The weekly standard., 1869-09-08

"A fPrf oapSent Of the New York ne,o,
has hdI s fntesiiew with Gov. Ho,s
a1ee Hfipblles tJk conversation which ta'
!pl4se From account we take the to
Your correspondent introduced the COM.
tion by remarking-I notice, Governor va 80
you have been particularly honored bv H. "@
position paper since my arrival here, wbich Op
resents that you, were one of the most n,' p
nent ihstigators 1t tie kbeiIionihtlh st.,n St. p'0Ai
supported the doctrine of secession, and ~ %
u.ealE ssAaagsA ysasrspiAisnrwhsn
lion became failure. 1 should like to bo W.
to present. your lacseuhtv fthsmassosSS's
sdeystnor AFhes Information you ask i sss
I shall have pleasure in communicating, Ia
and IN the present temper Of portion f,l' of
Southern people ain continually the suhjr., Is
misrepres e11tatiop, by those, who have no, ".
fieaInsd tic hceesshy 6f yielding to circunsty iys
which they cannot control. . Tie asserton"
Lwas an active advocatsoft the doctrine d
right of secession isfehtitely unfounded,
native of this State always took warm i,
est in everything relating to State affairs q
position in national politics prior to the =
was Chat of an old fashioned jackson DEM
That was party that always adhered 10 :"
principles Of national unity, while it strupuor.,
labored to define qapd maintain the rights off,,
cal government in the States, as guaranterdS "
the constitution. When secession became y
minent, in the early part Of 1861. took stro-,
grounds against it. North. Carolina, as Won :
awaic, Rasdhe last of the sbutherli stdtss -"
seeded, 1t was only after all the others ' taS
passed ordinances of secession that ana =
|pfriends yielded to the movement, which nn,w ,l
ia whirlwind swept everything before Il Ta' Tl
secession party was not composed exclusivelra. Ivy
Democrats, Men Of all shades of national nou
tics Joined in it, when resistance womb h.:
been certain destruction. When it beeama.oo'
tain that the ordinance; of secession woSId y.
the Union men had no alternative left but,d sr
into the CURRENT a,Irl .r'i"n ,l'l i'aaH '1'
Correspondent our, case, then, was sn,,..
to that of A. H.. Stephens and other prominaa.
public men in the South, who, after oDnoa;" a,u'
secession to their utmost, feltit to be tfa. r' s
when pppotition besatno sunadaifng, 10 20 ray u;,
| their States? VAN
GoYerner-TT pr Exactly SO, and felt it to be nv
duty when the issue of 4 the war was decided
against us to lose no time in accepting thearh.
trament of the sword and submit to the ceut,1
government, y Ny honest convictions wenI
ways opposed to the doctrines of secession. s
il there was an apparent sacrifice of principleh
was the result Of the peculiar and prevailing
doctrines of State rights forced on men with
bayonets presented to their breasts. ID --s,
Correspondent-How did you get over tbo
f'iroI-cfad" oath? ~ .'-.'. .''''l
: Goyernor-My position on the question was
SO well understood by the Commanding Genera,
(Canby) and the authorities at Washington that
Twas not requir ed to takeit. ~ 'a.aa ri
Correspondent should like to know what
course you pursued during the war. 49,. n.
GoYernor-As before remarked, when tho
torrent of secession swept everything before it
yielded to it, and joined in measures for its sup
port, but never believed or desired its success.
AS proof of this, in 1862 earnestly urged Gov.
Vance to meet Gov. Stanley at Kinston and treat
for peace. determined to seize the first ocea.
sion to obtain peace on the basis of a restored
Union. Accordingly in 1868, after Grant had
captured Vicksburg, took open grounds in the
STANDARD newspaper for negotiations. In two
months eighty peace meetings were held in the
State. But in September Of that year my print
ing office was sacked by Confederate troops
from Richmond, and the peace movement was re
pressed by the military. was in.great persona
danger from this period till General Sherman
reached Raleigh, being, constantly, denounc
ed as q Lincolnite and q, traitor to the
Contederacy. Being an unconditional Uniou
man, I gladly. hailed the incoming of tllc
Union troops, endeavored as Provisional
Governor to carry out the so-called plan of Pres
ident johnson on q legal basis. Failing in tlri
I took ground for the Howard amendment as
soon as it was adopted. That failing to restC!.
the Union, advocated the reconstruction acts
and took open ground for them two months be.
fore they were passed. In 1865 was defeated
for Governor by the disloyal element, and in 1855
was elected for four years blythe loyal vote Of
the State BY a majority Of 20, 900. ..., ....,,;
1 Correspondent-Wh effect, if any, have thu
late elections in Virginia had on the public sen
timent Of this State? ,.,,,.'..,,, ,,di Ia -.r
/ Governor-7No particular effect, for, the reasol
that the people of Virginia, by their recent vote
have simply placed themselves where the Re
publicans of North Carolina have been from the
first--that il, forallowing every male citizen TO
vote. This is what 1 understand by universal
suffrage and general amnesty. I am glad that
Virginia has SO decided, but regret the instru-
mentalities employed. Governor Wells and his
party would be the best guardians of this and
other great Republican principles, Governor
Walker, no doubt, means well, and received the
support of conside derable number of good citi-
hens !; but he is under obligations to many who
do not love the government and whowill not be
cheerful and Jealous Of its support 1t is fair to
judge of the Walker tree by its fruits. 1t is for
Congress to decide whether Virginia shall DO
admitted or not with the new government just
chosen. ... ..,,-,7 .--
Correspondence should like to know some
thing about the financial condition of the State;
the relative position, as charges on the public
revenue of the various kinds of bonds issued or
authorized to be issucd, and the effect of the late
decision of the Supreme Court of the State on
such Securities ia sbnGoq ont iHG sgt3a
3 Goyernor-Th Thee Supreme Count has decided
that the debt of the State contracted before the
rebellion, is good.a This amounts to about SIS.
000, 900. It has also decided that the debt for
unfinished hi works is equally good, and that there
is no limit to taxation for these debts. The lat
ter is about SIG, ,240, ,0OO., The amount of apprO-
priations1 that fell under the decision of tho
courts is S., 100 000-that is, this debt is invalid
and falls The special tax bonds are at present
better than the old, for the reason that special
tak is levied and is being collected, and must be
applied to meet the interest on the new bonds,
whereas the State will be obliged again to fund
the interest on another half year of the bonds.
feel sure that ultimately the State will be able
itopay every dollar she owes. D o '@.s,. ..,.,,
4 Much more conversation ensued, in which His
Excellency expressed it as his opinion that the
State was, rapidly recuperating from the effects
of the war, and that with returning prosperity
the political asperities would gradually d.
minish. i5A liilH s''-''ii ''+- = .-,i...i
4 TThe Radical Democracy is, responsible ior
the enormous taxes.'n This sentence is ex.
tracted from an editorial in the STANDARD, anu
is apparently put forth in good faith, and YET
everybody knows the Democracy has been on'
of power in both State and National Govern
men fer the last nine years, SO the STANDARD
must presume largely upon the Ignorance Oh us