Newspapers / Tri-Weekly Constitution (Raleigh, N.C.) / July 12, 1876, edition 1 / Page 3
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The Tri-Weeklv Constitution. Republican National Flatform. Declaration of Principles. ADOPTED JUNE 18, 1876. 1. The United States of America is a nation not a league ; by the combined workings of the National and State Governments, under their resprctive constitutions, the rights of every citizen are secured at home an d protected abroad, and the com. mon welfare promoted. 2. The Republican party has pre served these governments to tne hundredth anniversary of the na tion's birth, and they are now em bodiments of the great truths spok en at its cradle, that all men are created equal, that they are endow-': - ed by-iheir Creator with certain In alienable rights among which are life, liberty, and the pursuit of hap piness; that for the attainment of these ends, governments have been m m m I instituted among men deriving their just powers from the consent rf thfi iroverned." Until these truths are cheerfully obeyed, or, if need be, rigorously enforced, the work of the Republican party is unfinished. 3. The permanent pacification of the Southern section of tne Union and complete protection of all citi zens in the free enjoyment of all their rights, are duties to which the Republican party stands sacredly I pledged. The power to provide for the enforcement oi tne principles embodied in the recent constitu tional amendments is vested by those amendments in the Congress of the United States, and we de- dare it to be the solemn obligation of the legislative and executive de partments of the Government to put into immediate and vigorous exer cise all their constitutional powers for removing any just cause of dis content on the part of any class, and for securing to every American citizen complete liberty and exact equality in the exercise of all civil, political and public rights; To thie end we imperatively demand a Congress and a chief executive w hose courage and fidelity to these duties shall not falter until these results are placed beyond dispute or rot-all. 1. In the first net of Congress signed by President Grant, the Na-' tior.al Government assumed to re move any doubt of its purpose to dfceharfccall jnst obligations to the public creditors, and solemnly pledged its faith to make"" provision at te earliest practicable period for the redemption of the United States n ts in coin. Commercial pros I .-nty, public morals and national en dit demand that this promise be liiliilled by continuous and steady j rogress to .-specie payment. . Under the Constitution, the President and heads of departments :ir? to make nominations for office; the Senate is to mlvist- and consent to the appointments, and the House of Representatives is to accuse aud prosecute faithless officers. The Inst interests of the public service demand that these distinctions be respected, that Senators and Rep resentatives who may be judges or accusers shou hi not dictate appoint ments to offlce. The invariable rule for appointments should have n lerence to the honesty, fidelity, and capacity of the appointees, to the party in power those giving nlaces where harmony and vigor of a.. i : .... administration require iia pum-jr be represented, but permitting all uihers to be tilled by persons select ed with sole reference to the efil eiency of the public service, and the right of all citizens to share in the honor of Tendering faithful service to thtir country, o. We r joice in the quickened conscience of the people concerning . I ,..,itical affairs; wlllho.ua puonc Ulicers to a rigid responsibility ana i lira ire that the prosecution ana punishment of all who betray offi- eud trusts shall bespeedy, thorough uud unsparing. 7. The public school system of the several States is the bulwark of tho f American BepubUcandith view to its security and permanence urn l-ranmmend an amendment to the - Constitution of the United StatesforbWaing thejippliUon of any puunc iunusorprupciijr benefit of anv schools or institu tions under certain control. 8. The revenue necessary for cur rent expenditures and the obliga tions of the Dublic debt must be largely derived from duties upon importations which, so far as possi ble, should be adjusted to promote the interests of American labor and advance the prosperity of the whole country. 9. We reaffirm our opposition to further grants of the public lands to corpora tions and monopolies, and demand that the national domain be devoted to free homes for the people. 10. It is the imperative duty of the Government to modify the existing treaties with Europeangovernments that the same protection that rhall be afford ed to the adopted American .citizen that is given to the native-born, and that all necessary laws should be passed to pro tect emigrants in the absence of power in the State for that purpose. 11. It is the immediate duty of Con gress to fully investigate the effect of the immigration and importation ot Mongolians upon the moral and mate- rial interests of the country. 12. The Republican party recognizes with approval the substantial advance recently made toward the establishment of equal rights for women by the many important amendments effected by Re publican Legislatures in the laws which concern me personal ana property re lations of wives, mothers and widows, and by the appointment and election of women to the superintendency of edu cation, charities, and other public trusts. The honest demands of this class of citizens for additional rights and priv ileges and immunities should be treat ed with respectful consideration. id. vine constitution comers upon Congress sovereign power over the Ter- ritories of the UuitedStates for their gov ernment; and in the exercise of this power it is the right and the duty of Congress to prohibit and extirpate in the Territories that relic of barbarism. polygamy; and we demand such legis- lation as shall secure this eud and the supremacy of American institutions in all the Territories. 14. The pledges which the nation has given to our soldiers and sailors must be fulfilled. The grateful people will always hold those who periled their lives for the country's preservation in the kindest remembrance. 15. We sincerely deprecate all sec tional feeling and tendencies ; we there fore note with deep solicitude that the Democratic party counts, as its chief hope of success, upon the electoral vote of a united South, secured through the efforts of those who were recently ar rayed against the nation We invoke the earnest attention of the country to the grave truth that a success thus achieved would reopen sectional strife and imperil the national honor and hu man rights. 10. We charge the Democratic pai ty as being the same in character and spirit as when it sympathized with trea son ; with making its control of the House of Representatives the triumph and the opportunity of the nation's re cent foes ; with reasserting and applaud ing in the Naiionai Capitol the senti meut of unrepresented rebellion, with sending Union soldiers to the rear and promoting Confederate soldiers to the front; with deliberately proposing to repudiate the plighted faith of the gov ernment ; with being equally false and imbecile upon the overshadowing finan cial question ; with thwarting the ends of justice by its partisan mismanage ment and obstruction of investigation : with proving itself through, the period of its ascendency io the Lower House of Congress utterly incompetent to ad minister the Government. We warn the country against trusting a party that is alike unworthv. recreant, and incapable. r v 17. The National Administration merits commendation for its honorable work in the management of domestic and foreign aflairs.and President Grant deserves the continued and hearty grat itude of the American people for his patriotism and his immense service in war and in peace. DSYCnOJIANCY.Oa SOUL JL .CllAllftliNC.)' How either sex may fascinate and gain the love and affections of any person they choose ujswiubijr. iui!i simpie, mental ac nntramsnt all nan i it T: Egyptian Oracle, Dreams, Hints to La- cues, weddinar-Niirht Shirt. Ac- queer book. Address . T. WILLIAM fc CO., Pubs., Philadelphia, Pa. ,12 -a- -uax ac nome. Agents TRUE wan tea. outfit free. & Co., Augusta, Maine. 381y j Protest. ADDRESS TO TUB ' fQ?l 0F,0RTH CAROLINA. By the Republican members of the late Constitutional Convention. we, tne 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 of our belov ed State, of the danger which immi nently threatens them from the despotic and aristocratic tendencies ot the Dem ocratic party, so glaringly displayed in the amendments passed by that bodv in the Convention which was lately held in Raleigh. A Convention caded to establish the principles which shall govern and give Vitality ia iuu uusiucas roiatiuuii ui ineu 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. judt;e of the tendencies of a party, when that party controls the body. Then, if ever, will men show tneir irue pouuiiai?y:mioiis ana strug gle to embody in permanent form, their hxed convictions. Governments 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, vvnen mat .-win, expressed uy majorities, fairly ascertained, is disre garded by the tframers of laws, and rights are taken away, against the sol emn protest of the citizen, whatever the other attnbutesimay .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. r. 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 the delegates elected : a due regard to that 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 of the people, contemptuous , of their twice expressed opinion, but only upon party rule and the substitution of tae sway of a faction for the will cf the ma jority, the Legislature of 1S74 '5, by a Dartv vote, violated xne primary iaea of the polit they had sworn to main- a - tain, and called this body, without con sultation with the people, and in breach of the declaration made all over the State in the canvass of 1874. No denial can be hazarded by any one, of this plain fact, that a deliberate ; disregard of the will'of a majority continued willfully, makes popular government impossible. This Convention 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, 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 their expressed will. But four years since, the 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 matters of detail going only to the judgment as matters of ex pediency, - and not touching a single right or privilege. In the House of Representatives, in tne session oi 1874 -'75, the dominant party had a majority of two-thirds. TUis uonven tiou, 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 to preserve. By a course unpar- allelledin the history of political bodies, that true majority is perverted, and tne power of party is enthroned upon the trampled rights of a State Stei by step me dreary drama oi ty- raunv is enacted, xne oupreine ouri, the bulwark of the people, their fearless champion jn many contests with an en raged and usurping Legislature, be neath whose august; decree tne poor oi the Und rest secure in enjoyment Oi homes for themselves and their loved ones, wnen Danieu ay ance casts ils mirs- ty gaze upon the pittance wrencned from its insatiate greedthis 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 uourt 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 tne 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 Courts of their jurisdiction, and confer it upon tribunals erected in their place, whose officers shall not be responsible to tho people. Justices of tne Jfeace, tne laminar 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 spoken these neces sary, aud almost family functionaries, torn from the people, lest they snouid 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, and ny divorcing their sympathies from the humble and rude poor, whose causes they are to de termine. Not only officers, but institutions, popular and elevating in their nature, are ravished from the masses. The popular county and township govern ments, 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 monev needed for the myriad uses of civilized and progressive communities, "hit ithekeep- ing of those who are uml- r the direct eye of the people; tiiey lamiiiarizo 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 tne idea oi tne will of a majority to its ultimate end, and they are the rude, it may be. but healthful nurseries in which the infant steps of freemen are trained to tread in the ways ot independent mannood. But this nurture does not accord with thespiritof democracy revolutionized. That bad genius broods with evil men- ace over tne precious neriwge oi our fathers, and the shadow of his dark ap- proach, even now mingles ominously with tlie uroad iigut oi our Jioerty. A strong government is demanded. The divinitr 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 some wiiat 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 modem partisan .Legislature ! Thus one bv one the rude forms of hemebred privilege are destroyed, and the dainty proportions of an elegant aristocracy are erected, beneath whoso iron-hand, though cased in a glove of velvet, no popular right -.can 'nourish ; 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 I Kings and privileged classes. The poor are the universal sacrifice. 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, Lven under the mild forms of privilege, which former ly prevailed here, the eternal hate which power always cherishes for free dom, allied itself to the dread demon ot rebellionand its insatiate, greed unap- peased by the holocaust of blood and impoverishment through which we have passed, will never cease whilst man is free. Under our previous history, the laws regulating elections, were plaiu and simple, no one ever dreaming that the time would come when tho people, s will wTould be disregarded by any leg islative body that could be assembled. But the desperation of party exigency, in this convention, nas shown.. how frail a hold the people have on their own government in North Carolina. t The people of Robeson countv. elect ed to this Convention two delegates. Neil McNeil and K. 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. But, usurping powers never granted them, they declare the returns untrue. and in the lace ot the written record before them, they pronounce that there was no election in four precincts of the county. No law is shown authorizing' them. to review the judgement ot the inspectors of election : none can be shown which entitled them to judge of the qualification Of electors. This pow er is vested by law in the judges of election, and in them alorfe. If they abuse it and admit unlawful votes, or refuse lawful ones, it is a case for the. candidates alone, and the determina-1 tion ot 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 members. A certihate of elec tion from the proper oilicers, gives the possessor a prima faci 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 duty 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, has ever made a con test between members without their own active interposition, aii 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 this body is directly contrary to this method. The commiissioners of Kobe- son, nave 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 havo 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 ma7 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 fection amongst tho 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 members,' 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 decisi u has been sustained. By this judge of election art stricken from our system, there is no. uio to record the votes of the people ; ie commissioners' though not pre -ut, detenu inee the rights or voters wuii ut evidence; this body is r bwd of tue right to determine the election .f it members, maintain ing ouU an iutereutial right of appeal if that, an 1 ici.iplete revolution lsao the v ventien sat in the Caph J tol by virtue of this revolution, and has j overthrown the - government of the I people tnereby By means of twe votes, secured in the manner above recited, the cousti tuti m is blotted out against the will of the people, and against the laws of the State. .' ::f::-- In ordinary cases, where majorities are decided, out! way or another, and where the votes of the contesting mem bers can make but little difference in results, a case like this maybe passed over and excite but little attention. I Uut this case, upon the determination j wmch depends the sovereignty of tuo people, must De made a test case, and the circumstances around it, make it a prominent landmark in the history U1 government. The first duty of the Convention was to determine who were the rightful delegates from Robeson, had there been a desire to follow, and obey the voico of the people. The action of this body has postponed the Question "until rov olntion is accomplished. Tue action of this Convention in it legislative character has corresponded fully with its revolutionary constitu tion. Measures of vital concern seem ingly prepared in party caucus, havo been introduced as a matter of form, simply to obtain the scrawl which 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 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 benefits of its admirable provisions. The dis cipline of party tactics has at last tri umphed over the wishes of the people, and has left us no course but to advise the people of the spoliation of rights so fearfully imperilled by this Conven tion We have had an embarrassing choice to make in conducting the people's do fense. We hooed that the free discus. 8lptt''0f 'P"lplosamongst' gentlemen ui "iwiiigeuw, ussemoieu irom an parts 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 up at once ; rarely has time or postponement been granted, still more rarefy has dis cussion been allowed, especially in mat ters on which opinions have been moit opposite ; and when discussion has beeu impatiently conceded, we felt the utter nopeiessness of speaking to a question which judgment had gone before hand. The only expedient left us was a re sort to ordinary parliamentary-Tulos, to delay for a few moments the pain wo 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 and un sparing decrees of this body and how ever unsatisfactory, we "were driven 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 system been more rigidly and persistently enforced ; never has party discipline been more perfect, and never has a minority been less regard ed.' -.; V- ; The closing scene of the Convention was a lit 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 one before known, in the history of North Carolina, that a protest, offered in a ro spectful manner and in substance not offending against propriety should be refused a hearing and a place upon the journals. But this Convention has crowned its life of usurpation by a closing act of tyranny which forbids 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 opon 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 course by bidding them cease all complaint at the tyranny of this usurping assembly. We say to the people that the intention- and aim ." of the Convention was to enslave you and you are enslaved if you ratify its act. : ';:'-; -v;-;. J. W. AlberUon, YVYH. Wheelor, R. C. Badger, ;J. M.Bateman, G.B.Bliveu, B.F.Jones, J. C. Blocker, V. M. Black, Wilson Carey, Allen Jordan, O. IliDockery, A. McDonald, W P. Mabson, J. W. Thorne, J. Orrin Wilcox, a. H. Grantham, R. F. Lehman, Jonas Hoffman, J. M. Justice, J. R. Page, J. II. $myth, W. W. AlcCanleas, 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: Faircioth, J. A. Bullock, W. M, Kerr, William Barrow. Edward W. Taylor, T. J. Dula, M. C. Hodge, A. M. Lowe, J. (J. A. Bryan, Ja3. 12. Boyd, li. Y. French, Rufus Barringer, S. II. Manning. JE. O'Hara, J. J. Goodwyn, J. W. Bean, P. T. Massey, J. J. Horton,- B. R. Hinnant. SEND 25c. to G. P. ROW ELL. & CO., New York, for pamphlet of 100pages,contain nst lists of 300J newspapers, and estimates Khhowing cost of advertising-,
Tri-Weekly Constitution (Raleigh, N.C.)
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July 12, 1876, edition 1
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