New-York tribune., 1871-07-13
THROUGH THE SOUTH.
NORTH CAROLINA POLITICS.

State the question at issue being whether or not Con
vention shall be held to amend the State Constitution.
The election IA TO be the first Thursday In August and
delegates to the Convention TO be voted for at the
same time; that II there is majority In favor OF
holding the Convention IL assemble and begin It's
abors September The subject resolves itself into two
questionsrs Ia IL desirable to abandon the new Con
stitution adopted only three years ago. and frame
another amend the Constitution in 80 many ways
make necessary TO have Convention for the pur-
pose and second leaving aside the question of the de-
STABILITY of changing the Constitution Is the act OF the
Legislature submitting the subject OF Convention to
the people constitutional Both OF these questions
be said to be pretty strict party issues the Democrats
maintaining that the Convention is both desirable and
lawful and the Republicans that 1t Ia neither. A few
Democrats doubt the constitutionalty of Convention
called in the proposed but their number In
considerable.
In endeavorng a Convention, the Democrats
have three chief objects in vew In the first place. they
want 10 displace all the Republican ofcehoders, many
Of whom the judges In particular, have still term OF
from two to years to and therefore beyond
their reach Now that the Democrats in power in
the Legislature they covet all the Offices and are mpa
ent to seize upon them at In the second place.
they want to repudiae all the debt that has been con
racted tho state reconstructed or compromise
with the creditors by offering them the present market
price of the bonds which is about rs cents on the dollar
which commands the Legislature to appropriate annu-
ally sufficient sum pay the interest upon the whole
debt and to create sinking fund for its final re-
demptiOn. Az the members of the Legislature are
sworn to support the Constitution, they can
not refuse to make the appropriation without violating
their oaths. The Legislature Of last Winter, being com
posed of possessed of unusually tough conscences
paid no attention the Constitution, and made no APP
propriaton for interest either the old or the new
debit but it is feared that future legislatures may be
scrupulous The third object the Democratic wish
TO accomplish to return what they call the old
order of things that is they want to go back to that
system Of county and local government and OF admin
isering justice which existed before tho war; system
toeraby well adapted for state OF society which rested
upon Slavery its stone, but poorly fitted for the
needs Of free community. North Carolina had loosely
organized before the war; that rested upon
the popular will only at few points The people elected
the Governor the Legislature but the State officers
the Judges and the Justices Of the Peace,
chosen by the Legislature. The affairs OF
each county were administered by board OF magis-
trates, appointed for life by the Legislature, who
chose one their number act County Judge These
magistrates elected all the county officers except the
Sheriff and the clerks Of the County and Superior Court
The magistrates almost invariably planters, who
regulated county affairs in the interest Of the wealthy
sayehoding class The counties were not divided into
townships that feature of government by which local
aHdfs are regulated Dy tnc cltzchs themselves DehB
unknown in most of the Southern States There
was a division for military purposes made by the field
officers Of the militia regiments, who divided the county
into what were called Captains Companies; that Is.
into districts, In each OF which there resided
a sufficient number of liable to do
militia duty to form company. These Captains Com
panes chose constable execute the processes Of the
magistrates but exercised other functions Of civil
Government There was no common school system and
only an inadequate and inefficient system of keeping the
public roads in repair. Indeed, there were few public
roads of any kind the highways connecting the towns
being for the most part built and owned by chartered
companies which charged absurdly high tolls. This
practice is st kept up to great extent, and the rav
eler passing poor dirt road badly out OF repair
is often stopped gate and demand Is made Tor Toll
TO the amount of from cents TO 81 paid 81 the other
day for driving four miles over common clay road
through the woods although the road had never been
macadamzcd. planked, grayeed or graded
Under this old regime in North Carolina the barbarous
punishments for crime vogue in England at the time
OF the colonization Of this country still retained
The stocks, pillory, and whippngpost stood in the
shadow OF every courthouse, and the cao-nne tails
and the brandngrons were part OF the essential ma
chinery Justice Branding, whipping, and suDectOn
TO the plory pracced up TO the end OF the war
The Sheriff Of this county told the other day that he
had branded a number OF men since he first held the
Office and he described the process The right hand OF
the cuprt fastened to table, with the knuckles
downward and the red-hot iron pressed into the
palm, and held there until the victim thrice
repeated "God save the State" The smell Of the
burning flesh would, the Sheriff said FIJI the whole
court roon and the most slckenng and disagreea
BILE odor he ever smeed This the " old order Of
things" TO which the Conservatives, the Democrats
here style themselves wish TO return and there be
no doubt that great number of them honestly believe
that that the best system Of government in the
world and they do oppose the Constitution only
modelled afe the Constitutions OF the Northern States
but because they firmly OF the opinion that it is in
feror to the they lived under in the good old times
before the There is people more conservative
than these North Carolina They insist upon
going TO mill as their grandfathers did
even though shorter and better road
may have been opened since the days of their respected
ancestors They cling tenaciousy 10 old customs and
old laws. hear intelligent gravely argue favor
of the restoration of the whipping and branding as
punishments for larceny and manslaughter apparently
ignorant Of the fact that such punshments have been
long since abandoned in enlightened communities, as
relics of barbarous ages. So it is with their former
system Of local government which antiquated and
antrepublican, borrowed from England at the time of
the first colonization OF North Carolina.
The fact that the present Constitution ia new, is sum
cent in their eyes condemn IT, Possibly course OF
many years, they might II left to themselves have
the defects of their organic laws, and have adopted
instrument nearly identical with the one they now
deest; but 1t is too much to expect that they will re-
ceive with favor Constitution with radical fea-
lures, made by their former slaves The only friends
the present Constitution has the negroes and the
poor whites. who attached to it because OF the
Homestead exemption clause which their small
properties against seizure for debt These classes
make up the rank and file Of the Re
publican party in North Carolina, and it may
therefore be said that the Republican party is
unanimously opposed to the proposed Convention.
AS much the old slaveholdng and Rebel class diskes
the Yankee Constitution" probably attempt would
have been made 10 change 1t in the revolutionary way
proposed had II not been for the exertons Of few