Newspaper Page Text
Mt HU'cMn Cljnmidr & Constitutionalist.
VOLUME XCV
icnrroKUL sotf.s.
Senator of South Carolina, in one
of the rising men in the Senate.
The Chattanooga Times suggests that Gen.
Be a.* .side be sent to an idiot asylum and
not argued with.
Mahone’s worst trouble, it is said, will
come when he has to decide, in Bobebtsok's
case, between Conuiß and the President.
The Mayor of Cincinnati appears to be of
the opinion that “the less the number of,
official detectives the fewer will be the num
ber of the thieves.'*
Gauohasi's Messenger, of April 20,
heads its American news with the caption:
“The Q larrel between the President and
Senator Garfield.”
Gobham and Riddlebebgxb are facts num
bered re<pectively 1 and 2, that prove the
bargain. Everything else is simply cumu
lative and circumstantial.
To whitewash Bbadt his name is suggested
in place of Gobham as the Republican Can
dida's for Secretary of tho Senate. Riddle
beboer should be withdrawn in favor of
Dobsey.
A Southehn Senator, who heard FatE say
in his speech that Northern civilization is
founded in the school houses and the Bible
declares that Fare never spent a Sunday in
Cincinnati.
Abraham Lincoln was of Virginia extrac
tion and Kentucky birth. The South gave
to the North, jin the late unpleasantness,
three of its greatest men—Lincoln, Thomas
and Farraoct.
It is more important for Mr. Hates to ex
plain his silence upon tbe Star Route job
bery than to correct impressions as to the
particular time that ho abandoned painting
bis nose with whisky toddy.
The Chattanooga Times has been enlarged
and otherwise improved. It is one of the
best of our exchanges, because of candor,
intelligence and hatred of cant. Weread it
always with profit, and wish it the most
prosperous of careers.
Deacon Richard Smith says Hali.eck was
“the champion liar of the war.” Halleck
(Conspired against McClellan and for
Grant, but as he is dead'and almost forgot
ten, u non-combatant need not kick his
corpse too vigorously.
Brady threatens to pull down a lot of
Congressmen along with him. This, how
. ever, won’t scare anybody but the Congress
men involved, and probably none of them
are worth saving. Philadelphia Times.
Who are they, anyhow ?
A Republican Senator says that lie and
man v other Senators are receiving letters
from their constituents telling them “to
close ther gab-house and come home, as
the country is bored by the interminable
debate, and wants a rest.”
Senator Butler is understood to have
received confidential information, of a
specific character, which, however, he was
not at librrlyto use. If this be a true re
port, Don Cameron must have let the cat
out of the bag between tbe whisky and
champagne.
Mm. Shearman, of Beecher's church, re
marked, tho other day, that Beecher had
never asserted that laboring men should
live on bread and water. “What Mr. Beech
er did eay," said Sheabman, “was that a
man might bettor live on one dollar a day
than go about rioting.”
Gobham has become a rotten stench in
the nostrils of the people. —Springfield Re
publican. Well, what must Mahone be?
Gorham managed the corrupt bargain, and
Maiionb acknowledged the responsibility
tor Girham’s nomination. The stench is
pretty general, reaching trom tho Virginii
Rsadj lister to John Sherman A Cos.
Abraham Lincoln was, in early life and
for a long time bothered about a S4OO note.
He use! to renew it at 25 per cent, per nn
mnm and oalloi it “the National debt."
When that obligation hung about him, like
a .millstone round his neck, he no more
dreamed of being President than Bob Inoer
soi.l does of becoming the Angel Gabriel.
The New York Times sums up the Rus
sian situation thus : “The people will kill
yon,” said Demosthenes to Phooion, “if
they go mad.” “And they will kill you,"
veiortod Phocion, “if they remain sane."
The madness of a few bigots has destroyed
a single monarch; the common sense of a
whole nation will one day destroy monarchy
itself."
Senator Bayard has been interviewed,
lie /ears consolidation, and agrees with Bf,n
Butlv'R that the next big fight will be be
tween the masses and great corporations.
He says the interposition of the Government
to take pate rnal charge of railroads, tele
graphs, etc., would create an imperial
change, and destroy Federal Republican
principles.
The Chicago Tribune asserts that Conk- j
YASa 1 is the real cause of the dead-lock and |
adds. “The result will be to strengthen in- I
steal of weakening Bourbonisui in the
Solid South ; for, under the "courtesy of j
the Senate,” the two Bourbon Senators ;
from each of the Southern States wilt have j
the manionlatioa of the Government’s
patronage." This, if correct, heads off j
Garfield and Emory Speer.
The Rome Courier says: “The farmer lies
at the lower stratum, or at the foundation
of all moneyed transactions, and is the great
source of wealth to any country, and if he
so manages his affairs, as to require him to
■pay his money for fertilizers to produce cot
ton. which is very eroneonsly called “King
Cotton,” and to this devotes almost his en
tire attention to the exclusion of the pro
duction of necessary and indispensable sup
plies, then min and failure are inevitable.”
There is a direct issue of veracity between
Mt . Gibson, Washington correspondent of
the New York Sun, and Star Route Beady.
The Seoond Assistant P. M. G. accused the
lournalist of . corruption. The journalist
brands tbe Sceond Assistant P. M. G. a# a
•liar and coward," and offers to meet him
in New York or Washington, in any way and
upon any Held What Mr, Brady proposes
to do, we cannot tell. If he meant ‘‘busi
ness," Mr, Gibson is anxious to accommo
date him.
Tax Democrats will hardly heal the
Y>reach between Garfied and Cosklisg. If
the Senator be conquered, he simply sub
sides. The Administration will go for
ward. Garfield and Blaine advance in
New York, Virginia and elsewhere. That
will be anew consolidation of Republican
power. This no doubt is what makss some
Democratic Senators the more willing to
side with Conxuxo than with Garfield and
Blaine. This is probably the vUw out
lined by Senator Saulsbuby and his col
leagues.
To vote in Massachusetts a man must not
only have resided in the State one year, in
the town or city six months, must read and
write, must have paid a tax within two years,
must not have received help from the over
seers of the poor; but he must have been,
also, first assessed by the assessors , if he
has not been assessed he cannot be regis
tered as a voter, even with all the other re
quirements complied with ; and if he has
been assessed, unless he personally appears
for registration, and is registered, he cannot
•vote. The nse ef money corrupts many
thousands who have qualified for suffrage,
i and intimidation does the rest. If the bal
lot were as fair and free in Massachusetts as
in Georgia, the State would be comfortably
Democratic, and Hoar and Dawes would
not be Senators. The Boston Globe bids the
world remember that it was by the coefcive
reconstruction measure* the Republican
party forced unqualified suffrage on the
Southern States-a system which Massa
chusetts repudiates within her own borders
and which fails to accomplish for thst party
the work it was intended to secure.
EDUCATION IN THE SOUTH.
Senator Frye's attack upon education in
the South has been completely answered by
; the last report of Dr. Babnas Sears, the dis
tributer of tbe Peabody Fund in this sec
tion. Dr. Sears said :
The good feeling and co-operation of tbe very
best part of the population exceed all expecta
tion. It would seem as if the people were look
ing directly upon the beaming countenance oi
our venerable friend, and were carried away
with gratitude and admiration. This cordiality
does not expend itself in complimentary speech
es, but shows itself practically and in a substan
tial way: Onr advice is most eagerly sough!
and our suggestions most readily accepted. In
the many interviews I have had with men who
have come to propose a different plan and to
suggest a diffeient mode of action, there is
: scarcely an instance in which they have not said
in the end, “Well, your plan is the beat.” It is
hardly an exaggeration to say it meets with uni
versal approbation. A’l the teachers are exam
ined ; all the houses are provided; all failures
from sickness, incapacity, want of discipline,
want of repairs, or breaks from any other cause
are speedily remedied. How could we provide
for these thiugs where there is no school sys
tem, no school authorities ? We now have all
the machinery of the State, the city, the village,
for school matters at our service, and they are
tbe persons who see that the people raise their
part of the money. The Mayor and Council, even
in small places with only two hnndred children,
have generally done the work for me with the
people.
This is a complete answer to the slanders
of the Maine Senator. Of course. Dr. Sears
did not have in view anything of the kind,
bnt his statement is all tbe more valuable
and crushing because of its unintentional
response to unworthy and malign strictures
in Congress. Senator Butler should, when
Mr. Frye returns to the charge, impale that
gentleman upon Dr. Seabs’ spear as he, on
a former occasion, fairly eviscerated Mr.
Conklino by nsing Gen. Walker's census
report as a sword-throst.
EMORY SPEER.
We have had on our table for some days
the following special dispatch from Wash
ington to the Boston Herald:
Washington, D. C., April 26,1881.— Letters
are being received here from prominent Bo
publicans of Georgia, expressing the hope, in
strong terms, that the President will act upon
tho suggestion made by Senator Frye, and
bnild up the Republican party in Georgia as a
nucleus for all the elements antagonistic to the
Bourbon Democracy. They declare that, if
the advice of Hon. Em-by Speer is followed,
and the Federal recognition and Federal pat
ronage are bestowed on Independents, the
Bourbon ranks will never be split. It is un
derstand that the President committed himself
before Mr. Speer wont away to follow his ad
vice. The nomination of General Lonostbeet,
to be Marshal of North Georgia, is to be fol
lowed, it is understood, by other Independent
appointments suggested by the leaders of the
new party. The fact is, the President is strong
ly in favor of encouraging the Independent
movement everywhere throughout the South.
He believes in aiding General Mahone in Vir
ginia and Mr. Speer in Georgia. Mr. Frye’s
plan for breaking up the solid South by resurrect
ing and revivifying the Republican party, is not
favorably received by the President.
As no denial or explanation has reached
us from the party most concerned, we take
for granted that Mr. Speer has really had a
conference with the President and recom
mended tho appointment of Independents
to office. We do not perceive where Gen.
Longstreet’b independent ism comes in, and
if his appointment is a sample, the Repub
licans of Georgia are crying out before they
are seriously injured. If Mr. Speer advised
the distribution of patronage among his
parly friends, we can understand that this
might have been done very naturally to
strengthen his hold upon tho Ninth Dis
trict and not for the purpose specially of
breaking up what is called the straight-out
or Bourbon Democracy. If Mr. Speeii as
sured tbe President that this would split the
regular Democracy, he made a mistake and
the Preaident will so discover. The Repub
licans are right when they say that this
line of conduct can never dislocate the
South’s Democratic solidarity, and so if
Speer secures forage for his followers with
out doing any particular harm to the Bour
bons, we do not see that any special com
plaint need be made by the regular Democ
racy, seeing that they cannot be damaged
thereby. Mr. Garfield, when in the Housfl,
was an admirer of Mr. Speer, especially
when that gentleman parted company with
his organized friends. He may possibly
continue tbe desire to please him, in the
White House. We hardly believe that Mr.
Speer intends becoming the imitator of
General Mahone. If that is his idea, he
will find, perhaps, that the greatest mis
take of his life is just ahead of him.
ANNA DICKINSON.
Anna Dickinson is a smart woman, but
she somehow is always at war with the
world, and incapable of successful combat
when the odds are so decidedly against her.
She is now the victim of a lawsuit growing
out of damages for violation of a theatrical
contract. It seems that, failing to succeed
in stage characters suitable to her sex, she
concluded to assume male parts and habili
ments suitable to the sterner sex. To that
end she agreed to play the role of Claude
Mei.notte in the Lady of Lyons. For some
reason, not yet made plain, she backed out,
at the eleventh hour, and has been conse
quently sued for delinquency. Instead of
waiting tar the law court investigation, she
rushes into print and juakes an hysterical as
sault upon the cold-blooded theatrical mana
ger, who insists upon the nomination of his
bond, and incidentally upon the whole
American public. (She says: “I am con
scious that no American living has more
justly earned the respectful consideration
of her countrymen and women. I have
been absolutely condemned without sight
and without knowledge in ail I have at
tempted for years, because by this attempt
I have dared to face, not with bravado, but
unflinchingly, that most merciless of ty
rants, the compound of public ignorance
and publio intolerance known as public
opinion. Debarred from politics and place,
and with the lyceum platform crumbled to
dust,” she turned her attention, she says,
to the stage, and because her plays were
not successful and her acting failed to be
commended by managers and playgoers,
she declares that she has lost her faith in a
country which “has had in its power to give
her almost mortal wounds," and now prays
with all the ardor of her soul lor an open
pathway to another land, where she is an
absolute stranger, instead of continuing to
live “where it is my misfortune to have won
great fame.”
Asa platform lecturer, in her younger
days, and during the madness of war and
reconstruction, she was an immense success.
Her abuse of the South, and eyerv one of
our institutions, was received with applause
and became a profitable investment. When
that ceased to be a neveity, she essayed to
be a great actress, but utterly failed to con
vince the public, never too critical, of hei
superior claims. This irritated her and
■wounded her eelf-oonceit. She made effort
after effort, but in vain. These repeated fail
ures almost bote the poor woman's spirit,
and she retired from view fer a few months
Her “American Girl,” played by *ii'Nv
Davenport, struck us as sad trash, but il
had a run, and brought utoffiey to the au
thor. Encouraged by this gleam oi cun
shine, she proposal is return to the stage
and in masculine attire. V, * "to says, she
has won fame, why should she not be sat
isfied ? To be famous is not to be happy.
Unfortunately, it is often the greatest
provocation to misery. We are afraid that
Miss Dickinson has mistaken notoriety for
fame, and is angry with mankind because
it does not rate her exactly as she rates her
self. She may leave this so-galled ungrate
ful country, but where will she find 9 better
one? There is a ludicrous side to this con
troversy which may be the true one. It is
more than whispered that she was turned
from playing Claude Milsoxtk, not be
cause of female modesty, but because of the
too frank criticisms at some friends upon
her appearance in the costume of a man.
The breach of contract, therefore, was in,
deed a case of breeches, and Miss Dickin
son wonld hare done veil to quietly retire
from a ridieuloas attitude and pot compel
the press she rails at to pity her weakness.
Years ago, it was said that WbjjzulW Reid
wanted to marry her. Now he goes to Eu
rope with a bride whose father is a million
j aire. It is a pity perhaps that Anna did
not accept her suitor of old days. From
present appearances, however, there need
be no regret on the man's part. It is to be
hoped that this gifted woman may find some
honrs of repose, even in America; but there
is small hope of that while she persists in
going upon the war path when the strong
battalions are on the other side.
THB RAILROAD COMMISSION.
As to the mode of railroad regulation, direct
legislation wonld be an iron rod, inflexible and
harsh—while regulation, through the medium
] of a Commission, furnishes a link, flexible, elas
tic and adjustable — [Extract from third semi
annual report of the Railroad Commission of
j Georgia .] *
The Chronicle and Constitutionalist has
seen nothing in the whole range of railroad
literature more compact and tmthfnl than
the extract quoted above. So thoroughly
does it express the real principles upon
which all railroad legislation should be
based, that to cite it in support of the posi
tion which this paper has always taken upon
the Commission, is to strengthen the Chron
icle in its belief that the powers of the pres
ent Board should be limited.
We have read with some degree of pleas
ure the third semi-annual report of the Rail
road Commission. In many respects it is a
remarkable document. It is one of the most
finished reviews upon the subject of trans
portation we have yet seen, and is couched in
the choicest diction of Mr. Samuel Barnett.
It is true that the disjointed brevier and pro
miscuous head lines in which the Atlanta
Constitidion has seen fit to print “the report,
not the judgment,” detracts somewhat
from the force of the document; but
even the typographic il awkwardness which
renders the article barely intelligible at
some points, does not prevent it from being
luminous at others. It is ageed that
all railroad legislation which attempts to
erect a check between the corporations and
the people should be flexible, elastic and
adjustable. It is a duty to which the
statesman, the tradesman or the expert
should alike addres himself. It is the most
delicate, as it is the most doubtful function
of legislation; for when the law attemps to
interfere between citizens and valuable
property, if it needs ‘ an arm of steel it
shouldjhave a wrist of india rubber.” Up to
this time all measures of restriction and re
pression pnt upon business and transporta
tion s have been unsatisfactory, even
when not uijust. The genius of
American government, State and Na
tional, has been as little government
as possible, affecting liberty and property.
The old laws of usury, as protecting the
poor and checking the rich, have gien
away before an expanding system of finance,
which regulates its own movements by the
simple code of supply and demand. Tbe
true value of all commodities and the
measure of any service, as an eminent po
litical economist has recently declared, is
determined by “what a person would pay
rather than do without it.” This must be
fixed by business men themselves. It would
be idle for a Georgia farmer to dispute with
a Broad street merchant over the price of
wheat. The price was not fixed in Augusta,
nor yet in Cincinnati, nor yet entirely in
the field and by the labor which pro
duced it. It was determined by the great
laws of supply and demand—more varying
and resistless than the winds of tbe land or
tbe tides of the ocean. The Georgia farmer
may be nearly as much at the mercy of a
famine in bread in England or a crop fail
ure in Russia, which has drawn upon the
grain fields of the United States, as the
European peasant upon whom the blight
has directly fallon. And tho Broad
street produce -man has no more the
power to lower the price of wheat
than he has to command the sun
to stand still. Can the farmer afford
to do without the corn rather than
pay tho price, is the question. Just so it is
in railroad business. To say that a Green
Line carwhich reaches Atlantamustbe haul
ed for so muoh per ton per mile over the
Georgia Railroad, is preposterous. The
car started from, say Chicago, where com
petition affixed its freight rate and deter
mined the tariff one thousand miles in ad
vance. So it is on a smaller scale,
but with precisely the same prin
ciple in the State where competition
comes into play and water lines assert their
power. Transportation has become a
problem of magnificent distances, but of
uncertain forces. It is a science not near so
exact as astronomy, and is far from being
as probable as meteorology. It was Sir Wil
liam Herschel, who calculated, from the
variations of the orbit of Neptune, the ex
act position of the placet Uranus; and, sure
enough, the telescope revealed the star in
its computed place. It has been left for
the prophet Vennob to predict the behavior
of the clouds and the velocity of the wind;
but that railroad man does not exist who
could foretell what the freight rate in class B
would be six months hence from Chicago
to Mobile, Neither General Alexander,
Mr. Wadley nor Jno. W. Garrett, with all
their experience or skill, could prescribe a
rate so far in advance over their own roads;
nor, indeed, keep up tariff long at any rate.
How, then, can any outside commission
affect to prescribe a rate and say that this is
just or that is reasonable? How can a
Board of three men, not engaged in active
railroad work, and not governed by the
laws of trade or the pressure of business,
engage to erect a freight sohedule which
should be binding because it is equitable ?
It would be folly in Mr. Wadley to try to
establish a rate between Augusta and Char
lotte, as it would in General Haskell to
dictate tariff between Colnmbus and Savan
nah. What outsider of set of men should
be authorized to ordain a schedule of ratep,
unless those who are engaged or interested
in the working of the lailroads involved?
It has frequently been maintained that the
Railroad Pool is an arbitrary arrangement.
But was ever set up a more arbitrary
tribunal than chat of a Board of inexperi
enced and irresponsible wen, who are ex
pected to do for the people and the rail
roads that jrhich the railroad men are fre
quently powerless to do for themselves ?
The Chronicle has always favored a
Railroad Commission; but it insists upon
an Advisory Board, as in Massachusetts, as
jjn New York or in England. The recent
j report of our own Board calls attention to
j the impracticability of the Legislature fix
ing rates, and of the wisdom of turning
i over the task to three men. The latter was
' evidently the wiser course; but we would
; respectively submit that so far as making
• rates are concerned, any jfcree outside men
; would be as inefficient and as blind as the
! whole General Assembly. The latter would
he aggregated ignorance; the former is but
consolidated ip experience. Answering the
oft repeated argument which'the Chronicle
has propounded, “Are such arbitrary pow
ers to be delegated to three men ?” the re
port says ; ‘‘Are pop the lives, liberties and
property of the whole people of the State
subject now to three men who constitute
the Supreme Court of the Stats V' The ar
gument is plausible, but not convincing.
For the regulation of morals and the en
iorceßiant of justice, the judiciary are
guided by principles so unalterable, so evi
dent and exact, that they might not even
I need tfcff vast accnmtL—of authorities
{which every lawyer and every
1 oas at his command. Principles do
I not change, and morals, however pro
gressive the age, eannot expand. Mur
der is as heinous now as when the
first-born of man committed fratricide;
: and forgery as contemptible and as punish
able as when Jacob's mother robbed Esau of
his right of primogeniture. Bat where is
the code which can control the traffic of the
' people, formhlate the laws of supply and
demand, or regulate the rates of transporta
tion ? Precedents there are Bane ; general
principles there may be, and just as far as
' these principles go should the authority of
railroad commissions extend. No further.
“But,” says, the Commission, “oursched
ules fixing rates, ace reports, not judg
.-meats. The railroads may obey them or
‘ contest the matter in the Courts.” This ar
gument is not even plausible. The Com
j mission discharge their dnties by virtue of
j tse law of the land. Once in the Courts,
AUGUSTA, GA., WEDNESDAY MORNING, MAY 11, 1881.
the railroads would have no recourse, for the
' Judges can but enforce tbe law. Snch suits
would be fulsome and fruitless, for by go
ing to law over unjust freight rates, a rail
road official would be simply transferring hiß
cause from a tribunal which affects to know
' something about it to a tribunal which does
not pretend to know anything about it. Such
an argument would be similar to a .declara
tion irom the Judge on the bench, who, after
1 sentencing the prisoner to death, might au
thorize the culprit to talk the matter over
with the sheriff, .who has no authority in
the premises at all.
The Chronicle has repeatedly called atten
tion to this arbitrary functions of the Commis
sion, and has endorsed the action of the last
Legislature which refused to confer addition
al powers. To show the dangerous tendency
of granting the arbitrary authority already
delegated to the Commission, we have only to
remember that last December this body ask
ed the Legislature, first, to allow them to
make joint freight rates with other State
Commissions, which was clearly unconstitu
tional; second, to authorize them to enforce
their schedules of rates by maqffamus or
other summary process, and, third, to pro
vide for the transferral of appeals from the
Commission directly to the Supreme Court,
so as to avoid delay, which, in case of ob
struction, would result in the lower judica
ture. We believe in the Commission—in its
honesty, ability and good purposes; and we
recognize the necessity, in this day of rail
way combinations, for some guard between
the corporations and the people ;but a mode
of regulation which is arbitrary and exces
sive will defeat tho ends for which such leg
islation was intended. We believe this to
be the impression of the people of Georgia.
Indeed, the part of conservatism and com
mon sense would maintain this opinion un
til the public aTe more completely “con
vinced by argument or silenced by authori
ty.” m m
THE GROWING CROPS.
Talk With Judge John T. Henderson,
State Agricultural Commissioner—Mea
gre Grain Crops, But Increased Cotton
Acreage—Western Produce and Heavy
Fertilizer Traffic.
Yesterday morning a Chronicle representa
tive happened! to meet Judge Henderson, the
State Agricultural Commissioner, and asked
him about the crops in Georgia.
The Judge, in response to a question, said
that the small grain crop throughout Georgia
would be necessarily short. At the Fall season
when grain Bhould have been sown, rain fell
profusely and continued until Christmas and
after, so that farmers had no opportunity of
getting in their wheat. Oats might have been
sown earlier; and such as were planted in Sep
tember last, look splendidly. The wheat aver
age will, therefore, be short; but, as far as it
goes, is now looking finely.
Did not the hard freezes of the Winter enrich
the land ?
Judge Henderson answered that they did.
Freezes were better than fertilizers, especially
on clay lands; but the benefit oi ice nutrition
had been lost by hard rains packing the earth
together; there not being enough small rains to
pulverize or loosen the soil. I fear then, con
tinued Judge Henderson, that wheat and oats
may be short; and corn is backward about
twenty days.
How about cotton planting ?
Judge Henderson: Cotton planting is progress
ing rapidly, and will be general'y completed
this week throughout the cotton growing sec
tion. In many places the plant is growing off
well. I have noticed fine stands in Columbia,
McDuffie and other Middle Georgia counties.
Will the acreage in cotton be increased ?
Judge Henderson: The indications are that it
will be.
How about fruit, sir ?
The Judge answered that around Atlanta there
would be morelthan ha’f a peach crop. There will
be a half crop in the Statp—a much larger yield
than last year. Indeed, the fruit failure in South
Georgia, I am informed, was much more com
plete than in Middle Georgia. Pears and apples
are in fine promise, and there is no reason to
suppose but that there will be a full crop of
grapes.
Judge Henderson, in answerto a question of
the Chronicle, said that more attention would
be given in the future by the De
partment to the subject of rice plant
ing. There had been requests from coast
planters to this end. He was anxious to dis
cover a iertilizer for rice growing purposes,
and had turned over the subject to Prof. H. C.
White, of the University, who was the State
Chemist now, and he was now preparing a
formula for rice planting; indeed, he would
soon be ready to report on this subject.
The Chronicle asked Judge Henderson if
the early and heavy importation of Western pro
duce was not unpromising ?
Judge Henderson: Decidedly so. Hay is be
ing purchased at $1 75 per hundred by farm
ers, and corn for $1 to $1 15 per bushel; so
with meats brought from the West. This
policy is suicidal; it will bring bankruptcy cer
tain.* I have urged the people in every report
to plant plenty of provisions, using ootton as a
surplus crop. One bushel of corn raised at
home is worth two brought abroad.
Why do our farmers cling to this ruinous
policy ?
Because, said Judge Henderson, cotton is a
cash crop; to be sure there is no profit in it;
still there is no ready money in the others.
Do the indications point to high prices in
cotton next Fall ?
Judge Henderson said that indications did not
favor anything like as high prices as last year.
For that reason he had advised planters every
where to sow heavily in millet, rye, etc., to save
the tremendous expenso of having to buy for
age.
Judge Henderson said he had heard little
complaints of labor this season. Last year it
was uncertain. There was very little Texas
fever now, and no talk of emigration from the
State, either by whites or blacks.
“How about immigration?”
“Well,” said the judge, “the tide is setting
th ! s way very strongly. Wise legislation in
Georgia will do much to encourage this. The
past Winter has been very severe in the North
west; so the flow has shiffed Southward. The
West has been visited hv grasshopper nuis
ances and by disease ; and although land there
originally costs less per acre than at the South,
yet the outlay of labor to render it productive
is much greater than with us. Here the
planter can work all the year; there hardly half
the time is suited for planting.
Judge Henderson said that he thought the
general sentiment of the people more in favor
of encouraging immigration tp Georgia.
In regard to stock and fence laws, judge
Henderson did npt think that the people were
ready for their consideration yet. Nor was
there general or open complaint over dogs in
sheep fields.
Of what does the South’s agriculture stand
most in need of? asked the Chronicle.
Of diversified industry. Onr farmers should
raise wool, mutton, oats, corn, and have a little
of everything for sale. Nothing more distinctly
marks tho prosperity of the country than atten
tion to these things; and j will, said Judge
Henderson, continue to urge and encourage
these as before. I only regret that from too
limited appropriations I cannot reach all the
people; out of 200,0001 can only get at about
15,000. I have recently been engaged dis
seminating good seefi ; inore varieties of fine
cotton seed having been scattered eycr be
fore,
In the absence of an experimental farm, enn-’
tinned he, I have improvised back of my office
in Atlanta a garden, into which I have put a ton
or so of virgin soil from seven different sections
of the State. Upon these I apply tests to find
out of what the different soils stand most iu
need. It.has been contended that the pine and
lowlands of South Georgia need potash, while
the granitic soil of the uppe t part of tho State
does not require It. The values of reversed anp
of soluble phosphoric acid, and of ammonia are
also tested here. Experiments are carried on
in the different soils at the same time. These ex
periments are attracting eonsiderablo attention.
Has tbe fertilizer traffic been IffiaVy ffiis gea-
Bon ?
Judge Henderson: About thrible what it was
in 1874. At that time 50,000 tone were sold in
Georgia; this year nearly 150,000 tons have
been bought The fertilizers are shipped from
Baltimore and Cparf efc i°n; soms from Delaware
and Massachusetts, and aiitilejrdm New York.
The North west has also commence I to ship fer
tilizer# here. The largsst hop*e sqag'o factory,
the Georgia Chewieal Works o' Augusta, is
holding its hand with them all, and ranks fairly
and squarely with any of them.
What revenue does the inspection of fertili
zers pay inio toe
judge HenierSon. amount $75,000. Of
course, the farmer has thb) revenae to pay, and
they are not able to have a single dollar extract
ed unjustly from their pockets. It was never
intended that the State Department of Agricul
ture anoiild be 5 revenue paying concern. At
the time of its establishment the fee of fifty
cents per ton for the inspection of fertilisers-fcaa
not immoderate, because the revenue raised was
then barely sufficient to pay the expenses of the
! Dep&atiafigl. Jt was now" different, however.
! The present revenue is sheut thrso times ffte
I actual cost of suataiffing the Department. 1 Judge
Henderson said then that he wocul wvor 1*1"
reduction of the inspection fee from fifty to
twenty-five cent# per ton. fie ws e satisfied that
the money came from the pockets of the farmer,
it being a settled principle of political economy
that the consumer must pay the tax on the arti
cles consumed. At twenty-five cents the revenue
would still be in exoess of the expenses of
the Agricultural Department, bnt as there
gome talk of establishing an ex
perimental farm; °r as shipments of fer
tilizers to Georgia may not continue as
heiw as now, he thought best not to have the
fee reduced below the present figure.
Greenwood to Spartanburg.
The Greenwood Argus says : “The esti
mates for work on the projected railroad from
Spartanburg to Greenwood have been made
out, and the road completed, including the lay
ing of the track, will cost about $7,200 per
mile. The distance from Spartanburg to
Woodruff is 19 miles, iratn Woodruff to Lan
rene, 20 miles; and from Laurens to Green
wood, 27% miles—total distance, 66% miles.
The engineers have seenred a very cheap route.
There l oniy one out r which is over 25 feet
deep, and that may be reduced to 17 feet. If is
probable that there will be very little rock
work, the deepest ent being about six feet deep.
Jf all the heavy work could be massed, it wonld
not amount to more than nine miles.”
Parents who, when purchasing shoes for
their children, will give those with the A.
S. T. Cos. Black Tip upon the toes a trial,
wiU find their shoe bills reduced one-half
for the year.
LETTER FROM MADISON.
Madlion vs. Social Circle as an Objective
Point of the Macon and Brunswick Ex
tension—“ My Maryland " —Eulogy On
the Future of Augusta— A Madisoni
an in Angnsta Miscellaneous Items
and Things Generally.
L Correspondence Chronicle and Constitutionalist. ]
Madison, Georgia, May 1, 1881.—The
importance and valne of Madison as a
commercial and railroad town would seem
to be lost sight of by tbe projectors of the
proposed extension of the Macon and Bruns,
wick Railroad, if they, for one moment, are
hesitating in their choice between Social
Circle and Madison as their objective point
on the Georgia Railroad. As the projectors
of this extension have been repulsed by
Atlanta from entering that eity by an inde
pendent track of their own. they must needs
enter the city on the Georgia Railroad track;
and it seems there is some doubt in the
minds of the projectors whether, having
reached Monticello, on the route, they will
thence come to Madison or to Social Circle,
in order to tap the Georgia Railroad. Now,
as between these two places, which offers the
better inducements as an objective point to
the projectors ?
From a commercial standpoint, there is
simply no comparison between the two
places. Madison, the capital town of a
large and fertile county—the largest town
between Atlanta and Angnsta, on the lino
of the Georgia Railroad, having a population
of 2,000, and receiving annually for ship
ment from 12,000 to 15,000 bales
oi cotton; and Social Circle being
simply a village town with a popu
lation, I believe, qf only or 1,200.
and receiving," on an average, about 7,500
bales of cotton for shipment. It is true
that the last report of the Georgia Railroad
Stockholders’ Convention shows that for the
year 1879-80 Social Circle received for
shipment 559 bales of cotton more than
Madison received, but the reason of this
was, obviously, the unprecedented failure
from drouth of the crops of Morgan and
contiguous.counties, other than Walton and
Newton, during 1879; for while there was
a failure of crops in the last named counties
all that year, it was not near as signal and
disastrous as in Morgan. But this is one oi
those calamities which is so extraordinary
in its nature and occurrence that it wonld
be manifestly unfair to allow its weight in a
comparison of the kind lam making. So,
I repeat, the average shipment of cotton
from Madison annually is about twice that
of- Social Circle. Mr. Thos. G. Lamar, tho
efficient agent of the Georgia Railroad here,
informs me that, through his report as now
made out and forwarded for publication in
the next Stockholders’ Convention report,
will show between 12,000 and 15,000 bales
of cotton received for 1880-81, yet since
the date of that report he has * received
a sufficient number of bales, added
to others in sight, for shipment,
to swell the receipts into an aggregate of
15,000 bales ere the meeting of the stock
holders in May. When asked to explain
how Social Circle had received more cotton
in 1879-80 than Madison, he simply re
plied that he thought it very lucky for any
people who stood such a drouth as that of
’79 to be alive to-day, much less to have
made any cotton for shipment.
From a railroad standpoint, looking to
locality, distance, expense of construction
and like items, the difference between the
two places is not so great as from a com
mercial standpoint; yet I think the differ
ence is decidedly in favor of Madison. The
distance from Monticello to Social Circle is
the same as it is to Madison—twenty-five
miles. But the Griffin, Madison and Mon
ticello Railroad Company, before its dissolu
tion, graded thirteen miles of their road
from Monticello to Madison, which, doubt
less, could be purchased advantageously by
the Macon and Brunswiok extension. The
bed of this road, though graded eight or
ten years ago, is still in good order, and
would require but little work to prepare it
for receiving the cross-ties and rails. The
whole of the G. M. and M. Road, includ
ing charter, franchises, road-bed, right-of
way, and other property and appurtenances,
were sold under some judicial process sev
eral years ago, and brought only five thon
sand dollars. It might therefore be bought
cheaply—for a great deal less than it would
cost to grade the same number of miles—
and, if so, the construction of a road to
Madison would be cheaper, a good deal,
than that of a road to Social Circle. But
should the Macon and Brunswiok* Railroad
be unable to buy these thirteen miles of
graded road, and be compelled to build on
a bed of their own, the whole distance, still
Madison is equal with Social Circle, being
no further distant. The expense of con
struction will not be greater, and may be a
good deal less to Madison than to Social
Circle. This being true, it is needless to
say what every candid man will admit, that
Madison would be a muoh more profitable
point ior the extension, the shipments and
the receipts being so much greater than
those of Social Circle.
In behalf of the many friends and ad
mirers of Mr. James. R. Randall, and the
lovers of song the world over, I thank him
for giving to the public in to-day’s issue of
your paper a history of his immortal lyric,
“My Maryland,” together with a revised
and republished copy of the song itself. I
feel unworthy to attempt any praise
of so true a poem. Probably no lyric, in
spired by tbe war, took such strong and
lasting hold of the Southern heart. It is a
part of our Southern war history, and was
recognized as such by Hon. Alexander H.
Stephens when he published a full copy
of it in his “Constitutional View of the
War Between the States.”
Mr. Frank Foster, of the firm of McCord
& Cos., of your city, is here on a short visit
to his mother’s family. He has become a
thorough Augustan since adopting your
city as his home, and is enthusiastic in his
visions of her future. He thinks the man
ufacturing interests of tbe place will soon
make it a rival of Atlanta in population and
wealth. The Sibley Factory, he says, is
under its present management, an assured
success; that, while the changing and en
larging the original plan and the conse
quent increased expenses, may put off the
day of dividends lqnger, yet when that day
comes the facilities for successful operation
will be so superior that the net proceeds of
the mill tyill be npich greater in proportion
to the capital employed than they would
have been had the Directors adhered to the
original plan. He has strong faith, too, in
the success of the Augusta and Knoxville
Railroad. -
Apropos, of Madison young men who
have made Augusta their home, I will al
lude to another, although, when he sees
this allusion, his modesty will prefer that I
had made nq such mention. I allude to
Mr. Charles IJ. Ballard, qf the Commercial
Bank, of your city, who, though
standing deservedly so high in business as
well as in social circles in your midst, is no
less worthily remembered and esteemed by
his many friends here at his native home,
among whom he was reared and fitted for
the sphere he is now so creditably filling in
Augusta.
Mr. Ketnon and his family, of New York,
are sojourning in our littty city for a While
for recreation and health, tbe guests of Mr.
Ed. Walton. Qf course, he will be pleased
with our climate and beautiful natural sur
roundings. All are who visit Madison. Mr
Roberts, of Cincinnati, hqs just returned
home after a month’s stay here delighted.
His health was greatly improved and he
longs to live here permanently. The truth
is, there is no town of its size in the State
that is more pleasant socially nor in point of
climate and health than Madison. We only
need advertising. If a large modern hotel
were erected here, it would be filled with
guests from the North ip Winter, and from
Charleston, Savannah and Augusta in Sum
mer. ' l- -
We have an enterprising Major and Coun
cil now. They have contracted for the ne
cessary hose, equipment and extinguishers
fora hook and ladder "company, and have
voted to build anew market house. Mr. J.
C. Bohlin has established a first-class ba
kery in the city, and will deliver bread at
the" different residences of his customers.
This; is something no less desirable than
new to us. u gob fr. S. Johnston; our post
mast* r, hAs converted tee pbst office into a
sort qf general intelligence offjee, where can
be found on file, accessible to the public,
all late reports from different markets,
copies of publio speeches by United States
Senators and Congressmen, maps, railroad
reports. Government reports, lists of differ
ent newspaper, magazine and book publi
cations with terms, reviews, etc., in fine, al
most anything of a statistical character yon
can imagine. He is very systematic, possi
bly too flinch on'the red tape order ffir some,
but is, nevertheless, h good officer aad very
accommodating. Morgan.
The Pottery Ma~ia,
l Gath’s Correspondence.]
The pew passjon for pottery and fine
furniture has its drawbacks, being an unex
pected and unknown item in family ex
pense. I know a poor man who allowed
his wife to go to Europe while he stayed
home all Summer and fought for experience
in his business. She came home full of art,
and from the rising of the sun to the going
down thereof she talked art to hrrs about
which- he knew nothing, and waa too old to
learn. She filled the house with art people
—little paper hangers and magazine writers
and plaster-of-parisimage peddlers—and he
finally swore that if this talk about art was
not suspended he wonld abscond. He did
so; a separation followed, and now the fe
male attends to art and he keeps a fast
horse,
;■>
The Dying Broker.
[Jreic York Star.]
4 clergyman stood by the bedside of a
dying broker and gaidfto him : “My friend,
there are only two roads for you to choose.
One is narrow, contracted, thorny; bnt it
leads above. The otherls wide, broad, pleas
ant, flowery; but it leads to death.” “Don’t
talk to me about a choice between your
broad-gauge and narrow-gauge roads,” an
swered the broker; “why, they’ll be con
solidated in less than a week, and then
you're all right if yon hold stock in eith
er.”
AUGUSTA AND KNOXVILLE.
ANNUAL CONVENTION OF STOCKHOLD
ERS.
Report of ttie President—Election of Offi
cers—An Important Resolution.
The annual convention of the stockhold
ers of the Angnsta and Knoxville Railroad
was held at Hnssar Hall yesterday at ten
o’clock. The South Carolina stockholders
were well represented. Among those pres
ent were Dr. J. C. Maxwell, State Senator
from Abbeville county, Hon. G. D. Tillman
and General P. H. Bradley.
The convention was called to order by the
President. Mr. E. F. Verdery.
The minutes of the last meeting were read
by the Secretary, Mr. Martin V. Calvin, and
confirmed.
A committee consisting of Gen. Stovall,
Capt. W. B. Yonng and Mr. P. L. Cohen,
was appointed to ascertain if a quorum of
the stock was represented. The committee
reported 4,033 4G-100 shares represented
in person and by proxy.
The President read his annual report, as
follows;
Augusta, Ga., May Ist, 1881.
To (he Stockholders of the Augusta and Knox
ville Railroad Company :
Gentlemen—Since your lastgeneral meet
ing I think I may say that reasonable pro
gress has been made in the work of build
ing your road.
By the contract of consolidation made be
tween the Augusta and Knoxville Railroad
Company and the Augusta, Knoxville and
Greenwood Railroad, and formally consum
mated at that time, thirty-five miles of gra
ded road were added to the sixteen previ
ously finished between Augusta and Wal
ton’s Island, leaving about thirteen to com
plete the grading through to Greenwood.
During the past twelve months there has
been employed upon this unfinished por
tion of the road bed a force of convicts aver
aging thirty-three in nnmber. The camp,
I am pleased to say, has been quite free
from sickness and not a single death has
occurred. Under the efficient management
of our foreman, Mr. Carroll, they have mov
ed 178,459 cubic yards of earth and 2,328
cubic yards of rock, as shown by the report
of your chief engineer. The grading done
iriclude3 the mile of heavy rock at Mrs.
Meriwether’s and the blasting and cutting
out of all rock from the cuts. There still
remains nine miles of the lightest work on
the line to be graded. The work on these
nine miles, however, is less than in the one
mile of work done at Mrs. Meriwether’s.
Shortly after taking charge of this force
of convicts we purchased eighteen mules
and carts, with which to carry on the work.
Not a single mule has been lost from death
or otherwise. The total expense of Vorking
this force, up to date, has been $10,365 99,
or au average of SBB3 80 per month. Al
lowing 80 cents per cubic yard for the rock
work, which is less than the usual price
charged by contractors, it will be seen that
the earth work has cost a fraction over 4J£
cents per cubic yard. I doubt if the history
of railroad building the world over can fur
nish a parallel to this in point of cheapness.
The work on the abutments and piers for
the Savannah river bridge was completed
last Fall. The structure is of the best gran
ite, and reflects no little credit, both upon
your able Chief Engineer, Capt. Twiggs,
and Messrs. Denning & Reese, the worthy
contractors. The total cost of this work
was $20,296 38.
In June last the Board of Directors advised
the purchase of sufficient iron, cross ties,
etc., to lay the track out to the site of the
Sibley Manufacturing Company, with a view
to get the hauling ot material for their
buildings, the distance being a mile and
one third. The gross receipts from the
operation of this portion of your road have
been $6,637 85, as will be seen by the bal
ance sheet of your Treasurer. The net is
comparatively small, in view of the fact that
until very recently this company has been
without motive power or cars, and the larger
part of our earnings have gone to pay
charges for hire of rolling stock.
In July last tho management contracted
with John G. Clark & Cos., of Baltimore, for
the building of a first class iron bridge for
the Savannah river crossing, the total cost
of which was to be $23,500. The contrac
tors are now at work putting up this
bridge. The same structure at this time
would probably cost double the sum named.
At our last general meeting a resolution
was adopted authorizing the management
to 'issue a series of first mortgage bonds
not exceeding in amount the sum of $750,-
000, to be secured by mortgage upon the
entire property of this company. Pursu
ant to this authority, a mortgage or trust
deed was executed on the first of July last,
conveying to Messrs. VV. A. Walton, C. H.
Phinizy and Alfred Biker, as trustees, all
of the property of the road to secure an
issue of $630,000 worth of first mortgage
seven per cent, bonds, being equivalent to
$9,000 per mile. During the past Winter
$252,000 v orth of these bonds were dis
posed of at 90 cents op the dollar; $144,-
625 of this amount has been turned over
by the Finanoe Committee to your Treas
urer. The balance—sßo,37s—remains iq
the hands of said committee.
With a part of the proceeds of this sale wo
have purchased and paid for iron, cross-ties
and other necessary materials sufficient to
lay about twenty miles of track, twelve of
which have been put down. The balance is
being pushed forward as rapidly as possi
ble.
We have paid $16,000 on account of Sa
vannah river bridge, the remainder of the
purchase money by tho terms of our con
tract not being due until the bridge is com
pleted and tested.
We have also bought two good second
hand engines, and have built, under the su
pervision and direction of Capt. Twiggs,
nineteen first class freight cars. It is possi
ble these cars have cost a little more than
what we would have had to pay regular
manufacturers; ut as the need of them was
urgent, and finding it impossible to make a
conlract with any of the shops in the coun
try for an early delivery, we were forced to
adopt this method.
We have had to pay oq account of the old
debts due by the Augusta and Greenwood
Railroad Company the sum of $2,138 48.
This, from all I can learn, covers what was
done by that company.
The purchase money for the nine acres of
land kaown as ‘'the old Bassford brick
yard” has been paid the city and the deed
executed and delivered to your company.
By direction of the Finance Committee, I
have also purchased for the sum of $6,700
twelve lqts opposite the Enterprise Fac
tory as a location for principal freight depot.
There still remains in tho hands of the
Finance Committee $378,000 first mortgage
bonds to be disposed of. I apprehend no
difficulty in selling the remainder of these
securities at such prices as will enable the
company to complete the road through to
Greenwood-
For a more detailed account of expendi
tures, <fce., I respectfully refer you to the
balance sheets hereto annexed, marked A and
B, the former showing the collections and
disbursements from the inception of your
enterprise to the Ist iast., the latter cover
ing the period of ray administration.
There aye a few cases of right of way still
unsettled. These involve bnt trifling
amounts. Beyond this the company owes
no debts, all claims and bills being settled
up monthly.
I am glad to be able to say that work has
been commenced on the Savannah Valley
Railroad. This road starts at Aqderson, S.
C. and will intersect our line at Dorn’s
Mines. It will be something over fifty
miles in length, and will be an important
feeder to our road. I am equally well
pleased, also, to say that indicatioqg point
to an early inauguration of the work on the
Spartansburg, Laurens and Greenwood
Railroad. The moment pur connections
are oomplete to the latter place our enter
prise assumes an importance that few of us,
I imagine, fully realize.
The question of extending the Virginia
Midland from I>auyiUe to Spartanburg Is
now agitatld. There is more of busi
ness than speculation in the announce
ment to make this connection, and no argu
ment I apprehend, is necessary to demon
strate the advantages that must flow to us in
the consummation of such plans.
I cannot close this report without refer
ring to the faithlul and efficient services of
your Chief Engineer, Captain A. J. Twiggs.
He has been diligent and constant at all
tIKSa. ■ ‘ *
I take occasion, also, to return my thanks
to the other officials, and particularly
the members of the directory and Cap
tain J. W. Clark, for eneer
ful sssisisace and hearty co-operation
in all things pertaining to the advancement
Of ydttr enterprise. ‘ Respectfully submitted,
~Ei. F. Vakucnr, 'President.
Exhibit A.
Statement of Augusta and Rail
road Company from 12th December, 1878,
to Ist May, 1881 :
CR
Stock installments.s 80,770 64
Ist mcrtge bonds.. 144,625 00
Bent of hcuses on
depot iut 282 28
Gross receipts for
freight 6,637 85
J.S. McTeir 100 00-$232,395 J 7
DR.
Expense $ 7,366 86
Engineer corps 5,859 47
Road bed and su
perstruetures,
Georgia 22,012 89
Interest 255 40
Grading,South Car
olina 10,365 99
Freight, paid for
motive power- • 4,581 47
Tanks 187 17
Track, labor, tools,
Ac.. 4,021 75 .
Iron 82,986 27
Cross-ties 10,476 24
Two engines. . 8,000 00
Oil, freight on en- .
gine, and hire of
engines, Ac 545 23
Bridge, paid Clark
Coiforiro* 16,000 00
Piers of Savannah
river bridge 20,296 %
Oars, flat, box, hand
and shanty 12,488 88
Trestles 7,950 97
Mules, carts, Ac.. . 3,686 08
Debts paid of
Greenwood and
Augusta R. B 2,138 48
Real estate 7,200 00
Depot (clerk hire,
Ac.) 380 89
Wood 98 85
Commissary 10 81
Right of way 3,090 97
Clark Bridge Cos.,
freight on iron,
Ac 1,695 58
Cash on hand 719 15-$232,395 77
Cash in hands Fi
nance Committee. 80,375 00
Exhibit B.
Statement of Augusta and Knoxville Rail
road from 10th December, 1879, to Ist May,
1881.
CB.
Cash on hand $738 39
Stock instalments 57,601 25
lstmort’g bonds.... 144,625 00
Freight and gross
receipts 6,637 85
Rent of houses on
depot lot 262 28
J. 8. McTeir 100 00
Bills pavable 4,000 00-8213,864 77
DR.
Expense $7,031 20
Bills payable 4,100 00
Engineer corps . . 147 35
Road bed.Super’tre,
grading in Ga.... 8,996 80
Interest 215 82
Grading, So. Ca.,... 10,365 99
Freight, p’d for mo
tive power 4,581 47
Tanks 167 17
Track, toolß, labor,
' etc 4,021 75
Iron 82,986 27
Cross ties 10,176 24
2 Engines 8.000 00
Oil, waste and hire
of engineer and
fireman 545 25
Clark Bridge Cos.,
p’d on bridge 16,000 00-
Piers of Sav. river
bridge 16,983 80
Cars, box, flat hand
and shanty 12,488 88
Trestles 7,950 97
Mules, carts, etc 3,57108
Debts paid, of Gr. A
Aug. Railroad— 2,138 48
Real estate 7,200 00
Depot,cl’k hire, etc. 380 89
Wood 98 85
Commissary 10 81
Right of way 3,090 97
Clark Bridge Cos.,
freight on bridge
iron 1,695 58
Cash on hand 719 15—5213,964 77
Cash in hands of Finance Com $80,375 00
The Mayor moved that the report be re
ceived, published and entered on the min
utes. Adopted.
The President said the next business in
order was the election of a President, Vice-
President and sixteen direotors.
Mr. W. M. Dunbar nominated the old
Board, a3 follows: President, E. F. Verdery;
Vice-President, P. H. Bradley; Directors,
W. T. Wheless, It. H. May. Z. McCord. W.
C. Sibley, J. V. H. Allen, Chas. Estes. J. H.
Alexander, M. A. Stovall, W. B. Young,
John W. Wallace, J. 0. Maxwell. R. H. Mid
dleton, C. M. Burkhalter, T. F. Riley, J. D.
Neil, A. M. Aiken.
Major Allen said Mr. Wheless declined to
be a candidate for re-election as Director.
He wonld continue to be as good a friend of
the enterprise, but he could not consent to
serve as Director. It was with great regret,
therefore, that be withdrew Mr. Wheless’
name.
Mr. May nominated Mr. John W. Clark
in Mr. Wheless’ plaoe.
Mr. Joseph Meyers nominated Mr. Henry
Franklin.
Mr. Z. McCord nominated Mr. W. H.
Howard.
The President appointed Messrs. Stovall,
Alexander and Young as tellers to conduct
the election. The following were elected :
President—E. F. Verdery.
Vice-President -P. H. Bradley.
Directors—R. H. May, Z. McCord, J. H.
Alexander, J. V. H. Allen, Chas. Estes,
W. U. Young, M. A. Stovall, W. C. Sibley,
John W. Clark, Henry Franklin, J. C. Max
well, R. H. Middleton, C. M. Burkhalter,
T. F. Riley, J. D. Neil, A. M. Aiken.
Mr. W. C. Sibley offered the following
resolution, which was unanimously adopted;
Resolved By the Stockholders of the
Augusta and Knoxville Railroad Com
pany. That they regard a connection
of this road with the extension of the
North Carolina Midland Railroad, at
Spartanburg, as of vßal importance to
the interest of the Augusta and Knoxville
Railroad Company, and that the President
and Directors be, and they arc hereby, au
thorized to take such measures as tL ,y may
deem advisable and expedient for a union
or consolidation, or traffic arrangement
with the Spartanburg, Laurens and
Greenwood Railroad Company and with
the North Carolina ' Midland Rail
road Company, and with a view to
the perfecting of snch union, con
solidation or traffic arrangement, tho Presi
dent and Directors are hereby authorized
and fully empowered to create such mort
gage or othor liens on the road and all other
property of this company, as they may
deem proper.
Hon. G. D. Tillman offered the following
resolution:
Resolved, That it would he to the interest
of the Augusta and Knoxville Railroad tffat
track laying should he commenoed at Green
wood as soon as practicable. Adopted.
Mr. J. P. Verdery offered the following,
which was adopted: Whereas, Recognizing
as we do the valuable servioes rendered this
corporation by Mr. W. T. Wheless, as its
former President and Director, be it
Resolved, Tfiat the thanks of this Conven
tion qro dire and are hereby tendered him
for his invaluable assistance heretofore ren
dered this corporation.
Resolved, That the Secretary be requested
to furnish Mr. Wheless with a eapy of
these resolutions.
The Convention then adjourned. In the
afternoon the stockholders and their friends
took a ride to the present terminus of (he
road and back.
A proposition wqs ipaqo to the Mayor,
yesterday, to purchase the city’s stock in
the road for $50,000, or par. The Mayor
declined tho proposition, and stated that
the city would not sell the stock at any
price.
In response to a question from a repre
sentative of the Chbonicle, the Mayor said
that, if those who inaugurated the Spartan
burg, Laurens and Greenwood Railroad
would push the work forward, the city
would not allow jt to fffil of completion.
Greenwood Notes.
[Saluda Argus. ]"
Cotton planting is about finished.
There are now fifteen business houses in
Greenwood.
The oastle of the Knights of Golden Rule
and the lodge of Knights of Honor each
have a handsome roll of morph,era hote..
So far onr farmers have done quite a large
amount of work, taking consideration
that Spring has been so unfavorable for
theffi.
Tbe present Council ha* signalized its ad
ministration by the improvement of the
streets and highways within the corporate
limits.
A wonderful improvement is noticed in
small grain in this section. If no mishgp
snpervenes the yield will be ffigoh better
than was expected.
We have reeeived the first number of the
Saluda Argus, published in Greenwood, S.
C., by J. H. Hogan and T. F. Riley. It is a
very valuable gazette, and is a flign of pro
gress in Greenwood,
A shrewcf farmer estimates that the cost
oi producing a crop this year will be one
fifth more than last year. This conclusion
is based upon the advanced price of farm
labor and the extraordinary amount of fer
tilizers used.
No town of similar size in the Ktate has
better church facilities than. Greenwood.
The Methodist, Baptist and Presbyterian
denominations have each handsome, s.pa
eious church buildings, large memberships
and ministers of ability.
The freight receipts, and the number of
farm wagons weekly seen in front of the
merchants’ doors, indicate an increased
volume of trade. Business is on a more
solid footing, and is being oonducted touch
more satisfactorily than fast ’
With a fasf schedule an the Augusta and
Knoxviße Railroad, there is no reason why
Greenwood should not be to Angusta what
Harlem is to that city, or Sammerviße ia to
Charleston, a delightful gammer treat from
the heat ana dust of tbe city!’ With' an alti
-1 tude that removes it far from the noxious
features of the lower latitud,e, entirely ex
empt from every Qpeaiea of malaria, nestling
ip the midst of hills and landscapes of more
than arcadian beauty, with a refined, intel
ligent population and unsurpassed school
facilities, no place presents more attractions
to business men and other* seeking eligible
sites for Summer or permanent residences
than Greenwood. The tS6fchant could
ureakfast in Greenwood and reaoh tW oity
of Augusta by b n hoars and return
after the labors of tbe day were over, in the
cool of the e vening.
t*? Tni*
(By Telegraph to tbe Chronicle.)
Nashville, May 4-— I To-day was the third
day of the Association races. The weather
was cloudy and the track heavy. The first
race, stallion stake for three years old, was
won by Araiza, Bootjack seoond and Bon
fire third—time, 2:15- The second race,
one and a half mile dash, was won by
King Nero in a canter, Ament second—
time, 2:55%. The third race, mile dash
for all agos, wm wou by Rodman, Roaa
phiel second and Maggie Ayre, the favor
ite, third—time, 1:40%.
Ordered to White River.
(By Telegraph to the Chronicle.)
Cheyenne, May 4.—Six more companies
of cavalry have been ordered to White
river. Trouble with the Utea is anticipated,
and the Government pnrpoee3 to overawe
qr crush the Indians at the start.
$2 A YEAR —POSTAGE! PAID.
IMMIGRATION.
What a F. rmer Resident of Angnsta Says
of An Important Subject Tor All Geor
gia—Words of Wisdom From Bremen—
Wbat Mr. Spltxer Is Doing In Germany
—Mr. Herring's Enterprise.
[ Correspondence Chroaicleand Constitutionalist .]
Bbeken, April Ilth, 1881.—I intimated
in one of my last letters that the tide of
emigration wonld presumably run stronger
this season than at any time previous. This
has since proved correct ; in fact, all expec
tation in this regard has been far surpassed.
The arrivals and departures amount to
about 4,000 bead per week, and still they
come and still they go. The ordinary ac
commodation for emigrants, which are un
der police supervision and which were con
sidered ample, prove entirely inadequate.
The police have recently taken np crowds
of these travelers, who, perhaps arriving
by late trains, unable to find quarters, or,
finding their pre engaged quarters taken
possession of by earlier arrivals, concluded
to camp in the streets, to which the staid
protectors of this city protested, and free
lodgings were supplied to them in the sta
tion bouses. The time for active propa
ganda would be now. Most all those peo-
ple come here provided with tickets to a
point in the far West—some to Texas, some
to Alabama; very few are still uncertain
about their destination before sailing. The
special agent far Georgia, Mr. B. Spitzer, a
gentleman of great activity and energy, is
hard at work to do justice to' his mission.
Unaided as he is, he has a difficult tusk to
perform. The enclosed slip, one of his let
ters to Mr. Fontaine, will be read with in
terest :
[COPY.]
Hamburg, February 25, 1881.
Francis Fontaine, Esq., Commissioner of Im
migration, Etc.:
Sib—l am at a loss to explain the cause of
the missing four of my letters to yon. I
shall have them registered henceforth. I
hereby give you the dates and brief ex
tracts from some of my letters to yon:
November 24, 1880 —Netico of arrival
and interview with Mr. Wilmans at Bre
men.
December 3. 1880.—Giving further de-
WVVU4UUA lUIIUOI UC‘
tails of interviews with Mr. Wilmans and
the United States Consul at Bremen, in
forming you that in consequence of the pe
culiar stand the North German Lloyd have
taken towards your agent here, that I wonld
postpone my visit to them. Also informing
vou that, although the U. S. Minister at
Berlin had directly named Mr. W. in regard
to certain penal laws of the Empire in re
lation to spreading information among emi
grants, that I would nevertheless visit the
Minister, being introduced to him by Sec
retary Carl Schurz. Suggesting to you to
find the means to finish the translation in
German of your pamphlet, which is indis
pensable, and stating that Mr. Wilmans is
awaiting the electrotypes before publishing;
suggesting also how necessary it is that
every step be made in public, and hoping
that the Legislature will grant the appro
priation needed.
Berlin, December 12th, 1880.—The
United States Minister being absent, called
on the Secretary of Legation, who oalls my
attention to those penal laws, which I prove
to him have no positive bearing on my po
sition. He suggests the utmost oaution if I
would claim the protection of the United
States Minister. Giving details of inter
view with Government officials who,
though non-committal, treat us very cour
teously, furnishing me with extraots and
reports of the debates in Parliament on tho
subject. Informing you that I shall leave
at once for Silesia, Posen, Eastern and
Western Prussia, all of them provinces on
the frontier of Poland.
Berlin, January 6,lßßl.—Refhrned from
Silesia and Posen; found an extensive prepa
ration for an early moving of emigrants next
Spring; could have started at least one hun
dred and fifty families on their way at once
if I could have been able to promise them
a reduction of only $5 on their passage
money; begging you, if possible, to furnish
Mr. Wilmans with some means for such out
lay, thinking that the Legislature would
have granted you an appropriation before
my letter reached you.
I have been hampered in my operations
for the want of printed pamphlets. All in
land agents are in the pay of the large
steamship companies, I think. They re
ceive large commissions from the great rail
roads of the North, the New York Central,
the Erie, the Pennsylvania, etc. The Gov
ernment officials here supervise all printed
information which is spread among the emi
grants. I had on interview with Dr. Fred
Kapp, an eminent German jnrist, who for
merly lived in America, and who was a Com
missioner of Emigration for the State of
New York. Since his return to Germany
he has served two sessions as member of
the German Parliament. He has promised
to aid me and advises public agitation for
colonization.
Hamburg, January 12.—Returned from
Bremen. Announced to you some plans
for Southern Germany and Hungary.
February 4.—Returned from an exten
sive tour through Sonih Germany; am
rather disheartened, as I had made positive
engagement with forty-six families to sail,
promising them a reduction of five dollars
on their passage money, for which I made
provision by borrowing the money from
friends. Agents from Hamburg interfere
and ship them to New Orleans for Galves
ton. Texas, with reduction of ton dollars on
thejr passage money.
I shall now commence public speaking at
this place on the benefits of colonies in the
Southern States. I shall speak February
28th in one of the largest halls of Hamburg,
and have no doubt that it will have a good
effect.
Mr. Herring having advancod money to
pay for the electros, I hope for good re
sults when they arrive, and the pamphlet is
printed, jam expecting some information
of importance from Hungary daily, but I
do But wish to delay this letter. I shall
write to you in a few days again Yours
sincerely, 8. Spitseb.
It proves what I always have contended,
that a reduced passage price is the easiest
and best way to secure the very- best
emigrant material. In a letter which I re
ceived from Mr. Spitzer to-day, heaays: “A
week ago I sent a colony of forty adults,
with sixteen children, by way of Hamburg
apd per Inman line from Liverpool to New
fork to Georgia, having succeeded to get a
reduction on their passage-money of nearly
9 marks (about $2 15) each. Since then I
nave been in Silesia workusg, with some
show of succeiijß, far a large ootony of nearly
one hundred adults, waiting now here to
see what reduction I may get to send them
by the National line.”
So, for the pittance of $2 15, by dint of
great perseverance, with an immense
amongt of trouble, and after many failures,
a *mall colony has been secured. I doubt
not but that Mr. Spitzer has aeoeptel none
but good material, but he will not have
been able to take his pick, as he might have
done, with some means at his disposal. A
good, steady workman is certainly worth $5
to the State in which he settles, and if the
Legislature would only grant that much, it
would do some, good ; hut Mr. Herring’s
proposition of a liberal appropriation would
have quicker and more desirable results.
The Continental steamship lines, a,t ene
time this Spring, had reduced their rates of
passage about twenty per eent. to meet the
English competition, hut tbe enormous de
mand for passage room has enabled them,
about three weeks ago, to return to fnll
rates—about S2B per head. But why not
take the bull by the horns and go round
these pompous, swelled-np monopolies?
; Charleston, I learn, is going to have a direct
steamer line to Bremen. Why cannot there
be a similar lino to Savannah, subsidized,
if necessary, by the State ? The spirit of
t enterprise is alive in the land, and the ne
cessary capital ought to b.e found as quick
ly for a steamship line as for a cotton mill.
Ii yep increase production at snoh an enor
mous rate, yon must look out for new out
lets, new"markets, and the products of your
ootton, -flour, Ac., mills can sncoessinlly
compete everywhere. Then, again, why
should your merchants not take to buy
ing directly, instead of drawing all their
supplies from the North? There is an ohr
jeetion, at present, to such business in the
resbipment of goods at the Northern port,
and the uncertainty of thei* arrival. It is
generally that the credit system is
too heavy on this side; well, it is, perhaps,
not as reckless as it is in New York, but
well-introduced merchants would have'no
difficulty in finding all the accommodation
tfiey wapt. Cotton probably would be the
; main export hut why is it with you*
present ffiilway combinations and
sohemes extending to the far West that
Western grain comes to Europe in such
vast quantities, via New Orleans, why not
via the Southern Atlantic ports, too ? But
steamship lines are no.t organized and pnt
Into operation at short notice, and the be
ginning might well be made with a rebate
on the regular passage money which wonld
at least give to Georgia agents the same ad
vantages and. {hvillties which agents of other
Southern States enjoy. lam glad to learn
that nearly all prominent Georgia papers
have taken np and are rigorously advocat
ing thg immigration question. Aware of
the power ana influence of the press, I
should think it probable that the Legisla
ture will meet in July, fully imbued with
the importance of the subject, and take
such action as will advance the interests of
the State and best farther the scheme.
I take muoh pleasure in sending yon by
this msil the fnll text of Mr. Gladstone’s
speech, introducing the Irish Land bill, an
admirable effort, containing a proposal of
bold and remarkable legislation. W,
Howling Down BonrhonUu.
(Nevada Chronicle .
Yelling “Bourbon" at Southern Demo
crats will not hide the foot that the Repub
lican leaders are anxiously striving (in the
interest of a free ballot and a fair coant, of
coarse) to form a coalition between South
ern Republicans and every disreputable
element antagonistic to the Democracy.
A GEORGIA JUDGE.
Wbat a Prominent Authority Sara of
Hon. Logan K. Bleckley. Kx-Asaoctata
Jiutlce State Supreme Court.
[Albany Law Journal] •
The Georgia reports aTe a year and a-half,
behind. But when we read Judge Block?
ley a opinions, and reflect that we are read
ing the last of them, we wish that these re
ports were much more in arrear, so that wo
could continue to be refreshed and de
lighted by the unfailing fountain, of his
wisdom and humor.
In Harriman against First Bryan Baptist
Church, which involved a breach of con
tract to furnish a steamboat for an excur
sion for the society, the Judge says: "A
Committeeman on board was threatened
with a most profane form of immersion.”
In Kupperman against MoGehee, he says:
‘lrusts are children of equity; and in a
Court of Equity they are at home-under
the family roof-tree, and around the fire of
their ancestor.”
In Nussbaum against Heilbron, a son
carried on business in the name of bis
father, because he felt that his own
name was under a "mercantile clond: ”Ac
cording to the charges of the bill the father
had no capital, and the son do character.
The man without character carried on
business in the name and upon the credit
of the man without capital."
In Dee against Porter we find the follow
ing:
"It not infrequently happens that a judg
ment is affirmed upon a theory of the case
which did not occur to the Court that ren
dered it, or whioh did oconr and was ex
pressly repudiated. The human mtnd is ao
constituted that in many instances it finds
the truth when wholly unable to find the
way that leads to it.
“The pupil of impulse, it forc’d him along.
His conduct still right, with his argument wrong*
Still aiming at honor, yet fearing to roam
The ooachman was tipsy, the chariot drove
home."
In Forrester against State the defendant
undertook to evade the law against retailing
intoxicating liquor without a license by
having his cook sell them in his kitchen.
“In the defendant’s kitchen, by his
in his presence, and with his co-operation’
through the responsee, ‘Go to Marv,’ and
•Give the money to Mary,' tho traffic was
carried on. There is little dnnht h„t
defendant was the deity of this rude shrine,
and that Mary was only the ministering
priestess. Bnt if she was the divinity and
he her attending spirit, to warn thirsty devo
tees where to drink, and at whose shrine to
lay their tribute, he is amenable to the
State aa the promoter of forbidden libations.
Whether in these usurped rights he was
serving Mary or Mary him, may make a dif
ference with the gods and goddesses, but
makes none with men.”
In Lester agAinst Lester the question was
about attaching a husband for contempt in
refusing to pay alimony. This is what the
Judge thought about it: “If a man, though
having health, will not work for tho support
of his wife and minor children, a Court can
not assume direct control of his will and
muscle and compel him to labor. To be
idle (taking the consequences) ia one of the
privileges of a freeman, nnless he is oon
victed penally of Rome offense and put to
work as a punishment. - But while a civil
Court can not order an able-bodied man to
go to work, it can, in a proper case for ali
mony, order him to contribute so much
money, at such and Buch times to the main
tenance of his dependent family, and leave
him a to provide the money by the free and vol
untary exercise of faculties, mental and
physical, or by any other means at his oomr
mand. The attachment will bring the ac
tual resources of the respondent to a prac
tical and decisive test. Pressure is a great
concentrator and developer of force. Under
the stress of an attachment, even the vision
of the respondent himselt may be cleared
and brightened, so that he will discern
ways and means which were once hidden
from him, or seen obscurely.”
In speaking of the power of amendment
on appeal, in Bnrrns against Moore, he
says: “Curative measures are not restricted
to the early stages of a case; our Court phy
sicians’ now treat chronic disorders aa well
as cute ones.”
In Dodd against Middleton the Jndge
dissented in the following terms: “If I
oould be reinforced here by the votes, as I
am by the opinions of the Supreme Judicial
Court of Massachusetts and the Conrt of
Appeals of New York, I could eaaily put my
brethren in the minority; but as it is, they
are two against one, and I have no option
but to yield to the force of numbers in
other words, ‘to the tyranny of majorities.'
Though twice beaten, I am still strong in
true faith, and am ready to suffer for it
(moderately) on all proper occasions."
A TALK WITH GEN. ALEXANDER.
The Usual Denials of Railroad Rumors—
The Georgia Lease.
[Louisville Courier-Journal]
The New York Herald, of Thursday, con
tains the following paragraph :
•‘As matters of street gossip, which may
be worth something or nothing, we print
the following item : The Louisville and
Nashville has secured an imp irtant interest
in the Norfolk and Western, formerly
known aa the Atlantic, Mississippi and
Ohio Road. It ia proposed to oonnect with
this road by a snort line from Bristol
through Cumberland Gap.”
Gen. Alexander said yesterday that the
arrangements between the L. and N. and
the Norfolk and Western were entirely
satisfactory, bnt that no lease was contem
plated. At the meeting in New York the
project of building a line through Cumber
and Gap to Bristol was talked about, but
no definite action was taken, and probably
none would be taken for some time. As to
the lease of the Georgia Road by the Cen
tral and the South Carolina, which together
have secured it. General A. ailid his com
pany was satisfied. He said that there in
nothing in the statement that the L. and
N. is seriously considering a change of
lifange. The advantage of a uniform gauge
:.a apparent, but the undertaking would in
volve great expense, and the recompense
would not be sufficient. In time such a
change may be made, but not in the imme
diate future.
JOHN S. PRESTON.
The Death of a VeneraLie and Distin
guished Man.
[Special Dispatch io the News and Courier. ]
Columbia, Sunday, May I.—There was
little ohange in the ooDdition ot Gen. John
a Preston during the night, save that ha
grew slowly weaker, and at twenty minutes
jiast 9 o'clock this morning he breathed his
General Preston died of oirrhoeis of tha
liver. He was conscious to the last, and
passed away calmly and peacefully. Hid
wife, two daughters, his brother. Col.
Thos. Preston, and several of his nieces and
grandchildren were presont during bis last
moments. He will be buried in the family
cemetery, in Trinity Episcopal Church yard,
on Tuesday afternoon at 5 o’clock. There
ia a general and hearty regret throughout
the city.
It was mentioned to me to-night aa an in
stance of Gen. Preston’s kindness of heart,
that he found Hiram Powers, the sculptor,
as a young man, straggling in Washington,
gave him a passage to Europe and supported
him in his studies there, and ever since an
nually assisted him. Some of Power’s best
works in his possession were scattered by
the results of the war.
Mr.. Hamlin at Two Balia In One Week.
[Fromthe Bangor(Me.)Commercial, Apr. 29.)
Ex-Senator Hamlin was present at tha
calico party last evening, and danoed until
the end of the programme, with as mnch
nimbleness and enjoyment as the youngest
man in the hall. This was the second ball
that the veteran statesman has Attended
this week. His case is a parallel to that of
our honored and venerable Chief Justice
Appleton, who shows no impairment of
mental or physical vigor. The Chief Jus
tice says that he contemplates making m
tour through Europe in 1883, and on his
return he will go to farming. Hannibal
Hamlin is 72, and John Appleton is about
five years older.
Legal Interference.
[Elberion Oatelle.\
Mnch has been said lately among our
Georgia exchanges relative to the Railroad
Commission, pro and con. Our opposition
to it is on a different line from any w
have seen. The legislation that restricts
personal liberty or meddles with individual
rights is pernicious and dangerons. The
legislation against railroads is of a class
with that against newspapers—both being
aimed at legitimate business. The result
has benefited nobody. The consumer has
to pay the Railroad Commission and the
railroad freight receipts have not diminish
ed, while legal advertisements are coating
mare in Georgia to-day (where the pre
scribed rates are charged) than they ever
cost before.
One Reason Enough.
f Baltimore Gazette.]
Senator Butler gave seventeen reasons for
believing that a bargain expressed or un
derstood exists between Senator Mahone
and the Republicans—seventeen proofs, any
one of which is sufficient. A Jndge once
asked why a witness was not in Conrt. The
learned counsel arose and said: ‘‘For six
teen reasons—the first is he is dead ”
“Never mind about the other fifteen,” said
the Court. The fact is sufficient that Ma
hone named the ticket for organizing the
Senate, and made the Republicans nomi
nate an ex-Confederate Democratic repudia
tor—and a bitter pill it must have been too.
In return Mahone goes over bodily and take*
his seat among the Republicans and gives
them a majority. One suohreaaon is enough;
never mind the other sixteen.