NORTH CAROLINA. 



0*1 



Done at our city of llaleicrh, thii 10th day of No- 



tlioumuul citflit hundred and ( 

 ami in flu- yi'iir <>f tin- 1ml. jiendonco of the I 



:!n- ninety-fifth. 

 IL. .] W. W. IIOLDKX, Governor. 



On the 4th of August an election for mem- 

 t ( .ingress, Attorney-General, and mem- 

 bers of the Legislature, was held, and resulted 

 in the success of the Democratic party. Five 

 Democratic and two Republican members of 

 ( 'impress were chosen. Wm. M. Ship, the Dem- 

 ocrat ic candidate for Attorney-General, was 

 elected by a majority of 4,088, in a total vote 

 of 170,616. The classification of the Legisla- 

 ture elected is as follows: Democrats, 82; 

 House, 75 ; Republicans, 18 ; House, 45. 



This body assembled at Raleigh on the 21st 

 of November, and was in session at the close 

 of the year. One of the first measures was to 

 elect a United States Senator for the full term, 

 when Zcbulon B. Vance, a Democrat, and Gov- 

 ernor during the war, whose political disabil- 

 it'u-i had not been removed, was chosen. Early 

 in the session the fierce opposition that hod 

 been arrayed against Governor Holden during 

 the year appeared in the form of a movement 

 to depose him from office, and articles of im- 

 peachment were preferred by the House to 

 the Senate. These articles, which were adopted 

 on the 14th of December by a vote of 60 to 

 43, were eight in number, and had reference 

 to his official acts in the suppression of disor- 

 ders during the year. Article first charges 

 that "William W. llolden did, on the 7th day 

 of March, 1870, "proclaim, and declare th at th 6 

 county of Alamance, in said State, was in in- 

 surrection ; and did, after the days and times 

 last aforesaid, send bodies of armed, desperate, 

 and lawless men, organized and set on foot 

 without authority of law, into said county, and 

 occupy the same by military force and suspend 

 civil authority, and the constitution and laws 

 <>f the State ; and did, after the days and times 

 last aforesaid, and before the time of impeach- 

 ment in this behalf, through and by means of 

 such armed, desperate, and lawless men, arrest 

 many peaceable and law-abiding citizens of 

 said county of Alamance, then and there about 

 their lawful business ; and did detain, hold, im- 

 prison, hang, beat, and otherwise maltreat and 

 injure many of them, when he well knew that 

 such and suid proclamation was utterly ground- 

 less and false, and that there was no insurrec- 

 tion in said county, and that all civil authori- 

 ties, both State and county, in said county, 

 were peacefully and regularly in the full, free, 

 and unrestrained exercise, in all respects, of 

 the functions of their offices, and the conrts 

 were all open, and the due administration of 

 the law was unimpeded by any resistance what- 

 soever." 



The remaining articles contain charges for 

 having declared Caswell County in a state of 

 insurrection, and making numerous other ar- 

 rests; for having prevented the "delivery of 

 such arrested persons to the civil authorities in 



obedience to writ* of hdbeat corput, issued from 

 the Supreme Court;" for having "unlawfully 

 r. -muted, armed, and equipped as soldiers, a 

 largo number of men, to wit, five hundred 

 men and more, and organized them as an 

 army," and for having caused to be expended, 

 for the support of said militia, about $80,000 

 from the State Treasury. More than one hnn- 

 dred names of persons who had been arrested 

 by order of the Governor were set forth in the 

 articles of impeachment. Upon these charges 

 the trial was begun before the Senate, organ- 

 ized as a court of impeachment, Chief-Justice 

 Pearson presiding, and was pending at the 

 close of the year. 



The views of the colored members of the 

 Legislature on the subject of impeachment 

 were published in an address " to the colored 

 people throughout the State," denouncing, in 

 strong terms, the proceedings against the Ex- 

 ecutive. "The only offence of Governor Hol- 

 den," says the address, "and that which has 

 brought down the wrath of the dominant party 

 upon him, is that he thwarted the designs of a 

 band of assassins, who had prepared to satu- 

 rate this State in the blood of the poor people 

 on the night before the last election, on ac- 

 count of their political sentiments, and to pre- 

 vent them from voting. Because he dispersed 

 this murderous host, organized by the so-called 

 Conservative party, they propose to destroy 

 him. First, they propose to suspend him, then 

 to go through with a mock trial before the 

 Senate, as they have already done before the 

 House, where a true bill has been found with- 

 out taking testimony." 



The Legislature which was in session at the 

 beginning of 1870 continued until the 28th of 

 March. Very little business of general inter- 

 est was transacted at this session. The ques- 

 tion of calling a Constitutional Convention was 

 much discussed, and reported on favorably, but 

 no final action was taken thereon. 



The bonded debt of the State is about $30,- 

 000,000, classified as follows : 



Old, or ante-war bonds $8.378,200 



Renewed bonds, issued daring the war 1,128,000 



Special tax bonds, issued since the wn r 11,407,000 



Bonds issued since the war, not special tax. . . 8,986,845 



Total $29,900,045 



The railroad bonds issued during the war are 

 not marketable ; but it is contended that they 

 were not issued in aid of the war, and ought 

 to be recognized. To pay the interest (6 per 

 cent.) on the above debt, and to meet the ne- 

 cessary expenses of the State government, will 

 require an annual tax of $2,500,000. 



The revenue from all sources for the support 

 of public schools, for the year ended Septem- 

 ber 80, 1870, was $152,281.82. The amount 

 paid during the same period for teachers' 

 wages was $42,862.40. There have been 

 schools during the past year in 74 of the 90 

 counties. There are about 800 townships in 

 the State, and schools have been kept in 815 of 

 these, making about 1,250 schools, which are 



