The North-Carolina standard., 1849-02-07


Surely not. The States the very parties competent
to act in this matters and if they fail to aid their ct
zens either by Charters by investments of capital
from the common stock, of course nothing can be
done.
To show that we have deceived no one on this
subject, and that have carried opinions boldly
in an open hand, we go back to the record, and We
appeal to that. We fought the late campaign for
Governor under the lead of that sterling Democrat,
David S. Reid, with the following inscription
our banner:
"OUR FLAG is THERE"
The independent Treasury, and no National Bank.
The Tariff of 1876.
The United States against Mexico-No said and
comfort to the enemy.
Indemnity in Territory from Mexico, and no Will
mot Provso.
Sound, specie-paying State Banks, with the indi-
vidual liability clause, and honestly
and impartially conducted.
A safe, prudent, and judicions system of Internal
with justice all parts of the State.
Our Common School System, improved and amend
ed, and the right of every boy and girl in the
ea State to an Education
thorough Reform in the Administration of the Gov
ernment of North Carolina.
Equal Sufrage-or the right of every free white man
in the State who pays his taxes, for members
of both branches of the General Assembly.
What does that say : And did any Of ouI friends
object to it! Did any one say-you are wrong, Mr..
Editori Not one. That inscription met general
approval; and if did not conquer" under 's that
sign,' we at least frightened the Wing party out of
ten years growth. And what next! In our very
first issue after had all passed through the late
eventful and arduous campaign for President, held
the following language:
"Who thinks Of State politics Is it not high
time that we had all walked up to the importance of
1oSD NOr4h in fho 0f
Internal I'm provements Shall we think and devise,
and then fail act And shall we, if act, do
in such spirit and in such way as to produce, in
the end, more inauspicous state of things than ex-
lists at present!
| We do not, at present, propose any plan nor do
we know that we shall, any future occasion, be-
cause prefer rather to render our paper medium
through which the more experienced may speak, and
because for the sake of the ITSELF desire to
do nothing which may be in the slightest degree cal
cnlaed to sectional feelings to embarrass
our friends. But of one thing weare thoroughly
vinced and that is, that the time has when the
people of North Carolina must either do something
in the way of building up and improving their Roads,
and in opening their Rivers, permit the many and
serious Inconvenience under which they labor for
the lack of markets and of the means of getting to
markets. continue, until their condition shall be-
come so desperate in this respect, that millions of
money will not cure 1t.
| Here is a work in which all engage, side
by side and shoulder to shoulder. Let the past, with
its mistakes, its failures, and its preudces be for
gotten Party spirit and party interests have nothing
do with this work. Let these things, therefore,
be buried and let them sleep, far State politics
are concerned, until North Carolina is made what
she ought to be- and what she is capable of being
rendered by the joint efforts and united energies OF
all her sons"
And who said nay to that? Not a man of either
party. On the contrary, we remember that many of
our brethren of the Press did the honor to copy
the article and express their appreciation of the views
and sentiments it embodes.
But we are perhaps, answered as follows: You,
Mr.. Editor, opposed Grow. GraEam's reelection be-
cause he purchased the Raleigh and CASTOR Road
the State ; and you have generally denounced ex-
travagant schemes of Internal Improvement, and
demned the action of the Whig party in this respect
This is the charge-now for the answer. We still
think the purchase of the CASTOR Road was inexpe-
dient, and still opposed to any system of I'm
provements not general in it's character; and far
abuses and extravaganza concerned in connec-
ton with public works, matter which party
may have the helm, shall continue course of
exposing them to the public eye-not, surely for the
mere purpose of fault-fnding, but with view to
economy and reform. But we were bound, the
Legislature was, to take things and deal with them
as we found them. The State owned the whole of
the CASTOR Road, and portion of the Wilmington
Road and the question was, shall the millions, all
ready involved in these works be saved by united
effort and general State scheme, shall nothing
be done, and all be lost After viewing the matter
in this and indeed in all its aspects, could not
hesitate. We had already proposed to forget the
bpast-wh its mistakes, its failures, and its preju-
fdices''-and we thank God that we did forget it.
b. We repeat it, we have deceived no one in this
matter. If we condemned what was wrong in the
Internal Improvements already projected and in ope-
ration if insisted that parallel lines ought never
to have been thought of and that palpabe mistakes
ought to be corrected, and if possible remeded, did
+ necessarily follow that were opposed to the
/ system itself! By no means. We considered our
selSes one of the most wachful and prudent friends
which the system in the abstract had and if any one
has failed to discriminate in these things we regret it.
but cannot help it, and responsible for it.
It has been ntmated, we understand, that because
we have advocated Internal Improvements by the
State government we have '.ioined the Federalists
and several of our friends have Withdrawn their names