Newspaper Page Text
\
f^OrrcflS CQLLtCi
tv. it
A STHICT COS8TKCCTIOX OF TU1B COSSTITUTIOS
3f_A* BOtK^f A*U KCOSTOMICAL. ADBUngTRATIOX OF THE GOVERSHENT.
RAGLAND & WYNNE, -Proprietor
WEEKLY ENQUIRE^
COLUMBUS,
TUESDAY MOBHINS, MARCH 12, 1867.
VOL. XXXIX..—NO. 11.
COLUMBUS:
THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 3867.
TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION :
One Year (in advance) $4.00
Six Months (in advance) ..$2.00
“The Situation” from Different Stand
points.
We copy to.day two essentially variant
articles on the present extremity of the
South—one from the Now York World,
the other from the Richmond Enquirer.
The World (which is a Democratic paper,
regarded as “loyal” during the war and
conservative since) thinks that there could
be no escape for the South except in suc
cessful resistance by violence, which it
readily pronounces hopeless. All of our
people appreciate the correctness of that
conclusion; the ides of resorting to it has
never (>ecn seriously considered. The
World's recognition of that mode of es
cape alone ignores any hope of relief
thfough the instrumentality of a recover
ing conservative sentiment at the North.
It is a confession of the impotence of its
own parly, and is chiefly instructive to us
because of such a confession. Hereafter
we shall view the question as stripped of
all complication by any hope from that
•quarter.
The Richmond Dispatch makes a centre
-hot at this article of tbo World, by copy.
Sng its assertion of the justice with which
the people of the South could draw the
sword, artd its declaration that they are
only excusable for not doing so because of
the hopelessness of success, and quietly
adding “and the knowledge that you
would encourage the North to fight us.”
The other article, to which we direct
careful attention, is from the Richmond
Enquirer. It clings to the Constitution,
and to the Suprome Court as its expound
er, as an anchor that may yet enable us
to withstand the storm. Certainly there
can be no treason or disloyalty in still
holding on to the Constitution and its tri
bunals of appeal. The difficulty consists
in reaching that Court with pur grievances
or oppressions. The Congressional enact
ments have hedged it around with ob
structions moro formidable than those that
so long kept the Union armies out of
Richmond. Every approach seems to be
guarded with a completeness far excelling
that of the blockade of the Southern
ports. If, howover, thcro is a means of
carrying to that Court a case involving
the great issues embraced in tho late legis
lation of Congress (it is useless to try to
get up a controversy on the minor details)
we hope that Virginia will make up such
a case at once. Tho question is evidently
on9 that will not admit of delay. Tho
radical appeal is to elements of mischief
and destruction. The agitation com
menced is one that can be wisely directed
.much more easily in ils incipiency or its
•earlier stages than in its more advanced
progress. If there is any escape for us,
let us know it at once; if not, let every
conservative energy be directed to the
mitigation of inevitable evils.
The New Congress.
-■xt, noon yesterday, as we were advisod
by telegraph, the CUrk
Representatives was organizing the new
Congress. Only twenty of the thirty-six
States can bo represented in the House.
The ton States regarded as disloyal will of
course be unrepresented. There are six
others that have not yet elected Repre.
sentatives, viz: New Hampshire, Rhode
Island, Connecticut, California, Ken
tucky and Tennessee, entitled to 30 Rep
resentatives in all. So there will only be,
at most, 161 members present, of the 243
constitutieg a full House. Of this num
ber 81 will bo a majority, being exactly
one-third of a full House, and one less
than tho number excluded and absent.
New Hampshire elects in March ; Con
necticut and Rhode Island in April;
Tennessee and Kentucky in August; and
California in September. The two last
named will probably order elections ear
lier, by special laws. In Kentucky, May
has been named by one House, but an
effort is being made to bring on tho elec
tion earlier.
There are, we believe, 29 Democrats
and Conservatives so far elected to the
House, and tho seats of several of these
are contested. This party, therefore, will
not have strength enough to influence
legislation upon any subject. In the Sen
ate, too, tho conservatives lose several
votes as compared with the strength of
parties in tho Senate just adjourned.
Gov. Swann, of Maryland, seems to
have gotten himself into hot water by his
election as United States Senator. It is
given out at Washington that the Senate
will not admit him, but will declare the
seat vacant as soon as tho Legislature of
Maryland adjourns. This would enable
the Lieut. Governor, acting as Governor,
to make tho appointment of a Senator who
would hold the seat until next winter;
and it is said that the radical Lieut.
Governor is into the plot and will appoint
Creswell, the present Senator. Governor
Swann sent to the Senate, on the 26th ult.,
a letter declining bis election as Senator,
but subsequently withdrew tho letter;
and thus the matter stands at present.
The Legislature of Virginia was to have
adjourned on last Saturday, but it was
said that Governor Pierpont would imme-
•Mately call the two houses together again,
le take into consideration the Congres
sional plan of reconstruction. In a speech
made a few days since, Governor Pierpont
declared that there was no way of avoid
ing the call of a State Convention, and
that tbe preferable mode would be for the
Legislature to make the call; else it would
he made by popular movements.
vi > i> -
The Thomas County Resolutions.
The following are the resolutions adopt
ed by the meeting held in Thomas coun
ty, of which mention is mado elsewhero
in this paper:
Resolved, That liis Excellency Gover
nor Jenkins be requested to convene the
Legislature of Georgia in extra session ut
an early dey, to the end that they may re
view their previous action in rejecting the
amendment to the Constitution proposed
by the 39th Congress, and that they may
consider the propriety of adopting the
same, and proposing it to Congress as a
final settlement of the voxed question of
reconstruction.
Resolved, That in the event of failure
to accomplish the end proposed in the first
resolution, the Legislature, in connection
with the Governor, be requested to take
such steps and adopt such measures as
may be necessary to form a State govern
ment at the earliest practicable day, and
thereby shorten military rule and estab
lish a government of laws to he adminis
tered by civil magistrates.
Resolved, That a copy of this preamble
and resolutions be forwarded to Governor
Jeskins, and that he be requested to con
fer with the Governors of the several
Southern States in reference thereto.
as We Expected.
We understand that the Griffin Ameri
can Union (organ of the Radical party in
Georgia) scouts the idea that the present
State Government will be allowed to in
augurate the proceedings looking to re
construction under the bill just passed by
Congress, and ridicules Governor Brown
and his movement.
The telegraph advises us that Governor
Brown and his supporters, defeated in the
general meeting called to consider his
proposition, held an exclusive meeting of
their own to take the initiatory steps re
commended by him.
And we learn from a Thomasvilie pa
per that Hon. James L. Seward and oth-
! ers have already “sat the ball in motion”
, in that part of the State,
i These demonstrations suffice to show us
that, as we suggested last week, the co
operation of the State governments of the
South is not desired by some, and, as we
then predictod, that they will not be
awaited by others. Congress purposely
refrained from dictating by whom the
movement should be commenced. The
radical majority may have indulged the
hope that iba existing Slate governments
would commit suicide by inaugurating
the proceedings for their own destruction;
but evidently the hope was not sufficient
ly strong to induce them to leave the ini
tiatory movements entirely to those gov
ernments; therefore original popular ac
tion is contemplated as at least an alter
native, and it will be resorted to—-is being
resorted to.
It does not require argument to prove
that the course pursued by Gov. Brown
and his sympathizers would result in the
holding of the Convention, oven though
four-fifths of the people of the State were
opposed to it. Equally clear is it to our
mind that, if there are great constitutional
questions involved in this revolutionary
movement, that may hereafter be revised
by the highest judicial tribunal of the
land, it is best for those opposed to it that
it should be as distinctly revolutionary as
ils most radical supporters desire it to be.
We trust that this intimation will be
rightly understood.
The stern fact confronts us, that Con
gress has, pronouncing our State Govern
ments illegal, set on fool a popular move
ment for a social and political revolution
in Georgia ; and that the material for the
successful accomplishment of that revo
lution exists among us. It is already
progressing, and neither the possession of
an existing and non-participating govern
ment, nor the oppositit n of the majority
of the people, can hvh'iI to stay it. Honor
and duty alike require us to uphold the
existing state Government as long as
Congressional or military power will al
low its existence, and to insist that it shall
not seize with its own hands the sword
suspended over it by Federal power and
therewith put an end to its own life. But
is it not compatible with fidelity to this
State Government, thus living by capri
cious sufferance, that we should, if in our
power, at the same time so direct an irre
sistible movement as to prevent its hur
rying us to irretrievable disaster and utter
ruin ? Shall we not avail ourselves of all
chances of escape from & condition of an-
strife, insecurity and distracting
agitation ? In a word, if a new govern
ment is to be forced upon us, in spite of
all opposition that we can make, is it not
a duly to ourselves and to posterity that
it shall bring with it none of the horrors
of Tennessee, or Missouri, or St. Do
mingo?
The Bankrupt Law.
Inquiry was made of us, yesterday,
concerning the provisions of tho Bankrupt
iaw just passed by Congress. Wo have
before us a synopsis of the bill as it first
passed the Senate, but it was afterwards
amended in some particulars by the House.
Its main provisions, we presume, were not
essentially altered, end these aro as fol-
lows: Tho jurisdiction in cases of bank
ruptcy is given to tho District Courts of
the United Slates, and the U. S. Circuit
Courts have general superintendence and
authority to act as courts of equity. One
or moro Registers in Bankruptcy to be
appointed for each Congressional district.
Any debtor owing over three hundred
dollars may make application for a decree
of bankruptcy, with a schedule, Ac. Such
petition will be an act of bankruptcy, and
and the petitioner adjudged a bankrupt.
After publication, the creditors may prove
debts and choose assignees, to whom shall
be assigned all tho property of the bank
rupt ; but from thteassignmentare exempt
household and kitchen furniture, and such
other articles as the assignee may indicate,
not exceeding in value $500, wearing ap
parel, uniform and arms; also exempting
ages not exceeding $50 for services per
formed in six months. Creditors prohib
ited from suing the bankrupt after he
avails himself of the act. All creditors
who prove their claims to share alike.
The bankrupt to receive bis final discharge
after six months, if no fraud has been
shown. No second bankruptcy allowed,
unies-s by consent of creditors, except
where the assets amount to 70 per cent, of
the debts. Creditors may force a debtor
into involuntary bankruptcy, or proof of
intention to abscond, to fraudulently as
sign or to make assignments giving
preference to certain creditors, or the sus
pension for fourteen days of the payment
of commercial paper.
A Griffin (Ga.) correspondent of the
Nashville Press and Times, writes as fol
lows, glorifying the action of Brownlow !
and. bis Tennessee Legislature: “Ohl
that we poor mortals away down here
could only taste the joys that the patriot
sons of Tennessoe have secured to them
selves. Can we ever hope to accomplish
such a grand result as has the Legislature
of your State? We are sometimes en
couraged to think so by the action of Con
gress, and then again all is dark and hope
less.” And, referring to certain violent
secessionists, he says: “These are the men
we want served as the Tennessee rebels
are.”
Other proof is not wanting that there is
a party in the State who will do all that
they can to bring about in Georgia just
such a condition of things as exists in Ten
nessee and Missouri.
Gov. Swann, of Md., is reported by a
telegram of the 1st inst. from Washington
as having again accepted the position of
United States Senator, which necessitates
a resignation of the office of Governor.
Negroes Not Allowed to Vote in
New York.— The New York Assembly,
on Wednesday, voted down a proposition
to let negroes in that State vote for dele
gates to the Constitutional Convention.
Yet a majority of this same New York
Legislature are in favor of thrusting ne
gro suffrage upon their countrymen in
the South—and not only tbat,but in favor
also of keeping them out of the Union
until they consent to it,— Express.
Gov. Brown’s Meeting-.
Wo think that the reader will noed no
prompting of ours to' discover the fact
that the main effort put forth by tbe fol
lowers of Gov. Brown, in tbe meeting
held at Atlanta on the 4th instant, was to
catch the eye and gain the consideration
of the radical party at Washington. This
is apparent in the attempt to saddle all the
present evils that afflict the country upon
“Providence” and “the rebels” (either of
whom may be safely rated to any extent);
in the ready admission that the present
State Governments are illegal (though
called upou to de very legal acts!); in the
studied palliation of the proscriptive fea
tures that disqualify and disfranchise so
many of the white people of tbe South;
and in the care taken to bavo a copy of
the resolutions forwarded to the Recon
struction Committee at Washington. It
would bo cruel indeed if repentance so
thorough and patriotism so disinterested
should fail to gain its reward.
Wo do not intend to discuss hero tho
propriety of the course of action recom
mended—our views having already been
fully expressed. But we wi,sL to call at
tention to some inconsistencies that ought
not to be wholly overlooked.
The resolutions censure the people of
Georgia for their “indiscretion that has al
ready delayed the work of restoration”—
evidently referring, as the Thomas county
resolutions did more distinctly, to their
refusal to adopt the Constitutional Amend
ment before this time. Yet who, of tho
number composing that meeting, hereto
fore advocated the ratification by Georgia
of the Constitutional Amendment?
One of the resolutions declares that'
“there are persons in ■ each and every
county within this Stutesufficient in num
bers and of sufficient integrity and ability,
who aro not debarred from voting and
holding office by the provisions of this
law, to perform all the functions of gov
ernment.” This is very different from
the reported sayings of Gov. Brown during
his recent visit to Washington. Accord
ing to tho New York Herald, he there de
clared that “Tho Constitutional Amend
ment would render it impossible for tho
Bouth to conduct her State Governments,
because not men enough qualified under
tbo amendment could be found to fill tbe
offices. The result of the amendment
would be that tho offices would be filled
either by irresponsible persons who never
had mind enough to act according to their
own wills, or by partisans imported for
the purpose. Else they must remain emp
ty and unexecuted.” Was this assurance
to the radicals at Washington only a sly
intimation that it would bo necessary to
remove the ban of disqualification from a
few of the proscribed class, so as to aliow
competent men to fill the offices? And
who so competent as Gov. Brown, ap
proved so by four consecutive terms du
ring which he held the Chief Executive
office of the State—a recommendation
possessed by no otbnr Georgian living or
dead?
We copy further from the Herald's re
port of Gov. Brown’s sayings in Wash
ington, to show the suddenness and sin
cerity of his conversion: “Gov. Brown
states that the effect of the Louisiana bill
and the Stevens bill, which recently passed
the House, will bo to make the slaves of
the South tho political masters of their
former owners. The master is deprived
of the right to vote and serve on juries,
whilo his former slave will beenfranchised
and placed in the jury box to sit in judg
ment upon those whose property he once
was; that it is not expected by Southern
ers that their slaves will dispense righteous
judgment, and the result will be that a
largo majority of the Southern people will
have to come North and seek a place of
retirement, if they arc able to do so, and
if not, some means of livelihood.”
A Washington dispatch of the 1st inst.
to the New Orleans Times, makes the fol
lowing reference to some of tbe reports
that obtained currency whilo the Presi
dent had Sherman's bill under considera
tion :
Those who know the real facts are
aware that from the first the President
was decided on vetoing the bill, and
that in this decision be was from the first
supported by every member of tbe Cabi
net, save one.
There is not theshadow of a foundation
for the statement, telegraphed from this
city, that Mr. Johnson has withheld his
message to this time with an understand
ing that the Democratic members would
filibuster to tho end of the session. For
three days past not a Democrat has had
an interview with him except Hon. Re-
verdy Johnson, who, by tbo way, did not
visit the President to advise him to sign
the bill,as has been alleged. The object of
the Senator from Maryland was to make
suggestions as to the tone of the message,
and for no other purpose.
would be fighting in as righteous a cause
as any in which a patriot aver drew his
.‘sword. Armed resistance is the natural
and appropriate mode of redress for such
flagrant injustice as is now meditated
against the South. “Resistance to tyrants
so oUroliAnAA Srv ^ I i ^ L ft f\ttl P ivAn/i
been removed from the Tortugas to Fort
From the New York World, 26th.
-what Respect* -lire Situation has
Changed.
If the Southern people should resist the
From the Baltimore Son
The President Vindicated by Secretary
Stanton.
The testimony given by Alt. Btanton 0atio - ofWt . al j aw b y force, they
before the committee of tbe io#er House..
of Congress, in reference to tka prisoners
who were discharged from Fort Delaware,
under a writ of habeas corpus, issued by
Judge Hall, of Delaware, is a complete
exculpation of President Johnson from
tho charge of attempting to evade f* 1 ® iL" obedience’to God.” The only good
laws, or to screen criminals deserving *^. on fcr nQt appealjng , Q arms in lhja
punishment from the consequences 0* r conjuncture is tbe hopelessness of success,
their crimes. Whatever else may be sai« wten tfao gouthern Sule3 determined on
war, six years ago, they were without
with regard to the Secretary, in this in*
stance ho has, with manly frankness, aa» 1 lostiflcation, because the injuries com-
surned tho whole responsibility for an *<* Pp| g j ne( i 0 f were only in prospect, not
which was seized upon as a grave charge r
against tjUe President, and it is now mani
fest that so far from tbe prisoners haying
actually experienced; and because they
had other efficient means of checking and
ioiiing the Republican party. Tbo Dera-
wocu ICUIIM.U ocratic party had, at tnat time, a majority
Delaware in order to bring them within ■SjKith Houses of Congress. The whole
tho reach of judicial process, they wore 0 {‘ the Supreme Court was Demo
cratic. But at present, unless the South
removed purely on the score of human
ity, and because their lives and those of
other prisoners would have been endan
gered by beir.g crowded in a sickly season
upon that desolate spot.
The testimony of the Secretary is valu
able, inasmuch as it appears that he had
no sympathy whatever with the prisoners
upon any score. He was reluctant, in*
deed, to assume the responsibility of re-^
commending that the sentence of death
wh-b h ; .r bMP- PvnoMc-oedagainst tfcotifi ? % e5uppose fhat such Southerners as
should be executed, because it was under- sufficiently control their honest indig-
stood that the opinion of the Supreme ! tjon to make an estimate of the situa-
Court in the case of Milligan did not | - wU1 perceiv0 that t he only choice
warrant tbe execution of a capital sentence wU ’ h rt . mains open to lhem lie5 'between
enforced by a military tribunal, and he ^ ^ u ,j m j es j on n( j reor g an .
therefore recommendc-d that the sentences i i3 s B ‘ nd tha new K05pel of negro
should be commuted to imprisonment for j guffraffe . In such a pitiable choice of
alternatives, we do not offer advice; hut
cin find redress by arms, no redress
possible. If they had the political ma-
oilinery which they could have controlled
ic 1861, a resort to force would be unjusti
fiable, even under such outrages on their
rights as are now ripe for execution. But
their political efficiency and their military
.sources are at an equally low ebb, at a
tmio whan they have tho sorest need of
t
Lieut. Gen. N. B. Forrest,
A writer in the Land We Love, in an
article on the character of Lieut. Gen. N.
B. Forrest, gives the following estimate of
him :
His character as a whole was a union of
that of Lannes and Sucket. With the
impetuosity of the first he united the
cautious calculation of the second. He
well weighed the probabilities and count
ed the cost of every plan. When the time
for action came he was terrible as a thun
derbolt. With the qualities of these mar
shals in tbe respects named, he united to
the fixedness of purpose tho tenacy of
Massenna. His doggedness of resolution
was proverbial. It was like tbe grasp of
death. An undertaking was never aban
doned until forced by orders, a battle
never over until it was won. Tbe doubts,
even the panic of others had no effect to
tame his obstinacy of purpose; but. fall
ing back upon his own iron self-reliance,
he was every inch a man in tbe darkest
hours of the storm.
It was then, in the midnight darkness of
trial, that his genius, like stars in the
night, shone most brightly. He was pas
sionately fond of artillery, and would
stand behind a working battery, enjoying
its exercise with all the glee of a delighted
child. Not unfrequently has he been
known to direct a section or battery in
person, superintending the minutest de
tails. Personal daring in a leader, the
army never doubted the fortune and game
of its possessor, he fell was the strongest
point he had to gain. With it ho appeared
to wear a magic girdle. Not like Atrides:
"Beyond the missile javelins’ sounding flight
Safe let us stand ; and from the tumult afar
Inspire the ranks and rule the distant war.”
Hence, in this respect, be is without a
peer in the annals of the revolution.—
Leading a charge in person was his favor
ite pastime. The glory of single combat
he too often courted—oftener than wisdom
justified. Riding like a young Bedouin,
an excellent pistol shot and skill swords
man, with a frame of great muscular
power, be has with bis own right hand
won more success than any officer of the
war.
life
Well might tbe honorable Secretary
pause upon an act which would have
stained his bands with blood a crimson no
less deep than if he had imbued his hands
in that of men entirely innocent, provi
ded the law of the land would not justify
him in ordering it to be shed. Nor did
the crime seem any the less to the Becre-
taiy because he differed in opinion from
the Supreme Court as to the true exposi
tion of the law. So long as that judgment
stood it was for him to obey it, and it was
for the President to respect it.
It follows from this that even if the
President had, in point of fact, removed
the condemned men from tbe military
district of General Sickles to Fort Dela
ware in order to bring them within the
protection of the judiciary, he would
have done no more than his duty. If not
justified in causing the sontenco of death
to be executed, because of the opinion of
the Supreme Court that it was wholly
illegal, it would have been clearly proper
for the President to have taken the con
demned out of tho reach of ihe military
and to have placed them under the pro
tection of that department which is char
ged with guarding the lives and liberties
of the citizen. So that if it had been dis
closed before the committee that the Pres
ident really purposed to do wbat he was
charged with having done, he would have
been subject to no censure, but entitled to
praise for endeavoring to have the laws
faithfully executed.
Tho committee and the press have harp
ed upon the fact that after these men had
been released they were received at their
homes with exultation, as a proof that the
people took delight in the crime which
nad been imputed to them. But it is most
likely to bo tho truth that the exultation
referred to was tho expression of joy to
find that there was some law in the land
which would protect human life from the
unlicensed power of military commissions,
and which is much more abhorreDt than
any single crime. Tbe people there, loo,
evidently have doubts cf tho guilt of the
parties, as has Mr. Cooper, who made the
minority repoit to Congress on the sub
ject. No wonder, then, that in joy over
that greater triumph of right, the people
for the moment put aside tho indignation
they felt for tho crime which bad been
committed, leaving to their civil tribunals
the future inquiry as to the offenders.
In the history of every people raen.bave
been the accidental representatives of a
great principle, who have been the victims
of a public wrong and invasion of tho
rights of society, have been invested with
a iialo reflected from tile sacred principle
under the influence of which they have
been sheltered. And no greater mistake
could be made by men calling themselves
statesmen than to confound the over
whelming enthusiasm for the rights of so
ciety with sympathy for a murderer.
When will those in power consent to un
derstand better the springs of human ac
tion, and cc isc to confound all truo dis
tinctions for tho sako of their miserable
partisan ends ?
A Washington dispatch says: Surratt
will undoubtedly prove an alibi on the
night of the assassination. He was, un
questionably, implicated in tbe original
conspiracy for tbo abduction of President
Lincoln, but that wag changed into an
assassination plot only a few hours before
tha bloody deed was committed.
IVlio Are Affected by the Amend
ment !
From the Atlanta New Era.)
It is believed our people do not gener
ally understand who are affected by the
Constitutional Amendment and excluded
from office, and from tho ballot box by
the late bill.
The following persons are excluded:
1st. All persons who, before the war,were
members of Congress or officers of the
United States and look an oath to sup
port tbe Constitution of the United States
and afttrwards engaged in tbe rebellion.
2d. All persons who, prior to the war,
wore executive, legislative or judicial
officers of the State and took the like
oath, and engaged in tho rebellion. This
embraces Governors, members of the le
gislature, and judicial officers from a
Judge of the Supreme Court down to a
Justice of the Peace, who, at any time
held tho office and took tho oath, and af
terwards engaged in tbe rebellion.
Who thon are not excluded? 1st. No
one is excluded because he held an office
under the Confederate States from Presi
dent down, if he does not fall within one
of the excluded classes above specified.
The simple fact that he wa- a Confederate
Senator, or a Confederate Generator that
he took an oath to support the Constitu
tion of the Confederate States, does not
exclude him.
2d. No State or county officer is exclu
ded on account of his having held the of
fice and taken the oath and engaged in
the rebellion, if he were not an executive,
legislative or judicial officer, therefore,
neither a lawyer, sheriff, clerk, tax col
lector, receiver,county treasurer, coroner,
surveyor, constable, or road commissioner
is excluded.
3d. As no man under twenty-one years
of age, when the war began held any such
office as disqualified, and none of them
took the oath to support the Constitution
of the United States during the war, and
as the war commenced nearly six years
ago, no man i« Georgia under twenty-
seven years of age can be excluded.
4th. Militia officers are not excluded.
5th. The whole mass of our people who
fall within none of the excluded classes
above mentioned, are free from the dis
qualification, and may vote and hold any
office in the State without regard to the
part they took in the war.
Atlanta.
[Tho above facts have been prepared
for the Era by one of tbo first legal minds
in the South,and we accept his statements
as critically correct—Ed. Era.]
A Defaulting Cashier. — Boston,
March 2.—There is great trouble in finan
cial circles here. Tno Cashier of the First
National Bank of Newton, Mass., is short
§110,000. The President of the bank gave
notice that the Cashier came to Boston
yesterday at 11 o’clock, and has not since
been heard of.
There was considerable excitement in
State street Ibis morning, occasioned by
tho development of the irregularities of
tbe Cashier of the State Bank, in regard
to the certification of checks as good,
bearing the name of Mellin, Ward & Co.,
who suspended payment yesterday.—
Those checks were presented at the clear
ing house at the morning settlement by
various banks holding the same, and were
thrown out by the State Bank, on which
certifications were made.
Tho directors of the bank declare that
they never entered into or agreed to any
arrangement made between the city banks
for certificates of checks, and that such
action of their Cashier was wholly unau
thorized. Tbo sum included in these
transactions is upwards of half a million
dollars. Other parties besides those men
tioned are also implicated.
we can perhaps explain the actual situa
tion more dispassionately than those who
are stung into justifiable rage by this fresh
aggression
We advised and approved of the rejec
tion by the South of tbe Constitutional
Amendment. If we hesitate, as yet, to
give aimiltr advice respecting] tlie reor
ganization proposed in Sherman’s bill, it
is because circumstances have, in essential
respects, to totally changed, that a new
and comprehensive survey of tho situa
tion is a necessary prerequisite to intelli
gent action. The two chief features of
Sherman’s bill are outrages which baffled
political foresight, because it was not sup
posed or supposable that such a stretch of
perfidy and inconsistency could be ven
tured upon. Sherman’s bill provides for
the overthrow of tho Southern State gov
ernments, and for putting the whole sec
tion under the rigors of martial law. We-
had what seemed to be solid reasons for
supposing that neither of these outrages
would be perpetrated. In relation to the
Slate governments, we supposed that the
Republican party would be bound by its
own recognition of those government^
Tbe importance which they attached to
the Emancipation Amendment, and the
fact that they recognized the Southern
ratifications of it as valid, precluded them,
in logic and consistency, from afterwards
calling in question the competency of the
ratifying State governments. Congress
has acknowledged the validity of the
Southern ratifications of that amendment,
in a dozen different ways. It has repeat
edly made it the basis of legislation, and
even in proposing the amendment now
pending, it recognized its validity by
numbering the proposed amendment as
the fourteenth, which it could not be
unless there was a thirteenth, and the
thirteenth is precisely the Emancipation
Amendment. It seemed against all ante
cedent probability that & Republican Con
gress would displace tbte amendment from
the Constitution, by declaring that tho
ratifying States which made up the tbree-
feurths, were not competent to act upon
it. Even the pending amendment was
submitted to the Southern States and their
ratifications asked. Was it to be expected
that Congress would so stultify itself as to
der^tre illegal the very governments it
ha<A 'bus recognized?
I tutting IheSoutb under martial law was
as JftTie uffhavo been ex’pecleu,'in any rea
sonable calculation. Martial law, by its
very nature and definition, is a suspension
of tbo habeas corpus; and the Constitu
tion declares, with as much emphasis as it
says anything, that the habeas corpus shall
not be suspended except in times of re
bellion or invasion. There being no re
bellion, it was not to have been expected
that the South would be again put under
martial law.
If these two outrageous and unexpected
measures had not been resorted to, the
South would stand on strong vantage-
ground for baffling the Radicals. Tho
worst that could be done was to exclude
tho Southern members of Congress; an
evil that might be borne with composure’
so long as tbe South held control of its
internal affairsthrough State governments,
freely chosen by its whito citizens. The
extent of the evil wa3 payment of Federal
taxes without Federal representation.—
But with the State Governments abolish
ed,or existing on mere sufferance, and
the whole people subject to martial law,
tbe situation is so changed, and the conse
quences of resistance so stupendously
magnified, that it is important to take new
observations and bearings before deciding
on the future direction of the voago.
We suppose it will be found, when the
South can abate ils just indignation suffi
ciently for a careful survey, that it pos
sesses no machinery or resources, either
political or military, for fending off this
atrocious oppression. If no such ma
chinery or resources shall be discovera
ble, the practical question wiil then be,
whether the South shall accept l he situa
tion under protest, or disdainfully submit
to it. Were it not for the negro element
of the problem, tho latter would undoubt
edly be the true course, as alike consistent
with safety and self-respect. But tho ne
gro element complicates the question, and
renders the solution more difficult. It is
possible that the Republicans may, through
government patronage and appeals to am
bition, bribe and demoralize Southern
whites enough to make, with the negroes,
a majority of the inhabitants. If they
can succeed in this, they will reorganize
and admit the States, atqj the South will
thereafter be under negro rule, and will
become intolerable as the residence of
white men. Admitting (at least by hy
pothesis) that this danger is not fanciful,
the question arises (and a very grave one
it is) whether it is not better to “fight the
devil with fire,” by accepting the negro
suffrage which is inevitable, and control
ling the negro vote, instead of allowing it
to bo alienated to the Republicans, as it
would pretty certainly be by resistance.
Whether the negro yote could be man
aged by the planters, and whether whites
enough could be seduced to make the
Radical plan work, are questions that can
not be answered without moro local know
ledge than we possess; but we suppose all
intelligent Southerners must allow that
these questions ought to be well consid
ered before taking an irreversible resolu
tion _
Au Indispensable Duty.
It is in every sense, imperative, to test,
at the earliest moment, the validity of the
Sberman-Shellabarger law—if it shall be
come ah act of Congress—by an appeal to
the courts. The whole case lies there.
While that law stands as authority, we
can do nothing except in conformity
with it. If, indeed, our State govern
ment is illegal and invalid, as therein al
leged—if it is but provisional, and disso
luble at pleasure—it is at once bound by
the instructions of the law, and liable to
bevwept out of existence at a word, if it
depart from them. We will have no
right to call a convention or hold an elec
tion of any sort, except in the mode and
upon the terms therein prescribed ; and to
attempt to do so would be considered
contumacious and rebellious, and would
provoke, and be • llcged to justify, an in
stant sponging out of our whole system.
We counsel no such collision. Let us as
certain if the proposed law will bo recog
nized by the United States Courts as
binding upon the obedience of citizens.
If they so decide, we‘ have nothing to do
but submit to it. If they rule otherwise
we stand as we are.
The acceptance of the law without de
mur is to accept ils suffrage tests and its
proscriptions; is to acknowledge that the
State is dead; that its laws are waste pa
per; that its decrees and judgments and
title deeds are idle words; that its im
prisonments were assaults; that its death
sentences were murders; that its taxations
are rfcbbei i-s. Wo repeat—the first ques
tion, and the vital and absorbing question
until it is decided, is—will the proposed
law be held as valid? Those entrusted
with the affairs of the State are bound by
all the honorable obligations of their
trust, to test that question thoroughly.
They have no right to concede that the
State is dead, until they have exhausted
every means of vindicating its vitality.
Their duties are now narrowing down to
that—or rather that duty now overrides
all others, and its successful discharge is
tbs condition of all others. It demands,
therefore, their first and their most zeal
ous attention.
As soon as it may be ascertained that
the passage of the law is consummated,
the Legislature ought to appoint counsel,
whoso duty it shall be to retain the best
legal talent that money can employ in
the whole country; and under such ad
vice to make up a case at the earliest pos
sible moment for the decision of the Uni
ted States Supreme Court. It is not ne
cessary to suggest to the ingenuity of pro
fessional experts the mode of making up
the issue. There must be some mode.and
they will best know what it is. That no
time should be lost, is evident from the
fact that negro suffrage and white pro
scription will be the law of the May elec
tions if the proposed bill be authority on
that occasion. We sincerely hope the
Legislature wiil her able, for once at least,
to name citizens for this most important
trust, without being embarrassed by
petty personal jealousies and ambitions.
Give us two men or four men to act in
conjunction with the Governor in this
truly vital duly. We implore legislators
to allow no panics ahd no prejudices to
come between them and this indispensa
ble obligation.—Richmond Enquirer.
The Military Reconstruction Bill.
Tho assumption of the majority party
in Congress is that the adoption of the
constitutional amendment by twenty»six
States will be sufficient to make it a part
of tho Constitution. That being the case,
would it not be well for Congress to stop
long enough to consider how much of its
own Constitution it has already violated
in the gresent military reconstruction
law ? We have neither tho time nor space
to enter into that subject in detail to-day.
But if constitutional lawyers will look at
section five of the military law, they will
observe that it provides in each State for
the election of delegates “by the male citi
zens of said State, twenty-one years old
and upward, ot whatever race, color, or
previous condition,” &c.
By reference to the Constitutional
Amendment, which the Radicals claim
has or will become constitutional law,
thero is a direct conflict. The Congres
sional law (if the military bill becomes
law) provides for universal and unquali
fied suffrage. The Constitutional Amend
ment (if it becomes a part of the Consti
tution) leaves the question of suffrage to
the States, each to decide whether they
will give suffrage to the colored men and
receive additional representation, or deny
suffrage and be deprived of the represen
tation consequent thereupon. In other
words, the Constitutional Amendment
throws a tub to the whale, and bids for
negro suffrage, leaving it optional with
the States to take to it, and its attending
benefits, or refuse it. Hence the Military
Reconstruction bill is in direct conflict
with the Constitutional Amendment,
about which the present Congress is mak
ing a great hue and cry.
There is another conflict between the
last clause of the 6th article of the mili
tary bill and the 3d article of tha Consti
tutional Amendment. Those interested
can easily seo the inconsistency. The
very beginning of the bill— 1 “Whereas, no
legal State governments now exist”—does
not accord vory well with the 6th section
of the same production, which recognizes
the illegal governments and providos that
they be only “provisional.”
Tbe 3d section of the same bill says tbe
officer may allow “local civil tribunals to
take jurisdiction of and try offenders.”
&o. How oen there ba a “local civil tri
bunal” where there is “no legal State gov
ernment?”
We do not pretend to possess superior
knowledge about this matter, but it does
seem to us that if Senators and Represen
tatives have no respect for Andrew John
son or bis friends, it is high time that they
Ehould manifest some regard for political
decency, respect for themselves and for
the people of tbe American Union.
[ Washington Republican,
The Bill to Establish a Department
of Education.
Section 1. That there Ehall be establish
ed at the City of Washington a Depart
ment of Education for the purpose of col
lecting such statistics aDd facts as shall
show the condition and progress of edu
cation in the several States and Territo
ries, and of diffusing such information
respecting the organization and manage
ment of schools and school sytlevqg and
methods of teaching as shall aid the peo
ple of the United States in tbe establish
ment and maintenance of efficient school
systems, and otherwise promote the cause
of education throughout the country.
Sec. 2. That there shall be appointed by
tbe President, by and with the consent of
the Senate, a Commissioner of Education,
who shall be entrusted with the manage
ment of tbe department herein establish
ed, and who shall receivo a salary of four
thousand dollars per annum, and who
shall have authority ta appoint one chief
clerk of his department, who shall re
ceive a salary of $2000 per annum, one
clerk who shall receive a salary of $1800
per annum, and one clerk who shall re
ceive a salary of $1600 per annum, v/bich
said clerks shall be subject to the appoint
ing and removing power of tbe Commis
sioner of Education.
Section 3. That it shall be the duty of
the Commissioner of Education to pre
sent annually to Congress a report em
bodying the results of his investigations
and labors, together with a statement of
such facts and recommendations as will in
his judgment subserve the purpose for
which this depot is established. In tbe
first report made by the Commissioner of
Education, under this act, there shall be
presented a statement of tbe several
grants of land made by Congress to pro
mote education, and the manner in which
the several trusts have been managed, the
amount of funds arising therefrom, and
the annual proceeds of the same, as far as
tbe same can be determined.
Section 4. That tbe Commissioner of
Public Buildings is hereby authorized
and directed to furnish proper offices for
the department herein established.
The Collision on the Mobile and
Montgomery Road.— We briefly made
mention in tbe Mail of yesterday of a fa
tal collision on this road. We have been
furnished with the* following particulars :
The regular freight trains collided about
3 v. M. on Monday, five and a half miles
north of Greenville. The engineer, Mr.
Scott, and the fireman, Mr. Dixon, on the
northward bound train, were killed. No
other casualities. Tbe damage done to
the cars and engines was slight, and the
track was repaired yesterday. The mail
trains are running as usual, and tho
freights will be resumed to-day. The ac
cident was caused by both trains running
off of their schedule time, contrary to the
published rules and regulations of the
road.—Mont, Mail, 6th.
Will Governor Brownlow Have a
Competitor?—The Radical hereabouts
are deeply concerned upon this question.
Thoy ask it the first thing in the morning,
repeat it throughout the day, and go to
sleep upon it at night, none the wiser.
They can obtain no satisfactory solution
of it, and cannot tell whether they shall
bring out their fine orators from the North
to give ns the benefit of their tremendous
eloquence. We have every disposition to
ease tbe pain which afflicts them, but
unfortunately are unable to do go in an
official form. We have, however, a very
decided impression on tbe subject, which
is that Governor Brownlow will have a
competitor—that that competitor will be a
patriot, and a gentleman whose ‘loyalty,’
whose devotion to the Union, the Consti
tution, and to the peace and liberties of
this people, can not be impeached. We
are of opinion, also, that that person will
likewise be a successful competitor of
Governor Brownlow. If this opinion will
afford any comfort to our Radical friends
we shall be gratified.—Was A, Union,
Confiscation.
Return of Confiscated. Property Through
out ihe South to the Rebels—The Pre
sident's Conduct to be Investigated—
Startling Charges by Officers of the
Freedmen’s Bureau.
[Correspondence of the New York Tribune.)
Washington, D. C„ February 25 —
The Judiciary Committee bad taken up
the question of abandoned and confiscable
property as it relates to the investigation
of the charges preferred against the Pre
sident. Mr. Conway, formerly commis»
sioner of the Freedmen’s Bureau in Lou
isiana, was summoned before the commit
tee, and in tho course of examination he
presented a complete record of all that de
scription of property which he held in that
State. The record was deemed of such
importance that the committee prepared,
and offered in the House, a resolution call
ing upon the Secretary of War for all the
facts connected with it. On Saturday last
the Commissioner of the Freedmen’s
Bureau, General Howard, was ordered by
the Secretary of War to report without
delay all facts relating to such property as
was embraced in tho resolution of the
House of Reprcsentavcs. General How
ard is now preparing a report on the sub
ject, and it will be presented to Congress
in a day or two. The report, as called for
by vote of the House, will embrace tbe
fofiosdiag points—viz., date of teizure by
the United States ; by whom seized ; why
seized; owner of property; date of seiz
ure; how used since its seizure; monthly
rent to the Government from time of
seizure; location of property; by whose
order it was restored; by whom leased
since its seizure by the United States.
The report alteady presented by Mr.
Conway, covering about thirty pages,each
as large as one page of the Tribune, shows
that the value of this kind of property
held by the Government in Lousiana was
somewhere between fifty and a hundred
millions of dollars; that tho estimated
value of the property, as represented in
tho report, is hardly one-fifth of tho actual
value at tha time the report was made;
that the whole of it was restored to its
rebel owners by the President, under the
order given by him at the time, of which
the following is an exact copy :
Executive Office, Aug. 16, 1865.
Tho records of this office show that B.
F. Leako was specially pardoned by the
President on the 27th ultimo, and was
thereby restored to all his rights of pro
perty, except as to slaves. Notwithstand
ing this, it is understood that the posses
sion of his property is withheld from him.
I have, therefore, to direct that General
Fisk, Assistant Commissioner at Nash
ville, Ter.n., be instructed by tho Chief
Commissioner of Bureau of Freedmen to
relinquish possession of the property of
Mr. Leake held by him as Ass’t Commis
sioner, &c., and that the same be restored
immediately to 6aid Leake.
The eamo action will bo had in all simi
lar cases. Andrew Johnson,
President of tho Unitod States.
General Fullerton, who was sent by tho
President to relieve Mr. Conway of tho
duties of Assistant Commissioner of the
Bureau, has acknowledged to several per
sons in New Orleans at the time he reach
ed there that be had private instructions
from the President touching this property.
What they were can only be inferred from
bis conduct. He was not in New Orleans
twenty days before nearly all the property
of rebels which was held by the Bureau
was given up. The record presented by
Mr. Conway to the committee showed
that nearly all had been restored, either
by direct pardon from the President or by
the order of his faithful servant, General
Fullerton. Tboso who are acquainted
with the laws of Congress touching rebel
property hold by tho Government as
either abandoned or conii-cable, say that
the President had no shadow of authority
to restore it, and that bis action without
such authority is an usurpation of the most
serious character.
Various generate in the army, all of
whom have held this description of pro
perty, have, over and over again, decided
that its possession by the Government was
as legal as the possession of any property
could be. General Canby, who was in
command in the State of Louisiana at the
time this property was restored, frequent
ly put on record his decision : “That this
property, being abandoned in the sense of
the laws of war and of nations, is the
property of the United States.”
At the time when this property was
restored to its former owners, much of it
had been leased out by the Government
under warrant of law of Congress on the
subject. What is extraordinary about
this feature of the question is that tho
leases were abrogated by General Fuller
ton in some instances, and, as is believed,
under the private instructions given by
the President to General Fullerton. In
the resolution concerning this property
which has passed tho Houso the case of
Duncan F. Kenner, of New Orleans, is
specially mentioned, coupled with that of
J. W. Zscbarie, a blockade runnerduring
the war. Kenner's plantations had boen
leased under tbe law of Congress. He was
among tbe most distinguished of all the
rebols. He was in the rebel Congress, and
was a chairman of orb of its important
committees. The lease of his plantations
was abrogated by General Fullerton, act
ing under the President’s privalo instruc
tions, as be said, and the property, with
the growing crops, belonging to the lessee,
was all returned.
The facts connected with the recovery
by the rebels of all this kind of property
in all the States of the South will startle
the public. They cannot only bo shown
from the records of the Bureau in Louis
iana, but from those of the Bureaus in all
the Southern States.
What the Radicals Will Do.—
The Baltimore American of Tuesday last
said:
“The loyal people intend to purify the
institutions of this great republic. They
have resolved upon this, not only as a
measure of abstract propriety, but of po
litical and national safety. in this they
will not be hindered by the Supreme
Court or any other branch of the Govern
ment. The people are tbe Government—
the controlling power. The Judges, like
the President, are the mere instruments
through whom they work. All must
yield by some means or other, sooner or
later, to tho deliberately formed judg
ment and will definitely expressed by tho
people.”
And the Gazette of Wednesday com
mented as follows:
"So passes away the Constitution of
the United States, and with it constitu
tional government and civil liberty. Mil-
lions of men on this continent to-day
stand as completely divested of political
rights and tbe protection of any laws as
ever did the liege subject of any absolute
monarch on earth. Into tho future we
shrink from gazing. Confiscation and
Rapine, Ruin and Confusion, must soon
begin their ruthless work, and where and
when they will complete it, no man may
know.”
From the Plains.—A dispath from
Junction City, Kansas, says;
Governor Arney, of New Mexico, has
just arrived from Santa Fe. A heavy
snow had fallen in New Mexico. Gov.
Arney reports tho Indians on tho plains I
disposed to be peaceable, but those in j
Arizona and Now Mexico are on the war I
path, and have committed a number of '
murders during the past two months. !
The military camp on the Membrces has j
been broken up, and the troops compelled j
to leave. Five settlers were killed, and
stock, valued at over $20,000, driyon off.
All the settlers and women on the
Membrees were gone to Mesilla for pro- j
tection. Onehundredand seventeen horses
and mules were stolen from Mesilla three !
weeks ago, and about the same time eight
thousand sheep were driven away from a
point on the Ilaiseo river.
Sixteen hundred Indians left tho re
servation near Fort Goodwin, January
21st, for New Mexico, where they will
doubtless depredate on the settlers, and
commit murders and other outrages.
Emigration from Germany to tho Uni
ted States, according to letters written
from Berlin and Munich, will become a
complete torrent" as the spring advan-
The troubles and disappointments
in Germany following the war of last
year add greatly to tha tide thatis setting
toward America.
HotV A. Sidney Johnson Died.
Houston, February 6, 1867.
Editor Telegraph : Ii* a recent issue of
the New Orleans Times, I notice an ar
ticle speaking of tho incidents attending
the death of Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston,
that does great injustice to a portion of
tbe General's staff.
It states, in substance, that Gen. John
ston induced his staff, who were his inti
mate personal friends, to remain in the
rear, whilst he, with a single member of
his staff, and Dr. Yandell, rode forward,
and t*us mortally wounded Such, how
ever, is not the case. No doubt his kind
and generous heart would have willingly
made tbe sacrifice, but .it would be little to
the creditor hie staff hqd they permitted it.
I can speak positively for myself. He
bad given me his last order I can never
foget his appearance ai the moment He
had witnessed the maiden fight of the 2d
Texas under Col. Moore, and our troops
were driving the enemy in every direc
tion. “Lieut. Baylor,” said he, “go tell
Gen. Chalmers to sweep forward toward
the left and drive tbe l'onkees-into the
river.” With sparkling eyes and flushed
cheeks, leaning forward in his saddle, and
waving his hard majestically as be gave
the order, ho seemed to me the personifiaa-
tion of Southern chivalry.
Dr. Yandell was not with him, or the
Yankees might have tfigi driven iuto the
river. As the General passed a group, he
saw, lying prostrate and helpless. Confed
erate and Federal wounded—in the midst
and heat of battle—his great and noble
heart was moved, and he ordered Dr.
Yandell to stop and dress their wounds.
Perhaps.too.the old bi te uniform brought
back memories of happy hours passed
with bis brother officers, and ho gave that
ceurtesy to a fallen foe that has been de
nied his remains.
Gov. Isham G. Harris, of Tennessee,
and Cupt. Leigh Wickham, A. A. Q M.,
and Major O'Hara, and perhaps others of
his staff', wore with him when wounded.
Gov. Harris, if my memory serves me
right, gave mo tno following account of
his being wounded. A portion of hiastaff
were carrying his orders, and were absent,
but those I have mentioned wore with
him in the charge when he wa3 wounded.
Gov. Harris asked him after the charge,
“General, are you wounded?” The
General answered, “Yes, but ’tis only a
scratch,” and then gave the Governor an
order to carry. G rv. Harris was gone but
n moment, and saw when ho returned that
the General looked pale, and asked him if
he had been wounded again. "No," said
he, “but I am more seriously wounded than
I imagined, and will ride to the rear and
find a surgeon.” He began to reel in his
saddle, and was taken by those with him
from his horse, and placed in a ravine.
In seeking for Gen. Johnston. I mot
Major O’Hara, who asked me if I knew
wherolie could get a surgeon and ambu»
lance. I then asked him where tha Gen-
oral was; ho directed me to him, and I
told him where I had scon somo surgeons
at a farm-hous; near by, and we rode to
gether and found Gen. Johnston lying
speechless. I tooU his hand and spoke to
him, but Gov. Harris said : “It is useless,
Lieutenant, he has been insensiblo some
moments.” Gov. Hartis then asked for
some brandy, which Gen Preston handed
him in a tlask. 1 raised bis bead on my
knees, and ho swallowed the brandy, but
became evory moment weaker. Lieut.
Jack relieved mo, as I had become
cramped from being on my knees. In a
few moments the General expired. Tho
enemy had now advanced, and our troops
were holding them at bay. Thus amidst
the whistle of minnio balls, the scream of
shells, and tho shouts of contending hosts,
this noble spirit passed way, and his last
act, which cost him his life, was pity and
help to ihe Federal wounded! This act
has been miserably requited, but his
memory can never be made infamous by
such orders as desecrate tbe dead.
Many of his old companions in-arms in
the U. S. A. will drop a tear in memory
of Albert Sidney Johnston, when they
know how ho died.
Geo. Wiibs Baylor.
Tbe New Hampshire Campaign-
The election in New Hampshire takes
place a week from next Tuesday, and both
parties are making strenuous efforts to
win tbe day. As regards previous success,
the Radicals start with aslightadvanlage,
having elected tneir candidate for Gover
nor last year by the meagro majority of
4,656 out of a total vote of 65,636. It te
plain, from these figures, that it r-quires a
change of only 2,329 votes, or one vote in
twenty-eight, to carry tbe State for the
Democrats. On the ether band, the De
mocracy have in Hon. John G. Sinclair a
popular candidate for Governor, and a
man whose personal character is above ro
proacb, in which respect he stands head
and shoulders above his opponent, Walter
Harrimsn. There are strange stories in
circulation concerning Harriman, which,
if true, stamp him as the last man in the
State to hold office. For his sako, we
trust they are untrue, but it is seldom that
reports derogatory to a man’s personal
character are circulated without some ba*
sis, be it never so slight. Probably few
individuate in public life were so obnox
ious to the Radicals as General McClellan
and Gevernor Horatio Ssymour, yet,
amid all the partisan slanders uttered
against them, one may search in vain for
one word impugning their private charac
ter. General Harriman, however, does
not fare so well, and, in this respect, is
not so strong a candidate as his opponent.
Moreover, like roost of the loudest-
mouthed Radicals, he is a renegade Demo
crat. Bo late as 1861 he made a flaming
speech before tbe Now Hampshire Btate
Democratic Convention, in which ho de
nounced the Radicate in us bitter terms as
he Could command, eulogized the Demo
cratic party, and to it pledged his lifelong
support, quoting tho words of Ruth to
Naomi:
“Entreat me not to leave thee, or to re
turn from following after thee; for where
thou goest, I will go; aid where thou
lodgest, I will lodge; thy people shall be
my people, and thy God my God; where
theu diest will 1 die, and there will I be
buried ; tbe Lord do so to me, and more
also, if aught but death part thee and
me.”
Yet two years later he appeared before
tbe public as a fud-blown Radical, a can
didate for any office that might be be
stowed upon him. Mr. Sinclair, on the
contrary, has been a consistent Democrat
from tho start. During tho war he aided
the Government to put down the rebel
lion, though opposed to the policy of -he
then existing administration; and now
that the war is over he is found still sup
porting the Government in every effort to
heal the breach that war had made, and
restore the Union in fact as well as in
name.
Advices from New Hampshire state
that the Democrats are working vigorous
ly and hope to wipe out the Radical ma
jority of last year, certainly to reduce it
very materially. Tho few days that re
main before election should be studiously
improved. A conservative victory in the
old Granite Btate cannot but have a most
wholesome influence on tbe other States
that hold their elections this spring, and
mayhap stem tbe tide of radicalism which
threatens to engulf the country in general
ruin.—N. T. World. Is?.
Important Decision—Among the in
teresting questions decided at the recent
session of tho Equity Court, Chancellor
Johnson presiding, in Orangeburg, was
one involving a nice point in reference to
Confederate money as currency. Tbe
case was one of a purchase made in 1862,
when the buyer paid $2,000in Confederate
money at tho time of the purchase, and
gave two notes for tne balance, one paya
ble at twelve months, the olbor at two
years. In 1863 the first note was paid,
when due, in Confederate money. In
1864 a part of the second note was paid in
Confederate money, about a month before
tho note was duo. When Ibis note was
matured, the purchaser came forward with
tbe balance, and offered it in Confederate
money, but it was refused.
The question came up whether the pur
chaser bad not performed his contract as
far as he could be expected to do so. Af
ter an able argument the Court held :
That a balance was still due, and that it
should be computed in the proportion that
the whole of the original debt bears to the
value of the purchase in present currency,
giving credit for all payments in the same
ratio. The question will be carried up to
tha Court of Appeals.
[Charleston Courser,
