Year: 1866

ident, but ought to resist, as. far as they
safely can" every act passed by the Conven-
ton which was called under the orders of
the President to restore the State, to the
Union.


There is no doubt about the loyalty Of Mr..
Jones, the representative elect from the
mountain district; and there is as little
doubt as to the loyalty of Mr.. Pool, one of
our Senators elect. Mr.. Jones was conscrip-
ted and sent to Richmond He deserted the
camp, we believe, on account of the inhu-
man treatment he received, and because he
did not want to fight against the United
States After much suffering and many mar
row escapes, he reached his home in the
mountains. In August, 1864 while in camp
we believe, he was a candidate for the House
of Commons for the Counties of Henderson
and Transylvania. We supported him in
the columns of this paper, he being candi-
date on what was called the " Holden" or
"peace ticket" against Vance He did not
seek the place. He was simply run by his
friends in his absence. If he had been at
home at the time hewould have been elected.
His object was to come to Raleigh, to take
steps to call State Convention to arrest the
war, and to secure peace on the basis of re-
storation of the Union. A large majority of
the Legislature of 1864 was for peace on this
basis; and but for the efforts of Gov. Vance
and Gov. Graham to prevent it, and but for
the threat made by Mr.. Davis that he would
pour troops into our State, and hang and
shoot our people and make the State a desc
lation, q C0nUention could hace been called,
the aodr WOuI hape been arrested, the Union
could hare been restored, and millions of pro
perty and thousands Of precious lices could
haoe been saced


The Chronicle expresses the hope that the
people of this State will adopt the constitu-
tional amendment, and thus return to the
Union. The oligarclis and traitors who have
control in this State will not allow this to be
done Gov. Worth is bitterly opposed to it,
and all his supporters and friends are OPP
posed to it. By the way, if this amendment
should finally be adopted, and become part
of the federal Constitution, Gov. Worth aud
his friends will soon he seen with hat in
hand before Congress, and with their mouths
in the dust, begging that body to relieve
them of their disability and allow them to
hold office. We call the attention of the
Chs0niele to this. We hope that journal will
remember it, and will aid US, when the time
arrives, in exposing these hypocrites and
traitors to the Congress in their true colors.


There are some Union men among us who
are opposed to this amendment, because it
places secessionists and Unionists on the
same ground. There is force in this, but,
after all, Congress will do justice. 1t win
not be difficult to induce that body to relieve
the great body of our Union friends, while
the pressure" will be kept on those restless,
malignant, and traitorous spirits who are
preventing restoration, and who, if they
could see their way clearly, would plunge
our people again into the horrors of civil
war.


Our people really desire to return to the
Union, but they are powerless hand
and foot. The oligarchs and traitors have
complete control of the State government
They have The railroads, the banks, the cor
porations of all kinds The people have but
few mails, and thus very little information
reaches them. The Union people are de-
pressed and cowed, and their leaders for the
most part are in the same condition. Devo-
ton to the Confederacy is the passport to
Office, to success in business, and to respect
ability generally; while devotion to the
Union brings losses in business, loss of office,
loss of social standing, and is met every
where by these ruling oligarchs with the
sneer of scorn So far from accepting the
proposed constitutional amendment, these
leaders will not even carry out the Presidents
plan, mild, liberal, and generous as it is
They spit upon it. They are mastering their
forces to defeat the State Constitution, to be
submitted to the people to-day. We learn
from various sections of the State that they
openly declare they have no respect for
Johnson'sn and "Holden's" Constitution
that they owe no obedience to the ordinances
of the Convention-that these ordinances, be-
ing the result of dcspotic usurpation" on the
part of the President, are null and void, and
therefore slavery has not been abolished, nor
secession branded as treason, nor the rebel
debt repudiated, nor indeed any thinsaas=As
under the orders of the President to restore
the State to the Union.


We tell the Chronicle that these leaders are
looking fer and desiring a civil war among
the people of the North, in the hope that, in
the confusion that would follow, and with
probable foreign intervention, they would
have an opportunity to strike for and estab.
lish the independence OF the Southern States.
This is their great hope, and this is the main
secret of their conduct.


What is wanted to aid our Union people,
to put them on their feet again, to place
the government in loyal hands, and to teach


malcontents and traitors that they must take
back seats, is the strong hand of the govern
ment of the United States This strong
hand would be extended and would be felt.
if the President would require these States.
in peremptory terms, to carry out his plan in
good faith; or if the proposed constitutional


amendment could be adopted, which would


enable the Congress to keep traitors under


the ban while it relieved the true and loyal


So far as we are concerned, our lot is cast
!, and fixed unalterably with the Union men