera got two years and a fine of $1,000. Crooked whiskey did it. The Senate committee on terri tories haye agreed to report a bill to establish the Territory of Pem bina. The proposed new territory is to consist of that portion of the present Territory of Dakota, which lies North of the 46th parallel. His name is John Seal. He was a teller and book-keeper in the Se curity Savings Bank, New York. The amount was $70,000. Gone to meet Winslow. The glass dome of the Centennial art gallery will be lighted by 2,000 gas jets. The dome is 266 feet above the level of the Schuylkill, and will be visible at night all over Phila delphia. The Bepublican Convention of Virginia, met at Lynchburg on the 13th. Hon J. B. Sener, was chosen as chairman. Resolutions were adopted showing their preference for Blaine for the Presidency. Ad journed for dinner. The funeral of A. T. Stewart was attended by an immense crowd of people. Large crowds of ticket holders were outside clamoring for admission. It required the utmost efforts of a strong police force to restrain them. General Tom Thumb proposes to buy a Texas ranch, where he can perch himself on a horse, strap himself to two navy revolvers and gambol over the prairie with 10, 000 long-horned steers, branded with the Thumb monogram. Secretary Fish has taken decided ground, and informs Mr. Hoffman, charge d'aflairs at London, that the United States cannot, under any circumstances,take cognizance of the act of the Bri tish Parliament of 1870 touching extrad itional treaties. He peremptorily refuses to give any assurance that Winslow should not be tried for any offense except that for which extradition is asked. The Republican Convention of South Carolina held an all-night session at Columbia on the 13th Governor Chamberlain was elected delegate to the National Conven tion at Cincinnatti. It is thought that Chamberlain will control the South Carolina delegation and that it will undoubtedly support Bris tow. A Brownsville dispatch of the 13th, says that Porfirio Diaz, com mandingthe Mexican revolutionists is in posession of the entire irontier opposite Texas. iis troops nave been naid to the 11th. Labarra and the Mexican Customs officers are on the Texan side. A part of Diaz's command was to leave to dav for Monterev. The United States gun boats were on the other side. The American officers are morallv assisting' the Mexican erov ernment. Labarra expects to re ceive help by way of vera Cruz. Municipal Election News. Condensed from Telegrams of the 12th. Albany, N. Y., elects Banks Mayor by 1,600 majority. City Council probably a tie. At Lockport, N. Y., the Republi cans elect a Mayor and three out of four Aldermen. Jersey City, N. J., elects a Re publican Mayor by 300 majority. Board of Aldermen is a tie. Protest. JLN ADDRESS TO THE PEOPLE OF NORTH CAROLINA. By the Republican members of the J A - A J J tale fjonsiiiuiwnai uonvenuon. We, the undersigned, under a sense of the responsibility due from us as representatives of the will of the people of North Carolina, feel called upon to warn the yet free citizens or our belov ed State, of the danger which immi nently threatens them from the despotic and aristocratic tendencies or tue uem? ocratic party, so glaringly displayed iri the amendments passed by that body in the Convention whicn was lately held in Raleigh. A Convention called to establish the principles which shall govern and give vitality to the business relations of men and define the limits of the privilege to be exercised by the people, oners an unerring test of the opinions and feel ings of those engaged in the responsible work. No less is it an absolute stand ard by which to judge of the tendencies of a party, when that party controls the body. Then, ir ever, win men snow their true political opinions and strug gle to embody in permanent form, their fixed convictions, uovernments are classified into free and despotic, at a glance, by an examination of their con stitutions, whether written or moulded by the practices and tradition of their history. When representatives respect and consult the will of the people, whilst dealing with their interests and privileges, free government prevails, whatever its advantages and inconven iences. When that will, expressed by majorities,; fairly ascertained, is disre-t garued by the framers of laws, and rights are taken away against the sol emn protest of the citizen, whatever the other attributes may be, the govern ment ceases' to be one of popular con sent. The application of this simple rule, fixes forever, in alarming reality, the character of North Carolina's last and worst Convention. A large majority of the votes of the State, was given against its call, and the will of the people thus expressed should have controlled thf delegates elected ; a due regard to that will de manded that the d resent Constitution should be returned to them unaltered In a single principle, by which the rights of the people were defined and guaranteed, and their duties described aqa enjoined jsot resj emng the voice of the people, contemptuous of their twice expressed opinion, but only upon Party rule and the substitution-of t,.e Sway of a faction for the will rf the raa jri&, the LegUlature ,ofl874'5, by a party vote, violated the primary idea hf the polity they had sworn to main Uiu. aSd Sled this body without con sultation with the people, and in breach of the declaration .Zl State in the canvass of 1874.' Noawui can behazarded by any one, pi this plain fact, that a deliberate disregard of the will of a majority continued ""y makes popular government lmposbje. Thta nnnvontinn is a bold declaration against the popular will and is, in It self, by the very fact of its existence, a revolution. , . . It is an anomaly in our history, anc stands a solitary example of a body, called for the good of the people, usurp ing their rights, and seizing their pow ers, against their expressed will, uai four years since, the people were rail ed upon to express their wishupon a change of the Constitution: they an swered that they ivvished no change Two years ago many amendments 01 that instrument were submitted again te the people: very few .were adopted and those were matters of detail going only to the judgment as matters of ex pediency, and not touching single right or privilege. In the House of Representatives, in the session or 1874 '75, the dominant party had a majority of two-thirds. This Conven tion, composed of the same number, elected by the same voters, under the same laws, with no intervening change of circumstances, returns a majority of delegates against the party in power, thus giving a rebuke to its revolution ary spirit, and declaring again in favor of the Constitution they have tried so hard t preserve. By a course unpar allelled in the history of political bodies, that true majority is perverted, and the power of party is enthroned upon the trampled rights of a State Stei, by step the dreary drama of ty ranny is enacted. The Supreme Court, the bulwark of the people, their tearless champion in many contests with an en raged and usurping Leg slature, be neath whose august decree the poor or thelmd rest secure in enjoyment of homes for themselves and their loved ones, when baffled avarice casts it thirs ty gaze upon the pittance wrenched from its insatiate greed this tribunal, so fearless and so just, is attacked, and falls before the will of those whose ac tion forebodes evil to every institution and principle dear to freemen. Thfl election of the Superior Court Judges, now with the people, was cov- etod, and tne purpose wuwukiwvj wrest this privilege from them, and give it where faction can supply ready made partisans inclined to direct the forms of law, and the principles of jus fiAA tst tho nurDOses of party. This change was only averted by the adop tion of a Drovision which enables a par tioan Turialature to rob the Superior Courts of their jurisdiction, and confer it upon tribunals erected in tneir pi ace, whose officers shall not be responsible tn t.hfl nonle. JnsMpfl of the Peace, the familiar r-nnnsfil of the ueoole. whose functions havfi alwavs been to assist them in their common, ordinary disputes ; who have been with the people, anu 01 me peopie aino p. tradition has sDoken these necea- !irv and almost familv functionaries, tnm from th oeoDle. lest thev should continue Democratic in nature, as iniof- fice, and an aristocratic complexion is to be forced upon their homely features hv rendering them no longer responsi ble to their neighbors, and by divorcing their sympathies from tbe numme anu rude poor, wnose causes iney are 10 uo tnrmine. Not only officers, but institutions, noDular and elevating in their nature, am rav ished from the masses. The DODular county and township govern ments, established by our present su preme law. carries the idea of responsi bility to the people down to every nfiiurhborhood. Thev give the control of every dollar of the money needed for the mvriad uses of civilized and Droeressive communities, into the keep ine of those who are under the direct eye of the people ; they familiarize eve ry one with the forms of business, and educate the primary divisions of socie ty in the ways of self reliant and inde pendent men. These tribunals carry the idea of the will of a majority to its ultimate end. and they 4are the rude, it may bo, but healthful nurseries in which the infant steps of freemen are trained to tread in the ways or independent mannooa. But this nurture does not accord with the spirit of democracy revolutionized. That bad genius broods with evil men ace over the precious heritage of our fathers, and the shadow of his dark ap proach, even now mingles ominously with the broad ugnt or our liberty. A strong government is demanded. The divinity of privileged power must here after claim our devotions, and the vul gar independence of poor men and ig norant people must be trained to forego its somewhat turbulent-conduct, and learn politer manners, and more cul tured forms from the example of our very virtuous and model rulers, who are to be supplied to us by that exces sively pure medium a modern partisan Legislature : Thus one by one the rude forms of bemebred privilege are destroyed, and tbe dainty proportions of an elegant aristocracy are erected, beneath whose iron-hand, though cased in a glove of velvet, no popular right can flourish; and in whose eye, a free people is an enternal fear. All earth is drenched with gore poured out to glut the selfish ness, revenge and licentious lusts of Kings and privileged classes. The poor are tne universal sacrince. The slaughtered millions, whose blood cries to God from the thousand battle-neids, wmcn cover our countrv like the foul blotches upon the leper s skin, are the human offering which alone can appease the cruelty of an in satiate aristocracy. Even under the mild forms of privilege, which former ly prevailed here, the eternal hate which power always cherishes fcfr free dom, allied itself to tbe dread demon of rebellion, and its insatiate greed unao- j 1 ai . . a. . peasea oy me noiocausc or Diood and f 1 A. I , . linpovensnment , mrougn wmcn we have passed, will never cease whilst man is free. Under our previous history, the laws reguiaung elections, were plain and simple, no one ever dreaming that the time would come when the people's s 1 r u 1. j 1 . . . win wouiu uv uisregarueu Dy any leg islative body that could be assembled. But the desperation of party exigoncy, in this Convention, has shown how frail a noia the people have on their own government in North Carolina. The people of Robeson county, elect- earo mis uonvenuon two delegates, Iseil JVlClMeil and K. M: NormenL Th judges or election, against whom no rauit nas Deen ajif ged, made their re turns as usual, and these returns show. ed a majority of votes in favor of the gentlemen named. The only duty of tne county commissioners was to add tnose returns, and declare the result. UUt, usurping DO were never crantari them, they declare the retn rn unt.rtiA and in the face of the written rnrri before them, Jbey pronounce that there was no election in four nreri np.ts of thA couniy. 11 n law is snown authorizing A r a . ttiem to review thd judgement of the insnectOi"8 of 1atH-!. v. bown which entitled them to judge of vuw qusuucauon 01 electors. This pow er is vested by law in the judges of election, and in them al on If thev abuse it and admit unlawful votes, or refuse lawful ones. itUa MSA fnr thA candidates alone, and the deterroina- uon 01 tne fact in each case. telnnrs solely to tbe body of which the parties are seeking to become members. This Convention is. or -is nof thA judge of the election and qualification of iu own mem ners. a certificate of elec tion from the proper officers, gives the possessor a prima facie right to his neat, unMl the truthfulness of the certificate U questioned.' When this is done tW first thing to do; and the only thing u to examine the records of the election If they are in lawful form, thecertiiicat must be given accordingly, irvour, are questioned the duty of approving or disqualifying them, ream with tle candidate making : the Usur, anl n,e facts must be determined upon tli evj. dence ftdduced. No lei Native body ,r its own motion, ha ever made a ',.,',,,' test between members without tWr own active interposition. All leKia. tive bodies determine the lawfulncn'x the certificate. When this is don ti. burden is thrown upon the contestant., These arerulesof law prescribed for the proceedkigs of contestants, public 1 of common application. The action .,r this body is directly contrary to thin method. The commissioners or KoU. son, have erected themselves into a j" diciat tribunal; they have, without Wvil dncV and , against the record, dttcr mined the fact of legal and illegal voW havo taken from the Judges of Hectio,! the discretion conlerred upon them hv law, to be exercised under theol.i; tion of an oath, and against their W, written statement to the contrary, hae declared that no election at all w"hs u.u in four precincts of the count v. If ti bave power to disregard tile rotun,, from lour precincts, mey may equally disregard the returns from every i.r cinct, and at their mere will and u re, declare no election held in any county. By a combination easy ,i pe". faction amongst the county cmimiv sioners, an election over the w ,(1 State may be nugatory, and-the p, -o., discarded entirely In the management of public aliairs. How is tU,U ImhIv i judge of the election of its ineniht.x jf the county commissioners are em low ered to act In a judicial character, an( determine who are tbe members elect 4 Yet this has been declared the law of tu". land by the majority of the committee on Privileges and Klections, and that decision has been suHtaineu. By this judges of election are stricken from ollr Hyfetem, there is no one to reeon' u,e votes of the people ; the commissioners though not present, deter m in th rights of voters without evidence: this body is robbed of the right to determine the election of its members, maintain ing only an inferential right of anneal if that, and a complete revolution is ac complished. The past Conventien sat in the Cam. tol by virtue of this revolution, and has overthrown the government of the people thereby. Ity means of twe votes, seen red in the manner above recited, the consti tuti n is blotted out against the w ill of the people, and against the laws of the State. In ordinary ca&es, where majorities are decided, one way or another, and where the votes of the contesting mem- bers can make but little difference in results, a case like this may he passed over aud excite but little attention. But this case, upon the determination' of wuioh depends the sovereignty of the people, must be made a test ruse and the circumstances around it, make it a prominent landmark in the history of government. The first duty of tho Convention Wils to determine who were the rightful delegates from Uobeson, had there been a desire to follow, and obey the voice of the people. The action of" this .o ly has postponed the question unil rev olntion is accomplisued. Tie action of this. Convention in its legislative characters has correspond d fully with its revolutionary coiistitn tion. Measures of vital concern seem ingly prepared in party caucus, have been introduced as a matter of form, simply to obtain the scrawl which stands for a common seal, and tinder the spur of the previous question, with out an opportunity of debate, were im patiently hurried through, as prepared at party dictation. There are griev ances of an alarmning character, and not the idle clamor of disappointed hopes. We wished for nothing, we hop ed for nothing, but to preserve the con stitution dear to the people, who have struggled for years to retain the benefit of its admirable provisions. Tliedis- ' cipline of party tactics has at last tri umphed over the wishes of ihe people, and has left us no course but to advise the people of the spoliation of rights fearfully imperilled by this 1 '(inven tion - We have had an embarrassing choice to make in conducting the people's ift fense. We hoped fhat the iree divns sion of principles amongst gentlemen of intelligence, assembled from all p-m of the State, might cause some conces sion from the rigor of party demands. . But the invariable course of procedure in this body has been to prepare in mid night caucus the succeeding day's work; the measure agreed upon is taken npxi once; rarely has time or postponement been granted, still more rarely hasdis cussion been allowed, especially in mat ters on which opinions have been mosi opposite ; and when discussion has been impatiently conceded, we felt the ntir hopelessness of speaking to a question which judgment had gone before hand. The only expedient left us was a re sort to ordinary, parliamentary rules, to delay for a few moments the pain we endure in seeing the rights and privile ges of the people smothered in this Con- -vention. It was the only way we had of protesting against the hasty ami un sparing decrees of this body and how ever unsatisfactory, we were driv n m it as to the last ditch in resisting th i- .vasion of the assailants of our right. Never has any legislative body shown less of concession than this; never has the caucus system beei more rigidly and persistently enforced ; never has party discipline boen, more perfect, and never has a minority been Jess regard ed. , The closing scene of the Convention was a fit finale to a body which assem bled in opposition to the w ill f the people, acted and worked by means of a majority purchased by the disfran chisement of a county and ton total dis regard of law ; which has seized all the rights of the people and given them t the Legislature, and ended Its revolu tionary career by denying to mem bers a right of protest. Never has any one before known, in the history f Noil" Carolina, that a protest, offered in a re spectful manner and in substance not offend in g against propriety should w refused a bearing and a place upon tbe journals. But this Convention crowned its life of usurpation vv closincr twt of tvrannv which forbids complaint of grievance and denies the right or petition. So monstrous the act, that a leading member of the majority rose in his place and rebuked tliis open outrage. Not even this coimi bring a blush of shame to the faces"' that majority which began life in law lessness and in their own minds, fasten Incr chains 11 non the limbs of the peo ple, aptly ended its course by bMdinp them cease all complaint at the tyranny .of this usurping assembly. Wewiy' the people that the intention ana ' of the Convention was to enslave you and you are enslaved if you ratify act. J. W. Albertson, Jonas Hoffman, W. H. Wheeler, J. M. Justice, K. C. Badger. J. K. Page, J. M. Bateman, J. II. Smyth, G.B. Bliveu, W. W. McCanlevs B.F.Jones, ..A. McCabe, J. C. Blocker, A. L. Davis, W. M. Black, J. O. Crosby, Wilson Carey. , , N. B. Ham pton, Allen Jordan. . W. J. Alunden, O.H.Dockery, Ralph P. Buxton, A. McDonald, iu W. King, W. P. Mabson, I. J. Young, J. W. Thome. A. W. Tourgee. J. Orrin Wilcox, W. T. Faircloth, G. H. Grantham, , J. A. -Bollock, K. Iebman, w. M. Kerr, M. C. Hodge, William Barrow. A. M. Lowe, -Edward W. Tayior, J. Q. A. Bryan, T. J. I'ula, Jas. E. Boyd, . G. Z. French, Rufua Barringer, H. H. Manning, J. E. O'Hara, J. J- Goodwyn, J, W. Bean, -P. T. Massey, J. J. Horton, B. R. Hinpant.
The Era (Raleigh, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
April 20, 1876, edition 1
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