The weekly North-Carolina standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 186?-1869, 1866-11-28
ACounter-P Proposition Gov. Worth and
the Freedmen.

is met at last. We have been insisting that
the South should accompany its rejection of
the proposed Constitutional Amendment
with the offer of some other basis Of restora-
ton; and 10 it is here.
Gov. Worth, OF North Carolina, has sup
piled it. Profting by the shortcomings of
other Southern Governors, he has PROFOUND
ed plan for the settlement of existing diff
entities between the sections. The difficult
ties, as the Govern sees them, are very seri-
Gus, and the plan he promulgates IS intended
to prove that he has studied them philoso-
phically and exhaustively.
The negro, declares Gov. Worth, is !" still
the subject of STRIFE" More than half the
message addressed to the Legislature of
North Carolina is devoted to the Constitu-
tional Amendment, and to an elaborate
though in no respect original argument
against its ratification. But now the whole
trouble, as the Governor understands it, pro-
ceeds from the emancipated negro and the
Governors proposal is to solve the problem
of restoration by disposing of the negro
Remove the cause, quoth he, and the effect
will cease. And since the haplcss black man
is source of perpetual contention between
the North and South, Gov. Worth suggests
that all trouble may be ended by satisfac-
tory disposal of the black man.
But how shall he be disposed of9 That is
the question which the chief officer of the
sovereign State of North Carolina undertakes
to answer. And the answer furnished by
his message is evidence incontestible OF his
genius, patriotism and craftsmanship.
Vulgar, commonplace politicians are &C
customed to deal with the problems arising
from the rebellion and from emancipation in
a very vulgar way. They suggest that mas
much as he who but yesterday was slave
is now free, he should be dealt with as
freedman and citizen. They argue that the
freedmen, being also citizens, should be
placed on an equality with white citizens in
respect of their rights to property, to protec-
ton under the law, and to entire equality in
all that concerns their freedom and well-be-
ing 1t is further contended that, as the
freedmen form large proportion OF the
originally loyal people of the South, they
should no longer be subject to sweeping dis
reimbursement. In other words, that the color
of the skin should henceforth have nothing
to do with the civil or political status of the
individual, but that the possession OF the
elective franchise should be regulated by
some defined test of fitness, applicable alike
to white and black. Finally, it is asserted
that the South should demonstrate its title
to the confidence of the nation by affording
guarantees that the results achieved by the
war shall be loyalty sustained with all the
force of constitutional authority.
These, we say, are commonplace devices
for solving the problems which enter into
the general question of restoration. None OF
them, however, satisfies the requirements of
Gov. Worth's transcendant statesmanship.-
He expresses profound contempt for all
that ordinary mortals esteem as practical,
His lofty spirit chafes under the outrages of
the proposed amendment. His genius scars
above the conditions of restoration which
Congress and the plebeian North have ten
dcred as the basis of compromise His chiv-
alric soul despises the idea of guarantees, and
contenlns the people that would demand
them. He aspires to the reputation of an in
ventor, discoverer, philosopher. His eagle
eye penetrates to the bottom of the great diff
ficulty, and his comprehensive mind discerns
the secret of the country's great deliverance
The process is very simple-when Worth
has explained it. 1t is as simple as the prob
lem of the egg, after Columbus explanation.
One sentence states the problem and embod-
les its solution. 1.-THE negro being still the
subject of strife" remoce the negro. The rights
OF the freedmen being the bone of sectional
contention, put an end to the contention by
removing its cause. This is Worth's philos-
ophy in nutshell.
But how get rid of the negro In the gen.
Grafton of Henry Clay transportation to Lii
IBERIA was not unpopular specific. "Send
the blacks to Africa" it was said, and they
will bother as no more" Their colonization
in Florida is more recent prescription of
State doctors, though one that has not been
received with special favor. The commonly
received notion nowadays IS that they
should, like the rest of humanity, be left to
work out their own industrial, social and po-
litical redemption care being taken, that
neither local nor Federal law shall cucumber
them with burdens not shared by their white
brethren, Gov. Worth's remedy presuppos-
es none of these roundabout methods. He
sees quite through the milestone. The negro
question presses upon North Carolina because
the negro is there TRANSFER the negro to Mas
sachusetts, and the difficulty will exist no
more in North Carolina.
We are not indulging in satire. We are
not resorting to hyperbole or exaggeration
for the sake of political effect We are not
interpreting language which Others may con-
strue differently. Gov. Worth's words are
too plain to be misunderstood. He says
"the cause OF the trouble is the unequal dis
tribution of the race between the sections, |"
and " the plain and practical remedy is their
more equal diffusion" Diffusion is the word.
And Gov. Worth maintains that the requi-
site diffusion" may be accomplished "by
diverting the appropriation made to sustain
the Freedmen's Bureau to defraying the trav-
cling expenses of those [freedmen] who may
choose to move, allowing each one to choose
the State or territory to which he would go.
Labor is needed at the South, of COURSE
The complaint comes from North Carolina
that large numbers of citizens, black and
white have, voluntarily left the State. The
whole South is puzzled to find labor equal to
ITS necessities. It requires not only every man
already there, but as many more men as can
be attracted thither. Gov. WORRIES pro-
posal, therefore implies, not only an exhaus-
tive philosophy, but profound self-sacrifce
He would have the Sonth consign itself to
the dogs that the negro question may be
settled
There are wise men, perhaps, who will see
in the Worth scheme of relief for North Car
DINA righteous retribution upon certain Of
the Northern States. The Northern Radi
calls these pundits may suggest would
under the Worth plan, have an opportunity
of manifesting the virtues which they now
commend to their neighbors. But the sub
ject is too solemn for practical jokes. And
North Carolina would be scarcely justified
in running herself for the sake of testing the
| depth of New England philanthropy.
Besides, there is no occasion for so much