Doơ. No. 1.1350 90098 sidi bas 4 tu quia M ban with and oldi, tremoraai vilt ail nequ,namo'insg Ordered to be Printed JSES. 1865. om wellA d I do not deem it my duty, under the circumstances, to add dress you a formal and elaborate message in relation to publicq affairs. Your duties are too plain, to require suggestions frompt me, and I entertain no doubt those duties will be promptly and d faithfully performed.nd enw foulw,bastesmod blo adt yế North-Carolina attempted, in May 1861, to separate herself from the Federal Union. This attempt involvedtiher, with other slaveholding States, in a protracted and disastrous war, the result of which was a vast expenditure of blood and trea sure on her part, and the practical abolition of domestic slavery. She entered the rebellion a slaveholding State, andm she emerged from it a non-glaveholding States Indother respects, so far as her existence as a State and her rights as a 1 State are concerned, she has undergoned no change.||Thẻ e President of the United States wisely determined that her existence as a State should not be extinguished, buf that;q under that clause of the Federal Constitution which guaro antees to every State in the Union a republican form of govt ernment her people, in Convention assembled, thight 80s? alter and amend their Constitution, and adopt such measures as would restore the State to her Constitutional relations to sto the Federal Government, and thus secure once more to the people thereof the immeasurable be::efits and blessings of the Union. Allow me to congratulate you, gentlemen, upon the favorable circumstances which surround, you, while engaged in the great work of restoring the State to her former and natural position. It is my firm belief that the policy of the President in this respect, which is as broad, as liberal, and as just as the Constitution itself, will be approved by the great body of the people of the United States; and that the period is not distant, if we are true to ourselves, and properly regardful of the reasonable expectations of our friends in other States, wheron: Senators and representatives will resume their seats in Congres and when our State will enjoy, in common with the other States, the protection of just laws under the Constitution of our Fathers In the touching lan gnage of your most worthy presiding officer, "We are going home Let painful reflections upon our late séparation, and pleasant memories of our early Union, quicken our footsteps towards the old mansion, that we may grasp hard again the hand of friendship which stands at the door; and, shelteredTM by the old homestead, which was built upon a roc", and has weathered the storm, enjoy fogether the long bright future which awaitsensai quasi aiT moin le s silt mont Lstake it for granted, gentlemen, that you will insert in the Constitutional provision forever abolishing slavery or invol untary servitude in North Carolina; and that you will sub mit the Constitution, when altered and amended, to the peo ple of the State at the ballot box for ratification or rejection!is I do not doubt that the Constitution, thus altered and amende ed, will be ratified by an immense majority of the 11 T people 1812 I send herewith the Report of Jonathan Worth, Esquire, public Treasurer, setting forth the State debt, the condition of the Sinking Fund, and embracing also a general view of the State finances, both at home and abroad. Also, Reports from the Banks and Railroad Companies, showing the 電 dition; and Reports from the Superintendent of the Insane Asylum, and the Principal of the Asylum for the Deaf and the Dumb and the Blind, containing statements of the condition of these institutions. I, also, send herewith a Report from the Public Treasurer in relation to State property; to which, with the other Reports referred to, I invite your careful attention. It will afford me pleasure, gentlemen, to furnish you with any information in my possession which you may desire; and I beg you to be assured that I will be ready at all times to co-operate with you in such measures as may be deemed essential to promote harmony among our people, and to restore the State, at the earliest practicable period, to its constitutional relations to the federal government. I have the honor to be, with much respect, W. W. HOLDEN, Provisional Governor. |