from the "Milton Chronicle", Milton NC [Caswell Co], Friday July 28, 1865;
in petition for pardon of Charles N. B. Evans, Caswell Co, NC PROCLAMATION by Wm W. Holden, Provisional Governor
To The People of North Carolina.
Whereas, By the Proclamation of Andrew Johnson, President of the Unites States of America, dated May 29th, 1865, I have been appointed Provisional Governor of the State of North Carolina, with instructions to "prescribe at the earliest practicable period, such rules and regulations as may be necessary and proper for convening a Convention, composed of delegates to and chosen by that portion of the people of said State who are loyal to the United States, and no others, for the purpose of altering or amending the Constitution thereof; and with authority to exercise within the limits of said State all the power necessary and proper to enable such loyal people of the State of North Carolina to restore said State to its Constitutional relations to the Federal Government, and to present such a republican form of State Government as will entitle the State to the guarantee of the United States therefor, and its people to protection by the United States against invasion, insurrection, and domestic violence.":-
And Whereas, It is proper that the people of the State should be informed as may be, at this time, of the measures that will be necessary to attain this end, so that they may be ready to offer an intelligent and willing co-operation in the same:-
And Whereas, It is also proper that the purposes of the Federal Government in relation to the people of the State should be made known, so that the loyal may receive assurances of protection and encouragement, and the disloyal, if there be any may know that the eye of authority is upon them, and that they will not be permitted with impunity to to resist the laws or to disturb the peace of society:-
Now, Therefor, I William W. Holden, Provisional Governor as aforesaid, do proclaim and declare.-
1st, That a Convention of the people of North Carolina will be held, at as early a period as practicable, to be composed of the number of members to which the Counties are respectfully entitled in the House of Commons of the State Legislature. No Person will be a candidate for the Convention, and no person will vote for members to compose it, who shall not previously thereto have taken and subscribed to the following oath, prescribed in the Proclamation of the President of the United States, dated May 29th, 1865:
"I, ---, do solemnly swear or affirm, in presence of Almighty God, that I will henceforth faithfully support, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States, and the Union of the States thereunder; and that I will in like manner abide by and faithfully support all laws and proclamations which have been made during the existing rebellion with reference to the emancipation of slaves, So help me God."
And no person not well affected towards the Federal Government, and not loyal thereto, will be permitted to take said oath, or to vote in said election.
Measures will be perfected as early as practicable for administering the above oath, to such persons as may be entitled to take i_, and for providing them with certificates of the same as evidence of their loyalty. The said oath is regarded as part of the benefits of the Proclamation referred to, and will not be administered to any of the classes excluded by said Proclamation, save on the exhibition by them of a full p_rdon from the President of the offence they may have committed against the United States.
2d. The Convention thus to be called will alter or amend the Constitution of the State and will submit said Constitution thus altered or amended; to the voters of the State at the ballot box for their acceptance or rejection.
3d. The Convention will provide for the election by the people of a Governor and members of the Legislature, and the Legislature will elect two Senators to represent the State in the Congress of the United States.
4th. An election will also be held in due time for members of the House of Representatives from the State in the Congress of the United States.
Inasmuch as there are no civil magistrates in the State, nor State officers of any kind, the Provisional Governor, by virtue of authority in him vested by the President of the United States; will proceed:
1st. To appoint Justices of the Peace for the various Counties, loyal men, by whom, the above oath will be administered, and who will also conduct the elections, through subordinates, for members of a Convention, in accordance with instructions from this office, and agreeably to the laws of this State in force previously to the 20th day of May 1861.
2nd. Superior Court of Oyer and Terminer will be held, when necessary by Judges specially appointed ang commissioned to dispose of criminal cases.
3d. The Justices of the Peace, appointed as aforesaid, will be authorized to hold Courts for the transaction of all such business as may not be of the class of cases triable by a jury. The Justices by a majority of the whole number will also be authorized to appoint their Sheriffs, and their Clerks for the time being, and such other officers as may be indispensable to a proper transaction of business. And they will also be vigilant and will exert themselves to maintain the laws and to promote the peace of s ociety in their respective counties, and especially to arrest and commit for trial, when the Courts may be held all offenders against any law of the State in force previous to the 20th May 1861; and to allow bail where the case is bailable, according to the usage of the State.
4th. The Provisional Governor will appoint the State Directors and State proxies in the various corporations in which the State is interested as the exercise of such power by him cannot be avoided. But the control of the Railroads, the Asylums, and other corporations in which the State is interested, thus unavoidably to this extent committed to him, will be relinquished for the action of the Convention when that body shall have assembled.
Such in brief is an outline of the policy deemed necessary to reconstruct the governmrnt of North Carolina, and to restore to its Constitutional relations to the Federal Government.
And now, as Provisional Governor of the State, I invite the loyal people thereof to resume with cheerfulness, and with confidence in the future, their accustomed pursuits; and I invite those who have been driven from the State by despotic power, to return; assuring all loyal citizens of the State that they will be protected in their persons and propety, and encouraged in their exertions to improve their condition. I also exhort them not to cease to take an interest in public affairs, but to unite with me in the purpose to reconstruct the State Government through the aid of loyal citizens; and to be vigilant and active in discouraging disloyal sentiments; and ensuring the election of known friends of the Federal government to every office. Your experience fellow citizens during the rebellion should attach you by the strongest ties to the government of the United States. You have just been delivered by the armies of the Union from one of the mos corrupt and rigorous despotisms that ever existed in the world. Many of you have been forced for opinions sake, and because of your love for the flag of your fathers to fly frem the land of your birth or of your adoption, and seek a refuge among strangers to escape the hand of arbitrary power. Many of you have been torn from your homes, or hunted like wild beasts in the forest, and forced into the rebel armies as conscripts, to fight for the continued enslavement of the colored race, and also for a state of slavery for yourselves and your children. Some of you have been subjected to imprisonment and tortures on account of your opinions; and all of you have been deprived for years, up to a recent period of liberty of speech and of the press and of every essential guarantee of libery and of protection to person and property, which is contained in the Constitution of the U. States. You are once more free citizens of the U. States. By your suffering in the past, and by your hope for the future, I adjure you to guard well your freedom. Remember that all that you have, and all you can hope to be, and all of good that is in reserve for your children, are indissolubly bound up with the American Union. The "unity of government which constitutes us one people," should be more dear to us that ever, on account of the sufferings through which we have passed. In the language of Washington, "it is is of infinite moment that you should properly estimate the immense value of your national Union to your collective and individual happiness; that you should cherish a cordial and immovable attachment to it; accestoming yourselves to thing and to speak of it as the paladium of your political safety and prosperity; watching for its preservation with jealous anxiety, discountenancing whatever may suggest even a suspicion that can in any event be abandoned; and indignantly frowning upon the first dawning of every attempt to alienate one portion of our country from the rest or to enfeeble the sacred ties which now link together the various parts. To the colored people of the State I would say, you are now free. Providence has willed that the very means adopted to render your servitude perpetual should be His instruments for releasing you from bondage. It now remains for you, grded as you will be by the superior intelligence of the white race, and cheered by the sympathies of all good people, to decide whether the freedom thus suddenly bestowed upon you, will be a blessing to you or a source of injury. Your race has been depressed by your condition of slavery and by the legislation of your former masters for two hundred years. It is not to be expected that you can comprehend and appreciate as they should be comprehended wan appreciated by a self governing people, the dise provisions and limitations of Constitutions and laws; or that you can now have that knowledge of public affairs which is necessary to qualify you to discharge all the duties of the citizen. No people has ever yet bounded at once into the full enjoyment of the right of self government. But you are free, in common with all our people, and you have the same right, regulated by law, that others have, to enter upon the pursuits of prosperity and happiness. You should henceforth sacredly observe the marrtage relation, and you should provide for your offspring. You can now not only learn to read yourselves, as some of you have been able to do heretofore, but you can instruct others, and procure instruction from others yourselves and your children; without fear of punishment. But to be prosperous and happy you must labor not merely when you feel like it, or for a scanty support, but industriously and steadily, with a view to making and laying up something for yourselves and your families.. If you are idle you will become vicious and worthless, if vicious and worthless you will have no no frisnds and will at last perish. In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread all the days of thy life." The same Providence that has bestowed freedom upon you, has told you that diligence in business is required of all his creatures, and you cannot expect that your race will escape ultimate extinction, if you willfully violate or disregard this, one of His great commands. Freedom does not mean that one may do as he pleases, but that every one may, by industy, frugality and temperance, improve his condition and enjoy the fruits of his own labors, so long as he obeys the laws I have no prejudice against you. On the conntrary while I am a white man and while my lot is with my own color, yet I sympathize with you as a weaker race; and I cannot forget that during the rebellion many of you fought for the preservation of the Union, and that those of [you] who remained at home in the then slaveholding States, for the most part, docile and faithful, and made no attempt by force of arms to gain even their own freedom. I will see to it, as far as I can, that you have your liberty; that you are protected in your property and persons; and that you are paid your wages. But on the other hand, I will set my face against those of you haw are idle and dissipated, and prompt punishment will be inflicted for any breach of the peace or violation of law. In fine I will be your friend as long as you are true to yonrselves, and obedient to the laws, and as long as you labor, no matter how feebly, if honestly and earnestly, to improve your condition. It is my duty as far as I may, to render the government "a terror to evil doers, and a praise to them that do well:" -and this I will endeaver to do in relation to the whole people of the State of North Carolina, "without fear, favor, or affection, reward or the hope of reward."
And now, "with charity for all, with malice toward none" I enter upon the discharge of the duties assigned me by the President, earnestly and solemnly invoking the good peoble of the State to aid me in the work of reconstructing the Government, and in restoring the State to the protection, benefits, and blessings of the Union.
Done at the City of Raleigh, the 12th day of June, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty five, in the eighty ninth year of American independence.
William W. Holden,
Provisional Governor.
By the Governor,
Jos. W. Holden, Private Secretary.
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