The Greenville enterprise. [volume] (Greenville, S.C.) 1870-1873, 1872-09-18

1905 ne was elected q Judge OF
the Supreme Court of North Car.
olina, for which. it was said, 'shis
|'tastess character and intellectual
Fqnalit,es eminently fitted him."-
He was,a Roman Catholic, and ,by
the tthen) State Constitution, inca.
tpable of holding any State Office.
But this provision of the Constitu.
ton was treated as dead letter
in Judge Gaston's case. e
In 1885 a. State Conv ention was
called In North Carolina to revise
their Constitution. a The question
of tree;uegro suffrage came up for
consideration. ssUnder,the old State
Constitntiop, all freemen paying
q tax were allowed to vote. 1t was
proposed to restrict Ahis qualifica
tion to free white men, and there.
by exclude free negroes. j udge
CASTOR resisted this change in the
Constitution with great ability and
eloquence. He appealed, to the
members of the convention to say
whether their experience did not
prove that, in all cases, the free
negroes voted with the gentlemen
and better class of white voters
He insisted that such was the fact,
and no one contraverted it. How
differen: is our experience in South
Carolina, since the abolition of
slavery, and the investment of the
colored man with the right of suf
frage. ( Instead of voting with gen
tlemen, and for gentlemen of in.
telligence and character, the col.
ored men in Sorth Carolina, with
a few exceptions, invariably vote
with and for the lowest and vilest
white men in the community.-
Why is this2 Because, in Judge
Gaston's day and time, the free.
negroes had more intelligence than
the great mass of color, d voters in
South Carolina of the present day.
They owned property, and their
interests prompted them to depend
on gentlemen TO protection and
assistance. Most unfortunately,
now, the colored men have had
their minds poisoned by the un.
principled white carpet -baggers
and scalawags with stories of be
ing thrown back into slavery But
the day will come when the color.
ed voter will prefer a gentleman
to a low scoundrel. ,-..l
Judge CASTOR died in his sixty.
sixth year. He fell dead in the
midst of an animated conversation
and his last words we're express
ing his faith in the All wise and
Mighty" He was still Judge of
the Supreme Court of North Car
oliua at his death, and his death
was great loss to the judiciary
of that State. When it was pro
posed to change the judiciary sys-
teln of South Carolina, wrote let
ters to Chancellor Kent aud Judge
CASTOR, as two Of the most distin
gaished jurists in the United
States, asking their counsel and
advice as to the best system of in,
dicalion. | wrote to no one Else.
The following letter was kindly
written me in reply BY Judge Gas.
ton. 1t will be read with interest
Almost all ot the old judges and
lawyers were in favor of separate
courts of equity and separate courts
of appeal. In the language OF
Chancellor Kent, we are all the
creatures, more or less, of educa.
ton. But in North Carolina they
had no separate courts of equity.
1t was tile detect of the judiciary
systen:, in this respect, as seen by
Judge CASTOR. which made him in
favor of tile English system, and
that system. which presided in
Sonth Carolina up to the present
order of things. -" w., ..'
@ Blythe Woop, !
Senteu,her 22d 1924 I