Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1867-05-17
Law and Order.

the arbitrary enactments of their lrrespon-
sible Military Governors, dare not lift hand
or voice in remembrance Or appeal We
must look to the Northern papers, to those
rho inaugnrated the present distressing
state of affairs, for both. Bound as We
are, remonstrance has been already shown
10 be worse than useless. The foreshad-
owing of the fual fate of-the Georgia and
the Mississippi Injunction bills de
Ynonstrates clearly how tightly and secure
" we are chained, and how fruitless are
all appeals made to either executive Oh
iudicial interference. 1t is but kicking
against the pricks, the rebound whereof
is much more to our detriment than to
our advantage. Yet, in the face OF all
these facts, the New York Times charges
the States of North and South Carolina
with an accompanying submission to the
endorsements of power, and, speaking OF
General Sickles' order, says: And yet
the orders, although extraordinary and Oh
their face unlawful, called forth no pro-
test from the communities concerned, and
only exceptional condemnation from the
press of the country" Tue, all true; yet
the scaJhing rebuke and the biting sar-
casm wouId, under such circumstances,
come with u better grace, we think, from
some paper beyond the line OF denarca-
ton, than this side OF it. It would be
we'll fer our Northern friends to recollect
that the old time distinctions Of LAW
and order" have become seriously dlvor-
ced; the free Northern States living under
the law, and the free Southern States OF
the Caroliuas under the order-No. 10.
The same article referred 70 above (by
tie way, one Of a rambling, disconnected
nature) says, and with some truth and JUS
tice thi, time. that in the Carolinas, and
throughout the Southern States there has
been an evident desire to Judge the orders
ritably-to attribute their PRONUNCIATION
to peculiar local circumstances best under
stood by the commanders OF the districts,
and III some degree also to a humane desire
to mitigate the penalties of poverty, so far
as these may be affected by the operation OF
law - Tor orde. ??
The above, although partially correct,
and very complimentary to the OrdeJ-loving
portion of our community, yet falls short
of the exact condition of affairs. The peo-
ple of these two States, at the close Of the
war, in taking the oath of allegiance to the
primal government, resigned themselves to
the inevitable, with full determination to
support, in every particular, the new pl1n-
ciples which they had assumed How in
violate that oath has been held, and how
we'll and truly those principles have been
maintained their late past record can best
tell. The Military Governor was one
among the many unforeseen lnevltables to
which they first bound themselves by oath.
When General SickieS assumed control
over the district we recognized his author
ity and respected his mandates. But yet,
while obeying to the full, both in the let
ter and the spirit, the celebrated order
No. 10, we cannot but question the
wisdom of many portions OF it
The Times, in some portions OF It's
article, seems to forget that we have
ever had legislatures, or that their en-
actments a >till in memory. General
Sickles seems to have ignored this fact In
toto, and has, III the plenitude Of his wisdom,
granted us few arbitrary passes of the
pen for the benefit OF this generation. Oh,
the superintendent wisdom, the cOncentra-
ted essence of Jurisprudence itself which
tn u one man overIides, at one leap, the
accumulated deliberations of our fathers
and of their fathers before them. The Times
man himself cannot fully commend the
several provisions OF the famous No. 10
Hear Linn: The orders of General Sickles
altering the civil and criminal codes of
North and South Carolina, were of a more
doubtful character. To the extent that To-
cal statutes confiicted with the provisions
of the Civil Rights Act, the Generals inter
ference may have been necessary. But
there Is nothing that we know of in that
act, or in the Reconstruction Act, which,
IN letter or spirit, warrants a commanding
officer TO say what offences shall be felo-
MES, or how offences shall be punished or
which, by any process of reasoning, can be
made to justify Interference with the claims
of creditors. or the disposition to be made
OF property subject TO liens.
We have grown weary with this article,
as We had long ago with its subject, and with
one paragraph we close it. We hope, most
earnestly hope, that the great success met
with in the South by the Military Cover
nors in remodeling imperfect State Consti-
tutlons and superseding the acts OF incom-
petent legislators may soon take the natur-
al course ofcivilization Northward, and that
Daniels may be brought to Judgment In
every State Northward, until all laws of all
States that conflict either with the Civil
Rights bill, or the will of the Dictator may
be abrogated, until eventually, all law hav-
ing been annuiled and order established
peace aud plenty may inaugurate a millen-
ium in the land.
Death Of p. x. Dickinson.
This community has sustained the loss
of one of her most worthy and respected