The state chronicle. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1883-1893, 1888-12-28
EA-GOV. HOLDEN.
VII At Is SAID BY THE PAPERS
ABOUT HIS REQUEST.
The State Papers do Not Talk Kindly
OF His Desire to be Adiudged a Friend
of the STATE

1911, Tue senate OF North Carolina, sitting
rs a Court of Impeachment, pronounced
Judgement against me lii SIX out of eight
articles of impeachment filed against me
by the House of Representatives,. | was
held by this judgement as guilty of ''high
crime and misdemeauors | DENY this
In the most solemn manner. ] do not ask
you to repeal or rescind this sentence or
judgement, for it is being executed, and
1t might not be repealed or rescinded save
by the same court that passed it, but |
asked you most earnestly 10 resolve or de-
clare that Ia your opinion, / was actuated
by good motives n what | did. and that |
had for my object the best and highest
interests of the State.
am not now party man. Both par
ties have disowned NE. | appeal to YOU
solely on the ground of Justice. | have
never been an enemy to the State On
the contrary, | have loved her well, and
am her loyal son, though prescribed and
banned.
The press of the State Will please copy
the above card as an act Of kindness to a
former member of the craft, and send me
a copy OF the paper.
W. W. HOLDEN.
We quote the opinions of some OF the
editors in North Carolina in regard to his
request:
The Times would be hard to convince
that Governor Holden and his gang were
acting through good and pure motives in
the dark days when high-toned men We're
prosecuted and when the Kirk war was
raging i'll the State. It would indeed be
very ignorant Legislature that could ac-
knowledge that these things were done, at
the time, for the highest interests of the
RI oIliS b1irt, mes
The papers are now discussing the card
of Ex-Gov. W. w. Holden, which was
printed il the News some days ago, APP
pealing to the next Legislature to remove
him from under the ban. The ex Governor
had one staunch friend in the late Mr. "
J. Yates, of this city, whose aid, in bis
present situation, he would be glad to
have, for the papers, or those that we
have seen, are crying out against any in
reference b. the coming Legislature with
the Holden matter.-I Charlotte News
We publish in another column the card
of Ex- Gov. " W. Holden to the Legisla-
ture soon to meet. He asks that body
to declare that he was actuated by good
motives in what he did during the Holden
Kirk war. The letter is a remarkable, not
TO say a very bold one. Holden was i'm
beached by the verdict Of the highest
judicial tribunal in the State, and it would
be a foolish piece Of business for the I.egis-
lature to take any action III the matter,
even if it desired to-. Concord Times
We shall be very much mistaken in the
character o. the men, composing the next
General Assembly, if they were to resolve
that in their opinion Ex-Governor Holden
was actuated by good and honest motives
in what he did," and that he ''had for his
object the BEST and highest interests of the
State" The Messenger, in common with
the good people of North Carolina, turns
back with horror and indignation to the
days of the Holden Kirk war, and will
ever hold the opinion that about that time
Elk Governor Holden and his conspirators
were inspired by the devil, rather than
good motives - Wilmington Messenger.
what did he do?" may ask some of our
younger readers. Why, he, the Governor,
the sworn servant and creature of the peo-
pie, declared martial law in the State of
North Carolina during time Of profound
peace; he appointed a cut-tbroat scoun-
drel by the name of Kirk, with a band Of
outlawed hirelings from Tennessee, to the
com and of what he called State troops
he arTes,ed good men, true men, without
a shadow of authority from the courts, and
threw them into loathsome jalls and con
fined them in cells with filthy negroes.
He, with Kirk, and one Burgen, Kirk )
second in command, 50 terroriZed the
State that there was not one State Judge
to be found within its limits who dared to
issue writ of habeas corpus Even Chief
Justice Pearson, when applied to, stated
that he could do nothing-that the judi
ciary was ''eNhaustcd." Those were the
days when such men as Albion W Tour
gee and Greasy Sam Watts sat on the
bench and dispensed injustice to the peo-
pie Of North Carolina. Bat there Was one
man, thank God, in North Carolina who
wore the judicial ermine, who would not
bow the knee to Iiolden's behests, and
that was George W. Brooks, of Elizabeth
City, native and TO the manor born, a
Judge of the United States District Court,
who granted the writ, and with one stroke
of his pen Hodens gigantic fabric Of trea-
son and outrage fell to the ground. .
Wilmington Review.
The time is far distant when the people
of North Carolina will be willing to admit
| that ". W Holden was actuated by good
! motives in the course he pursued towards
! them in the dark days Of the reconstruc
| ton. Not until history has ceased to re
| cord the outrages perpetrated by Geo. ".
Kirk and his fiendsh rufians, commis-
| stoned by Holden. Not until North Cac
olinians have forgotten that W. W. Hol-
| den. a citizen OF North Carolina, who had
| it in his power to endear himself to bis
people by making their return to theil
former allegiance pleasant task, flung
from him the golden opportunity, and
boasted that he would make treason obi
ous" We have not forgotten that it wa
he who laid rule and unholy hands upon
the ark of our liberties when he suspended
the writ Of habeas corpus, and kept oul
best citizens in prison II defiance of oul
| Chief Justice, and only yielded when, hav
ing appealed to President Grant for sup
port he was informed that our ''judiciar,
| must be respected Strange conduct
this, for one who declared that the PEI
with which he signed the Ordinance o
Secession would be kept as an heirloom
for his children.
'Twere better not to have brushed ava
so rudely the kindly dust OF oblivion whic
in time might have obscured the bolde
features Of his high crimes and misdl
meanors, than thus to have stirred aires
the righteous indignation Of an outrage
people. Concord Standard.
While we now have very kind fcelin}
, personally for EX XGov. Holden, yet "
think that his impeachment and convi
) ton was right and just. It was our priv
lege and pleasure to be present every da