Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1872-03-01
Governor Caldwell.

With slight change this saying can be-
made equally appropriate 70 or own times.
or it seems now plainly written upon the
walls of RadicalIsm, that " whom the Gods Z
wish to destroy, they first make Cover
1or." Bullock, of Georgia, Reed, Of Flor
da, Butler, Of Nebraska, Scott, of South I
Yarmouth, OF Louisiana, and
Clayton, of Arkansas, who have either suf- /
ered or are now fearing political death, at /
est this in other States. Ill our own STATED
Governor Holden was a striking illustra-E
ion C: the same thing. 1t would have beepH
thought scarcely possible that man Of his
intelligence and information generally COULD
have manifested such gross ignorance oil
the plaineSt principles of constitutional law.
he, however, had not been bred to the bar,
nor had he ever been lawyer by practice, j
and he acquired his first Executive habits
as military or provisional Governor open
ly and avowedly by virtue of the power of
the sword, and in open defiance Of the law
and the Constitution. 1t might not, them
properly be a matter for so much surprise,
knowing the difficulty Of learning an old
dog new tricks, that Governor Holden
should forget that the sword had been
sheathed and that civil law was supreme. He
did forget it, however, and i'll consequence
thereof is now an exile from his native
State.
The present Governor, rising to power
and place by the very steps taken to rebuke
and punish the crimes and ignorance of his
predecessor, ought, 1t would seem, to have
taken warning by his fate.
Even if ignorance were an excuse, he
could not avail himself OF it, for since grad
uating at the UniversitE of he State, he ha:
devoted life Of no inconsiderable length tc
the study and practice of the law. Yet
strange to say, Notwithstanding this advan
tage and the almost three years that he ha:
had to study and cons:rue the Constitution
he seems today TO lie as ignorant Of it!
provisions and their proper construction as
new born babe. The only thing to be noteC
tempt at concealment. For example, il
& the commissions given to some Of his re
cent appointces he states upon their face
by way Of preamble, that the Constitution
ces, he therefore, as Governor, &C., appoint
Handy Lockart or some other colored o
white man, as the case may be, TO perform
9the duties of said Office.
'l,a
shis Office is simple one and easily com
pretended. lie considers himself sort O
8general residuary legatce of all the odd
aad ends of power under the Constitution
and that because the Legislature or tn
Judiciary may be forbidden to do pal
Sticular thing, he forSootlI must al
can do it. In all Of his official conduct
saetS upon the idea that all power an
Sovereignty is originally lodged with III
Chief Executive, and that everything TX
6 forbidden expressly to liIn is i part an
parcel Of his prerogatire.
Kings have lost their heads as well {
4 their crowns 10" actinS upon inst TIL
theory.
II We have been led to these reflections h
the course of Governor Caldwell in h
Is recent attempt TO appoint State Printt
s In defiance Of the act OF the LegislatuI
zaboIlshing the office, and in his attempt
put the Asylums and Penitcntiary Hndt
the control of his own creatures.
s At first, forgetful Of the tendency Of IL
times to distort and pervert mems notion
of the powers and purposes Of govern
S nent, forgetful for a moment Of that ':il
science of Office that has been from IL
begfnning of time characteristic of mai
we supposed that the Governors actio
was dictated by a desire to seare fl
u himself the colored element Of his party
the coming contest for the nomination IL
48 GovernOr.
& The fact tina. in his recent appointment
Is he put so prominently forward so many CO
$ ored men in places for which they were
D. plainly untitled, and which they were
s utterly incapable Of filling, seemed capab
of solution upon 10 other hypothesis tina
that it was his purpose to show 10 the CO
s. ored people that he was their especial frien
Is and champion, and that so far as in his pow,
lit might lie, he was determined their rigl
to office, as we'll as to suffrage, should |
ZeXercised. 1t seemed to lis a shrewd mo,
&against MesSrs. Settle and Dockelv, an
sNPhillips and Billy Smith, and the 9th,
&would-be respectable and aristocratic men
bors Of the Radical party. In this view
Sd the case it seemed of little import ant
whether the Governors arpOinteGs wcr
s ousted by the Courts OF not. Indeed,
k% they were ousted by the Courts it woul
Ia be much better for the Governor, IS ii
81 Courts are held by judges who belong I
the would-be ariStOcratic element Of Il
party, and we take it that our colore
zfriends do not go much beyond us
thinking the decisions of our Courts al
controlled by law alone.
s. There is one fact, however, that initiate
6AmIch against this view Of the case, an
THAT is the lat that Governor Caldwell,
he understood the Constitution and ii
law Of the land, should have 50 far forgo
ten himself as to have given 10 the Seer
tary peremptory orders not to let Mr.. Ran
say have ): copy" from which TO print an
publish the laws, and thereby to rendt
himself personally and pecuniariIy l;eb
5 for damages TO Mr.. Ramsay, growing OF
s Of the non-performance of his contract.
If the Governor had appointed Mr.. Brow
to he State Printer, and had done i
more, leaving to the Courts the decision {
the questions OF law involved therein. L
1rnllll CLEARLY MT la1.., hnc., I.z1a.l