Weekly standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1858-1865, 1864-06-08

one breath he may 60 out Of the Confederacy, in
another be says he will not We confess the above
sentences in juxtapostion present the Governor in
about As consistent attitude a. he generally oc
capies. :
We publish today . very able and instructive
communication over the signature Of "A Western
Farmer" exposing the historical mistakes in Gov.
Vance's Wilkesborough speech. The writer ex.
hibits the fruits of great research and thorough
knowledge Of the points Of which he treats.
The Personal Liberty Act, and the Resolutions
protesting against the suspension OF Habeas
Corpus.
Two of the most important measures passed At
the recent session Of our Legislature are the PEI.
sonal liberty act, introduced by Mr.. Boyden, of
Rowan, and the resolutions introduced by Mr.. War
rem Of Beaufort protesting against the act suspend
ing Aobeas corpus and demanding its repeal. The
latter we have already published, and the former
we give as follows
AN A0T more e6ectually to secure the benefits of
the writ Of habeas eorpus and to precent the
transportation Of citizens in cioil lfs beyond the
limits of the State.
SECTION l. Be 1t. enacted by tho General Assena'
bly Of tho State Of North Carolina, and it is here
by enacted by the authority Of the same, That ans
person as to whom writ of habels corpus has been
issued and served. who wilfally fails or refuses
under any pretence whatever, to obey the mandate
thereof or the orders of the Judge court thereon
before whom the same is to be heard, or who know
ingy or Intentionally prevents the service Of the
same by force, or by keeping out of the way, or
who shall wilfully fail refuse to permit any per-
son upon application by counsel, in his custody to
consult with and have the assistance Of counsel for
the purpose of suing out or prosecuting said writ
or who shall send away or conceal any person who
is in his custody or under his CONTROL with intent
to prevent SAID writ from being sued out or exc.
cuted, or the petitioner from being discharged,
when the Judge or Court so orders, shall guilty
Of high mlsdemeanor, and, on conviction in the
Superior Court shall be fined not less than one
thousand dollars and imprisoned not less than one
year.
Sec. 2, Be it further enacted, That if any person
shall, under any pretence whatsoever, transport be-
yond the limits of this State, by force violence,
any person in civil life, such person SO offending
shall be guilty of high misdemesnor, and on con-
victon, shall be fined not less than two thousand
dollars and imprisoned not less than one year.
Sec. 8. Be 1t further enacted, That if any person
in civil life shall be transported beyond the limits
of this State, contrary to the provisions of the
second section of this act the Governor of the State
shall forthwith demand him of the authorities Of
the Confederate States where such person may be
imprisoned
Read three times and ratified in General Assem-
bly,, the 2Sth day of May, 1864
R s. DONNELL, S. Il. G.
GILES MEBANE, 8. 8.
The foregoing measures would of themselves, il
nothing else had been done beyond providing the
necessary means to carry on the government have
reflected lasting credit on the General Assembly.
In our paper Of the 18th May We said l.:
"We publish below, to refresh the minds of our
readers on the subject the act of the Confederate
Congress suspendlug the privilege of the writ Of
habeas corpus. We verify believe, with Mr.. Vice
President Stephens, that this act was unnecessary
that it is unconstitutional and that it was passed
to "control certain elections and expected Assem-.
blages in North -Carolina-to put puzzle upon
certain presses and bit in the mouth of certain
speakers IN that State" This being the fact it is
especially incumbent on our Legislature to protest
against the act and to demand its repeal and it is
to be regretted that Gov. Vance did not at once
convehe the Legislature, so that this protest and
demand might have been made at the time the
Georgia Legislature acted on the subject The
protest Of this State would have carried with it
much more moral weight if it had been made
promptly and this would have been done but for
the fact that Gov Vance substantially endorsed the
suspension ofthe writ in his Wilkesborough speech,
and but for the further fact that he was not dis.
posed at that time to trust the peoples representa-
tives. What he will say now remains to be seen.
The passage Of these measures was in strict &C
cordauce with the principles and doctrines of the
Standard We did not concern ourselves while tht
members were here to know who they were for OF
who they were against for Governor. We button
holed no member, and we had no crowd of favor,te.
and dependents to button.hole them for US and so
licit their influence and support. We had too muct
respect for the representatives of the people, ant
too much self-respect to adopt such course It il
enough for US that the General Assembly, by hand
some majorities, IN spite Of the treachery of Gov
Vance to civil liberty and in spite Of his DESTRUCTIVE
friends, has given practical evidence of its devoto,
to those principles by which alone our free institu
tions can be preserved. Whatever may happen i,
the future we shall prove true to those principle
and to the good old State Of North Carolina.
The yeas and nays were not called in the Senat
on Mr.. Boyden's measure on its final passage be
cause, as we suppose, the sense of the body wa
reached on the following amendment offered by Mr.
Hoke:
Provided, That the provisions of this act shal
not apply to any cases mentioned in the act of Con
gress to suspend the writ Of ha6eas corpus.
YEAs-Messrs Aycock, Csrrawsy, Dickson, Ell
lis, Faison, Harris of Franklin, Hoke, Holeman
Pitchford, Powell, Wiggins-11.
NAYs-Messrs. Adams of Davidson, Adams Q
Guilford, Arendell, Bsgley, Berry,. Blount Boyden
Harris Of Rutherford, Jones' Lassiter, Leitch, Mat
thews, Neal, Patton, Patrick, Sanders, Sharpe
Slaughter, Smith of Macon, Taylor of Chatham
Warren, Wooley-23.
The vote in the Commons was as follows: