Weekly standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1858-1865, 1861-09-04
n;saster at Fort Hatteras.

Who is responsible lo' ''e law -,
,,,,tsr,s by which nearly eight hundred ora'e 'n."
,'ro been consigned to the tender merc'es u '"e
,nv Butler. and by which the oldest and rcneS'
-.or Of the State, with its important oounoS' anu
ho coasts thereon, with the rivers running ','U 81"
s,rds and the fine farms with millions VI 40"a.'
ror,b of property are exposed to the ra'ases Vi d
T'ad,, onemvy The people have right to kno"
ho l. rosronsib,e and we will tell them.
49,. oar,v neriod of the State Convention, which
,.ombIed on the 2oh Of May Mr. smith, OF lia''-
g., ;,troduced an Ordinance to raise and equip az
,o ssrcn thousand men for the defence OF the
..t This Ordinance was pressed with great force
.nor the Convention by Mr. Smith, Mr. Feuebee,
W. snruill of BERTHE, Mr. Speed, Mr.. Pettigrew,
W. Christian Nv Barnes, Mr.. Meares, and others
Il. delecates from the East being almost unanimous
+, in favor of the measure. On the serenh day OF
lime the Ordinance passed. by vote of IS to 81; On
,bo tsuh of June message was received from Gov.
Ellis in which be assured the Convention THAT if
o,r batteries" then on the coast ARE properly SER
r.d"-a fact Of which he said he could entertain no
doubt-"h porer Of the United States Nary is
mt Sufficient to eject an entrance into any one Of
~ brrbors of tile Stote,"-and on the fourteenth
allure, the Ordinance having beenreconsidered, was
reected bv vote Of 55 to 90.
The Ordinance was opposed by the Military Sec
rs,ary, Mr.. Winslow, and by others, partizan sup
rarers fthe Executive the ground thatit trench
ed on the powers of the Governor and Military
Board and would if finally adopted be regarded as
4 reflection on them. The Legislature, under the
pressure of the emergency upon that body at its
first extra session, had clo he'd the Governor with
unlimited arbitrary power; and those who sur
rounded him and profited in various ways by the
patronage and honors which he bad the right to be-
stow, were determined that his power should not he
controlled or abridged, even by the delegates Of the
sovereign people in Convention assembled The re-
suit was the Ordinance was defeated, and the sea
coast was left comparatively undcfended
We advocated this measure from the first, both
as member of the Convention and as the Editor o.
the Standard. In our paper of the 18th of June We
said: 1.-The Ordinance commerds itself to the ap
prevail all-frst because the exposure Of the East
gn Counties to inrasioa is imminea We nevel
expect Lincoln to fight his way through Virginia t.
the North Carolina line. We believe that every
man in North Carolina that be spared, wlrush t.
the defence of Virginia, and contest every inch o
ground with the enemy. Hence, the only point o
easy access to the enemy, without sufficient fore,
to repel him at the outset is the sea-Joard" Th.
was our language in June; we regret to say it ha
become prophecy We continued for weeks t,
sound the alarm. We introduced resolutions int,
the Convention containing inquiries which covere'
the whole ground of our Eastern defences but W
received from the Executive and Military Boar
no full or satisfactory response to them. On tn
contrary simply because We sought to discharg
our duty, and in doing so to cooperate with tn
Executive and the Board, We were assailed and on
motives were impeached. A depraved public jour
nal in this City, VIGOROUSLY the mouth-piece of tn
Board assailed in gross terms the author of the o.
dinance and its supporters in the Conventions; an
thus in this way, and in all conceivable ways, wa
the power of the State administration brought t
bear to defeat the measure
Ourreaders can now see who is responsible for tn
disaster on our coast We shall give hereafter tn
votes on Mr.. Smiths Ordinance, with such furtht
remarks as may seem just and proper.