Wilmington journal., 1872-07-26
John Pool. United states senator.

OF testimony, and about which the people
doubtless desire to know the truth. We
propose, therefore, to ask the Senator q fey
plain questions, to which we hope he will
give plain and unambiguous answers.
The first question we desire to ask is in
reference to the statement contained in the
New York Herald, of February, 1866:
Senator Doolittle, of Wisconsin, in pre-
senting the credentials of John Pool to the
United States Senate, said that ''he owed
1t to the Senate, as we'll as to himself, to
! state that Mr.. Pool was, and ALWAYS had
been, devoted friend to the Union.
| That he was the Union candidate for Gov
ernOr of the State in 1860, before there was
any immediate danger of secession. He
! canvassed the State and opposed secession
| by every means i'll his power to the last
After the Ordinance of Secession had
passed he retired to private life and refused
| to take any part i'll political affairs until
| the peace movement commenced in North
| Carolina, in which he took an active part,
rebel authorities"
Did you or did you not authorize Sen
ator Doolittle to make this or any equiva-
! lent statement in your behalf in the United
| States Senate?
Senator Doolittle is now in the State,
and doubtless will refresh your recollec
! ton, if there be any need for SO doing.
Did you ever say or authorize any one
| to say for you that you were only tcchIti-
/ cally banned?
! When you shall have answered these
| questions, we desire to ask you whether,
during the war, you were a member of the
| North Carolina State Senate, and whether
| you did or did not, as such Senator, take
an oath upon the Holy Bible, or in some
other form solemnly swear, appealing to
| the Almighty as the avenger of tillsehood,
! to support and defend the Constitution of
! the CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA?
| Were you not candidate before the
! people of North Carolina, i'll 1861, for the
| office of CONFEDERATE STATES ELECTOR
on the JEFF. Davis ticket. We're you not
| elected ? and did you not, as such Elector,
VOTE FOR JEFFERSON DAVIS AS PREsT-
| AMERICA?
Did you not, by letter or otherwise, seek
an appointment as Brigadier General, or
seek authority to raise a brigade, and sug-
gest that it could be used very advan-
| tageously to the cause of the South i'll Co
operation with the troops under command
of General lluger, or some other Confed-
crate General in charge of the defence of
Norfolk, Virginia?
These are points about which there
l,o
in the notorious Senator's record. Will he
| do the people the favor to straighten out
these little matters
But we come now to later times.
Did the notorious Senator write letter
to Colonel Cowles, of Yadlzin county, of
the following purport and text?
SENATE CHAMBER,
WASHINGTON CITY, March Is, 1871. :
Ny Deur Sir You ask me, rs an old
friend, to tell you candifly, if Governor
Vance is likely to be relieved. The Sen
ate Committee has just reported bill for
his relief, and it will pass next December,
if not before. In the present state OF things
here it may not be acted upon this session,
as Congress refuses to take up any busi-
ness except some few special matters; but,
even at this disadvantage, Vance stands a
good chance of being relieved before We
adjourn. Many Senators heretofore op-
posed will vote for him now. If Congress
remains in session two Ks, he viii be
relieved ut this session. The House would
pass the bill by all immense majority.
hardly have doubt as TO his final relief
early in the next session. l have not time
to write more fully.
" Very truly, ETC.,
JOHN Pool.
After writing this letter did the Senator
oppose AbbOtt's claim to . seat III the
United States Senate, or did he vote and
speak in favor of Abbott and against
Vance ?
VIII the Senator once more explain how
he reconciles the difficulty between him
self and +. G. Badger, Esq. Mr.. Badger
sworc as follows
Mr.. Pool stated, al that time, that there
was a man in his county or section of the
State by the name of Mac Lindsay, and
m entiOned to me that knew him, rs he
was a member of the State Senate in 1861
20. l had forgotten him, but upon this
being said r3collected him. Mr.. Pool said
he was a man of undOubted courage and
capable of amy desperate resolve, and by
way of illustrating his capacity, mentioned
some daring act Of piracy, OF which | had
not heard before, committed by the said
Mac Lindsay, either during the war or just
at its close, in the waters of eastern North
Carolina, and that he, the said Mac Lind
say, had been indicted therefor, and only
saved from being punished by his (POOrs)
influence; that he would guarantee that this
man, Mac Lindsay, would pick UP from
the county where he lived, and which was
between the two lines during the war,
sixty or one hundred men equally as dar-
ing and brave as himself; that this man,
Mac Lindsay, would give the Governor no
trouble-that if any of these men, arrested
by him, undertook any resistance he would
kill them, or they would be lost and never
be heard of again. l do not undertake to
state his exact words, but this was the sub
stance OF his conversation. The Governor
at this time was sitting in bis chair. He
got up and walked nervouSly up and down
the room for a few minutes before any
thing was said. l got up from the seat
occupied on the sofa, i'll the southwest
corner of the room, and stated to the Gov
ernOr, and it may have been in the pres
ence Of some others of the company, that
such proposition was infamous, and that
if it resulted as suggested the Governor
would be damned III the memories of men
for all time. Mr. Pool then said | had
misunderstood his meaning, that lie did
not intend that result, he wanted to illus