Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1872-08-16

perhaps the most aunllraDle otae paper !
ever put forth, and viii stant an enduring
monument to the wisdom OF our fore
fathers as we'll as TO their love OF liberty.
Desiring to rest the liberties of themselves
and of their children upon the best and
surest foundation, they defined and de-
clared the rights of the people In plain,
nnmistakable terms. This declaration, or
Bill of Rights as it is called, has from its
adoption been a theme for praise and adj
miration. More than once and by more
than one eminent man has it been said
that only to the Divine commands OF the
Decalogue were due superior veneratlon
and regard. The elder ADAMS was es-
pecially enthusiastic in his admiration.
This was the need of praise given to 1t by
men who lived in the days when the liber-
ties of the citizen were so seldom and SO
slightly encroached upon that constitu-
tional government seemed the natural con-
ditiOn Of man.
How has this great fundamental law,
defining the just relations between the
Government and the citizen, stood the test
archy, and tyranny and oppression?
It is sufficient answer to this question to
say that oppression, and wrong, and in
jury and tyranny, from whatever quarter
and in whatever shape they may have
come, have, before reaching us, been com-
PEELED to set at defiance one or more of the
plaindeclarations of the greatBill of Rights
our ancestors framed for us!
Indeed, it has come TO pass that when
ever we hear Of any new form Of Cypress
ion, with or without the pretended form
and sanction of law, we turn to our Bill of
Rights with full and confident assurance
that we will there find unmistakable evil
dence of its being o violation OF some one
of the inalienable rights of man.
Our confidence was fully justified when
we came to apply this test to the legality
of the late election. Indeed, if we could
at all believe In the possibility of such
human foresight we should think our fore
fathers, In their Bill of Rights of 1916, had
In especial view the late election.
They warned us that & a frequent recur
renee to fundamental principles is absO-
lutely necessary to preserve the blessings
of liberty"
Recurring to these fundamental princi-
pies we find it laid down in section TO-,
as it now stands, that all elections ought
to be free"
We find, further, In section Is, that
General warrants whereby any officer
or messenger may be commanded to search
suspected places without evidence of the
act committed, or to seize any person or
persons not named, whose offence is not
particularly described and supported by
evidence, are dangerous to liberty and
ought not to be granted"
Tried by this test can it be maintained
that in all parts of the State the late cleo
ton was free
We think not.
II Is alleged, and we believe with truth,
that in some portions of the State the
Federal government exercised an illegal
controlling influence by operating upon
the fears and apprehensions of voters.
The following Is, in short, the process by
which this was accomplished, as is alleged,
and az we believe is susceptible of proof.
When it was desired to operate in any
given county, after the Revenue officers
and spies had done their part of the dirty
work, an United States Commissioner and
Deputy Marshal were appointed.
The Commissioner issued warrants in
blank form for the arrest Of parties. The
Marshal took them, mounted his horse and
began work. A father would be informed
that his son was liable to indictment that
if,however, he was friendly to the Admins
tration or desired to become 80, the matter
with the experience that our people had of
false witnesses, packed juries, and Judge
Bond, feared at once, if he took any part
in the election in opposition to the wishes
ofthe Administration, that his son would
be sent to the penitentiary. In this view
of the case, 1t is immaterial whether the
son was guilty or not, the undue influence
and intimidation of the father is all the
Same. The result was that both father and
son purchased safety by staying away on
some pretext or other from the polls, or if
they refused to do so, the name of the son
and that of the father too, perhaps, was
inserted in the blank warrant, and they
were arrested and had either to give bail or
go TO Jail.
In some counties in the State the al
legged cause Of arrest was for Ku-Kluxing /;
in others the Illicit distilation ofspirits, and
in others still, the charges were violations of
the Revenue Law in relation to tobacco.
There are certain sections of the State
In which the tobacco business is the con-
trolling Interest. In others, the distillation
of spirits, from want of facilities for carry
ing the grain to market, is the great
interest.
For every man who may have ignorantly
or knowingly committed violation of the
Revenue Law, it viii be safe to say that on
an average at least three votes
could be controlled. Very few
men would refuse to absent them
selves from the polls If thereby they
kept themselves, or their sons, or their
friends from the penitentiary. It seldom