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UNION MEETING IN RALEIGH ALPEED DOCKERY, of .Richmond Nominated for Governor. Strong: Union Xtesolvx tions Adopted. Tor the Standard. UNION MEETING IN RALEIGH. At n mwHnr held in Raleigh, on Thurs Axr fifnrpmhr 20th. 1806. on motion of r Ti Tlinmna "Ran nf f!raveil County. Hon, W. W. Holden was called to tbo Chair, and on motion of R. F. Lehman, Esq. or raveii, U W T nrran f TJntllArfoiN I. BnU V . U. Doughty, of Carteret, were appointed bee The Chairman explained the object of the meeting in an appropriate manner. On motion, the Chairman appointed the following gentlemen a committee to prepare resolutions ior me auuun ...-.-e, . C. R. Thomas and R F. Lehman, of Craven. D. A. Jenkins, ot uaston. E. T. Blair, of Randolph. John Robinson, of Wayne. Henderson A. Hodge, of "Wake. J. B. McMurray, of Alamance. N. Chandler, of Davidson. J. C. L. Harris, of Rutherford. Jesse Green, of Davie. - W. C. Gunter, of Chatham. The committee retired and after due dehb eration, reported through their Chairman, Mr. Thomas, the following resolutions, which were unanimously adopted : The Union State Mass Meeting assembled in the city of Raleigh, the BUtli day 01 sep timber. 1866. for the purpose of maintaining and preserving the organization of the Union party, to the end that the State government ot JN ortn-L;aroirna may ue mi buiuuiiu,icu as to secure the restoration and perpetuation of the rights, privileges and immunities or the people thereof, and their form of gov ernment in harmony with the National Gov ernment grateful for the preservation of that sentiment oi nationality wuicn is me shield of the Constitution and the sure guar antee of Republican form of government, do, with a sincere desire for reconciliation, for giveness and charity among all classes of American people, wno were eituer engageu, or involved in the late civil war, resolve 1. That only those men, without regard to their antecedents, who are " unmistaka bly loyal " to the government of the United States, should be appointed or elected by the people of North-Carolina to any office, or place of trust or profit. 2. That, in order to secure the re-establishment of the State in the Federal Union ; the speedy restoration of all rights, privi leges and immunities of her loyal citizens, and the final adjustment of the governmen tal relations of her whole people in harmony with the National Government, the amend ment proposed by the present Congress, as article 14, to the Constitution of the United States, as a condition precedent to these ends, should be accepted and ratified by the General Assembly of North-Carolina. 3. That, having full confidence in the jus tice and magnanimity of Congress that upon the ratification of said proposed amendment the disability to hold, or to be eligible to office imposed therein, will be, in every proper case, removed without discrimination as to any class or party of our fellow-citizens on account of their antecedents, and that the State of North-Carolina will be forthwith re-admitted to the Union, we would respect fully urge upon our whole people to con sider, and demand that the same be ratified by their representatives in the next General Assembly. 4. That in the present anomalous state of the country, without any provisions con tained in our written Constitutions, either State or National, or precedents in American history to guide us safely in the great work of restoring the relations of a State govern ment ruptured by civil -war in harmony with the National Government, we desire and now stand ready to co-operate, without obstinate adherence to any special plan or policy ot restoration, in any further action that in the wisdom of Congress and the Executive may be deemed necessary to guarantee to the State of North-Carolina a Republican torm ot government, and restore the Union. 5. That we profoundly regret the defec tion of Gov. Worth from the Union cause, his proscription for opinion's sake of Union men from office, and the injurious influence which the prominent instigators and actors in the rebellion are exerting over him in his official conduct. We cannot hope that the State will be restored to the Union under his auspices ; and, as we prefer principles to men, and believe the restoration of the Uni on to be more important and more vital to the best interests of the State than every thing else, we feel it to be our duty firmly to oppose his re-election. 6. That having full confidence in the pa triotism, ability, and sterling Unionism of Gen. Alfred Dockert, of the County of Richmond, we hereby unanimously recom mend him to the people of North-Carolina, as a suitable person to be chosen Governor at the election, to be held on the 18th of October next. Gen. Dockery is well known as a firm and unflinching Union man. He lias had no connection with the causes that led to our present unhappy condition, and he has been true to the Union cause. His interests as s farmer are identified with those of the great body of our people. His election in the present crisis would be a for tunate circumstance for the people of the State, and would do much with the loyal People of the North, in rnipn t.ho wor fnw our return to the Union. Letters were read from Lewis Thompson, Esq., Robert P. Dick, Esq., and other distin guished Unionists, approving the object of the meeting and expressing a warm prefer ence for ALFRED DOCKERY for Governor. On motion of Jas: F. Taylor, Esq., of Wake a committee of three was appointed to act in conjunction with the officers of the meet ing in informing Gen. Dockery of his nomi nation. Whereupon the Chair appointed James F. Taylor, H. J. Menrdnger, and E. T. Blair. On motion, it was Besolved, That the Chairman appoint a State Committee of fifteen, to aid in promo ting the Union cause in the State. Under this resolution the Chair appointed the following gentlemen : Lewis Thompson, of Bertie. David M. Carter, of Beaufort. ' Tlr Pnmmn n r - "souo uHssuiD, oi ijrranvuie. C. R Thomas, of Craven. O. H. Dockerv. of Riehm nnrl E. L. Pemberton, of Cumberland Thomas Settle, of Rockingham. Robert P. Dick, of Guilford. Calvin J. Cowles, of Wilkes. Tod R Caldwell, of Burke. R. M. Henry, of Macon. A. H. Jones, of Henderson. L. L. Stewart, of Buncombe. W. Logan, of Rutherford. Dr. "W fii On motion, it was Besotted, That the Chairman of this meet- j 6 "c "SHueatea to turmsh a copy ot nis ad dress to bepublishedwith these proceedings ; and that the Raleigh Standard, Newbern Mmf, Charlotte Democrat. People's Press, Henderson Pioneer, and Rutherford Star be respectfully requested to publish the pro ceedings and address. On jnotioB, it was requested that R. W. Logan, one of the Secretaries of this meet ing, proceed tp.Richmond County ta inform vjcli. jount:iy yi iub nomination. On motion, the thanks of the meeting i -i n J a.1 O were wnaereu uj tue vjnairman and Secreta ';.ries,:and then on motion the - meeting ad journed. W. W. HOLDEN, CKm. W. J. Doughty, ) M . R. W. Logan, Secretaries. The President's Plan Considered. The Proposed . Constitatioial AniendmeMt plained, and its adoption urged. tx THE UNION THE PARAMOUNT GOOD! To the People of North-Carolina.' FnT.T.OW-ClTIZENS : When the conflict of arms had ceased in 1. . a. KtotAa the President of the tt:wi stntpa nnuomted Provisional uov ernors, charged with the duty of organizing new governments for the States, mis indispensable, as the rebellion in its progress . . V Ct.,fno nf fill O.lVll ffOV- uaauepiiveu uiot uw.vw - -- - -- S . ernment. The States remained, but their l.orl rnnsed to exist. 1 hese . .itf-fl under instructions, some times given by the President himself, and sometimes by the Secretary ot State for i,: .i ;n liia nimr but thev were also Jllill CIIVA . . .- 1 - i-ki lamp discretionary powers. Thev were authorized to call Conventions of the loyal people, ami tiius eu " sumc the functions of self-government; and M hn.lv nftho neonle had, by re- ua vim t;" "J 4 . ., ku;., forfeited their political privileges. i3.'c,viont. issued a proclamation in which all, with certain exceptions, were offered par don, provided tney wouiu. taivo an u.x ,.,.J.Art thA Constitution of the United States and the Union of the States thereun der and also former proclamations emanci- nitinir the slaves. This offer of pardon ap peared to be generally and clieeriully ac The oreat body of the insurgents, including nearly all of those who were but a short time previously in arms against me u authority were thus generously par doned, and remitted to the exercise of their full privileges as American uuu, nrecaution during the formation of the new governments, martial law was maintained, to preserve the peace, and to dispose of such offences as could not, under the circumstances, be reached by the iT,ii law After a furious storm there o "t -.nlm After four years of exhausting war we had peace. Every citi zen seemed to submit cheerfully to the new condition of things, and the hope was gen eral that the States would soon be restored to the Union. In this State, in the space of three months, the Provisional Governor appointed some four thousand officers; the amnesty oath was administered to not less than sixty thousand citizens; an election was held for delegates to a Convention which assembled for the purpose of altering and amending the State Constitution, and of presenting "such are publican form of government as would en title the State to the guarantee of the United States therefor, and her people to protec tion against invasion, insurrection, and do mestic violence." The Convention, after pas sing such ordinances as were deemed necessa ry, "adjourned. A Governor and a Legislature were then elected. The Provisional Gov ernor was relieved, and the new civil Gov ernor entered on his duties. Senators and representatives to Congress were chosen. The Convention re-assembled pursuant to adiournment, made further alterations and amendments to the Constiution, and then, divesting themselves of their powers, return ed to mingle with the great body of their fellow-citizens. : Here, then, was a State, with a govern ment newly made by the voluntary action of its citizens, and prepared, as many thought, to be admitted to the great family of States. The forms were all there, but the proper spirit' was wanting. Five years be fore, the representatives oi tins oiaie uau ne liberatelv. in their own time and way, walk ed out of the common Congress to engage in rebellion against' the national authority ; and it was not to be expected that representa tives could return from this State to the Con gress on their own terms and in their own . , . i i t i . i .i . way. rue iresiuent nau jiisii uiieu iue Governor, and had told the people of the State, that a spirit ot sincere loyalty was the chief requisite in the work of organization. He warned them that those wno naa oeen conspicuous as rebels wno naa ueiiuercueiy involved tue people in war, or wno, Deing in, had persistently closed their ears to all overtures of peace should not be prominent in the work of restoration, but must "take back seats ' until the wonc was accomplished. He told them that their members elect to Congress ought to be per sons who could comply with any existing constitutional or legal test. He told them that the work performed by the Provisional Governor, in accordance with his instruc tions, that in all appointments to office " those persons who had never faltered in their allegiance to the government"' should be preferred, had his unqualified approval ; that treason must be made odious, and loy alty must be encouraged and rewarded ; that the State could not expect to be restor ed to the Union until her people had " wash ed their hands of every thing that partook in the slightest degree of the rebellion ;" and that any material variation from these views and these instructions would mos t probably prove "fatal" to the admission of the State. I undertake to say, and will prove, that the public men of North-Carolina, who now control her affairs, acting for and in the name of her people, have not even carried out the plan of President Johnson, mild and generous as it is. The Piovisional Governor left some four thousand loyal persons in office. These per sons were appointed under the direction of the President, and the appointments were ap proved by him. With few exceptions, all of them that could be reached by the Gov ernor and the Legislature have been ejected from office, and persons less loyal have been appointed in their place. It is not pretend ed that the public service has been benefitted by the change. Those ejected are in no re spect inferior in ability or fitness to those who have succeeded them. We are obliged to conclude, therefore, that these removals were made to reward secession partizans, who are less loyal to the government than the former incumbents. I know they were made in opposition to the President's wish es, if not in contempt of his authority. These appointments constituted a very important part of the work of restoration. It was the wish of the President that this work should be maintained intact until the State was re stored. Indeed, it was indispensable, in hi3 judgment, to the restoration of the State, for he has repeatedly declared that the most loy al of our people should alone take part in this w.rk, and that "every opportunity should be made available to encourage and strengthen to the fullest extent those who have never faltered in their allegiance to the government." In the recent appointments in the place of loyal men thus summarily ejected without good cause, a directly oppo site rule seems to have been adopted. No opportunity has been lost by the present State Executive to encourage and strengthen those who have not only faltered in their allegiance to the government, but special care has been taken to fill the offices with persons, and among them unpardoned persons, who were conspicuous in the rebellion, who have thus far given no substantial evidence that they have repented of their treason, and who, so far as the country is informed, are not dis posed to cherish or inculcate national senti ments. It Beems to me, that an Execu tive who was really devoted to the Presi dent's plan, and anxious for its success, would have cherished it with care, would have preserved it in all its material and vi tal parts, and would have touched it only with view to improve it in accordance with the . well-known and oft-repeated views of its author. I can account for the course of our present State Executive in this respect only on two grounds: Either he is opposed to the President's plan, and does not wish it success ; or, if he is for it, his disposition to reward his partizans who are clamoring for placey ia stronger than those convictions of duty which incline him to carry it out. In addition to this, it was considered in-; ,i;artr.aihle that the members elected to Con gress should be persons of undoubted loyalty. The President and his Cabinet, and the great body of the Northern people had taken it for granted that such persons would be cho sen. Every step that had been taken in the work of restoration was with reference to representation in Congress. If the work should fail at this point it would fail entire ly. Congress had provided, in 1862, an oath to be taken by all its members. There were worthy and respectable persons in every Congressional District in the State who could have taken this oath, and could have thus claimed their seats. This was well known. But, what was done? In the first dis trict, a person who could have taken the oath was defeated. In the second district, a person who could have taken the oath was defeated. In the third district, a per son who could have taken the oath was defeated. In the fourth district, a person who was only technically prevented from taking the oath, and who had already received an important appointment at the hands of the President, was defeated, not by a man equal ly loyal, but by an "unpardoned rebel" then, as now. In the fifth district, one of the oldest, ablest, and most consistent Union ists of the State, and a particular friend of the President, was defeated by a person who had just apostatized from Unionism and allied himself with the secession party. In the sixth district, a candidate who could have taken the oath was defeated, by a gentleman who had made himself popular outside his County only by the services he had perform ed as an officer in the Confederate army. But one district, the seventh, elected a rep resentative who could take the oath, and he has since been an object, on that account, of abuse and ridicule by the secession press. It is true, one of the Senators elected by the Legislature is a loyal man, and is debarred from subscribing the oath only by a techni cality ; but it is well known that his election was conceded by the majority simply as a matter of policy, and that his colleague, who received nearly all the votes that were cast, had been a conspicuous advocate of the re bellion, and was then, as he is still, an " un pardoned rebel." Thus was the most vital requisite in the President's policy deliberate ly disregarded. The President had said that those only should be appointed or elected to office who had never faltered in their alle giance to the government ; but the secession leaders said nay, we will elect whom we please, for we hold that fidelity to the Con federacy is the best evidence of sound Union ism. The .President had pointed to the test oath, and had declared that members elected to Congress should be persons who " could comply with any existing constitutional or legal test." But these leaders said, not so tee hold that this oath is unconstitutional and tyrannical, and we will not degrade ourselves by complying with it. The Presi dent had declared that treason must be ren dered odious, and that loyalty to the Union and love for the flag should be cherished and honored; but these leaders replied that they had not committed treason, and that supreme loyalty and devotion to the Union con stituted no claim either on their votes or on their respect and confidence. The President was thus assaulted and wounded in the house of his own professed friends. Slavery had been formally abolished, for the leaders knew that they had themselves put it to hazard when they involved the States in rebellion, and that, as the result ot the war, there was no hope for its perpetuation. It cost nothing, therefore, to proclaim a great fact which the whole world could see. The act of secession was declared null and void. This was equally easy. They hesitated only in relation to the rebel debt, but a sharp re buke from the President caused them re luctantly to repudiate that. They did what they were told to do on great questions of policy they conformed, whether reluctantly or cheerfully, to the wishes of the President in relation to measures of the most vital im portance, but when the offices were to be filled when the State was to be clothed in the "wedding garment" to be presented at Washington, they could no longer restrain themselves. The old appetite for office, which had led them to invc Ive the country in war, revived; the President's plan was forgotten, except in so far as they could en joy offices ansl honors under it ; and for the gnoble party triumphs ot the hour they thwarted that plan, and destroyed all hope that the States could be restored to the Union in accordance with its provisions. These secession partizans are Johnson men only so long as they can enjoy power under his plan of restoration. He mav himself be as loyal as he pleases, and may call them rebels and traitors, as he docs, and he may denounce secession as a crime, 11 he will only permit them to hold the omces and to tyrannize over Union men. It is not that they tike him, but they love power, and they hate the radicals, so-called, whom he denounces. They will be very good Johnson men as long as he pursues this course ; but if he should turn in this direction, and begin to "fight it out again on this line," he will find so much to reprove and condemn so many wrongs to right, and so much treason to re buke and suppress, that praises will be turn ed into "curses not loud, but deep," and it will be at once proclaimed that President Johnson has proved faithless to his pledges. I tell the President that his plan has been marred and destroyed by malcontents and traitors at this end of the line. I tell him that he has confided where confidence is not deserv ed; and that, by his clemency, spring ing from good motives, he has nourished a brood of vipers that will sting liberty, and will sting him, if he should get in their way. I tell him that his line at this end is disor ganized. The " captains of fifties and hun dreds" whom he appointed, have been cash iered and banished from service, and his en emies, and the enemies of loyal majorities in the United States and of the Union, have assumed and are now exercising supreme control. Devotion to the Union is no lon ger the passport to office, or even to the respect of those who control our affairs. Re gard for the flag, unless it is displayed in such places and in such a way as to suit the fastidious taste of traitors, is no longer com mended. Instead of a prompt and cheerful submission to the results of the war and to the legally expressed will of the majority, we hear words of defiance, and hopes ex pressed that anarchy may intervene, as the result of some vaguely-looked for convul sion at Washington and in the North ern States. Seats are demanded in Congress as a right, even for " unpardoned rebels." Those who can take the test-oath, instead of being honored for their loyalty, are ridiculed and despised ; and such of our people as are most devoted to the Uuion, and most anx ious for its restoration on terms to be pre scribed by the majority, are characterized as " mean whites," and hold up as odious and infamous. Faithful and capable officers are ejected, for no other reason than that they are Unionists, and persons are appointed in their places who sympathize more with the dead Confederacy than with the living Union. In a word, treason has been made respecta ble, and loyalty is odious. This is not the fault of the President's plan. The beauty and durability of the edifice must depend on the quality of the material used in its construc tion. " Men do not gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles." The President has been, deceived. If he had dealt sternly with trait ors, and if he had seen to it by special in structions and orders, that the loyal only should conduct the work of restoration, his plan, in my judgment, would have succeeded. We know that in .this State there was an abundance of good material for the work of restoration. It was used for a time, and then cast aside. Those politicians who cast this material aside are enemies to the Presi dent, and enemies to the Union ; and the longer their conduct in" this respect id allow ed to go unrebuked by him, the more disloy al and defiant these politicians will become. " The Union of the States must be restored at all hazards - and on the best terms, that can be obtained; andtbe plan of the Presi dent having failed through the treachery and selfishness of politicians, what now remains to be done? ' There are but two plans before the coun try the Executive plan, and that of the Congress or law-making power. The. Presi dent's plan provides, first, that the States exist as States, though by rebellion they had lost their governments ; secondly, that slave ry must be formally abolished by an amend ment to the federal Constitution; thirdly, that the right of secession must be abandon ed ; fourthly, that the rebel debt must be re pudiated, and, as a matter of course, the national debt must be paid ; fifthly, that loyal persons Only should reorganize govern ments for the States, and that no members elect to Congress from the Southern States should be prevented for admission, who can not take the test-oath. This is the President's plan. What is the Congressional plan ? It is as follows, in the shape of a joint resolution, proposing amend ments to the federal Constitution : article 14. Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge ihc privileges or immunities of citizens ot the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law, nor deny to any person within its juris dictiou the equal protection of the laws. Sec. 2. Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States according to their re spective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed. But when the right to vote at any elec tion for the choice of electors for President and Vice-President of the United States, representa tives in Congress, the executive and judicial offi cers of a State, or the members of the legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such State, being tweuty-oue years of age and citizens of the United States, or in any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion or other crime, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion -which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one years oi age in such state. Sec. 3. No person shall be a Senator or Repre sentative in Congress, or elector of Pr.ssident and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or mili tary, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath as a mem ber of Congress, or as an officer of the Uuited States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or com tort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may, by a vote of t .vo-thirds of each House, remove such dis ability. Sec. 4. The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment ot pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebel lion, shall not te questioned. But neither the United States nor any State shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of insur rection or rebellion against the United States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any 6lavc; but all such debts, obligations, and claims shall be held illegal and void. Sec. 5. The Congress shall have power to en force, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article. This plan, after recognizing, as the Presi dent's plan does, the existence of the States as States proposes, first, that a colo red man from Massachusetts shall have the same librety in North-Carolina that he possesses in his own State, and that a colored man from North-Carolina shall have the same liberty in Massachusetts which he posst-sses at home. It provides that no State shall abridge the privileges or immunities of a citizen of the United States, or deny to any person life, lib erty, or property, or the equal protection of the law. Who objects to thau ? I am sure President Johnson does not ; for the civil rights bill, now in existence as a law : and which will in no event be repealed, makes the same provision for the colored race, and the objection of the President was not to this feature of that law, but to that part of it which as he thought, improperly subordinated the State Courts to the Courts of the United States. If it be said that there is some concealed purpose in this provision hereafter to force negro suffra ge on the States, as the only means of securing to colored people the " privileges or imtauni ties " referred to, the answer is that this can not be so, for the reason that a subsequent sectin in the amendment leaves the question of suffrage wholly and solely with the States. The Congressional plan also proposes tbat representatives in Congress shall be appor tioned among the States in proportion to qualified voters. Who can justly object to that ? Under the Constitution while slavery existed, not only were the white inhabitants counted in apportioning representatives, bufc three-fifths of the slaves were added to the whites. This rule has ceased with the ex tinction of slavery. There are now no such. " persons " as those referred to in the Consti tution, ot whom three-fifths must be counted,, but the whole population of both whites and blacks must be counted in apportioning re presentatives. Under this new rule it .has been estimated that the Southern States would gain eight members of Congress. Is it to be expected that the free white popula tion of the North will agree to this ? As it is, and as it has been from the beginning of the government, five negroes have had as much weight in the Congress of the United States as three white men, for, for every three white men five negroes have been counted in apportioning representatives. The proposed amendment provides that the Southern States shall be entitled to their present number of members until the period of the next appor tionment, in 1872 ; but after that time repre sentatives must be apportioned according to voters, and not, as now, according to the whole population. Up to 1873 this State will be entitled to seven members, the pres ent number; after that time, she will be en titled for the next ten years to eight mem bers, provided the colored people are allowed to vote, and if they are not allowed to vote, she. will be entitled to five members. The same rule will apply to all the States. If it is said that this rule is unjust, and that the whole population should be counted, I an swer, that representation and taxation should go together, and that it is not just to claim representatives on. a certain class of popula tion, and then deny to that population the privilege of voting for those representatives. If I am told that the whole population ought to be counted, though one class of it only should be allowed to vote, I answer that the free white men of the North will never con sent that the Southern States shall add by the result of their rebellion to their power in the House of Representatives by counting the non-voting negro population ; and that, as a citizen of North-Carolina, I am unwil ling that the Eastern part of the State shall count their manumitted slaves against the free white loyal men of the West. It will be for the people of the State to decide, in 1872, whether they will have eight members of Congress with negro suffrage, or five mem bers without negro suffrage. I have the fullest confidence in the people of the State. I feel sure that their decision on this subject will be a wise one, and for one I expect to go with them and submit cheerfully to the will of the majority. But we are not without light on this subject from President Johnson himself. In his interview with Mr. Stearns, of Boston, in October last, he said : " Many years ago I moved in the Legislature of Tennessee that the apportionment of representa tives to Congress from that State should be by qualified voters. The apportionment is now fixed until 1872 ; before tbat time we might change the basis of representation from population to quali fied voters, North as well as South, and in due course of time the States, without regard to color, might extend the elective franchise to all who possessed certain mental, moral, or such other qualifications as might be determined by an en lightened public judgment" !" Mr.1 Johnson is,-therefore, not only in favor of this provision of the proposed amendment . basing members of Congress on -qualified . -voters, but he looks forward to the period when the States will establish what is called impartial suffrage, f . . . - The proposed amendment also provides that certain porsons who had taken an oath to support the Constitution of the United States, and afterwards engaged in the rebell ion, shall not hold any office, civil or milita ry, under the United States, or under any State, unless the Congress by a vote of two thirds shall remove such disability. What sound objection can there be to this ? If it be said that it is harsh and de grading in its nature, I reply that President Johnson has already gone much further in making treason odious than this provision goes. He excluded from his amnesty procla mation not less than twenty-five thousand persons. He not only deprived them, at his mere will and pleasure, of the right to hold office, but of the right to vote ; and he held them, as he holds some of them to-day, not only as non-voters, but liable at any moment to the pains and penalties of treason. This proposed amendment deprives no man of his right ot sunrage. It simply says to the fomenters and leaders of the rebellion Your lives and property are spared ; you are per mitted to vote, as heretofore ; you will not be molested in your ordinary rights as citi zens ; but you will not be permitted just now to occupy the chief places over the heads of those whom your conduct has ruined. You may come into the congregation, and receive the benefit of the exercises, but you can not be priests or elders at this time. Your hands are still red with the blood of your brethren, whom ye siew while they were struggling to save the Ark of the Covenant, and the tires of resentment and pride are still smoiildering in your hearts. But even were this not so, it is not reasonable or seemly that the des troyers of the peace and happiness of the country should at once become the conserva tors of that peace and the promoters of that happiness. Stand aside for the present. As you have lost position by your bad conduct, so you shall regain it only by your good con duct. We will not judge you harshly, but tenderly and kindly as brethren. We do not punish you. We simply put you on your good behavior for the future ; and if you re pent and do well, and manifest a sincere pur pose to become loyal, Union-loving citizens, it will afford us much pleasure to remove the disability, and allow you to hold office. What could be more reasonable or generous ? But we are told by those who are thus ex cluded that the object is to punish and de grade them. If this be true, it punishes and degrades Union men also. It puts under ban nearly all tue leading Union men of the State. Our opponents are candid for once. They admit that it is a punishment to be excluded from office, and they have been so long in office that they feel " degra ded" when they arc cast out. These very leaders punished our people for four long years. They tithed them, they impressed them, they conscribed them, forcing even the yearling boys from their weeping mothers into camp, and into the fire of battle, be fore their bones had hardened, they hound ed down our best citizens as traitors, and shot and hanged them, because they loved the Union and the flag ; they plundered, ex hausted, impoverished, and ruined this peo ple ; and yet now complaim, after having inflicted all these wrongs on their country, that they are about to be punished, because they are not to be allowed to monopolize for all time all the offices and honors ! I regard this provision as generous and merciful in its character. It seems to me if these politicians thus excluded really loved their country, they would sacrifice themselves temporarily for the good of their country. If they really desired the restoration of the Union, or if they only had becoming modesty and self respect, they would not stand in the way, but would come forward like patriots and men and beg to be overlooked or forgot ten until the great work was accomplished. They would say, our country first, our coun try last, our country all the time. The issue is, the Union of the States with these persons temporarily out of office ; or contin ued disunion, discontent, and probable civil war, with these persons in office. That man is no patriot, but is supremely self ish, who would retain his hold on office, when he knows he is doing so at the expense of the unity, harmony, and prosperity of his country. The remaining section of the proposed amendment provides that the national debt shall never be questioned, and that the rebel debt shall be held illegal and void. .Here also, we have the concurrence and en dorsement of the President, repeatedly made known in the most emphatic manner. The President simply enabled the people of the rebellious States to organize new gov ernments. It was his wish that these gov ernments should be, in all respects, unmis takably loyal that they should have no sec tionalism or sccessionism about them, but should be living sources of national princi ples and sentiments. It was his desire, also, as conclusive and crowning evidence of such loyalty and such nationality of sentiment, that the members chosen to Congress should be persons who could take the test oath. I am satisfied that if these States had done what was required of them with alacrity and cheerfulness, and had sent Senators and Re presentatives who, to a man, could have ta ken this oath, their claim to be admitted to their seats would have been irresistable. The Union would have been restored last Decem bor. We should have had peace and har-m-ony to-day, and reviving and increasing pn asperity, instead of bickerings, and dis cord, and sectional hate, and threats of revo lution, and the locking up, as the result of the:5e things, of all those resources which stimulate and reward enterprise and indus try. But such was the destructive and par alyzi ng influence of the spirit of secession anion g our people and in our public coun cils, t hat the Congress, which is a consti tution al co-worker with the President in these things, began to doubt the fitness of the States for admission. That body, without; undoing what the President had done, at length required that what the States h ad agreed to do in their amended Constiti ttions, or by ordinances of Conven tions, or by legislative enactment, should be engraftei in the fundamental law of the na tion. T hat is all. The proposed amend ment in .relation to representation in Con gress, is t he legitimate result, as I have al ready sho wn, of the extinction of slavery. There is n ot a principle in any section of the proposed a mendment which has not received, in some for m or other, the approval of the President. If, therefore, our people agree with the President, and if they are disposed to carry out in good faith what they have already conceded, (to say nothing of the re spect which they owe to the law-making department f the government,) I can see no good reason why they should not settle this business finally and forever by placing these guarantees in the national fundamental law. There was no time within sixty days after the surrender of Lee's forces when they would not hav e accepted such terms gladly. I state the l!act, that it was distinctly understood that the whole work of restora tion would be : subject to the revision, and, consequently, to acceptance or rejection by the Congress. The official record was that Sec retary Seward in formed Gov. Sharkey in Ju ly, 1865, that the government of Mississippi would be " provi sional only until the civil authorities shall te restored, with the appro val of Congress." And in September, 1865, he also informed Gov. Marvin of Florida, that " it must be distinctly understood that the restoration to which your proclama tion . refers, will he suject to the decision of ' Congress." T ' repeat, the Con gress has expressly and intentionally omitted to nndo the work of the President.' The very able, enlightencid, and patriotic com mittee of that body, after the fullest and most anxious deliberation, determined that the present State governments, organized by the President, should stand ; but they Recom mended, as necessary to ; complete the work .oi restoration,, that the amendments to trie Constitution to which I have referred, should be adopted not, as wo have been told, by three-fourths only of such States as are repre sented in Congress, but by three-fourths of all the States. It it be said tbat tue Boutn ern States, though allowed to vote on these amendments, were excluded irom tne con gress by which they were proposed, the an swer is, they had no voice in proposing tne most vital of all the amendments, the one which abolished slavery. If it be necessary further to amend the Constitution, as two- thirds of the American people represented in Congress think it is, before the Union can be re-established on a iust, solid, and enduring basis, such amendments must be proposed by Congress, for the President has no such power under our form of govern ment. There is, then, no material difference be tween the President's plan and that of Con gress. They are similar in principle, and nearly the same in detail. It there be hu miliation and degradation for the South in the Congressional plan, there is humiliation and degradation lor the South in the Presi dent's plan. Even the President's plan can not be earned into enect without the con sent ot Congress : and if one man can re quire so much of the States lately- in rebel lion, can not the Congress, representing so many millions of loyal people, require a lit tle more ? We have passed through the wil derness. We have left behind us the horrors which encompassed us, and sat heavy on our hearts, when we wandered in the forbidden fields of rebellion and war. We have at length reached Jordan. The promised land is right before us. Shall we linger and per ish on the banks ? or shall we " go up to possess the land ?" If a Moses be necessary to divide the waters, Aaron and his sons can alone bear the Ark. The President is a power in this country, but Congress is greater than he. It ought to be, because it is the sole law-making power. The States went out without law ; they must go back under the law. The President alone cannot re store to them their forfeited privileges. This must be done, and can only be done by the co-ordinate, co-equal departments of that great and beneficent government against which they revolted and made war. It is idle to despise or reject the authority of the Congress, and then hope that by any means the States can be restored. But it is asserted that the President will, in the last resort, summon and recognize a Congress of his own, including the members from the Southern States. I do not believe the President designs, in any event or for any cause, to plunge the country into civil war. But if such a thing be probable, and the war should be renewed, the end would be the total destruction of government, soci ety, and property in these Southern States. The weaker section would drain the cup of anguish to the very dregs. Those who orig inate such reports and make such calcula tions, are slanderers of the President. They are neither friends to him nor friends to the country. They are reckless agitators, who would stand off from the battles which their wicked passions would cause, to plunder the helpless and the dead, or to sate their ven geance by the spectacle of brothers again plunging their bayonets into brothers' bos oms. There is no Congress but the Con gress recently in session at Washington, which will meet again in December. This Congress will increase in numbers as South ern members are admitted to it, but it will not be diminished. It is also asserted, that the Southern States will vote for President and Vice-President in 1868, though they may not be rep resented in Congress. It is not to be expec ted that the majority will permit this. The unrepresented States were not allowed to vote in 1864, and we may be sure a similar law will be passed for 1868. President John son will enforce the law. It is his peculiar boast that he is a man of the people, and that he has confidence in the people. He is too sound a republican to oppose his will, in the last resort, to the will of the majority. There is no hope, therefore, fellow-citizens, but in the prompt restoration of the Union ; and this can be effected in no other way, in my judgment, than by accepting the pro posed Constitutional amendment. We are admonished by the recent elections that the North will be satisfied with nothing less. It may require more, and I have no doubt it will, it we reiect this amendment. During the rebellion, I was for the shortest road to peace. I am now for the shortest and straijrlitcst road right back to the U nion. I love my State, and I want the best terms I can get for her. So strong is this love, and so ardent is my at tachment to the Union, that I would be wil ling to put myself under ban for the remain der of my life to see the State restored. But, because I have told the people the truth, will they censure me ? I cannot believe they will. I have, been frank with them, it may be to my own injury. I cannot help it, for if I serve them at ali I must do so with candor and honesty. My interests, my sym pathies, mv hopes are all identified with theirs. Passion and prejudice may rule the hour, but a day of reason and reflection will come, and then justice will be done to all. It would have been easy for me to have gone with the current. Like others, I might have made terms with my opponents. I held a po sition which would have enabled me to do this with some success. I might have grasp ed honors, and put money in my purse. I could have gone to a party with which I once acted, many ot whose members, from rormer associations, still have my regard and sympa thy. But, I could not do it it. I could not abandon the cause of the Union. The path of duty was rugged ami thorny, but I continued to walk in it. I am in it still. I will never leave it. I do not fear censure, but I fear to do wrong. Nor am I a slave to party. In 1848 I opposed my party on internal improvements, and I have the grat ification to believe that my course then en sured the appropriation for the Central Rail road, which was the great pioneer work of the kind in our State. In 1860 I refused to go with my party in opposing the principle of ad valorem. In 1860 1 refused to go with the great mass of my party for disunion. I stand now where I stood then. I am the same loyal man I was when the President appointed me Provisional Governor in May, 18bo. 1 have not changed. I do not intend to change. I know this is a dark day for Union men in the Southi but I intend to stand by the Union, in the darkness as in the light, so long as its flag floats or a star glitters in its folds. There is no hope for this people but in the Union. Throughout its whole existence it has been beneficent in its char, acter and operations. It has borne heavily on no State ; it ha9 deprived no man of his liberty except from the stern necessity of war ; it has laid the hand of correction on its rebellious children more in sorrow than in anger. We attempted recently to " calculate its value" at a time when its flag waved only for our protection, and when its horn of plenty was pouring down every good thing into our midst, and behold how suddenly destruction rushed in upon us like a flood! We then humbled ourselves before God, and promised to submit to lawful authority. Have we so soon forgotten this promise ? We have been conquered in battle, because God willed it ; let us now show what a great thing it is to conquer ourselves. Let us "rule our tem per." Let us conquer and subdue our pas sions and prejudices. The great body of the people of the North - are our friends, fhey wsih us welL They do not desire to hum ble or degrade us. They do" not want our lands or our houses. They are not seeking our blood. They are tired of war. They yearn towards us as an elder towards his younger brother, who has been sorely chas tised for his first "offence. . They desire our prosperity, because it is inseparably connected with their own. They do not want to hold us as subject provinces, but they wish tolive with us as equals in the Union. That Union stretches out its mighty arms to embrace us For one, I am anxious to return to it. Ire' gardit, in the language of Washikgtox as I' the primary object of patriotic desire." 'in it, I know we shall be safe. It will be to us all, as in the past, a copious fountain of innumerable blessings. Out of it, I can see nothing in the future bnt' discord, anarchy military rule, poverty, ignorance, and wretch! edness. I am, therefore, in the fullest and strongest sense, a Union man. Discarclinir all other platform, I stand on the platform of Washington. I know we can not err as long as we follow his precepts, and look to his illustrious example for light to guide our footsteps. What wouid he say, if, apprecia ting the passions which divide us, he coni( look down npon us from his blest abode ? He wouid say to the North, " give," and to the South "hold not back." He would tell us that what the sword had settled should be confirmed by the tongue and the pen. lie would tell us that the Union, whi-h he toiled and suffered to establish, was the paramount good ; that every thing else should be sacri ficed, if necesary, to its restoration and pres ervation ; that the passions and resentments engendered by the war should perish w ith the war ; and that nothing should prevent the immediate restoration of the Union and the harmony of its various parts. Fellow-citizens, there are certain State is sues, just now engaging the attention of the people, in relation to which I will submit a few observations. I regret, on several accounts, the rejection of the new State Constitution. It was not all that I desired, but it was in many respects an excellent Constitution, and a decided im provement upon the old 'one. One of the ablest and most loyal bodies that ever as sembled in the State, gave to this instrument the most patient consideration. Among other things, it struck the last fetter from the human conscience, by granting to our Jewish fellow-cirizen3 the right to hold office; it provided for expediting justice, thus main taining the peace of society; it dealt a de served blow at the right of secession, by sub stituting an oath to support the Constitu tion of the State not incompatible with the national Constitution, for t he oath of prima ry allegiance to the State in the old Consti tution; it provided for a Lieutenant-Governor by the people, to take the place of the Governor in the event of his death or disa bility ; it abolished, or greatly modified the objectionable landed qualification for mem bers of the Senate and House of Commons; and it established the white basis for the House of Commons. If this Constitution was rejected upon the ground that it was too liberal or too radical, I take it for grant ed, from some knowledge of our people, that the next Constitution will be still more lib eral and radical. Our people will not be satisfied until the white basis is established for both branches of the Legislature ; and it may be that they will require the entire ab olition of the property qualification, and the election of many officers by the people now chosen by the Legislature. The Convention exhibited wise forethought in embodying in separate ordinances its re pudiation of secession and the rebel debt, the abolition of slavery, and the provision allowing colored persons to be heard in our Courts lis witnesses ; for, from the spirit manifested at the late voting for and agninst the Constitution, it is more than probable that these ordinances, if they bad been in corporated in the Constitution, would have rendered it much more objectionable than it was to those who voted against it. As it is, these ordinances exist for the present. They may be abrogated, however, by any future Convention that may be called. Our people are impoverished and deep ly in debt. Previously to the rebel lion the estimated value ot all the proper ty of the State was not less than four hun dred millions in specie ; it is more than probable that the estimated value at present would not reach one hundred millions. The State debt, with the interest recently added to it, cannot be much less than eigh teen millions. It is impracticable, at pres ent, to redeem the principal of this debt. It is impracticable, at present, to discharge old individual debts. The State is not itself, in any sense, in the present condition of things. We shall have no capital from a distance, no emigration, no payment of claims held by our people against the federal government for property taken or destroyed during the war no adequate or reliable means to stimu late enterprise and industry, and no solid foundation tor business ot any kind, until the State is restored to the Union, I know it is said the abolition of slavery was a provi dential act ; or, if not, that our slaves were forcibly taken from us, and that, under either view, we have been released from our obliga tion to pay our debts. I do not concur in this view. Slavery was abolished by the unwise action of the Southern States. That first gun at Fort Sumter, fired by Southern men, who had previously " fired the South ern heart" for rebellion, was the death-knell of slavery. It was our own act, and we can not take advantage of our own wrong. We should bear in mind, in considering this sub ject, that if either party is to blame it is not the creditor, but the uebtor. The debtor has had, or may now have the benefit of what belonged to another. The events through which we have passed have convulsed, and to a great extent, have changed society. They have impoverished our people. But they have not, therefore, released us from our lawful obligations. These events constitute good reason for indulgence and forbearance in the collection of debts, but the debts re main, and must be paid. I plead only for indulgence and forbearance. We may honest ly say we can not, but we cannot honestly say we will not pay our debts. An honest bankrupt never loses the respect or the con fidence of the wise and good ; but an indi vidual or a State that says, " it is my hand and seal,' but I will not pay,." proclaims for himself and his State that there is no virtue in moral obligation. North-Carolina will live always. Centuries hence, her name, and, I trust, her fame will be known among the nations. States prosper and flourish, and are respected,, in proportion as they adhere to the eternal principles of justice. Whatso ever we may do now, in this respect, will be known and scrutinized by those who are to come after us ; and if our descendants shall be of the noble stamp of our Gaston and Macon, they will blush for their ancestors if they deliberately repudiate their just obliga tions. ,' But, we are losing golden moments. Interest is being added to principal, thus augmenting our own burdens and the burdens of posterity. Our capacity todischarge our ob ligations, whether publicor private, is greatly restricted by our exclusion from the Union. Every effort and energy, therefore, should be exerted to get back to the Union. The longer we remain out of it, the poorer we shall be come, and the heavier will be our burdens as a State and as individuals. While every reasonable forbearance should be shown to wards tax-payers and debtors, let us at the same time guard the honor of the State, and our credit as individuals, as of more value to us in the long run than everything else.--North-Carolina, though now in the dust ot poverty, is still rich in resources. She will yet rise and shine among the wealthiest and proudest of her sisters, and will, in the end, redeem all her obligations. I do not despair either of the Republic or of the future pros perity and glory of our State. But one thing is indispensable, and that is, the res toration of the Union. With it, we shah at once enter on a new career of prosperity. Without it, every interest will languish, and we shall continue to eat the bread of poverty W. W. HOLDEN- Raleigh, S;pt. 03, 1866.