The message of
Gov. Ellis, of
North Carolina, read before the Legislature of that State on Tuesday, is received.
The following abstract is interesting:
The actual debt of the
State, on October 1st, was $9,129,505, besides a debt of $1,699,900, for which her faith is pledged.
The receipts into the
State treasury for the past two years are $1,310,884, and the estimated receipts for the next two years are $1,726,425. Of the railroad from
Beaufort to Cowana, on the
Tennessee line, (560 miles,) 318 miles have been completed and 50 miles let out. Its cost when finished will be $12,600,000. The
Cape Fear and Deep River Canal has been opened 81 miles, to the centre of the
Coal Fields, with an average depth of 8 feet and width of 65 feet. The
Fayetteville and Western Railroad is completed to the
Coal Fields; in
Chatham county; the
Wilmington,
Charlotte and Rutherford Railroad is finished 75 miles from
Wilmington and 25 miles from
Charlotte.
The first division of the Western North Carolina Railroad, extending from
Salisbury to Morganten, a distance of 80 miles, has been completed to within eleven miles of its termination and the second division, from
Morganton to the
Western portal of the
Blue Ridge Tunnel, a distance of 40 miles, let to contract, upon which the grading is now being executed.
It appears that from 1815 to 1836, a period of twenty years, the value of our
real estate actually decreased, while there was only an increase of $2,100,000 from 1815 to 1850, a period of thirty-five years. From 1850 to 1860; ten years, the increase has been $70,400,000. Now, it will be recollected, that most of our works of internal improvement have been constructed since the year 1850. In that year we had but 250 miles of railroad, and that of a very imperfect character, while in the present year we have 834 miles of road in actual operation.
The increased value of
real estate since 1850, will alone yield a revenue, at the present rate of taxation, of $140,400. The number of schools and colleges in
North Carolina are 8,738, and the number of scholars attending them 177,400.
In consequence of the low price fixed by the Legislature of North Carolina for the service, the
Governor has been unable to procure a Commissioner to run the boundary line between
Virginia and that State.
In that part of the message referring to Federal relations he says, the ‘"Northern States have violated our rights to an extent that would scarcely have been borne by any other people on earth."’ The nullification laws sending emissaries among our slaves, the
John Brown raid, and the refusal of the
Governors of
Iowa and
Ohio to surrender the fugitives connected with it, are recalled, and the message adds:
The forbearance with which the
South has borne these indignities and wrongs, has utterly failed to secure a corresponding forbearance upon the part of our aggressors.
The spirit of fanaticism by which they are influenced, growing bolder by its lawless riot and unobstructed indulgence, has at last so far united the
Northern masses as to enable them to seize upon the
General Government with all its power of purse and sword.
Two persons have been elected respectively to the offices of
President and
Vice President, exclusively by the people of one section of the country, upon a principle hostile to the institutions and domestic policy of the other.
Neither of them received an electoral vote in all the fifteen Southern States, and neither could have uttered, in many of them, the political sentiments upon which they are elevated to power without subjecting himself to the penalties of the local criminal laws.
A clearer case of a foreign domination as to us could not well be presented; and that it will be a hostile domination, past occurrences and the circumstances under which they have been elected, forbid us to doubt.
That any people, having a due appreciation of the principles of liberty, could long submit to such a domination, it is impossible to suppose.
They now tell us that this election has been conducted according to the forms of the
Constitution, and that therefore the people of the
South should take no exception to the fact.--They, who themselves have utterly refused to be bound by that Constitution, now hold it up to us as a bond to secure us from defending our property and lives against their oppressions.
It is true,
Abraham Lincoln is elected
President according to the forms of the
Constitution; it is equally true, that George the Third was the rightful occupant of the
British Throne, yet our fathers submitted not to his authority.
They rebilled not against the man, because of any defect of his title to the crown, but against the more substantial fact,--the tyranny of his Ministers and Parliament.
That power ‘"behind the throne,"’ and which in the name of the throne attempted to deprive them of their liberties, is the one with which they grappled.
So it is with us. It is not the man.
Abraham Lincoln, that we regard, but the power that elevated him to office, and which will naturally maintain a controlling influence in his Administration.
And can it reasonably be expected, that men who have totally disregarded their constitutional obligations, and proved so dangerous in the administration of their State Governments, will learn moderation by this new gratification of their lust of power and dominion?
When it is considered that the sentiment of hostility to
African slavery is deeply fixed in the minds of the
Northern, people — that for twenty-five years it has formed a part of their education — been inculcated in the family circle, and taught to them from the pulpit, as a leading principle of their religion, together with the duty of its practical enforcement ‘"everywhere and on every occasion,"’ it must be confessed that there exists but little ground upon which to rest a hope that our rights will be secured to us by the
General Government administered at their hands.
This condition of public affairs, as was to have been expected, threatens the most deplorable consequences to the
Confederacy.
Already, it is rendered more than probable that several of the
Southern States, in the exercise of the mutual rights of nations, will separate from the Federal Union before the termination of your present session.
Such an occurrence would present a grave state of facts, commanding your most serious and solemn deliberations.
It cannot for a moment be supposed that we could submit to have the policy of the Abolition party, upon which their candidate for the Presidency has been elected, carried out in his Administration, as it would result in the destruction of our property and the placing the lives of our people in daily peril; and even though this should not be immediately attempted, yet an effort to employ the military power of the
General Government against one of the
Southern States, would present an emergency demanding prompt and decided action on our part.
It can but be manifest that a blow thus aimed at one of the
Southern States would involve the whole country in a civil war, the destructive consequences of which, to us, could only be controlled by our ability to resist those engaged in waging it.
The civilization of the age, surely, ought to be a sufficient guaranty for the prevention of so great a calamity as war; even though amid political changes of the magnitude of those going on around us. But, should the incoming administration be guilty of the folly and the wickedness of drawing the sword against any Southern State, whose people may choose to seek that protection out of the Federal Union which is denied to them in it, then we of
North Carolina would owe it to ourselves — to the liberties we have inherited from our fathers — to the peace of our homes and families, dearer to us than all governments, to resist it to the last extremity.
Ours is a Government of public opinion, and not of force; and the employment of military force to control the popular will would, if successful, result in a galling and inexorable despotism.
The prevention, then, of civil war and the preservation of peace amongst us, are the great objects which
North Carolina should resolve upon securing, whatever changes the
Government may undergo.
In view of the perilous condition of the country, it is, in my opinion, becoming and proper that we should have some consultation with those States identified with us in interest and in the wrongs we have suffered; and especially those lying immediately adjacent to us. As any action of ours would of necessity materially affect them, it would be but consistent with the amicable relations that have ever existed between us, to invite them to a consultation upon a question that so deeply affects us all. From a calm and deliberate consideration of the best mode of avoiding a common danger, much good might result and no evil could.
In thus proceeding we would show to the world a disposition to exhaust every peaceable remedy for the solution of our difficulties and a firm determination to maintain our rights, ‘"in the
Union if possible, and out of it if necessary."’
Such a step, too, would be but a becoming mark of respect to that considerable portion of the people of the non-slaveholding States who have ever been disposed to acknowledge us as equals in the
Union, and who have, on many occasions, gallantly struggled to secure our Constitutional rights.
I therefore respectfully recommend that you invite the
Southern States to a conference, or such of them as may be inclined to enter into consultation with us upon the present condition of the country, should such a conference be found imp then I would recommend the of or more in with the view of
I also think that the public safety requires a is our own people for as of their opinion.
The will of the people once expressed will be a law of action with all, and secure that unanimity so necessary in an emergency like the present.
I therefore recommend that a Convention of the people of the
State be called, to assemble immediately after the proposed consultation with other Southern States shall have terminated.
The subject of our military defence will require your early attention.
I would recommend a thorough reorganization of the militia and the enrollment of all persons between the ages of 18 and 45 years. With such a regulation our muster roll would contain near a hundred and ten thousand men.
I would also recommend the formation of a corps of ten thousand volunteers, with an organization separate from the main body of the militia, and that they be suitably armed and equipped.
That your proceedings may be conducted in a spirit of harmony and conciliation, and that they will rebound to the honor and welfare of
North Carolina and our common country, is my fervent desire.
