wxswulbet daib(dil irauasr vol iv salisbury n c tuesday december 23 1823 no 185 rt:m.i-iikd age « a citizen of the united states which was agreed to and on motion of mr harrington the salary was changed from £ 1000 to 2000 i he 16th section being read mr yancey observed that the amend ment proposed by the committee to this section went to supply a defect in the present constitution doubts had exis ted on the minds oflhe most enlightened of our citizens whether a case might not occur which would produce an interreg num in our government it is provided that in case of the death sec of the gov ernor the speaker of the senate for the time being shall exercise the executive power but there is nothing in our con stitution or laws which provides for a case which might happen our mem bers ofthe general assembly are elected in august for one year of course after one year has expired they are no longer in office so that if the governor were to die kc after the election and before tbe succeeding meeting of the legislature there would be no person authorized lo perform the duties of governor this amendment is offered to supply the de ficiency the motion was agreed to on the 26th section being read which excludes preachers ofthe gospel from a seat in the legislature been when our ancestors placed it there he believed none of our sister states had such a provision in their constitutions and as we could anticipate no evil for the want of it he was willing to blot it out of our constitution and equity in each of said districts at some convenient place therein thursday dec 4 — the following bills have become laws : a bill to amend an i.et passed in the year 1822 supplemental to an act passed in the year 1784 to up point commissioners and establish the town of morganton in burke county and for other purposes a bill for the better regulation ofthe town of statesville in le dell county : a bill incorporating the morganton academe and a bill to incor porate the sandy creek bible society the engrossed bill to repeal the 5'h and 7th sections of an act passed in 1820 concerning tlie marriage of infant females was rejected on its second reading friday dec 5 — the resolution intro duced yesterday in the house of com mons by mr mat tin directing the public printers to attach to the laws for 1823 the returns of the different sheriffs and clerks of the state as contained n the comptroller's report was read and passed in its original form and hugh m stokes arc in nomination for that appointment 1 his message was not concurred in by thc s n te btphilo white ntrrta o r ile laws of thb cuteh states mr f'lement presented llie petition of wm xeale of rowan count praying for leave to er • t - g e on a public road running through his lands tlie terms of the western carolinian will lereafter be as follows : three dollars a year payable in advance advertisements w ill be inserted at fifty cents per square for tbe first insertion and twenty-five lnts for each subsequent one all let •■''■>' ldr ised tothe editor must be pttt-paid r they will not be attended to mr settle read a clause from the con stitution of south carolina to shew that it contained a clause of similar import mr harrington observed that it was with some degree of unwillingness that he touched the subject being aware that it might excite unpleasant feelings aiul be liable to misrepresentation abroad ; bu he conduced it was better to do what we believe to be right and risk the censures of the world than to do wrong and receive their praises he wished no man tj suf fer on account of religion ; and he hoped a majoiity of the committee would go with him on this occasion mr stanley presented the petition of sundry inhabitants of the countv of da vidson respecting t!i location of the seat of justice in said countv convention debates mr pisher presented the petition of the executors of andrew caldcleugh late of rowan praying lhat certain negroes mentioned in said petition be emancipa ted agteeab'v to the wish and direction of the testator li.ini tbb baueiob b8gisteb the 6ih section being under considera tion mr settle moved to add after the word representatives " shall be a free white man a citizen of the u states which was agreed to mi j s smith moved to amend this section hv striking out all after the word election in the 5th line so as to require no qualification of piopeity for a represen tative in t e popular branch ofthe legis lature which he thought would be con sistent with the principles of our free government in the constitution of the united states no qu dification of this kind is required for members of either branch ofthe legislature he was satisfied that snrh a nullification was proper for our sena'e ; but saw no necessity for it for a member if the hnu^e of representatives mr melchor presented a bill to amend an art passed in 1819 relative to the ap prehension ol runaway slaves saturday nov-29 — mr ward from the committee appointed to conduct the balloting for a treasurer comptroller and secretarv reported that john hav wood was elected treasurer joseph hawkins comptroller anel wm hill secretary the motion was negatived i'j be continued general assembly senaie saturday die 6 — mr seawell from the committee on cherokee lands re ported a bill for thc relief of such persons as become purchasers of the cherokee lands sold under the authority of this state friday nov 28 — mr graves presen ted the petition of sirah pennix of sur ry county praying that the property she now has or may acquire be secured to her mr bryan presented a bill to amend an act to provide for children born after the making of their parents will the bill to amend an act concerning proving of wills ste was rejected on its second reading mr blackhdge leported a bill favora ble to the petition cd thc executors of alexander caldcleugh late r f rowan monday dec i — vlr williamson of northampton from the balloting rommit tee for governor repot ted ihat g.ibiiel holmes esq was dull elected mr flynt presented a iiii providing for the more extensive distribution of the journals of the legislature which bill was read the first time and passed mr seawell presented a bill to regulate the practice in the circuit courts of this state — which was read the first time this bill provides that in all criminal case s which are not capital fied in the circuit courts where the defendant may appeal to the supreme court they may be ad mitted to bail in the same manner as by law they are entitled to before trial mr harrington moved to strike it out he could see no good reason for denying to clergymen rights which were posses sed by every other class of citizens he should also move when it came before the convention to strike out the following section which he thought improperly in terfered with religious opinions which ought to be left entirely free mr yancey would inform the conven tion why the committee retained these sections for his own part he could see no necessity for them at this day in this free country where every man is at liber ty to adopt what religious opinions he pleases for which no one has a right t question him ; but these provisions have been acted under for forty years without producing any inconvenience or complain and the committee were aware if they touched them it might produce consid crable diss i'i r rnongst th people who were more sensibly alive on the sub ject of religion than any other he hoped therefore they would be retained as they did no injury mr alangum knew very well that any interference with this subject would be liable to misrepresentation and might create alarm in certain minds ; but he al so knew that this body ought lo do what was right regardless of idle clamor as one of the committee who formed this report he suffered this section to pass sub silentio ; but he was perfectly willing to trust the people with the selection of their representatives without this pro vision which he considered as a reflection on the present enlightened age and as a relict of a persecuting spirit under the old governments of europe such a pro vision might be proper but there is no necessity for it here we have nothing to apprehend from clergymen here some of them no doubt would make good members of assembly and he would place no bar in their way though they might probably be more useful at home he should therefore be in favor of ex punging this section mr harrington said his motion had been so ably defended by the gentleman from orange it was unnecessary for him to add a word in reference to what had fallen from his friend from caswell he would refer him to a case that occurred in the senate some years ago when a getleman of talents from one of our res pectable counties was deprived of his seat on this account mr yancey hoped the amendment pro posed bv the gentleman from orange would not prevail he was afraid mem bers were too solicitous for introducing unessential amendments lie did not thin membersought to act as if we were about to form an entirely new constitu tion the committee to whom this sub ject had been committed had judged it best to recommend only such amend mnvs to the present constitution as they deemed absolutely necessary what evil he asked had been experienced from the provision now proposed to be stricken out h - vet heard of any indeed he iho't u.e nn.iiihmation a necessary one and t fore hoped it would be retained af'.-r «- lew other remarks the propo sed amendment was disagreed to the following bills were presented : bv mr seawell a bill to regulate the practice in the several courts of equity in this state mr blackledge from the committee to whom was refened the petition of jacob smith and others of burke county made a report unfavorable to lhe prayer of the petition mr blackledge from the committee of propositions and giicvances rep ted a bill in favor of sally hampton of stokes county mr phifer a bill directing in what man ner the laws of our sister states shall be received in evict nee in this state monday dec 8 — the engrossed bill to amend the laws making provisions for widows was read the third time and on motion of mr hill of franklin referred to a select committee saturday nov 29 — bills were passed providing relief for the counmes in which suits in their superi r courts of law and equity havc or m so accumulate that thev cannot be tried at the regular terms of those courts a bill to amend an act passed in 1777 for appointing sheriffs and directing their duty in office snd for obliging the late sheriffs and collectors who are in arrears to account for and pay the same and for other purposes a bill to amend an act passed in 1819 relative to the apprehension of tunaway slaves mr stanley from the judiciary cem mitiee reported a bill to secure t 1 e rights of landlords against tenants hob i g over after the expiration of i heir tei ms monday dec i — mr welborn pre sented a bill to am nd an act to extend and improve tbe two roads leading from wilkesborough to he tennessee line also a bill o amt nd in act to ppoint com missionprs to ' v -.* y off a road lead ing across the mountain from wilkesbo rough to mrs bogle's in iredell country mr m'leod presented a bill to repeal lhe latter clause of the 8th and the whole of the 9th 10th and 1 1th sections of an act passed in 1822 to promote agricul ture and family domestic manufactures in this state air sheppard preset tec a bi i to amend the act of 1777 i ppointing sheriffs and directing their e'ute i office sec o-i motion of mr j a hill it was mr mangum moved to add to the end cf i tion " or a freehold of t',e value of dollars resolved that the committee on education be instructed t r inquire i to lhc • ■ • ■■ ■ of establishing by law schools throughout th ss tit , in conformity t the 41st section of the consti tution which makes i f the duty of the • tore to establish schools foi the convenient in struction of youth of the state and tn provide thr the due encouragement and promotion of useful learning air mi bane from thc committee on thai part of tin governor's mess ige v i ii h relates to the cherokee 1 mds reported a bill cone-fining tie public lands :, i h iv wood county ; which passed its first rea ding a bill concerning the public lands in the county of haywood mr yancry enquired if the mover in lended to vary the terms from those in trtxluccd into a former section ? tuesday dec 9 — mr torrance pre sented the petition of sundry citizens of iredell pra>ing that the militia ofthe county be divided into two regiments ac companied with a bill to carry the prayer into effect mr mangum iep!ied that he did as a member by the section as it stands is r quired only to hold 100 acres of land for tne term of his own life mr hill presented a bill to legitimate sarah smith of stokes on motion of mr graves mi mangum pioposed to fill the blank with 400 hesoh-ed that the committee to whom was referred ihat part ofthe governor's message which relates to the criminal law of this mate be instructed to enquire into the expediency of establishing a penitentiary in this state nd whereas it is believed that the monies paid by the several counties in this state under existing laws for the conviction and punishment of felons would in a few years amount to a sum sufficient to erect a penitentiary resolved that the said committee be instruct ed to adopt such measures as thev deem most advisable for the purpose of obtaining anel lay ing before our legislature an estimate of the sums paid by the several counties in this state for the years 1822 and 1823 on convictions and punnishments under our present criminal code — agreed to the engrossed bill for the relief of ed owen was read the second time mr seawell moved to amend the same by adding the following section : mr fisher thought 300 would be suf fri nt 1 he question was then taken on the largest sum and negatived then on the sm iller and cat ried tufsday ntc 2 — air clanrev from the < ommittee appointed to conduct the balloting for a solicitor of the 61 h judicial circuit reported that joseph wilson was duly elected " and be it further enacted that all and ev ery person heretofore convicted of the crime of petit larceny in this state be and is hereby re stored to credit in the same manner as if he she or they had never been convicted of any crime mr love moved to stiike f^tof the 7th lection the words in the 2d line " of any one countv he said that the meaning of these words were differently construed in different counties and frequently at different separate elections in the same county he therefore wished them struck out mr low rie presented a bill prescribing the manner in which the sheriff of bun combe countv shall pay over the tux laid for building a court house in said county ; which bill passed its first reading the bill for the mote extensive distri bution of tbe journals of the general as sembly was on its second reading post poned inch finitely wednesday dfc 3 — on motion of mr leonard lhe bill was then read the third time and ordered to be engrossed it is there fore a law lhe engrossed bill concerning michael rymer of rowan was also read the 3d time and ordered to be enrolled it is therefore a law mr yancey supposed the objections a frunstthe words moved to be struck out was that if a man had resided twelve months in any part of the slate he was allowed to vote wherever he might be at the time of an election but he should ohject to this amendment on the same pound that he had objected to others v ich he considered as unimportant different constructions might have been ptll on the words but he apprehended no serious evil had been experienced from them the bill for the relief of such persons as became purchasers of the cherokee lands sold under the authori y of the state was read the second time tuesday dec 2 — mr welbo-n of fered a resolution so to alter the present law that a ca sa shall not issue against the bodv of any person while he is pos sessed of real or personal estate sufficient to satisfy the plaintiff's demand mr fornev from the committe of pro positions and grievances reported unfa vo.ablv to the petition of joseph byers of iredell wednesday dec 10 mr legrand pre sented the petition of john christian and thomas kirk of montgomery praying the repeal or modification of an act pas sed at the last session ofthe general as sembly establishing a free ferry in said county the resohnion allowing to william drew esq attorney general compensa tion for courts which were not held was rejected on its second reading mr brittain presented a bill to regu late the county courts of buncombe — read the first time resolved that the military committee be re quired to examine into the propriety of revising the militia laws of this state so as to introduce some uniform svstem fcr the government of court martials on the trial of officers under arrest air car on presented the petition of jas cook of rutherford county thursday n'>v 4 — oiwiiotioi^^mr martin ro kingh m,m mr cameron from the committee on internal improvements to whom was re ferred a bill to authorize tbe making of a turnpike road from asheville by the warm springs to the tennessee line and to incorporate a company for that purpose repotted the said bill with sun dry amendments which were agreed to mr callaway presented a bill to alter and amend the law now in force relative to the supreme courts of north carolina wkdsesday dfx 3 mr bowers of fered a resolution to reduce the tax on trading vessels on navigable streams and pedlars in this state mr manin reported a bill for the re lief of amos harman of wilkes county mr pearsall presented a resolution to prevent all slaves from attending musters and elections in this state under propetj restiictir mr love wished it to be so expressed lhat no person in futu-e should be per roi'ted to vote in any county in which he had not resided 12 months previous to an election it was but a small amendment anf l could not be otherwise than well re eved by all after a few remarks the proposition as disagreed to mr harrington proposed to strike cut the 4th line ofthe 8th section the words and shall have paid public taxes this proposition had reference to poll tax rad long been considered an odious tax in nw state and might at no distant day e repealed it was with the view of tnaking the proposed amendments to the coiisiitution as acceptable as possible that he moved to strike out these words wiitzzzred that it shall and it is hereby ele fclared to be tbe duty ot the public printer to attach to the laws to be published for the year 1823 the returns ofthe different sheriffs and clerks of this state agreeably to the comp troller's heport i he following bills were presented : mr yancey thought that it would be well not to interfere with this subject h well recollected the case to which the gen tleman from anson referred but the state sustained no great injury the place of the gentleman was soon supplied as he had already observed he saw no necessity for the provision ; but as our ancestors had thought prudent to make it he was unwilling to meddle with it mr phifer was of opinion that the ec clesiastical and civil depariment ought to be left apart our constitution pro hibits others besides clergymen from seats in the legislature and he thought it was right to do so mr p referred to sojrve inconveniences which had been ex perienced in the legislature of south carolina by the admission of clergy men to a seat in their legislature no man had a more exalted opinion of a rea pious clergyman than himself but he did not wish to see them in the legislature mr mangum said the remarks which fell from him on this subject did not pro ceed from any particular religious views he deemed it improper to retain a pro vision of this kind in our constitution at this day however proper it might have house of commons bv mr roane a bill respecting lands held under ancient titles friday nov 28 — mr mebane from the committee o whom was referred that part ofthe governors message which re lates to reservation of lands which certain cherokee indians claim repotted a bill respecting said reservations ; w/hicl^vas read the fust ' ; '" q mr baine a bill directing the manner in which constables shall hereafter be ap pointed in the courts of mecklenburg to be elected hereafter by captain's companies one for each company mr clancey a bill to authoiize the payment of money to clerks of courts of record in certain cases 1 his bill makes it lawful for a person against whom final judgment for the payment of money shall be rendered to pav lhc same lb lhe eletk ofthe court instead ofthe sheriff or other legal officer friday dec 5 the following bills were presented : by mr bowers a bill to amend an act passed in 1789 concerning the proving of wills granting letters of administration and to prevent frauds in lhe inanagcmc t of intestates estates mr bodenhammer a bill to repeal an act passed 1822 directing the manner of messrs fisher and henderson were ap pointed a committee on enrolled bills mr ueall presented the following res olution : resolved that a select committee be appoin ted to inquire into the expediency of repealing the act of 1815 providing for the election of electors to vote for president anel vice presi dent of the u states by a general ticket ; and in lieu thereof to restore the district principle of electing electors for the same purpose : anel that the committee have leave to report by bill or otherwise * nl r yancey was aware that the poll tax w as not a very palatable tax ; but it is a * a * which has been for a long time paid v the citizens of this state and will con l[nue to be paid probably for a long time 0 come and the provision in question ou^ht not therefore to be parted with v'e payment of a public t3x was some ind of evidence of a person's residence fhe motion was negatived mr settle moved to amend the 13th action in the uth line after the word the bill empowering county courts to grant leave for the erection of gates across public roads in their respective counties was on its second reading on motion of mr calloway indefinitely postponed mr seawell presented a bill to arnend the militia laws of this state mr bryan offered a resolution to di vide the state into districts composed of two or more counties each for the pur pose of holding a superior court of law on motion of mr polk a message was sent to the senate proposing to ballot im mediately for a solicitor for lhe 6th judi cir.l district und staling that jos wilson