Year: 1868

can hardly believe it possible that any one
can mistake or doubt my political position.
l agree with you in not approving some
things that have been done, and in wishing
them otherwise. But. as whole, it is clear
ly safest and best to ratify the proposed Con-
stitution, and shall take every suitable Oc-
casion, public and private, to urge its ratifi- I
cation. a,.lp aa +- M ..f au3i


What do those who oppose its ratification
offer to the people of North Carolina 2 Is
anything better probable, or even possible 2
Shall we indefinitely protract our present
dangerous and paralizing political and civil
perplexities2 The foundations of society
are shaken and overturned. Ruin and dis
tress are spread over the land. Liberty it.
self, and the very institutions Of the country
are being tossed upon an untried and agita-'
ted sea. Revolutions are dangerous and un-
manageable. The history of the world
warns us to the earliest possible settlement
of all such questions and disputesas involve
revolutionary ideas, and excite the public
mind to the sanguinary alternative of civil
war. There should be no further battling
upon this question of restoration. My firm
conviction is that the the State should be re-
stored to its constitutional relations with
the Federal government at the earliest time
practicable-and that the day has past when
we can safely dispute, much less dictate, the
conditions of such restoration.
. It is gratifying to me, and have reasons
to know it is to you, that the proposed Con-
stitution contains no harsh or proscriptive
features. There was much ground to hope,
that, in the absence of such features, it
would not meet with any great opposition
and we both supposed that, in urging mod
crate counsels, we were taking the best
means to insure a cessation OF strife and
speedy settlement of our troubles. / regret
that our hopes are 50 far from being realized.
But we must disregard the abuse and sour
rility of the opposition, as we did in days
that were darker to US than these. ,,oqi


Universal suffrage is the fundamental the
ory of republican government. If good
policy or the public safety, at any time, re-
quire restriction on suffrage, it is, neverthe-
less, a departure from the republican theory.
Nv views upon "colored suffrage" and the
reasons leading to its adoption in the lately
insurgent States are, fully set forth in my
Address to the people of North-C Carolina,
published in March, 1867 Ifyou refuse the
ballot to q citizen ON account of color, or
for any reason short of Infamous crime, is
recent participation in rebellion against the
government likely to be overlooked as
disqualifying cause2 The ballot is the pro-
lection of the citizen against oppression
from the government and injustice from the
administration of the laws. The powerful
and wealthy have the means OF protection.
But to the poor, the fr:endless, the despised,
the ballot is their only weapon-without it,
to such, freedom is but an empty name.


You can hardly believe how much l was
gratifed at seeing on the Republican ticket
the names of yourself and of so many 9th
ers of the Union men of the Slate who are
unjustly under official disability. Had it
been otherwise, 1t would have been a mat
ter of much regret. am glad that my own
name was not upon the ticket-for hope it
may give more efficiency to any efforts for
the ratification of the Constitutions. The
restoration of the State is paramount to all
other considerations --..l..-.. q


As soon as sufficient assurances were OBJ
tanned to render it expedient to run as can
didates those who are under present disa-
bility, it must have been expected and uni
versaiiy conceded that the position and SER
WIGS III WV. l1OiuCu WouIt itSutC lis uOul-
ination. The party could not have justly
done otherwise. I advocated his election
in 1865, and the same reasons that called for
his election then, demand it now. But large
calculations and the most active efforts are
being made for his defeat. It would place
US in novel and embarrassing position in
deed, should the Constitution. be ratified,
and Congress refuse to remove the disability
of the Governor elect 1t is at least doubt
full whether, in that case, the Lieutenat Gov
ernor elect could act as Governor, upon the
first election held under the new Constitu-,
ton. suppose it settled that the disability
of Gov. Holden will be removed before or
Immediately upon his election. O


observe that much is attempted to be
made of what is called his record" If his
present assailants had, for the last fifteen
years, spoken to the, public their sentiments
weekly, and in print, how many of them
would now be able to throw the first stone2
When the Standard spoke, prior to 1850,
it proclaimed the sentiments of the domi-
nant political party In this State, and in the
country. A majority of our people then
endorsed its views Had its counsels been
needed in the Charleston Convention, in
go, we can all now see that the schemers
of secession would have been forbidden their
feast of blood. Had its counsels been heed
ed in / '65, the present dffiulties atten-
ding reconstruction would have been avoid
ed-to say nothing OF the untold miseries
and misfortunes of the last four months of
hopeless struggle. Prior to, and in the
carly stages of the war, Gov. Holden spoke
and acted in accordance with the position
l. sol G
circumstances around him, and was sub
ject. like other men, to errors of Judgment
and to the prejudices and excitement of the
times When the madness of civil strife
had sufficiently cooled to allow a small,
still voice for peace to lie heard, he was
among the first to raise it, and gradually
and cautiously to increase its force, and
compass up to the very verge of provoking
its violent suppression. In the darkest


hours of 1S64-'65, when we and others were


battling for negotiations and peace, we new


er observed any faltering or shadow of turn
ing ON the part Of the Standard. Since the
close of the war, he has been most earnest
and Jealous in every movement tor the re-
storation of the State. and the return of
peace and prosperity to our people. Is it
culpable for a man to submit to the teach
ing of events2 When circumstances have


wholly changed, amid the convulsions of
gigantic revolution, is it even inconsistent
to cast off old prejudices and conform to tine
J new order Of things Who that is wise
4 among US will longer seek to bind the living
present to the dead past, or to taint the at
mosphere of the future with the unburicd
remains of prejudices AMI interests which
! have met their death that the nation might
/ live2 Ns5 iHF1,nr- 'r'-at
1t matters little to me whether one man
or another 10 p,odo Govarnor of fho Stoto