Year: 1876

ZION It1ates W HuuiCipai COI poIhhiOi
that is to say, to our county, town and
city governments The amendment
proposed to this article of the Consti-
tuition is n very important and a very
sweeping one, in that it places the
power over these several governments
once m ore 10 the hands of the people.
The amendment is in these words:


"1'he General Assembly shall have
fnll power by statute to modify.
change or abrogate any aud all of the
provisions of this article and substi
tute others iii their place. except sec
tions seven, nine aud thirteen.


Section Z, referred to above, forbid-
any county or town from contracting
any debt or levying any tax except FER
necessary expenses, unless it be done
by cote of IL ma iority Of theqnaiifi fled
voters therein. Section requires al
taxation 10 he uniform anl al ca
iDyfnl Section II forbi.ls the payment
of any war debt.


As u" one de ired the Legislature to
do any of the things forbidden In the
restrictions imposed upon its power by
the above sections, tic Convention
wisely left them untouched.


The effect of the proposed amend
rnnnt it will be seen is tn give the leg
ielature the entiro coatrol Of the
comfy s,nveri ments and the election
OF Jnsticrs of .he Peace; that is, the
General Assembly may continue them
"a they are now, or change them as
they may be instructed by the peO-
pie. IT. will hHve the power to abolish
many uselees offices and save to the
people large sums of money now paid as
salaries to the men who fill them and
above all it will be empowered to pro
vide that we who live under negro
rule may once more enjoy the bless
ings Of honest intelligent government.


The importance Of tnis amendment,
we repeat, arises from the power it
crnfers upon the Legislature to abol-
ish the present system of county and
township governments, and to substi-
tute another therefor. The Leglsla
ture had the same power under the
old Constitution, the one that was the
liandiwork of on, fathers, and so have
now the Legislatures of majority of
the States in the Union. No harm, but
great good came of it in the past and
the same will be the case In the future.


The power conferred by this amend.
ment goes SO far as to enable the Leg
islature to establish one system of
county government in one county and
a different one in another, as the ne
cessities of the case may require, and
in this way if no other, will enable the
Legislature to free us from negro rule.


Townships and their governments
are also put in the power of the Legis-
lature by this amendment and will
doubtless be speedily stripped of their
unnecessary power of taxation. The
people are taxed enough already for
unavoidable State and county purposes
without having the additional burden
of township tax laid upon them. If
the amendments shall be ratified it
will be safe to say that there will never
be another township tax levied OR coll
Iected. This township system is and
has been exceedingly odious to the
people of North Carolina. Indeed
there can scarcely be found an intelli-
gent man in the State who is in favor
Of the present township system, pre-
cisely as it stands in the Candy Con
stitution, who is not also directly inter-
ested in its perpetuation as an office
holder or from some other selfish mo-
tive.


Magistrates too, as to their appoint
ment, come under the control of the
legislature by virtue of this amend
ment. If the amendments shall be
ratified We venture TO say the days will
not be long in the land when white
men will have to pull off their hats in
negro magistrates courts. White
people do not want negro magistrates,
they do not want negro judges, and
there is no use to try to disguise the
fact. Our very natures as we'll as our
skins will have to change before it will
be otherwise. We do not desire to
in any way but we certainly do not
wish him to sit in Judgment upon our
lives, our liberties, or our property.


The amendment proposed by the
Convention to this article of the Con
stitution bears out in a striking man.
ner the assertion that the object of
the Democratic members of the Con-
ventiOn was to restore their rightful
power to the people and to secure an
economical expenditure of their money;
and most admirably did they succeed,
when it is remembered how great and
how frequent Instructions were thrown
in their way by Radical delegates. If
the amendments shall be ratified the
Constitution will then be in a bearable
shape inasmuch as everything can
then bo done with the consent of the
people, while without that consent
nothing can be done.


The amendments distinctly recog-
nize that the will of the people shall
be ascertained and not only ascertained
but obeyed in framing the Constitu-
ton md laws of North Carolina Many
men doubtless laugh at the idea of
caring for "the will of the people,"
but if these amendments shall be rati-
fed that same "will of the people"
will once more become power in the
land.


GOVERNOR TILDEN'S LETTER OF


ACCEPTANCE.


ALBANY, July 31st, 1876.