Year: 1863

President and it declares that


Cali laws ought to be silent except military law.
We regard all Judges and Courts, State and Con- !
federate, all Congresses and Legislatures nui-
aanee save in SO far as they help US to strengthen
the hands of the comnander-in. chief of this Con.
federacy. There is no interest or institution |
in the country worth mentioning now, excep. the |
army. The government of the Oonfsderacy is the
government Of the army; ssd no citizen has any |
rights which can interfere with or impede its eff
ciency."


The meaning of which is that the Courts must
be silent unless they will record the edicts of the
commauder-inc chief; that they have no right to ex
pound the laws or interpret Constitutions; that
the ha6eas corpus, which protects personal liberty
even in kingly governments. is nuisance, and
must not be allowed; and that civil !iberty-thei
right Of free speech, of free PRESS and to be SCI
cure, under the law, in our property and persons
must give place to the will Of one man. What
would this be but despotisms Who is ready for it
The people of North-C Carolina have never bowed
their necks under the yoke of any man, and by the
help of God they never will. Martial law, which
means the absence of law, and military law, which
means the absolute subjection of the civil to the
military power, will never be tolerated by our peo
pie With the Richmond Examiner we hold that


"No power in this country can put in force mar
tal Law but General of IN army, and his power to
do SO is limited by bis lines. As to arbitrary gov
ernment-that is not what the people have made
here. If arbitrary power should DO inaagurated by
the action Of clique it is revolution, and the death
of the Confederacy. How many would uphold it
longeri The people are fighting for their coDsti-
tutions, laws, liberties. They will never under
stand the logic of surrenderng them that they may
keep them. When they are gone, no matter how,
all is gone"


The Enquirer of the goth instant contains an ar
tcle in reply to of ours in favor ofpesce on hon
orable terms, which We propose briefly to notice.


The Enquirer, as was to have been expected,
garbes tho article referred to, and distorts it to
make mean that we are in favor of reconstructing
the old government The only reference to recon-
struction in the article was intended to show that
that paper had proposed reconstruction in the event
Of the failure Of the Pennsylvania campaign.


But the Enquirer says, "if this newspaper [ths
Standard did, indeed represent, as we know it
does not the opinion o. its State, then tho State
ought to go out Of the Oontsderaey and make su6-
mission upon is oun account" In reply to this We
say that We hare very large circulation and our





| sumo to speak for or represent any one but We


have no hesitation in declaring that the article on


the subject of peace, so violently assailed by the


Enquirer, embodes the sentiments Of 1t least two.


thirds Of the people of North Carolina. We stake
ourself upon it Every public man stands or falls


to the people. Let the Enquirer observe the de-


velopments of public opinion in this State, and see
| whether we are sustained or not.


But If our people respondent as to the future,


and if they would be glad to have peace on honor


able terEs, and if they believe that negotiations
and fighting should 60 on at the same time-for


that is the gst of our artcle-"t the State ought
to 90 out Of the Gontedsraey and make submission
upon is ovn account" Suppose this State, thus


invited to 60 out, had not gone in, where would


the Confederacy have been to.day3 Where would
| the cotton States have been? Where would Vir-


gjnia have been2 Overun and trampled down.
Richmond would have been long since in the hands
of the enemy, and the States south of US would


have been occupied at every point and their people
| crushed into the earth. North-C Carolina troops


saved Richmond when assaied by Mcclellan !; they


won the battle of Charlottesville; and during the
| recent movement on Pennsylvania they defended


Richmond under Gen. Hill. Our people and troops


have done more for Virgiuis and the cotton States
| than they have done for themselves. They have


poured out their blood and their treasure to protect


others, while their own territory has been ravaged


by the enemy And now, because they do not act
in such way as to please the Richmond Enquirer


in all respects, they are invited to take them selves


out Of the Confederacy! They wiU do 50, If they


choose, in their oun good time. They will not be


hurried nor retarded by their enemies.


| The Enquirer regrets that the President has no
| power to suppress the Standard. We tell that


paper that even if the Congress should again sus-


pend the ha6eas corpus, the President would have


no such power; for the Bill Of Rights Of this State


declares, "that the freedom Of the press is one Of


the great bulwarks of liberty and therefore, ought
neuer to be restrained." No matter what the press
does in this country it is responsible only to public
opinion SO far as public affairs are concerned, and
to private individuals whom it may wrong, in dam
ages. Our "local Judges" with their "crude opin.
| ions" would sustain the above provision Of our
Bill of Rights at all hazards; and our worthy Gov
ernor would sustain the Courts. We do not fear
the President 1t is true be has the physical force
at his command to suppress the Standard; but If
he attempts it he will be met with physical force
and revolution in this State will be the result
But the Enquirer, admitting that the President
has no such power calls for mob law to destroy our
establishment 1t says, ITO destroy tho Standard
would no more hurt North Carolina than the cut
ling out of an ulcer would hurt living man." And
again, there ought to be s0s remedy for the evil ;
and then it asks, significantly, "why is the Raleigh
Standard suffered to exist I" We have uniformly
opposed mob law and shall oppose it under all cir
cumstsnces, except in self-defence We shall not
begin it, but woe unto those who do We are
strong in the confidence of the people Of Raleigh, Of
Wake County, and Of North Carolina; and if fin
ger should be raised against our Office by the cow


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