Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1868-10-02
sherman exhibited the highest qualities i,

Sherman exhibited the highest qualities of
craftsmanship /; and he, III my estimation,
deserves the high credit of having seen
more clearly than any other man The wants
of the country, and the measures by which
those wants could be met Unfortunately
the scheme proposed by this great states
man for the pacifcation OF the country.
though 1t was In exact accordance with the
often expressed purpose Of the President
and Congress in their efforts To suppress
the rebellion, was not approved bv the
Administration, in consequences Of which
another plan had to be devised and carried
into effect. That plan comprised! The
measures which, as you all know, were
adopted by President johnson and his
Cabinet Tor tho re organization Of the
States lately in revolt
So far as North Carolina was concerned
William ". Holden was appointed Proyi-
sional Governor. Through his agency
Convention OF the people was called :
Amendments to the Constitution, in which
were inserted all the changes demanded
by the United States government, were
framed, and submitted to and ratified by
the people 1t was then generally sup
posed everywhere, and by all parties,
that North Carolina was once more Il
State in the Union, and, as such. i'll
vested with all the powers, rights and
privileges enjoyed by any other State
The Provisional Governor, Holden, and all
the other public men and authorities Of the
State, undoubtedly so understood it. Mr..
Holden became a candidate for election as
Governor, and had he been successful I
sbrewdly suspect that we should never
have heard of his doubling the right I'M
der which he would then have held the
Office. The Judges of the Supreme Court
certainly did not doubt the authority un-
der which they were elected, or that they
were Judges of a State, in full communion
with every other State. This can be shown
by the highest evidence, the evidence of
their own judicial decisions.
At January Term, 1867, the case Of
Hughes &c parte, was brought before the
Court upon writ of habeas corpus. Sec.
l, Phil. Rep. 81. The facts were that
Hughes had gone to the State of New York
aud had, in one of the Courts OF that
State, been indicted for the off4nse of cheat
ing, by false pretenses, and had fled to this
State. The Governor Of New York, who
was member of the Radical party, de-
manded him as fugitive from justice, of
Jonathan Worth, as Governor Of the State
of North Carolina. Under the warrant of
Governor Worth, Hughes was arrested by
the sheriff of Granville county, whereupon
he sned out the witt of h0be0S cOrptts and
had it made returnable before the Supreme
Court. One of the questions discussed by
Person, Chief Justice, in delivering the
opinion of the Court, was whether zion
athan Worth was the rightful Governor Of
a State in the Union. The Judge argued
ably and deliberately to show that Presi-
dent Johnson, alone, had full power and
authority to adopt the measures which he
= E.. IL - SkoA@ 7
that those measures had had the effect III
tended that, consequently, North Caro-
lima was once moro invested with all the
rights and powers Of one Of the States Of
the United States. But, upon the suppo
sition of some persons, that the concur
renee Of Congress was necessary to give
validity to the action Of the President, the
Chief Justice went on to say as follows =
' Whether the act of the President was
one which required the concurrence of
Congress, is question into which we need
not enter; for, taking it to be SO, Congress
has, i'll many ways, recognized and con-
frmed the action of the President in re-
gard to the reorganization of the State
government by filling it's offices. No other
need be referred to than the joint resolu-
ton by which certain amendments to the
Constitution Of the United States are pro-
posed to the Legislature of the State Of
NORTH Carolina for adoption or rejection,
thereby rec ognizing the Legislature as a. law
full body, and, of course, recognizing, III
like manner. the Convention under whose
authority the members Of the Legislature
were elected, &C., &c.
Here, then, is clearly expressed opin-
lima was, in january, 1867, a estate in
the Union. This must have been so,
otherwise the Court did an act of gross
injustice in ordering Hughes to be de-
livered up to the agent OF the Gov
ernor of New York for the purpose
Of being carried back to that State
The Constitution Of the United States, in
Art. 4, sec. 2, par. 2, provides that ga pei
son charged in any State with treason, fell
ony or other crime, who shall fec from
Justice and be found in another State,
shall, on demand of the Executive authori-
ty of the State from which he fed, be de-
llvered up, to be removed to the State hav-
ing jurisdiction Of the crime" 1t is thus
seen that the Constitution Of the United
States confines its provision for the sur
render Of fugitiyes. from justice to cases
occurring between the seueydL States, ana
neither had the Governor of New York a
right to demand nor the Governor Of North
less North Carolina had been us much
State as New York.
That North Carolina had been complete
~ reorganized as State in January, 1867,
was also settled by the case of the State as.
Bell, Phil. Rep. 76, in which the ques
ton was whether the Convention which
sat in October, 1865, had the power to tax
merchants who did business in the town
of Beaufort between the 1st day of Janua-
ry, 1865, and the close of the war in April
or May of that year. Beaufort was at that
time in possession of the Federal forces,
and the decision turned upon the question
whether the capture and occupation Of the
town was the capture and occupation by
the Federal army of foreign territory, or
merely the suppression of the rebellion in
that part of the State. The latter was held
to be the true doctrine, as is shown by the
following closing language which used in
delivering the opinion of the Court upon
that point: IS The capture of Beaufort by
the military force of the United States was
not, therefore, the conquest by foreign
enemy Of the territory Of the State of
North Carolina, but merely the suppress
sion of the rebellion in that part of the
State; and when afterwards the State was
rehabilitated, its loyal government was re-
or +C oil ifc former InoInH1nO