Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1871-07-21

than they have been IN the habit OF plant
ing.
The Necessity for a OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES
Jarvis.
We continue this morning our extracts
from the speech Of Speaker JARVIS upon
the necessity for q Convention. The point
discussed is the reorganization of the
judiciary Of North Carolina. The incom-
potency, craftsmanship and corruption of
our Judges are the fruitful sources Of most
of the disorders which have prevailed in
this State. If there existed no other
reason the absolute necessity for a change
of Judicial officers would alone justify the
call of Convention. Mr.. JARVIS thus re-
fers to this division of his subject:
VI. The sixth and last necessity for
Convention that I propose to notice is the
necessity of reorganizing the present jul
dietary Of North Carolina. / do not mean
to say that all the Judges of the State
ought to be displaced. / only mean to lay
down this broad principle that when you
find q competent, faithful officer he ought
to be retained, and when you find a worth
less one he ought to be displaced without
any regard to his politics. This is the
principle by which / shall be guided.
Neither do l mean to say that all of the
Judges are either corrupt, dishonest or in.
competent, but will say thatthe disgrace
full conduct IF some, the dishonesty of
others and the incOmpetency of many have
well nigh brought Che whole Judiciary OF
the State into contempt. L do not hest
tate to say furthermore that this dragging
down of the Judiciary has been one of the
fruitful causes of the disorder that has ex
listed in certain localities. And why do I
say SO ? argue upon general principles
of human nature. If one would be q wise
legislator and promote the best interest of
his people he must respect the prejudice
of that people. If that prejudice be wrong
tits better to educate in the right direction
than to ride rough-shod over them. These
are truiems and cannot be disputed.
Now the people of North Carolina have
had from their earliest history certain
prejudice which of late has been ignored,
end disorder, in some sections, has been
the result. Tue prejudice OF the people
IL. they have always demanded that their
officers should be honest, faithful and
mpetent. Especially did they demand
thai their judges should be men learned
in the law, but men of pure and irreproach-
able character. Why sir, we'll remember of
hearing our people, IN my boyhood, speak
of the men who were to sit IN Judgment
upon their lives, their liberties and their
that with which they speak of Him who is
to sit in Judgment upon their eternal des
tiny. I can scarcely reckon the esteem in
which our people held their judges, till
that esteem was forfeited by the bad con-
duct of some of the judgers themselves.
Now place over such people as ours,
thoroughly imbued with these prejudices,
judges who are known to be either incom-
petent, or men of bad character, and what
80 ho Lot hnI
guilty of the least appearance of Judicial
corruption, and see how our people de-
test him. Let him wear the judicial
ermine to-day and rant upon the politi-
cal hustings tomorrow, and how they
loath him.
While he thus harangues the people up
on whose interest he is to set in judgment
the next hour let him be told in their pres
ence by Ii member of his own PARTY, that
'instead of going through the farce of
melting ont justice to these people, he
himself ought to be in the penit sntiary,
and then tell me in what esteem will such
a people hold such judge. Will human
nature itself permit them to have anything
but a contempt for him
AS soon as people have q contempt for
an officer and an aversion to the man, they
cannot resist feeling of rebellion and
aversion to the law he executes. The
people have no confidence in his integrity
and therefore ne confidence in the business
of his decisions. When the confidence of
the people in the integrity OF q pub:ic
officer is destroyed his usefulness is de-
strOyed, and he ought to resign, and for
this reason it is the duty of every citizen
to uphold their public officers and defend
their character when assailed, as long as
proper regard for truth will permit them !
to do so. But when his conduct becomes |
indefensibIe the people will abandon him. |
If he then persists in forcing obedience to |
the law, which he himself has outraged, !
trouble is inevitable, unless prevented by |
the greatest forbearance of the people,
Ii this state Of affairs is long continued, |
the people, disguised with their bad Of
icials and in contempt of law, will not be |
long in taking the law into their own /
hands to punish crime, to avenge wrongs, |
to protect the weak and uphold the right, |
forgetting or not caring that in So doing |
they themselves become criminals When
this occurs, you have a state of lawless-
ness, just such as we have had in some of
the counties OF this State Like causes
produce like results. Justice withheld and
laws perverted have produced troubles in
other countries. It has done it in ours
While We regret 1t, we need not wonder at
it, 1t is one of the natural results flowing
out of the degradation of The judiciary,
the corruption of the times, and injustice
of our rulers.
While have thus assigned, as think,
q rational cause for much of the disorder
that has existed in some sections OF the
State, and which is now being detailed in
the other end of the capitol, 1 do not
mean to be understood as in any manner
endorsing the means that have been resort
ed to by those who have undertaken to
correct evil-doers. One bad habit leads
to another. So these disguised, self-con-
stituted ministers of justice have become
perpetrators of wrong and for these wrongs
they must some day atone. Every man in
this land of ours accused of crime has the
right to be faced by his accuser in open
court, informed of the nature of his offence
and tried by jury of his country. The
man who undertakes to deny him this
right is an enemy to good governmental
If the courts fail in their duty it does not
furnish q sufficient cause for setting NJ
another tribunal not known to the law.-l