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THE ATLANTA WEEKLY SUN, FOB THE WEEK ENDING JULY 24 1872.
THE ATLANTA SUN
gheat speech:
We Lave no reason now, to abandon
those principles, bnt every reason which
ought to influence a people worthy of
freedoni, to stand by and maintain them
| to the last extremity. We «« poor. We
have not the deceitfulnees of riches to
j lead us astray. We are not as vulnerable
as we were ten years ago. _
Bnt we are told we want peace.
| those who want peace in chains, join
Grant. He will make them a better mas
—— 1,1 | ter than tney deserve, if they will serve
Fellow Citizens: I accepted the invita- | him. He is better than Greeley. He
HON. ROB’T TOOMBS,
Ddlvrrrd In the Mall of the Hoait
of RrprciMtUllvei on the even
ing of the tlth June, now
Itmt publiolird an revfur.it
mill eorreted by hlmoelf.
tion of a portion of my friends to address I has no principles, while Greeley has very
you to-night in no cheerful or hopeful ] ^ones, and Greeley was one of theerew
spirit; but in the discharge of a heart-
who set him on, and supported him in
his evil courses. Besides, Grant has
felt duty. I see aronndme, everywhere, ! SOEie Q f the virtues of a gentleman. He
ample proof, that the Democratic Party I is brave, loyal to his friends. His very
is about to be betrayed—slaughtered in
Nepotism is bnt the excess of a virtue,
i Ho is resolute and firm in his purposes;
the house of its pretended friends; that besi(les> Le has some of the vices of the
the organic law of the country. Jt,
therefore, lacks the first element of law
ful government; that is the consent of
the governed. This great fact was firmly
maintained by the Democratic party four
Sgonago,
It met in New York; it declared that
the reconstruction acts, through the in
strumentality of which the Government
was revolutionized, were usurpations,
revolutionary, unconstitutional, null and
void. Two millions and seven hundred
thousand freemen sustained this declara
tion at the ballot box. These were con
stituted a majority of the lawful votes
under the real Constitution. The Dem
ocratic party was declared defeated—
Grant was elected; we have gone on four
years. The South has been reconstruct
ed, and reconstructed at the pleasure of
her masters. Despotism has had fall
sway. Corruption has run riot. You
have been pillaged, robbed and de
nied the ordinary rights of humanity
and such as are granted to your former
slaves. Look across Savannah river,
and see what sort of a system this “best
Government the world ever saw,” is.
That is a Government of four hundred
thousand ignorant, brutal savages, con
trolled by four thousand of foreign and
domestic knaves. No rights, public or
private, respected; the property of the
people confiscated under the forms of
law; the people practically driven from
the courts of justice, from the jury box,
from the legislative halls; with the bal
lot boxes stuffed, aooording to necessity,
her pretended laws are made by brutes
and executed by demons, under the pro
tection of national bayonets.
Yet some of tbis corrupt gang of pub
lic plunderers, who fattened off of the
people through their base and mercena
ry onion with our public enemies, are
shocked at my declaration a few nights
ago in this place, that I hated this pres
ent Government of the United States. I
repeat, I do hate it, I am its enemy, and
I am unablo to see how any honest man
can love it. Love a despotism 1 Love a
government that outlaws me ! Love a
government forced on me by force and
fraud against my consent 1 Love a gov-
ennnent that gives me no protection,
tramples on my rights! If yon have na-
tare in yon, bear it not; watch and pray,
ana work Jot its downfall, and accom-
plish it as soon as tyou can. The old
revolutionary watchword was: “Resist-
ance to tyranny is obedienoe to God. It
has my undying hostility. Its enemies
are ruy friends, and its friends my ene
mies. Let traitors oarry this to their
masters. 11 can never reoeive my volun
tary support until it shall bo sanctioned
by the voluntary assent of the States up
on which it was fraudulently and forci
bly imposed. I support the Democratic
Party because it opposed this lawless
tyranny, because it is the traditional en-
o ;despotism in all of its forms.
its principles that lay at the foundation
of public liberty and all good govern
ment, are about to bo abandoned,
and we shall be called upon to rally
around unprincipled deserters from the
enemy’s camp, to support principles we
ablior, and men whom we dispise. At
ilyg moment, when clouds and darkness
surround you, I will endeavor to point
ont to you the ro*d of safety, and the
path of honor, and pursuade yon to pur
sue it.
We owe it to the bounty of the Creator,
our oommon father, that, while vast
stores of knowledge are concealed from
us, and left to be discovered by research,
and toil and labor, generation after gene
ration , our duty to God and to man, is
written in letters of light, not only in
divine revelation, bnt upon the hearts
and the intellects of the humble and the
weak, as well as the great and the strong.
Because alone of the wickedness ot the
wicked, governments were established
among men. They wore established for
the benefit, ot the governed; they have
no lawful foundation, except in the con
sent of the governed. All other govern
ments are usurpations, and constantly
tend to public ruin and the destruction
of the lives’, liberties, property and hap
piness of the people.
The legitimate functions of just gov
ernment are few and simple, and consist
mainly m the protection o' society, from
violence and wrong, from within and
from without; to prevent any man from
injuring another, by the instrumentali
ties of criminal and civil laws, adminis
tered justly under the protection of the
public force, and then to leave them in
the full enjoyment of every right grant
ed them by the god of .nature. The
most of these principles have been re
cognized by all civilized nations from
the beginning of the world. Our own
anoeetors embodied them in a single sec
tion of Mogna Oharta, at Runnymede,
in the year 1237, and those plain and ig
norant men announced in eight or ton
lines of bad Latin (Chapter 29th, the
Charter of Henry 3d), principles which
wonld secure pnblio liberty in any society
which has the manhood to maintain
them.
These principles were affirmed and de
fended in onr war for independence;
planted in our Constitution; snstained
by Jefferson, Madison, Jackson, and all
of the accepted leaders and friends of
popular rights up to this time. The
State Bights Democrats have been the
recognized defenders of these principles
from the foundation of the government.
The Kadical party of the United States
have been their steady enemies, through
all the mutations of parties in peace and
in war; and when they succeeded to un
controlled power by the overthrow of the
Southern Confederacy, they, by force and
frand, changed the Constitution, and es
tablished the present government over
you,
I affirm that this government over.you
was established against your consent,
against the consent of a vast majority of
the people of the late Confederate States,
and against the consent of the people of
the United States, and not according to
gentleman, he loves horses and dogs,
and has a weakness for wine, and is not
insensible to the amusements of the
race, turf and the cock pit. It is true
that he has vices which do not become a
gentleman. I leave them to be ventilat
ed by Greeley Democrats, to compare
them with Greeley’s virtues, when they
have found them.
Greeley possesses no single principle
in common with the people of the Sonth.
Full of crotchets and isms of all bad sorts,
visionary, impracticable, he presents
himself to-day as a candidate before the
people, a reformer. A reformer 1 He
can reform no evil that I know of in this
government of which he has not been
the author or supporter. But his friends
say he is honest—honest, forsooth! If
this be true, his Democratic friends at
the South must feel complimented, from
what he has been continually saying
about them for forty years. I leave his
veracity to them. A Democratic Greeley
man! O fie!
His platform prates of civil service re
form, one term principle, and such stuff
Civil service reform and the one term
principle have been the usual Shiboleth
of the outs for the last half century.—
This is bnt a new edition, revised with
out being corrected. We have had no
President who has served two terms since
General Jackson retired, except Lincoln;
and Greeley and his friends were the
most active. agents in producing that re-
******ff y" **^^F*^y li
Honesty, capacity and fidelity to the
Constitution has been the avowed rule
of appointments to office from Jefferson
to Grant. The practice has been to fill
tbo offices mainly with partisan camp-
followers. We shall do no better under
Greeley. They hold the word of
promise to the ear, bnt will break it to
the hope. The promise of honesty and
fidelity is not reliable from those who
abandon their life-long principles and
accept in lieu of them Greeley and the
Cincinnati platform. They teach the
people to believe a lie; to believe that the
Democratic party is dead; that its princi
ples are forever stamped with reprobation
by the people, and that it is not ever again
to succeed. With many, the wish is
father to the thought. They hate it and
its principles. It is the cry of money
changers, bond-holders, successful plun
derers of the public treasury and the pub
lic property, of great corporations who
can use the Grants andGreeleys to wring
gold, the sweat of the poor, out of the
toiling millions who constitute nine-
tenths of the people of the United States.
It is true that the Constitution has
been changed—the government is chang
ed, that there is a new era, that a revo-.
lution has been accomplished, and that
there has been a conquest not only of
the South, bnt of public liberty through
out the entire country, that there is con
solidation which is despotism. But
what of that; even if it is true; what is onr
duty ? Liberty has been overthrown be
fore, and true men have restored it to
themsolves and their posterity. Magna
Charter was repeatedly overthrown be
tween 1237 and 1688. England was de
vastated with wars; thousands of patriots
lost their lives in battle, and their heads
cm the block in peace; but they struggled
on, and finally triumphed in 1688; estab
lished it on a firm foundation under its
glorious principles.
The English have been the freest and
most prosperous people on the face of
the earth for nearly two hundred years.
Holland carried on the most devastating
war the world ever saw against the Ger
man Empire and Spain for seventy years,
and won her lost liberties. The Greeks
lost and recovered theirs repeatedly, and
regained them bv firmness, and fidelity,
and courage; and history is full of such
examples. And it is also full of other
and sadder examples. The Eastern Bo-
man Empire succumbed to the Turk,
hugged their chains, cried “peace,
peace,” and have been slaves of slaves for
above five hundred years.
Choose ye whose example will yon
follow. Will you accept glory or shame,
liberty or slavery ? You fought four
years, were defeated, and are now ad-*
vised to surrender your liberties forever.
For what? Not from fear, for you have
proven that on many a Jiard-f ought field.
For making money ? Alas 1 alas ! the
worship of Mammon will unman, de
grade the bravest and the truest. If “the
love of gold is not the root of all evil,”
it is at least the father of all of tire
meanest vices which afflict and degrade
humanity. Let ns cast Mammon behind
ns, and press forward to rescue an en
slaved country. How shall we do it ?
Reform the broken columns of the Dem
ocratic Party, stand by its principles,
and all will yet be well.
States, and have a vast power in all
of them; a controlling power when united
with the dangerous and vicions classes,
their natural allies, which exist in every
societv. The franchise was given them
by onr enemies, Greeley and the Radical
party, because they had no capacity for
government, in order that you and your
posterity should never have good govern
ment, bnt should be forever cursed by
the misrule of this savage race.
They were enfranchised to make votes
to strengthen their wavering power in
the North, ana to control the South thus
by the aid of carpet-baggers and scalla-
wags. If ve accept them, acquiesce in
the fundamental law which they have
imposed upon ns, we accept ruin for our
selves and our posterity forever. The
man who demands of you this degrada
tion, is the enemy of free government,
the enemy of civilization, the enemy of
the human race, and deserves the exe
cration of all mankind^
Horace Greeley has been the champion
of this policy from the beginning. It
passed against the declared will of the
people of the North, in defiance o£ the
pledges of Greeley and his party to his
own people, and in all human probabili
ty, could not have passed without his
strong co-operation. Honest Horace
Greeley! (A voice: “Horace Greeley
sounded the first abolition horn ever
heard in the South.”)
No, no; he is not an original thinker;
a mere imitator of other men’s follies.
He picked it up as he did Fourierism
and all other isms, and an ism slicks to
him as naturally as a kucklebur does to
an unshorn sheep. He is as cute as a
Yankee pedlar, and about the size and
make of that class of developers. He is
a philosopher; that is, as far as his indif
ference to the min he inflicts on others
is concerned. He has plenty of stoicism
to bear his country’s or other people’s
sufferings. Pioneer people can go out
West, is his motto.
Then, fellow citizes,avoid these people;
take your reckoning; hunt for the old land
marks of liberty, and the old defences of
free goverament. Search for truth, and
stand by it; it is not dead, it cannot die,
it is immortal.
The trimming time-server may tell you
it is Bonrbonism. All truths are old, it
takes generations to discover them all;
but they are as old as the creator. Lies,
errors, are invented of men and devils;
truth is of God. Be ye steadfast, do not
abandon it because its enemies are legion.
In looking over freedom’s great strag
gles in other ages, you will find the place
of safety and honor. Amid all the disas
ters, defeats and resurrections of the past,
was always at the post of duty. Live
freemen or die martyrs. Wealth takes
wings and flies away, fame is but a shad
ow. To defend the right alone is true
glory, is worthy of your manhood.
But I am. told that I must take the
choice of evils. That comes with a bad
grace from those who struggle, not for my
principles, bnt to put me to the elec
tion of a ohoioe of evils. They make
one of the evils themselves and offer it to
To ehoeee the least of two evils un
der the circumstances would be a greater
evil than either. I will not set up my
judgment as a rule for others. It must
be my rule. I am not prepared now for
any snob eleotion. I may never be.
The Democratic party meets in a few
weeks at Baltimore. I know its duty;
and I think I know that these tricksters
who now have its temporary destiny in
their hands will not perform that duty.
I am not in a condition to. advise you
what to do until that Convention has
aoted. I want the facts before I form an
opinion. That Convention ought to re-af-
firni the time-honored principles of the
Damowratio party, and nominate a true,
honest and capable man to oarry them
out, and go into the election with a pur
pose to do all that honest men ought to
do for success. They should not aban-
doij those principles; pf they do let tho
curses of a ruined people fall upon them.
They should not go out of the party for
a standard-bearer, certainly not into the
enemy’s comp for a leader, most certainly
not to the Cincinnati nominees. That
Convention represented nobody but
themselves. It was mostly composed of
sore-headed deserters from the enemy’s -
camp, seme of whom, probably, deserted
on account of nnsnffioient rations.
Nor ought they to go to Philadelphia
for a candidate. Neither the men or the
principles suit us. They are our oppress
ors, and have destroyed our peace, pros
perity and liberties. I am always willing
to stand by party action as long as that
aotion is inside tne party. Stand by my
principles; select one who will stand by
them as your candidate, and you may
choose him; but my obligation ceases
when you abandon both my principles
and my comrades.
Suppose the Baltimore Convention
nominates Grant and adopts the Phila
delphia platform; will yon stand by the
nomination ? Why not ? It will be.tile
action of the party convention. You
can pot bolt, (as some of you term it),
except upon my principles. How", will
the obligation be stronger on me if the
Convention nominate Greeley and
adopts the Cincinnati platform V But,
perhaps yon want to go there anyhow.
Very well, go along, I will give yon a
freetioketif yon need it; but I shall hot
zens of the same virtue, intelligence and
good character, and nothing more; but
when yon undertake to speak for all the
people in yotir locality and to denounce
(loyal
’for a
Inn one
Let
those., wBB
your authority: when t
pfonoun “We,” and cf
free people, we, the pi
of them) spore the ass:
Fellow-citizens, I am
again, at parting, urge yon not to aban
don your principles; not to betray your
selves and your posterity. Look aloft.
There ia ever hope for the brave and the
true in the cause of the right. The
country is in danger. Hang your ban
ner upon the outer wall; display a cour
age and a constancy as great as the pub
lic peril, as prolonged as the conflict.—
PROCEEDINGS
or THE
Georgia Legislature.
go with you.H
a condition
Greeley’s platform requires you to
maintain the 14th and 15th amendments.
Many Northern Democrats have already
submitted to this requisition. They can
endorse consolidation better than von
can, they will be the despots. They have
a better excuse; can better afford to
abandon principle on these points than
yon can. The African race cannot pos
sibly carry a single election district over
the white in any portion of the States
in which slavery did not exist in 1S60.—
Therefore the enfranchisement of five
millions of freedmen, ignorant, vicious,
degraded, wholly incapable of adminis
tering or making laws for a civilized peo
ple is but a theoretical question with
with them. They are endowed with that
rare philosophy which can look with
great composure upon other people’s
misfortunes.
If there be any universally accepted
principle in free Government it is, that
such a Government can not exist without
virtue and intelligence. Here you have
these five millions of these ignorant, half
6ir£&g6 people, ■without virtue, without
intelligence, incapable of comprehend
ing the simplest proposition in govern
ment, or of interpreting the piain-
I require the Convention
precedent to my being
bound by its action, to follow the agree
ments of my hardshell Baptist friends,
that hi selecting for me a candidate they
should select one “of the like faith arid
rnfa^ififtnr
If that Convention, on account of Hie
disaffection of Belmont and his allies,
can not nomipate a Democrat, let them
re-afiirm onr principles and come home.
We will then preserve onr principles as
the ark of the covenant for happier times.
We can maintain un organization at home,
leave ourselves free to adopt such a poli
cy as in our judgment may best promote
their final success.
It maybe that dividing the enemy
may, in that event, be the best policy.
That should be our Polar Star. Then
SENATE.
Atlanta, July 17, 1872.
The Seuato met pursuant to adjourn
ment in their chamber at 10 o’clock, and
was called to order by President Tram
mell. Prayer by Rev. D. Wills, D. D.
Hon. Carey W. Styles, Senator elect
from the 10th District, was sworn in by
Judge Twiggs, of the Superior Court.
Hon. W. M. Beese offered a resolution
that a joint committee of two from the
Senate and three from the House, be ap
pointed to wait upon Hi« Excellency,
Gov. Smith, and inform him that both
Branches of the General Assembly ware
in session, and ready to receive any com
munication he might address them.
The resolution was adopted, and or
dered transmitted to the House.
A message was received from the
House, announcing their concurrence in
the resolution, and the appointment of
Representatives G. F. Pierce, S. W.
Baker and on .the part
Prayer was offered by Rev. John Jones.
The roll was called, 140 members beinir
present, including the Speaker
le^axSSo^ttL laet was
Ml - - jP^Mfce, pi Hancock, offered a reso-
Intion to appoint a joint co mmittee, con
sisting of three from the House and two
from the Senate, to wait on the Govern
or and inform him that the House was
ready for business; also, a committee to
inform the Senate that the House was
organized and ready for business.
Messrs. Pierce, McWhorter and Baker,
of Bryan, were appointed on the former
committee.
A communication from the Governor
was read, informing the Assembly of the
election of Luiher J. Glenn, of Fulton,
myon qnaiS if you fall now, your fall S. B. Cleghorn, of Muscogee! J. F. King
will be like Lucifer s—never to rise again# of Wayne, J. B. Forrester, of Lee, and
of the House.
The resolution was concurred in, and
Senators W. M. Beese and T. J, Sim
mons appointed on the part of the Sen
ate.
The Committee reported through Hon.
W. M. Reese, Chairman, that the Gov
ernor would communicate at once with
both branches of the General Assembly
in writing.
J. W. Warren, Secretary of the Execu
tive Department, then announced that he
was present with the Governors message
and accompanying documents.
Oh motion the Governors message was
taken up and read.
During the reading, Hon. J. 0. Nichols
occupied the Chair in the absence .of
President Trammell. At the close, Presi
dent Trammell resumed liis seat.
On motion of Hon. B. B. Hinton, 500
copies of the Governor’s message were
ordered printed for the useof;tke Senate,
and the message referred to appropriate
committees. ,
Hon. Reuben Jones offered a resolu
tion authorizing the Secretary to have
one hundred copies of the rules of the
Senate printed, which wax adopted.
Bills were read the seoond time.
The following bills were read the first
Mr. Lester—To authorize? the Savan
nah and Ogeeohee Canal Company to
construct a oanal connecting the waters
of the Ogeeohee and .Canooohee rivers,
and increase their Btock if necessary,
Mr. Devaux—To amend the act to oar
ry into effect the seoond clause of the
5th artiole of the Constitution.
Mr. Heard—To regulate the time 6f
holding general elections in Georgia.
Mr. Kibbee—To prescribe the time for
holding elections in this State.
Also—Te amend Section S, Article 3,
Paragraph 1, of the Constitution of this
State.
Also, a bill to authorize the President
and Yiee President of the Union Sooie-
J. G. Cain, of Jefferson, to'fill vacancies,
and the gentlemen were sworn in.
Mr. Phillips, of Echols, offered a res
olution providing for the appointment of
a joint committee of 21, two from oach
Congressional District, to be appointed
by the Speaker, and one from each Con
gressional District, to be appointed by
the President of the Senate, to prepare
a bill conforming to the recent Appor
tionment Act of Congress for redistrict : ng
the State.
A resolution offered by Mr. Heidt, oi
Chatham, for the appointment of four
Pages under the rules, was laid over until
to-morrow.
On motion of Mr. Pierce, of Hancock,
the following message from the Gover
nor, wa3 taken up and read:
Executive Depabtxient, )
Atlanta, July 17, 1S72. j
To the Senate atid House of Representa
tives :
By the third section of the nnf
porary loan was authorized in Ct) a tem ‘
exceeding 3300,000, for the on not
paying the semi-annual interest F° Se of
”I»» the SS&Jfe
of June
State issued bsforethe first c'av^f? tbe
18fi8 n-.UnE loan, it is provided
ront.nfti.. 2: _ le< *> shall
1868, which
be paid back out of‘tho mono-, v u—*
from the taxes pp.kl into tf eiVed
during the year 1872. lr easury
Acting under the nutliorit- thus
fen-ed, I borrowed fronTthe v!; CDa "
Bank of Commerce in New Ynv“ 0n
sum of 6200,000, at seve^ne-T k ’ the
annum, to be repaid on thefirst?’ per
December next. This ~- t °f
to the credit of the State
sum was pla Ce< ^
on the 29o^-- u
’of J nno last, and % suffiefentto^ n',lH s - v
interest fnllin^ ~ ~*'* j —-— »- * 1
g due upon our old de^
ia
. It is made my duty by the Constitu
tion to. give to the General Assembly in
formation of the state of the Common
wealth, and to recommend to their con
sideration such measures as may be
deemed necessary and expedient for the
public good. I approach the discharge
of this duty with a feeling of diffidence,
produced by a consciousness that the
subjects before me will require a more
extended notice than I shall be able to
bestow upon them.
When I entered upon the duties of the
Executive office, in January last, great
confusion existed in almost every depart
ment of onr public affairs. Our finances
were in the utmost disorder, and the
stock boards of this country and of Eu
rope had been flooded with bonds, pur
n .: o uiu" urn rich* •
the months of June, July and Anensi 1
An arrangement has also been ,
'Vita the sfaal B M k ot
act as the agent of the State ia excW.
ing the old for the new bonds
due this year. JTkis arrangement
follows: An offer is made to the lieia*
of the old -bonds to exchange theS
the new seven per cent, bonds a U fcW
lzed to bo issued by said act. L,
event this offer shall not be accented ■?
is proposed that the semi-annufi i n ’ t
■est shall continue to be paid neon th
old bonds until the State shall be aW*
to redeem the fame. This arrau^iZf
is the best that could be effected °in ti?"
present condition of the public credit
and it is believed that it will give «t
faction to onr creditors. There exist-
no law authorizing the payment of inte^
est upon the old bonds after their mate
rity, but being satisfied that the proiio
sition to that effect, embraced in the ^
rangement above referred to, if carried
out, will be promotive of tho public
welfare, I respectfully recommend that
the same bo approved by the Le^isk
ture. °
In effecting these arrangements, I have
to acknowledge the obligations under
which I rest to the Hon. Charles J. Jen-
kins, who, while refusing all pecuniary
compensation therefore as tho agent of
the State, brought to my aid the°benefit
of his well-known wisdom and experi
ence.
porting to have been issued by thisi-w tim +1 luter ’
State, hut vet. recorded nf dm,lufni es-on the. public debt_upon the revenues
State, bnt yet regarded as of doubtful
validity. The administration of justice
had been rendered ineffective by the
abase of the pardoning power; the con
fidence of tho people in their public ser
vants had been impaired by the faithless
oonduot of leading offioials, and a feeling
of general distrust and insecurity pre-
ailed. The civil authorities had so long
been subordinated to military power,
that many true men had reached the
melancholy conclusion that civil liberty
had already ceased to exist.
The earnest efforts of every depart
ment of the government have been di
rected to the correction of these abases;
and. if these efforts have not yet proved
entirely successful, it has been beoause
the evils sought to be remedied were
manifold and deeply rooted. Evil, the
result of years of misrule, cannot be ex
tirpated in a day. Much patient labor
yet remains to be done, and in its per
formance I earnestly invoke the assist
ance of the represenatives of the people.
PUBLIC DEBT ANDj FINANCES.
By a legislative aot, entitled “an act to
protect the people of the State of Geor
gia against the illegal and iraudnlent is
sues of bonds and securities, and for
other purposes oonnected with the
same,” passed December 9, 1871, it was
provided that a joint committee of the
Senate and House of Representatives
should bo appointed, whose duty it
should be to ascertain and report the
By the wasteful expenditures of the
late administration, the State was de
prived of the means of paying the semi-
annual installment of interest upon the
public debt, and to supply such means!
it became neoessary to resort to the
doubtful expedient of a short loan. The
necessary effect of this will be to place
three semi-annual installments of inter-
ty, in Savannah, to issue bonds, to change number of bonds and indorsements
est law.
jority
m
This race
several of
have a ma
tte Southern
adopt it. If by supporting Grant you
could better promote your principles, do
that; if Greeley, do that; if Groesbe-ck,
the Free Trade candidate, do that.
There are three evils to choose from.
There may be more before the election
comes on. The Free Trade Party, which
for some things Hike; the Greeley Par
ty, which has my contempt; and the
Grant Party, which I despise.
I wish to say a word to the gentlemen
of the Fourth Estate. They have con
stituted themselves public censors,of the
whole world generally and of myself in
particular. Sorneof them have high sound
ing names. xiie voice of freedom,people’s
defender, clarion of liberty, etc., without
end. Now, I tell you, Messrs. Editors,
yon axe entitled to just as much conside
ration as the same number of free citi-
its corporate name, and for other pur
poses. tTIT*?"
Also, a bill to authorize the Central
Railroad A Banking Company, the Sonth
Western Railroad, and Macon A Western
Railroad Companies to issne bonds, exe
cute mortgages, and for other purposes.
Also, to amend section 675 of the code.
Also, to authorize the corporate au
thorities of Hawkinsville to subscribe
$5,000 each to the stock of the Hawk
insville A Enfaola, and Atlantia, Fort
Valley and Memphis Railroad Compa
nies. , .
Mr. Hillyer—An act to amend an aot
for taking testimony, in certain cases.
Also, to incorporate the City Bank of
r ~Tr l yy S*
Also, to amend the charter of the city
of Atlanta. " i_*T°o
Also, to amend the act amending the
charter of the city of Atlanta, approved
January 20th, 1871.
Also, to amend the charters of. the
Borne Railroad; Selma Rome A Dalton
Railroad, and Memphis Branch Railroad.
Also, to provide for more speedy
trials in indictments for murder.
Mr. Reese—To regulate the law of
lien.
Also, to define Ibe duties of adminis
trators in certain cases.
Also, to amend the third section of the
act to fix the salaries of Judges of the
Supreme and Superior Courts and Solici
tors Gen eral. . '^
Also, to regulate the mode of deciding
cases by the Supreme Court.
Also, to amend the claim laws.
Also, to regulate Leases for years.
Also, to provide for the punishment
of misdemeanors. lf***^? •• •*****!
Also, to extend the law of conspiracy,
which had been issued and put into cir
culation by Rufus B. Bullock, late Gov
ernor; the aggregate amount thereof, by
whom the same were sold, the amount of
money paid therefor, the times when,
and the persons to whom such payments
were made, and all other facts connected
with the history of said bonds.
The Committee appointed by virtue of
this act will submit their report, I learn,
daring the present session of the Legis
lature, While it- is proper that I post
pone any extended remarks upon the
classes of claims and securities mention
ed in the act, nntil after the information
collected by the committee, shall have
been laid before you, yet I feel constrain
ed to say that, in my opinion, the State
is bound for the redemption of only
such obligations as have been issued in
conformity with law. If money raised
upon unauthorized securities has come
into the treasury, the State is bound to
account for the same. But considera
tions of public policy forbid that the
State should, recognize as valid and bind
ing, any oontract .entered into by any
person not authorized to make the same.
The Governor has no authority, by vir
tue of his office alone, to issue bonds of
the State. To do this, he must be spe
cially authorized by a Legislative act,
passed for that purpose. When so em
powered, he becomes a special agent,
and cannot transcend the limits of tho
grant conferring his powers. It is a well
established principle, that persons hav
ing dealings with public agents, in raat-
iters like this, are strictly bound to look
to the authority of such agents.
The following is a consolidated state
ment of tlxe-existing debt of the State,
created before the fourth day of July,
Also, to amend the act to authorize all. 18G8, showing the amounts and dates of
pleas and defenses to be sworn to in oer-
•*?®** # .*"
Also, to amend section 4146 of the
mhmT 7
Also, to execute the 15th section of
article 1 of the Constitution.
A memorial from citizens of Stewart
county, protesting against the passage of
the bill changing the line between Stew
art and Quitman counties, was present
ed, and referred to the Committee on
New Counties and County Lines.
Hon. M. A. Candler offered a resolu
tion, fixing the hoars of meeting at 9
o’clock, a. M., and of adjournment at 1
o’clock, p. m., which was adopted.
The Senate then adjourned nntil 9 a.
3i., to-morrow.
HOUSE. 'VMM tom i *
The House was called to order at 10
a. m. by the Speaker, Mr. J. B. Cam
ming, who, in a few appropriate remarks,
welcomed the Representatives, exhorting
the same harmony at. d enjoining the
same industry that had characterized
their former sessions.
the issue and maturity of the bonds:
When Issued.
mAai mJPT v kL.
When
due.
Amount.
1813 and
1813 and
1853
1843
....
1872
1873
$ 650,500 00
137,000 00
251,600 00
1811 and
1848
1874
1858
AfFlf3irc i 11
1878
100,000 00
200,000 00
200,000 W>
100,0C0 00
3,600,000 00
1853
1800
....
1879
1S80
1881
1801
I860
Grand Total
1
*6,238,50000
From the foregoing tabular statem ent,
it will appear that the total amount of
onr bonded debt, contracted prior to
July 4, 186S is 85,238,500.00.
To meet the bonds falling due the
present summer, the Governor was au
thorized to issue bonds to the amount
of 8700,000.00, due in twenty years and
bearing interest at a rate not exceeding
seven per cent, per annum, payable semi
annually. As required by the provisions
of the present year. In December next,
we shall have to pay the temporary loan
contracted to meet the interest failing
due this summer. Then, following close
ly in January and February thereafter,
another semi-annual installment will fall
due. This we shall probably be able to
meet without serious difficulty. In June, 1
July and August of next year, however, ]
another like installment will become due, 1
and will be upon us before the taxes of :|
next year can be collected. The temporary
loan just negotiated should be promptly J
paid at maturity, and provision be made a
to meet future installments of interest I
without recouite to temporary expedi* I
onts.
It is of the highest importance that
the credit of the State be fully re-estab* J
liahed, to the end that the heavy burdens |
now resting upon the people may be re- j/
moved as speedily as possible. The |
present impoverieued condition of the
country, produced by the late civil war, < 5
the disorganization of our labor system, i
and the wasteful extravagance which 5
characterized the acts of those lately in |
authority, render the practice of the most I
rigid economy indispensably necessary. I
Our resources should be husbanded, our E
expenditures confined within the strict- |
est limits of necessity, and public offi- |
cials held to rigid accountability. By a 1
wise, honest and faithful administration V
of the government, the public credit will %
soon be restored, and the people be re-
lieved of, the weight of taxation which |
now oppresses them.
FLOATING DEBT OF WE8TEBN k ATLANTIC
BATLBOAD.
Your attention is also lespectfully call
ed to the propriety of making provisions
for the payment of the floating debt of
the Western & Atlantic Railroad. The
annual report of the Comptroller Gen
eral, herewith transmitted, shows that
there was paid out of the public treasury
during the year 1871, to claims belong
ing to the class just named, the sum of
$453,089.92. There is still a large num
ber of such claims outstanding, a por
tion of which have been audited by the
commissioners appointed by the Legis
lature, in the act approved October 24,
1870.
At the late session of the General As
sembly, a committee was appointed with
power to investigate the conduct of the
said commissioners, and to inquire
whether any claims had been allowed by
them after being rejected by the Legis
lature or by the coarts, or whether any
claims had been allowed which had been
barred by the statute of limitations, and
whether any fraudulent and illegal
claims had been allowed, and upon wind
evidence. No warrants have been issued
for the payment of these claims since
my accession to office. It is a matter oi
doubt whether any appropriation exists
for their payment, and I deemed it pro
per and respectful to await action on the
part of the Legislature, before directing
further payments to be made.
I wonld also call yonr attention to the
foot, that there is outstanding a large
amount of claims against the State, in
the form of change bills, and notes ie
sued by the Western & Atlantic Railroad.
Most of these purport to have beeni 5-
sued during the late war, and others be«r
date as far back as the time when tie
road was being constructed. I hs^
been informed that it has been held
the courts of Tennessee, that tne fm 1
amount specified on the face of tie I
change bills issued daring the war, - |
recoverable. In view of tee fact that
much litigation may arise, and great ex
pense be incurred in suits brought in the
courts of Tennessee for the collection oi I
these bills, I respectfully recommend i
that seme provision be mane whereby g
these evils may bo avoided.
LEASE OF TEE WESTERN A ATLANTIC BAB>-
BOAD.
The attention of the Legislature b^
never been formally called to the lea 5 ?
of the Western Atlantio Railroad, ami
therefore transmit herewith copies of jjj*
the papers of record and on file in
Department, referring to the same.
From these papers it wiii appear tir
on th9 27th day of December, 1870, pf
of this act, I hav6 caused bonds to be) predecessor leased the road, its rolling
of
prepared, anu the same are now being (stock and other property, for the term^
used in exchange and redemption of the Jtwenty years, for the sum of t?25,000
old bonds falling due the present year. | month, or 300,000 per annum.