The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1903-11-03
POLITICAL INTOLERANCE IN
NORTH CAROLINA.

II has been thought by some that the
right 10 think was obtained 4 yc7r or
80 ago, but ii seems the brethren are
fighting this battle over agaln-Grecu~-
boro Telegram.
The trouble with the brethren who are
now s,andering the State is not that they
are demanding a right TO think A. they
please. They wish i right Is make every
body else take their thoughts from them.
Loudly processing their own emaneip3-
ton, and proclliming that they were
slaves all their lives until they recently
saw the Hanna red-light, they Eow De
mand that the majority, who have a.
ways both thought and voted as they
pleased. shall revise their opinions aud
think like the minority thinks il thinks.
Because the majority Of North caro-
lInians. always free men, VIII not say
they nave hitherto been slaves. these new
apostles Of free thought keep M thor
TRADE against North Carolina and false
~ assert that free thought has not been
permitted in this State, about whose people
Bancroft truly said they were the freest
Of the free" He adds: They were i'm
bued with q passion for liberty lie also
tells Us that with absolute freedom Of
conscience benevolent reason was the
simple rule OF their conduct" and the
great historian goes on to say:
"Are there any who doubt mans ca
pacity for self-government? Let them
study the history Of North Carolina. Its
inhabitants were restless and turbulent in
their imperfect submission to q govern
ment imposed on them from abroad. The
administrator of the colony was firm, hui
name and tranquil when they were left
to take care Of themselves. Any govern
ment but one Of their own institution was
oppressive"
There has been little change in North
C~arolinians from that day to this. In
1868 an attempt was made to impose
upon them a government that was not
"of their own They therefore regarded
it as 'oppressive'' and they were rest
less and turbulent" until they succeeded
in destroying it. Then the adminitratiop
was firm, humane and Tranquil
No longer is 1t attempted to impose the
trappings Of a government upon North
Carolina, but of late years the attempt
has been made to impose upon it a new
conception Of national government cen
tralized government, administered by a
party Of graft and specia, privilege. BY
specicus pleas for "toleration," earnest
entreaty tina "the State shall get away
from provincialism," admonitions to men
''to quit voting for sentiment and to con
has tried to seduce the people of North
Carolina from their old political princi-
pies. A steady propaganda to that end.
helped along by Federal offices, orators,
and newspapers, has been kept VI. Little
impression has been made because the peo-
pie of North Carolina cling to "the an
Gent landmarks which the fathers have
set" Nearly every speaker and writer
who has berated the State for "intoler-
ance' and ''denial Of the right Of free
speech" has been trying to make the
people swallow Republican doctrine,
straight" or 'sugar-coated" and because
the people gagged at the nauseous dose and
refused to take it, these new political
physicians have turned in and abused
them because of their intolerance! 1t Is
the little coterie of NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
baffled in trying to make the people
think as they think, who are intolerant
and who are wild with rage because the
people insist upon thinking for them
selves, declining to be guided by the
apostles of strange doctrine.
The men who talk most OF political intol-
france in North Carolina are the intellect
ing left England to find a country where
they could worship God according to their
own conscience, drove Roger Williams
into the wilderness because he wished to
worship God according to his own con
science. instead of by the consciences of
the Puritan preachers. 1t has been said
of those preachers that they fell first
| upon their knees and then upon the
aborlglnes." The new and small cult
that rail at North Carolina and defame
it, because the people will not sneeze
when they take snnff, are the men whose
Intolerance and denial of the right of free
speech, is most marked in this good old
State. They SANDER the State because
they are baffled in their desire to seduce
it from its adherence to sound political
principles.
OF course there are intolerant men in
North Carolina. There are such men
everywhere. Majorities are not very soil
citous about tending and watering the
plants Of their opponents who are in the
minority. But political liberation and
freedom of action is found in North Caro-
lima more largely than in any New Eng
land State.