NOETH CAROLINA. 



555 



lature, July 1st. This course did not meet the 

 approval of Governor Worth, and he published 

 the following protest, addressed to Governor 

 Holden : 



STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA, ) 



EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT, RALEIGH, July 1, 1868. f 

 Governor W. W. Holden } Raleigh, N. 0. : 



SIR : Yesterday morning I was verbally notified 

 by Chief-Justice Pearson that, in obedience to a tele- 

 gram from General Canby, he would to-day, at ^ ten 

 A. M., administer to you the oaths required prelimi- 

 nary to your entering upon the discharge of the 

 duties of civil Governor of the State, and tha^there- 

 upon you would demand possession of my office. I 

 intimated to the judge my opinion that such proceed- 

 ing was premature, even under the reconstruction 

 legislation of Congress, and that I should probably 

 decline to surrender the office to you. 



At sundown yesterday evening I received from 

 Colonel Williams, commandant of this military post, 

 an extract from the General Orders, No. 120, of Gen- 

 eral Canby, as follows : 



General Orders, No. 120. 



[Extract.] 



HEADQUARTERS SECOND MILITARY DISTRICT, 1 

 CHARLESTON, S. C., June 30, 1868. f 

 To facilitate the organization of the new State govern- 

 ments, the following^ appointments are made: To be 

 Governor of North Carolina, W. W. Holden, Governor 

 elect, vice Jonathan Worth, removed ; to be Lieutenant- 

 Governor of North Carolina, Tod R. Caldwell, Lieutenant- 

 Governor elect, to fill an original vacancy, to take effect 

 July 1, 1868, on the meeting of the General Assembly of 

 North Carolina. 



I do not recognize the validity of the late election, 

 under which you and those cooperating with you 

 claim to be invested with the civil government of the 

 State. You have no evidence of your election save 

 the certificate of a major-general of the United States 

 army. I regard all of you as, in effect, appointees of 

 the military power of the United States and not as 

 "deriving your powers from^ the consent of those 

 you claim to govern." Knowing, however, that you 

 are backed by military force here, which I could not 

 resist if I would, I do not deem it necessary to offer 

 a futile opposition, but vacate the office without the 

 ceremony of actual eviction, offering no further op- 

 position than this, my protest. I would submit to 

 actual expulsion in order to bring before the Supreme 

 Court of the United States the question as to the con- 

 stitutionality of the legislation under which you 

 claim to be the rightful Governor of the State, if the 

 past action of that tribunal furnished any hope of a 

 speedy trial. I surrender the office to you under 

 what I deem military duress, without stopping, as 

 the occasion would well justify, to comment upon 

 the singular coincidence that the present State Gov- 

 ernment is surrendered, as without legality, to him 

 whose own official sanction, but three years ago, de- 

 clared it valid. I am, very respectfully, 

 JONATHAN WOETH, 



Governor of North Carolina. 



The Legislature assembled on the appointed 

 day, the members were sworn in, and both 

 houses organized for the business of the ses- 

 sion. On the second day the 14th amendment 

 was ratified by a joint resolution of the House 

 and Senate, and information of that fact trans- 

 mitted to General Canby. On the 3d of July 

 the following appeared : 



CHARLESTON, S. C., July 3, 1868. 

 To his Excellency, W. W. Holden, Governor of North 

 Carolina : 



Your telegram, announcing the ratification of the 

 Constitutional Amendment by the Legislature of 

 North Carolina, has been received, and instructions 



will be sent to-day to the military commanders in 

 North Carolina to abstain from the exercise of any 

 authority under the reconstruction laws, except to 

 close up unfinished business, and not to interfere in 

 any civil matters unless the execution of the law of 

 June 25, 1868, should be obstructed by unlawful or 

 forcible opposition to the inauguration of the new 

 State Government. 



The railroad appointments made by Governor 

 Worth have been annulled. 



ED. E. S. CANBY. 

 Major-General Commanding. 



On the 4th Governor Holden was formally 

 inaugurated, and exactly one week from that 

 day the President of the United States an- 

 nounced by proclamation that North Carolina 

 had complied with the condition prescribed by 

 Congress for her restoration to an equal place 

 in the Union of States. This consummated 

 the reconstruction of the State of North Caro- 

 lina. 



There had been little occasion, during the 

 six months prior to the meeting of the first 

 Legislature under the new constitution, for any 

 vigorous exercise of the military power. Gen- 

 eral Canby had on the 1st of January directed 

 the organization of an, armed police, to be em- 

 ployed, under the direction of the sheriffs, for 

 the detection and prevention of crime in cer- 

 tain counties, which force was to be under the 

 general supervision of the military authority. 

 It was to be composed of " loyal citizens, white 

 and colored, in the ratio of registered voters," 

 who were required in all cases to be " intelli- 

 gent, sober, and reliable men, of good moral 

 standing in the community from which they 

 are selected." In April a special order was 

 issued, establishing a provost court for several 

 counties of the State, to sit ordinarily at Ea- 

 leigh, but liable to be called, for special pur- 

 poses, to sit temporarily at different places. 

 The jurisdiction of this court was restricted to 

 civil cases, in which the sum in controversy 

 did not exceed three hundred dollars, and to 

 criminal offences which should be referred to 

 it, except murder, manslaughter, assault with 

 intent to kill, duelling, perjury, rape, and 

 arson. The procedure of the court was to be 

 " assimilated to that of magistrates under the 

 laws of the State," and sentences and judg- 

 ments were not to be executed until approved 

 by the commanding general. The constitu- 

 tional convention also relied on General Canhy 

 to carry into effect such ordinances as it saw 

 fit to pass. These were few in number and 

 of little general interest. 



The Legislature, which met on the first of 

 July, continued in session until the 22d of 

 August, and passed a variety of laws, those of 

 the greatest general interest being " An act to 

 organize a militia of North Carolina,'* and "An 

 act to provide for the registration of voters." 

 Difference of opinion on questions of general 

 policy still seemed to fee based on the 

 "distinction of race, color, or previous con- 

 dition." No legislative action was taken 

 founded on any such distinction, but the senti- 

 ments of the Conservatives on the subject are 



