The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1898-09-01

US EeSBH VIC
got them there. Well, hope an ~
be- asked for. He did not
Ak for ANYTHING els. auo I did not
show II tn him.
Well, nov ny ir:s nds, lets 90 little
bit further. ! an guing 10 say right
TER and NV that, when | went into
The secretary d States office, ! verify
believe there WAS not an Office Of reg
~ Of deeds IN the state OF North
Carolina that Wa cot In better condi-
ton than the Office Of Secretary Of
state vi Mort b Carolina. some OF the
former Secretaries kept . bar-room
there, aud Ut course things could not be
orderly in . bar room. Ny predeces-
cor was seldom there. He CONTINUED
the practice Of law IN Louisburg. He
cam. only occasionally. He had .
clerk III be office v bo got drunk when
ever he wanted tn. lie had one man
ia the office against whom l have not
ops word to say. continued him
there for seven months, and he Oh efii-
Gent work for me; but one mao can
not run the Office. / have been sur
prised that be did rs well - he did.
The head OF the ofiice IL rerponsib BILE
for the condition OF the Office. | have
got not one unkind word or criticism
10 make Of Mr.. Bachelor. Not one.
But | wss mortified one day when
Clement Many, late Democratic
Chairman came into my ONCE ana said
II think ! will have = suit against IN
insurance company which mas been
doing business in this state. want
TO know who IS the general agent upon
whom ! can serve the notice OF SUIT.
said, Mr.. Bachelor will tell you. M.
Bachelor said that i,' name was 80
and so and that he lives 1t such and
such u place. He tMr. Manly said:
Have you got his appointment" Inc
law requires the fling in the ONCE Of
the appointment Of the general agent.
Do you know it could not be found 10
that office? Months Afterwards in
cleaning up, found the appointment
and notified Mr.. Manly Of ir. There
was no attempt to file In any systema.
tic .rier SO that tLey could find
the appointments Of the general agents
Of the Insurance companies, the only
| parties in North Carolina against
whom a notice Of suit can be brought.
That was ip the days OLA good gov
ernment.' l gathered them up ~
| COulu ucIC 0uO tuC1 OnO
nave now tolerably fair file.
My fellow citizens, the Governor Of
North Carolina appoints Commission
ers Of affidavit and Probate Of Deeds
for the State of North Carolina, resi-
dent in other States and territories
80 il q man in New York, for instance
wants to acknowledge a matter, he
can acknowledge it there withou,
coming to the State of North Carolina
LII you will 20 into the Clerks office
here you will find record of these
cOmmi ssiOners of aftidavits. The Law
of North Carolina requires that th'
oath of these commissioners shall b.
filed in the Office Of Secretary of Stat
, who shall print their names in tn
, volume of public laws every two years
When | went to publish the laws ate
3 the legislature Of 1897, l asked "wher
/ is the list of commissioners of deeds o
I North Carolina resident in 0the
O States and cOhntries?" | was told
n would have to get from the Governor
e office the list Of appOintees. | pub
q lished the list furnished me there. Th
I record of qualification ought to hav
n been made in my office and the la:
n record of the qualification of a CON
e missioner of deeds in North CarOlin
It in that office was on the 23rd Of Jul
J" 1892 Not one had bee" recorde
IS since, and only few f.T years prl.
e to that time. venture this as. rLiOl
,, that prior to my going ir to off &c as SCI
z tetary of State Mr.. Pigford your c'er
i had net received from The Scr. airy
is State single motto of quail ii ATTIC
j. of commissioner OF deeds I0l Mort
7 Carolina, resident in other States
: and yet it was the Secretary's duly
IL certify every qualification " eve,
Clerk of Superior Court in the Stat
II Lets 90 little further. The Sta
2 Of North CarOli0a puts into the han'
.e of the Secretary Of State the sale
0, Supreme Court Reports, two thousar
20 of which are issued every year fro
l. the two sessions of the Supreme Coul
II When | went into office ii
o. Secretary of State had no mo
,e idea than the man in the mot
re how many volumes of the Supren
If Court Reports he had on hand. T
ID did not inventory them to me al
take receipt for them. When
< counted them up, l found that I'll
ne State had about twenty thousand W
~ umee, which sell 1T two dollars a vo
- ume, making forty thousand dc
g lars worth of property in the hands
>. Secretary of State. He did not kno
20 how many he had. l doubt if he h.
40 40 ever seen them. They were stored
40 warehouse, utterly unfit for use, ut
;. cost to the State of $50 a month. II
~ house leaked, the windows were bro
- en-, the wind and rain blew in and W
10 the books and scattered and damag,
&c paper belonging to the State. II
77e place was rented by Secretary Col
~ for the State when it could not |
" " rented for anything else. You cou
10 take some of the volumes of the S
IS preme Court Reports and tai
% your finger and rub the leath
n up. They were r0tting. / to-
20 Judge Walter Clark of the Supreu
e Court, and Judge McRae and othe
y and showed it, to them, and sal,
y, What do you think of it? And valu
"a BILE old records pertaining to the hi
n tory of North Carolina were jumbl,
~ on the floor and covered with dirt,
~ damaged that when l would pi,
Il them up they would drop to piece
- That happened in the days of Ego,
o government" That was a part of Il
decent administration which the Der
1t ocratic party longs for. 1 am storir
h the Supreme Court Reports for lie
,r than 0ne-third of thirty dollars
D. month in decent place. I know no
Ls many | have and when l 20 out vi
or tell my successor how many l ha,
It and let him receipt to me for them.
lc Why, further than that, when l b
y gan to rumage about in the pigeo
y holes in my Office do you know, I four
b letters that had not been opened. vii
e stamps inside, saying. II have writ,
ID to you but have not heard from 70,
lie please let me hear from you" N
t. only that, l licked up one day son
o. old envelopes, and felt there was som
" thing in them. l opened them y,
70 found silver, greenbacks, checks, ei
Ill l have got some of them in my Off
z now. They are not good by lapse
~ time, but would have been good for Il
State of North Carolina if my pred
De cessors had not thrown them aside.