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WEEKLY' CONSTITUTION. voivn. ATLANTA, GA, TOESDAY, JULY 21,1874 Jk No. 25 H. I. KIMBALL. Hi* Reply to the Chronicle and Sen tinel. The II. L Kimbali. Hoi .se, Room 43,) Atlanta, Ga., July 17,1874. j Editor* Chronicle and Sentinel, Augusta, Georgia: From your issue of the 12th insant I clip the following: “We have received a letter from Mr. H. I* Kimball, complaining of the injustice done him by our Atlanta correspondent in a letter published Thursday morning. He characterizes the statements as utterly fabe, and, in view of the fact that they arc calculated to do him great injury, re quests us to do him justice. Prominent as Mr. Kimball has been in involving the State in the most reckless and extrava gant wild-cat railroad enterprises, and guilty of peculation, as he is believed to lie by the great mass of our people, we have no desire to prejudge him since it is justice he seeks. All men, no matter liow flagrant their abuses or revolting their crimes, are entitled to justiec, and to a trial before their peers. Public opinion is overwhelmingly against Mr. kimbilL The people of Georgia be lieve him guilty of the wildest extrava gance and of having appropriated to his own personal use money borrowed on the credit of the State. They attribute the linancial embarrassment of the State to liis railroad development mania, and con sider him equally as guilty os Gov. Bul lock of peculation and fraud. Mr. Kim- 1>all will have to suffer from the imputa tion of being dishonest until a jury of the citizen* of Georgia, acquit him of intentional fraud. The people believe him guilty. They lielicve that he ought to be arrested and tried. We desire, however, to do no man injustice, and if Air. Kimball still feels aggrieved at the comments of cither «»ur correspondent or ourselves, we will give him a hearing through our columns. The people of Georgia would like to hear from him. They rather admire his check in coming back to face the music, and :hey would doubtless admire his candor if he would crane out and make a clean breast of it. If II. I. Kimball would only tell all he knows, the people of Georgia outside of Atlanta would rejoice at his disclosures. Until he exculpates himself the verdict of the people will be against him.” When I addressed you the letter referred to, callinging your atten tion to the scandalous and libelous letter from your Atlanta corres pondent, published in your issue of the nth instant, I fully bdieved what I said in that note, viz: that it had been published without your knowledge or consent, and that I had only to call your attention to the. fact to have you do me full justice. I was confident that from the position which you had occupied you could not be ignorant of facts that would wholly controvert the statements of your corres pondent, but judging from your comments upon my letter, I assume that you are still in ignorance as to the facts, and while I dislike a newspaper controversy, and diAclhim any intention of entering tlic lists against so distinguished and polished a writer as yourself, or of descending to the opportunity offered for “u hearing through your columns.” The charges which arc malic against my character are generally of that vague, indefinite kind, founded only on belief without evidence, and upon surmise with out knowledge, and are, therefore, very difficult to answer specifically; but in this “hearing" I shall endeavor to meet with the plain facts every charge against my character that has come to my knowl edge from any responsible source—and with this 1 have done. The cliargc that such railroads as the Brunswick and Albany, the Cartersville and Van Wert, and the Marietta and North Georgia, are “reckless and extrava gant wildcat railroad enterprises.” is not supported by the fait. 1 will not pro long this bearing to lay licfore you the history of these enteprises; suffice it to say they were inaugurated, advocated, and encouraged before the people, in the legislative balls of Georgia, and before the financiers of the world, by many of Georgia's ablest men, for many years be fore I ba;l the pleasure of a residence in your State, or the honor of a connection with tlicoe great enterprises. This Is an undeniable fact. State aid was urged before the war, and the men and the newspapers that urged it were among the substantial and most able in Georgia. Sixty-five miles of tlie Brunswick and Albany Railroad were completed and run ning bi-fore the war, and hundreds of tons of iron lay at the wharf at Brunswick to extend it. No man can deny this When the secession convention of Geor gia met. Judge Nesbit introduced and passed an ordinance guaranteeing the pro tection of the State to ‘ works of internal improvement on her soil, belong ing to aliens. This convention is said to have been composed of the best men of Georgia. Would they have solemnly guaranteed protection to “a reckless and extravagant wildcat railroad enterprise?” The iron was taken from this road bv the public authorities during the war and used, on other railroads in the State. After the war the owners demanded pay ment (under the authority of this guar anty) for the railroad which had beende- .-troyed to the amount of three millions four hundred thousand dollars—this claim was presented to the Governor and by him submitted to the Legislature—a committee was appointed who recognized the legality of the claim but were unable to agree upon the amount. As a solution of the matter the State's indorsement on the first mortgage bonds of the company at the rate of '(#15,000) fifteen thousand dollars per mile was of fered by the State in settlement of the claim, in consideration of a release of the State from that claim. Was it “a wild cat enterprise" then ? It has been charged that the Legislature making this settle ment, and granting the State’s indorse ment, was a Radical Legislature which I manipulated. The facts do not support this charge. At that time, the Democrats had at least thirty majority in the House of Representatives, and this bill passed that body by so overwhelming a majority that the yeas and nays were not called! Its strongest opponents in the Senate were the President of the Senate and the Chair man of the Finance Committee—the two leading Republican members. I had no interest in the bill, and scarcely knew such a bill was pending, nor did I have any interest in the road until nearly one year thereafter. Is there any evidence in this that it was a Radical scheme passed by & Radical Legislature under my manip ulation f The people even cannot be ac cused of believing that charge. At the outset of rebuilding the Bruns wick & Albany Railroad, the contractors were met with lawsuits, injunctions, strikes and other impediments wnicli came near overpowering them, and in this condition of affairs I was appealed to by the contractors to take an interest in the enterprise. Before doing so however I looked carefully into its whole history, consulted with Judge Dougherty, Hon. Linton Stephens and other leading law yers of Georgia, who had fully examined the Constitution of the State and the act granting State aid, as to the possibility of the law being declared unconstitutional. All advised me that although temporary injunctions might be granted, and some technical legal embarrasments thrown in the way, they could not stand, that the law was strictly constitutional as the act was a legislative contract founded upon codsideration and the opposition must surrender in the end. I then discussed the prospective business of the road with some of the ablast financiers of Georgia and New York, all concurring in the opinion that it was destined to be the Eastern portion of the Southern Pacific route, ami could not fail to prove remu nerative. Not one of all these men ever intima ted to me that they considered it a “reck less, extravagant, wild-cat railroad enter prise!” On the faith of the information obtained as above, I embarked in this en terprise and pushed it forward with a de gree of rapidity and enterprise never be fore witnessed in Geoigia, completing in splendid working order one hundred and seventy four miles, and grading some forty miles in addition, all within eighteen montlis. This fact is unde niable. So much, as to the Brunswick and Albany being “a reckless, wild-cat en terprise.” It is charged that I committed deliber ate fraud in obtaining the indorsement of the State upon the bonds of th£ Bruns wick and Albany Company. It is a fact which no one, so far as I am aware, has ever attempted to conceal or deny, that the bonds of the company were indorsed by the State before the road was fully completed, but that there was any fraud committed by me in this ihatter, inten tional or otherwise, I do emphatically deny. Under the advice of eminent counsel, for reasons which I fully explamcd in an official communication to the Governor early in the spring of 1871, and which I presume is now on file in the Executive office, I as President of the company ap plied to him to issue the entire amount of bonds on the road. In that official ap plication I set forth the facts, that I had just returned from New York, where I had made arrangement for the successful negotiation of the bonds of the company through -a .^rontiiwuit European house, but that in making sales of bonds abroad it was necessary to place them in the hands of a great many agents, who must actually have the bonds in hand for de livery; therefore time is required by the principal house taking these securities at various points in Europe for sale, and the}' would not take the matter up with out absolutely controlling the whole se ries. I, therefore, in the interest of the State, as well as my company, decided to lay the whole matter before the Governor and usk his co-operation. I stated to him that the road was being very rapidly pushed in construction, Knd would be open to Albany early in September, and to Cuthbert and Eufaula in season for the cotton business of that year, surely on or before the first of January of the ensuingyear; that the entire grading was under contract and very nearly com pleted to Albany, and more than half done between Albany and Cuthbert, all by good and responsible contractors, who were pushing it rapidly; that the iron for the entire road had been purchased, and enough already delivered at Brunswisck to lay the track west of Cuthbert; That a large amount of rolling stock was at that time being manufactured, and by November first the road would be lib erally stocked. I also stated to him that if that opportunity to make sale of the bonds could be embraced and taken ad vantage of. it was believed that the State would be secured against any possibility of the company’s failing to complete the road, or to meet its interest payments with an unfinished road on its, ‘or the State’s hands. But that if he did not feel authorized to comply with my request and i&ue the entire amonnt of bonds authorized to be issued, then the company would be compelled to use its securities as collateral in making temporary loans, thus locking up a large amount in mar gins and at high rates of interest. While if the company was forced to this policy it would do all in its power to carry the work through, but I felt it my duty to inform him that it might result in so em barrassing the company as to force it to fail to meet tlic interest on its bonds. The Governor informed me in response to my application that he had carefully considered my communication, and had decided * that under the act approved September 30, 1870, he had the authority to comply with the request, and that he would issue the bonds upon so much of the road (in addition to that which was com pleted.) as was graded and for which the iron was in Brunswick, retaining bonds to the amount of four hundred and forty thousand dollars to complete the road west of Cuthbert. These facts which are on record in the Executive office and in the office of the Secretary of State, and always open to the inspection, of the puUJjc, show plainly, that there neveBFwas any attempt on . my part to deceive i Executive or any officer of the I was exceedingly anxious to cany Tfc the enterprise and took this In perfect good faith, fully ex- pcCMfEto be able to push the road on to eoiSpietion.and I still believe that I should have done so, had I not been assailed in the moat violent manner by rival corpora tions and prejudiced persons, whose un ceasing efforts to break down the enter prise, through the press, - in the courts and by anonymous communications addressed to bankers and.capitalists in this country and in Europe, so. depressed the financial standing of the State, and depreciated my securities as to defeat their sale and effect my financial ruin. Vouchers which have been approved by the Court, and I understand are now oh record in Glynn county, show an ac tual expenditure in cash of three million two hundred and nineteen thousand dol lars; and there was expended in addition to that amount for interest, commissions, legal fees and other expenses, for which vouchers have not been presented on ac count of my absence, to an amount suffi cient to swell the sums actually expended to more than three and one-half million dollars. Every dollar of which came from , without the State. Any one by examin- « r that the State received the money real- I j v . * ^1. _ T» J 17.P/1 Tyi nrmfVinv norf ♦Kft emwo ronnrf money on account of said bonds. On page 156 the Bond Committee say, refer ring to the gold quarterly * bonds: “Of the twenty-five hundred and ninety-eight bonds disposed of, three hundred and fifty were given for the Opera House and Executive Mansion. Mr. Clews sold sixteen hundred and fifty and the remainder was manipulated by H. L Kimball. * * * * \ye are un able to state what amount Kimball real ized from the bonds which he sold.” It would appear from this report that I sold five hundred and ninety-eight of these bonds belonging to the State, and that the committee were unable to discov- ing the testimony taken before the Bond Committee will find that the amount claimed under oath to have been advanced on all of the endorsed bonds, and the State bonds issued ift exchange for the second mortgage bonds of the company, does not much, if any, exceed the above amount, showing tlmt every dollar real ized by the sale and hypothecation of these bonds was expended on the enter prise. The State has the full benefit of this vast expenditure, which in addition to the value of the road, has increased the taxable property of the State $2,219,000, as is shown by Col. Frobel’s report. If I have, in any measure, committed any fraud in connection with this enterprise, neither myself or my legal advisers know of it; nor have the parties who furnished the money on the securities ever charged it. As regards the CAUTEnSVILLE AND VAN WERT RAIL ROAD, what I have said in regard to the fact that the Brunswick and Albany Railroad was not regarded by the best people of Geor gia, and elsewhere, as “a reckless, extra vagant, wild-cat railroad enterprise,” will, in the main, apply to the Cartersville and Van Wert Railroad, therefore I will not multiply words by discussing that. Suf fice it to say I had no connection what ever with it until years after the State had, by repeated acts of the Legislature, declared the building of this road to be of great service to the whole country.” It is charged that I obtained the indorse ment of the State, first upon the bonds issued by the Cartersvillle and Van Wert Railroad, and that after the name of said road had been changed to that of the Cherokee Railroad, that I procured the indorsement of the State upon the bonds of the Cherokee Railroad, also, without returning those which had been previously indorsed under the name of the C. & V. W. R. R., thereby securing a double endorsement upon our road. This matter is now undergoing very thorough investigation in the unitei States District Court, and I have given in my sworn testimony in regard to the facts, which it is hardly proper for me to make public at present. I may, however, say that the parties who advanced large sums of money on the “Cherokee Rail road” bonds. have investigated the facts in the whole case, from' its inception to the iresent time, employing some of the best egal talent of New, York and G^orgi?,. - and do. you imaging that if they had dis- covercd/rautf, or even misrepresentation, they would not at once have instituted proceedings against me? I need not tell you that a man wlio-ob- tains credit in New York, no matter how small the amount, by misrepresentation or by fraudulent means, is not allowed to escape the full penalty of the law. I deny any fraudulent transaction on my part in rapnection with this matter and look for Complete vindication of the charges in connection therewith, in the decision of the United States Circuit Judge before whom this case will be tried. ized. In another part of the same report the committee say: “We made every effort to ascertain hbw much money the State received from Mr. Kimball on account of the sale of these bonds by him as agent for the State, but failed to do so, except five hundred bonds hypothecated with Russell Sage to secure a loan previouslv made to the State of $575,000. TJie/rtcte are, I never had in my pos session a single one of these five hundred and ninety-eight bonds which the com mittee allege that I “manipulated” and “sold.” And by reference to the testi mony of Mr. Sage, (page 137 of same re port) you will note that Mr. Sage says under oath, .that, “ In May, 1871, witness received from Gov. Bullock five hundred gold bonds of one thousand dol lars each.” He does not say he received them from me, nor does lie mention my name in connection therewith. How this committee could have reported that I “manipulated” and “sold” these same five hundred bonds is a difficult question to solve, and I am also unable to recon cile the facts with their report in regard to the balance of ninety-eight which they claim I “manipulated!” The following are the facts in regard to the disposition by Gov. Bullock of the issue of $3,000,- 000 of the gold quarterlies: For Executive Mansion and Capi tol Building. $350,000 To Henry Clews & Co 1,650,000 To Russell Sage 500,000 To Fourth National Bank 500,000 PAWNING BONDS OF THE STATE FOR niS _ OWN USE. You charge that the people of Georgia believe I have appropriated to my own use money borrowed on the credit (bonds) of the State. If the “people of Georgia” so believe it is because they have been misled, and are totally Ignorant of j the facts. They have gathered their belief from the report of the Bond Committee and from what lias been published ind republished by the press of Georgia, said publications being seasoned with such abuse as the political accidents of the time seem to have demanded, and were therefore swallowed with great gusto. While I do not desire to cast any reflection upon the honesty of said committee; I can show that they were mistaken in many of their conclusions; but their in vestigation took place at a time of great political excitement, and very naturally they looked for such facts as they had been led to expect they should discover. Tliey say, on page 153 of their report: “Mr. Kimball received from the Fourth National Bank the currency bonds held by that house, and instead of returning them to the State or cancelled as directed to do by his letter of instruction from Governor Bullock ***** lie hypothecated them, * * * and re ceived money * * * * on liis pri vate account. Ia m unable to determine from the evi dence taken by the committee how they arrived at this conclusion, for their state ment is not true. I did not receive any bonds from the Fourth National Bank, as the following telegraphic correspond ence conclusively proves: Atlanta, Ga., July 15, 1874. To the Fourth National Bank, New York: The Bond Committee charge that I re ceived from you in 1871, the currency bonds then in your possession belonging to the State. Did I ever receive from you a single bond of any kind belonging to the State? Please answer. [Signed.] H. I. Kimball. REPLY. Nf.w York, July 16,1874. Toll. I. Kimball, Atlanta, Ga.: I do not find that we delivered vou any State bonds. [Signed.] A. Lane, Cashier. Neither did I receive from any other person any bonds of the State, except those issued directly to me by authority of the law. As agent of the State, and’ acting - under the letter of instructions frd»* Governor Bullock, (which letter the .committee refer to,) I simply requested the Fourth National Bank and- Messrs. Clews & Co. to cancel and return to the Treasurer the currency bonds held by them. I never saw; -or touched, any of §3,000,000 Afterwards Gov. Bullock gave Henry Clew3 & Co. an order on the Fourth Na tion Bank for one hundred, and to A. S Whiton an order for one hundred, leav ing in the possession of the Fourth Na tional Bank three hundred, which the committee report as having been returned to tlie Treasurer. Mr. Whiton used the 100 which he received from the Fourth Na tional Bank, upon the order of the Gov ernor, as collateral for a loan of seventy- five thousand dollars which he negotiated for the State, with the New York State Loan and Trust Company, and which I understand the State has since paid. I have been particular in stating the facts in detail in regard to the dispositions and use of these bonds and my connec tion therewith, for I am satisfied that the people are more interested in knowing tlie facts i(i this than on almost any .other sub ject, which heretofore have been misun derstood, but I believe the Bond Com mittee themselves, with the lights now be fore them, will readily admit the troth of my statements. You say the people “attribute tlie financial embarrassment of the State to (his) iny railroad development mania.” On this charge I take issue. It was not my railroad development mania that ori ginated, advocated, chartered or inau gurated a single one of the railroad enter prises with which I became connected. It was only when the repeated failure of others rendered necessary the choice of new leaders who could command in creased energy, enterprise and capital, that I accepted the leadership. This fact is well known to the people of Georgia, who can never he made to attribute their present financial embar- rassi tent to the expenditure of five mil lions of money in their midst that has not \ ost them one dime—and for the amount of which they have shaken off every obligation for the future. Your broad and*sweeping assertions as to what the people believe do not seem to be sustained by the facts. The evidences of confidence and esteem shown me during my former visit, and which are now being daily repeated, in my judg ment, wholly controvert the statement that “Public opinion is overwhelmingly against Mr. Kimball.” And I will add, at the risk of being thought egotistical, that I feel the pulse of the people in the warm grasp of the hand extended by hundreds of Georgia’s best citizens, many of whom it was never my pleasure to know personally until they voluntarily called upon me, and who assure me that I have many warm friends in every part of the State, and urge me to again take up my residence in Georgia. You say: “Mr. Kimball will have to suffer from the imputation of being dishonest until a jury of the citizens of Georgia acquit him of intentional frand.” “The people believe him guilty,” they believe “that he ought to be* arrested and tried. We desire, however, to do no man in justice.” I am bound to believe that when you wrote the above you neither intended or believed you did me injustice. But ask, in all candor, is it no injustice to de clare a man “guilty of the most disgrace ful frauds known to the commercial world,” wholly upon ex parte evidence and without a hearing? Is it no injustice to proclaim to the world that the “people believe me guilty and that I ought to be arrested and tried, when no obstacle but the want of proofs prevent my arrest and trial? Is it no injustice to declare that the people will believe me “dishonest until a juiy of the citizens of Georgia aequitme of intentional fraud? If not, it changes the whole common law which declares that a man shall be held innocent until proven guilty. If I have outraged, in any manner, the laws of this State, it is the duty of every good citizen and member of society who have the proofs of guilt, to make specifiic charges, swear out a warrant as the law directs, and bring me before “a jury of the citizens of Georgia.” If I am guilty the way to conviction and punishment is clear; if I am not, **hy should my in tegrity be further questioned? I have not avoided the law. My place of resi dence has been advertised and well known andlam assured that the law officers of the formance of their duties, have not been neglectful of their duty to the people in this case. 1 When I was here in February last I called upon his Excellency, Governor Smith, on the very morning of my arrival, and said to him that I had heard charges had been made against me, and that I was then here for the purpose of answering them. He replied saying that soon after he assumed the duties of the Executive office that bold charges were made against me in connection with the issue and use of the bonds and obligations of the State, to the truth of which my departure from the State gave force and color. He said it became his duty to thoroughly look into the matter, which he did by direct ing Hon. Liuton Stevens to employ such assistance as he required, and to investi gate my connection with these matters so fully and completely as to leave no possible chance of escape if I lad in any manner made myself amenable to the laws of the State; and, says the Governor, “Judge Stephens took a deep personal interest in the matter, and was in earnest in searching for the truth, and I am sure he performed his duty faithfully to himself and the State, and if there liad been any wrong doing on your part he would no doubt have dis covered it; hut he reported to me that he teas utterly unable to find any act of yours on which he could even base a charge, much less prove one. And,” continued the Gov ernor, “therefore I know of no reason why you are not as free to go and come in Georgia as any man in the State, and the surprise to me ha#been, that knowing yourself to be innocent, that you ever left the State.” I think I have stated to you almost the exact language of the Gov ernor, for I was interested, and the Gover nor's frank and cordial manner impressed me. In conclusion allow me to say that I am sufficiently charitable to bclive that persons who have made these sweeping and unjust charges against my character have done so under a misapprehension of the facts. I have never for a moment doubted that the calm arbitrament of time, even though I spoke not, would convince the people of Georgia of my en tire integrity of purpose throughout all my dealings with themselves and with the State. If this letter, which contains only the simple, plain truth, has the ef fect to hasten that time, I shall be glad; if not, I can wait, for it is sure to come. Bearing no malice, and desiring only justice, fam, respectfully, H. I. Kimball. these bonds referred to as above by' the { State, than whom there are none in any Bond Committee, neither did I receive any | State - - s more vigilant or just in the per- Cotton—Volume II.—No. 40. The receipts this week are 8,000 bales; 6,000 less than last year, and 5,000 more than two years since. It is likely the re ceipts for next week will be about 7,000 bales, compared with 12,000 last year, and 4,000 the year before; and the re ceipts at the interior towns 1,000 bales, compared with 8,000 last year, and 700 the year before. * , The thermometer has averaged 85. de grees at noon. Clear and hot four days, cloudy, warm and showery three days. Rainfall for the week 1.03 of an inch. The same week last year the thermometer was 85 degrees at noon. Clear and hot five days; cloudy, warm and showery two days. Rainfall for the week .70 of an inch. The same week, year before last, the thermometer was 85 degrees at noon. Cloudy and rainy every day. Rainfall for the week, 1 75 of an inch ATLANTA MARKET. RECEIPTS. 1874 1873 Receipts this week Receipts previouslv. OO !53,091 105 29,985 53,113 30,090 SHIPMENTS. Shipments this week... Shipments previously... . 33 .52,484 800 29,320 52;517 29,620 STOCK. Stock on hand . 596 470 price. Low Middlings 14 RECEIPTS. The daily receipts, at all ports, for next week, for the past four years, are as fol lows: 1870 1871 1873 Saturday 965 2,138 561 Monday 1,609 L843 898 Tuesday. 1,073 2,458 538 Wednesday.. 952 1,558 324 Thursday.... 749 890 484 Friday .".. ...1,960 1,932 821 Various 14 12 4 1873 2,057 2,225 1,458 2,140 1,895 3,179 618 7,322 10.826 3.G80 12,572 WEATHER. The rainy season we have had thus far this month, is about over! We shall have some local rains and storms, of course; but we expect a generally dry and hot August—perhaps a burning drouth in some sections. BCREAU REPORT. The Agricultural Bureau report, which should always be issued the 15th of 1 each month, came out promptly this month, and agrees very well with our own re ports. The average condition is now 92 per cent, which is 8}£ percent, better than the June report, and 4 per cent, better than the July report for last year. All the States show a very good condi tion, except Louisiana, which is only up to 73 percent, caused by the overflow malcimr the plantin NEW; This market has bedBVeA j but more active for spots, follow4*j;'eiactly the course we indicated last week that it would do. Sales of spots 5,481 bales, at a decline of one-fourth of a cent in the price. There is still no demand for ex port, and as this market is still from one- half to three-fourths of a cent alyrirea shipping point to Europe there ia no: likely to be much demand until there is some change in the general situation. Contracts have been more active: Sales for the week 105,000 bales, at a declining of to of a cent On Thursday the market was very weak: July selling for 15 15-16, and Au gust for 16 8-16; which is fully. 3 cents decline from the highest point At the close values were up a little, winch is a natural reaction after such a severe de cline. LIVERPOOL. This market has been dull and lifeless all the week. No change in the price. It is not likely this market will fall much below the present price—8 3-lGd.—and any serious damage to our growing crop would likely make a sharp reaction to 8J-£d. with large sales. CROP PROSPECTS. All our correspondents report the crop as still doing as well as possible. Intho section immediately around and tributary to this city the prospect is as fine as pos sible; not a single complaint. The aver age plants are six inches taller than lost year, and much fuller of fruit, but about five days later, as indicated by the first blooms, where it was planted thesamo day. The time from the planting to the first blooms is usually about ten weeks; tlxis year it was eleven weeks. NEW COTTON. (“v The first bale of the new crop was re ceived at Brownsville, Texas, on the 9th. Last year the first bale was received at the same place on the 3d of July, tad the year before on the 10th of the same month. Last year the first bale was received in New York July 16th, and sold for thirty- six cents. This year the first bale was received on the 17th inst, and sold for thirty-six cents. How are these receipts for a crop three Weeks late? There is open cotton in Southwest Georgia, and we hear that a bale of new crop will go forward in a week or ten days. CATERPILLARS. We continue to hear reports of cater pillars, but those persons who have stud ied the habits of these worms closely are pretty generally of the opinion that they will do but little damage this year. There is one notable thing this year as compared with last: Then the fruit and forest trees were, in many places, stripped of their foliage by caterpillars, (we never knew them so bad,) whilst this year we have not seen or heard of any. It is true the cotton worm is entirely a different variety, for it will grow vexy fast whilst - eating the cotton plant, and die from starvation when there is no cot ton to eat. Still, as all caterpillars are of the same species, and thrive under the same influences, it is likely the cotton worms will not eat the plant this year until about the last of September, if at all, when they will really be a benefit by stripping the plant of its too luxuriant foliage. PRICES. The present figures show about as much decline as we have ever expeeted. It has been fully three cents a poupd, and this is a very heavy one, considering the low prices prevailing and the absence of any panic. The decline has been a natural one, as will always follow the same causes, and we are only surprised tfiat men of good sense and sound judgment, on almost any other subject, should lose their money by buying or bolding spot or contract cotton in the face of such over whelming evidence of a decline. We ad mire their pluck and perseverance. Such a determination to win would succeed in almost anything else hut the cotton trade. This trade like most others is governed by the laws of PRESENT AND PROSPECTIVE supply and demand, and he who puts up his money in opposition to these laws must expect to lose it. PROSPECT. We cannot see any particular reason for the price going down much more. If there should be a severe and burning drouth in August, we may have a short and sudden rise, and the price is likely to be as high six weeks from now as it is to day. ^ ^ ^ DEPARTMENT NEWS. John C. Chew was commissioned, yes terday, Justice of the Peace for the 64th District G. M., Burke county. W. C. Griffin,the defaulting tax col lector of Decatur county, on being ar rested, waived a coihmittmg trial and was bound over to the Superior Court in a ; bond of $6,000. The Sheriff lias ad vertised the property of the defendant and securities for sale under the State fi. fa. Hon. R. R. Harris was commissioned, yesterday, as Judge of the Connty Court of Floyd county, to fill the unexpired term of W. B. Terhune, deceased. His term extends to the first Monday in Feb ruary, 1877. He was elected on the 13th inst., by the Board of Electors. A reward of $250was offered, yester day, by the Governor for the apprehen sion and delivery of James Williams to the Sheriff of ‘Wilkes county, who is charged with the murder of Wilev T. Marshall, whose father, Thomas C. Mar shall, has offered also a reward of $300. The crime was committed on the 28th day of last May j .(INDISTINCT fMNT)