North Carolina Newspapers

'I- Raleigh, IT;; C, June .8, 1871. THIS PAPER, devoted to Politics, Ne-b, Xjtera titre, Agriculture, and Manufac turing Interests, and to the deyel- opcraent of our many Industrial Resources, rillbe. published in the r'tv of Raleigh, from andafter this - ' i d.;to, Tei-Weekly and Weekly by the Eiia Publishing Company. . i - Conducted politically, in the interest of the National Republican party, the " Carolina Era" will support the policy of the President in hi9 adminis tration of the afiairs of the Federal Government," and also advocate the pol- Jcy of the party which elected him, in all endeavors to heal the many wounds consequent to our late civil strife, and all its attempts to settle finally the dif- fprrnrps between the two sections of . our common country, so long severed bv crave sectional disputes, and so re cently arrayed in deadly hostility to each other. Universal amnesty, to gether with universal protection to all citizens in the enjoyment of those-nat- urai risrhts which governments were founded for the purpose of protecting, can accomplish this most desirable re sult. In our opinion, nothing else can. Accepting honestly and in good faith the settlement by Congress of those is sues immediately connected iwith and evolved by the late disastrous struggle between the North and the South, this 'paper will strenuously oppose any and every measure, Federal or Slate, calcu lated to recall them again into the po litical arena, there to disturb the peace and security those measures were in- . - - i tended to preserve and perpetuate. The Era will sustain Governor Cald well's administration in the honest en deavors he has made and is making to restore good order and .peace through out this State, by suppressing the se- - - ! t cret, lawless organizations committing crimes upon helpless, inoffensive per-; sons m many counties, ana win aid- m A ' 1 I him with all the influence the paper can f command, in a fearless vindication of the law. C V At all times advocating whatever, in our. opinion, is best calculated to pro mote and secure the happiness and ma- terial prosperity of our people, and of .- A mr ' -. . ' ,. , . . 1 ' 1 I X every individual 01 our peupie, aim w protect them in the undisturbed enjoy ment o the rights and privileges guar antied by the Constitution and by the laws, this paper will endeavor to do so - by fair and legitimate1 argument, and not by personal abuse or defamation at no time forgetting its own self re- gpect.and the responsibility as a Journal it owes to an intelligent public. Open and ready oh every appropriate occa sion to discuss any subject of sufficient - .. i ' importance to secure its appearance in the columns of a respectable journal, this paper will do so in an honest, fear less and independent manner, ever manner, ready to accord to its fair yarid candid opponents the same right tx) their con- I scientious convictions,'that it claims to exercise for itself. ' - . ' This paper will oppose the calling a Convention in the manner attempt ed by -the late General Assembly, as rie unwarranted by the Coristi tution, and over and often condemned and repudiated by a large majority of the people of North Carolina! . It will oppose all radical, revolution ary and partizan legislation, whether by Congress or the State Legislatures. Advocating a proper economy in the various departments of the Federal and State governments it will be ready at nil Liiiies uj xeiiu lis asMauuii; ui sup- " pressing extravagance and ; corruption, and in exposing dishonest practices and officials, heedless of the political or business influence of the latter, or their party affiliations. It is the earnest desire arid, intention - i of those having the control and man agement of the The Carolina Era, go to conduct it in its various depart ments, that its columns- shall be both - - . i . instructing and interesting, containing nothing of those personalities too often found in the newspapers of the present day. Intending as soon as possible to organize a corps .of lgular porrespon dents and contributors, whose opinions, experience arid writmgs on subjects of vital importance to the prosperity and advancement of our people will entitle them to .the respect of all honest and right-minded inen, and serve as a guide to the young men of the State just as suming the duties of active and intelli gent citizens, this, paper will aspire to become a high-toned, first-class, progres- J sive journal-a faithful reflex of the liv ing presenti-and exert itself to deser'e the patronage and support not only of the Republican party, but of eyery one who is willing1 to burv the past, and join with it in the resuscitation of North Carolina, and in the promotion of every thing tending to advance our people as a State, and ' their welfare arid happi ness as individuals. Our time, and whatever abilitywe may have, will be industriously deyo ted to make the columns of the paper as useful and as entertaining as its friends desire they should be, com maridinsr at the same time the confi- dence and support of its political friends I and the respect of its 'political oppo nents. ' THE REVOLUTIONARY PARTY. We commend to our readers' atten tion the following article from the Tel egram, of this city, under the date of April 6th. We also beg their earnest consideration to the manner in which the Conservative party endeavors to perfect its organization. The leaders of that party, if an asso ciation without a platform, and of a purely local existence, can be called a party, though lavish in their expres sions for popular sovereignty, the rights of the people, and all that, dare not call the people (who vote with them) together in convention, as has been the accustomed usage of the political par- tiesln this State for more than thirty years. ' This total ignoring the ordina ry and popular usage by a few inexpe rienced leaders elected to the General Assembly, is significant, arid plainly shows the people how much the profes-. sion of attachment for .their rights is worth. ! -'' ' The Telegram, in the article alluded to, says:- ; .V ;" " " :' i " The Conserv ative members of the Legislature held a caucus on Monday evening last, in this city, when, as we learn from an authentic source, ' the or ganization of the Democratic Conserva tive party spiritedly commenced.' We were about to say that this was a somewhat remarkable party, since it seems to require organization every year, and we never hair' of its reorgan izing, but on looking into the. matter a little further, we find that it is another new party that was "spiritedly organ ized in this city onMonday last : and so far as an outsider can determine, has not now, nor never had any connection whatever with any other political party. A year ago certain members of the Legislature met in the city of Raleigh and organized a Conservative-Democratic party, tc ith a hyphen. This year they meet again and organize a Demo cratic Conservative "party without the hyphen. " V e must confess that we do not understand the tactics of these party leaders : their political strategy is be yond our ken. They seem bent on per petual change ; and they possess a fac ulty for adapting themselves to the situation' which is truly refreshing: and astonishing. "We are not informed of the con struction of any platform, nor have we heard any declaration of principles, f lion 4 Vl Q -f An -f O i n u1 in Vw I cent address of one hundred and more,' AV HIV AJlCAJLft MiCdV V' A MtilllVA illC ACT" to tne people oi iNortn Carolina. "Standing upon the dome of the State House, these members of the Leg islature may have been so fortunate as to obtain an unobstructed view of the political horizonand as sentinels upon thf wth-tiTi'r,rf rrnr riiil w 1 i luirtioc they may tell us truly of the hour, bu we would advise the people of ' North Carolina to think seriously of the mat ter before they commit, irrevocably and absolutely, their every interest in to tne hands of the politicians now floating on the surface of the political occasion. have a hand, once in a while, at cztsu lueii .are sent w -mest; Xjetnsia- f r . 4. J.1 T ? 1 tive Assemblies to enact laws, arid guard the material interests of the whole people, . independent -of party bers of the Legislature cease to be poli- iuiws, r puiiucHi ui visions, ana mem li liif. l .1 ? ' r uuaua wneii uiey ern-er upon ineir ap propriate duties: and therefore: when at the close of a session these go to worK and organize parties, they simply stultify themselves, nothing more; I ""Nor does it look well in -another point of view. When the people elect men to orace, tney do not propose to make it a life-tenure, but when these ,omcials begin to shuffle the political buds exclusively, and allow no one but themselves a chance at the party slate, it looks a little suspicious, if.it does' not -1? XI A A 1 uirecu v appear a seraea purpose to ma nipulate the party strength in such manner as to retain themselves in office indefinitely. xi n were wise to organize a new parry every spring, which to our mind it is not, we most seriously question the policy of giving up the political or . par ty reins entirely into the hands of the men in office, and we herein warn the people of North Carolina not included in the ranks of the Republicra party, of a direct and evident purpose on the nort rT porta i n nf rhaiv lonHnK nn.r. I part of certain of tlieir leaders to muz zle public sentiment, ; and steal away ineir pouucai ngnrs." EXCHANGES. Exchanges are the tools with which an editor principally works. As " yet we have none, and for 'several issues will have to rely upon the generosity of our friends, and 'the news dealers. " A ...211 "1 T i ' iiittruiia win uietuse kwii mis fact in . mind fresh, whenever they riiay feel dispose to criticize too "slash- ingly" the contents of our columns. m l y . . . . io relieve us irom so emDarrassing a position, we hope our brethren through out the land will at once respond to pur invitation to exchange. It- is said that during the siege of Paris, all the German batteries scattered about the city were connected with headquarters by telegraph communica-, tion. The telegraph stations 1 A 1 A.m ' a were Domo prooi, ana me operators, were plentifully supplied with cotton where with to stop their ears during the bom bardment. Conveying orders by tele graph, and communicating with a be- seigea city oy earner pigeons is one of I tne greatest improvements or modern A- k i W .A AM - '1 wanare.. . ... . THE TRUE ISSUE. f- The real and only issue in the pres ent canvas,;and one from the consider ation'of which we warn the people not to be diverted, is, the power of the Leg- i - - i - 1 islature of the. State in regard tdas sembling a Convention of -the people. The clause in our present Constitution authorizing the General Assembly to call a Convention of the people, j by the concurrence of . two-thirds of all the members of each House of the Gen eral Assembly," is in the jsame wards as Sec. 1. Art. 4, of the Constitution of 1835. That clause was inserted in (the Constitution of 1835, -in accordance to the 16th section of the Actcalling it, which reads : -. '; j ' " XYI. j BeHt further enacted, That Thk CONVKXTIOSr SHALL PROVIDE IS WHAT MANNER AMENDMENTS SHALL IN FUTURE BE MADE ;TO 5 THE CONSTITUTION OF THK State." i J r . : 1 If i the Legislature has any other ier.hu- thority I concerning a Convention , Kot by any other one hundred and jseveuty citizens of the State, have beep unable to find it. ;- i f . ebt: t we The question then, and the oply one practically before the people this summer,! is, t whether the Act under which they are called upon to vote is in accordance with the above section of i i the Constitution? Whether we are! in favor of dhe Constitution as it stands, or Whether we may desire certain of its provisions stricken out and others in serted, tl6es not enter into the issu0 at all; I Forj if a Convention is called in a manner slot authorized by the Consti- tution , 'its action will be revolutionary, i- . . i -. . j and the amendments made by it wil be declared void by the Courts. Such was the fate of the Dorr-jConstitution in Rhode Island, arid such will be ihe fate of any- Constitution I made by a Convention in North Carolina, cal . - i ... .. . i - ed in an unconstitutional manner. J FEMALE SUFFRAGE. What will some of our sapient Bour- boris old i; fogies so wedded to the vvrui. vvi 4iiiiuoj irAa..b iiviiiiii j ixi morals, politics, science or social econo mies is worth a cancelled postage stamp, unless it has the impress of a half century on it we say, what will they say to the probablevextensiou of suffrage tb our female fellow citizens? -C- - - ; ; They we-e violently opposed to ihe principle of free suffnige, believing that rid man ought to vote for Senators, un less' he ownied 50 acres of land. They were more than violently opposed j"to the black rnans voting. We are'arixi ous to J see, what their platform will! be u iciaijuif w giwug tun ujuwi lu our wviii,,,i -a . x : i. Women. .It IS an issue they have got to meet; and ,vye bring the matter to tljeir attention,! so- that they 'may at oiice commence to give it due consideration,; iiLLli , 1 .1 j 1. T. a a 1 for which ihe old fogies ought to thank us.' : '-' ?'! From our exchanges, we see that Michigan; promises to take the lead in the .woman's-right movement. Her colleges arid schools no longer recogriize sex in the admission of students. I A woirian has been admitted to practice in the Supreme Court, and at the ate i it j I election two women were, allowed to posed towards the woman movement than the East; and with Wyoming arid Michigan! already enlisted in their cause our universal-suffrage friends haye encouragement enough to carry a whole campaign. The cosmo-political party may yet be a power. A NEW WONDER. A recent .number of the New leans Republican, a paper, by the we shall at another time take occasion to speak of as one having few equals arid np superior in xur country, savs, of the discovery, of a new motive powe ; : Yesterday morning Mr. jj B. Knight, agent of the Watertown Stejim Engine Company, sunk a drove well ip the rear of his office, No.l 76 Carpndelet : street, with a! view to get ting a supply of water, arid whenj at the depth of forty-six feet a sudden and very powerful draft of gas j was observ ed to flow! from the mouth: of the pipe. He immediately closed the pipe, think ing to utilize this gas for illuminating purposes, f but found the pressure Itoo great, when the idea struck T him to di rect it into the boiler of one of Iris ien- gines and bxperiirientwith it in making . ! x r steam. Jtsut no sooner nad the connec tiori been inade than the engine begari to run entirely by tlie pressure of the gas acting upon the piston, at a pressure of twelve pounds to the square inch : and so it continued all day yesterday, giving no sign of exhaustion. . ; Here is a discovery. A motive power which costs absolutely nothing, suffi cient to be made available in running many Kinds of light machinery, per fectly controllable and seemingly iruex haustibleuH What shall we find next under our city ? We advise the curious to call at Mr. Knight's office and see this wonder. r . ' OUR TERMS. The subscription for the Carolina Era has been placed at the lowest pos sible i living figures. No one in the r r'v Y XI - L - A 4 J 1 ir- I the paper on account of the price. Bee tne xrms ana rates of advertising on Lthe first page.1 It is the 1 interition to make our ; Weekly edition, outside of its politics, a ifamily newspaper, partic ularly acceptable to our; agricultural friends. The price, One Dollar, yer annum, should insure it a large pat- . ' ronage. TRACTIC N ENGINES ROAD STEAMERS. We publish below an article from the London Times, giving the history and explaining the use' and application of Road Steamers as tried in Scotland. We consider the subject of much im portance to our people, and tjiat it is our duty to afford our readers all the light in regard to the success of this new mode of conveyance, our position commands. For this, reason, we have no apologyto make : for thelength of the article copied, but commend it to the serious attention of every intelligent mind. As a people, we are poor, very poor ; and it is absolutely necessary that economy in public, as well as iri private expenditure, should : be the leading, prevailing idea in all the projects for providing our citizens facilities for transporting their surplus to the markets of our country, Road Steamers and Narrow Guage Railroads promise this. Of their success, as - introduced - iri the United States, the readers of the Era shall be kept advised: - " Progress breeds wants. As one needs provided for, a fresh need is born. So rail ways, invented to facilitate the operations of commerce and nianulacture, have in their turn created a new requirement. Their enormous powers of absorption and trans mission render a new mode of leedinjr them imperative, for animal power no longer suf- hees to bring uiem their supplies of ireight. With railways, too,' other growths have been going.on. Huge iactories have sprung up m quiet nooics, ana tneir aaiiy proauce ex ceeds what the population of a great city could have achieved in a year's course bv unorganized labor ; mines, by the aid of im proved machinery, yield up their wealth in quantities undreamt of in davs of! old, and the machines themselves are constructed of a strength and bulk that ' even theorists would not have ventured on a generation back. To carry all this abundance from its sources to the railway or to its special des tinations has long been too arduous a task for such feeble agents as carts and horses, and mechanical skill has for many years past been engaged in trying to make our great servant steam work upon common roads. Two raidieal difliculties, however, baffled the ingenuity and zeal brought to bear upon the problem. Ponderous traction engines were built on various plans, but always with the result that the shocks experienced in run ning over hard roads occasioned continual breakages in the machinery. If to obviate this, as far as possible, the weight of the en gine was increased, then the roads suffered terribly. All kinds of contrivances were applied to meet the emergencies to which .the engine'. was liable ; claws shot out from the wheels to enable the machine to issue out of hollows, or to emerge from soft places into which it would sink from its .own weight, but at the Critical moment the claws were apt to break, while the havoc they made with the-road was fearful. ' The claws were likewise-needed to prevent the engine from slipping on iui ascent. To the wheels of another form of engine cumbrous planks were attached,' which involved with the wheel and ottered a ki nd of rail for it to run on, but tins, could not be made to 'work practically. The use of traction engines, inereiore, nas oeen attenuea witn great an. noyance and expense from the constant in juries to road and engine, caused by their contact with each other, and for this reason, though the supremacy of steam over horses would still assert itself when extraordinary loads had to be moved, traction engines could not be employed for general purposes and regular trailic But now the two diffi culties have been overcome by the inven tion of the Roael Steamer. The" Road Steam er can run on any kind ! of Koad: It runs 1 . 1 J.. 1 1 A " A 1 . "".el nam nimi.i aim paveu ssinjtju wiuioill jolting, over soft roads without sinking, over muddy roads without slipping ; nay, it needs no road at all, lor it can run with equal ease over grass lields, through plow ed fields, upon ice, through loose sand, and over frozen snow. Though small and light itself, it climls the severest gradients and draws enormous loads." It owes all its fac ulties and its exemption from the disabili ties of other traction engines to one device as simple as it is efficacious. The wheels, which are of great width, are surronded by tires of vulcanized India ? rubber. These thick bands of India; rubber, enable the Road Steamer to hoat over the "surface of the ground without the slightest damage to the road, while they likewise protect the machinery from all concussion The in tervention of the elastic tires letween the r .1 ai. i j i- i vvjicei. aim me ruuu m us in iact. in me 8ame way as if the engine were 'running Mr. It. W. Thompson. C. E;. of Edin burgh, the inventor of the Road Steamer, havim experienced much annoyance from the defects of traction engines, and finding none able to do work for which he required them, conceived and carried out the idea of providing the wheels 6f a steam ei run on common roads with India rubber tires of immense thickness. When the first patent lioad Steamer was tried, some two years ago, its success was complete, and far exceeded the expectations and hopes of the inventor. Kince tnen he has been engaged in building numbers of these engines to send to all , parts of the world, and the record of some of their performances, in me presence oi engineers, agriculturists and other practical men, will doubtless be found interesting. A three-horse power engine urew a nouer weigning; tnirteen tons up an incline of one in twelve, the ground being so slippery at the time from from frost that norses could not keep their feet. The-en gine was run through a grass field without leaving a track, and again through a field covered to a depth of two feet with loose earth. A twelve-horse power engine, weigh ing eight tons, ran with four wagons at tached to it out to a colliery twelve miles from Edinburgh; there received . a load amounting, with the four wagons, to thirty two tons, making the. weight of the whole forty tons ; and then returned up inclines of one in sixteen to Edinburgh. It wended its way, with its train of ninety feet, with perfect facilitythrough the narrow streets of the old town, which chanced on the oc casion to be thronged with vehicles carry. ing peofla to some open air festivity. It turned all manner ol sharp corners, ran down the steep hiU to Leith, entered a lane. .a j s a i i,i . . anu urove in inrougn uie gates oi tne lac tory, where it delivered its load. An en gine was driven into a newly-dug potato field, and there" ran about in every direc tion, leaving the soil qmte undisturbed. A twelve-horse power engine, drawing a load of seventeen tons of pig iron, was driven along the Granton road at the rate of eight miles an hourt The same engine was run along the sea sands from Portobello to Joppa, running through the loose dry sands, over the soft wet sand; and even through a creek of running water, with as much ease as if it had been driving along a turnpike roiid. It was driven over long beds of broken Hint laid down for road mending, and the motion to those riding on it was as smooth and pleasant as if it had been going over a lawn, while the stones remained quite undepressed. An eight horse power engine, weighing six tons, took a load of thirty-four tons up an incline of one in eighteen. Engines with omni busses attached to them have run frequent ly through Edinburgh up the long steep hill from Leith, and up and down the steep est streets in the city, always without a break. Their speed is from eight to ten miles an hour, and some .very handsome steam omnibusses are being constructed on this principle." ; j fTho Into TV-i ocur?purt, luame, was ine cnampion at- X - 3 J. A 1 ' . . . : tendant at church, having been in his pew out of 2,600 consecutive Sun days I Absence from town was his good excuse for missing on the two Sab baths his seat was vacant in fifty years. Brutus J. Clay. Jr., son of the Horn Cassius M. Clay, has been unanimously nominated by the ReDublieans of M Ad- ison County. Ky.. as their candidate for the Ijegislature. A FAIR CHALLENGE. I The Telearam ; of Friday last, formal ly opened the canvass, by publishing the speech of the Hon. S. F. Phillips, in theHouseof Representatives last winter on the Convention Rill ; . arid at the same time, proposed f to j tne leading Conservative journals of the State, that if they will republish in their columns the principal papers of .the j Telegram oooosmsr a Convention called as it is proposed to do, that the Telegram wil cheerfully publish their leading articles advocating the call for a Convention. No journal not thoroughly convinced o the justness of the cause supported, as well as the probable result of the elec tion in regard thereto, would so willing thus throw down the guantlet,and lend ts columns to its opponents. . We shall publish Mr. Phillips' speech ri pur riext issue, and forthwith in sub sequent numbers with the speeches and Opinions of Judge' Gaston, and W. B. Meares in 1835, Gov. Manly in 1822 ; Win. B. Shepard in 1S52; Judge Biggs 0ias. ! F. Fisher, GovJ Bragg, and W. W. Avery in ; Judge Ruffin, W. T. portch and a host of others in 18G0-'l, all of whom placed themselves on the record against the power of the General Assembly to call a Convention, or to initiate proceeding to call a Convention, by a bare majority vote. Out of their own mouths," them. - j j we exKHt to convict OUR NATIONAL DEBT. f To those not familiar; and daily con yersant with the facts and figures of the great and inexhaustible resources of the country, nothing is more astonishing than the monthly reduction of the pub lic debt, and at the same time, a corres ponding reduction in the rates of taxa tion. The increase of receipts for two years has amounted to $84,904,049 74 ; the decrease m expenses, $ 126,700,940 21 , while the debt during the same time has been reduced over $204,754,413 09. ' There is," says the JVeic York Tribune ri a recent number, " a cogent eloquence bout these figures! which exceeds any rhetoric of the 4th of July." j Reduction after reduction bas bewi niade in the rate of taxation, .and the process is still ,continuing,: but: the efu- fcienfy manifested in collecting the pub lic dues actually increases the revenues in the face of a wholesale' abolition of taxes. Accustomed to denounce everyJ act of Congress relating to finances, and none more severely than tliose which relieved from taxation, the Conserva tive orators and papers in North Caro lina, find their prediction confounded, and the Treasury, instead of being bankrupt, actually gaining strength from this seeming j reduction of the re sources.. . .! - I ' . . r ; ' i The operation of the Funding :bilt equally puzzles the same class of minds. How it ithat a 5 per Cent bond can be exchanged for; a G per cental and he capitalist make money by the transfer, is complete enigma, while the increas ing subscriptions to the loan have put a quietus on a whole batch of the most reckless predictions. The civil commo tion in France was of course un-antici-pated, but enough is already known to settle the point that in any ordinary ijondition of the foreign money market every dollar offered abroad would have been speedily taken. The country, strong in its financial system, is strong in its credit, and has all the advantage that a rigid economy in every depart ment can give. Instead of seeking to make a loan, if Europe had remained quiet, the loan would- haye sought us, anu more money wpuia nave oeen oi- " i i 1 ' ierea man tne wants oi tne country re- auired. . if;-,: !v f We must have aConveritioni and we want tne people to vote lor it now .without incur. ring the expense of again holding an election on the question. :Uharlvtte Democrat. Or, in other words, if the people of the State should vote down the propo sition to hold a Convention in August, the Conservative party will, at the first opportunity, order another election on tne convention question. ; mat's ex actly what that party did iri 1861. The people of North Carolina then said they wanted no uonvention, but m less than . . . . . . i three months another election was force on them.. The lesson of 1861 will be remembered in 1871, by the people of North Carolina-Expense or no expense. i !5od in youb names. rnis num ber of the Era is sent to political - t ' . friends, and in many cases to political opponents. v e hope those receiving it, will not only subscribe themselves, but will induce othersN;o do the same. Our paper has been promised a large list, and before the campaign is fairly opened, we expect to number our sub- cnbers by thousands; Do not disnn- point us, for we assure our readers, that it is easier for an editor to talk with ten thousands patrons, than it is with five hundred. The Charlotte Democrat contains' the proceedings of a meeting held at Dallas, Gaston county. Gov. Varice addressed the meeting and f 4 denounced the re- ports of lawlessness and violence" We are glad to see . that the gentlemen composing .the meeting went a step farther and denounced not onlv tht reports" but 44 all lawlessness and vio lence," and pledged themselves as good citizens to use their best efforts to main tain the laws of the country, j -1 i ln?-mUlinf.e oridUTh yards, docks, sheds, mills, lete.: ntal i' ' ' ---; I uriu wver an area oi nearly nrty acres. a anu in mis urtii mere are about seven miles of plank road. To carry on this establishment from 400 to 500 men and boys are employed. -4 n 11 . ihont RAvpn i From the Daily Telegram, Feb. 13, 1W1. -'J THE CONVENTION QUESTION. , We print in this issue Governor Cald weil's message in regard to the pending call for a Convention, together with his correspondence with the Supreme Court iqon the same question. j We need not call attention to these documents, as no doubt they will be l-eatl at once, and with great interest. WeJclieve that the Governor has per form il a great public service, and is entitled to the thanks of all good eiti- ZdlS. -I !'- '":.: ''!! ! , It will be seen that Governor Cald well and the Supreme Court concur in what has been hitherto the general and almost undisturbed opinion of the pub lic in this State, to-wit : That tiie Gen eral Assembly has no power, either directly, or by the intertx ntion of the people, to call a Convention, except the law be authorized by a majority of two-thirds of all the members of lxth Houses. U,f-' -;!; ' : ; v- The question arises, upon anjexpref sion inserted in . the. Constitution of 183-3, and retained in that of 1808 nov in force. - ' - :: ' ; -' I No question is made as to the inabil-? ity of the Assembly to call a Conven tion directly ' except by a two-thirds vote. It has been said, however, that it may, nevertheless, by an ordinary majority, authorize the People to call such a Convention. But! even upon this point, as we i have said, public opinion in -North .Carolina, up to trie present time, j has been almost undis turbed. M i I Our re aders already understand what the views of this paper are in this re gard. We do not pretend! to be law yers, or to be prepared to argue the question by the lights which profes sional t reading, or , farniliarity with Constitutions, may give; but' the im pressions which,, os plain citizens, i we have taken up, are fortified by what we understand to be the history or this question m JNorth uaroima. I From recent discussions we learn that the question now at issue between the .Executive and Judicial Departments of our State Oovernment, on one hand, and the Ijegislature upon the other. was first raised in the General Asserii bly of 18o4-,5by a proposalof the Hon. AV . Ai Graham, then a Senator froin Omnge. As a substitute for the Free- Suffrage bill -then pending, he proposed wnKiHi snrh Lin f i m(n(.ti nV s thA wv hmrirM in ,sft, but by a bare majority of each House. That proposition was immediately de nounced by the Democratic leaders lof the Senate (notably by Mr. Biggs, C$1. Jfisner and others) as revoiutionarj. and, after elaborate debate, was rejected by a majority of about two to oiie. Several Whiffs were understood to co- incide in the view taken hv fr. lii nmonp- others h TiYm T Tiinmn m the Hon. Anderson Mitchell, then rep resenting, in the yenate, I Wilkes and other counties. ': The proposition was afterwards re newed in the House of Commons, and, having been i debated upon the issue raised by :Mr.: Biggs, as above, was re jected by a vote of 77 to 34. r I these votes were then considered jas settling the question. It has been ar gued with .great ability in favor of M. uranam's proposition, and he Was una ble to rally his party in its favor. In the Commons, more than a third of the Whig party voted in the majority, in cluding some of their best lawyers, aud most intelligent public men. Among the Democrats who so -voted were Joshua Barries, James M. Bullock, John B. Bynum, W. T. Bortch, S. P, Hill, W. J. Houston, L. W. Humphrey, W. A. Jenkins, Thos. Settle, J. G. Shep herd, G. B. Singletary, W. L. Steele, jJ. A. Waugh. and J. G. Yancev. Anion? the Whigs were J. S. Amis, A. II. Caldwell, George Green, J. H. Headen, I). Outlaw, Richard II. Smith. J. G. Stubbs antl P. II. Winston; of Bertie, J All the members from Wakfi muntv. viz : Mr. Wilder in the Senate, and Messrs. Rand. Whitaker. and J. Mor- decai, in the Commous, voted-with the majority. - '1 I . :. ,-.' .. . . j Alter this the matter was not ajrafn stirred until the General Assembly of j.ooi, wiieu w proposition, t not uniiKe that of Mr. Graliam was made in recrard to a Convention of the people to cori- sider our Jeclei-al relations. We sav n. siuer our jeaerai relations. pruposiuon not unlike that' of Mr. Gra- imm in i&4, for he suggested that the wnsinuiiuii w iooo uiu not .Tirnnimr. the General I Assembly from enabling tne people to call a Convention hv majority vote, whereas iri 18G0 Messrs. a Avery and Person suenrested that thf IT-SI I ll-I lliri I r 1 TITO I "AllLlTiriltlAn fYmsttriiri rf lao only applied tb Conventions called to w vm4vm JJ.B I considers our internal affairs, and nbt our federal relations. In both cases the suggestion was ingenious, if we mav be permitted so to speak of techical argu ments. Jin the latter, it was understood that the late Chief Justice Rriffin enn- curred for a while; although, upo SSin4i-H,wlJcI - miii iiili iniin iii . Mr. AVer- in the Senateand by Mi person in the House, in 1800, provitkk Ior ,mA ca'l of a Convention by the Gen- ZitT uy 1 cot!mar .our Merl was argued with some hf rui r riiany days. Mr. Donnell iroiisl to ask the opinion of the Supreme XkniH ripon its constitutionality, arid this. ttiuiougn wanniy contested, was car ried, by a majority of one, in the Cbiri- mons. What further became of this proposal, we are r.ot informed, but" sup pose that, as it came to be generally ae- jvuuwieugeu mat tne bill was unconsti tutional, an opinion : considered unnecessary , n uujiuuii- it v ljim i jiiirr, wnu J A In the end. however. Tfr. Hnrt kr S&JS'nl!?10 at sAubstlte Pyi- ding that the General Assembly, 44 tiw- thirds of all the members of both IIoues concurring " would submit the ques tion of calling the Convention to the people. This was adopted, and, as will be remembered, the people voted the Convention down, in February, 1861.! iere; again, after great debate, lie- ginmng from a different ixint of view, uI dysiwia and other chronic ills the result was j reachetlj that a bill ari- ea. These springs possess a new! at tnonzmg the people to rail n rvnvH traction tn t h iwr.iu r tion, reqmred for its enactment a nia- jority of two-thirds of all the members wuhs.-. mat is the form into which the bill was moulded iii the pro- cress of the debate. We recollect the general annroio f ikn with 7 which the Union men, at that mne, received the announcement, made by Mr. Speaker Dortch ,in the Com mons that unless the bill, as originally introduced, received a mninrifv r J m "?V lie j B"ouia ueciare that it had luiieu ui pass! At that t mA.nA ?ri uie ruuiiu was suggested .between the original form of th hill j - , Z ' v' SL5i,S5 fSU. ntIv - iH. TomnttlfVS' ! " " " v-v. oi,utiiJLr L1U1L. - ? L Whsf rfrit . . - Ti r' rrAx.x v1 ?en wio ..uu UUi wjjBumnon as a rule to live by, ana not a mpm tVimrv ,i t. ing society, is, that here are two decis ions upon, this very question, by a body authorized, to decide, and sworn to de cide correctly. , ' m , - Suppose the tribunal to have lx en originally mistaken, if youplfViso what security is there; or what pciuc' if its dei isions are jerpetually to be re considered? . k ; There is another point in the history of this question which .we suppose to important; viz : That after this t-oui-se of decision had heen established, a Con vention, (1808) which was apprised of sucn uecisjon, re-oruaiiicu me; very- same provision in the ConstitHtion now in force. ! ,: . . ; ' We are told by lawyers, . and the f principle appears to , be a sound one, hat whenever expressions in a Consti tution, or in a statute, have been con strued by a tribunal authorizcnl to do so, such construction is to. bel regarded as adopted! and endorsel by any Con-. : veritiou or; Legislature that Ire-adopts such expressions. This also appears to be sensible! It is conclusive here. The Legislatures of 18.34 and 1800, in the discharge of their, duties, "found themselvesi under the necessity of deci ding' this question. They did . so. Af terwanls the Convention, of IHI'm, which proposed a Constitution that I was re-' jected, and again that of 18(58, which prepared the one under which we live, adopted the language which had been so construed. There can, therefore, ho longer, be. any place for comtrxtvtion ! There can be no question as to whatkhe Cbnrention of 1808 meant, by j the jiro vision l)elbre us ! i ' - i The people'- will thoroughly endorse the views of Gov. Caldwell and the Su preme Court. j ! They have had enough of revolution ary movements. They will not go back tipon their own decisions in this respect, made in times of peace, and with ihe concurrence of men of all jar ties in all portions-of the State. I hev will hold to a strict! and just responsi bility all persons who, by design, or . inconsiderately, enter upon revolution ary courses. ; 1 . THE PACIFIC RAILROADS. Few 'persons realize the monster .mo nopolies W'hich,' under this title, have iK-en sprung ujx)n the 'country, M inerva like, full grown. To four companies, the Union Pacific,1 Central 1 'aciUr, Northern Pacific, and Atlantic and Pacific, have been granted 124,ho,(h 1L . 1 t 1 , -Si ' iUTes of ,the public lands more land. than is contained in the Middle States stretehing from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mississippi river, more than the . seven States of New Jersey, Delaware Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio Indiana and Illinois I 1 ! 1 To the Northern Pacific alone, 47,0O0j00() acres were originally granted, to which Congress added 6,(nXJ,0(M) last year. ao max to mis one private cor m mat to this one private i3onitin has been given, of the Uvt anas belonging to the nation, a terri tory equul to that of: Pennsylvania and Ohio combined. In other words, Con- gress has given to this corporation, means to build about 2,0OU miles of rail : way, to be the private property of a few private individuals. The govern ment might as well have built the road with the means it furnished, and tin n have bestowed it as a gratuity on tlicse few private individuals. Indeed, that would have been a cheaper plan for our , children, because if the '-government, had built the toad and given it away, , the beneficiaries would have been mere ly a railroad company; by the plan adopted, they have become the greatest land monopiy that the world has ever witnessed. ! ! ' 1 J By these enormous grants, millions of landless people have bOen deprived of a chance to procure homes unless at exorbitant rates. Besides, the wealth " and dominion conferred on these great eoriorations will make them the over shadowing, ruling power in at least a dozeri States. They, and not tlie Slate Legislatures, will choose Senators in Congiess : they, and not tluf unbiassed voice of the people, will elect Represen tatives. They, and not the -free States will elect our Presidents. . T Think of a road stretching frotu Du-" luth to the Pacific, j embracing more than 2,0fX) miles of railway, the proper- . ty of a single corporation, owning every alternate section of land or its procetnfM in a belt of eighty mihs wide, nearly the whole lengthof theline OstictWs or 2o,G(K) acres to the mile with towns and villages owned by tlie corporation ' or its favorites scattered along the road, and the great stockholders ruling Its affairs residing in Boston and New York and we may have some idea of wLiat the orthernIacific is to.be, and wnaienunce ior ioiitittil promotion an v man within, the innits of its inrliifn.n. . . - " wol" nave, If lie dared seek to ritrict iw iiioiioinny, restrain ils exactions or otherwise oppose its supreme will. No section of the; country is more anxious than the South to clear away war issues for the sake of its own peace.. But no section is more interested thau- tihTaile ar l iXVd LtTiiK ih ine orin-west m tnrowinir overboard . deck forlhe gmt struggles of the future witn tnese monstor monopolu to re vent them from establishing on thiss continent a grand feudal system, with out nobility, honor, ! intelligence or cm vairy based upon corruption, a mere iiiusiiruom oi money. v KITTRELL1S SPRINGS, J4. C. We learn from our Sold lrn changes that these popular springs,' sit uated on the R. and G. ItailnWl . i 1 ri r ex- ty-five niilen north of Raleigh, will le oi)ened this season by Dr. G. W. Blacknall. nnw nf ii i Vnriummnii iinnao rn mh ....i K'lV '.,'A m Kr"u4" ,T.T vi."" UiU s ,ne aain restore that is if efforts to pkff w ucuuiuinouaie ana to make one feel at home can cause the seeker of pleas ure or. health to forget 'Ufie ills that are" and enjoy those they khew 44not oP' before realizing a eojourri at Kit trelrs. The waters oihese sbringsiare justly celebrated for their valmlhik ineuicinai qualities in the cure of scrofr Recently capitafists from ! th -X'rrh nave purchased lands in the neighbor- nooa at most reaniiihlft trm and have since discovered gold ore of great riliiiuu v. . . . uuu nave trone to work de- veiopinsr the hidden tHiuiiW.j tMUi r- , . - . e p-- " ' lands of the same nature and value can be- purchased for. greenbacks. Go to , ffH'8 by a11 meanH, , Dr. Blacknall will tell you all about the gold region,, and send you, with his Perton any-J where you may wish to go every one'' who has ever been to Kittrell's kfiows , Peyton, aud those who have never been there will not be slow in making W.totMe upon arrtoW-Ai -."fT: . iU--. ir.'i.".- i .., t : . f The last word" is the most djiinrer- ous of infernal machines. Husband arid wife should no more strive to get it than they would struggle to get possession of a lighted bombshell, j if.-- - v.