The weekly North-Carolina standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 186?-1869, 1867-12-18
Alabama on Reconstru ,,,tv

The entire American people, have looked
with natural interest to the Reconstruction
Convention for Alabama, which has lust
closed its. session at Montgomery. In the
same room where six. years ago the Confed-
crate Rebellion in behalf of human bondage
was organized into pretended national GOV
ernnient, were assembled one hundred rep
resentativcs of that portion of the people of
Alabama who. love liberty and the Union. en-
gagged in the first effort to construct State
government on the basis Of the political
equality Of all men. Among them were six
teen Legislators who were formerly slaves. =
The coincidence of place, between the iraug-
uration of the Confederacy, whose corner
stone was Slavery, and of the Reconstruc-
ton policy. whose corner stone is Equality.
is one of the most significant in history
The Convention was regarded by the Con-
sentative party of Alabama witt, an effort
at contempt, which utterly failed, for want
OF anything in the proceedings of the Con-
yention tn which the contempt even of its
enemies could attach. After it had adopted
a suffrage policy so liberal toward the Reb-
els as to disarm all criticism, the only hope
of the Conservatives was to force the ques-
ton of color ON the Convention in some EN-
barrassing form An ordinance requiring
common carriers throughout the State to
mcke no distinction or separation in the
conveyance of Black and White passengers
was referred to the Judiciary Committee.
An ordinance providing separate schools for
White and Cnlored children was voted down
by SO to 81. and instead thereof section
was adopted declaring that the Board of
Education should provide one or more
schonls in each school district. at which all
the children of the said district should at
tend free of charge. This leaves to the
Board of Education in each district to de-
eide whether Black and White shall be cdu.
Gated in the same or different schools A
Bureau of Industrial Resources for collect
ing and publishing statistics calculated to
promote the business of the State and en-
courage immigration has been proposed and
We believe adopted The Convention, after
long and close struggle. finally voted to
make all judicial offices in the State elective
An ordinance 10 prohibit marriages between
White and Black was defeated The state
ment that Gen Pope had written letters ur-
ging the Convention to close its proceedings
as soon as possible, if true, probably indi-
Gates only the anxiety of that officer for an
early submission of its work to the people
SO that the State may apply for admission
to Congress during the present session. We
have received the thirty-two first sections of
the proposed Constitution, which is now
complete. They are framed with care and
ability, and contain nothing of which any
friend of Union and liberty will disappruvc
On December 5 the Convention, BY vote Of
81 yeas toto nays, adopted the Constitution,
and by a vote of SO yeas to g nays. pro-
vided for its submission to the. people. The
vote for and against the Constitution. and
for the State and County Officers and Rep.
resentatives in Congress, will be held ON the
4th Of February, 1858, under the orders of
the Commanding General of the district, all
returns to be made tn the President of the
Convention, who will issue certificates of
election to the candidate elected. The latter
will enter on the duties of their Offices as
soon as the State shall be admitted into
the Union. At the proposed election all
adult male citizens, without distinction of
color, will vote, except those who, having
previously taken an official oath to support
the Constitution of the United States, viola
ted their oath by joining in the Rebellion
Even these may vote if they have aided in
shO iCSVuStiuSeiou ptopoScu ny OOuSfcSS,
and accept the political equality of all men
before the law. Seventeen members of the
Convention voted and protested against the
Constitution. If a majority, OF the register
ed electors of Alabama shall vote, and il
majority of those who vote shall vote f,r
the Constitution thus adopted, there can be
no 1oubt of the loyalty of the State govern
ment and Members of Congress who viii he
elected under it. There seems to be every
prospect, therefore, that the State of Ala
bama will he represented in the present Com
gress and viii be ready to vote at the next
Presidential election. The Alabama Con-
vention is entitled to the gratitude of the
country for the ealnestess and promptness it
has displayed in the work of reconstruction,
and we hope the Conventions in other
Southern States will display equal business
ability and dispatch. Ne,oa York Tribune.