Newspaper Page Text
/
Published by the Atlanta Snn Publishing
Company.
'Alexander II. Stephen*,
J, Tlenljr Smith,
Proprietor*.
Alexander II. SteplienSj Political Editor.
A. R. Watson, - - - - >ews tuitor.
J.* Henly Smith, General Editor and Busi
ness Manages*
CONTENTS
VOL 2, NO. 30.! ATLANTA, GA., WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 3, 1S72.
( 'WHOLE
l SUUBEK
82.
“ATLANTA WEEKLY SUN,”
FO» THE WEEK ENDING
IVEDSESDAV, JANUARY 3(1,1873.
page r—On tlia New Year. W. t A. R. E, What
will It amount to? Speech of Hon. J. C. Conner,
of Tex**, «to.
Fnge li—Bullock's Hand Exhibited. TnoseFraud-
nlent Bond*. Sun-Stroke*. Georgia Matters. Lo
cal Note*. Telegrams. Literary Style, etc.
page 3--The Appropriation Bill. Henry Clows &
Co. Write a Letter. Heckles* Disregard of Truth.
Georgia Matters. Sun-Strokes. To the People of
Georgia, etc.
Page 4—Henry Clews & Co. and the Cartersville
and Van Wert Railroad. Radical Thievery—What
It Has Accomplished in South Carolina. A Dic
tionary. What Clews & Co. and the Plundering
Bond Bing are Trying to Do. Philadelphia Corres
pondence. Gen. John B. Gordon. Sun-Strokes.
The Texas Cotton Crop. Georgia Matters. Local'
Notes. Telegrams.
Page 5—Conley Turns Desperate. Rufus B. Bul
lock. A Model Letter for Scalawags & Carpet-Bag
gers. Grant a Defaulter. Sun-Strckes. Book No
tice. Our Athens Correspondence. Georgia Mat
ters. Visible Supply of Cotton. Trains on the A
and C. Bailroad Stopped Through the Insubordina
tion of Superintendent Wheeler. More About
Greeley'a Arabic. ladles’ Lee Monament Asso
ciation. Commercial, etc.
Page 0—Local Notes. Sun-Strokes. Atlanta and
Its Vicinity as a Climate for Consumptives. Tele
grams. Hauled Bown that Hag. Clews & Co.
Again. Letter from Henry Clews & Co. Tho
Bonds of Georgia—Official Notice to the Bond
holders. Tho Central Railroad. Georgia Matters.
Page 7—Poetry—A Sonnet from Saxo. Sun-
Strokes. Local News. Telegraph News. Special
Notices. Advertisements, etc.
Page 8—Local
incuts.
Notes. Telegrams. Advertise
CARRIICRS' ANNUAL ADDRESS
TO THE PATRONS OF THE
jiTLJtjrT*# Mpjiiiji' sujr.
187S.
In his morning round, mode o’er and o’er.
What has the Carrier brought to your door ?
Simply a vapeb ? Ah, something more!
The germ, the noise, the bustling strifo;
The busy pulse of our busy life,
That firmer boats, as the world grows ripe
In the steady click of the sturdy typo.
Oh, the wonderful types 1 What tales appear
On their silent tongues in tho round of a year I
The saddest talcs that ever were told,
To chill ihc hearts of the young and old.
Of storms at sea, when the heavens frown.
And the waves roll up, and tho ships go down;
Of fires that lick the sad earth clean.
And leave a waste where woalth has been;
Of floods that cranch in their madsome play.
And leap and lash till tho shores give way,
Then away o’er the country bounding fires.
Bashing, widening into a sea,
TUI tho unreapt harvest's hid in sand,
And the fruit is swept from the sower'* hand.
On, the wonderful types! Hath the voice of
Might
Bc-uttcrcd the words—•• Let there be light."
Let there be light! Did the world rejoice
And be glad in it* joy whon it heard that voice ?
Did hearts beat high, and glad and quick,
When the ear first heard the short, sharp click ?
Do you know, oh world, in your earnest gripe,
What a treasure you hold in glittering type?
You may empty the hills of their goldcd veins,
And gather the sUver from gorges aud plains,
You may go to tho billowy seas below
Aud pluck the peat Is and gems that glow
Dew-pure in the wealth of the sea-maids' hair,
Aiul trout caverns aud mines take the jewels fair,
And all wore not worth that thought which crossed
The magic brain of the •• wizzard Faust"—
That great, strong thought, which, when fuUy tips,
Burst forth on the world in the cuckino type 1
On, the wizzaud types 1 They speak, and fast
Trooping up from the soundless deep of the past,
The men who have made their race sublime
Come marching down to our later time;
Ahd they live again, and their old renown.
Still bright, through the ages coming down,
Makes tho old world grand. Ah, men never die,
But glow in tho immortality
Of the types, that shout through the centuries
Of the man or the deed that never dios.
The thunders of old Demosthenes
Come ringing still 'cross the Attic seas:
And Homer's epic still is sung
In every laud and in every tongue;
With tingling blood and flaming eye
We bear tho jubilant battle-cry
That forced the pass at Thermopylae: '
We see the Barons at Rnnnymede,
Beard tyrant John of a Royal breed.
Aud snatch from cowering majesty
The charter that made the whole world free:
We feel the Scotsman thrill, and yearn
For his comlug foe at Bannockburn;
Aud we see men die who dare not yield,
In the bloody fight on Floddon field;
And the guns of Waterloo ring out
And Blucheb comes, and the Frenchmen's rout
Begins, and we see the dust aud the smoke.
And the greatest heart in the jrorld is broke,
Broke, crushed and dead, though it beats awhile,
On the bare, cold rocks of St. Helen's Isle;
And Chatham speak*, and there come* a thrill
Of the cannon peala from Bunker’s Hill;
And we laugh with Hood, aud we sing with Buhns,
With Lamb wo are gay and sad by turns,
And wc feel the keen blade of Jerbold’s wit,
See Boswell fawn and his master fret,
And Shakspeabe's witches scowling and black.
And the rare old Falstaff swilling sack.
Oh, the thundebixg types 1 No longue can tell
How art’s snpremest miracle
Can rule earth's rulers,—Czar or King-
While tyrants slink from their fearful sting.
They speak, and the price of bread comes down.
And laws are made, though the rulers frown;
And cowards shrink from stinging thong.
And the heel i* ground on the head of wrong.
They speak in language bold and fair,
i And labor amiles, for its shield is there;
They speak as th’ oracles never spake,
id man loves man for his manhood’s sake.
nt whether they speak in the voice of song,
t in deep-voiced thunder tremble along,
* plead for the bight, or rage In their wrath,
r scourge the rogue on his darksome path,
heir voice hath ever the gbeaxsst stress,
[ When it flows from the lips of the daily press!
►-*-<
The Sun.
Dnriog tlie present year a President
and members of Congress are to be
| electi (1.
Liberty must be preserved or lost. Tho
Corruptionists of the Day—the Bond
Rings—the ambitions enemies of frfee
government—are artfully, persistently
paving the way to the overthrow of the
Federal Republic, founded by Washing
ton, Jefferson and Madison, and the es
tablishment of a Centralized Empire and
a Dynasty in its stead.
THE PEOPLE can prevent this if
they will. They can retain their free
dom, or they can become slaves. The
destiny of this Country is to be decided
by tbe people's voles!
If the Democratic party will but stand
firmly upon its time-honored platform,
aud erect the standard of Libebty, and
honesty in the administration of the gov
ernment, a glorious triumph will be
achieved. Victory is within our grasp.
The enemy is giving way—is receding
from his utter disregarded of law and
constitutional guaranties. Now is the
time for a vigorous charge upon his wa
vering lines.
The Son, has been sowing the good
seed of truth. It has already brought
forth good fruit. We shall continue
to sow the seed, and shall expect a rich
harvest to be reaped in the triumph of
honest principles in the next election.
We trust our patrons will aid us in ex
tending the circulation of The Sun. We
have entered upon onr enterprise to assist
in the great work of redeeming the coun
try from the control of robbers, tyrants
and money-changers, who are infesting
the temple of Liberty. Their tables mnst
be overturned and nublic opinion must
scourge them from the public presence.
We shall give all the news from the
State Capital—proceedings of the Legis
lature—decisions of the Supreme Court,
and all important news and events con
neoted with the State Government; and
shall endeavor to make Thh Sun a wel
come family visitor.
See our terms elsewhere.
RADICAL RULE IN TEXAS.
Speech of Hon. John C. Conner,
M.C.
An Expose of Radical Frauds.
Below we give an address delivered by
Hon. John C. Conner, Member of Con.
gtess, from Texas, at his old home, at
Noblesville, Indiana, on the 18th of No
vember, while en route for Washington.
The speech is well worth perusal by the
reading public, as it tells some whole
some truths of how the Radicals have
mismanaged affairs in the South.
THE disgraceful REPORT of the ku-klux | unfamiliar with the clank of the bayonet.
The Western and Atlantic Rail
road Lease.
The Committee of the Legislature to
investigate the Lease of the Western and
Atlantic Railroad will assemble at the
Capitol to-day. It consists of Hons.
Wm. M. Reese and A. D. Nunnally of
the Senate, and Geo. F. Pierce, Jr., of
Hancock, G. M. Netherland, of Rabun,
and 0. B. Hudson of Schley, on the part
of the House. Judge Reese is the Chair
man.
If we properly understand the matter,
the investigation is a very simple one,
and easily determined: Whether or not
the action of Governor Bullock in award
ing the lease, acted fairly and in good
faith. The Road was given to the pres
ent lessees, at §25,000 per month, while
the other company offered $30,500 per
month for it. Bullock alleged that the
latter conu.any did not offer the necessa
ry security, and therefore he awarded the
lease to the company represented by
Gov. Brown; while the company repre
sented by Messrs. Seago, Wallace,
Collier, Wyly and others, allege that
they were ready to give a bond worth
$8,000,000; and further, that the security
given by the Company upon which the
contract of lease was awarded, is really
not binding upon the parties, and there
fore worthless.
Hon. John C. Conner’s Speech.
He commenced by stating that five
years ago he was appointed a Captain in
the regular army of the United States
and sent to Texas, and being there in the
days of “reconstruction,” was familiar
with its whole history and the practical
workings of the carpet-bag and scalawag
governments, which succeeded it.
He said: The crimes which I have wit
nessed there against humanity arc so
shocking and revolting that you could
hardly credit the facts should I repeat
them.
MY “REBEL” CONSTITUENCY.
I know that you have come to hear
what I have to say in behalf of my “reb
el” constituency, who have twice lionored
me with an election to Congress. And
let me say in the outset (aud in that I may
disappoint some of you) that I have no
defense to make for them, for they need
none. They have committed no crime,
unless, perhaps, it may be in electing me,
a Democratic Union soldier, to Congress
over a loudmouthed, whining Radical,
who served on neither side.
I shall make no declaration in relation
to the condition of the South that I do
not know to be literally true. I could
have no object in deceiving you. While
I am sensitive to public opinion, and de
sire the confidence and respect of good
people everywhere, yet you will pardon
me for saying that your likes or dislikes
could not effect me in the estimation of
a hair either on the one side or the other.
My home is in Texas. Her people have
honored me, and I am not going back on
them, come what may. Their hope is
my hope, and their destiny is mine.
BEASON RESUMING ITS SWAY.
For five long yaars t have watched with
anxious solicitude the beating of tbe pop
ular pulse of the American people. I
have patiently awaited the hour when
the people shall think and reason, rather
than act from impulse or passion.
* * * * *
I am admonished by the changes that
are gradually taking place in our form of
government, that the revolution is still
going on, and that a large number of the
honest people of the North do not under
stand or appreciate
THE SOUTHERN SITUATION.
Your sources of information are through
the public prints that are always more or
less partisan, or packed Congressional
Committees, that, like Military Commis
sions, are organized to convict. You have
never had, and probably never may have
a full understanding of the official cor
ruption that prevails 'throughout the
Southern States, aud that has, since the
close of the war, disgraced Republican in
stitutions in this country. I find in your
paper (the Noblesville Ledger) published
here, in its issue of yesterday, the follow
ing characteristic and significant para
graph:
Wlsat Will it Amount to 1
When the Legislature meets on the
10th inst, it will proceed to count the
votes cast at the late election for Gover
nor. It will declare Hon. James Milton
Smith duly elected and inaugurate him,
If Benjamin Conley sets up any preten
tions to being Governor and tries to hold
the seat he now usurps, it will still fur
ther disgrace him and the Bond Ring,
and the party to which he is allied. No
body will recognize him in that capacity,
but everybody will recognize Col. Smith
as Governor. With the Legislature and
all officers of the State, and tbe whole
people of Georgia, officially recognizing
and communicating with him as tbe legal
Executive of G- orgia, Conley will make
but a poor show playing Governor. The
Legislature will not receive any messages
from him, nor send him any commanica
tions. The Treasurer will not pay any of
his drafts or warrants, and nobody will
respect or obey any order or process from
him. Verily, the dance will be a merry
one—to outsiders who look on and wit
ness .the ridiculous spectacle. Perhaps
Benjamin Conley will enjoy it hugely.
Bat suppose Le should try to play the
role of Stanton, and bar himself up in
side the Eascutive office to retain the re
cords. The code provides that if the person
filling any office shall neglect or refuse to
tnm over to his successor the records,
books or papers of his office after the
same are demanded, complaint can be
made to the Judge of the Superior Court,
who must grant an order, setting a time
for a hearing, and requiring such delin
quent to show cause why he should not
be compelled to deliver up the same;
that the Judge shall proceed to inquire
into the circumstances, and if it appear
that such books are illegally withheld he
must order the same to be delivered in-
stanter to his successors, and the punish
ment of failure is fine and imprisonment
till the books are delivered up.
"The Washington Chronicle, whose editor, Gover-
Holden, is a personal friend of Attorney General
Akerman, last week had the fallowing paragraph in
relation to this Cabinet officer’s opinion of the South
ern situation: ‘Attorney General Akerman, in dis
cussing political affairs last evening, remarked that
persons who had not deeply looked into the matter
could not realize the extent of the Ka-klux organiza
tions in some sections of the Southern States. He
says that having been associated with the people of
the South, and having recently traveled about in that
country and observed for himself, that he is satisfied
that it is impossible to govern the people with local
courts, juries, etc.’ •*
Can that declaration be true? Can the
statement, coming from a member of the
President’s Cabinet—his legal and con
stitutional adviser—that the juries and
the local courts of the country are unequal
to the administration of justice, be true?
The Constitution of our country says:
“No person shall be held to answer for a capital or
otherwise infamous crime, unless on the present
ment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases
arising in the land or naval forces," etc.
A Grand Jury selected how? A Grand
Jury selected in accordance with the law
from among the qualified grand jurors of
the county or district in which the crime
shall have been committed. Again your
Constitution says:
"In ah criminal prosecutions tho accused shall
enjoy the rh-ht to a speedy and public trial by an
Impartial jury of the State and district wherein the
crime sha.1 nave been committed, which district
shall have been previously ascertained by law,” etc.
A jury selected how? A jury selected
according to law from among the quali
fied jurors of the State or district wherein
the crime shall have been committed.—
That, gentlemen, is what our Constitu
tion says. A jury is the only constitu
tional tribunal before which an American
citizen can be called to answer for an
alleged violation of the law. And yet
Mr. Akerman, the Attorney General of
the United States, says that it is impos
sible to govern the people of the
Southern States by and with these
constitutional tribunals. If his state
ment be false, it is an official and a
malicious slander against the people of
the South, designed to prejudice and
mislead you, gentlemen of tne North;
and the administration that could resort
to such a contemptible subterfuge is un
worthy the respect, much less the confi
dence, of the American people. If his
declaration be true, I present it to your
common sense judgment: Are not Re
publican institutions under Grant a fail
ure?
Again, I find in the same paper, of the
same date, the following:
"The Journal says a private letter from Washing,
ton has been received at Indianapolis, stating that
Senator Seott, Chairman of the Ka-klux Committee,
has intimated that his report to Congress will em
brace tacts which will be a lasting disgrace to the
country.” tP*
COMMITTEE.
There, gentlemen, you Lave the key
note. The report of Senator Scott is to
contain some startling revelations. The
way is being paved, and your minds are
being prepared to receive facts which
will be r. lasting disgrace to the country.
My opinion is that the investigation by
the Committee, of which Senator Scott
is chairman, is the most lasting disgrace
the country has sustained since the ear
liest organization of our government.—
But, be that as it may, 1 am willing to
hazard my reputation upon .he predic
tion that Senator Scott’s report will con
tain nothing more startling than the re
port which I find in the Indianapolis
Journal of to-day of crimes committed
in your own State this week. I will read
you a single paragraph from an entire
column of the Journal:
“THE CLARK COUNTY TRAGEDY.
"THE THREE MURDERERS HUSO BY A MOB.
"Jeffebsonyille, Nov. 17.—The three negro mur
derers of tbe Park family, near Henryville, Indiana,
were taken from the jail at Charlestown about two
o’clock this morning, by a vigilance committee num
bering about seveuty-five persons, and hung about
one and a half miles on the Lexington road. Tho
committee wore white masks. They demanded the
keys of the jailor and Bheriff, but were refused.—
They then forced tho doors, broke the' locks and
hinges, and took the prisoners. Two of the priso
nous were hung to one tree, and one to another tree.
Taylor made considerable resistance.”
KU-KLUXISM IN INDIANA.
Now, gentlemen, what are you going
to do? Here you have murders one day,
and an organized band of Ku-Klnx over
powering your officers of the law the
next. In South Carolina tbe President
declares martial law in counties where it
is alleged that lawless bands or organiza
tions are too strong for the civil power.
What will he do here? Will he exercise
his power under the Ku-Klux bill and
suspend the privilege of the writ of ha
beas corpus ict Clark county, Indiana?
If he is a pure and a just man he will
guard the interests and the lives of the
loyal people of Indiana against combina
tions of desperate and lawless men as
rapidly and as willingly as he does those
of the people of South Carolina. * *
MORTON, THE AUTHOR OE THE KU-KLUX BILL,
AND HIS OBJECT.
Gentlemen—this whole Ku-Klux bus
iness is a flimsy farce, gotten up by your
own Senator, Morton, for the purpose of
fanning into a flame the dying embers of
an extinguished volcano, and to divert
the public mind from the consideration
of the true issues. So long as the war
feeling prevails, he and his confederates
in crime can plunder the public treasury
with as much impunity as they could
gamble away the State funds ou the
gold board in New York duringthe war,
and charge it to the account of the sol
diers. He does not care if you do pay
three thousand dollars per mile as a roy
alty to Pennsylvania on the railroad iron
that you are to lay upon tbe new road
which you are constructing. He does
not care if you do pay two hundred per
cent to New England on the woolen skirt
worn by your little daughter to school.
He does not care if American commerce,
which was second to but one nationality
on earth when his party obtained power,
has been driven from the seas and your
American ships left to rot on the dry
docks. * * * * *
THE ADMINISTRATION OF GOVERNOR DAVIS
OF TEXAS
Differs in but few essential particulars
from the other carpet-bag or scalawag
governments of the South. With it I
am familiar. He was elected or declared
so, at au election held on the 30th of
November, 1st 2d and 3d days of Decem
ber, 1869; and on the 31st day of March
following toe State was declared, by a
joint resolution of Congress, to be in the
Union, and his administration went into
effect. At that time there were four hun
dred and fifty thousand dollars [$450,-
000] in the State treasury; the State was
out of debt and the taxes were assessed
at fifteen [15] cents on the hundred dol
lars. He has a partisan majority of two-
thirds in the Legislature. They have
had control of the State less than twenty
months, and iu that time they have squan
dered the $450,000 in the State treasury;
raised the tax from fifteen cents on the
hundred dollars to two dollars and twen
ty-five cents [$2 25] on the hundred dol
lars; and the contracted debt of the State
to-day is fifteen millions of dollars [$15,-
000,000.] That is summing up briefly
the financial transactions of twenty
months Radical misrule in Texas.
All that we could stand with our im
mense resources and still live. But there
are other crimes—crimes against society
—Crimes against the organic law of the
land—that no State can long survive.—
For instance, the terms of office for mem
bers of the Legislature is fixed by the
Constitution—that of the lower house
for two years from the date of the gener
al election. As before remarked, the
election closed on the 3d of December,
1S69, and as a consequence the present
Legislature of the State of Texas expires
by constitutional limitation on the 3d of
December, 1871, and yet, would you be
lieve it, no election for members of the
Legislature was held this fall, but on the
contrary, a special enactment provides
that no election shall be held until the
fall of 1872. Thus you see we are to have
an interregnum of one year, when His
Royal Highness the Governor is to rule
without a parliament But I imagine ho
thinks, with his
ARMY OF STATE POLICE,
That he will be equal to the emergency.
A state policeman is an individual to be
found in but few sections of the Union
—in fact, I believe be is confined exclu
sively to the State of Texas. But there
he is to be found in great abundance. He
is distinguished from the unarmed citi
zen, whom he often insults, by the deco
ration of a six shooter and such other
deadly weapons as it may suit his fancy
to carry. He draws a salary of $75 or
SlOOper month from the State, ahd
makes negroes vote the Radical ticket on.
election day. He cost the people of
Texas this year a half million of dollare.
He was very efficient at the
LATE ELECTION IN TEXAS,
in enforcing the provisions of the order
which I hold in my hand, as well as many
others of a kindred nature. This order
is a peculiar document, and will sound
strange to you men of Indiana, who are
But it is simply a pioneer, blazing out the
path for Grant’s second term. It will
become a frequent visitor with Grant’s
re-election, and under the Empire it.
might become a necessity. Mark my
prediction: If Grant is re-elected it wifi
cross your threshold uninvited, without
even stopping to knock at the uoor. But
I must read you tbe order. It begins
Headquarters State of Texas.” Who,
in the name of Heaven, ever heal’d of an
election order emanating from “ Head
quarters” anywhere ?
. « "Headquarters State of Texas,
‘Office Adjutant General and Chief Police,
Austin, Texas, August 9.1S71.
[“Circular.]
. “P end that there may be no disturbance or
intimidation at the registry of Toters and about the
polls at the coming election, the following refrala
tions are established for the government of tho ofli
cers of the election, and of peace officer*. State giurd
and militia on duty by order of the Governor, at
such registry and election:
v A 11 Persons coming to vote shall deposit their
ballots with the least possible delay, and after this is
done they are forbidden, under :iny pretext, tore-
main about the polls or at the county seat ( unless
s ta their residence) during tho time of election,
but shall return to their homes and usual employ
ment, and peace officers. S'ate guard or militia on
duty at the polls shall see that this regulation is com
plied with.
“IL All persons are forbidden to sboat, jeer at, or
in any way insult or annoy voters or candidates for
office, during tho registration and election; and
peace officers. State guard and militia ou duty, are
directed at once to arrest such persons, and to hold
them to be dealt with according to tho provisions of
section 11 of the act for the protection and purity of
the ballot-box.
“HI. AU gathering, combination or assembling of
persons in numbers at or near tho county seat dur
ing tbe timo of registration is being made, or the
election is going on, a nd for the purpose of intimi
dating voters, is forbidden, and should any such
gathering, combination or assembly take place in any
county, it shaU be presumed that the same is for
said purpose of intimidating voters, if such is tho
effect of the same, whatever mightbe aUeged by such
persons as the pretext thereof; and peace officers,
State guard and militia on duty in such county aro
directed to disperse such persons, provided, however,
that in this regulation it is not intended to interfere
with persons peaceably and quietly waiting at the
registration office or at the polls for their turn to
rogister or vote.
* *
“VI. The Governor hereby assumes command for
and during the election, of all peace officers in tho
State, including Sheriffs and their deputies, aud city
or town poUce or marshals and their deputies, and
those officers arc hereby directed to place themselves
under the direction of the officer designated or to bo
designated by the Governor, as set forth in circular
orders from this headquarters, and to aid him in en
forcing these regulations and tho laws of this State
and the United States governing elections.
EDMOND J. DAVIS,
Governor.
Official: James Davidson,
Adjutant and Chief of Police of Texas.”
... j
1571.)
That document has all the forms of a
military order. When an order is issued
to the American army it is dated:
“Headquauteiis Army of the United States, )
Office of the Adjutant General, i
Washington, D. C., Nov , 1871." )
And it would end with the signature of
“W. T. SHERMAN, General.
“Official: E. D. Towaeend, Adj't Gen’l."
You men who were in the army have
not forgotten that! This order is dated:
‘ ‘Headquarters State of Texas, )
Office Adjutant Gen’l and Chief of Police, >
Austin, Texas, August 9,1871." )
And it closes with the signature of :
“EDMOND J. DAVIS, Governor.
Official: James Davidson,
Aflj’t Gen. and Chief of Police of Texas.”
CHARACTER OF THE ELECTION ORDER.
But it is to the contents more than to
the form of this document that I would
call vour attention. Our people were
commanded to deposit their ballots with
the least possible delay,, aud forbidden
under any pretext to remain about' the
polls or at the county seat, but were com
manded to return to their homes and
usual employment, that is to say go to
work. Where a Methodist Conference
or Baptist Association was in session dur
ing those four days of election, it was
compelled to disband, adjourn or remove
from the county seat, because all persons
were forbidden under any pretext to re
main. And when they arrived at home
they * * could not even enjoy the luxury
of sitting down under their own vine and
fig tree and cursing Radical usurpations,
but were compelled to go to work that
they might thereby be enabled to sup
port the State police, State guard, aud
militia, whose duty it was to see that the
orders of Governor Davis were obeyed
The registration continued for ten days
and the election for four, and during all
that time * * * our people were for
bidden to shout under pain of being ar
rested and held to be dealt with.
Here in Indiana it is not held to be a
very serious offence for a man to shout,
either at an election or at a Methodist
camp-meeting, but down in Texas it was
quite different.
On the morning that I first received a
copy of this election circular; or, rather
> when I first observed it in the public
’ prints, I met Governor Davis at a town
called Bonham, an important point in
my district. We both had appointments
to address the people there on that day,
and after some little parley it was ar
ranged that we should both speak from
the same stand. There was a large
crowd in attendance. The Governor spoke
first and I followed. Finally I came to
the discussion of his last election order,
and before that assembled multitude I
read the document which I have read in
your hearing, and advised the people to
obey it. And then reading for the sec
ond timo a clause from the third para
graph, I turned to Governor Davis and
said: “This will interfere with my can
vass. I have appointments to speak in
several county towns during the days of
registration, and this order prohibits the
assembling of the people to hear me. I
am the regularly nominated candidate of
the Democratic party for Congress in this
District. From time immemorial it has
been the custom for all candidates for
the high office to which I aspire to meet
the people and discuss with them in a
spirit of candor and fairness the political
issues upon which they are called to act
in their capacity as citizens of this proud
and mighty republic;” and folding my
arms I continued: “I humbly beseech
your gracious majesty that I may be per
mitted to continue the old time custom.”
For a moment all was profoundly stilL
The Governor looked confused; and then
the shout that went np from two thou
sand of as brave and generous men as
ever trod the earth, and whom no power
on earth can enslave, had the desired ef
fect. The next morning a friend of
the Governor handed me this document
which I hold in my hand. It is a rare
specimen. It is alone in this cold world
with no mate to keep it company, and as
such I am going to preserve it and hand
it down to my posterity as a memen
h > wit W
to of these times. It is a permit
duly and officially signed by direction of
the Governor, by liis private secretary,
Mr. Britton, authorizing mo to canvass
my district, and disclaiming any inten
tion on the part of the Governor to inter*
fere with my canvass. Of course I then
felt secure, and proceeded with the can|
vass, which resulted in my return to
Congress by twelve thousand five hun
dred majority, and I have the Governor’s
certificate of election in my pocket, for
which I thank him, and only regret that
he lias not treated my Democratic col
leagues who were elected as fairly as my
self, with the same degree of official can
dor.
THE MILITARY TAX.
Strange as that election circular may
appear, I have yet another document here
that will strike the honest men of Indi
ana with still mere force. I suppose it
is the only one of its species that has
ever found its way this far North. I
found it sticking up in the office of the
hotel at Groesbeck, where I had stopped
for the night on my way North. Here it
is:
“Office Stecial Agent State of Texas,
“Groesbeck, Limestone Co., Texas.
October 24, 1ST
"Pursuant to orders received from Major General
A. G. Maloy, commanding Suite forces Limestone
county. I am ordered to assess and levy a SPECIAL
MILITARY TAX OF FORTY THOUSAND DOL
LARS, ($40,000) to be paid by the citizeus of Limo-
stono county, to defray tbe expenses of Military
Commission and State troops now on duty in said
county.
“I, therefore, levy a tax of three per cent, on tho
hundred dollars of all taxable property situated in
said county, as por assessment roll of 1871.
‘•All persons owning property iu Limestone coun
ty are notified to appear at my offico in the city of
Groesbeck immediately and pay tho same. All per
sons refusing or fading to pay said tax within three
(3) days from above date ten (10) per cent will be ad
ded and tneir property levied upon and sold to satis-
fj- said tax.
‘‘GEonGE W. Farrow,
Special Agent, State of Texas, for Limestone
county."
From this you will see that there is fax
day a military commission sitting iu
judgment unon the lives and fortunes of
citizens of Texas and the United States,
and that a special military tax of three
per cent ad valorem is being collected
from the citizens of Limestone county to
defray the expenses of that commission.
And these taxes are being collected
AT THE POINT OF THE BAYONET,
not by an officer known to tho Constitu
tion and the laws of Texas, not the regu
lar tax collector of Limestone county, but
by a special agent of tbe State of Texas
appointed for tho county of Limestone.
And by what authority aro these taxes
collected? By virtue of any statute of
the State of Texas? No; by no means..
Have the taxes been assessed by any legal
or competent authority? None whatever.
Bat they are being collected by virtue of
and pursuant to orders received by Ma
jor General A. G. Maloy, commanding
State forces in Limestone county.
THE OBJECT OF MARTIAL LAW IN TEXAS.
And now, my countrymen, what do you
suppose was tho occasion for mariial law
in Limestone county. Y*u will hardly
credit the facts when I tell you of the cir
cumstances that led to this most mon
strous and damuaUl" villainy. I W 'll re .
late them briefly. Limestone county is
strongly Democratic iu politics; that is to
say, the white population is greatly in
excess of the negro, while it forms a part
of the Third Congressional District,
which it was thought would be very close
at the late election. Both parties were
expecting to carry the district. The Re
publicans—no, they aro not Republicans,
for you Republicans in Indiaua would not
acknowledge or recognize the relation
ship. They are the cast-offs of all politi
cal organizations, seeking political power
and official plunder through the ig
norance and superstition of a semi-barba
rous race. Iu Texas we call them Radi
cals, while they call themselves Republi
cans, and look to the administration at
Washington to sustain them in their
frauds. I will call them Radicals. Well,
they began to realize a few weeks prior
to the election that their cause was weak
ening; that the German element could
not be relied upon to support their little
mau, while the Republicans of standing
‘' nA respectability, numbering among
then Senator Hamilton, who is a violent
Republican, but an honest man in finan
cial matters, was openly opposing Clerk,
the Radical nominee. Something had to
be done. According to an election law of
their own framing the State Board of can
vassers,composed of the Governor, the At-
torneyGeneral andSecretary of State,both
of the latter holding their offices by virtue
of an appointment from the former—had
powbr to throw out the votes or refuse to
count them in counties where, in their
judgment, a free election was not had on
account of fraud, intimidation or vio
lence. They knew that a quiet election,
with no man killed or injured, would re
sult in the defeat of their candidate, and
the consequent election of a Democrat.
So they flooded the district with negro
militia and State police, who were inso
lent, overbearing, and insulting, thereby
hoping to provoke the white people to
some demonstrations of violence. In this
they failed. Our people moved above
them. They were determined not to be
insulted by them, or be betrayed into a
resistence which would give .their ene
mies the slightest shadow of an excuse to
contest the election. Maddened and
provoked at the forbearance of the white
citizens, and becoming desperate in their
endeavors to carry the Third District,
the Radical leaders resolved that some
life should be sacrificed. They knew
that martial law would follow, and the
consequent throwing out of the vote of
the county where the disturbance should
occur. So they settled on Limestone as
a strong Democratic county, without
which they felt certain of a victory. The
city of Groesbeck is to be the scene of
the tragedy—the murder. The day ar
rives. A negro State policeman display
ing the badge of official power and au
thority, shoots down, in cold blood, an
unarmed citizen. The Mayor of the
city, also an appointee of the Governor,
summons a posse of citizens to arrest
the policeman-murderer. A show of re
sistance follows, but no one is hurt. A
Ku-Klux bulletin, previously prepared
for the occasion, is telegraphed to the
Governor. He answers with a procla
mation of martial law—a military com
mission is organized, taxes collected, the
people robbed, life and property rendered
insecure—anarchy is established.
And now, gentlemen, you have the
history of martial law as it prevails to
day in Limestone county, Texas. And,
ofter all, Colonel Giddings, the Demo
cratic candidate, is elected by 2,000 ma
jority, independent of the vote in Lime
stone county, though he had not yet re
ceived the certificate of election when I
left the State. It remains to be seen
whether he will be forced into a contest
in the face of all that has occurred.
