Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1867-10-25

ment anS20e OF the constitution Can any
sane man believe that such stupendous
facts can long be hid from the people
And can even a lunatic imagine that when
! the people learn the facts they will tolerate
the party guilty of such enormous out
| RACES ?
No the people will discover these fear
| full facts, and are discovering them and
| they will utterly condemn their authors
and are condemning them and here lies
the whole explanation Of the reaction de-
veloped by the recent elections, and the
whole explanation Of the reasons why this
reaction must increase.
Whether the discovery and condemna-
ton will come in time to save Constitutional
Government is a question which the future
alone can settle. [ confess I have both
hopes and fears on this subject.
In view of the hopeful and ever glorious
changes going on in the North what is the
manifest duty of the South To give my
opinions on this question is the chief in
ducement to write this letter.
l. In the first place [ think every man at
the South, who has been inclined to accept
the Radical measures, owes 1t to himself
and the country to reconsider his position.
[ do not know a single respectable man in
the South who has ever said these measures
were approved by him as either constitu
reason urged for adopting them has been
that though unjust and unconstitutional,
they were the aUM of the Northern people
the conqueror-and, therefore, we were
bound to submit to them. But they are
not the will Of the cOnqueror Who, now,
can look at the election in Ohio and say
that negro suffrage is the will of the people
of that State? Who will say that the
people of Ohio would be so mean as to aid
in forcing on other States rule which they
repudiate for themselves ? They will never
do it, And what is true of Ohio is true Of
an overwhelming ma ority Of the people of
the Northern States. Therefore, every
man who urged US to accept wrong be-
cause it was a necessity, must now, in order
to be consistent, abandon the wrong when
the necessity is shown not to exist. They
urged US to accept Radical measures be-
cause they were the will of the Northern
people. We ask them now to reject Radi-
cal measures because they are wrong and
also because they are not the will of the
Northern people. They asked us to sub
nit to the Radical party because they were
omnipotent and stronger than the Consti-
tuition. We now ask them to reject the
Radical party because that party is itself
being destroyed by the people
I do not wonder that many, uniler the
adverse circumstances which surrounded
us, committed the mistake. All history
shows that in times of severe trial many
are timid, few are courageous, and still
fewer willing TO defy wrong and become
martyrs for the truth. The very multitude
gathered about the Saviour when he null
tiplied the loaves and fishes. His very dis
ciples fed when they saw him bearing the
cross. But they did not act criminalIy.-
They only acted naturally. Indeed, men
often do wrong with good motives. We
are all liable to make mistakes The only
remedy for human errors is to abandon !
them and the only infallible rule of hu-
man conduct is forgiveness. It requires
to abandon an error-tO confess a
mistake. Will any be so cowardly as not
to abandon what they admit is wrong p
Will any still urge the Southern people to
accept dishonor after the Northern people |
have proclaimed they do not exact it ! |
N0aC is the opportune moment for all to get
right. For the past their errors were only |
mistakes. Persisted in now, these errors
will become crimes. Let US ALL in the sim
cere spirit of cordial kindness, welcome
back to the good Old ark our brothers who |
have been vainly seeking safety in the wild !
unbridled passions outside OF the Constitu- |
ton. North and South, let US all forget !
and forgive the war and its passions and |
tees, with freedom universal, and "the |
rights dignity and equality of the States
2. AS the most effective method Of con-
demning the Radical measures, think no
man, black or white, at the South, ought |
to vote at the military elections, or have |
anything to do with organizing govern
ments under the Military Bills. Let every
man stay at home and attend quietly to his
business and advise every other man to
do likewise.
True, the Radicals here most shamefully |
boast that the reaction at the North comes
too late to rescue the South from their
They pretend to be carrying
out the will Of the people but now they
find out they misrepresented the people
they boast that the military are in posses
sion and, right or acrong, will or no will,
will carry out the programme of force on the
Southern people.
This as not true. Even if the military
are SO desperate as to consent
TO be so used, and should even force d Con-
vention and q Constitution under the Mill
tary Bills, healthy public sentiment, now
fast returning, will, through the Courts, and |
every other department of the Government,
declare such forced governments to be lille
gal and void, and will consign to infamy
every man engaged III this wicked attempt |
against both the Constitution and the voice
Of the people.
If the negroes are properly advised they
will abandon this effort to force themselves
into the rule over the white race. Let them
be advised TO improve themselves-to live
in peace and good will with the whites and
wait until they are qualified to be en-
franchised in a legal, natural and proper
way, and then they may expect their eleva-
ton to be permanent and peaceful. To seek
to force themselves on the whites now in an
angry, illegal way is to defeat them forever
and perhaps result in war of races. Let
black and white, therefore, abandon this
illegal attempt to organize civil govern
ment by fraudulent and unconstitutional
military force, and let no man cote on the
question. But if the negroes will not re-
ceive the counsels of their best friends and
persist in voting-let them vote alone,
and let them alone be responsible for the
He is simply insane who
supposes the American people will long
tolerate an unconstitutional government
forced upon the white race solely by negro |
votes 1prelV tn SI1Dport q r1artU yTbiol, tho