Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1871-02-10

criminal matter, the conviction whereo
would tend to brirg his office into public
contempt. After showing he bearing o
the law upon the conduct of the Respond
ent, Mr.. Sparrow went on TO state the ma
ture and character Of the offences prefer
red in the Articles of impeachment agains
the accused.
| And this brings rs to brief Statement
of the nature and character of tie offences
preferred in the articles of Impeachment
against the accused.
Article l charges, substantially, that tht
accused corruptIy and wickedly declared
the county of Alamauce to be III ''lnsur
rectiop," whereas there was 10 Insurrec-
ton that he took military possession o
the county by armed bands Of lawless anc
desperate men, organized without lawfn
authority and that he made unlawful ar
rests of peaceable citizens, whom he i'm
prisoned, beat, hung by the neck, ano
otherwise maltreate1.
Article II charges thai he did the same
in the county of Caswell
Article Ill charges the unlawful arrest
and Imprisonment Of Josiah Turner, Jr.,
in the county of Orange, by the procure
ment and order Of the accused.
| Article " charges the unlawful arrest
and imprisonment OF John Kerr and
! three other citizens, III the county Of Ca
accused.
Article V charges the unilw full arrest
and Imprisonment, III the county OF Ala
| nance, by order Of the accused, Of Adol-
plus Ct. Moore, and the refusal of George
W. Kirk, acting under and by the authority
of the accused, TO Surrender the said
Moore, i'll obedience to the writ Of AttbcdS
c0TpuS, to the civil authorities.
Article VI charges the arrest Of John
ILL
of Csswell county. and their detention and
Imprisonment under tho orders OF the ac-
cused, by Il large band Of armed men, un-
lawfully organized into an army and com
handed ky George w. Kirk and others as
officers, and the refusal Of said Kirk, by
the order and command Of the accused, to
surrender tho said citizens, unlawfnlly held
by him as prisoners, to the civil Rutho1i-
ties i'll obedience to the uIt OF hU6eus corr
puS.
Article Vii, charges,
LIST. The unlawful organization Of an
army Of desperate men, commanded By
Kirk, Bergen and Yates, all desperadOes
from the State of Tennessee.
Il. Tho hanging by tho neck III Ala
nance county, of William Patton and Lu
clan Ii. Murray, and thrusting into loath-
some dungeon Josiah Turner, Jr,, and L.
A. Wiley.
Sd. Unlawful warrants made by the &C
cused upon the Ire lsurer of the State, for
large sums Of money, for the unlawful pur
pose OF sustaining and maintaining the
laWleeS bands of armed men organized as
aforesaid.
Article VIII, charges that the accused,
as Governor, made his warrants for large
81 ms of money on the public Treasurer for
the unlawful purpose Of paying the armed
mon before mentioned-caused and pro-
cured said Treasurer to deliver to one A
d. Jenkins, appointed by the accused to
be paymaster, the sum Of forty thousand
dollars that the Honorable Anderson
Mitchell, one of the Superior Court Judges,
on application to him made, issued writs
of Injunction which were served upon the
said Treasurer and Paymaster, restraining
them from paying said money to the said
troops; that thereupon the accused incit-
ed and procured the said A. d. Jenkins,
paymaster, to disobey the injunction of
the Court, and to deliver the money to
another agent of the accused, to wit one
John Is. Neathery; and thereupon the &C
cused ordered and caused the said John
B. Nearthery to disburse and pay out the
money SO delivered to him, for the illegal
purpose of paying the expenses of, and
keeping on foot the illegal military force
aforesaid.
This enumeration of crimes and INSIDE !
Mr.. Chief Justice and Senators,
which are more particularly described in !!
5he Articles of Impeachment, and which !
We propose 10 make good by proofs, EN-
braces all the offences of which a person .
IS liable to be impeached. as set forth in
5he first and sixth sub divisions of the
18th section of the impeachment act of
1869, already referred 10. 1t embraces
lcts which amount not only to misconduct
n office, but corruption in office" It
also, acts which are criminal in
aw, and will subject the offender to in
lictment before the Courts; and who will
ay that conviction thereof will not only
lot tend 10 bring, but will not actually
BRING his Office into public contempt?
In the commission of these offences the
accused has not only violated the act of
he General Assembly, before mentioned,
)ut also the fundamental law Of the land
Which he has sworn to support and main
ain.
We allege that he has violated the fol
owing sections of article LIST of the CoE6ti-
ution of this Stale, known as the Declare
ion of Rights (Read SECTORS l., y and
a of said declaration.)
Mr.. Chief Justice and Senators The
lrst and second Articles of Impeachmnt
Ieclare, that by the Constitution of the
state or North Carolina the Governor OF
aid State las power to call out the militia
hereof to execute tie dWS, suppress
lots or i1tSuTrcction and repeL inUusi0n.
1Aefaerer lie execution Of lie buC shut be
eSiStcd, or there shat e,ciSt any riot, inSur-
ecti0M or inraSiO1l, bM mol otherwise. -
md they allege that the respondent, with
ntent to incite war, subvert liberty and
aw, and to degrade the State and people,
reclaimed the counties of Alamance and ;
'aswell to be in insurrection, occupied
hem by military force, and suspended .
ivll authority, when he we'll knew that
uch proclamation was groundless and
alse, and that there was no instruction in !
aid counties.
This raises, as it seems to the board of
managers, very important question for
le consideration of this honorable body,
, wit the precise meaning and import of J
be word tnSatIriecti0n, as used in the Con
titution of the State of North Carolina
The honorable Speaker then defined the
,ord, citing various authorities,) showing {
lat no such thing as a constructive insur- '
sction can exist, in the face of expressed |
uthority, constitutional and statute, de- /
ming what is required to constitute an