Newspapers / Tri-Weekly Constitution (Raleigh, N.C.) / June 17, 1876, edition 1 / Page 3
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The Tri-Weekly Constitution. Wake County .Republican Con vention. A Convention of tho Republicans of Wake county will be held at the Court-house, in Raleigh, on Tuesday the 27th clay of June next, at 12 o'clock, noon, for the purpose of appointing delegates to tho Fourth -Congressional District Convention, to be held in Raleigh, on the 11th day of July, to nomi nate a candidate for Congress aud a candidate for Presidential Elector; also, to rppoint delegates to the State Republican Convention, to be hpld in said citv. on the 12th of July, to nominate candidates for State officers, aud two electors for the State at large on the Presiden tial ticket. The County Convention will consider no other business. The members of the County Exe cutive Committee, who are ex officio chairmen of 'tho various township and vd committees, are hereby reques od to call meetings in their respective townships and ward3, on Saturday, the 24th day of June, in nnln- to appoint delegates to the Coanty Convention. Bv order of the Co. Ex. Com. V. W. WHITE, Ch'n. A. Mag sin, Sec'y. Fourtli Congressional District Convention. A Ilepublican Convention for tho Fourth Congressional District of orth Carolina, will be held in Ra leigh, on Tuesday, the 11th day of July, 1876, and be convened at 12 (clock M.,of thntday, for the pur pose of placing in nomination a Re publican candidate to represent the District in the. Forty.-fiffb. Congress of the United States, a candidate for Presidential elector, and for the transaction of such other business as may be deemed proper.- Dele gates entitled to a seat and vote in the Convention, must be regularly dflegated by a County Convention called bv a Countv Committee through their regular Chairman. to four voles in the. Convention ; the counties of Chatham, Granville, Johnston and Orange are entitled to two votes, each ; .and the counties of Franklin and Na-h to one vote, each. The County Committees of the counties couio.sitig the District, that have not already done ho, are requested to call their County Con ventions early, so as to ensure their counties reorientation in the Dis trict Convention. By order of t. District Ex. Com.: B. F. BULLOUK, Jr., Ch'n. Jno. C. (Jokman, Sec'y. Republican State Convention, 1870. Tho next Union 'Republican Slate Convention for the nomination of (Jovernor and other State otticera will be held in the city of Raleigh, N. C, on Wednesday, July 12tht 187C, at 12 o'clock, noon; and will con sist of delegates from each county equal to twice the number of its representatives in the lower house of the General Assembly. We cordially invite all Republi can Electors, and other voters, with out mrard to jwist party affiliations or differences, who favor the hu mane provsions of our Homestead and other exemption laws, who fa vor the establishment of a system of free schools that will meet the wants of the masses of our people; and also all those who are opposed to tho revolutionary schemes of the k A at a; 1 -1 late frauuuieni; vxjuvention, wnicn oroDOsed amendments to our State institution, to co-operate with us in nnr efforts to nut good men in office and retain for North Carolina an honest and efficient State admin istration. . Let us all in this centennial year of the anniversary of the birth of this Great Republic renew our pledges of devotion and fealty to the Union. TIIOS. B. KEOGH, . Chairman. F. M. SottRELii, Secretary. State Rep. Ex. Committee. Republican papers please copy. State Executive Committee. Headquarters Rep. Ex. Com., Raleigh, April 20th, 187G The officers of District and Coun- i ngs, and also the names and post- s 1 ,1 : - TH03. B. IvEOGH, Chairman. Francis M. Sorrell, Secretary. Republican papers please copy. TS STRICTLY A REPUBLICAN Pa- JL ier, devoted to THE G RE AT P lil NCI PLES OF THE National Republican Jfarty, INDEPDNDENT AS TO MEN, BUT NOT AS TO PARTY. It will stand ud for the erood name of HJorth Carolina and every man who slanders the OLD NORTH STATE will be considered the enemy. Will join hands with the press of North Carolina to encourage immir gration. JtfE POBJ Will give the latest local, national and foreign news. Groat pains are taken to give a correct statement of the MARKETS in NA VAL STORES, Cotton and produce of every description. Also, a commercial and marine report. Terms : $3 per Annum. Address all communications to "The Pot," Wilmingto-i, N. C. PROSPECT tJS op ft COlSltM A Political, News & Family Journal. The Constitution Is published ever Tuesday, Weduesdav unu inursaay, at eigh, Iff. C We shall strive to stimulaLo TTVf IVTTri-T? A TTO and the Development of the Material ttc. sources of the State ; To keep up with the Current Topics of the Iay ; To furnish PRACTICAL INFORMATION. THE CONSTITUTION WILL, AT ALIi TIMES, EXPOSE AND OPPOSE CORRUPTION, INCOMPETENCE & EXTRA V- AOANCE Tnollice, without regard to party affiliations. - -1 - - TERMS : Cash in Advance. ADDRESS, All letters and communications to W. M. BROWN. T, . -mr - -n Business Manager of Era, jmleigh. jY. a ARTHUR'S ILLUSTRATED IIOTCE MAGA ZINE. "The Household Magazine of America." Two Serial Stories in 1876. EAGLESCLIFFE," by Mrs. Julia C. R. Dorr; and "MIRIAN," by T. S. Arthur. BUTTERICK'S New est Patterns in every number. Terms $2.50 per year ; 3 copies for 6.50. Splen did Book offers and Prejxiiums. Spe cimen number 10 cents. T. S.' ARTHUR & SON, Philadelphia, Pa, JProtes AN .AJDDIIKSS TO THE Rl fh. npn1lMican ,L,, nfth f " We, the undersigned, under a sense of the responsibility due from us as representatives of the will of the people or iNon;i uaronna. ieei caned noon to war . the yet free citizens of our belov ed State, of the danger which immi rently threatens them from the despotic a: a aristocratic tendence3 ot the Dem ocratic party, so glaringly displayed in the amendments passed by that body in tne uo ivemion wnicn was lately held in Raleigh. A Convention called to establish the ZSr and de tine the limits of the privilege to be exercised ry tne people, offers an unerring test of the opinions and feel ings of ttio.se 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 bod v. then, - if, cver. jill men show their true political opinions and strusr gle to embody in permanent form, their tixed convictions. Governments are classilitd into free and despotic, at a glance, by an examination of their con stitutions, whether written or moulded bv the practices and tradition of their history. When representatives respect ana consult tue wm pt ino people, whilst dealing with their interests and privileges, free government prevails, whatever its advantages and inconven 1 11 1.1 5 11 . tm a iences, vvnen tnat win, elressed by majorities, iairly ascertained, is disre- irarded by the iraniers 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 characte : 01 JNorur uaroima s last and worst Convention. i A large majority of the votes of the state, was given against its can, ana r i i 1 ; 1 a. 11 1 the will ot the people thus expressed should have controlled the. delegates elected : a due regard to tnat will de manded that the present 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 and enjoined. Not respecting the voice ot the people, contemptuous of their twice expressed opinion, but only upon party rule and the substitution of the sway of a faction for the will cf the ma iority. the Legislature of 1874 '5, by a party vote, violated tne primary idea ofthonolitv thev had sworn to main tain, and called this body without con- sulfation with the people, and in breach of the declaration made all over the State in the canvass of 1874.' No denial can le hazarded by any Qile, ojt this plain fact, that a deliberate disregard of the will of a majority continued willtully, makes popular government impossible. This Convention is a bold declaration against the popular will and is, in it self, hy tho very fact of its existence, a revolution. It is an anomaly in our history, and stands a solitary example of a body; called for the good of the people, usurp ing their rights, and seizing their pow ers, against iheir expressed will. But four years since, tne people were call ed upon to express their wish upon a change of the Constitution: they an swered that they wished no change Two years ago many amendments of that instrument were submitted again te the people: very few were adopted and those were raatters oZ detail - going only to the judgment as matters of ex- -i i. : i peuiency, nu uut luuuuiug siugio right or privilege. In the House of Kepresentatives, ,n the session oi 1874 '75, the dominant party had a majority of two-thirds. This Conven tion, composed of the same number, elected by tho same voters, under the same laws, with no intervening change of circumstances, returns a majority of d. legates against the party in power, th -s crivinga rebuke to its revolution ary spirit, and declaring again in favor of the Constitution they have tried so hard to preserve. By a course un par allelled in the history of pdiitical bodies, that true majority is perverted, and the power of party is enthroned upon the trampled rights of a State Stei. bv step tne dreary drama oi ty- rauny is enacted. The Supreme Court, the bulwark of the people, their fearless champion in many contests with an en rased and usurping Legislature, be neath whose august decree the poor of the land rest secure in enjoyment of hornesTor themseb?esiatid their loved ones, when baffled avarice casts its thirs ty eaze upon tne 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. The election ot tne superior Court Judges, now with the people, was cov eted, and the purpose contemplated to 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 tice to the purposes of party. This change was only averted by the adop tion of a provision wnicn enables a par tisan Legislature to rob the Superior Court3 of their jurisdiction, aud confer it upon tribunals erected in their place, whose officers shall not be responsible to the people. vv- Justices or the l'eace, the familiar counsel of the people, whose functions have always been to assist them in their common, ordinary disputes ; who have been with the people, and of the people since tradition has s.oken these neces sary, and almost family functionaries, torn from the people, lest they should continue Democratic in nature, as in of fice, and an aristocratic complexion is to be forced upon their homely features by rendering them no longer responsi ble to their neighbors, ard by divorcing their sympathies from the humble and 4 rude poor, whose causes they are to de termine. Not only officers, but institntiora. pop ilar ad elerat! in their nata. au lavuuou-jruui mo masses. iue popular county and township govern - irents, established by our present su- preme law. carries the idea of responsi bility to the people ' down to every neighborhood. They give the control of every dollar of the money needed for the myriad uses of civilized and progressive co vui u : ties, into tie keeo mg 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 or self reliant and inde pendent u e j. - x The-.e tribunals carry the idea of the wiU of a majoyity to its ultimate end, and they are the rode, it may be, but healthful nurseries in which the infant steps of freemen are trailed to tread in the ways of independent manhood. But this nurture does not accord with tne spine oi democracy revolutionized. A mm. sm j.uab uau Kculua urnuus WHU evil III Oil- ace over the preens 3 heritage of our fathers, and the shadow of his dark ap- proach, even now mingles ominously with the broad light of or - liberty. A strong governmeot is deaianded. The divinity of privileged power must here- I Sar independence of poor men and ig- witiui uui uBvuuuus. aiiu me vni- norant people must be trained to forego its somewhat turbulent conduct, and learn politer manners, and mere cul tured forms from the example of our very virtuous and model ruJers, who are to be supplied to us by thai exces sively iiure medium a modern partisan legislature i - .,;. : . This one by one the rude forms of hemebred privilege are destroyed, and the dainty proportion of an elegant aristocracy are erected, beneath whose iron-hand, though cased in a glove of velvet, no popular rigns 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 If in rra anr t-t-5 xri nrrail nlaaaaa TK are the universal sacrifice. n r v6vv waogM, aud puui The slaughtered millions, whose blood cries to God from the thousand battle-fields, which cover our country 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 oowor alwavs cherish s for f ran dom, allied itself to the dread demon of rebellion, and its insatiate greed unap- peased by the holocaust of blood and impoverishment through which we of the State, might cause some conces have pacred, will never cease whilst sion from the rigor of party demands man is free. - " : But the invariable course of procedure Under bur previous history, the laws in this body has been to prepare in mid regulating elections, were plain and night caucus the succeeding day's work simple, no one ever dreaming that the the measure agreed upon is taken up at time would come when the people's nc ; rarely has time or postponement will would be disregarded by any leg- been granted, still more rarely has dU- isia,Livw uuuy iuub uouiu ue assemnied. -But the desperation of party exigency, in this Convention, has shown how trail a hold the oeonle have on thftir own government in North Carolina. . The people of Robeson county, elect ed to tms -. convention two delegates, Neil McNeil and R. M. Norment. The judges of election, against whom no fault has been alleged, 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 the county commissioners was to add those returns, and declare the result. B ut, usurping powers never granted them, they declare the returns untrue, and in the face of the written record before them, they pronounce that thero was no election in four precincts of the county. No law is shown authorizing them to review the judgement of the inspectors of election : none can be shown which entitled them to judge of tne quanncation oi electors. This pow er is vested by law in the judges of election, and in them alone. If they abuse it and admit unlawful votes, or refuse lawful ones, i t is a case for the candidates alone, and the determina tion of the fact in each case, belongs solely to the body of which the parties are seeking to become members. This Convention is, or is not. the judge of the election and qualification of its own meinDe's. A certificate of elec- tion from the proper officers, gives the possessor a prima facie right to his seat. until the truthfulness of the certificate is questioned. When this is done, the first thing to do, and the only thing, is to examine the records of the election. If they are in lawful form,the certificate must be given accordingly. ' If voters are questioned, the daty of approving or disqualifying them, rests with the candidate making the issue, and the facts must be determined upon the evi dence adduced; No legislative body, of its own motion, nas ever made a con test between membe.s without their own active interposition. AH legisla tive bodies determine the lawfulness of the certificate. When this is done, the burden is thrown upon the contestants. These are rules of law prescribed for the proceedings of contestants, public and of common application. The action of I this body is directly contrary to this method. The comjnissioners of Robe son, have erected themselves into a ju dicial tribunal ; they have, without evi dence, and against the record, deter mined the fact of legal and illegal votes have taken from the judges of election the discretion conferred upon them by law, to be exercised under the obliga tion of an oath, and against their own written statement to the contrary, have declared that no election at all was held in four precincts of the county. If they have power to disregard the returns from four precincts, they may equally disregard the returns from every pre cinct, and at their mere will and pleas ure, declare no- election held -in any county. By a combination easy of per fect;on amongst the county commis sioners, an election over the whole State may be nugatory, and the people discarded entirely in the management of public affairs. How is this body to judge of the election of its membe.-s, if the county commissioners are empow ered to act in a judicial character, and determine who are the members elect ? Yet this has been declared the law of the land by the majority of the committee on Privileges and Elections, and that decislon has been sustained. By this judges of election are stricken from our 3, votes of the people ; the commissioners system, mere is no ono to record tho mougii not present, ceiermine the 1 rights of voters without e vide ace this body in r h1 of theriffhttntr. me election ine Miiy an 4Kn i . T A. fits ; members, mairtain- if that, and aco unlete revolntinn Lal lniereuual riaht of anneal. complished. f ; - , Th9 Dast Oonvflnf ion out U KJ -': tol by virtue of this revolution: and has overthrown the government of the people thereby. - f , - ; - . ,By means of twe votes, secured in , the manner above recited, the consti- 4 tmf m is blotted out against the will of the people, and against the laws of the ' ' otHtO. - v. f In ordinary cases where majorities are decided, one way or anothe. a,-d where the votes of the cod Jag Jr em. bers can make but little difference in results, a case like this may be passed over and excite but iitti f.TTrL l V m .ma I tnis case, upon the determination - """-u UfpeilUS IQ0 SOVCreiTtltr of the people, must bo made a test rasp and the circumstances aiound it 1 iak it a prominent landmark in the historv of government. Th Arst duty of the Convention wis to. determine who were tho rightful 1 "o'cgavca irum xvooeson, had there been a desire to follow, and obey the vni I of the people. The action of this body nas postponed the onAsMnn' olntion is accomplished. until rev- . f?nor this Convention in its legislative character b.is corresnondPd fully with its revolutionalS ! tion.Meas.ires of vital concern seem ingly prepa-od in party caucus, have been introduced ; as a matter of form, simply: to obtain the scrawl whicll stands for a . common seal, and under the spur of the previous question, with out an opportunity of debate, were im patiently hurried through, as preDared at party dictation. There griev ances of an alarmning characterand not theidle clamor of disappo nted I fifl for nnFhinfp Knf . ' iur Homing, we hop- i - """'fef MIA preserve tne con- outuvum iHur to tne people, who have struggled lor years to retain the benefits of its admirable, provisions. The dis cipline of party tactics has at last tri umphed oyer the wishes of the people, and has eft us no course but to advise the people or the spoliation of rights so fearfully imperilled by this Conven tion We have had an embarrassing choicH to make in conducting the people's de fense. We honed that th fr sion of principles amongst gentlemen of intelligence, assembled from oil na f r I ueeiiauoweu, especially in mat ters on which opinions have been most opposite; and whe.i discussion has been impatiently conceded, we felt the utter uopeiessness oi speaicing to a question which judgment had gone before hand. Theonly 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 tneoiiy way we had of protesting against the hasty and un sparing decrees of this body and how ever unsatisfactory, we were drivtn to it as to the last ditch in resisting the in vasion of the assailants of our rights Never has any legislative body shown less of concession than this ; never has the caucus syste n been more rigidly and persistently enforced ; never has party discipline been more perfect, and never has a minority been less regard ed, "ft-- - . The closing scene of the Convention was a fit finale to a body which assem bled in opposition to the -will of the people, acted and worked by means of a majority purchased by the disfran chisement of a county and the total dis regard of law ; which has seized all the rights of the people and given them to the .Legislature, and ended its revolu tionary career by denying to membors a right of protest. Never has any ono before known, in the history of North Carolina, that a protest, offered in a re opovwui uiouuci auu ia suostance not ' offending against propriety should be refused a hearing and a place upon tho journals. But this Convention lias crowned its life of usurpation by a closing act of tyranny which forbid.4 complaint of grievance and denies the right of petition. So monstrous was the act, that a leading member of the majority rose in his place and rebuked this open outrage Not even this could bring a blush of shame to the faces of that majority which began life in law lessness and in their own minds, fasten ing chains upon the limbs of the peo ple, aptly ended its coarse by bidding them cease all co-nplaint at the tyranny of this usurping assembly. We say to the people that the irte uion and aim of the Convention wj- to enslave you and you are enslaved if you ratify its act. " J. W Albertson, W. H. Wheeler, R. C. Badger, ;J. M. Bate man, ii. B. Biiven, B. F. Jones, J. C. Blocker, W. M. Black, Wilson Carey, Allen Jordan, O. H.Dockery, A. McDonald,. W. P. Mabson, J. W. Thome, J. Orrin Wilcox, G, H. Grantham, It. F. Lehman, M. C. Hodge, A. M. Lowe, J. Q. A. Bryan, Jas. E. Boyd, Rufus Barringer, J. E. O'Hara, J. W. Bean, J. J. Horton, Jonas Hoffman, J. M. Justice, J. R. Page, J. 1L Smyth, W. W. McCanless, A. McCabe, A. L. Davis, J. O. Crosby, N. B. Hampton, W J. Munden, Ralph P. Buxton, R. W. King, I. J. Young, A. W. Tourgee, W. T. Faircloth, J. A. Bulloi k. W..M. Kerr, William Barrow, Edward W. Taylor, T. J. Dula, G. Z. French, S. H. Manning, J. J. Goodwyn, P. T. Massey, B. R. Hinnant. Q X"- OA Per day at home. Sam Die IU rpJ worth $t free. Sxixsox & Co. Portland, Maine.
Tri-Weekly Constitution (Raleigh, N.C.)
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June 17, 1876, edition 1
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