The weekly North-Carolina standard., 1866-05-30
General Amnestx in this state.

We presume Mr.. Caldwell's object to be this:
In many of the Western Counties the Courts
have been so organized, as the result OF the
appointment of disloyal magistrates by the
last Legislature, that it is almost impossible
to find true bills against secessionists, while
true bills against Union men are found at
once Mr.. Caldwell thinks, and justly, that
if the secessionists cannot be punished for
their crimes, the Union men ought not to be;
and so he proposes sort of general amnesty.
Such condition of things in State that
processes to be loyal, isa crying shame. How
long are the Union men of this State to be
thus put upon and trampled under foot
During the rebellion, under orders from GOV,
Vance and ]. Davis, Union men in our noun
tain Counties were shot and hanged Ike
dogs. Their bodies hung on the trees until
they purified; they were slain in the valleys
and gorges of the mountains; they were
hunted down like the wild beasts OF the
forest: and now, when peace is said to pre-
vail, and the flag of our fathers Is again
floating over us, Union men who in their
desperation retaliated for these prosecutions
and crimes, are indicted and punished by
grand juries, while secessionists and rebels
who began these murders, are screened from
punishment Such are the fruits of the ad
ministration of Gov. Worth. Suppose twelve
months hence, with Gov. Worth in office,
and the State restored to the Union under
present auspices secessionists should be ac-
Quilted in the Counties referred to, and Union
men should be found guilty-docs not every
body know that the rebel pressure on the
Executive would be so great that he would
not dare to pardon Union man "Let
him catch it." would be the cry" he was
an enemy to our beloved Confederacy. He
was deserter, and ought to be hanged any
way: He skulked, and would not fight the
vandal Yankees. He was cowardly, thieving
Union man, while the true men were rallying
to the immortal Lee and the peerless Beaure-
gard Give it to him" Such is now, and
such would then be the cry. Is there no
remedy for these evils Is this the Confed-
eracy, or is it the United States of America ?
We learn from a member of the Conven-
ton, who is well informed in these matters
that in one instance Union man who had
been shot and wounded, was pursued to his
house, and taken out before his family and
hanged, while in dying condition; and
that in another instance young woman was
hanged by some of Gov. Vance's home
guards, to make her tell where some of her
Union male relatives were, and that she was
so near death from this horrible treatment
that she did not recognize any one for two
or three days We have all heard of the
penning of hundreds of women and children
of Union families, and of cruelties inflicted
on such, and on helpless old men and
women, that should cause demon even to
blush for shame And these wretches, the
offscourings of hellish rebellion, are to go
unpunisbed, while Union men are punished
because they tried to be faithful to the flag of
their fathers Forbid it, justice forbid it,
Almighty God!
| All these wretches are Worth men. The
miserable brute who put the thumbs of a
Randolph woman under the fence, to make
her tell where her husband was, voted for
Gov. Worth in November last She told at
last, and her husband was shot. Who muir
dered Bill Owen9 Are there no grand juries
in Randolph County2
The Issue is, Union or DisuniOn
North Carolina has been numbered too
long among the dead Confederate States
The great body of her honest farmers and
| working-me are anxious to be restored to
the Union. In 1861, against her will, she
followed the cotton States into the horrors of
civil war She is still suffering with these
cotton States, against her will. We want to
see her divorced from this connection, and
the necessary steps taken to restore her to
the Union. The sooner this is done the
better
Our State Convention now in session. pos
sesses sovereign power. We trust it will con-
fer with the President and the Congress and
learn what is required of us-what must be
done to ensure the return of the State to the
Union. Our condition as a people is grow
ing worse every day, and we can hope for no
improvement until the State is placed under
loyal rule and made once more a member of
the Union. We have talked and speculated
long enough. The time for action has
arrived.
The tinelrecently manifested apprehen-
sion on account of the Convention assemb-
ling second time. That paper thinks there
is NO use now for such body. We differ
with that paper. The main hope of the 10y
al people of this State is in the Convention.
This body uas chosen by the people for the e.
press and specific purpose q ofrestoring the State
to the Union. This is its great, peculiar bus
mess. The people in all parts of the State
are looking to it with the hope that it will
take the necessary steps to accomplish this
work. The issue is, Union or Disunion! =
We do not fear the result of a contest on this
issue before the people. Shall we go back
to the Union. or shall we stay out indefinite
ly9 That is the question. He that is not
for the Union is against it; and those who
are against the Union are the enemies of the
peace, prosperity, and happiness of our
people.
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