The weekly standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1869-18??, 1869-12-08
The Issue.

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AdYioes from the money, centres of thu
nation, like the song Of Cassandra, hav'
but one burden to their chorus, and that il
that the credit Of North Carolina, which. hal
been the shield and buckler of former adj
ministrations of her affairs, has been riddleG
by the poisonous darts of the repudiators
Surely there is no son of the Old NORTH
State in the grand metropolis of New YORK
to-day, whose cheek has not been mantled
with the burning blush of indignation. AND
we who remain at home, far as it seems to BIZ
from the din and turmoil Of Gold street, will
yet be taught the story of their shame, and
learn how hard it has ever been and will BIZ
hereafter for us to remove the stains that
have been cast upon that escutcheon, which
it was the pride of our forefathers to keep
brilliant and glowing as the sheen of the
sun. We say that the head of every man in
North Carolina will yet be bowed in humil'
lation, because of the misdeeds of her I'M
natural offspring, who like the hounds that
haunt the womb of Sin, creep in and gnaw
the vitals of their mother.
1t was a sad day when Mr.. Seymour's res
olution went down in the House of Repre-
sentatives, falling softly as it were without
knell or a sigh save from the lips of the
man, who pronounced it Illuminating de-
feat; but though it fell so softly there and
no one heard the crash afar of, yet there was
spot and a place, where the king-merchants
of the world daily convene, in whose pre-
cincts the crumbling fabric of our credit
crushed down that day into heap of dis
honored rubbish. There it now lies, the
reproach of every passer-by and the theme of
every heartless scoffer. ..
Is it too much to ask son of the North
State to say that her honor shall be main
tanned? Is it too much to demand of a
Legislature that authorized the issue of mil
lions of bonds, that it should reaffirm its
plighted faith against the assaults of every
enemy? If it be indeed too much to ask
these things, then the supreme hour in our
history has arrived, when Dogberry should
be gratifed in his desire to be written down
an ass, and the ass turned out, empty and
unladen, "to shake his ears and Craze in
the common"
We can permit no compromise in this
matter. Either the bonds are constitution
al and valid, or they are worthless as the
paper which has been consumed in their
publication. We stand for the bonds, for
honor, faith and North Cardinal Upon
this rock we build our fortress, nor shall
the powers of dishonesty prevail against us.
Frauds have been alleged in their sale,
but not scintilla proof has been advanc-
ed to sustain the allegations. And the men,
who now proclaim these frauds, were the
avowed enemies of the issue of the bonds,
they gave notice that they would pursue
and drive them from the market; and, as
events have proven, they have kept their
faith in this league of darkness with the
same zeal that has ever characterized them
in the prosecution of nefarious designs, even
to the point of utterly destroying the fame
of the State for honesty and integrity. Well
may we exclaim, "these considerations for
the public woe, should give us pause r'-
Pause, to survey for moment the handi-
work ofthe architects OF ruin pause, but for
a moment to gather strength to turn and
Gust the foe
The weapon that was wrested from the
hands of Mr.. Seymour by majority of the
House, led by Mr.. Durham, is useful to US
no longer. What can it benefit to declare
our intention to pay now, after we have cast
a doubt upon that intention? We have
only the recourse left to pay. Pay or repu-
date is the issue. And to this condition
we are brought at last, notwithstanding our
delay hitherto to face the question, by the
unalterable laws of justice and probity be-
tween man and man, nation and nation, to
test US to see if in the son the honesty of
the sire remains, and that he wears not un-
worthily the mantle of his forefathers.
We have probed the matter to the bot
tom. Legislators, it is pay or not pay, that
is the question. Under which standard
shall the majority of you be found marshall
edo Can the willy enemy deceive you any
longer? Can his allegations of invisible
fraud continue to divert your attention from
the grand issue of the hour, while he stabs
the credit of that State which you love with
unutterable affection, and for whose restora-
ton to the Union you labored with zeal
worthy of your revolutionary ancestors?
North Carolinians, will you pay? Aye,
though it cost you dearly, you will pay;
and while you do, there will be but one
bitter pang in the performance of your duty,
and that will be that your burdens have
been doubled and your name furnished by
regulators.