NORTH CAROLINA. 



599 



Resolved, That the amendments to the constitution 

 proposed by the last Legislature will, if adopted, 

 tend materially to benefit the State, and we unhesi- 

 tatingly recommend their support to all citizens, 

 without distinction of party. 



.Resolved, That all secret political societies are 

 dangerous in a free government, engender violence, 

 combinations against the peace of society, insecurity 

 of person and property, and ought to be discounte- 

 nanced by all good citizens. 



The campaign, thus opened, excited intense 

 interest throughout the country, and was pur- 

 sued with the utmost ardor by both parties 

 until the election, which took place on the 

 first Thursday of August. North Carolina 

 being the first State to vote after the making 

 of the presidential nominations, the result was 

 expected, not only to indicate how her electo- 

 ral vote would be cast, but also to exercise a 

 marked influence upon the elections that were 

 to follow in other States, in September and 

 October, and, finally, upon the general result 

 in November. Another point of great impor- 

 tance to be determined by this election was 

 the manner in which the colored citizens would 

 vote. The ablest speakers of both parties, in- 

 cluding on the side of the Administration sev- 

 eral members of the Cabinet, were sent into 

 the State, and a most thorough canvass was 

 made in every section. The colored vote, as 

 elsewhere in the South, was cast almost unan- 

 imously for the Republican candidates, and 

 Caldwell, with the other executive officers on 

 the same ticket, was elected by a small ma- 

 jority. A majority of both branches of the 

 Legislature, however, and of the Congress- 

 men, were Democratic. The vote for Governor 

 was as follows: Republican, 98,630; Demo- 

 cratic, 96,731 : Republican majority, 1,899. 

 The Legislature stands as follows : 



Of the Republicans, 4 Senators and 13 mem- 

 bers of the House are colored. At the elec- 

 tion in November, 94,769 votes were cast for 

 Grant, Republican, and 70,094 for Greeley, 

 Liberal Republican and Democrat ; majority 

 for Grant, 24,675. 



The new Legislature convened on the 18th 

 of November, and remained in session until 

 December 19th, when it took a recess to the 

 15th of January, 1873. The Governor, in his 

 annual message, recommended the passage of 

 measures for an adjustment of the State debt, 

 and to increase the efficiency of the school 

 system, expressing the hope that Congress 

 will lend some aid to the cause of education in 

 the South. Changes in the election law are 

 advocated, and the Legislature urged to pro- 

 vide for the establishment of a branch insane 

 asylum in the western part of the State, for 

 the organization of the militia, for the super- 

 vision of insurance companies doing business 



in the State, and to make an appropriation for 

 the completion of the Marion & Asheville 

 Turnpike, traversing the counties of McDowell, 

 Mitchell, Yancey, Buncombe, Watauga, Ashe, 

 Alleghany, Wilkes, and Caldwell. He refers 

 at length to the unfairness of the action of the 

 last Legislature in apportioning Senators and 

 Congressmen. For senatorial purposes the 

 State was divided into 42 districts, of which 8 

 were entitled to two Senators each, and the 

 residue to one each. 



Very few 'acts were passed before there- 

 cess, the principal one being a bill reducing 

 the salary of the Governor from $5,000 to 

 $4,000, and fixing that of the Treasurer at 

 $3,000. Augustus S. Merrimon, Democrat, 

 was elected U. S. Senator for the term com- 

 mencing March 4, 1873. The Legislature, in 

 April, 1871, passed an act authorizing the 

 President of the Senate, and the Speaker of 

 the House of Representatives to appoint prox- 

 ies and directors for the State in all corpora- 

 tions in which the State was a stockholder. 

 This act being regarded by Governor Cald- 

 well, who claimed the power of appointment 

 for himself, as unconstitutional, a suit was 

 brought to test the question, and in February a 

 decision was rendered by the Supreme Court, 

 sustaining the position of the Governor. This 

 decision was also regarded as settling the out- 

 standing controversy as to the appointment 

 of the trustees and directors of the charitable 

 institutions. In June the U. S. Circuit Court 

 decided that the dividends accruing on the 

 $3,000,000 stock, owned by the State in the 

 North Carolina Railroad Company, could not 

 be applied to the ordinary governmental ex- 

 penses, but must be reserved for the payment 

 of the coupons of the bonds issued in payment 

 of the stock. 



Reports from eighty counties show the num- 

 ber of children of school age (six to twenty- 

 one) to be 267,938, of whom 85,240 are col- 

 ored. As far as reported there were in the 

 public schools, from March 14th to October 1st, 

 50,681 children, of whom 16,387 were col- 

 ored ; in private schools, 7,055. The number 

 of teachers examined and approved was 2,132, 

 of whom 1,261 were white males, 413 white 

 females, 317 colored males, and 141 colored 

 females. There are 1,627 public school-houses, 

 89 private school-houses, and 93 colleges and 

 academies ; 8 teachers' institutes, attended by 

 from 37 to 50 teachers each, were held during 

 the year. The receipts of the permanent 

 school-fund, for the year ending September 

 30th, amounted to $13,285.14; disbursements, 

 $16,218.75; balance, October 1st, $7,088.51^. 

 The receipts of the income fund were $32,- 

 715.67; disbursements, $157,057.17; balance, 

 $54,182.05. For the same period the total 

 sum in the hands of county treasurers for the 

 support of schools was $332,019.56, of which 

 $155,393.96 were received from the State, 

 $45,840 from property - tax, donations, etc., 

 and $130,785.60 from poll-tax. Fifty-five 



