The Charlotte Democrat., 1891-10-02
GOV, holt AT BURGAW.

opened by prayer by Rev. Colon Shaw,
Of Duplin Roads, and the Governor was
introduced by Col f. D. Hall in few ap-
propriate remarks The Governors
speech was pointed and practical, and was
heartily received. The following are
extracts from Governor Holts speech.
The old soldier is indeed rich in mem
orics. Let him keep them green by these
reunions, and transmit them to his chill
dren as an honored Inheritance. But
there are other memories that come up,
from days long past, in which the old sol.
diers of North Carolina showed as much
heroism as they had often displayed on the
field Of battle. The soldiers of the n Ortb,
their camp followers, seeing the South dis
armed and desolated, saw that it presented
q fine field for political speculation and
plunder, bound themselves with a low
and unpatrotic element of Southern
society into political party for the osten-
sible purpose of making the State consu
tuition and laws conform TO the amended
constitution of the United States but,
in fact, for the purpose Of dividing among
the leaders the offices they were to dis
grace by force and fraud, and to appro-
pirate to their own use the money they
were to collect for the public service. 1t
was bold undertaking, but the history OF
that period shows those bad men were
equal to the task, and that they did not
underrate the rich harvest they were to
reap. They left nothing to chance, and
stopped at no enormity.
What North Oarolinian can ever forget
the horrors of that reconstruction period :?
The State had been stripped ofits sove-
reignty. The people were stricken with
poverty and despair to degree that has
excited the sympathy of every one, save
these men whose platform Of principles
was greed of plunder, and whose cam
paign machinery was force and fraud
The halls Of your Legislature were domi
mated by negroes, renegades and foreign
ers. Your delegation in Congress was
composed of men hostile to the interest
and honor of your State. The constitu
tior of your State, the product OF the
wisdom and patriotism of the best of your
ancestors, was ANONYMOUSLY spurned and
repudiated. The supreme power OF your
State, was vested in a military autocrat,
whose headquarters were in the city of a
sister State; and under his directions, the
organic law Of North Carolina was re
ny "HaG " do SullCO q COh
composed in the main, of men untrue to
the honor of the State, and who in obedi-
ence to usurped power, enfranchised
100000 of your slaves, and disfranchised
thousands OF your best and warmest fel-
low citizens.
Under the inspiration of that constitu-
tion the first legislature, in its reckless
extravaganza bankrupted your treasury
and we'll nigh wrecked the credit of your
State. They burdened North Carolina
with bonded debt of $40 900, 900, known
in history as fraud bond" s"-and then
shameessly divided those bonds among
themselves They laid impious hands
upon the fund held sacred to the educa.
tion of your children, invested it in the
"fraud bonds" held by themselves, and
applied the money to heirpersonal profits.
They levied and collected thousands OF
dollars from a poverty. stricken people
for the purposes of education and rearing
your children in ignorance, squandered
this fund. In time of profound peace,
when the people sought to protect their
property from the incendiary, and the
virtue of their wives and daughters from
violence and outrage, this same spirit
declared martial law, organized an armed
force under the command of an outlaw,
and for political purposes, employed brute
force to break the courage and spirit of
our people. But the courage that had
made the old soldiers of North Carolina
face death on a hundred battle fields, and
won from the immortal Lee the proud
exclamation "God bless old North Caro-.
lina"-was not destined to finch, in times
% 1uhon ho hnp0n of thoir 81 a q
was in danger. On no battle fields OF
that war, where your valor rose superior
to numbers, did you ever win grander
victory than when in 1871, the old soldiers
of North Carolina, followed by their gal.
liant sons, routed the enemy of constitu
tional liberty and established Democratic
supremacy everywhere within the bor-
ders of their commonwealth. Truly, the
memories of that reconstruction period
and the recollections Of the splendid
success that rewarded your patriotism
and valor, must inspire you with pardon,
able pleasure and pride. But the victories
of the old soldiers of North Carolina are
not confined to military and political
fields. When the war was over and the
political conflict of 1871 had left the gov
ernment of your State in the hands OF
her true sons, then it became your duty
to lead in rebuilding her wrecked for
tunes.
Your wisdom and patriotism were
looked to for leadership in everything
essential to advance the material interest
of the State. And he who compares the
| true greatness of your State with hel
| bankrupted and burdened condition when
you assumed the task will award you the
praise of having we'll done your work
Your decayed homesteads have been re-
built, and your wasted fields have been
made to yield a generous support. Fac
tories of various kinds have been erected
thus giving employment to labor, anc
| offering at home a market for many O
our leading products, and under your wise
laws the hidden recesses Of nature have
been made to yield their wealth for The
comfort and enjoyment of men. By your
wise guidance, honest and economic gov
ernment is established, and knowledge
and religion is free to all. But, old sol
diers, as much as you have done in th'
past for your State, there is still lef
more for you to do, or assist in doing.
Labor and capital are two Of the mos
potential contributors to the greatness o
a State. To make them coequal, they
must be equally dependent, the one upol
the other. To make them so dependent
| there must he enouph labor to work ths