Newspapers / The Weekly Constitution (Raleigh, … / Oct. 26, 1876, edition 1 / Page 1
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CONSTITUTION A REPUBLICAN WEEKLY NEWS PAPERTHE CENTRAL ORGAN OF THE PARTY. TV. M. EKOWN, Manager. OrriCK at the old Standard Build Ing Fayetteviile Street, Raleigh, N. C RATE3 OF SUBSCRIPTION: One year, - - - f2 10 Six months - - - - 1 05 Thre months, - - - 55 Invariably xjt Advasce."5 To tlic Public. The following extracts am from thw llaleigh jtic oi itin litn oi Tne party inut g t rid of John V. Stephtns.,' Uoo. JJoiden to jjojuti jonnscn. Tne ILiiUblicanM hud much to do with thai crime." Gov. Iloldcn to lice. C T. Ji, lifer. "For murder, though it have no tongue, will speak, with most mi rvifn Inn J nrtra ri . filuibo-wnrc "Our view la not chained in the least oy uov. iioiuen'a denial; mat we expected, as an admission that ne aiaae to iwv. zit. i;uiiey me Htalemeut which he is alleged to have made, would damn him for- ...... W .4 1.-.-.. i .ill .VsO. bllity, to -Urj acuTm C the grand Jury whoa duty it isHo drag to ugut thy authors, aiders and abet ' tur" of criminal deeds. Let him deny, it id nothing; the idle wind i.s lute mora intfTrtl v it hi nc - B that emanates from the pen whicn signed away the ieople'a treasure ior urioe money, unu wmcn now tills the columns of a newspaper daily with the vilest of tslaiiders uuu the ma-st uublushiutr falsehoods. can operate' in the least degree to shake the confidence of the public iritheunimpeached and uniin peach uolo veracity of ho pure and unsul- - S . . I - - . . . . . uuu a luiuiaier oi me gjspii us xvev. I! l I til lev " "Everybody is now asking, who - . . . - . . . . . i KillrU siepneua r uuu meumverauj reply is, Holcfeu and liU gang.'' The bonds of society must have ln-come greatly relaxed, and the Evil One must have been let loose iwdtx-d, when a citizen, who has re-iil-d in llaleigh for foriy years, Uiid whose personal . and private cuaracier tuts never beeu heretofore impeached, is compelled to come forward to defend iiimelf agaiust huch chaiges a the above, pub li-did iu a Kaleigh pape r, But tiiin duty, thus imposed on ' me, I ei.unot avoitl. I owe. it to my lamily, to my Iriends, and to ui;eif to expose and repel these iii'-iisirou calumnies. The first witness produced agiins me t Daniel Johnson, a Colored mail. I suppose Mr. Johnson is as iriMtda man as any of my accusers, lie would probably be a better man than mos: white Kpublieaus, in tne judgment of my accusers, if he wou.d only vote the Democratic ticket. I nave turned to Daniel Johosou's testimony before the Jiupremp Court, iu 1870, and though he was exmiued at length, he aid not even mention my name. I have na recollection of any conversation witn lJanifi jouuvju. wi".-i Jg03 and 1870, with a great many iienon in distress, who had been iu Kiuxed, and i may have talked witn him, but 1 do not recollect it. ii I Kttid, "th party must get rid of Johu W. Stephens," I did not even dream that any one should kill him. Daniel Johnson may have loid me that Mr. Stephens or some one else, had advised retaliation ou iiVe whii, though 1 do not believe he ever advised ; "and J may have xaid u I ehoutd haVt-said, that the rr,rty wanted no men leaders and mut get rid of them. All my pro clamations, letters and messages w.iisnow that I was exceedingly ttv.-rse to retaliation, as I regarded it as only Increasing the prevailing evils and my oath of office as Oov i i iior blll nieto the sacred duty of ! .Mluseliug every one to look to the Vaw alone for help. I never even hinted, in the most remote manner, to any oue that John W. Stephens soould, in any event, be murdeied. The JVir saya, "Everybody is now asking, who killed Stephens? fhe universal reply is, llolden Morions a wilful and a iicked lie. In the, absence of nroof of any kind agamt me, and wVth the decision of the Supreme Ouurt in print, that Stephens was murdered la the Court House in v-neevville. by Deujocnits, how In the universal reply" bs that ntSrdered- him? ifticht. if 1 uiuse to do so. have the editors a d stockholders of the Aeux in dicted for libel, and sue them for damages; but l'aul says I must not m !L law "berore the unjust." I ""commanded rather to "take wrong" at the hand of the unjust, 3 to submit, and to await -that 3a With hope and pat'ence. o, 1 will not go to law.Wl will de fend myseit againt calumnies and falsehoods the most monstrous and thfuit wicked that ever found circulation among a Christian peo ple. Nor will 1 hate my calumnia tors, Because they hate me. I will not return evil for evil. 1 will not retort with personal charges against lv of thpm. 1 uitgnt ao so but 1 ini noU--lly the help of Mod, X do not intend to bejostied from my pnmriety, or to do anything, or say Juiy thing, which would cause pain to my real friends, or bring dishonor on myself. Especially will I not assail a minister of tne Gospel, or lp Reft bU motives, no matter Watliemaysay or do. f would wther rover up hi faulus, ff he has any. To assail and abuse such a cnlracter would be cowardice In any man of the world, or in any lay man. am stricken, when it is known I will not tight for words, Jwgo-to law, or take any steps to avenge myself. I muit bear iu ;I STfiJlw 1 will bear ".but win not Imitate the example of my ac cusers of the Mux by bringing "railing accusaUons" against any onl And I beg my Christian friends of all denominations to bear this in mind, that we have one SStt AcSfser even Satan,- and that FtW not become us to accuse one anoSher. IU will do that work, for he -accuses us day and night" before God. 2 ' " ' I do not deem it necessary- to my de fence to go into any reticulars of the murder of John, AY. Stephens. I can EEKLT iiie VOL. I. nly state, as I do with the utmost solemnity, in view of that day when "God shall jndje the world by that man whom He has ordained," that I had nothing to do by advice, by con sent, by word, by look, by thought in iav inmost heart, or by deed of any kind whatsoever, with the murder of John W. Stephens. I do not knoic, bat I believe, with Chief Justice Pear son, and Justices Settle and Dick, who examined sixty witaases in the case, in Raleigh, in August, 187 J, taat he was inurtlercd in the court house, in Yancey viile, by Lis po .tical opponents, while a Democratic meeting was being held in that house. I offered rewards wiiile Governor for the detection and apprehension of his murderers, and I labored with diligence to ferret out the raiUv and bring thom to punishment, but to thi ia it is uot positively known who murdered- Stephens. The Democrats were murdering and whip ping a good many liepubucans aoout that time, and they had a motive to murder Stephens, for he virtually held in his hand the whole power of tne comity of Caswell; but the Republi cans could have hsul no motive, even if they could have h id the inclination, to murder one of their own active and Rat the Xeirs says I " signed away tlit; ieoples tiv-t-sim; f or bribe-mouey. ley. solemnly declare tint 1 never lerformi'l any act while Governor, or si-rued my name, witn a view to reward or the hope of reward; and I never received a bribe from any one for any of mv acts while Governor. There coidd have leeu no motive to bribe t.e to sign my name, even if I could liave leeii bribed, for every pair, or document, or Inmd which 1 snnied was signed utricth in accordance with law. I had no veto iower as Governor. I did not pass the bills to issue the bonds. I never appealed in person to any luoiulwr of the Legislature to vote for th'se bills. The Presidents and Directors of the various railroads did not come to me for these bonds, but they went to the Treasurer, who had the bonds printed, and who first signed them, and they were then turned over to me to be signed, and to have the great seal of the State impressed upon them by my Private Secretary. I ,ave tue order, m strict accordance with law, for the issuing of all the bonds, savo the last batch of ?.Q.CGU,- 000 to the Western IUilro;wL The authority to issue these bonds was de volved upon the Treasurer m the hist amended charter, and he hesitated for two or three weeks as to whether he would order the plates and have them printed; but 1 encouraged him to do it, because I wanted the Western peo ple to hays these bonds, and I yas wil ling to stretch the law a little to let them have them; and I will state i ur ti teTnTol'e, lt:if T trrfi . Mi,gi i.... urer was finally oonvmced that he could legaUy and properly issue these bonds, by an argument submitted to mm by Hon., A S. Merrimon, oue of Mr. Swepson's counsel. I have no doubt the argument was honestly made, and the boads honestly issued. If the fact that Jndge Merrimon made this argument is doubted, a friend in forms me that he has Judge Merri- roon's notes of the argument, and can rrodncb then, if 'necejssiirr. When I was impeached in Decem ber, lh7Q, there were eight Artaolea, I was acquitted on two, and convicted on six of these Articles. A ninth Article was found by the House, charging me with " corrupt conrvicity with Mr. Swepson in issuing these very bonds. One of the first North Carolinians whom I met in Washington, when I reached that city in February, 1K71, was Mr. Swepsqn. He aa in Ne York, and had seen this ninth Article in a llaleigh paper. He repaired at onco to Washington, sought my room on Eleventh street, and told me the main object of his visit was to inform me that he had both written and tele graphed to Raleigh that th,o ohaige in this ninth Jrfiole teas fa!, and 'that, if it wa press-xl against me, he would at ouce return tr Raleigh and swear that it was falsa. The ninth Article was dropped. And I will state further, that the Treasurer and myself would not de cide to ivue any bonds until we had gone before the entire Supreme Court In informal session, and as- certained from them, distinctly and clearly, what bonds were constitu tional and what were not. Having, as I 'think, thorouzhly disposed of the charges in the retN, above copied, I may aslr. the public of both parties tq hear me briefly as to my general course as a public man 9ince 1800. Members of Con gress and others frequently rise to "personal explanations." I think I may do so for the first time in cqany years. I was, in 1S00, and had been for long year, what was kno wn as a Jackson Union Democrat. While I was a State rights maa, as Jeffer Honand Jackson were, I had deter mined in my iqind never to consent willingly to a dissolution of the Uaiou.. I felt as Mr. Clay did, when asked if he would ever con sent to disunion. His reply was, "nrer never I never " I attended the Convention at Charleston in lSfGQ as a State delegate. I had been there but a day or two, when I be came convinced that the great body of the delegates" from the South, to gether with the Bayards and Saul burys of the North, had determined on disunion and civil war. I de nounced them, and took my stand openly as a Union man. Invents of the most momentous character fol lowed" each 4 other In rapid and bloody succession. ' I was true to the allegiance which I plighted to my State with so much reluctance against the Union. I never advised or countenanced desertion. I paid money for the Southern cause, and urget0ur peoplQ tq resist coercion, thougn I regarded it as calamitous in its. consequences as secession. 1 simply went reluctantly with iny section; feeliog all the while that we should be subjugated and lose everything, and was mosl anxiou3 m mmmrn mmm mm jm m m m ; Eepublican Jf: RALEIGH, N. C, at all times to close the war and re turn to the Union with something left of life, property and honor. I was, therefore, what was called a Peace man. I found myself in a nw Tartv. with such men as Badcer. Brown. Graham, Vance, SpttlP. fiiimpr. Dick. Smith, and others.' In 1SG2, with Col. James F. Tavlor. and a few other frieuds, I was instrumental in nominating Gov. Vance for Governor. He accepted, and ran ' substantially on the -platform I have just given above, and was elected over a secession candidate pure and simple, by an immense majority, For about eleven months he was true to the men who had elected him, but in August and September, 1S;3,- after he had visited Richmond and talked with -Mr. . Davis,; he fell into new and curious wya' In a word, Lb left entirely and for good and all, the thousands upon thousands of generous and patriotic men who had made him Governor, and placed himself at the head of the secessionists in thi State, Space would fail me to tell all he did, and all he omitted to do, from tliis time until the close of the war. These things are fresh in the memories of the people, and Judge Settle has placed them in his speeches before the puonc . . I Ml - " A l- An I witn more vivuiness uxiu. auiuij iuau x could do. I do not charge him with treachery, or depravity, or corruption while he was Governor, for I do not know how or why he . was moved to such condnct If he lost his integrity in the muddy and bloody sewers of mere ambition, I do not know it. If he deliberately made up his mind to abandon his old friends from selfish motives, and to persecute and scourge the very men who had made him what he was, I do not know it, and shall not, therefore, charge it. If he was not governed by , love of country, but by the glittering crown of Presidential power, which he thought he saw as cending from the smoke and blood of battle, and resting on his brow, and if he was thus jostled from his course, and tottered into the arms of his ene mies,' and became the scourge of for mer friends to whom he owed every, thing, I do not know it, and shall not, therefore charge it But one thing I Jo know, and that is, North Carolina was never so afliicted by any man as she was by JJebulon B. V anoe, during the greater part of his term as Govern or, alter he had leit his Union mends. And he is asking for the same office again, and says he wants to serve out his term, a part of which he lost by the triumph of the national aims ! With much better grace could ask for the balance of my term, of which I was unjustly deprived because I enforced the Constitution and the laws to pro tect the inrent and unoffendiner. iflf I ilr t" ior iu iyut , y a.Aa me Oitti; a men to vote for himf llow can fiey do ii? The secessionists may vote for him, as they did in 18G4, but Iain not see how any old Union man can consis tently support him. In 1865 I was appointed Provi sional Governor by Andrew John son. I did not seek or expact the place, but I accepted it, and did what I could for our people. I ob tained not less than twelve hundred pardons, and saved to the persons pardoned, as they then thought, their estates. If ever I received thanks for it I do not know it. I induced the President to suspend the collection of the Federal land tax from the county of Guilford west, and thjs tax, thus sus pended, has never been collect ed. . I . induced the President to give to the State the regains of the State war property to the amount of $150,000, and this he did .for no other State. This mouey, with $7,000, which I received directly from the Secretary of War, paid all the expenses of the State (govern ment for seven months, Including the Convention and Legislature, and when I retired, in December, 1SG5, forty thousand dollars of this amount went to the credit of the Worth administration. I had full power to levy taxes on the peo ple, but I levied noue. X was so careful of these fqndsthat bought nothing for the Executive office out of them,but paid ittle contingencies out of my own pocket; and I used in that office for seven months the old and musty and ragged furniture left there by Governor Vance a.nd the Provost Marshal, when, paying entire control qf the funds referred to, J rmght have furnished my rooms in the Capitol elegantly, and lived in luxurious style, as som.e of Governor Vance's jriehtfi didt on the supplies from Europe brought them t,y? the Advance. I retired from otfiee disliked by an apparent majority of the people of the State, because they tnought I had de graded myself by thus serving the National Government, and because, perhaps, I had tried to help aud benefit then). Where there is no grace there is nq gratitude, and , I have yet tq learn that there is grace in men who hale the Government or any thing else. But Gov. Vance was in Raleigh oil Wednesday, last, and consulted with his friends. I perceive he hopes to escape the questions pro pounded to him In regard to the blockade money in his nands dur ing the war, byjeharging corru ption on me. Wow, in reply to tnese charges I state, that every dollar of the money referred to, ootaineu from Andrew Johnson, passed iqtu the bauds of Jonathan worth, State Treasurer, and every dollar of it was honestly disbursed by him, as tne vouchers will show. I admit I could have made way with the whole of it, if I had been dishonestly dis posed, but I appointed a Treasurer, who gave the usual bond, and the whole amount, as ( have stated, was properly expended for the pub lic benefit. In regard to the $10,000 appropriated In 18GS to furnish the Executive Mansion, I will , state that I used a thousand dollars or no of this fund to put the mansion and grounds in order, and Goy Worth, W U IU i 7 - Hl THTJBSDAY, OCTOBER 2G, 187G. my predecessor, had applied sever al thousaud dollars to the same pur pose ; but I concluded, for good rea sons, not to reside m the mansion and I left between eight and nine thousaud of the amount in the State Treasury. Try again, gentlemen. Gov. V ance has Deen questioned about that blockade mouev. Far be it from tne to call him a rogue, or tocnarge that ne stole those runds But he is a public man. He is ask iDg for office. He had in his hand's hundreds of thousands of dollars in gold, and he has thus far, aftera lapse of eleven years, gi veu no ac count of .it;'- He can boast of the cotton card he brought in on that immortal Advance, and sold to the poor wives of our bleeding and suf fering soldiers but uever a word about that isum of blockade gold, i kitom$ net para ueven thous-, and dollars of it to Col. Duncan K. McRae, for services in Europe that could not have been worth that amount, and that he wanted to pay him eleven thousand dollars for these services, but was restrained from doing so by fear of the Htand ard newspaper and the frowns of the public. When I came into office, in 18G5, 1 found that one Flanner, his steward on the Advance, had in his pocf ssion forty thousand dollars in gold of the State's money, but he was In Europe, and could not be reached. Treasurer Worth and my self made st . enuo j s e .fb- s to force Flan- j ner to over this vc o ey , but we could not get a dollar of it, I even inquired as to bis real estate in Wilmington, in tending to confiscate it for this debt, but I found that he iiad conveyed all his property to his brother in Xew bern. Governor Vance refers in his speeches, in a manner which I will not characterize, to CoL James P. Taylor, of Raleigh. Col. Taylor made one trip on the Advance as under Steward. Immediately on his retiua, in March, 1864, he visited Gov. Vance, aud re ported to him the extravagance and gross corruption on the Advance. What was the result? Just what I told CoL Taylor it would be. Be'ore sun set of that day he was rudely arrested, was not allowed to take leave of his family, was hurried to Riishinond like so much Uo stock, put in the Libby for a day or two for safe keeping, and then sent to Gen. Lee's army. Col. Taylor was then, as ho is nov, a iar.u of high character. Everybody in Raleigh knows him to be a strictly honest and truthful man. He had no habeas corpus, though a man of feeble frame and with but one eye. The law j had no claim on him as a conscript. lie was in the way, because he was honest, and he thus became the victim elf a grinding despotism. Nor did Gov. Vauce go to Richmond and rc-! JeaseJiiSi 03 he tates in his speeches. replv. and he was at List released uiter having been examined and pronounced vnfit for service. All this was just what Taylor L,ot for telling the truth. A cat may look at a king. T A parrot may call names in the presence of the best people, and the Const i'ution news paper can ask questions. Gov. Vance can answer these questions, cr rjot, just as he chooses. T dq not charge him yvith theft or corruption, but it does seem to me to be reasonable that the people themselves, and not merely a few public men, should expect lum to answer the questions put to him in the Gonstitui'an about that blockade money, In 1868 1 was elected Governor of tne Staid by nearly twenty thousand ma jority. I had previously, striven to in duce our peopce to accept Andrew Johnson's plau of reconstruction, on the white bais, aqd the Howard amend ment on the same basis, under the lat ter of which Tennessee was restored to the Union ; but our people, under the lead of so-called wise and aaaoiou men, rejected both these plans. The government of tne United States as the conquering power, felt ooqstrainad at last to pass tne reconstruction acts. I accepted these acts in good faith, as the best that could be done, under th cir cumstances, for the Southern States aud for the whole country. In my Inaugu ral Address, delivered on the fourm of July, 1868, 1 said I - Mlt Is the duty of the Executive to see that the laws are fithfqlly executed, and tq preserv-a peace among the people. This duty will be performed promptly, fearlessly and firmly. - Every in terest that Js dear to us, and every nope that we may indulge for the future, is indissolubly bound up with peace and tranquility among ourselves, liut there can ha no peace without law, and there can he no emcaey in law without obedience. The law is over all. Tne poor and the humble should be pro tected to as full extent as others. TUey need more than others this protection, til very one lqust be frea to use wnat is his own, not trespassing on the rights of others ; to follow his particular call ing or employment; to labor, and to enjoy the fruits of his labor ; to speak freely his'beutiuieuts, and to votes?he pleases, and not to be injured or ques tioned by any for doing any of uiese things." - - 'V ; ' .r " Is there anything that can be objected to in that? - Were not those views and sentiments pacino and Jut7 AUd 4 dosed my Juaqgarol as follows ? I have tus, fellow-citizans, stated hriefiv and mainly the great principles contained in our State constitution, and I have frankly announced tne policy which will characterize my administra tion. Chertsning nettner mance nor resentment for anything that has oc curred in the past, I shall endeavor to do my duty. 1 shall keep constantly in view the welfare of ff ortn Carolina-?. I love the Union, because it is the first, the last, the only hope of my State ; and I love my State, because ner people havn heen eood and Jtind to me, ana because her s:y is abo.ve my hooie, ut it wdl be, above, my grave. If I hav 6iiu,ios, tnat d uot make u e erny to my State, uuf ai v uj . course of action based on reseatuie $ revenge. May tne God of our tatiwr have us in.Uis holy keeping; may U govern, and not we ; and may the future wf our beloved State be as bright and as glorious as the last. seven years have been diooatrous aud uuay I". 1 When I entered th Executive olHie, Immediately alter tne delivery of thia address, my old friend aud former TmiKurar. Gov. Worth, showed some temper, and surrendered to me, as hen staled, only as to superior tureo. o Handed me his Protect, iu which he de clared there was do validity in my claim to the office or Governor, and that he would contest my claim to the omce if itltlO APES. he could perceive any hope that he couM succeed iu so doing. In this protest against the binding authority of the reconstruction acts, and against tha valid iv of the present govetmceut of this Sute, Gov. Worth wa sustained by Gov. Vance, and by the great body of the Democratic party of the State; and to-day Gov. Vance repeats the de claration that the reconstruction acts, on which government and society de pend in North Carolina, are fraudulent and of none effesct. It wa not surprising, therefore, that Kiukluxism, as ir, W termed, apocared in this Stato. Within three month-! from my inauguration, I was -obliged to isue uiy'. proclamation, in whieh 1 w ent into an argument lo prove that the State government had been lawfully and constitutionally established, ?.nJ in wnien 1 warned the Kit Klux ot the punishment that awaited them if they did nut caaae their evil conduct. In my first' -message, in November. ISdS.' I trave ' a tdmtlar warning. On the iGth of .April, lii), I issned another Proclamation, warning "Sands of men wh go masked and armed ' at night. causing alarm aud terror in neighbor hoods, and committing act of violence on tne inouensive ana ueienceiesv that they should desist Irom such c,o u- dnnt. Again, on the zuth ot October, 18o9, I issuud a similar proclamation, noticing somewhat in detail the' mur ders and various outrages that had re cently beau committed by the Ku Klux, warning tueni thai these mur ders and outrages oease, and in voking public opiuiou to aul ni9 in suppressing tnese aisoruers. Ana nlu. on tne Yin oi iviarcn, iau, i is sued another proclamation, giving de tails of persons who had been hanged. aud whipped, and shot by the Ku Klux aforesaid, and again urging most ear nestly men of all parties to oome to iny lid in restoring oraer, ana unnging the guilty to puunshment. This proc lamauon closed with the i.tllowim; language : The law must be maintained. Tiie laws are over all. Lvory citizen, ot whatever party or color, must be ab solutely free to express his politic tl opinions, ana must ue saie in ms own house, rnese outrages, ana mese vio lations - of law HHt and S11AL.L oease. ' And again, on the Gth of June, 1870, I issued another proclamation, setting tbrih that, from February of that year up to that time, thirteen persons ha 1 been murdered, iwcniu two wuinpeu, and one shot, who recovered ; and that retaliation upon the Ku Jvlnx uau bo gun by the burning of baru.s, and offering rewards as well for those who naa retaiiatea as ior me ivu iviux mur derers, and again appealing to uli oih cers, civil and military, mid to tiie whoie public ot ootn parties, to uuip me in this time of trial in my efftrr.s to arrest these evils, without bJing bliged to resort to military force for that purpose. In the earnest and long protracted et- orts which I made to put down these isorders without resort to military force efforts extending ludood from the day of my inauguration to the 1st of July, 1870, thus covering a space of two years. I wroto to many isnerifT-s, to some solicitors, to some juages, to iuAuv-ini'U-'tryofilcersv to Mayors ol sanitiir.4 andrKnresentatives m Uou- gres, to I'resident Grant, asking them for advice and help in the unwelcome work devolved upon me of protecting the defenceless aud unollendiug against outrage and murder, and in putting dowu an insurrection which threatened the stability Of all government, and the peace, if cot the very existence of so ciety. So lar as the Democratic party of tne State was concerned, a3 a prty, I appealed to them in vain. Proceed ing upon the views announced by Governor Worth, aud now held sub stantially by Governor Vauce.the Dem ocrats 01 the State were nearly ail Ku Klux, or in full sympathy with them. If any of the so-called great men of that party, or if any considerable num ber of the Christian paople of the State, including the ministers of the Gospel, were disturbed and grieved at this aw fql stte of things among a civilized people, "nnder a Christian sun, in the fudoUzeof the nineteenth century, 1 never heard of it officially during all those dark and weary days. Doubtless many such were disturbed and grieved, but they were tQQ much cawed to make it Hnowq. I-Jo ex-Governor ot the State called upon ma to aid me by 8US gestions or advice in the midst ot trou oles that shook the very State. No oiinisterof the blessed liord dropped into my office or my hous;, to pray for me, to restrain me uy advice, or to sa,s r.iin 1 rift nv words of cheer iu the dark and difficult path I fott noun 1 to tread. tillil IUH'. " mm 1 was. like Peter, and great sinner as i am now. He gave na.a grajj t go on unfalteringly m the path ot duty, and that tne result of my action in 1870 was the dispersion w iu-iviui without clao4shed,and the restoration of peace, and qutei aud ordr to oar ua loved State. ' - ' . Yt there were a few D jam -Jrat-H who responded nobly to my appeals. I re tor trt tor. Prida Jones aud a few Ddin- ,-.rAtin uitiaensof Hillsborough, and to Capt, N, A. r4amsey,of v hatham. So averse was I to tne use ot military force, that I employed Dr. Jonei, iu Grange, aud Oapt. Kamsey, in (Juatham, both Dam ocrats, to suppress the Ku Klux iu those counties, aad thus restore order. I'ney b-Jth held Captaiu's com missions, witu fall Federal pay. They did their crk welL and thu preveiiunl the ne cessicy (thougn it would bave baen ex pedient to do sojof declaring those two counties in a state of insurrection, flon. Johii W. Norwood stated, iii a speech delivered ia the Senate, Qf this! cta.ie, in 1874 th511 thero er9 c Q,1Q titn-e eia teen hundred Ku Kux iu the county of Oraime. i write from memory, out think I -am correct. Aud Dr. Priae Jones, ia oud of his letters to nu, date 1 Mareb4, 1870, said: : . ; - llat if, as is ruiaor&l here to-dy, your Excellency hs m-hlieuoe to the dictates of your duty, ordered troops to that county, Alamance, you must pardon me for saying that 1 look with apprehension to the result ; and my can did opinio. that the K Kciix cannot be put down by force without a dreadnt unout ef bljodthed and crime." In my last message to the Legislature, of date November at!, 1870, atW. again r;:ii:igat length to ahow twliat wasde- , ,i b.y Gov. north, aud s now denied G-v. Vance,) that our present State Hovernment Is de jure, and not, merely de facto, I said : In addition to thes3 proclamations I address. 1 letters to various civil and military officer!, and to. citizons, urging Uie necessity of repressing the-1J out rage aud euforcbii me law. For the Mpaurf ot twelve aiont.is, while the laws were tn us being seUl at naught, and while grand jar. m wre fniiug to hud bills, or, if tuey were found, petit ju ries refuse! to cmvict, 1 was almost uocstatitly Imjiof ii by letters, and and in porj.i, uy uuuy ol tuo victims of Uiese outrages, and was urged to adopt some means of protection to so- JLJLo IN'O. 9. eiety, and especially to th secret combinations 'l'ho.S'j cim"'n nations the victim of referred to. were it lirs purely political m their character, aa-1 many good citizens vero indue d t jomtiKMn. JLJct yraHialh-, under th loaaorsaip oi ambitious - and discon tented politician-:,, und .under tho pre- in., m;., society nesaeu to. bo reflated o -some authority outstdo or above th law. taeir character wav. changed, nnd meal-secret oegaa to coin mil murdor, to rt;. whip, sc-ouriro.aad mu- ti!;3 uncaa-.h!j?r citizens. Thisorg-ihi' zanon or thtssi.f.nilmuuioiis wreeaUed UieK u Klux Klao, aod Wcro revealed to the puolic, as the resu'u oftho lisoas- unxs which I adopted, as "Oin-iL'ttit'oital- Lilian (Juarili. 'The What Brotk'ir- hood ," -The I.ti liko otlior Ji'jeret they, aothori, ;d : poiKie ii associ itions, 110 use of force, with u. 'uiy wo-ipotts, 10 l-maeiico too :ec .1. . 11.. . . .. Hons, lno members wero united by "" wuiun igaoreo or repuaiatoi toe orcnuary oatu'. or obligations resting upon an other citizons to respect the laws an. t to uphold iha r-jrernm-;r-t tneso oalhs lueiiiCate I h luaa by tlw wnite race against the cjiored' race : the iii'iii'jors of ilio Kiaii, a above stated, were hostile to the principles on which tne government ot the Suite had been reconstructed, and, iu many' resp vjIa, hostile to the goveriuneat of the L'nir xi States. They mot in secret, in disgu se. witn arms, 111 a dress ol a certain, kind imiiuea 10 con coal ineir persons au-u 'heir horses, and to terrifv those whom tney menaeovl or assaulted.. They held ttieir camps, and under their leaders they decreed judg-mont ag iinst their pe.tcjaoi'j it!!io-.v-citizens, irooi more intimidation to scourging-, . inutila-i-i.m-', ti.. Ourning of churches, mills, ami m mny cases to murder. i'iin orir.uiinauon. uniter dilf.n-ent ua.nes, but cemouted by a common purpo.se, is believed to have embraced not ieris than forty tluu-iand voters in North Carolina, "it was governed by rules more or less military in their character, and it struck its victims with such secrecy, swiftness and cart iinty as 10 leave mem utile nope either lor es cape or mercy, tine members, were sworn to obey tho ordarsof tneir camps even to assasination and murdor. lhey were taught to regard oaths administer ed before magistrates and in Courts of Justice, as in no d agree binding when they were called upon to give testimony against their confederates. They were sworn to keep the secrets of the order- to obey tho commands of the Chief to go to mo rescue of a member at all haz ards, and to swear for him as a witness, and acquit him as a juror. Consequent ly, grand juries in uriuy c niiities fre quently refused to had oilLsa jiinst the mem oers 01 tins Jvidu lor the gravest and 111. -st iltgrant violations of law ; and wheu buls were found, and the parties were arraigned for trial, -witnesses, members of the order, would in noLiriy every case come forward, and, taking an oath before tho Court on the Holy Evangelists to toll the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, would s-vear falsely, aud would thus defeat too ends -of justice. There are, at lea.t, fjur Judges aud four Solicitors in tho State who will bear witness to the fact, from their own experience, that it was very dituouit, u not impossible, .to. puivictilm.aaibers of this K laa Qrr-- ders coinmicteu uy m ioett this Kian, in various counties of thy State, and of nunarods or cuse ol scourging and whipping, very law, it a:ly, con victions have followed- in these cases. The ci villa w was po werlss. O oo S 'ate Senator was muixlered i- tho onaa day in a county uour.houso, aed anotlier State Senator was driven Irom. tho State, solely on aocounfc of their p nitical opinions. ; Iu neither cas-. was a bill found by a grand jury. A respectable aud u no "fend ing colored man waa ta ken from his bed at night, and hanged by the neck until ho was dead, within a snort distance 01 a oouuty court-nouse. Another colored man was drowned, because he spoke publicly of persons who aided iu the commission of this crime. No billa were found in these cases. A crippled white man, a native of Vermont, was erueily whipped be cause he was teaching a colored school. No bill was, found iu this case. The Sheriff ot a county Was waylaid, shot aud killed on a publkv highway, and the Colonel ol a county was shot and kilied in the open day, whde engaged in his usual business. A county jail was broken open, and livo. msn taiien out and their throatfioat. Another jail was broken open, and men 'taken:- out and shot, one of whom died of his wound- Another jail was broken open, aud a United States prisoner released, JSo punishments followed in these cases. Tne members of this K lan, un der the orders of their chiefs, had rid den through many neighborhoods at night, and bad pnuished free citizens on account of tneir pojitioal opinions, and had so terrified ii4uy of th3:n by threats of future visitations of ; ven geance, that thoy lied from their uousqs, took, rofuga in tho woods, and did not dare to appear in ''pub lic to exercise their right of suffrage. Some of these victims wero shot, some of them were whipped,' soma ot them wero hanged, soma of them were drowned, some of tham wore tortured, some had their mouth-s lacerated with gags, one of them had his ear cropped, ana others, of both sexas, wero sub jected to indignities Which were dis graceful not merely to cjvuizuioii out 10 humanity itseif. Tho members of this Klan, uuder tho. orders of their Chiefs, had riddinflArr.itly and uinio lested. tnrough tho twns ot lliusbjr- ough, Chapel iiiil, .-Pittsborough and Graham, committing crimes, .defying tho lawiul authovUies, and causing real alarm to all good pajp o. In tins, gen tlemen, there was no rem dy for tuosQ evils through taa ei.ul law, aud but for the use of tna military arm, to whija I was compelled to resort, tha whole fab ric of society in ths State w mid have been underminel and destroyed, and a reign of lawlessness an d anarchy would ha e been etabiiaheth Th pressnt stato ' government woultl tnus have failed iu tho groat p'nrp oso for wnica is was created, to-wit : the protection of life and property under equal laws ; and, necessarily the ntionil govern ment would have interfered, and, in all probability, woul I have placed us aain aud for an indefinite period un der military rule." The picture bero drawn in my m?s sagooi govern ''. t-4."J, f Ka Klux toolties is a very d tr one, but it is as otrr;t as it is d irk. ludood, the UiU of tlieso horrors was not toli in this massare. Mauy a-rociuos were of suca a character a not to be fit for print, espe jially tuosj which ware com mitted Uy these reformsrs" of the morals of neighborhoods on dereucoless women ot both races. .Let ps groan in spirit over poor namanity, and drop the curtain. ' - This mssi and what I-haddone in Alauianofl and Casweil, so aroused and enraged the,ia-ajority'iu th9 two houses of tne General Assembly, that they proceeded at wow, s tue resutt oi cau cus action, to execute tn decree of the Den or Den by impeaching me. A. eekly Constitution. PU2LI3IIED EVERY THURSDAY (SEE RATES QF SUBSCRIPTION OS THIS PAGE.) MJT'Jon Work exeenfcrid t shnrt. nn. tlC6 and in a Stvln linmirnnul ltr amf .-, "T .r ... . J J s""'"r tsutuusnment in the Stato. KATES OF ADVERTISING . One s'luare, one time, . ' .' i oo " two times, - . i 50 " ' three times, - - 00 Contract advertisements taken at proportionately low rates. 33 JSJWJttJiJBi m i;ont.y, n doubt, of the Democratic mem ours of the two houses wert- active jvu Klux. Thoy hiid o;l ti r xm- one oatn to a i t, if neecstsary, to lorsocuto, whip, murder their no- litieai opponents for the sake of power ; and an-jiher oatu, similar to tha one 1 ni iumii, 10 support tuo cotislitution and laws, and to "execute' J a sties and maintain truth.'- Duttho itepubiica'n minority iu the Senate waa in dieir way. lhey knew I could not bo con-" view 1 unless they reduced that mi n iiuy so as to give them a clear Kukhix two'-iUirds voie. Coust-quontly, Alujor vV. A. Smith, Senator from Alam-ineo and Guilford,. and K. W. Li.u.siter, Esq., senator from Gran viKo and." Person, wore expoiiod. And then tho pcrjcdt- iLiHi 1 or vcii'ican: j m ihn i!i n,iot , poaenment went forward. rfouAtors. who wore acting both a judges and ju rors. aid not as nartizans. j-.at. Mm.ituixl voted to convict me. as thy -result of oiits.de dioroos by tho Ku Klux 'dons, as .the result of caucus action, (in any of thorn members themselves or t.Un iCn Ktux KUn.l and as tha revolt. i,t thiscitj'j blanching tho check and neai- ia tn ? tipsol uuuya brave aud honest man; aud astho result mora than all, o. a uame:e.js hxto aganut one man. because, iu accordance with tho constitution -and t iie law, aud in accord ance with nis solemn oath of oili -.n A because in defonoa of taiiiunooj.it. a. 1 I tho unoifjudiug, and in tha-name of pea je, ordor, good wtll, aud of tho very exLsumoeof dueicty itself, ho had ral.s d no. uv3d troops to Uisporso -the - Ku Klux, aud had dispersed -them, and that' wlihout-bibodsh-sd ! . Tho whole proceeding aga'unt m:i was . a solemn tare?.- i'uey swore, when they convicted me, that I had done a num ber of things as Governor "corruntlv and wickodiy." How could thay :iovt' that? Truly, " tha ten lor mercies of the wicked are cruel." They followed me, one lone man, with a moreilessnoss, with a psrsistency, with a purpose, mat would tire The hound's long bate, the hunter's ii ro.' lhey aUowed mo to employ couaso!. I suppose I ought to thauk theiii for that. Tneir masked minions had suowa no mercy even to John w. Stephens, 'Wyatt Outlaw, Kobin Jacobs, the half-witted Puryear, Sholluer, Col- jrrove, fcihepard, Corliss, and hundreds of others wno might bo natnad. includ ing the family of Daniel Dlue, of Monro - county, wnoso cabm was burned, and his wito, (who Wis nresruant.) with live ot the children, having first boon mur dered, were burned theroin. Had none of these peerless Senators heard of this last lrrror? It was nublisho l in my proclamation of June Gth, 1S70. And tney allowed mo to summon witnesses, but at one time thoy soomed disposol to make mo pay. for their attendance. Oh lioorality of a . irreat Stato! I iin- -pose 1 ought to thank them for that. Aud, in order tho mora surely to conviet ute, and to .c oe:i tha'r c 111 i'ederates in criuio in otjior portions of theS;at-, they c-iuiiued all the cvideneo in tho case to tt:'j ounties, namely Alam auco and Caiwell -Tney employ- . ed agaiust mo throo of tho most eminent- lawyers of the Stito, and paid no:n each ono thousand dollars lor thaviSoag-And , they mp) oyed pcoilie to read tbe au .l!"Ve vird at their deeds. Tl'hon Louis th'? Sixteenth was triad by tha French National Conven tion, that body, dripping with tho blood of slaughtered innocents, employed two of tho most eminent lawyers iu Franca to defend that King, who was convicted and bahoaiod, and those law yers were paid large foas out of the French Treasury for their sorvic33. I hi to iay my own lawyers (as noble and generous men as ever breathed,) out of my own pocket, tho sum of throo thousand five hundred dollars, ono of them, IXon. It. 'C Badger, appearing lor mo without charge. I shall never ask tho Democrats to reimburse me that amount any more than I shall askthoni to relieve me of my disabilities. Well, they convicted; mo. They only want through the forms', for tha result was fixed beforehand. And what of it f I a:n still here, erect, undaunted, un suodued. The good IjoriTprotocted me by His Provideuee, aid saved my life scores of times, both under th3 despot ism of Vance and Davis and this Ku Klux dosp otism. I have the be3t rea sons to boiieve that at least two D:ni decreed my death in 1870. Two of the conspirators from ono D3n which I will not uamo, wero in llaleigh for a day or two, seeding an opportuaity to assassi nate ina. Oue of them afterwards con fessed the tact to my Adjutant Ganoral, Fisher. Both of them nad committed murder by ordor of their Dans, aud af terwards, for tho sake of poaoo, h aving entirely put down tho Ku Klux in that part of tho State, I requested, tha State's counsel to enter a not jros. in those, as in many other cases, and thus spared their lives. I shaU not dio till my timo co mos. " That mercy I to others show, Taat mercy show to mo." I have received no mercy at the hands of tha Ku Klux Damocraoy. I shall not ask thorn for any. I do not cry to thom to pardon ma because I did right in dispersing L'te .Ku Ktux Klans. I ad -mit most cheerfully that 1 inado mis takes and blunders in what I did; and where is tho man, from A lam to this day. who has never blundered or boon . . , 1 . r ... 1 - l .. mistaken, in ntue or 111 larger tmugs c But I am glad I purs u ad tha courso I did iu 187U, and so are thousands or honest aud worthy ex-Ku Klux, for what I did was as great a relief to thom and thair families as it was to sociaty and to the State at largo. Woniar was expressed in too prej- enceof Cato the Censor, that while many oarsons of little note had their statues ia the public place, ha had none. In reply he said, ha had much rathor it should be asked, why he had not a statue, than why he had one. And so it is with me. I would just as soon have it asked, why a Governor who pursuod tha course I did is still uader ban, as to have tho ban removed ; for, wherever it is known that I can not hold office in my own State, the reason will bo given, namely, that I fell in an honest effort to enforce the laws against tha seditious, the cruel, the m9roiles, who showed by tneir acts mat tney were the enemies alike of God and man. 1 ao not wans any osare omce. I am satisfied to be, as I am, the post master of "my adopted village. If eleven hundred thousand people, acting through their General Assembly, win persist in keeping their fe3t on my neck, 1 can near it as wen as tuoy can. Tne oeoole of any other State. Gaonria or Virginia, for example, who are uot led by chinquapin politicians, (oy tn; the way, is taat wora span property T) would almost oe inciineu v eu out and go into bankruptcy before thay would do such a thing. Bat notwithstanding ad this, and m tho face of all this, 1 havo not been wanting-in' generosity and magnanim ity to tuo Ku Klux Democrat!. Tho Lord Im shown me mercy, and I havo 1 - .''-..-.- - . - . . . ". . ;- --':-.',.-.'-': " --' " -'. " ' -- . -- -:":.: : -- - ' .--'.''':"'
The Weekly Constitution (Raleigh, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Oct. 26, 1876, edition 1
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