Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1869-12-03
The LegisIsture-Iss Term OF ci'ioe-A
Convention Of the People.


Convention OF the People.
If ANYTHING definite has been determined
mon by the Radical party in reference t.
the term of Office of the Legislature 1t ha
not vet officially transpired. It has. indeed
been said that at a private caucus OF tne
Radical members of the General Assembly
it was decided to hold over until lo'Z' Ii
is said. also. that the opinions OF the gen
tlemen who constitute the Supreme Court
have been ascertained, and that majority
of the Court are of opinion that the Con
sitution intended the members now IN
Office to continue in Office until 1872. we
cannot, of course, vouoh for the accuracy
of either of these statements, not having
been at the caucus and not having I" seen y
any member of the Court. 1t ls true that
Senator Sweet, who introduced the reso-
luton referring the question to the Su-
preme Court is a Republican, but 1t is
true. also. that he declared he would re-
sign his seat in case it was determined to
hold over, as he would not consent to be
a party to such a wanton usurpation of
power Straws are said to show which
way the wind blows, and upon this point
it is possible few extracts from the
Standard, of the Oath, may throw some
Light. We quote from an article entitled
"Party Discipline
s'Iet each man scan the record Of
our representatives, read the debates in the
LEGISLATURE and deny if he can that while the
opposition are united the Republicans are d.
vided and that apparently the party is discovered.
We sound the alarm. It is no hour for soft
words or sweet phrases And 1t Is no time to
daily with men who have forgotten their pledges
TO the people and to the party.
eff any man is disposed to ignore the existence
of the Republican party, who owes his advance
ment to that organization. let him but raise his
hand against it, and he shall fall to rise no more.
Down with the disorganizer! Down with the
croaker! Down with all sore-heads and WhltHers
''We learn that many members of the party are
disposed to ignore the decision Of caucuses, or,
in other words, to break through all rules OF
party government. Gentlemen, we tell you to
beware.
"But we will not. on this or any other occasion.
deal with this question with scented fingers en-
cased in kid gloves"
Whether this be the question upon
which Radicals are disposed to ignore the |
decision of the caucus we cannot say. We
feel sure, however, that it must have been
a very fragrant party offence to have called
forth so unsparing use of the party lash |
at the hands OF the 60 official organ" #
Senator Sweet be indeed the unfortunate |
individual threatened with such dire pun
ishment, he is the more 10 be pitied, for
the reason that he has once before, If we
are not mistaken fallen under the ban Of
his party. We trust, however, thai he will
do his duty regardless of every considera-
ton save the honor and welfare of North /
Carolina.
Certain Senators have announced their
intention to resign and go before their
constituents for reelection in case an at /
tempt is made to hold over With ali due
Difference to these gentemen, we 10 not
see how this course will help matters If
they return to the same body they left
AS soon as they return to their seats and
shall have taken anew the oaths of office
there will be precisely the same obligation
upon them to resign q second and an in
finite number of times as there was to re-
sign the first time. In other words, by their
resignation and reelection they canno
convert into a legal legislature body of
men that constitute no legislature at all, |
and that, by its very assembling as a legis- |
lature, becomes guilty of orc Of the highest
crimes known to the law OF the land. If the |
individuals who now constitute the General |
Assembly of North Carolina should meet |
1870, and by virtue of their election in
April 1868, claim and exercise the rights
of members of the Leg stature, they will
be either legal Legislators or they will be
criminals liable 90 Indictment and prose-
cution. II they be criminals acting in vio-
lation of the law, no man elected at spc-
ciaI election after August 1870, and who,
on that account, may claim to have been
elected to lawful Legislature, can sit and
act with them without becoming party
to the criminal proceedings
We cannot see how q resignation from,
and reelection and return to, this same
Legislature, if it be IN Illegal assembly, can
accompli sd any good purpose.
AS we have said before, We are Of Opin
ion that it properly belongs to the Courts
tO uSLGIu1uS lNlS tia6SllOl' VIC IL uoH tLC f
Courts Will consider it without reference
to party interest or caucus dictation. In
any event, we think there is as much hope
of fair and unbiased decision from the Su-
preme Court as from the Legislature. The .
Court will eventually have to decide the .
matter, for it is not to be expected that .
the plain letter of the Constitution can be
disregarded without an appeal to the tri-
bunal established to afford relief in just
such cases. No case can come before the
Court, however, until after the first Thurs
day in August 1870.
We are not sure, IS we have before
intimated, whether the Court will re-
spond TO tho resolution of Senator Sweet
by any expression of opinion. There is
one precedent for complying with
the request made in the resolution
and one against such a course. The adj
verso precedent was made recently when