The weekly North-Carolina standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 186?-1869, 1868-09-09
For the Standard,
Mn Ep1roR NV attention has lust been d

Mr. EDITOR My attention has just been di-
rected to an i'll tempered and libelous colnmuni
cation in the Raleigh Sentinel of the 29th ult.,
over the signature of "Dollars." The author
sees fit twice to mention the name of Mr. Harris,
the worthy gentleman Of present charged with
the Immediate care of the University property
at Chapel Hill, anu 10 assail the private charac-
ter of the gentlemen who have composed the
former and present guard. When men allow
their political enthusiasm or partisan bitterness
to bctray them into an exhibition oil gross MUS
ticc and injury to Others, they cannot complain
at q ventilation of themselves and their friends
who back them. The dnimts OF the communities.
ton referred to Is 90 apparent, and must be 80
disgusting to every good man, that It might nave
boen passed by without notice, but for the fact
that silence in such cases is sometimes mistaken
for license to repeat the outrage. ,r3tst
Mr. Harris is q Western man and brother to the
able Superintendent of Public Works. He is
gentlcmanly, quiet, unassuning, and attentive to
his business. Although comparative stranger
at Chapel Hill, yet he is believed already to have
won tic esteem ana friendship Of many OF its
citizens. He has been properly placed in charge
of the University property at Chapel Hill.
l-.ti Costly insurance!" Who created the neces-
sity for such insurance? The Conservative press
publicly advised seizure OF the public property
in the college buildings What course could be
pursued but to station guard to protect it from
threatened theft or robb ry? Dollars and
his friends might be expected to complain of an
honest guard.
Without shadow OF proof, the Federal troops
who composed the first guard are accused Of hay-
ing plundered the college buildings. Thewriter
of this has no acquaintance with any one OF the
soldiers referred to, but he freely ventures this
Z challenge, that if 'DOllars "will doll his nom
de plume, and come boldly out, the eleven Fede.
raj soldiers will allow him to select any one of
their number with whom to compare character.
Should it become necessary at any future day 10
institute proceedings for the recovery OF prop
crty illegally taken IRON the Society libraries, the
public may not be surprised TO learn that more
is detected in the hands of "Dolars" and his
friends than in those OF the guard whose honesty
he prcsumes to question. r-..
The present guard is composed OF citizens of
Orange county. Some of them arc understood
10 be young men whose regulations are yet to be
made and others of them are men with families.
The allegation that they are not such men as a
gentleman would select to watch over his private
property, does them gross injustice. They
pre-, for the most part, poor, laboring men,
in the middle walks of society. This, coupled
with the fact that they are Republicans, may have
been deemed sufficient cause for an assault upon
their private character The rule by which
"Dollars " and his friends judge of character,
may he similar to that by which they decide upon
loyalty Ifhonesty really consists in extravaganza,
while just debts remain unpaid, then it may be
that Dollars" and his friends have the advan-
tage If it consists in ones dressing his family in
COSTLY SllkS, SCitlii, uio uauSutci di ulc PNiHo
and his wife in well furnished parlor, while the
wife and daughters of the creditor by whose long
indulgence he snbSiSts, are toiling at the loom,
the wheel and the tub, then may the charge
against the present college guard be very just
Ii fl abuse the confidence of friends by borrow
ing without the effort Or purpose to return, is
essential to the character of those whom gentle
men would chose to guard their private property,
then may the charge of "Dollars F." not be con-
sidered libel. What one of the present college
guard is known to have denounced the Republi-
can candidates by name III the last ompaign, but
when the new government was inaugurated, to
have been among the first to call and "bend the
suppliant knee, that thrift might follow fawn-
ing?'' Has any one of them ever reeled under
the influence of ardent spirits, in the sight of the
young whose moral and intellectual culture had
been entrusted to him? Or has any one of them,
in consequence of bad habits, called down upon
himself the just admonitions and eXpostulations
of the Bishop of his Diocese?
It is source OF regret to the writer that he is
driven to this defence of the character of the
present College guard. But an assault upon
private character from partisan feeling or politi
cal prejudice, should be rebuked. Dollars
may see proper tn press this subject further, and
the Sentinel to publish the scandal for party pur-
poses, but if necessary, name shall be placed
against name, and character contrasted with
character, until it shall appear that, with regard
to personal honesty, the University has not suf
fered so much from its change of custodians.
In order to drive men to act upon the mild prin-
ciples of christianity, it is sometimes necessary
this discussion, tan eye for an eye, and tooth
for tooth"
VINLIcAToR
Sep 3d. 1868