The weekly North-Carolina standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 186?-1869, 1866-07-04

around them; the hccatombs of their uu
slam the stern patriotism of the men of II
other States, exhibited by unlimited cxre
dlture ana of blood, ard their lore of Il
Union SO sincere aud deepscated that il
seen they will hazard all to maintain il. itavt
convinced the South that as II practical doc
trine secession is extinguislictl forever
State secession. then, abandoned and slave
ry abolished lay the Southern States them
selves. or with their consent, upon what
statesmanlikc ground can such States be dc
MED all the rights which the constitution
secures to States OF the Union All admit
that TO doso ut ticcarlicst period is dcman.
ded l,y every constellation of duty and pol
icy. and nouc deny that the actual interest
of the country is 10 a great extent involved
in, such admission. The staple productions
of the Southern States are as important to
Z the other States as1tn, themselves. Those
staples largely entty into the warts of al. 1
alike, and they are ALSO most important to
the financial credit Of the government These
staples will never lie produced lis in the past
until real peace. resting as it can aione rest
on The equal and uniform operation of the !
constitution and laws on all is attained. To
suppose that brave and sensitive people
will give an undivided attention to the in
crease of mere material wealth willie retain
ed in II state of practical infariority and
degradation is mere folly. They desire to
be again in the Union, to enjoy the benefits
of the constitution, and they invoke you to
receive them. They have adopted constitu-
tions free from any intrinsic objection. and
have agreed to every stipulation thought by
the President to he necessary for the protec
ton and benefit of all: and in the opinion
OF the undersigned, they are amply sufficient.
Why exact, us a preliminary condition to
representation, more! What more is sup
posed advisables First, the repndiation of
therebel debt; second, the denial of all OBJ
legations to pay for manumitted slaves:
third, the inviolability of our own debt. If
these provisions are deemed necessary they
cannot be defeated, if the South were dis
posed to defeat them, by the admission into
Congress of their representatives Nothing
is more probable in the opinion of the un-
dersignesi, than that the South would adopt
them: but those measures the Committee
connect with other conditions. which we
think the people of the South will never
adopt. They are asked to disfranchise
h numerous class of their citizens, and also to
agree to diminish their representation in
/ Congress, and, of course. in the electoral col
lege, or to admit to the right of Suffrage
their c0Iored males of twentv-Onc years of
age and upwards. class now in condition
OF almost utter Ignorance, thus placing them
on the same political footing with white cit
liens of that age. For reasons so obvious
that the dullest may discover them the right
is not directly asserted of granting suffrage
to the negro. That would be obnoxious to
m ,st of tine original States. so much so that
their consent was not to be anticipated
But the plan praposed zhecause OF the limi-
ted number ofnegroes in such States, will
have no effect on their representation, and
it il thorsiit may therefore be adopted,
while in the Southern States it will matefi-
ally lessen their number. That such States
will assent to the measure can hardly be ex-
pected. The effect, then, if not the purpose
Of the measure is forever to deny representa-
tives to such States, or, if they consent to
the condition, to weaken their representa-
tive power and thus probably secure q con-
tinuance of such a party in power as now
| controls the legislation of the government
The measure, IN its terms and its effect.
whether designed or not, is to degrade the
Southern States 70 consent to it will I've to
consent to their own dishonor. The manner
of presenting the proposed constitutional
amendment, in the opinion of the under
signed, is impolitic and without precedent
The several amendments suggested have no
connection with each other each, if adopted,
would have its appropriate effect ifthe 9TH
ers were rejected, and each, therefore, should
be submitted as separate article, without
suhjecting it 10 the contingency of re-
lection if the States should refuse to rat
ify the rest. Each by ITSELF if an advi-
sable measure, should be submitted to
the people, and not in such connection
with those which they may think unneces
sary and dangerous as to force them to re-
iect ALL The reputation of the rebel debt
all obligation to compensate for the loss of
slave property, and the inviolability of the
debts of the government, no matter how con-
tracted are provided for by some of the sec
tions of the amendment. We have no doubt
that these measures would meet the approval
of all the States; but these no State can
sanction without sanctioning Others which
we believe will not be done by the Southern
States or by some of the Northern States. To
force negro suffrage upon any State by means
of the penalty of loss of part of its repre-
sentation will not only, we think, be impos-
ing disparaging provision, but is virtually
to interfere with the clear right ofcach State
to regulate suffrage for itself without the
control of the government of the United
States Whether that control be exerted di-
rectly or indirectly, it willbe considered, as
we think it is, Il fatal blow to the right
which every State in the past has held vital
. the right to regulate her franchise. To pun
,ol, 10 80
lar way. so as to give to all classes of the pco-
pie the privilege of suffrage, is but seeking
to accomplish incidentally what, if It should
be done at all. should be done directly. No
reason, in the view of the undersigned, can
he suggested for the course adopted than a
belief that such direct interference, would
not be sanctioned by the Northern States,
while as regards such States the actual re-
commenaatinn, because of the small proper
tion of negroes within their limits, will not
in the least lessen their representative power
in Congress or their influence in the Presi-
dental election; and they may, therefore,
sanction it. The very inequality Of its oper-
alton upon the State renders the measure, in
our opinion, most unjust, and, looking to the
peace and quiet of the country, most impo-
litic. The mode advised is also without
precedent. When the constitution wasadop-
ted it was thought to be defective in not
sufficiently protecting certain rights of the
States and the people. With view of sup
| plying remedy for this effect, on the 4th of
March, 1889. various amendments, by q reso-
luton constitutionally passed, weresubmitted
for ratification to the States These were
twelve in number. Several of them were
even less independent of each other than are
those recommended by 'he committee But
it did not occur to the men of that day
that it was right to force the States to
adopt or reject all Each vas there
fore presented as separate article. The
language of the resolution was that the