Newspaper Page Text
as snreaairsi
tfMTKP ill) ri'BLISHED WttILT, II
W.H. B . HARRISON.
C / T ¥ PRINTER.
MACON, G A .
SATURDAY MORNING, OCT 13, 184*.*.
REMOVAL.
The “SOUTHERN MUSEUM” Of
fice has been removed to the two story
Wooden Building, at the Corner of Fifth
and Walnut Streets, where we are prepar
ed to execute all orders in the Printing
line with neatness and dispatch.
I cr See Council proceedings in another
column.
Rev. W. R. Branham’s Address.—
There was a large and respectable audi
ence at the Temperance meeting on Mon
day evening last. Notwithstanding the
difficulties which had to be encountered
in making the subject interesting to the
hearers, there was the evidence of close
attention to the remarks of the speaker, to
prove that lie succeeded in presenting the
subject in new and pleasing features.—
The influence of intemperance upon the
physical nature was explained, and the
power of example, whether of good or
evil, cited to prove the necessity of those
friendly to the Temperance cause, acting
in concert with the Order of the “Sons of
Temperance.” The superiority of this
latter organization over the former Tem
perance and Washingtonian Societies was
also shown. The interest of the commu
nity is awakened upon the subject. We
advise our readers to attend these meet
ings, and hear what the “Sons” have to
say in defence of the principles under
which they are acting.
The next Address will be delivered by
Wm. P. Harrison, on Monday evening,
22d instant.
The Election. —ln another column
will be found a complete list of the Mem
bers of the next General Assembly of the
State of Georgia, by which it will be seen
that the Democrats have 25 in the Senate
and the Whigs 22. In the House of Rep
resentatives the Democrats have 66 and
the Whigs 63, and in Ware there is a tie
The Democratic majority on joint ballot
will be 6. If, however, Ware should re
turn a Democrat it will be 7 ; on the con
trary, if a AV hig is elected, the Democratic
majority will be 5. Towns’ majority will
be about 3,000. We shall publish the re
sult in our next.
California. —Recent advices from San
Francisco state that the Hon. T. B. King
is recovering from his late illness, and that
Col. Fremont has been appointed Sur
veyor of the Mexican boundary. It is
said that Mr. King and Dr. Goring will
go to the U. S. Senate, and that a Consti
tution will be framed and a Legislature
elected very speedily.
Tehuantepec Railroad.
We learn from the “ Crescent,” that a
large anil enthusiastic meeting of the citi
zens took place at the Commercial Ex
change in New Orleans on the sth inst.
to take part in the great movement pro
jected in- that city, for opening a communi
cation with the Pacific Ocean by means of
a Railroad across the Isthmus of Tehuan
tepec. The greatest good feeling and
unanimity marked the proceedings ; each
one seemed to feel the importance of the
subject to the future prosperity of New
Orleans, and it was emphatically, as one
of the speakers observed, a meeting for
the transaction of business. The meeting
was called to order by appointing Gov.
Johnson President, and the Mayor of the
city, and sixteen other gentlemen Vice
Presidents, and four Secretaries. The
meeting was eloquently addressed bv
Messrs. M. M, Cohen, J. P, Benjamin and
J. C. Larue. We have long sincethought
that the Tehuantepec route was a practi
cable one, provided a convenient port
could be obtained on the Pacific, which it
seems can be had—but we prefer introdu.
eing the remarks of Mr. Benjamin, to any
we could make on this grand enterprise,
we therefore copy from the New Orleans
Crescent the following synopsis of his
speech at the meeting.
Mr. B. said it was only necessary to look
at the map and measure the distances, in
order to see that the way across Tehuante
pec was far preferable to any other for
connecting the Atlantic with the Pacific.
Such a road as was contemplated would
shorten the distance from New Orleans
to San Francisco by some 1700 or 1800
miles, and from New York to the same
port by at least 1400 miles, This state
ment was in itself sufficient to render the
construction of the road highly desirable ;
and if no insurmountable obstacle present.
ed itself, the road should be built, and the
connection of the two oceans, which may
be styled the culminating conception of
the century, be completed.
Mr. B. stated that the first survey of the
Isthmus, at least the first of any accuracy
was made in 1825 by two commissioners,
appointed, one by the State of Vera Cruz
and the other by the Federal Government
of Mexico. Certain instruments were,
however, wanting to the commission, and
accordingly the survey was not sufficiently
accurate for any calculations to be based
thereon. Mr. B. stated the best sources
of information on this subject were the ob-
servations of Mr. Trastour, an Engineer of
science and experience, who passed two
years on the Isthmus and was active in his
observations all the time, and from the sur
vey of Gaetano Moro, made under the di
rections of Don Jose de Garay, the gran
tee of the Mexican Government for the
right of way across Tehuantepec. Moro’s
survey was made by a full and skilful corps
of engineers, and ten months were em
ployed in the important undertaking. As
to Mr. Trastour’s facts, they agreed in all
essential points with those of Garay’s com
mission. In the first place, Moro found
the distance from ocean to ocean to he 135
miles, and the country between might, for
the purposes of description, he divided in
to two sections, one extending from the
Gulf of Mexico to the highest point be
tween the two seas, the table land of Ta
rifa, and the other stretching from Tarifa
to the Pacific ocean. It behooved us to
inquire first what sort of a harbor there
was on the Gulf side of the isthmus ; and
we might learn from a geographer as old
as Balhi, that the harbor at the mouth ol
the Coatzacoalcos was inferior to none on
the whole Gulf of Mexico, not even to that
of the Mississippi. As to the depth of the
channel at the mouth of the Coatzacoalcos
hydrographers had differed—some assert
ing that there were only 12 or 14 feet wa
ter on the bar, while others said they had
found as much as 20 feet. Mr. Moro’s at
tention was carefully directed to this point
and he found that both the soundings were
probably correct; for he noticed that there
were two principal channels, one of which
was from 12 to 16 feet deep, according to
the state of the tides, while the other had
as much as 20 feet clear. The entrance,
then, to the Coatzacoalcos was favorable
and admitted the passage of ships drawing
20 feet water at all seasons of the year.
After entering the Coatzacoalcos the river
has an average depth of 20 feet, with an
ordinary width of 180 yards, for 35 miles
from its mouth. From the latter point to
its junction with the Jaltepec, 60 miles
from its mouth, the river is navigable for
vessels drawing 18 feet. From the Gulf
to the junction of the Coatzacoalcos and
Jaltepec, there is an ascent of 70 feet, and
there remains only GGO feet of elevation to
be overcome before we reach the table
land o{ Tarifa, whence we begin to de
scend towards the Pacific. The great
point to consider on the western slope was
whether a good harbor could be obtained
on tiiat Side. This, Mr. Benjamin said,
was a point he studied with considerable
labor and solicitude, and said he was per
fectly convinced of the feasibility of ma
king a good harbor on the Pacific, if one
was not already in existence. In approach
ing the Pacific from Tarifa, the traveller
finds two lakes, an upper and a lower lake
into which flow numerous small mountain
streams. These streams carry down with
them detritus and boulders from the Cor
dilleras, and thus where the waters of the
lakes come in contact with the waters of
the ocean a bar is formed. The entrance
from the Pacific into the lower lake is call
ed Bocca Barra. In order to furnish a
perfect shelter for vessels, it will only be
necessary to deepen a little the entrance of
the Bocca Barra ; and this is a simple
work, as there are no alluvial washings
brought down by the streams which flow
into the lakes.
We see then, said Mr. B. that tio serious
impediment exists to the construction of
this road ; and that not more than forty
miles of railway will be necessary to con
nect the two seas. If we calculate the cost
of the railroad at $30,000 per mile, this
would amount to $2,000,000 ; and the cost
of other improvements, deepening chan
nels, removing bars, &c. might amount to
$1,000,000 more. How trifling, said Mr.
B. is the sum of $3,000,000, when we com.
pare it with the immense results, social,
moral, commercial and political that are
to flow from the consummation of this
magnificent enterprise. The next consid
eration, said Mr. B. is the acquisition of
the right to build the road. For this it
would be necessary to appoint a commit
tee for conference with the grantees of
the Mexican Government. Mr. Garay,
with others, had obtained a concession of
the right, of way across Tehuantepec, and
it would be necessary for an American com
pany to enter into an agreement with the
Mexican grantees. The original grantees
said Mr. B. are desirous of opening a canal
between the two seas, and they think lit
tle of the railway. Consequently they
will be glad to dispose, at a reasonable
rate, of the privilege of building a railroad,
inasmuch as such a road would assist them
materially in the construction of theircanal.
Mr. B. concluded by stating that the road
would be profitable when built, and add
greatly to the commercial prosperity of
New Orleans, as well as other cities of the
South.
Mr. J. C. L IRFE next addressed the
meeting. His effort is spoken of in the
“Crescent” as an extremely eloquent one
Mr. L. said the gathering was irrespective
of party, language or religion; they had
met freely to mingle together, to consult,
to advise. The question was, How shall
we obtain the best intercourse with the
Pacific Ocean ? Various schemes had
been proposed, Chicago, St. Louis, Mem
phis were named as points to begin at.
All these had their friends. But years
would elapse before even a commencement
could be made. Surveys would be re
quired, taking up a long period—many
millions would he necessary to proceed
with a Railroad to the Pacific. Then these
routes had the rigorous climate of the
North to contend with.
The railroad projected by Mr. Whitney
would run through a portion of the country
where at least six months of the year the
way would be obstructed by the depth of
the snow rendering progress impractica
ble. The St. L ouis route, starting at a
point four degrees north of the Southwest
Pass, also led to a region of ice and snow
that would prevent its being of great utili
ty. The Memphis route seemed the most
feasible of the three ; it proceeded through
the North Pass to San Diego, and could
he made practicable and useful during the
greater part of the year; hut it would
take years to complete and an army to
guard it. But we did not say that we
would not favor other routes ; we wished
them all success. But we wanted imme
diately a safe and rapid communication
with the Pacific. Wo wanted the means
of drawing within our borders the com
merce of Asia and South America, The
Railroad across Tehuantepec would do
this and make New Orleans the great cen
tral commercial mart of the world.
Mr. L. then proceeded to show the geo
graphical advantages of the Isthmus—that
nature had designed it as the place; the
long range of mountains that stretch from
Baffin’s Bay to Terre del Fuego there
found their lowest elevation, and the Con
tinent within a few miles its most narrow
width. The distance would be shortened
18,000 miles between any part of the Uni
ted States on the Atlantic and the ports of
the Pacific by the way of Cape Horn,
while it had of the route through the Isth
mus of Panama, the advantage of 1863
miles. This was something of a gain in
the hurrying and bustling age we live in.
Mr. Larue spoke of the position of New
Orleans, placed at the outlet of the Valley
of the Mississippi, which in the course of
twenty years more, would contain perhaps
40,000,000 of inhabitants, and the vast bo
dy of its commerce flowing through differ
ent channels must go to that city—God
and nature had willed it, and the puny ef
forts of man could not reverse the law !
Bring the Atlantic and Pacific together by
Railroad, said Mr. L., and what is the
result? Place our population here and
miners in California in close contact, and
see what power it would add to the Gov
ernment of the United States. It would
bring wealth to our coffers, and the follow- ■
ers of ihe plough and those that wield the
shuttle at tho loom would soon compe'e
with the gold diggers with the West.
I lie Island of Cuba must soon form a
portion of this country, [loud applause ;]
the pear is almost ripe—it will drop into
our lap in time ; and this once in posses
sion, and the Gulf of Mexico becomes a
great inland sea, and New Orleans will be
the Alexandria of the New World. With
our Railroad to form part of this great sys
tem, how would this country be advanced!
Europe is about to become all Cossack
America would be all Republic ! Let us
strengthen ourselves by every means in
our power—grasp every shield of defence,
every weapon of attack !
One year will see the commencement of
the Tehuantepec Road, and three years
see the completion. We oppose no one
in his views of another route. We do not
war against our Northern brethren— we
wish them every success; but, at the same
time, here is a work in which we think
that we can achieve something immedi
ately.
“IVo pont up Utien contracts our powers,
Out the whole boundless continent is ours."
The following Resolutions were adopt
ed previous to the adjournment of the
meeting:
Resolved, That a communication across the
Continent of America, cither by Ship Canal or
Railroad, between the Atlantic and Pacific O
ceans, is an object of the highest political and
commercial importance to the Government and
People of the United States, necessary to bind
together the different parts of our Territory, and
enable all our citizens to participate in and be
protected by the Federal Government, and in
the highest degree calculated to developc our re
sources, extend our commerce, increase the
wealth and power of the country, and add to
the prosperity and happinessofthe people.
Resolved, That we are in favor of the construc
tion ofa Railroad to the Pacific entirely within
the Territories ofthe United States, if, upon ex
amination and survey, such Road shall be ascer
tained to be practicable ; and that we will hearti
ly aid, so far as our efforts may avail in the sup
port and prosecution of such an undertaking,
whatever may be the route which shall be final
ly determined upon.
Resolved, That wliilo we arc anxious to wit
ness the completion of so great a national work,
we cannot shut our eyes to the fact that many
years must elapse before so desirable an end can
be attained, and that in the mean time some
other mode of rapid communication with our
Territories on the Paeific is essential to the safe,
ty and well being ofthe country, end would im
mediately add to its commercial greatness.
Resolved, That, in our opinion, a Railroad a
cross the Isthmus of Tehuantepec is the cheap
est, speediest and best means of obtaining, at
once, objects of such importance, and" that the
people of New Orleans and Louisiana ought to
and will aid in its construction without delay.
Resolved, 1 hat the Delegates from this State
to the Memphis Convention be requested to bring
this subject before that body, and endeavor to
obtain its concurrence with us in behalf of the
Tehuantepec Railroad, as a present measure ben
eficial to all, and as a most powerful aid, by de
monstrating the great advantages of rapid com
munication, in furthering the great work in favor
of which the Convention is convoked.
Resolved, That a Permanent Committee of
Twenty gentlemen bo appointed to prepare an
Address to the President, asking for the nego
tiation ofa Treaty, if practicable, with the Gov.
ernment of Mexico, permitting of the free trans
portation of tho mails, troops and military stores
of the Government, and of the goods and mer
chandise of the citizens of the United States, a
cross the Isthmus of 4'ehuuntepcc ; a memorial
to Congress for the passage ofa law directing the
Postmaster General and Secretary at War to
make yearly contracts for the transportation o<
the mails, troops and military stores from the At
lantic to the Pacific ports of the United States,
giving preference always to the shortest route,
where the price is the same ; and an address to
the Congress and People ofthe United States on
the advantages of immediately constructing a
Railroad at Tehuantepec, and generally to fur
ther the object which this meeting basin view.
A Resolution requesting subscriptions
on the part of the City was passed, after
which the meeting adjourned.
From the Pendleton Messenger.
Meeting of tlie Committee of
Vigilance ami Safely.
A meeting of the Committee of Vigi
lance and Safety, for this District, took
place in the Farmer’s Hall, on Saturday,
the 30th ult., at the call of the Executive
Committee, in relation to their course in
taking possession of a number of docu
ments or letters in the Post Office here,
signed Junius, of an incendiary and aboli
tion character, addressed to members of
the Committee ; besides the Committee a
large number of the citizens ofthe District
were in attendance. After the proceed
ings of the last meeting were read, F. Burt,
Esq., from the Plxecutive Committee, sub
mitted the following report, and placed
the documents in question at the disposal
of the meeting.
REPORT.
It is our duty, Mr. Chairman to report
to this body, the actings and doings of the
Lxecutive Committee since our last meet
ing. \Y liether we have carried out the
resolutions of the Committee of Vigilance
and Safety, it is for you to determine.
Whether we have transcended the powers
with which we were clothed, it is for you
to judge after we have laid the facts before
you. Wc have been governed by the de
sire only to protect the community, and
promote the peace of our district in what
we have done and rely confidently upon
your approval and support. It is perhaps
known to you, Mr. Chairman, that two
weeks ago a large number of documents,
sealed up as letters, and chargod with post
age, were directed to the members of the
Committee of Vigilance and Safety for
this district; as soon as their character
was known, they were taken from the
Postmaster, who refused to give them up.
Here, sir, are three malicious and insult
ing documents ; of their evident tendency,
and the object with which they have been
thrown among us, we will speak after one
of them has been read, (one of them was
here read.)
If, sir, one of our own citizens, in good
faith, were to attempt to make these is
sues, we should say that he had a perfect
right to do so, no matter how much we
might pity the delusion which made him
abandon well regulated constitutional lib
erty, well secured by the rules of law and
order, for that chimerical idea of govern
ment which places all written compacts
and constitutions at the will of an absolute
majority. That majority which in a gov
ernment of one hundred voters, would
take the tights and propeity secured by
the constitution and laws to the minority
of 49, and place them in the hands of the
majority of fifty-one, or in other words,
would place the whole power overthe one
hundred in the hands of two men. This
has not been the political faith of South
Carolina, and we trust it never will be ;
here it takes the concurring majority of
two thirds to effect any change in our con
stitution, and that majority, acting under
rules laid down by the constitution and
laws, not as bare majority ofa mob acting
upon the principles of Dorrism, but by
legislative enactment, or through the action
of a Convention called in pursuance of
law.
These papers are said by some not to
be incendiary , it is true, they are careful
ly and artfully drawn. It would not do
for them to strike openly at the institution
they intend to destroy; these are their
outer works ; when they are firmly estab
lished, we may look out for an attack up
on the citadel of our rights. But, Mr.
Chairman, our political curiosity is exci
ted to know what motive could actuate a
citizen of Massachusetts, in thus volun
teering to create a political revolution in
South Carolina ? Does any one believe
that their iove of Carolina is so great, or
their love of liberty so strong, as to induce
these close-fisted Yankees to spend their
time and money to regenerate and politi
cally disenthral the poor and ignorant
Carolinian ? No, sir, this tale will never
do, there is a deeper and a darker spirit
at the bottom of this movement, and if we
should nurse it into being, it would be hut
to sting us to death. It is that spirit of
plunder by which they have ever been ac
tuated, which now urges them on to dis
turb our peace, and raise civil strife among
our people. But the author of this docu-
ment says that lie is a South Carolinian ; if
he is so, then has he been guilty of higher
offences, which have driven him from his
native land, for any Carolinian might with
safety agitate these questions without tiie
fear of being molested by any Vigilant
Committee in our State. No, sir, his ig
norance of our institutions proves that lieTs
not a renegade or traitor, hut some inter
meddling abolitionist, whose end is to sow
discord among our people that lie may the
more readily destroy the institutions of the
South. But hear this benevolent reform
er, this pure philanthropist, and then say
if through the gauze which he throws over
his language, his designs cannot be discov
ered. “I see the soil that gave me birth
so worn out, that .1 cannot ex’en exclaim
with Byron,
‘Thy very weeds are beautiful,’
for it is now 100 poor to raise even a crop
of thistles. I see my countrymen’s sons
and daughters growing up in ignorance
for the want of a common school system,
by which the poor child may stand on the
same pla’form with the wealthy. 1 see
the people oppressed with burdensome
militia trainings and patrols to guard the
interests of the privileged few.”
Is this not abolition, pure and unadulte
rated ? What does he mean by the pecu
liar interests of the privileged few, unless
it is the institution of slavery, and is there
any one so blind as not to see it ? What,
sir, do they propose? Why, they threat
en us with an almost entire repeal of the
Constitution of South Carolina. The mi
litia system is to be done away with, and
the patrol law of course would fall. They
propose to break down those harriers
which have been thrown around our pecu
liar institutions by the Constitution and
laws ol tire State, and which have hereto
fore foiled all their efforts to plant the seeds
of abolition amongst us.
We are told that our people are igno
rant, that our press is muzzled, andUiat
m all the elements of prosperity and great
ness we are far behind the State of Massa
chusetts, and that to regenerate our peo
ple. and give them employment, manufac
tories must be built up by legislative aid,
our free school system, for the education
of the poor, must be abolished, and that
hotli rich and poor must be educated at
the public expense. Can any one con
ceive of language more impudent, false,
and insulting than this ? If it were all
true, would not the indignation of our peo
ple he roused by the tannting manner in
which it is addressed to them ? But it
is not true ; the history of our country dis
proves it, we have given as many (if not
more) great and patriotic statesmen to the
service of the Union as Massachusetts or
any other State ; the statistics of our coun
try prove that the mass of our people are
much more prosperous and free than theirs,
notwithstanding the plunder they have re
ceived from the South by their unjust ta
t iffs uhon her labor. \\ hy. then, this ma
licious intermeddling with our affairs, if it
is not to render our people dissatisfied
with our institutions hy their unjust and
unfair statements, and by elevating the ne
gro, and degrading the white man, thus
pave the way for an indiscriminate plun
der of our property ?
It has been deemed necessary to notice
these points in the documents, taken by
the Committee from the Post Office, with
a view of showing their offensive charac
ter. Those documents were addressed
exclusively to the members of the Com
mittee of V igilance, and as such we con
sidered it to be our duty to take them from
the office. We conceived that we were
but carrying out tho resolutions adopted
by this Committee in doing what we did
on that occasion. AVe entered the Post
Office Department, not for wantonness or
mischief, but to protect ourselves from in
sult and aggression. AVe exercised that
great primary and inherent right of self
defence, which authorizes a people to de
fend themselves against internal dangers,
and which by the laws of nature bolongto
all communities. AVe trust we were actu
ated by the same spirit that induced nur
forefathers to throw the Tea into Boston
harbor ; our object was to protect our
rights from the impertinent interference
of others.
It there are any who deem our course
hasty and violent, (but we trust there are
none,) we invoke them to suspend their
judgment, until that dark cloud which I
forming from the northeast to the norffi
west with fearful rapidity, and is threaten
ing to devastate our homes and firesides
shall have passed away, and then, if
escape unscathed and unhurt, and 0 6
warning and action shall appear to
been unnecessary, we will receive with
submission their condemnation. But abov
all, we invoke our fellow-citizens to brace
themselves and prepare for coming events
for as sure as the shadow accompanies th
substance, there is trouble coming upon
us, and ell of us should be “animis opii u .
queparati," with heart and hand prepare
to meet it. 1
After the reading of the report, H on
R- F. Simpson offered the following re S n'
lution : °
Resolved. That the report of the Exec
utive Committee be accepted, and that
their conduct in taking the letters, signed
Junius, from the Post Office, be sustained
and approved.
Pending this resolution it was unani
mously resolved, on motion of Dr. C. L
Gaillard, That the citizens present at this
meeting, not members of the Committee"
be invited to vote on all questions brought
before it. 6
The members of the Executive Com
mittee, being excused from voting, the
resolution offered hy Hon. R. F. Simpson
was then carried without a dissenting
voice. °
On motion of Dr. C. L. Gaillard, it was
unanimously resolved, that a Committee
of three he appointed to enquire what dis
position has been made of the letters di
rected to J. M. Barret, in the Post Office
at Anderson C. H.
Under this resolution, Dr. C. L. Gail
lard, B. F. Sloan, and J. C. Eaton were
appointed a Committee.
Hon. li. F. Simpson offered the follow
ing :
Resolved, That the Executive Commit
tee be required to open a correspondence
with all the \ igilance Committees within
this State, and submit to them first, the
propriety of raising a fund in each district
by general subscription, for the puipose
of offering a reward for the delivery and
conviction of the author or authors of any
incendiary or abolition paper, sent through
the Fost Office, or otherwise circulated
within this State.
It was suggested by R. A. Maxwell,
Esq., a member of the Executive Com
mittee, as an amendment to Hon. R. F.
Simpson’s resolution, that as the Execu
tive of our State was authorized to offer a
reward for the apprehension and convic
tion of criminals, that the Legislature
should he memorialized to place in the
hands of the Governor a fund to be em
ployed by him in the detection of secret
emissaries ofthe abolitionists, and the au
thors of incendiary publications, and that
this subject he also presented by our Cor
responding Committee to the Vigilance
Committees in the State.
lhe suggestion was accepted, as an a
mendment, hy the Hon. R. F. Simpson
to Ids resolution, and unanimously adopt-
On motion of I?. A. Maxwell, Esq., it
was Resolved, f hat these proceedings be
published in the Pendleton Messenger,
and a copy he forwarded to his Excellen
cy Gov. Seabrook.
On motion of J. G. Bowden, Esq., the
meeting then adjourned to the public
square, and proceeded to burn the papers
placed at their disposal, which being done,
the crow dispersed in a quiet and orderly
manner.
F. N. GARVIN, Ch’n.
D. S. 7 aylor, Secretary.
Loafing;.
Speaking of landlords reminds me of an
amusing incident which transpired a few
days since. A shabby-genteel individual,
\\ ith a semi-philosophic look, sauntered in
to an office in Nassau-st., with the owner
of which he was acquainted. On entering
he was greeted with—
“Ah, Sam ? How arc you ? Glad to
see you.”
Bad, said Sam, shaking his head rue
fully. “Every body does badly in the pre
sent state of society. Now-a-days the
rich grow richer, and the poor poorer.—
i he employer preys upon the producer,
and times will not get better until society
is re-organized.”
“Well, but Sam, don’t you think it
would be better for you to go to work.—
\ou now live on the working classes as
much as any body else, and you do nothing
for the wot id.”
“I, 1,” said Sam ; ‘‘l do more for the
world than if I worked. If I worked I
vvould sustain the present false state of so
ciety ; but I do not work ; I do not sustain
it.”
"What in the name of common sense
do you do then 1”
“I uphold the natural right of man to
steal. Man has a natural right to take ami
eat when hungry ; but he has no right to
support a false state of society. Ido more
than most men to break down society as
it is. I never work ; I never pay rent; I
havn’t done so for nineteen months ; I
have cheated the landlord all the time.”
AV ith this frank avowal Sam left the
place without observing that one of the
clerks had abstracted a fine silk handker
chief fi •om his pocket. Ten minutes af
terwards he rushed in again, and begged
to know if any of them had taken the mis;-
itig article. “I paid a dollar for it, and
would not lose it on any account,” said
he, “Doing a landlord is one thing, but
taking a fellow's handkerchief out of his
pocket is not right no how.” Sam finally
got his handkerchief, hut he has since been
careful where he broached the doctrine of
man’s natural right to steal.— N. Y.Surt.