Newspaper Page Text
PROFESSIONAL, CARDS.
TIIOS. W. TEASLY,
ATTORNEY AT LAW,
HARTWELL, 45A.
Will practice in Superior Courts of Hart, El
bert, Oglethorpe and Madison. Prompt atten
tion to collection of claims. ly.
R. 11. JONES,
ATTORNEY AT LAW,
ELBERTON, GA.
Special attention to the collection of claims, [ly
J. N. WORLEY,
ATTORNEY AT LAW,
ELBERTON, GA.
WILL PRACTICE IN THE COURTS OF
the Northern Circuit and Franklin county
ggpSpecial attention given to collections.
J. 8. BARNETT,
ATTORNEY AT LAW,
ELBERTON, GA.
* JOHN T. OSBORN,
ATTORNEY AND COUNSELOR AT LAW,
ELBERTON, 6A.
WILL PRACTICE IN SUPERIOR COURTS
and Supreme Court. Prompt attention
te the collection of claims. nevl7,ly
QHAS. W. SEIDEL,
ATTORNEY AT LAW,
Hartwell, Hart Cos, Ga.
ELBERTON BUSINESS CARDs7
LIGHT BUGGIES.
J. F. ATJLD
(Carriage mJamfact’R
GLBERTOIV, GEORGIA.
WITH GOOD WORKMEN!
LOWEST PRICES!
CLOSE PERSONAL ATTENTION TO
BUSINESS, and an EXPERIENCE
OF 27 YEARS,
lit hopes by honest and fair dealing to compete
any other manufactory.
good Baggies, warranted, - $125 to $l6O
REPAIRING ANDBLACKSMITHING.
Work done in this line in t very best style.
The Best Harness
-t TERMS CASH.
My 22-1 y
GHEA3? trlOmffil
ROBERT M. HEARD
Has just opened a store on College Avenue, nest
door to J. H. JONES’, where he will con
stantly keep a well assorted stock of
-WOTI SUMS"
Tobacco, Segars, &c.
VERY CHEAP FOR CASH AFH3ICASH ONLY
BtfjWUad to see my friends and the public
generally. [mch2B,tt
harness shop
BEN H. SHANNON
Informs the people of this community that he
has fitted up a shop on the corner of Church
and College streets, next door to Auld’s Carri
age Manufactory, for the manufacture and re
pairing of
HARNESS, SADDLES, BRIDLES
and anything else made of Leather.
The best Harness from $lB to $25 per set, in
which w ill be used the best Norther Leather,
warranted 12 months.
I learned my trade under my father, and I
think I know’ my business. Patronage solicited.
BEN. H. SHANNON.
March 7 —4 m.
NEW STORE NEW GOODS!
I. G. SWIFT.
Will keep on band
FLOUR, MEAT, LARD, SUGAR, COF
FEE, HAMS, CHEESE, CAN
NED GOODS, &c.&c.
And other articles usually kept in a first-class
Provision Store, which will be sold
Cheap for CASH and Cash Only.
ANYTHING
FRUM A CRADLE TO A COFFIN
Made to order at short notice and in the best
manner by
WRIGHT & DEAD WYLER.
Repairing neatly and promptly executed.
SHOP AT FRANK SMITH’S OLD BILLIARD
SALOON.
Feb7—4m.
SPECIAL
NOTICE!
The firm of J. H. JONES & CO., dissolved by
mutual consent, first of January inst. JOHN
H. JONES senior partner continuing the busi
ness at the old stand, where he will keep a full
assortment of goods at low prices. Respectfully
soliciting a continuation of the liberal patron
age bestowed on the old firm.
All those indebted to J. H. Jones & Cos. by
Note or Account are earnestly solictited to pay
what they justly owe, as the business must and
will be settled.
JOHN H. JONES.
February 28—tf.
P er day at home. Samples
Augusta, Maine. ly
THE ,(J / ZETTE.
ISTew Series.
THE THREE WARNINGS.
It was in the days of our grandmothers, when
there were back ovens in the land, that Mr.
Hubbard bought his house ; and bought it very
much against his wife’s will. It was a lonely
house, and reported to be haunted. It was next
to a graveyard, which, though unused, was not
cheerful, and which had likewise the reputation
of a ghost. However Mr. Hubbard did not be
lieve in ghosts, and was too cheerful to be de
pressed by warnings, and never intended to be
lonely.
“Mrs. Hubbard,” he said, when his wife shook
her head over the purchase, “I got it cheap, and
it is a good one. You will like it when you get
there. If you don’t then talk.”
So the house was bought and into it the Hub
bard family went. There was scarcely a chance
for a ghost to show his face amid such a family
of boys and girls. Mr. and Mrs. Hubbard
counted ten of them, all noisy ones.
Having once expostulated and spoken out her
mind as to the house, Mrs. Hubbard gave up the
point. She scrubbed and scoured, tacked down
carpets and put up curtains, and owned the
place was pretty. As not a ghost appeared for
a week, she made up her mind that the''e were
no such inhabitants; she even began not to
mind the tombstones. So the house got to
lights at last, and baking day came about. In
the press of business, they had a great deal of
baker’s bread, and were tired of it.
Mrs. Hubbard never enjoyed setting a batch
of bread to rise as she did that which was to
be eaten for the first time in the new’ house.
“For I cannot get up an appetite for stuff that
nobody knows who has had the making of,”
said Mrs. Hubbard, “and nil puffy and alumy
beside.” *
So into the oven went the bread, and out it
...nine at the proper lime, even and brown and
beautiful as could be. Mrs. Hubbard turned them
up on their sides as she drew them forth, and
they stood in tbe long bread-tray, glorious
proofs of her skill and the excellence of: he oven,
when Tommy Hubbard bounded in. Tommy,
was four; and when at that age we are prone
to believe that anything will bear our weight.
Tommy, therefore, anxious to inspect the newly
made bread, swung himself off his feet by
clutching the edge of the bread-tray, cud over
it came, loaves nnd Tommy and all.
Mrs. Hubbard Hew to the rescue aud picked
up the loaves. All were dusted and put in the
tray again but one. That lay bottom upward
under tbe table.
“A bothering child, to give me so much trou
ble 1” she sa’d, as she crawled under the table
to get it. “0—Ah—dear, dear, deaf—O'—O
my ”
And there on the floor sat Mrs. Hubbard,
screaming, wringing her hands and shaking her
head, The children screamed in concert. Mr.
Uubbard rushed in from the garden where he
was at work.
“What’s the matter, mother?” be gasped.
Mrs. H ibbard pointed to the bottom of the )oa.
lying on her lap.
" “Look there and see !” she said. “It is a
warning. William ; I am going to be taken
from them all.”
And he looked ; and he saw a death’s bead
and cross bones, as plainly engraved as they
possibly could be.
“It is accident,” said Mr. Hubbavd. “Such
queer cranks do come,you know.”
But Mrs. Hubbard was in a troubled state of
mind, as was but natural. “The stories about
the haunted house were true,” she said ; “and
the spirits have marked the loaf. I am afraid
its a warning.” And the loaf was put aside,
for even Mr. Hubbard did not dare to cat any of
it.
Mrs. Hubbard got over lier fright at iast, but
the news of the awfully marked loaf spread
through R , and the people came to Mr.
Hubbard’s all the week to look at it. It was a
death’s head and cross bones certainly ; every
one saw that at a glance, but as to its meaning,
people differed. Borne believed that it was a
warning of approaching death ; some thought
that the spirits wanted to frighten the Hubbards
away, and get possession of the house again,
all to themselves. This latter supposition in
spired Mrs. Hubbard with courage ; finally, be
ing a brave woman, she adopted the belief, and
when another baking day arrived, put her loaves
into the oven once more, prepared for cross
bones, and not to be frightened by them. The
loaves baked as before. They came out brown
and crusty as Mrs. Hubbard turned each in ber
hands. There were no cross bones visible, but
on the last were sundry characters or letters.
What, no one could tell, until there dropped in
tor a chat a certain printer of the neighborhood
accustomed to reading things backward.
“By George,” said be, “that is curious. That
is curious—r-e-s-u-r-g-a-m, resurgam ; that is
what is on the loaf—resurgam.”
“Well, yes,” said Mr. Hubbard, being obliged
to admit it “But it is not so bad as cross
bones and skull.”
Mrs. Hubbard shook ner head. “It’s even
selemner,” said the little woman, who was not
as good a linguist as bread maker. “I feel con
fident, William, that I shall soon be resurgamed,
and what will these dear children do then ?”
And now that the second loaf was before her
eyes, marked even more awfully than the first.
Mrs. Hubbard grew really pale and thin, and lost
her cheerfulness. “I have a presentiment,” she
went over and over again, “that the third baking
will decide who the warnings belongs to. I
believe it is meant for me, and time will show.
Don’t you see how thin 1 am growing?”
And though Mr. Hubbard laughed, he also
began to be troubled. The third baking day
was one of gloom. Solemnly, as a funeral, the
family assembled to assist in drawing. Five
loaves came out markless; but one remained.
Mrs. Hubbard’s hand trembled ; but she drew
it forth ; she laid it on the tray she turned it
softly about. At last she exposed the lower
surface. On it were letters printed backward,
plain enough to read this time, and arranged
thus:
“Died April 2d,
lamented by
her large family.”
“It is me,” cried Mrs. Hubbard. “I am to go
to-morrow. This is the Ist. I do feel faint.
Yes, I do. It is awful, and so sudden.” And
Mrs. Hubbard fainted away in the arms of the
most terrified of men and husbands.
The children screamed, tlfe cat mewed, the
dog barked. The oldest boy ran tor the doctor.
People flocked to the Hubbards. The loaf was
examined. Yes, there was Mrs. Hubbard’s
warning—her call to quit this world.
She lay in her bed, bidding good by to her
family and friends, her strength going fast. She
read her Bible, and tried not to grieve too much.
The doctor shook his head. The clergyman
prayed with her. Nobody doubted that her end
was at hand, for people were very superstitious
in those days.
1 They had been up all night with good-Mrs.
ELBERTON GA.M 18,1377.
Hubbard, and dawn was breaking, and with it
she was sure she must go; when, clattering,
over the road and up to the door came a horse
and on the horse cam®, a man, who alighted
He rattled the knocker and rushed in. There
was no stopping him. Up stairs be went to Sirs.
Hubbard's room and bolted into it. Every one
stared at him as he took off his hat. *
“Parding,” said he breathlessly, “I heard
Mrs. Hubbard was a dying.—and she’d warnings,
on her baking. I came over to explain. You
see I was sexton of thectfhrch here a tew years
ago, and I know all about it. You needn’t die
ot fear just yet, Mrs HuhromL Tor If is neith'-&
spirit nor d.-viis about ; nor jet warnings. What
marks the loaves is old Mrs. Pinkie’s tombstone,.
I took it for an oven-bottom, seeing ihei
no survivors, and bricks wHMfr dear. The last
folks beloie you didn’t have them pfined off
on their loaves, because thujauM and we
got used to the mu ks . .selves. Cross-bones
and -kails we put up with, <M| never thought of
taring for the resurgnm. So'you see bow it is,
ai.d I'm sorry you’ve been scaffed." *
No body said a word. The raiiustef shut bis-,
book. The doctor walkedsߧfiK|si&dow,
There was a deadly silence. WKL ffjtbbard sat
up in bed.
“William!” said she to hel htysband, “the
first thing you do, get anew bottom to tbat
oven.” And the tone assured Jtbe
of anxious friends that Mrs. Bpßbard was not
going to die just yet.
Indeed she came down the
And when the oven had been
first thing she did was to give
large tea drinking. On whick9H||f&tl thfc
loaves came out right.
TEACH TEE BOYM
Teach them that a true lncfy. msjf 1)0
found in calico quite as frequent as in
velvet.
Teach them that a good
school education, with common sense, is
far better than a college education with
out it.
Teach them that one good honest
trade, well mastered, is worth a dozen
beggarly professions.
Teach them that honesty is the best
policy—that ’tis better to be poor than
to be rich on the profits of “crooked
whiskey,” etc., and point your pre
cept by the example of those who
are now suffering the torments of the
doomed.
Teach them to respect their elders and
themselves.
Teach them that as they expect to be
men some day, that they carinofc too soon
learn to protect the weak and the help
less.
Teach them by your own example
that smoking in moderation, though the
least of the vices pi which
heirs, is disgusting to others and ntirc
ful to themselves.
Teach them that to wear patched
clothes is no disgrace, but to wear a
black eye is.
Teach them that God is no respecter
of sex, and when He gave the 7th com
mandment, He meant it for them as well
as for their sisters.
Teach them that by indulging their
depraved appetites in the worst forms of
dissipation, they are unfitting them
selves to become the husbands of pure
girls.
Teach them that it is better to be
an honest man seven days in the week
than to be a Christian (?) one day and a
villain six days.
Teach them above every thing to al
ways support their county paper.
WHO SHOULD BE DELEGATES IN THE
CONVENTION.
The following from the Savannah
News exactly accords with our own
views as to proper persons to go to the
convention :
In the ordinax-y sense of the term
there should be no candidates, but com
mon consent should concentrate upon
the purest, the most intelligent and tried
patriots, and they should place upon
them the white robe of office—the can
dudus—which in the pure days of the
Roman republic, represented a purity
that was untarnished by a speck of po
litical or social polution, and which ele
vated him who wore it above the greedy
horde of office seekers, place hunters and
corrupt lobbyists, and thus clothed,
they should enter upon the important
work entrusted to them with the single
purpose of serving the best interests of
the commonwealth uninfluenced by par
tisan strife or prejudice.
There are in the quiet retirement of
peaceful life in our happy State the very
material from which to select the men
to do this work satisfactorily, and we be
lieve they will call them, and they should
not refuse to answer the summons. —
There should enter into the composition
of this convention none of the small an
imosities of partisanship for the work to
be done, while it must be laid securely
upon the grand doctrines of democracy,
is also to s be done for all time, and
grow into a pure organic law for a liber
ty loving people.
A religious war is ragiDg in the South
American Republic of Columbia. On
the one side are the Roman Catholic
clergy and their adherents, and on the
other the so-called Liberals. Unlike
some South American wars, this contest
has so for been attended by much blood
shed and wide devastation. Neither
party is inclined to show mercy to the
other, and it is not probable that strife
will cease until either the clergy or their
enemies shall have been crushed.
His last words to her in the morning
were: “Wrap up warmly, darling, if you
go shopping to-day; the weather is very
cold.” She said she would, and before
she went out she had all her bustles
weighed and pat on the heaviest one.
What will not a woman do for a man she
loves ?
gTHE PALMETTO CHIEFTAIN.
denouement of the long protracted
Carolina case has been reached, it is iu
tesf Aing to note how history verifies its sugges-
at remote periods of time. Govei nor
, Hat pton will at last reach unrelated hcreaßer,
rpp|He position to which the true people of the
Pal vetto State have long desired to see him ele-
HKk' President Hayes has yielded to the
of public opinion, shared in by the
pf|tUst men of his own party, as well as those
S|jp|e Democratic party, and has taken the one
Mtejieeded to accomplish the peaceful triumph
pJPjppular r : ghts and liberties in the long op
ai&sed commonwealth of South Carolina. In
dW'U this he has also exhibited his faith in
forced upon him by facts of many
mbs existence.
HAVES ON HAMPTON.
for back as 1867, when General Hayes was
the Republican candidate for Goternor of Ohio,
Senator Thurman, the Democratic can
didne, Hayes paid his respects in compliment
>arf erras to the hoDcsty and fairness of Gov.
HEbufirage was the agitating issue and upo.i
Sdßyyes had a hard battle to fight. In order
pKpnvioce his party that it ought to adopt the
Rfpafeure he quo.cd m his speeches trorn the
spwches of leading “rebels” and southern journ
alsfto show that they even regarded negro suf-
H£e not unkindly and that they were willing
iSB O right by their former slaves,
few °P en i n g speech at Lebanon, Ohio, on
tluioth of August, 1867, General Hayes quoted
jplli approval trom Hampton’s speeches. He
ipi :
Ef3>jfln South Carolina Wade Hampton addressed
a-nuxed assembly of \vbitc3 and blacks, at Co
iuibia, in which he quoted from a former
KEech to his
point upon which there should be no misunder
standing as to our patriotism—no loop on which
f tSfhang a possible misconstruction of our views
—ftt.d that is the abolition of slavery. The deed
has been done and I, for one, do earnestly de
clare that I never wish to see it revoked. Nor
do ;I believe that the people of the South would
now remand the negro to slavery if they had
the power to do so unquestioned. Under our
paternal care from a mere handfull he grew u>
be a mighty host. He came to us a heathen—
we made him a Christian. Idle, vicious, savage
in bis country, iu ours he became industrious,
gentle, civilized. Asa slave he was faithful to
u* ; ns a freeman let 11s treat him as a friend.
Deal with him justly, frankly kindly, and my
word for it, he will reciprocate your kindness.
If you wish to see him contented, industrious,
useful, aid him in bis efforts to elevate himself
in the scale of civilization and thus fit him not
only to enjoy the blessings of freedom, but to
appreciate his duties.’
“After stating the provisions of the ‘Military
Bill’ as he (Hampton) calls tbe Reconstruction
1 r.ho .- id to the colored people: ‘Butsuppose
■ iitretea nnc'oiisiitirtii/iifc—l7ow
t.bei'? 1 tell you what lam willing (o see dune.
1 am willing to give the right of suffrage to all
who enn read and who pay a certain amount of
taxes, and I agree that this qualification shall
bear on white and black alike. You would have
no right to complain of a law which would put
you on a perfect political equality with the
whites, and which would put within your reach
and that of your children the privileges enjoyed
by all class of citizens.”
Hampton’s cheat consistency,
In the lapse of years, and after the many changes
politically of a decade, lias doubtless had much
to do with leading Hayes to a right conclusion in
the present manner. With Ins great solicitude
for the safety and welfare of “the poor negro,”
he could not, looking back with the admired
position assumed by Hampton in 18C7, and com
paring it with his many declarations of to-day,
fail to recognize the honesty and chivalry of
the man, and to find it safer to trust the colored
man in the hands of Hampton than in those ot
mercenary carpet-baggers and public plunderers.
That Hampton will redeem every pledge he has
made, and steadfastly pursue the best interests
of all the people of South Carolina, white and
black, no one who contemplates the character
of the man can doubt. He will prove a savior
to the one class and a preserver to the other.
GOV. PERRY PICTURES HAMPTON.
In 18G5when President Joi nson was industri
ously seeking to perfect his “reconstruction” plan
whereby the Southern States wcie 10 at once
resume their proper constitutional relations to
the Federal Government, Hon. Benjamin F.
Perry, of Greenville, was made Provisional Gov
ernor of South Carolina. A Constitutional
Convention was held, the amendment to the
Constitution abolishingslavery was adopted, the
war debt was repudiated, and the election of
State officers aud Legislature were ordered. The
convention nominated Col. J. L. Orr for Gov
ernor and the election was held. The result
gave rise to the following interesting dispatch
to President Johnson frefm Gov. Perry :
Columbia, S. C., October 27th, 1865.
Received 9:30 p. m.
To President Johnson: —The Legislature con
vened on Wednesday and all the members took
the oath, to support the Constitution of the
United States. My message will be sent you by
mail. I have this morning communicated to the
Legislature a most admirable code of laws tor
the protection of colored persons in their rights
of person and property. It was'prepared by
order of the convention. I have no doubt it
will be adopted.
General Wade Hampton has been elected Gov
ernor of the State. He was not a candidate, and
so declared publicly in the newspapers, but tiie
people took offense at the nomination of CoL-
Orr by the conventiou and voted for Hamp-ton.
There was no political question „in the election.
I have just had a full conversation with General
Hampton, and he will smtain your policy of re
construction as fully and warmly as any man in
South Carolina. He was originally opposed to
secession and went for maintaining the rights
of the South in the Union. He was always a
moderate man. His great personal popularity
will enable him to control the disaffected or tur
bulent more eadlv than Col. Orr could have
done. He is one of the most admirable and
lovable men I ever saw, and as honorable, frank
and open-hearted as 4 canjbe. I have known him
for twenty years past and will vouch for his
loyalty and fidelity. I trust that no difficulty
will occur in jpis getting his pardon by the fouith
Monday in November, when he should be inau
gurated as governor.
My election to the Senate is pretty certain and
I hope my services as Provisional Governor will
not be needed longer than the meeting of Con
gress.
I may say that the old Union district of
Greenville voted by a large majority for Hamp
ton, although Col. Orr lives in the adjoining
district.
B. F. Perry,
Provisional Governor.
The above is a correct transcript ot the origin
al dispatch now among the late ex-President
Johnson’s papers, at, Greeneville, Tennessee.
Although a recount of the vote that year deter
mined Colonel Orris election by a small majori
ty yet the compliments bestowed upon Wade
Hampton by Governor Perry were well deserved,
Vol. V.-No. 51.
and brought forward to-day are doubly appli
cable to this grand man.
These historial references are interesting at
this juncture, and will be read with interest by
all who have looked with such hope to the final
triumph of Wade Hampton and his cause.
MADISON WELITaN EMBEZZLER.
A Washington special to the New Or
leans Democrat says:
Facts have recently been developed
here which will probably render nugato
ry any stipulations of amnesty that may
have been entered into for the benefit of
Madison Wells. lam not at liberty to
give all tbe details of this affair, but can
say that it involves Wells in frauds
amounting to vast sums, prepetrxted in
the New Orleans custom house when
he wa3 Governor of that State in 1860.
These matters have but recently come
out in documentary evidence before the
court here, and are not generally known.
The evidence already obtained goes
into the details of Wells’ share in these
fraudulent transactions, showing that
he was partner in these frauds and a
sharer in the proceeds.
It remains to be seen whether the ad
ministration will permit him to bo pros
ecuted in the United States courts.
It has also been developed that Wells’
complicity in these frauds was confi
dentially made known to Phil. Sheridan
at the time, and formed part of the basis
of Sheridan’s famous attack on the old
reprobate. I will be able to give you
these particulars in a very few days.
The New York Work! says: “Con
gressman Ellis, of Louisiana, has done
well in advising the people of his Stato
to have nothing to do with the Hayes
commissioners. If the Federal Govern
ment had no right to scrutinize the
action of Louisiana in choosing Presi
dential electors it certainly cannot dele
gate authoi ity to a set of political adven
turers to scrutinize the action of the
State in the election of its own officers.
Even on Republican theories the present
commission must be a sham, or the com
mission which made Mr. Hayes Presi
dent must be admitted to have been a
sham. The only real hope of Louisiana,
as of the law everywhere, is in Congress.
If the President does not withdraw tbe
army from a place where it has no busi
ness to be, tho Democratic maj&rity in
Congress will see it that he has no
army to withdraw. The time has gone
by for idle gabble on this pomT The
sovereignty of tbe American people will
be duly vindicated and enforced by the
representatives of the people in Congress
assembled. This will give us peace, and
this alone.”
: —
A Washington telegram delates that
at an interview between Hayes and
Hampton the former called the latter’s
attention to the very large Democratic
vote iu Edgefield County, as compared
with former years, and said to the Gov
ernor: “This is hardly to be accounted
for by an increase of population,” and
asked him how he could account for it.
Hampton replied: “You forget, sir,
that at ten polling places in this county
a large number of soldiers were station
ed and I understood that they all voted
for mo.” This amused Mr. Hayes
who laughed very heartily and said:
“Weill, if the soldiers have got to going
for you, it ought to settle the case.”
A Sad Case of Shooting.— On Satur
day night a son of Alfred Cox, of West
Bowdoin Maine, fourteen years old, shot
and killed his father as thejlatter was re
turning from church. Father and son
had both been to church, and as the son
was making a slight disturbance his
father told him to go forward and
occupy another seat. The boy left the
church, going directly home. He took
a gun and, meeting his father as he was
entering the yard, discharged it, killing
him instantly. The lad is said to be.
insane.
A Washington special says General
Gordon wants to name his daughter,
born on Saturday last, Carolina, in hon
or of the emancipation of the Palmetto
State, but as he already has a daughter
named “Carrie,” he says he will wait un
til Gen. Nicholls is the undisputed Gov
ernor of Louisiana, and then give the
little lady the name of that State in hon
or of the complete emancipation of the
South.
The following paragraphs, intended to
have been printed separately, were by
some blunder so aranged that they read
consecutively in a Paris journal: “Dr—
has been appointed head physician to the
Hopital de la Chari to. Orders have been
issued by the authorities for the imrae
diate extension of the cemetery of Mount
Parnasse ; the work is being executed
with the utmost dispatch.”
“Why, my dear fellow,” whispered a
friend, “I did not know you were so
badly matlreated in the affair.” “Nor I
neither,” sobbed the victim, “till I heard
my lawyer a tellin’ the jury all about it!’,
“Isn’t there an awful' strong smell of
pigs in the air?” asked Smith of Jones.
“Yes,” replied Jones, “that’s because the
wind's from the sou’-west.”
A Kentucky editor remarks that ninety
nine out of a hundred people make a
great mistake when they cut off a dogs
tail, in throwing away the wrong end ’
Covnterfeiters respret the press. In
the whole history of this country we
never heard of a SI,OOO counterfeit bill
being passed on an editor.
Mr. Editor : As you have invited dis
cussion on the px-opriety or impropriety
of holding a convention, I take the lib
erty of sending you a short article, uot
with the intention of throwing light on
the subject, for I have not sufficient con
fidence in my ability to think I am capa
ble of this, but rather in a spirit of en
quiry and hoping to draw others out on
the subject.
I heard none of the speeches deliv
ered during March court, excepting a
part of Col. Osborne’s, and have read
only two articles published in your pa
per(l read no other printed in Georgia)
in favor of a convention: one by Mr.
Hester and the other by Mr. Johnson.
Mr. Hester’s has been noticed and an
swered by “No Convention,” nnd Mr.
Johnson’s was solely for the purpose of
quieting the fears of the timid who
thought that the new constitution, if
made, might not be submitted to the
people for their approval. We are of
the opinion that l ut a small minority of
the people of Georgia wore alarmed on
this subject. A majority of our pebple
are sufficiently acquainted with our form
of government to understand that all
power belongs to the people ; that they
can make and unmake, create and de
stroy. It would be a very anomalous
state of affairs in government if the pow
er that enacts laws was helpless to an
nul them. But this is not the important
question. Mr. Johnson says that all
admit that our present Constitution
needs a “wholesale revision.” lam mis
taken if this is the general opinion.
Since this subject has been brought be
fore the people I have heard only a few
objections urged against our present
Constitution, and have heard the opin
ion often expressed by those capable of
judging, and by those,Jtoo, who were ad
vocates of a convention, that, in the
main, it was a good instrument. I bo
lieve I have heard you express this
much, Mr. Editor, and I have more con
fidence in your judgment and honesty
iu this matter than I feel injthat of many
others who aro in a situation to be influ
enced by motives of personal advantage
and gain, for,
“If self the wavering balance shake
It is mre'right adjusted.”
That it has delects none will question,
nor woul dwe expect a convention to frame
one free from them. The wisest body
of men that the world could assemble,
enlightened by the highest statesman
ship and actuated by the purest and lof
tiest patriotism, could never produce a
faultless instrument of tho kind. Im
perfection characterises everything that
is the product of human hands or hu
man brains. A convention might reme
dy some—possibly all—of the present
defects; but is it not probable that it
would incorporate others equally as ob
jectionable as those complained of ? It
requires work and wisdom to build, but
a fool can pull down.
If I could be convinced that the pros
perity of Georgia would be enhanced,
and that its interests require the fram
ing of anew constitution or materially
remodeling the old one, then I would en
dorse the calling of a convention and
become one of its most zealous advo
cates- But none of the objections, nor
all of them that I have yet hoard, satis
fy me of the expediency and wisdom of
changing our organic law, except thro’
the agency if the General Assembly;
and if any future legislature of Georgia
should become so unprincipled and dis
honest as to be bought and bribed, and
to sell the State, then all the binding
clauses of a constitution would be pow
erless to save the Commonwealth. Such
a degree of rottenness pervading tho
body politic would destroy all healthy
vitality. Such a tide of corruption
would sweep away in its course consti
tutional jprohibitions as well as legislat
ive enactments. No virtue or power in
Roman laws or Roman constitutions
could have prevented the public sale of
the empire in the camp of the paetcrian
guards.
Quite a number who aro in favor of a
convention offer as a reason that wo
should have anew constitution to meet
the growing neeessities of the State.
Exactly what idea they intend to convey
by the term “growing necessities” we
are left to conjecture, and perhaps some
who use it Have no clear idea of what
they wish to express, but, as Mark Twain
said, “they find the words suit tho place
ane therefore use them.” Tho State of
Georgia has not undergone any great
change in any of its material interests
in the last ten years. Its wealth and
population, its commerce and manufac
turing, are nearly tho same as when the
present Constitution was formed : but
does tbe greatest change in these re
spects authorise us to argue the neces
sity of a change in our Constitution?
This is anew philosophy introduced in
to politics, and would involve the neces
sity of a change in the organic law of a
growing government every four years.
We have been taught a different doctrine.
We had thought that the Federal Con
stitution, though formed for a govern
ment then in infancy, was broad and
comprehensive enough to support tho
government when it was enlarged ten
fold in magnitude, and its interests had
become multitudinously diversified. We
think so still.
But, in conclusion, I would say that
there appears to be an earnest desire
pervading the public mind for rest from
political excitement. So deep is this
feeling that it will require extraordinary
efforts of the press and hustings to
arouse the people, and as this is not a
lethargy or indifference that involves any
great danger, would it not be wise to al
low them to indulge it, and let all their
energies be called into exercise and ex
pended in to restore individual
prosperity ?
A. C. Langston.
A little girl showing her cousin about
four years old, a star, said: “That star
you seo over there is biggar than this
world.” “No, it isn’t,” he said. “Yes, it
is.” “Then why doesn’t it keep the rain
off?”
Heaven oft in mercy smites, even
when the blow severest is.
