The southerner., 1867-01-03
"mT COUNTRY RIGHT OR WRONG: ~ eoUaTRY.o


y y JDP@'u'eo o'u IL uutJ, as / coH>
ceived, required me to yield obedience to
the de .facto government of the section in
which | lived but when the party claim
ing to fight to preserve the Union pre>
vailed, gladly renewed my allegiance to
the Union, aud will not now invite it's diss
solution by an act of Congress.
My recent intercourse and observation
OF the press force me to the conclusion
that the main aliment Of continued sec,
tional alienation aud obstruction "to the
restoration of fraternal feeling" which
ought to be the earnest wish of every
patriotic heart" is the false and persists
ent Misrepresentation emanating from
bad men in our midst who seek to make
the impression that our courts and iuries,
in the administration Of justice, discrimi>
nate to the prejudice of Union men and
our late slaves
Notwithstanding the extraordinary eff
forts ct our Judiciary, well known to eve
rybody here, to have justice impartially
administered, a studied effort is persists
emily kept up, with too much success. to
| misead the minds of we'll meaning people
in the dominant States.
Let US not despair. We still have the
| Constitution, which, in the language of
the great aud good CASTOR, with all its
pretended defects and all its alleged vio>
latlons, has conferred more benefit on
man than ever yet flowed from any othel
institution, and which, under God if we
be true to ourselves, will insure the bless
sings of liberty to US and our posterity."
If this temple of liberty is to be destroy.
ed, [ pray that North Carolina may have
no hand in this act of vandalism. Let
us in our foriorn condition emulate the
example of the present chief magistrate
Of the nation. who, amidst the tempest oil
party fury which assails him, firmly steers
the ship Of State by this chart of our lib
critics, and is thus inscribing his name
high or the temple of fame.
| Besides the protection to our constitu-
tional rights, which the Executive may
give US, trust and believe the Supreme
Court of the United States, the ultimate
arbiter of such questions, arising under
the constitution, as can be brought unde,
its jurisdiction, may be relied on for a.
intelligent aud fair discharge Of its high
functions, and do not entirely despair
that Congress may become better advised
and cease to engender dislike to the Gov,
ernment BY unfounded suspicious of oul
loyalty.
l do not deem it necessary to add any.
thing to my recent recommendations as t
our State affairs. All the information
have been able to obtain tends strongly
, to confirm my recommendation, that W
f should promptly erect penitentiary
and that every citizen of the State b
/ precept and example, shonld encourag
> domestic manufacturers, and to carry on
f this Recommendation as far as can, b
E example, [ appear before you to-day
clothed in the handiwork Of North Carroll
, ma manufacturers. and made up by Merit
e Carolina mechanics.
r AS you are about to leave for your re
, spective homes, trust you will feel
. individually Your duty to exhort you
constituents to attend diligently an
\ quietly to their respective callings; I
: offer no opposition 10 any law, State Q
n National, which they may deem uncor
e sttutional, excepting through the regu
4 lar channel of the courts to be diliger
i in bringing malefactors to justice, an
] thereby giving security to the orderly.
Gloomy and impoverished ana depres
y ed, as our people, if they continue quie
e ly to discharge all their duties, in the en-
e they may expect the rewards which us,
d. ally follow well doing.
f | avail myself of this occasion to r,
\ turn my thanks to the people of the Sta
n for the comparative unanimity wi,
q which they have reelected me as the
il Governor and pray God to inspire n
s with all those qualities of the head ar
= of the heart necessary to perform arigh
y the duties of my responsible position
@ this trying period of our history.