Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1870-11-04

l
It seems conceded on all hands that th
role to be played by our first truly repre-
sentative Southern man upon the floor O
the United States Senate will be 10 unln-
portant one, though possibly it may be
matter of doubt whether we arc all 81
unanimously agreed rs to what that role il
or how it is to be played. 1t is easy tt
say our Senator must maintain and defend
tho rights and honor Of North Carolina
but in our judgment this is time Wher
to maintain the rights and defend the hon
or Of the State is very difficult thing tc
do. It is said that the United States Sex
ate is a grand aseemblage, the most lear ne q
and digrifed deliberative body in the
world and certain, douStltss well mean
! ing, persons fancy that the halo Of the
! brightnt IS Of CLAY, WEBSTER and CALHOUN
still hCyers over its Chamber; that the
scent Of the roses still hangs around the
vase. This fancy may be very pleasing
in poeey, but to us, the simple fact that
Hiram Revels is the successor of Senator
DAVIS and that John Pool is the successor
of Senator BADGER, destroys all romantic
association Of ideas in connection with the
Senate of the United States and we think
OF it without veneratiop, without respect,
and without love.
But while this is true of ourselves, it is
none the less true that this body is looked
upon by the people OF the North with just
respect, as the highest deliberative assem-
g
fore, to mako our voice heard in its cOun-
ellis. 1t is the focus to which all eyes in
the nation are drawn, the point from which,
the slightest whisper can be heard to the
remotest part of the country, and for this
very reason is it incumbent upon us as
sensible people, to send as our representa-
tive, o man who knows what to say, how to
say it, and when to say it. Some people
are of opinion that we ought to send man
of great attainments, of great scholarly
learning; others think that great legal
learning is the one thing needful ; others
still think that great prudence, circum-
spection and cautiousness, not to say ia
cility in timing timidity, are the main
requisites. From all Of these views we dis
sent. It is our deliberate opinion that pure,
bold pluck, not to be daunted by a sheer,
or frown, or laugh, is the quality We most
need in our United States Senator. In
sending their representative to the United
States Senate, the people of North Carroll
M seek neither to honor their representa-
tive nor the Senate they desire simply to
send their agent to that as the best point
at which to transact their business. That
Northerl people the truth, and the whole
truth, in regard to the South. 1t must be
remembered that the people Of the North
have been educated, the mass of them, hon
cstly to believe every Southern man to be
II traitor, and his every breath treason
Now, when they see that, daily, Southern
man can get up and declare, with perfect
impunity, in the very body that IS 10y !
atty personifed, the doctrines and views
they Lave been taught to believe so totally /,
and criminally st variance with the laws
and constitution of their country when, |
we say, they see this thing done day after
day, and that no man dare for these
hitherto supposed impious utterances
nolcat or make him afraid, they will begin |
TO doubt whether it is 50 perfectly certain
that this bold Southern man is indeed |
talking treason. Let no opportunity be
allowed to pass without these bold, re
iterated, persistent utterances, and the
Northern mind will fast become familiar
lied with the fact that Southern men and |
Southern States have rights that Northern |
men and Northern States are bound to |
To play this part requires good !
sound sense and cool courage rather than
legal or scholarly learning or a facility in !
The art of political trimming. If our new |
Senator should give too much thought to
he fear Of another Senator's expected in
,rusion upon his diction, to another's sheer
1t his manner, or to another's laugh at his
enthusiasm or his honesty if, in short, he
is to accept the Northern idea as the true
standard of right and merit in law, morals
Or manners, rather than that which, as q true
Southern man, he carries in his own bosom,
he will unquestionably fail in the business
we send him there to transact. There will |
OC u TOW tbuO al AuDUuO ut AIoU1
but it will soon subside and the victory
will be ours. We have had notable in
stance of this kind of tactics in the contest
between the Conservative and Radical !
parties in this State in the late Convention.
With not even members enough to enter
a protest upon the journals, to sustain a
call for the ayes and noes, nor, by defeat
ing the previous question, to prolong dis
cussion, and at a time when to speak |
boldly was generally thought to endanger
both life and property, a gallant few, by
their constant, bold, reiterated assertion
of our rights, in defiance of every menace
and threat, outgeneraled and overcame
the lately dominant party in spite of all
odds. The position that our new Senator
will occupy at Washington will not be
unlike that occupied by Messrs. DURHAM,
GRAHAM, JARVIS and ROBBINS in North