The weekly North-Carolina standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 186?-1869, 1868-08-19
/. To the Conservative Party.

I r. lam alarmed at the condition of the
4 country. and tear we are drifting into anoth-
J. err civil war. In my. opinion the "war
ecloudsp as are dark now as in the winter of
!, 1S60-461. q We were then promised "peacea-
;. BILE secession 1--WE are now to have "peacea-
BILE notification" Under these circumstan-l
} ces / feel it to be duty to make known
i. the reasoning by which I have arrived
1 at the conclusion that every man who
mas an interest at stake, and who wishes to is
have peace and avoid bloodshed, should
vote for Grant and Colfax. - s,'f ~
Being member of the Conservative Par
ty, and having been elected chief justice of
the Supreme C0nrt on the nomination of
. both parties, by a unanimous vote of the peo-S
pie, it is tair to presume that have their con-
idence,an that what I say will be considered
calmly, as the advice of friend who has no
5 motive save the public good. trust to be
held justified, by the emergency, for express
ing my opinion, and to be allowed to do so,
!. without being drawn into the vortex of poll
tics: with my views silence would be GRIM
Il inal. il God Almighty forbida war ofraces l.
i.rViolent politicians avow their purpose to
) agitate, turn things upside down, nauyy,
and bring on another war, rather tkan sub
init to let the negroes Ytci and hold Of
/ fee. But is it not .fhe part of wistlbm and
: patriotism to accept the situation" hnd try
snrolmalSe the most of % bad bargainJ rather
than make bad worseN cannot, as,6thers
seem to be, able to do, dkclude from MY mind
b the fact thatthe South httemptedA revolu-
4tion and was su6jugateA and our condition
{, is one of the bitter fruits of rebellion 'Let
US have, peace" This is,thsI point on which
myopini@n rests. aSlia ~ 'sosl q
fle The Nekv York CopFention declares our
State gov4rnment q mere creation of usurpa-
ton: and Of course,not entitled to the allegi-
ance of the people; and it proclaims the re-
construction acts of Congress ''unconstitu-
tional, Revolutionary and uoid, "--omitting
the word NIL, lest it might call up unpleas
ant recol Elections of the days of nullifcation,
when Me strong will ofJackson prevented
war; "a SCI .aasEr 5ur vt al1ir ~ % 70
II the reconstruction acts are void, 50 are
the reconstruction measures of President
johnson, and the negroes are still slaves.
This leads to war. But it is said " slavery
and secession are dead issues. Why, or
! how r Admit, however. that the only object
isto deprive the freedmen of political rights.
| How can that he effected2 Some say g it is
to he done by the ballot and not by the bay
= onet." How2 That's the question. The
freedmen are now IN possession of the right
to vote; of course, if they vote, the Consti-
tuition cannot be amended, so the only mode
is to carry out practically the doctrine that
the reconstruction acts are void, and our Com
stitution is of no effect. This is nullifcation,
and disguise it as they may, it must result
in war. History furnishes no instances of
four millions of people, backed as they are,
i'll our State, by a clear majority of 10000
votes. being deprived of political rights
which they have enjoyed for years, 1t can
not he done without civil war. 1t is
against the order of nature. FL uli5 g
ja7 My countrymen ! it is time to pause, and
refuse longer to follow the lead of violent
politicians. We should discard prejudice
and passion, and act OH our own Judgment,
as to what should be done under the circum-
stances by which we find ourselves surroun-
| ded. .Brlifi a33j sniu- b117l,
The most violent members of any party,
provided they can get members enough at
/ the start to make a respectable showing,
always carry their point, for reason is put
aside, vituperation and abuse are hurled at
all who hesitate, "he::is not friend OF the
South, he is traitor to his race and color,
&c, &C." The women and children, (crea-
lures of feeling,) join in the clamor. and SO
Il s9es You and T EsSbe opposed IT, as
We were hurried into it After the ordi-
nance, like true men, we adhered to our
State, and rendered faithful allegiance to the
| Confetleracy up to the surrender What did
we gain by it2 I should rather ask, who
can estimate what we lost by it2 ss
will specify instances where bad was
made worse by violent politicians ss as :
1st We labored under supposed incon-
venience in not being allowed to carry slaves
into the Territories, and owing to the preju-
dices against slavery, fugitive slave could
not be reclaimed under the act of Congress,
without more cost than his value p To rene
dy this the South seeded. We lost all our
slaves H. 1.s- a0 essi sti fiivffh4i
I'd. At the Fortress Monroe conference it
was in our power to be restored to all the
rights of a State provided we would submit
to gradual emancipation, that is every ne
gro, born after day to be fixed, should be
free at the age of 81. r But the cry was, lin
dependence or nothing, flight it out" when
twas known we could not open, the spring
! campaign, without reinforcement of 3OO,
600 negro soldiers; which was impossible,
or if possible, fatal to our cause The result
was-a surrender without terms, followed
by instant emancipation with four millions
offreedmen in our midst !! So bad was
again made worse. -
I 3rd. What was to be done with the freed
men The idea OF four millions of people,
j not staues, existing in our midst without
some political right, was out of the question.
Such condition of things never has, with
in the memory OF man, and never will ex-
lst. 1t is against the eternal laws of nature
4 At that time we had it in our power to put
all things right, by submitting to qualified
negro suffrage. That is, let every freedman
who could read and write, or owned, say
| 800 worth ct property, have the right to
vote. Not much harm would have come OF
this, for the negro vote would have been
scattered and neutralized. But NOT! f"This
is a white mans government" Prejudice
4 excluded reason How did il result9 The
State is reduced to military district with
/ provisional government, subject to the or
( der of the General commanding" The
freedmen are entitled to full suffrage. and
the right to hold office. These terms i'm
posed by the general government have beer
submitted to, and acted upon. A clear ma
jority of 10000 votes has fixed the matter
/ So bad was again made worse ihsa}
Let me ask, why did Gen. Lee surrender
because he could not help it {! for the sam,
reason, we. must submit to the political, no
the social (for that is thing under our ow,
controD equality of the freedmen. This
"the situation"-tfc question is, shall we 90
on, and again make bad worse, or shall We
try to make the best of it?
| Who%, H..