NORTH CAROLINA. 



511 



" And I do further command and enjoin it upon 

 all judges and other civil magistrates, and upon all 

 solicitors, sheriffs, and other officers of the law, to 

 use their best efforts under the Constitution and laws 

 of the State to apprehend and bring to speedy trial 

 all offenders against the persons and property and 

 the political and civil rights of any and all persons 

 in this State whomsoever. 



"And I do further command and require that all 

 persons who may have entered this State from other 

 States, in pursuance of any unlawful purpose, in- 

 stantly to disperse and leave this State, upon pain 

 of being arrested and dealt with according to law." 



A mass meeting, attended by more than 8,000 

 persons, was held in the public square in front of 

 the Wayne County courthouse, at Goldsboro, on Oct. 

 28, when the following preamble and resolutions 

 were adopted : 



li We, a portion of the citizens of eastern North 

 Carolina, in mass meeting assembled, being mind- 

 ful of the obligations we are assuming, and being 

 desirous of informing our fellow-citizens of the con- 

 dition of affairs in our section of the State, do pub- 

 lish to the world the following plain statement of 

 facts : 



" 1. The population of this section of our State is 

 divided into two distinct races the Anglo-Saxon 

 and the African. 



"2. That in some counties the whites exceed the 

 blacks, and in others the blacks largely exceed the 

 whites, but in all of them the negro is found in 

 large numbers. 



"3. It is not claimed, even by his white leaders, 

 that the negro is capable of administering a govern- 

 ment. On the contrary, the man who is the present 

 Republican Governor of the State has declared, in 

 the most emphatic language, that he is wholly un- 

 fitted for it. 



"4. That in many of the counties, cities, and 

 towns of eastern North Carolina the local govern- 

 ments have been turned over, wholly or in part, to 

 the negroes. Among these we mention Bertie, Cra- 

 ven, Edgecombe, Halifax, New Hanover, Warren, 

 Greenville, New Berne, and Wilmington. In these 

 counties, cities, and towns negroes may be found 

 holding the offices of register of deeds, deputy sher- 

 iffs, constables, justices of the peace, school commit- 

 teemen, town commissioners, policemen, and the 

 like. In several other counties many of these offices 

 are filled by negroes, and that many of the post 

 offices are filled by them. 



" 5. That counting the offices of register of deeds, 

 deputy registers, deputy sheriffs, constables, justices 

 of the peace, school committeemen, town commis- 

 sioners, policemen, postmasters, collectors, store- 

 keepers, gaugers, and the like, there are now in 

 office in counties and towns of eastern North Caro- 

 lina nearly 1,000 negroes, there being nearly 300 

 negro magistrates alone. 



"6. That as a consequence of turning these local 

 offices over to the negroes, bad government has fol- 

 lowed, homes have been invaded, and the sanctity 

 of woman endangered. Business has been paralyzed 

 and property rendered less valuable. The majesty 

 of the law has been disregarded and lawlessness en- 

 couraged. In many localities men no Jonger rely 

 upon the officers of the law for protection, for they 

 are known to be incompetent or corrupt. Condi- 

 tions have become so intolerable in these communi- 

 ties that they can be no longer tolerated or en- 

 dured. 



" 7. That this negro domination was made possi- 

 ble, and these deplorable conditions were brought 

 about, through a division of the white men at the 

 ballot box. Had the white men remained together, 

 as they did for many years, these things could not 

 have been. 





"8. That knowing these evils came about through 

 a division of the white men, the White Man's party 

 has been zealously working for months to reunite 

 the white men at the ballot box, where these wrongs 

 can be righted and these evils remedied. 



" In view of these things, it is resolved : 



" 1. That the Republican leaders have a second 

 time clearly demonstrated their inability and their 

 unfitness to govern North Carolina. 



" 2. That the time has come when those who have 

 followed these leaders should no longer do so, and 

 that all men who love their State and their homes 

 should unite in one supreme effort to redeem the 

 State, and to place honest, capable white men in 

 office in State, county, city, and town. 



" 3. That our appeal has been, is now, and shall 

 continue to be to the ballot box and to honest white 

 men. We have contemplated no violence, but we 

 are determined to use all proper means to free our- 

 selves of this negro domination, which is paralyzing 

 our business, and which hangs like a dark cloud 

 over our homes. 



" 4. That we declare it is not our purpose to do 

 the negro any harm. It is better for him, as well 

 as for us, that the white man shall govern ; that 

 while we propose to protect and encourage him in 

 all his rights and duties of citizenship, we affirm 

 that North Carolina shall not be negroized. It is, 

 of all the States of the Union, peculiarly the home 

 of the Anglo-Saxon, and the Anglo-Saxon shall 

 govern it. 



"5. That we affirm that no such conditions exist 

 in this State as to justify Senator Pritchard in call- 

 ing upon the President to send troops to this State, 

 or the Governor in issuing his brutal proclamation, 

 and we hereby condemn in the most unmeasured 

 terms the conduct of Senator Pritchard and Gov. 

 Russell in attempting to make it appear to the out- 

 side world that the descendants of the men of Meck- 

 lenburg, Halifax, Albemarle, the Cape Fear, of 

 Alamance, Guilford Courthouse, and King's Moun- 

 tain need the military power of the Government, 

 which they helped to create and organize, to compel 

 them to observe the law. The white men of this 

 State, above all others, are interested in maintain- 

 ing law and order, and for them to be charged by 

 Senator Pritchard and Gov. Russell with having a 

 purpose to become insurrectionary citizens is a vile 

 slander, and we denounce them. They have been 

 leaders in establishing negro domination among us, 

 and they are therefore responsible for the condi- 

 tions now existing, and in appealing to the Presi- 

 dent to send troops into this State to aid them in 

 maintaining negro domination they have shown 

 they care less for the honor and reputation of their 

 State than they do for their official positions. 



" 6. That it is in the power of the Legislature to 

 restore to the white men of eastern North Carolina 

 the management and control of their local affairs; 

 that if the Democratic party shall be placed in con- 

 trol of the Legislature this will be done. If the 

 Republican party is placed in control it will not be 

 done. We therefore appeal to our white brethren 

 in every section of the State to go to the ballot box 

 on the day of election and vote for the Democratic 

 candidates for the Legislature. 



" 7. That a learned and pure judiciary is neces- 

 sary to the preservation' of the rights of the weak 

 as well as the strong. The Democratic candi- 

 dates for this high position are men learned in the 

 law, and of eminent fitness for this great office. We 

 therefore appeal to all white men who desire learned 

 and pure men to sit upon the bench to work and to 

 vote for Democratic candidates." 



The State election, held Nov. 8, resulted in a 

 Democratic victory, that party's majority being 

 more than 19,000. Seven Democratic Cong'ressiuen 



