The weekly North-Carolina standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 186?-1869, 1866-09-12
Letter from Hon. B. +. Moore,
of Raleigh.
pepI.y TO THE DISTINGUISHED
IURIST.. SUPPOSED TO BE
Ex-CHIEF JUSTICE RUFFlN'

TuRIsT.,, SUPPOSED TO BE
Ex.CHIEF JUSTICE RUFF1N.
Triumphant Vindication of the Faildi-
ty of the late state Convention
To the People of Wake County, and,
through Them, to the People of North
Carolina.
A question of unspeakable impor-
lance to the people of North-Caroilna,
as indeed. it must be to all the South
ern States. has been recently raised oy
an eminent iurist of the State: namely,
whether the Convention, Which Mas
called by President johnson, through
the Provisional Governor of the State,
had any validity at all, and, If 1t had,
what was the extent of its powers.
By this iurist it is warmly maintained
"that the Convention was not c0'aststtt-
tiosaal; it had no powers; was an I'M
authorized body; no more than vol
untary collection of SO many men;
caucus" &c.
If this be true, the blunder OF con-
yening the late Convention, as body
possessed of authority, is truly serious,
and will likely prove to be immensely
calamitous. :,
The powers of the Convention are the
foundations, upon which will rest the
question, whether the present Governor
is constitutional officer; as, also,
whether the late legislative body was
competent to pass laws, and, IN like
manner, whether any of the acts per-
formed by the appointees and agents OF
any person or body deriving power
however remotely through this eau
GUS" are entitled to any validity. Nay,
the attack upon the legal status OF the
Convention necessarily strikes the Pro
visional Governor, and, if successful,
dethrones him with all the host OF Off
GERS deriving their powers since the sur
render of the Confederate cause. For,
the same eminent jurist says, that II
there had been no provision in the Con-
stitution directing in what manner Con-
ventions might be called, still " the
Convention was not legitimate Con-
vention-the Convention was called,
without the consent of the people OF
North Carolina, by the President OF the
United States, and under his orders; an
act of clear and despotic usurpation,
which could not give the body any au-
thority to bind the State or its inhabi-
tants. fit be said, that the President
or his satrap, his Governor of prov
ince, did not call, or rather constitute
the Convention, but the delegates were
elected by the people, and thereby the
body was duly constituted, | deny it
directly and positively. The delegates
were not the choice of the people, for,
in the proclamation for calling it, the
qualifications of the persons who might
be eligible, and those of the persons
who might vote for them, were strictly
prescribed in manner variant from our
fundamental law, and excluding from
each class large portion-some would
say the best portion-of our qualified
citizens. In many cases onr people
were not represented, but were, in fact,
misrepresented. The acts of such a
body cannot be said to be those of the
people of the State. They are not en-
titled to obedience, and cannot, or at
least ought not to be, judicially recog-
nized."
Thus it appears to he the decided
opinion of this jurist that the body, had
it been called by Legislature, was not
legitimate, because portion of the vo-
tiers, qualified under the Constitution OF
the State, were not allowed to vote for
members of the Convention. Now, al
though, when the late Legislature was
called into existence by the Convention,
some of the disqualifcations were re-
moved, yet others of these were retain
ed, and several persons, perhaps one in
hundred, but not more, were not al
lowed to vote. Whether those, thus
disqualified to vote for the Convention,
or for the General Assembly, were the
best portion or the worst portion Of
qualified voters, can have no weight in
considering the question, and was likely
introduced as a fact, to multiply the ALA
dnOrDaia.
But, the argument, which renders
void Convention because certain per.
sons are not allowed to vote, will fol-
the same reason equally render void the
General Assembly; and, in like manner,
any election for Governor, if the persons
thus excluded have the same constitu
tional right to vote in each election
Now, it has happened since the Conven.
ton sat, that Judges, appointed by the
Convention and the General Assembly
have sentenced men to be hung, some
of whom have been executed, and 9th
ers have been pardoned by the Govern
or. Many have been tried for minor of
fences and been imprisoned and severe
ly punished, yet, Of all the Judges ap
pointed by such authority, no one o.
them has questioned his right to a seat
or his proper power to administer the
law. No lawyer has raised the point
for his client. The Sherifs, deriving
their authority through elections direc
ted by the Convention, have been gath
ering taxes from the citizens, and nc
Hampden has yet been found to set the
patriotic example of peaceful resistance
even. The Justices of the Peace. too
equally illegal officers, have been impo
sing heavy burthens on an impoverished
people, without word of dissent as t.
their authority. They have, moreover
been engaged constantly in uniting
respectable persons in the holy bonds Q
Wedlock. without a voice of u,orr;,,,
being raised by any querist in the State
In like manner the authorities of all til,
other States, based on Convention