Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1876-09-22
THE AMEND MENTS-LET THEM
BE ADOPTED.

BE ADOPTED.
The seventh article of the Constitu-
ton relates to municipal corporations,
that is to say, to our county, town and
city governments The amendment
proposed to this article of the Consti-
tuition is very irportant and very
sweeping one, in that it places the
power over these several governments
once more in the hands of the people.
The amendment is in these words:
"The General Assembly shall have
full power by statute to modify,
change or abrogate any and all of the
provisions of this article, and substi-
tute others in their place, except Sec
tons seven, nine, and thirteen"
Section z, referred to above, forbids
any county Or town from contracting
any debt or lcvying any tax except for
necessary expenses, unless it be done
By q vote of majority of the qualified
voters therein. Section 9 requires all
taxation to be uniform and ad UdtOre,7a
Section Is forbids the payment of any
war debt.
AS no one desired the Legislature to
do any of the things forbidden in the
restrictions imposed upon its power by
the above sections, the Convention
wisely left them untouched.
The effect of the proposed amend
meat it will be seen is to give the Leg
islature the entire control of the
county governments and the election
of Justices of the Peace; that is, the
General Assembly may continue them
as they are now, or change them as
they may be instructed by the peo~
pie. Il will have the power to abolish
m any useless offices and save to the
people large sums of money now paid
as salaries to the men who fill them and
above all it will be empowered to pro-
vide that we who live under negro
rule may once more enjoy the bless
ings of honest Intelligent government.
The Importance of this amendment,
we repeat, arises from the power it
confers upon the Legislature to abol-
ish the present system of county and
township governments, and to substi
tute another therefor. The Legisla-
ture had the same power under the
old Constitution, the one that was the
handiwork of our fathers, and so have
now the legislatures of q ma ority of
the States in the Union. No harm,
but great good, came of it in the
past and the same will be the case in
the future.
The power conferred by this amend
ment goes so far as to enable the Leg
islature to establish one system of
county government in one county and
different one in another, as the ne
cessities of the case may require, and
in this way if no other, will enable the
Legislature to free us from negro rule,
Magistrates too, as to their appoint
ment, come under the control of the
legislature by virtue of this amend
ment. If the amendments shall be ra-
tilted. we venture to say the days will
not be long in the land when white
men will have to pull off their hats in
negro magistrates courts. White
people do not want negro magistrates,
they do not want negro judges, and
there is no use to try to disguise the
fact. Our very natures as we'll as our
be otherwise. We do not desire to OPP
press the negro or to wrong him in any
way, but we certainly do not wish him
to sit in judgment upon our lives, our
liberties, or our property.
Townships and their governments
are also put in the power of the Legis
lature by this amendment and will
I doubtless be speedily stripped of their
unnecessary power of taxation. The
people are taxed enough ALI eady for
unavoidable State and county purposes
without having the additional burden
of township tax laid upon them. IF
the amendments shall be ratified it
! will be safe to say that there will never
be another township tax levied or coll
has been exceedingly odious to the
people of North Carolina. Indeed
there can scarcely be found an intelli-
gent man in the State who is in favor
of the present township system, pre-
cisely as it stands in the Candy Con-
stitution, who is not also directly in
terested in it's perpetuation, as an Office
holder or from 9ome other selfish mo-
tive.
The amendment proposed by the
Convention to this article of the Oon-
stitution bears out in striking man.
ner the assertion that the object of
the Democratic members of the Con-
ventio,, was to restore their rightfu
power to the people and to secure an
economical expenditure of their money.
The amendments distinctly recog-
nize that the will of the people shall
be ascertained, and not only ascer~
tanned, but obeyed in framing the Con-
stitution and laws of North Carolina.
Many men doubtless laugh at the idea
of caring for 8" the will of the people,
but if these amendments shall be rati-
fed the same twill of the people
will once more become power in the
land.
O'HARA, DAN RUSSELL AND BILL
MOORE.
For cool effrontery and brazen inn
pudence, says the Charlotte Observer,
the speech of Dan Russell, the Hayes
elector, at Marion, walks away with
ANYTHING that we ever SAW OR heard