The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1904-08-09

claims any intention Of rejecting upo
his honesty or integrity. but we stu
think he has made q serious error OF
Judgment sn selecting Morehead as he
site for the e-ncampment. IL the wishes
Of the state Guard Of their comfort
and convenience were to govern In
selection.
Resolved further. That we do not
consider the cases cited by the governor
as arording reasons for refusal to MAKE
public ce-tASn state documents as ana
Joyous to his case. and that We SIN
faSl to see any good reason why the re-
port OF the commSttee should not be
made public and we regret that he de-
clines to comply with u reques; TO
furnish US q copy OF this report.
Resolver further. That the secretary
of this chamber be directed to forward
to the governor q copy Of these resolu-
TONS"
Colonel william l. deRosset said he
did not think the letter read by Mr..
Calder reflected in any manner upon
the honesty OF he Governor He stat
ed that 1t had been shown that the
State Guard could be carried to
Wrghtsville at a saving OF at least $3.50
to the state and that he was at a loss
TO see what right the Governor had to
put the state TO needless expense The
selection in his opinion was made at
the lnSllSdllOn OF the CIlCltlS VI AHc Al
lantic and North Carolina railroad and
he thought it very r~eprehensible con-
duct on the part OF the Governor.
Colonel deRosset made a motion TO
table Mr.. Wizards substitute. which
motion was seconded by Mr.. Joseph H.
Waters n was carried by a large
majority.
Mr.. Willard made a lengthy argu-
ment in regard to the matter and
4horuhr rhar iF u-nrld he darriTnen-
tai to the city TO get into a c%ontrover-
sy with the Governor. He said by
holding the encampment at Morehead
that thousands of dollars would be put
into the treasury of the Atlantic and
North Carolina railroad, n hat as
that o Is owned by the state it
| would more than counterbalance the
| amount that would be saved by holding
the encampment at Wrightsville. Mr..
| Willard was of the opinion that the
| Governor might have some reasons he
did not wish to make public as to why
he wanted the Atlantic n North Car
| Dina road to make a good showing at
the present time. He thought that the
three members of the State Guard who
were members of the chamber and who
had taken an active part in this move
ment would feel compelled to resign
after having criticised the Governor in
such a manner. This remark of MI.
Wizards brought fourth a quick re-
Spouse from Major w. f. Robertson,
who stated that he was not acting as a
member of the state military in this
/; matter. burt a citizen OF Wilmington.
and that he did not believe the Gov
ernor or any one else thought that the
mere fact of becoming a member OF the
State Guard deprived a man of the
right of citizenship.
Mr.. Willard also limited in his re-
marks that the members of the Govern
or's staff were under obligations to the
Governor for their appointment. Colo
mel Walker Taylor responded by say
ing he was the only one of the officers
referred to who was under any obliga-
tons to the Governor and that If h:
wished his resignation it could go forth
Immediately. He said the Governor haC
ignored the officers in Wilmington; thai
none Of them were invited to Raleigh
n none were appointed on the com
mittee to visit the proposed encamp,
ment sites. When the three Whining
ton members Of the State Guar visited
Raleigh. Colonel Taylor said they did s.
as private citizens. He stated that il
all the correspondence the Governol
had addressed Major Robertson. tn,
only one whose letters he answered. a:
a private citizen and not in his oficia
capacity.
At this point Colonel Taylor read tn,
correspondence. Two letters from Cole
mel Taylor, as a representative of tn
Chamber of Commerce, to the Governo
, requesting him to furnish a copy o
; the special committees report wer
read. Both of these letters were ignor
Ell by the Governor. A letter was ais
read from General Register in answe
10 a letter requesting him to furnisl
a copy Of the report which he refuse,
to do, at the instigation Of the Govern
or. Another letter from Gvernor Ay
: cock TO Major w. F. Robertson wa
5 read. In this letter the Governor re
fused to furnish the report. All of TN
t correspondence took place before tn
t matter was brought to the attention o
: the Chamber of Commerce.
I Mr.. William Calder said what W
wanted was not the Governors "rea
sons" as to why he sent the encamp
4 ment to Morehead City, but the repor
Of the special committee. He said tn
I matter had been left to a jury 9TH
special committee) and we wanted
!. know what that jury said.
= Mr.. Sam Bear was opposed to tn
I adoption Of the letter and thought tn
whole matter should be dropped. H
said the repOrt had been asked for
number Of times n refused each tim
= and he did not see what good ii did I
" ask for it.
President Taylor said il the reply wa
= not published and the answer to tn
e same it would cav the impressio
z Upon the public that the Governor ha
= produced an unanswerable argumen
g MI. Taylor asked: why did the Gov
ernor appoint a committee to invest
) gate the different sites if he was nc
e going to act on the recommendation {
the same?" why did he have tn
e committee come { Raleigh? Why di
he permit the report to go out frol
Raleigh, uncorrected, hat the CON
mittee decided in favor of Moreahea
Cfty?' He concluded by saying thu
we had nothing to lose by replying.
1t was after the above argument tia
the answer prepared by President Tay
Tor was adopted. Those who engage
in the discussion in addition to II