Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1868-03-27

second section provides for the election OF
| members of the General Assembly and all che
State and County officers '',cho are to be elected
by the people uader THIS Constitution. Now
the members of the General Assembly and
State and County officers to be elected un-
der the Constitution manifestly, are to be
elected by electors qualified according to
the provisions of this Constitution. .
"This Constitution so declares, and
this Constitution " further declares thai
"every male person born i'll the United
States, and every male person who has
been naturalized, twenty one years old or
upward who shall have resided in this
State twelve months next preceding the
election, and thirty days in the county in
which he offers to vote, shall be deemed an
elector." The next section of "this Con-
stitution," in reference to suffrage, makes
it the duty of the General Assembly, from
time to time, to provide for the registra-
ton of electors, but it is obvious that the
ordinance before set forth supersedes this
prospective provision SO far as the present
election is concerned.
The offices to be filed at the election in
April are created by "this Constitution, J"
many of them heretofore unknown in North
Carolina, and the electors by whom the
persons to fill these Offices are to be chosen
are also expressly defined therein. and it
would indeed be monstrous in this first
election under "this Constitution to vio-
late one of its leading provisions, and in
doing so deny to thousands of our best cit
liens right which even the bitter parti-
zans of the sc Convention did not feel
warranted in denying them amidst all the
Infamous enactments of that delectable
body.
We therefore must respectfully and
earnestly call it to the attention of General
CANDY that the qualifications Of voters for
or against the Constitution are different
from the qualifications of voters for mem
bers of the General Assembly, and State
and County officers, and it will therefore
be impossible, if the ordinances Of the So
called Convention are to be carried out, to
nse only one ballot box and one ballot.
The third section of the foregoing ordi-
nance refers TO the election of members of
Congress, and delares 81 said election shall
be conducted by the same persons and undes'
the same regulations as before mentioned in
this ordinance" This reference is to the
first section, in which the voters on the
question of the Constitution are defined.
II IL l,
it is true las to which there can be no shade
of doubt that the members of the House
of Commons Changed by this Constitu-
ton " to House of Representatives. of the
General Assembly of this State are to be
elected by electors under the provisions of
"this Constitution before quoted, then
every man qualified to vote for such men,
bers is qualified and has the right to vote
for members of Congress, unless it is in
tended to override the Constitution of the
United States in this particular. Section
2 of Article /. of the Constitution of the
United States, in reference to the election
of members of the House of Representa-
tives, says "the electors in each State shall
have the qualifications requisite FOR electors
of the most numerous branch OF the State
Legislature
Would member of the House Of Rep
resentatives of the Congress of the United
States not chosen by the electors prescribed
by the Constitution, or chosen at an cleo
ton at which portion of those electors
were by a law Of the State OF by an orii-
nance of Convention Of q State prol.ibi-
or constitutionally elected ? Certainly not,
SO long as the Constitution of the United
States is respected, for no State can by
statute or ordinance alter OF impair its pro-
visions.
We call these matters to General CANBY's
and earnestly appeal to him, as
the supreme power in the State, to prevent
the shameless violation of their own acts
and the Constitution of the United States,
by these wire working politicians. Justice
to the thousands of upright, honorable citi
zens entitled to vote for State and county
officers, under the proposed Constitution
justice to North Carolina justice to truth
and honesty, demand that there should be
two elections, or at least two ballot boxes,
so that all qualified may deposit their votes.
We appeal to him in his order providing
for the election, to so arrange the voting
that thousands of our people shall not be
wrongfully disfranchised, and we feel that
we will not appeal in vain. The facts are
too plain-the designs of these men toe
consequences now and in the
future too important, both to General
CANBY's reputation and our welfare, that
the plain provisions of the law shall not be
Ratification and Its Advocates
The advocates of the ratification of the
new Constitution usually consist of three
classes Of white persons and no more, to-
wit !: Office-holders, present and prospec-
tive the few men who really do not oon !