smithclay/nortonstories huggingface dataset:
Year: 1872

TODAY week the people of North Caro-
lima will be called upon to meet great
crisis in their fortunes.


We hold our fate in our own hands, and
can make or mar our destiny at will, but,
to use homely phrase, "as we make
our bed so must we lie upon it.''


We know the issues presented to rs,
and we know the men who are claiming
office and honor at our hands.


He who runs may read that the election
OF MerrimOn guarantees the restoration OF
civil government, peace and reconciliation,
and that the election of Caldwell guaran-
tees continuance of arbitrary bayonet
rule and despotism OIL the part of both
State and Federal governments.


Never did people have greater in
ducement to give expression to their wishes
III regard to the conduct aud policy of their
government.


There is clear white majority of more
than fifty-fiVe thousand voters in North
Carolina. Nine-tenthS of the white peonle
belong TO the Conservative party. The
power to select the next Governor of the
State rests, therefore, with the white
people. Is it their purpose TO exercise
that power, or will they delegate it to the
carpet -baggers and scallawags who contro
the colored people?


Upon the decision of this question de
pends the fate of North Carolina!
Year: 1872

Encouraging reports reach us from this
gallant old county.


Ashes influence is, deservedly, very
great. The full Conservative vote will be
polled for him, and we are assured that
the entire county ticket, Notwithstanding
some little local dissatisfaction, will he
elected.


The many friends of Judge Merrimon
regret that he conld not visit the county
previous to the election; yet The ''Pee Dee
Country" will do all that can be done.
Year: 1872

A valuable Democratic exchange
from New York City gives the follow
ing inklings which show where our
National Government is drifting to
under the present Grant dynasty and
the rule of the mis-called Republican
party. We commend these facts to
the most considerate attention of the
American people. They are as follows:


"It should be we'll remembered and
the remembrance should take action in
the coming struggle between Ameri-
can despotism and American liberty,
that tool of Grant, Mr.. Conkling, a
Senator of the United States, misrep-
resenting the free and sovereign State
of New York, during the debate in the
Senate on the French arms outrage,
offered resolution which if passed
would stop all inquiry into the crimes
of the Administration, unless the in
dependent Republican and Democratic
Senators are prepared to inaugurate a
physical revolution. Mr.. Conklings
resolution threatens Sumner and
Schurz and all the Legislative oppC-
nents of Grant, aciM the dungeon.-
We do not exaggerate, but by refer
ring to Tuesdays debate in the Senate,
this extraordinary fact stands promin
ent Mr. Schurz in speaking Of it
said, why, sir did not know that
the Administration was in such a des-
perate condition as that. They are
developing very fast; how long will it
be until you cannot even get up testi-
mony against Leet and Stocking, the
the knights of the general order,
without having some statute dug up
that will fine and imprison you for it Z?


During the investigation of the
Custom.house commistee, the fact of
handouts being used to extort money
by the officers of Government was
brought to light, and now in the Sen
ate chamber of the United States, a
Senator threatens a colleague with the
dungeon for asserting his right to
probe the corruption of the Govern
ment


On what times have we fallen, and
if such things be only threatened now,
upon the eve Of an election, what may
we not look for when these tyrants are
firmly established in their unholy pos
session Of power?


Is this free people Or are the
Southern Rebels to be the only heroes
Of modern liberty, heroes as well as
martyrs ?"
Year: 1872

The extreme sensitiveness, that is
so prevalent, in every community, in
reference to new ideas and changes, is
so incompatible with our democratic
republic, and civil and religious insti-
tutions, that few crude thoughts may
be of use to some unprejudiced minds.
There is no difference of opinion in
reference to the power of the press,
for good Or evil, nor the necessity Of
such an instrumentality for guarding,
aiding, and improving our religion,
politics, and social fabric. If these
premises are correct, the duty of the
press should be freedom, open to all,
biased by no monied, power party, or
religious sect, Welcome the rich
and poor, white and black, color Of
all shades, and SEX. without distinc-
ton. There is no person nor party
that has all good, and truth neither
is there party or religious society
is totally all wrong, and did we
know our ignorance and needs, as
well as some Of our neighbors do,
how much sorrow and suffering could
be exchanged into health and content
ment through the legitimate channel
the press-through its weekly visits.
Can any one question the right Of ey-
cry person that is loyal, to advise, and
assist in carrying out and improving
our political social and religious insti
tuition. Admit this, and you can't
deny the lawful right Of every person
that supports this government and is
amenable to its laws, to he heard
through the press And did we m-
derstand our strength and influence
as we ought, no press could live that
was shackled in any way.


NATHANIEL RANDALL
Year: 1872

The address of Bishop Whipple
at the grave of General Meade was
very impressive. In the course of
his remarks, he said:


81 have not come to bear tributes
of respect to this great soldier who
is dead. The city, the State the ma
tion-all have none this. Until
longest time shall last, among the
names which are inwrought in our
country's history, his name will be
a household word. l stand by the
grave of the one 1 loved, and my
thoughts are of that great One whom
he leaned as he went down into the
dark valley, and Of the land of beau
ty which is afar off.


How poor are the words of praise
of the sleeping dead! Far sweeter
is the voice from Heaven: BLESSED
are the dead who die in the Lord;'
and to know that he whom we loved
so we'll, when his hands were un-
clasped from earthly things, could
say, with the intuition of the bless
ed: " The Lord is my shepherd,
therefore can 1 not want. Though
l walk through the valley of the
shadow of death, l will fea: no evil"


During our late civil war, in the
darkest days, l happened to be in
Washington, and l received a tele-
gram from our brother, asking me
to come to his camp and celebrate
the Easter communion. 1t was
a strange place for Easter flowers,
and Easter songs, and the Easter
story of the Resurrection; but |
don't recall q service more redolent
of the peace of Heaven. Many of
the bronzed men that knelt that day
at the Lords table, like him who is
lying here, are sleeping with the
dead. Others are scattered afar in
this busy world. I knew that day
that we, too, had centurions who
feared God and prayed alway.


"Death came to him hardly with
the sound of football. There were
a few days that his friends waited
upon medical skill, but his thoughts
were in the land whittier he was GO
ing. The tears of penitence and the
look of faith were blent in dying
prayers. He asked his pastor for
the Communion, and he gathered by
the Lords table mama for the last
journey. And so he fell asleep, in
the blessed sleep.


The country needs men-not men
that curse and swear, not men who
cheat and lie, not men who never
pay any act of worship but ut the
dram shop; but men that beliasai in
God, and are ashamed to sin, men
that can show us how to live, and,
if need be, show US how to die. II
we thus live-fearing God, and liv-
ing in holy obedience to His law
it will matter little when death shall
come, for though we shall go to lie
down in the quiet churchyard, they
that have lived and loved here to-
gether will soon be together.
Year: 1872

Embroidered silk costumes are
very fashionable this Fall, the over
skirt and underskirt being COM
pletely covered with the finest en-
broidery done by hand. These cos
tunes are very rich and stylish,
suitable for the street, as well as for
dinner or reception dress.
Year: 1872

FEMALE FREEDOM IN UTAH.--The man
who attends to the Mormon department
of the St. Louis Republican is laboring
under severe bilious attack caused by
an editorial in an Eastern paper concern
Ing the "Downtrodden condition of the
women of Utah." Having sufficiently


'sat down" on the journal in question,
individually he addresses himself to COM
munity In general as follows: ...Now,
the world should know thai in Utah
woman holds in her hand the ballot, that
bshe Is eligible to every office, that she
may plead her own cause before a high
court, and if her husband ill-treats her she
may prosecute him; that one-half of all
his earnings Is hers; that she il his abso-
Lutte superior; that she may cit on iuries
and find him guilty of bigamy, cruelty to
her, neglect Of his children, or other crime
and that she, under the fearful despo-
tism' of Utah, can be her own law execu-
tor and judicial expounder. What more
power do the women Of Utah want to en-
able them to throw off the burden of
mans yoke? They make their own laws,
select their own officers, are their own
lawyers and judges, they own one-half OF
their husbands property and all of their
own" Now we are willing to try hard to
believe the writer, he seems so earnest
about it, but we can hardly understand
one thing--and that is, when a man has
hall dozen wives, how in addition to
holding all their own property, each can
own half that of her husband. Either
they use different arithmetic in Utah or
there is mistake somewhere. asv
One of the most remarkable instances
OF the maintenance of ''good spirits" In
misfortune is given by the Hartford Even
ing Post. About six o'clock this (Satrr-
day. morning man going up the track
Of the Hartford and New Haven road. lust
this side of the Windsor station, saw lying
near by boot. 1t didn't look just right,
and he made a closer inspection and he
found the boot filed with q human foot
and portion of human leg. On max
ing this discovery he at once commenced
search for the owner Of the boot and leg,
and found him in the person Of George H.
Fielding, who lay on bank by the side
of the track some yards from where the
boot and leg were found. Strange to say,
he was alive and conscious, and still more
strange he was in irst-rate spirits. Help
was summoned and he was taken up,
placed in carriage and conveyed to the
factory near by, where surgeons attended
him. He rode over to the factory holding
his boot and portion of his leg in his
hands, and didn't appear to be much
troubled by the fact that there was q
bloody chasm between the knee and the
top of the boot. 1t is supposed that he
was very much intoxicated, and while in
that condition lay upon the track and was
run over by the midnight train. after
which he crawled off up the bank and lay
till morning. He has a wife and several
children
Year: 1872




The emigration movement which has
assumed such considerable proportions
IN Germany, especially in Mecklenburg
and certain parts of East Prussia, has
been the subject of brief debate IN
the German Parliament Alarm has
been excited in the official breast, and
also among the inhabitants, as appears
from a petition presented recently from
the dwellers in the deserted districts


who have preferred to remain at home.
| AS remedy for the evil, the petitioners


suggest the peremptory suppression OF


the emigration agencies, which they re-


gard as the root of the disease. In the
course of the debate on the subject, one


deputy remarked that the emigrants
are not mainly Of the poorer classes,
but consist largely of small


proprietors, grown hopeless of prosper
TWIN their own land, and drew the


conclusion that there was something
rotten in the state of " the new and SO


splendid German Empire. Another


orator, of the feudalist party, laid the


whole blame, like the petitioners, on
the irresistible Establishments of the


emigration agents. He mentioned the


case of one district containing about


so. 900 inhabitants, of whom 1,500 have


emigrated during the current spring,
| and the movement is still going on at
the rate of from 800 to 400 a fortnight.
The company of Landwehr of the dis
t1ict had lost by this means half of its
men. The emigrants leave the old men
and the infrm in the village, and those
unable to provide for their own sup
port become a charge on the public
funds. I. .fr .a Ga. @ q
Year: 1872

If, framed by the power of some ma gicspen


From the CLINT of the golden sun,
palace should rise, and a voice should tell


That the house had ordered was done,-
II Its ITS ruby-paved halls should resound to the tread
with III sue so1I PIapplest a spirits that be-


~ Sns soul p by the richest of harmony fed,
,r,:a ana beauty in all could see:
with splendor like this vor11d willingly mart
~ II merely some power from above
| would give me again and forever nv bearf
AS II Was when first captive to love
remember distinctly how golden the glow
VI the sunbe ms that played with the stream.
How every hour passed with rvthmical foyy
And every slight thought was draar,
And the Jubnant tide of the moments that fed
Was as perfect as heavenly rhyme.
As though it had flowed over an emerald bod
From the musical fountain of time
My palace beiit in the clouds as thew rolled
! Through the great arch of ether above
And the ground that t1Od seemed all covered with


gold,


wnen [ felt the FIRST magic of love.
Now I scorn not to tell of the beautiful eyes


Of the maiden who made me her slave
For in their bright depths were reflected the Skies


And the uIt,amarine of the wave
And he- smile SWEEP as the nature she owned,


And her voice divine music to me-
All, fanced ner song with the angels intoned,


From the stars to the depths of the sea
Twas the love of a boy that just opened the gate


Where only good angels go in,
And the wlliIn of girl tha turned loving to hate,


And soul that was spotless, to sin.
Year: 1872

bill to Arkansas was concurred IN. ACoa -e1 erce
report on the Ohio bridge bill agreed to. In the
midst of much confusion and pressure on the part
of the members to get the recognition of the Speak
er, the hour OF adjournment being about to arrive


resolution o. thanks to the Speaker was offere by
Mr.. Randall and adopted unanimously, for the able
prompt and impartial manner in which he had dis
charged his duties. Then the Speaker at 9 p NJ
declared the House adjourned for the second ses-
sion of the 42d Congress.
Year: 1872

The GAINESVILLE Tobacco Leaf de


fines the issue between the people


of Tennessee and Andrew Johnson


in the following pointed manner


1--WE are opposed to Johnson be-


cause his election would be an en-


dorsement of bis course in the


war. We arc willing enough that


Andrcw johnson shall think he is


right and the people of Tenn, wrong,


and that he shall say go. We shall


never quarrel with him on that
point; but when he proposes that


we shall admit that we were wrong
and he right, then we do most Sc
riously protest that he has stepped
far beyond anything that can be
required OF Us, and especially far
beyond anything we are going to
do. AndraW 10hnson, in 1869,
proposed his GrecneviIle resolutions
which demanded a distinct reDun.
citation of the doctrines of secession
as q heresy. There was no issue
of that kind made, there was no
necessity for such issue. Secession
was too dead an issue to set uD Just
for the purpose of knocking it
down. The people, true to their
instinct, declined to stultify them
selves by platform based on q
dead issue, rcsurrccted by Andrew
Johnson. They saw at once the
trick Of Johnson TO haze them place
themselves in the wrong that his
record might have their endorse
ment. He came 10 Nashville and /
was known TO be there for the pur-
pose Of having his platform put
through, while his warm supporter,
The Union and American, warmly /
the cause of his resolu /
lions. johnson denounced the
and went home very
much cnagrined that his resolutions .
lad not been adopted. Johnson
1as made the issue so distinctly to
urn upon a personal endorsement
IF himself that lie could not now
1e elected to Congress without an
of his course and q
declaration that our own was
wrong"
Year: 1872

The Montgomery Advance tells
the following of a gentleman of
that city who recently joined the
sons of Temperance Alter be-
coming a ''son" he went to Mobile
on business, and was taken i'll
there. A physician was called in'
and prescribed brandy. Our hero
told HIM be could not take it. The
doctor insisted that it was a prop
er remedy; but the patient told
him he would not take it. Tho
doctor said he must or he would
have spasms. "Well said our Good
Templar, "I will try a couple of
spasms first" He has recovered
and is doing we'll and he says be
wouldn't take any if rattle snake
was to bite him. We glory in his
spunk.
Year: 1872

A Mississippi girl just out of
school, hired few negroes last
season and undertook to carry on
the farm at her homestead. The
results at the end of the year were
eight bins of potatoes, six hundred
bushels of corn and nine hundred
and sixty-nine dollars in cash from
the sale of cotton after all expenses
were maid.
Year: 1872

Some one has said a young
mother is the most beautiful thing
in nature. Why qualify it? Are
not all mothers beautiful? The
sentimental outside beholder may
prefer youth in the pretty picture,
but | am inclined 70 thing that
sons and daughters, who are most
intimately concerned in the mat
ter, love and admire their mothers
most when they are Old. How
suggestive Of something, holy and
venerable it is whena person talks
Of his dear mother ?' Away with
your mincins "mamma- sugges-
tive only OF fine lady, who de-
Fule es her duty to q nurse, "a draw
ing parent who is afraid to handle
her offspring for fear of soiling her
fine new gown. Give me the home
ly mother the arms of whose love
are all cEn nbracing, who is beautiful
always, whether old or young.
whether arrayed in satin or modest
ly habitated in bonn bazincs.
Year: 1872




was undoubtedly the last man to feel the
indecency ofhis conduct. Regarding the
presidency as an accommodation to him,
and its appendages as q sort of personal
property, he did not see why he should
not increase his own comfort with the
Offices of the Republic. Likewise did
it not strike him as scandalous to re-
ward men who had given him valuable
presents with high and responsible
dig mites. lie simply liked to please
those who had pleased him. That was
all. He found it unreasonable, there
fore, that, in the qualification Of that
desire the opinions of others should
stand in his way. He surely believed
that fault finders were meddling with
things which belonged to him and
were no business of theirs. Neither
did he find it reasonable that the man
to whom the Presidency had been
given as a reward should be hampered
by legal distractions, and when he
found an old aud wise statute standing
in the way of the appointment of his
Secretary of the Treasury, and the
Tenure-of, Oflise act troubled him in
distributing the patronage, he simply
said to Congress" just repeal me
these laws" That the repeal of such
laws might lead to very mischievous
consequences, troubled him little.
They stood in his way, and that was
enough for him. Soon after his ac
cession to power, he gave his mind,
not TO the great problems the solution
of which the people so anxiously looked
for, but to project of his own-the
acquisition Of Santo Domingo. A sub
ject of such Importance as the incorpo>
ration with our political system of u
tropical country with an utterly hete>
rogcneous people, called for the most
careful aud earnest consideration. 1t
is believed that the Secretary of
State did not favor the scheme,
and the State Department whose Office
it is TO conduct all the diplomatic
affairs of the Government was uncer>
enormously set aside. The President
commenced personal negotiation with
I5aez, the ruler OF Santo Domingo,
which he intrusted to one Of his young
aides de camp, whose zeal he had rea
son to believe equal to his own. The
extraordinary character of this pro
ceeding did not trouble him. lie
wanted to have the thing done and
to do it, an aide-de~camp was better than
Secretary of State. The aide de-
camp made sort ofa personal treaty
between The two potentates, in which
the President was pledged to proptiate
the favor of Congress for the scheme of
the lobby influence. This disgraceful
engagement would have revolted the
sensibilities of any President having
the dignity of his high Office and the
honor Of the nation at heart. But
President Grant was so far from disap
proving of it that, instead of marking
that aide-de>camp with his displeasure
he continued to employ him in conf
Dental missions for the same object
Nay in compliance with the stipulation'
of agreement, he actually did descend
to the role of lobbyist. | have sect
him in that capacity myself. Hov
could q President lower himself so far


Why, if nobody else wanted Sant'
Domingo, he does: he employed th'
means most congenial to his practiea
mind.


| TIE WAR POWER USURpED.
Year: 1872

When Twas honored with seat in the
Senate of the United States | expected
to support the Administration which
then came into power The tasks it
was called to performed were of unu-
sual Importance. The civil war was
over. It's logical results, the abolition OF
Slavery and the organization of free
labor society in the South, were just
being reduced to political form and i'm
bedded in the Constitution Of the Re


public. It remained to fortify those
results by reconciling to them the
minds of the Southern people, SO that
their development could be Sc
eurely lett to the working of local self
government instead of the rule Of
force To this end wise and gcner>
Gus policy, appealing to the best
instincts of human nature, was required
to assauge the passions and animosities,
the war had left behind it, and to make
those who had been overcome in the
conflict of arms as much as possible
satisfied with the new order Of things.
During period of great public danger
the constitutional restrictions of power
had not unfrcqueDtly yielded to
commanding necessity. The law had
been overridden by the exigencies of
the moment and the people had become
accustomed to government of force.
It was necessary to restore the integrity
of the law and make it respected by
the governing party as well as those
who were governed. Great abuses had
crept into the public service, aggravated
by the practices of warlike times. The
public interest imperatively demanded
thorough reform. The people were
loaded down with enormous burdens,
and, while willing to bear all for their
country, they looked for reasonable
relief through sound financial policy.
THE ADMINISTRATIONS ExTRAoRDI-
NARY OPPORTUNITIES AND EXrRAoR-


t.~ BINARY FAILURES.


While these problems were uncom-
monty perplexing, the incoming
Administration was favored with
exit aordinary opportunities. The ruling
party had welded almost undisputed
power. 1t had great history behind
it from, which it might have drawn a
noble Inspiration for new efforts, aiming
at something higher than selfish advan-
tage. It. had conquered under the
banner OF peace. There was an
abundance of character and talent ir
its ranks to fit it for the work of reform
The newly elected President had the
confidence of the country in advance
The masses of the people were wei
disposed, The greatness of the tasl
to be performed, as we'll as of th'
possibilities presented, could scarcel,
fail to excite the .noblest ambition A
success great enough. to be the envy o
the world was within reach. 1t diC
not require very great men to see an
appreciate such opportunities, but
requifed what | might call the geniu
of smallness to lose them all. Nor
than.ihree years of that Administratio
are now behind as part of the lie
public, and WHAT has come of ou
hopes2 A disappointment whlc


makes fufther hope appear lik


mockery. This Administration, whic|
commenced its career under such happ


auspices, has in SO alarming degre


developed some of the very Wors