Whole No. 9,427
Che Raleigh times.
And EVENING VISITOR. Established 1879.
^LEIGH. N. C., TUESDAY, EVENING, JANUARY 14, 1901
$$ a Year,
AYCOCK’S INAUGURAL ADDRESS
our State to the day when the negro
was given the elective franchise the
fairness of our elections was never ques
tioned. When the ballot was given to
the negro the first election thereafter
was known to be a farce and a fraud.
That election was held under military
dictatorship, lasted three days and the
I vote was counted in Charleston, South
The Constitution^'; Amendment, The State Must Educate all Its'
Every Legal Voter Must Have the
l aw Must Prevail. Amendment
ic C^ujej and its Results.
Children, and the Democrat ¬
Right to Cast One Vote,
Secures Freedom of Thought.
The Threat of Negro
ic Party Has Given Its
and Have It Counted as
Will be Gov. of all the
Domination.
Pledge,
Cast.
People.
Gentlemen of the General Assembly,
Ladies and Fellow-Citizens:
Evev-y four years brings us a change
•of administration but not always a change
9f policy. This year we meet under
extraordinary circumstances—one party
goes out of power and another comes
in; one policy ends and a new one be
gins; one century passes away and a
new century claims our service; a new
constitution greets the new century. For
thirty years of the nineteenth century
we struggled in every way against the
evils of ^ suffrage based on manhood
only. We found in the first days of that
struggle that theory had outrun practice
Rifl'd that reality had yielded place to sen-
of
capacity and it prescribes two rules of
evidence by which the capacity may be
ascertained and declares that any man
capable of meeting either test shall vote.
If a white man can read and write he
can vote; if a negro can read and write
he can vote. If a white man cannot read
or write, but is descended from one who
could vote on January 1st, 1867, or at
any
time prior thereto, or if he could
vote himself before that time he can
vote.
If a negro cannot read and write,
Viinent.
At that time we had just emer
ged from an unsuccessful and disastrous
war. Our property had been swept away,
our institutions had been destroyed, the
foundation of our social fabric had been
WeMUrned.we were helpless. A victorious
XnVt ungenerous political enemy had
crushed us to the earth; they had forced
upon us the recognition of theories that
we knew could not be reduced to success
ful practice. We were poor, weak and
defeated. We “accepted the situation."
We did our best to prove the falsity of
^ur convictions. We endeavored with
sincerity to bring the negroes to a reali
zation of the true dignity of full citizen-
ghip. We urgently strove to instill into
their minds that their true interests were
likewise ours; we sought with great solic
itude and with much sacrifice of toil and
capital to convince them that.
parties
were the servants and not the masters
of the people and that no past services
of B party, however beneficial these ser
vices might appear, justified the destruc
tion of good and safe and economical
government in order to secure its suc-
We provided schools for them and
spent for them as we spent for our own
children. We cared for their insane and
opened schools for the education of their
afflicted and for the care and tuition of
those who were left fatherless and moth
erless. We continued these efforts in the
face of repeated evidence of^h^r hostil
ity an i abated not our ^ ..- “"“ who*
they repeated their follies. We itill
hoped that they would follow the example
t>f the whites and divide their vote along
the lines of governmental, industrial and
moral issues. The result was a disap
pointment. The negro was always to be
counted upon and our opponents did not
hesitate at any excess because they knew
that they had 120,000 voters who could
bo relied upon to support any policy
however ruinous, which bore the stamp of
Republicanism. With this vote as a cer
tainty our adversaries when they came
to power after twenty years of defeat
dared new evils and wrongs. Under their
rule, lawlessness walked the State like
a pestilence—death stalked abroad at
noonday—“sleep lay down armed”—the
sound of the pistol was more frequent
than the song of the mocking bird—the
screams of women fleeing from pursuing
brutes closed the gates of our hearts
with a shock. Our opponents unmindful
of the sturdy determination of our peo
ple to have safe and good government at
all hazards became indifferent to or in
capable of enforcing law and preserving
order. Confident of the support of the
ignorant mass of negro voters the Repub
lican party and its ally forgot the
strength and determination of that peo
ple who fought the first fight in Ala
mance against bad government and wrote
the first Declaration of Independence in
Mecklenburg. They challenged North Car
olinians to combat and the world knows
the result. The campaign of 1898 ended
in a victory for good government. That
was not a contest of passion but of ne
cessity. When we came to power we
desired merely the security of life, lib
erty and property. We had seen all these
menaced by 120,000 negro votes cast as
the vote of one man. We had seen our
. chief city pass through blood and death
in search of safety. We did not dislike
the negro, but we did love good gov
ernment. We knew that he was inca
pable of giving us that and we resolved,
not in anger but for the safety of the
State, to curtail his power. We had
seen what a struggle it required to pre
serve even the form of Republican gov-
but is descended from a person who could
vote on January 1st, 1867, or at any time
prior thereto, or if himself could vote
before that time he can vote. There
is, therefore, in our amendment no taint
of that inequality provided against in the
Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution
of the United States: and in order that
the question might not even be suggested
and realizing the importance of educating
the white and black alike, our amend
ment requires every boy of whatever col
or now thirteen years of age to learn
to read and write under penalty of losing
his vote. Interpreted on this fashion
we may with complacency accept the
declaration of the Republican National
platform that our amendment is revolu
tionary. So was the one for Independence
distinctly known as the Revolution and
our liberties are founded upon it. Our
amendment may be revolutionary, but it
is a revolution of advancement. It takes
no step backward, it distinctly looks to
the future; it sees the day of universal
suffrage but sees that day not in the
obscurity of ignorance but in the light
of universal education. The twilight will
grow into the perfect day with the sun
of intelligence shining in the sky. That
is our hope and promise. We shall not
fail.
PLEDGED TO EDUCATE.
On a hundred platforms, to half the
voters of the State, in the late campaign,
I pledged the State, its strength, its
heart, its wealth, to universal education.
I promised the illiterate poor man bound
to a life of toil and struggle and pov
erty that life should be brighter for
him and the partner of his sorrows and
joys. I pledged, the wealth of the State
to the education of his children. Men
of wealth, representatives of great cor-
pel by the force of public opinion the at
tendance of every child upon the schools.
It is easier to accomplish this since the
amendment to our Constitution raises its
solemn voice and declares that the child
who arrives at age after 1908 cannot share
in the. glorious privilege of governing his
State nor participating in the policies
of the nation unless he can read and
write. This is, therefore, the opportune
moment for a revival of educational in
terest throughout the length and breadth
of the State. We shall not accomplish
this work in a day nor can it be done
by many speeches. It is a work of years
to be done day by day with a full realiza
tion of its importance and with that anx
ious interest or our part which will stim
ulate the careless and will make all our
people eager to attain the end which we
seek. Our statesmen have always favored
the education of the masses, but here
tofore interest in the matter has not
approached universality: henceforth in
every home there will be the knowledge
that no child can attain the true dig-
wehk aYc the burden bearers who deserve
no aid and are weak because of their
fellies. A great State
this ’theory, but will
can never act on
always recognize
that the strong can care for themselves
while the true aim of the State is to
provide equal and just laws giving to the
"weak opportunity to grow strong and re
straining the powerful from oppressing
the less fortunate. It will be a glorious
day for us if our people in the hour of
their prosperity and wonderful growth
Carolina. We have denounced and ever
will denounce that election as fraudulent.
When we came to power in 1876 we
changed the election law of the State
and from that time down to 1894 all
elections were held under laws passed
by us. Our adversaries charged that
these elections were carried by force and
fraud. When they came to power in
1895 they adopted a law which we de
nounced as providing means for the reg
istration and voting of minors, dead, im
ported and convicted negroes. They car
ried the State under that law in 1896.
We beat them in 1898 despite their law
and then we passed a new' election law
which they denounced
designed to
thwart the will of the people. We held
the election of 1900 under that law. By
the result of that election we have elimi
nated the ignorant negro from those en
titled to vote. If what has been charged
by the opposing parties be true and elec
tions have been fraudulent and election
ernment with him as a voter.
nity- of citizenship without learning
least to read and
at
write. This simple
fact alone justifies the adoption of the
amendment for it
was its passage that
first brought home to all our people the
necessity for universal education. We
enter an era of industrial development.
Growth in that direction is dependent
upon intelligence—not the intelligence of
the few, but of all. Massachusetts real
ized this fact from the day when the
Pilgrim Fathers landed on Plymouth
Rock and by that clear perception she
has won wealth out of bleak, coasts and
sterile lands. Our forefathers acknow’-
I call upon all upright negroes to aid me
in suppressing crime in all its forms. The
white people owe a high duty to the ne
gro. It was necessary to the safety of
the State to base - suffrage on capacity
to exercise it wisely. This results in.
excluding a great number of negroes from
the ballot, but their fight to life, lib
erty, property and justice must be even
more carefully safeguarded than ever. It
is true that a superior race cannot submit
to the rule of a weaker race without
injury; it is also true in the long years
of God that the strong cannot oppress the
weak without destruction. I said on April
11th, 1900, and I now, repeat it as a
deep conviction that “universal justice is
the perpetual decree
of Almighty God,
and development can realize that men
can never grow higher and better by i laws unfair ever since the negro came to
rising on the weakness and ignorance of, be r in the State, it certainly
ought to follow that with the disquali-
their fellows but only by aiding their
fellow men and lifting them to the same
: high plane which they themselves occupy.
I It may require sacrifice to accomplish
the promises which we have made and
I men'may be compelled to bear additional
! burdens, but I am persuaded that the
j sacrifice will be made and the burdens
I borne with that cheerfulness which has
I ever characterized us when we were doing
a righteous thing. Our fathers have done
well their work. They have sought this
day through many difficulties; illiterate
or learned they have ever striven to do
their duty by the State and they have
laid her foundations so strong and deep
that we have but to build thereon the
splendid home which they saw only in
anticipation. Let that home be bright
with the shining of ten thousand lights
emanating from as many schools. Some
i -.f these lights will shine but feebly,
mayhap with .but four candle power,
while others shall shine with sixty-four
and some few with the radiance of a
fication of the ignorant negro the State
should return to her ancient ways when
no man questioned her integrity. Hence
forth our laws and their administration
must be so fair that the civilized world
shall recognize the high purpose with
which we have wrought to see this day.
Let history record of us that we have
fought our great fight and won our nota
ble victory with no view to perpetuate
ourselves in power but honestly to secure
good government founded on intelligence
worked out through a perfectly fair elec
tion law administered as a sacred trust
to be held forever inviolable. Good men
go to war only for the sake of peace
and the patriotic citizens of our State
have won this victory only for the sake
of good government and not for party
aggrandizement.
WHERE SAFETY' LIES.
On every platform in the late cam
paign I declared our purpose to be to se
cure good government, safety and peace,
’ to educate all the children, and to bring
gsB/WN^MbJ^ffl/HNB\ff>J^BSffN?>'S^N^BM&SSNEMMNMKB\Pabout that day when even extremest par-
/ B tisanship should not be able to cry out
tion. I then realized that the strong |
desire which dominated me for the up- .
lifting of the whole people moved not 1
only my heart, but was likewise the hope |
and aspiration of those upon whom for
tune had smiled. I had loved the North
Carolina people before that time, but I
never knew and appreciated the best,
qualities of many of our citizens until
I saw the owners of many thousands as 1
eager for the education of the whole
people as I was myself. Then I knew
that the hope and task before us, Gen
tlemen of the Legislature, was not an
impossible one. We are prospering as
never before—our wealth increases, our
industries multiply, our commerce extends
and among the owners of this wealth,
this multiplying industry, this .extending
commerce, I have found no man who is
unwilling to make the State stronger and
better by liberal aid to the cause of
educa t ion.
EDUCATE ALL THE PEOPLE.
Gentlemen of General Assembly, you
will not F--" flight to fear when you
make ample provision for the education
of the whole people. Rich and poor alike
are bound by promise and necessity to
approve your utmost efforts in this di
rection. The platforms of all the parties
declare in favor of a liberal policy to
wards the education of the masses; no
tably the Democratic platform says, “We
heartily commend the action of the Gen
eral Assembly of 1899 for appropriating
one hundred thousand dollars for the
benefit of the public schools of the State,
and pledge ourselves to increase the
school fund so as to make at least a fopr
months’ term in each year in every school
district in the State:’’ and in the cam
paign which was conducted throughout the
State with so much energy and earnest
ness that platform pledge was made the
basis of the promises which we all made
to the people. Poor and unlettered men
anxious about the privileges of their
children and hesitating to vote for the
amendment were finally persuaded to ac
cept our promise and place their chil
dren in a position in which they can
against our laws and our methods. Thou
sands of Jipublicans and Populists joined
with us in securing our more than sixty
thousand majority. I shall, therefore,
confidently expect you, Gentlemen of the
Legislature, without regard to party, to
frame an election law fair in every pur
pose, clear in every detail, and to pro
vide machinery by which every man qual
ified under our Constitution shall be able
to .vote and shall know that his vote
is effective. We can have safety, security
^nd integrity on no other basis. I now
pledge you the whole power of my ad
ministration to secure this end. I de
clared in my speech of acceptance that
I should enter upon the discharge of my
duties if elected with great fear lest
I should fail to interpret adequately the
true spirit underlying our change in the
Constitution; but I have never for one
moment questioned that the ultimate aim
of our people was to secure a Constitution
under which security for life, liberty and
property could be found under the forms
of law and not in violation of them.
IT MUST ENDURE.
and we are entrusted with power not for
our good alone, but for the negro as
well. We hold our title to power by
tenure of service to God, and if we. fail
to administer equal and exact justice
to the negro whom we deprive of suffrage,
we shall in the fullness of time lose pow
er ourselves, for we must know that the
God who >s Love trusts no people with
authority for the purpose of enabling them
to do injustice to the weak."
FREEDOM OF THOUGHT.
Let us serve the State in this spirit
and with wisdom and the people will con
tinue to trust us, but if we depart from
this plain and just way, powers will drop
from our hands, for the amendment has,
I believe and trust, brought with it a
freedom of thought, of criticism and of
action that will be swift to withdraw a
trust abused.
STATE’S HIGH DESTINY.
With the education of the whole peo
ple; with a fair and impartial election,
law, with peace everywhere, there will
be nothing to prevent us from working
out the high destiny of our State. Thought
will be set free, opinion can have its full
sway and every man will be able to de
clare the inmost feelings of his heart.
We shall have genuine free speech: our
newspapers will have an opportunity to
address themselves to moulding public
opinion without fear of injury to the State.
Discussions can then take the place of
abuse and argument will supplant pas
sionate oratory. In this new and freer
day we shall grow brighter men. Trust
in all things high will come easy to us.
We shall have problems and differences,
but we shall shall have the intelligence
to solve the problems and the good spirit
to harmonize our differences.
WITH AN HUMBLE HEART.
I come to the high task to which the
people have called me with many mis
givings. I know, if not adequately, some
thing of my weakness and I likewise
know, if not to the fullest extent, the
many difficulties which will beset my way.
I come to the work humbly, with deep
anxiety and with an earnest desire to
serve the people well. The manner of
my coming makes it all the more incum
bent upon me to search my heart that
I may have no impure motive there; one
who has been trusted after such fash-
; ion as ’h^ people ""ve trusted me owe.:;
' the highest oblation of uprightness in
thought and action. Chosen by my party
unanimously, elected by the people by a
majority such as has never been given
to any other man, I am bound by every
obligation to serve to my utmost. The
task is a difficult one. I shall make mis
takes. When I shall have done the right
thing I shall
even then sometimes be
misunderstood by my friends who will
see my action not from my standpoint as
the Governor of the whole people, but
from theirs.
When I shall have done
never
fote unless the pledges which we
Our opponents have denounced
the
7 movement which we inaugurated to amend
/ the Constitution, and which will be car-
P ried out in the spirit just suggested,
M as revolutionary. They sought to prevent
/ its success by threats before the elec-
E tion and in the first moments of passion-
V ate disappointment after the election they
HON. CHARLES BRANTLEY AYCOCK,
Governor of North Carolina, 5
S®ZITsHiMSSBtX®'.3?MSS®S@^S^aMIZ^«'®Z®S®s0>^SBS%JVW^S.-WxH £
was not only ignorant—he was clannish, i
The educated among them who realized I
The negfio ( made are redeemed to the fullest ex-
For my part I declare to you that
tent.
edged the same fact in their first con-’
stitution. and from that time- to the;
present our Constitutions and Legisla
tive Acts have all looked towards this;
end; but the whole people have never;
before been awakened to its advocacy. ]
From this time forth opposition to educe- !
tion will mark a man as opposed to the \
theory of our government which is found
ed upon the consent of the governed, and ;
our Constitution provides that this con- j
sent in the not distant future can be |
thousand, but let them all shine together
to brighten life and make the State more
glorious and may they all have as their
source that God who first said, “Let there
be light." I pledge you, Gentlemen of
the Legislature, such power as the Con
stitution vests in the Governor and all
the energy of my soul and heart to the
education of the people, and I rely with
entire confidence upon you and the prom
ises which each of you has made. With
these promises kept there will break upon
began prosecutions against, certain offi
cers of the State for alleged wrong doing
in connection with the August election.
This movement of ours was carried out
with such deliberate high purpose and
such noble earnestness that thousands
of our political opponents joined hands
with us in effort to forever settle a ques
tion which had distressed us for thirty
years. It was the uprising of almost an
entire people. There was about it indeed
in its spontaneousness, in its enthusiasm
in its determination and sturdiness of
purpose and its high aims, something of
the revolutionary spirit of 1776. That
spirit still lives in the hearts of North
Carolinians. It is a part, and a glorious
part of their heritage—it cannot be de
stroyed by persecution. A whole people
cannot be persecuted, nor will they with
out the utmost exertion see any of their
agents made to suffer for the defeat of
those who sought in vain to stem the
mighty tide of popular opinion.
wrong I shall not expect approval; I do
not wish it. I want to know my mistakes
to the end that I may correct them, be
cause I am certain that I shall be judged
at last by the whole tenor of my admin
istration and by no oue particular act,
GOVERNOR OF ALL THE PEOPLE.
I have been elected as a Democrat. I
shall administer the high office to which
I have been called in accordance with the
policies and principles of that great party,
but I wish it distinctly understood that
I shall strive to be a just governor of,
all the people without regard to party,
color, or creed. The law will be en
forced with impartiality and no man’s pe
tition shall go unheard and unconsidered
because he differs from me in politics or
in color. My obligation is to the State
and the State is all her citizens. No man
is so high that the. law shall not be en
forced against him, and no man is so low
that it shall not reach down to him to
lift him up if may be andset him on his
feet again and bid him God speed to bet
ter things.
GOD’S BLESSING ON US.
I shall need the support of every citizen
in the State.
My work is your work;
it shall be my constant aim and effort
the danger to the State in mass voting I during the four years that I shall en-
were unable
to free themselves from j deavor to serve the people of this State
the powar of its ostracism. , to redeem this most solemn of all our
THE AMENDMENT. ; pledges. If more taxes are required to
When the Legislature of 1899 met, it j carry out this promise to the people,
was confronted with these facts and was I more taxes must be levied. If property
sincerely anxious to save the good and, has escaped taxation heretofore which
suppress the evil ofthose forces which ; ought to have been taxed, means must
had made our history. They, therefore,) be devised by which that property can
submitted to the people for their action] be reached and put upon the tax list.,
an amendment to the Constitution which! I rejoice in prosperity and take delight
forbids any man to vote who can not! in the material progress of the State. I
read and write, but excepts from the op- j would cripple no industry; I would re-
eration of this restrictive clause all those! tard the growth of no enterprise: but
who could vote in any State on January ] I would by just and equal laws require
1st, 1867, or at any time prior thereto! from every owner of property his just
or who are. descended from any such! contribution, to the end that all the chil-
voter. This provision excludes no white i dren may secure the right to select their
men exceut persons of foreign birth not servants. There arc many important mat-
yei familiar with our institutions, and tors which will claim your attention. The
excludes no negro who can read and write. I problems before us are of the gravest
and no negro whether he could read or; nature, but among them all there is none
write or not who could vote prior to] that, can approach in importance the ne-
January 1st. 1867, or who is descended
cessity for making ample provision for
given only by those who can read and 1 us a day such as has never before dawned
write. We need have nothing to fear, j
then, from any party or any politician
when we make liberal provisions for 1
education. But if there were opposition i
our duty would be none the less clear. II ]
is demonstrable that wealth increases as
the education of the people grows. Our
industries will be benefitted; our com
merce will expand; our railroads will do
a larger business when we shall have
educated all the children of the State. It
is, therefore, of the utmost importance
from a material point of view that our 1
whole people should be educated. Care I
must be taken on your part, Gentlemen 1
of the Legislature, to bring the schools
upon our State. Our government is
founded upon intelligence and virtue. We
shall provide for intelligence by a system !
of schools which is designed to reach j
every citizen. The schools look to the!
preparation of the voter for the use of
the ballot. We admit to the elective !
franchise every man capable of inteUi- ;
gently exercising that right and so anx-I
ious are we to approach as near as may j
be universal suffrage that we have made 1
the test of intelligence simply ability to |
read and write, an accomplishment which I
can be acquired in a few months.
VOTES MUST BE COUNTED.
We have a great State, rich in noble
manhood, richer.still in her high-minded
womanhood; a State with countless treas
ures awaiting seekers; with riches in her
fields and woods, streams and sounds,
hills and mountains, sufficient to satisfy
our dreams of wealth; with a frugal and
industrious population ready to toil just
awakening fully to the possibilities be
fore them. All that we need “to com
plete the circle, of our felicities” is peace.
Let hatred and bitterness and strife cease
from among us. Let the law everywhere
reign supreme. The highest test of a
great people is obedience to law and a
consequent ability to administer justice.
It shall be the earnest aim of my admin
istration to foster good feeling and to
enforce law and order throughout the
State. From Currituck to Cherokee the
law must h^ve full sway. The mob
has uo place - ->r civilization. The
I am but your servant and if I serve you
wisely it will be because my cars shall
be constantly open to counsel and my
mind shall know wisdom. But with
all the aid which can come from men
I shall fail unless I have the guidance of
that God who rules the destinies of
States and nations and men, to whom
with reverence I commend this good
State and her gracious people.
HON. CHARLES B. AYCOCK
from one who could
prior to said date.
vote at any time 1 the education of the whole people.
This amendment to
our Constitution eliminates no capable
negro, indeed it sets free those negroes
who, believing in certain principles of
government, have been restrained by loy
ally to the mass from voting their con-
victlons. It does no injustice to the ne
gro. It really benefits him. It do.es rec
ognize the necessity of having some test
Appropriations alone cannot, remove il
literacy from our State. With the ap-
propriations
interest in
cease until
must, come also an increased
this cause which shall not
every
child can read and
preachers, the teachers, the
and the mothers of North
Garolina must be unceasing in their ef
forts to arouse the indifferent and coin-
courts are the creation of the Constiu-
tion and ‘’'^ juries are drawn from the
people. If changes be necessary in order
Having thus provided for the right to
In the remotest districts up to the stand- [ vote the further duty devolves upon you, I,
, e 1 Am, T 1 o 1'0 s 6cu 1 c a bettei and moie cel tain ad-
ard of the Constitution which solemnly! Gentlemen of the Legislature, to pass a. _ , . ,. „
. imv ivhioh ho made’ ministration of justice, you. Gentlemen
admonishes you, as it did me but a mo- law bj which that light may be mans „ , , - , ,
1 , . , o hi- chioh oirni-tr v-oior of the Legislature, can make these
ment ago when I took the oath to sup- efiectixe, a law bx which every voter , 7 .
f mtniiHod uni-lev t itHt changes j but it should be distinctly .and
port it, that at least four months of ! qualified undei our Constitution snail. ° -
1, o 0,10 1-01o finally understood of all men that safety
school must be carried on in every school have the power to cast one vote and .,,,..,. 1 r
have that vote counted as east. Th- can »» to""” 0n »' 111 obedience to law. I
safety the State and the liberty of «' l » b 10 » a r to the negroes of this State
the citizens depend upon your action on 1 ln tllls connection that they hare been
: misinformed if they have heard that this
district in each year. Our party plat
form follows the Constitution and we
cannot afford to violate either. If-there
are districts which are weak they must
be strengthened by those who are strong.
The Good Book tells us that the strong
should bear the infirmities of the weak
and the lessons of that great authority
are of utility in our political life. There
has grown up an idea among strenuous
men that only the strong are to be con
sidered and benefltted; that the poor and
this question. The adoption of the amend
ment not only furnishes the occasion but
renders indispensable the adoption of an
election law which shall be so fair that
no just man can oppose it. and requires
administration will be unfriendly to them.
Their every right under the Constitution
shall bo absolutely preserved, they will
find
an administration of that law in such | tain
spirit that no man will doubt that the! law.
popular will has been rightly expressed 1 lead
and recorded. From the foundation of 1 mob
security in right conduct and cer-
punishment for failure to obey the
Let them learn that crimes which
to mob law must cease and then
law shall curse our State no more.
Short Sketch of Our Governor of
North Carolina
Charles Brantley Aycock was born
near- Fremont, Wayne county, North
Carolina, November 1st, 1859. His fath
er was a farmer, a man of prominence
and influence in his county and held the
office of county clerk from the August
term 1853 to the May term 1861. He
represented the 22nd Senatorial district,
then composed of Wayne county only,
in the Senate of 1864-'65 and !865-’66.
The Democratic candidate for Governor
attended school at Fremont and was
prepared for college at Wilson Colle
giate Institute, then the leading educa
tional institution of Eastern North
Carolina, embracing in its faculty such
educators as Elder
Hassell,
David
Naclal-
Rev. Jos. II. Foy, LL. D., Prof.
Gillespie and
M.
-four of the best teachers North
Carolina has known. In this school, as
well as in the primary school near his
country home, Mr. Aycock took rank as
the most brilliant member.of his class,
and was always head or next to head.
In the debating societies he took great
interest an .1 was as a mere boy easily
the best debater and speaker. Before
he was old enough to Write his speech-
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