550 



NORTH CAROLINA. 



on the contrary, it is believed that the lives of citi- 

 zens who have reported these crimes to the _ Ex- 

 ecutive have been thereby endangered, and it is 

 further believed that many of the citizens of the 

 county are so terrified that they dare not complain, 

 or attempt the arrest of criminals in their midst. 

 The civil officers of the county are silent and power- 

 less. 



The laws must be maintained. These laws are 

 over all. Every citizen, of whatever party or color, 

 must be absolutely free to express his political opin- 

 ions, and must be safe in his own house. These out- 

 rages and these violations of law must and shall 

 cease. Criminals must and shall be brought to justice. 

 The whole power of both governments, State and 

 Federal, is jnedged to this, and this power will be 

 exerted. Criminals who may escape to counties ad- 

 joining Alamance will be pursued, and, if not de- 

 livered up by the civil authorities of said counties, 

 or if sheltered or protected in said counties with the 

 knowledge of the civil authorities, the said counties 

 will also be declared to be in a state of insurrection. 



I earnestly appeal to all good citizens to aid the 

 civil authorities in maintaining peace and good 

 order, and to support me in my purpose to protect 

 life and property without regard to party or color. 



Done at the city of Raleigh, this 7th day of March, 

 1870, and in the ninety-fourtn year of our Indepen- 

 dence. W. W. HOLDEN, Governor. 



On the 6th of June another proclamation 

 was issued by the Governor, relating no less 

 than seven murders in five different counties, 

 most of which had been committed in the 

 month of May, with other deeds of violence, 

 all of which Avere alleged to have been per- 

 petrated by the " Ku-klux." Among these was 

 the murder of John W. Stephenson, a Repub- 

 lican Senator from Caswell County, in the day- 

 time in the court-house at Yanceyville, where 

 a large number of the citizens of the county 

 were assembled, at a meeting of the Demo- 

 cratic party. The body was subsequently found 

 with a cord around the neck, but no clew to 

 the perpetrators of the crime was discovered. 

 In this proclamation large rewards were offered 

 for the arrest of the murderers, and all officers, 

 civil and military, were urged to aid in bring- 

 ing these and all other offenders to justice; 

 and especially to discountenance, discourage, 

 and repress, all organizations of men who ride 

 or walk at night in disguise, with arms in their 

 Lands. 



By a proclamation, dated July 8th, the Gov- 

 ernor declared Caswell County in a state of 

 insurrection, and subsequently, for the purpose 

 of maintaining peace, a portion of the militia 

 was organized under command of Colonel 

 Kirk, and sent into the disturbed counties. 

 This power was exercised by virtue of an act 

 of the General Assembly, passed at the session 

 of 1869->70, which provides that the " Gov- 

 ernor is hereby authorized and empowered, 

 whenever in his judgment the civil authorities 

 in any county are unable to protect its citizens 

 in the enjoyment of life and property, to de- 

 clare such county to be in a state of insurrec- 

 tion, and to call into active service the militia 

 of the State to such an extent as may become 

 necessary to suppress such insurrection ; and 

 in such case the Governor is further authoi- 

 ized to call upon the President for such assist- 



ance, if any, as in his judgment may be neces- 

 sary to enforce the law." 



A large number of persons suspected of be- 

 ing implicated, directly or indirectly, in the 

 commission of deeds of violence, were arrested 

 by Colonel Kirk, and held subject to military 

 authority. This action on the part of the 

 State officers produced an excitement among 

 the people. The Democrats and Conserva- 

 tives denounced Governor Holden with much 

 bitterness, asserting that the accounts of dis- 

 orders were greatly exaggerated, that the civil 

 authorities were fully competent to preserve 

 order, and that the stringent measures adopted 

 were unconstitutional and unjustifiable. As 

 early as the latter part of March, the Conser- 

 vatives issued an address to the people of the 

 State, in which they said: "There is and has 

 been no armed resistance no uprising of the 

 people no outbreaks to disturb or hinder 

 the full administration of the civil law. We 

 assert that there is not a county in the State 

 in which any sheriff or other peace-officer may 

 not go unattended, and with perfect safety, 

 and execute any process upon any citizen of 

 the State. It is true that murders and other 

 outrages have been committed, but they have 

 not been confined to any particular locality or 

 any political party; and, when Governor Hol- 

 den represented to the President and to Con- 

 gress that these acts are evidences of disloyalty, 

 he is guilty of a wilful libel upon a people whose 

 rights he has sworn to protect." 



And, in another address to the people in 

 July by the same party, it was asserted that 

 " it is very generally believed, and there is 

 much ground for such belief, as we have reason 

 to know, that this armed movement has been 

 set on foot by preconcert and arrangement 

 just before an important general election in 

 the State, for the purpose of controlling it by 

 intimidation, or defeating it entirely, by pro- 

 voking the people to a violent conflict with the 

 armed men referred to, and then proclaiming 

 the whole State in insurrection." 



On the 16th of July, immediately after the 

 arrests, which caused so much excitement, had 

 been made, writs of habeas corpus were ob- 

 tained from Chief-Justice Pearson of the Su- 

 preme Court and served upon Colonel Kirk, 

 commanding him to produce four of the ar- 

 rested parties in court. This writ Kirk re- 

 fused to obey, on the ground that he was acting 

 under orders from the Governor not to deliver 

 up the prisoners to the civil authorities. Upon 

 this refusal of Colonel Kirk to make return to 

 the writ, Chief-Justice Pearson communicated 

 with Governor Holden to ascertain whether the 

 course of Colonel Kirk was in accordance with 

 his orders, and received the following reply : 



EXECUTIVE OITICE, RALEIGH, July 19, 1870. 

 To the HON. RICHMOND M. PEABSON, Chief Justice of 



North Carolina. 



SIR : Your communication of yesterday concerning 

 the arrests made by Colonel Geo. W. Kirk, together 

 with the enclosed, is received. 



