NORTH CAROLINA. 



561 



House of Representatives, that Edmund "W. 

 Jones, a Judge of the Superior Court of the 

 Second Judicial District, had recently con- 

 ducted himself, in public pl^cc, ijl a manner 

 utterly unbecoming the dignity of his office, 

 \vliich, if not animadverted upon, was calcu- 

 lated to bring the judiciary into contempt, and 

 prove injurious to the community in many 

 respects, the House appointed a committee 

 to investigate the matter. The result of the 

 investigation was a report of the committee, 

 presenting to the House a resolution to impeach 

 Judge Jones, based on five articles of impeach- 

 ment against him, and recommending their 

 passage. The substance of these articles is as fol- 

 lows : Article 1st recites charges of drunken- 

 ness and disgraceful conduct in Raleigh ; article 

 2d charges the same thing in Goldsboro' ; article 

 3d charges the same in Tarboro' ; article 4th 

 charges the same misdemeanors in the town 

 of Williamstown, Martin County; article 5th 

 contains charges of a like nature to those of 

 article 4th, of occurrences in Williamstown, 

 but differing in certain particulars. The 

 House adopted both the resolution and the 

 articles, and appointed a board of managers. 

 These appeared before the Senate on March 

 27, 1871, and formally impeached Edmund W. 

 Jones of high misdemeanors and incompetency 

 in office, on the above-mentioned charges. The 

 Senate constituted itself a court of impeach- 

 ment to try the case. 



By a message dated March 31st, Governor 

 Caldwell informed the House of Representa- 

 tives that Judge Jones had tendered the resig- 

 nation of his office, but said " this resignation 

 could not be accepted until the articles of im- 

 peachment were disposed of." The following 

 preamble and resolution were offered there- 

 upon by one of the members, and, under a sus- 

 pension of the rules, put to vote, and adopted : 



Whereas, The Governor hath informed this House 

 that Edmund W. Jones, Judge of the Second Judicial 

 District, against whom this House has preferred ar- 

 ticles of impeachment, has resigned his office of 

 judge: therefore be it 



Resolved, That the articles of impeachment adopted 

 by the House against the said Edmund W. Jones, as 

 presented to the Senate, be and they are hereby with- 

 drawn, and that the managers of impeachment, ap- 

 pointed on behalf of the House, inform the Senate 

 of this action of the House, and request the Senate 

 to return said articles of impeachment. 



The Board of Managers presented this reso- 

 lution to the court on April 1st, making a 

 request in accordance with it ; when the fol- 

 lowing order was offered to the Senate by one 

 of its members, and adopted : 



It is ordered by the Senate, That the House of Kep- 

 resentatives may discontinue the further prosecution 

 of the impeachment. And it is further ordered, that 

 the Senate, sitting as a court of impeachment, ad- 

 journ sine die. 



The subject of a constitutional convention, 

 which had been favorably reported upon, but 

 left undecided, by the General Assembly of the 

 previous year, was proposed again at the pres- 

 ent session, when a member of the House of 

 VOL. xi. 36 A 



Representatives introduced a. ^" A J 

 for a conventiAn ? * ' l)0 ^ Qn A 



Tue principal among the specified restrictions 

 imposed on the convention are that it should 

 have u no power to propose any alteration or 

 repeal of the homestead and personal proper- 

 ty exemptions, as provided for in the constitu- 

 tion of the State ; nor, in any way, to inter- 

 fere with, modify, or impair the rights, priv- 

 ileges, or immunities, of any person in the 

 State, on account of race, color, or previous 

 condition, which are now guaranteed to him 

 by the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth 

 amendments to the Constitution of the United 

 States; nor to modify or repeal that clause 

 in the present constitution which provides for 

 a mechanics' and laborers' lien law ; nor to pass 

 any ordinances, legislative in their character, 

 except such as are necessary to submit the con- 

 stitution, as amended, to the people of the State, 

 for their ratification or rejection, and except 

 ordinances in relation to the public debt." 



The bill passed both Houses early in Febru- 

 ary, 1871 the Senate by more than two-thirds, 

 of its votes, the House by a large majority ; 

 the Republican members, twenty among them 

 negroes, having solidly voted against it. 



The more deeply to impress the citizens of 

 the State with the necessity of holding a con- 

 stitutional convention, an "Address to the 

 People of North Carolina," signed by 105 

 members of the Legislature, was published, set- 

 ting forth some of the more grievous evils which 

 existed, as follows : 



This constitution has overturned our ancient judi- 

 cial system, and has introduced in its stead a novel 

 one so full of deformities that it has become a by- 

 word of reproach and contempt. The old method 

 of practice and proceeding in the courts has been 

 abolished, and a code of procedure substituted, so 

 ill-digested, crude, and contradictory in its provi- 

 sions, that our highest tribunals confess themselves 

 unable fully to understand it, or to administer it, 

 except by judicial legislation. The enforcement of 

 rights and the redress of wrongs have to be sought 

 by such tortuous and expensive channels that it is 

 often cheaper to submit to injustice than to seek a 

 remedy through the courts. The code of procedure 

 cannot be repealed, or essentially changed, by_ the 

 Legislature ; for either this, or something like it, is 

 prescribed by the constitution. * * * 



The present county and township governments 

 are intolerable evils. Their cumbrances and ineffi- 

 ciency, their expensiveness, and the numerous ave- 

 nues to peculation and extortion which they open up, 

 are grievances which have brought complaints and 

 remonstrances from all sections of the State. * * 



There arc a multitude of useless offices, established 

 by this constitution, which ought to be abolished. 

 The holding of more than one office by the same in- 

 dividual is a serious evil not now prohibited. The 

 cost of carrying on the government upon the present 

 plan, from the chief departments down to the court 

 clerks and justices of the peace, is vastly greater than 

 it ought to be. The taxes for the last two years have 

 been heavy, and yet the Treasury is bankrupt ; and it 

 is difficult to devise means to meet current expendi- 

 tures. * * * 



There is one overwhelming consideration to which. 

 we invite particular attention, and which of itself 

 renders the call of a convention, in our opinion, an 

 imperative necessity. One of the most striking pro- 

 visions of the pres'ent constitution has never been 



