The Georgia Jeffersonian. (Griffin, Ga.) 18??-18??, November 24, 1853, Image 1

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VOL. XIV. £ • * TWB GORGIA JEWRSip; PUBLISHED EVERT THt’liSDi 1 MORNING BY WILLIAJvfr CLINE, At Two Dollars and PWy Cents jer an nnm, or Two Dollars paid in advance. J ADVERTISEMENTS re inserted hi OXE VOI.I.Jk |)Ar iM|tiire, lor fust insertion, and FIFTY CEJVJ’S per square, fr cKJa£.ecluyi ttverenlier. A deduetton will be made to those who advertise try the y&r. \ All advertisements not otherwise ordered, will <* continued till forbid. jf ‘ lO*S.VI.ES OF LJXDS by Administrators, it'xmitors or Guardians re required bjjaw to be ♦wltl on the first Tuesday in the month, between eh.; hours ol ten in the lorennon and three ill the afternoon, at the Court-House, in the county m M'Oieh Hie land is situated. Notice of these snle f ■must he iven in a public “azette FORTY /WVfa (jw’ious to tlie day of sale. SALES OF XEG ROES must be marie at puh lic. auction on the lirst Tuesday oft lie month, be tween the usual hours of sale, at the plare ol pub e sales in the county where ihe letters Tesla •iimlary, of Administration or Guardianship may : have lieen “ranted; first giving FORTY IWPsj notice I hereof in one of the public gazettes of this j -State, and m the court house whe e such salearse I ■le •-■e held: Notice ti,r the sale of Personal Property musl be itiven in like manner FORTY D.IYS previous *Jo I hi; day ol sale. Nnitoe to Debtors and Creditors of an estate *llo*l be published FORTY DJYS. Notice that annlicalion wilMiemadcto the Court Ordinary for I.Rave TO sell UKD must be pub- i hsbed lor TfVO MO.VTIIS, Notice for leave to sell negroes must he 1 published TWO MONTHS before anv order at>- j so’nie shall be made I hereon by the Court. CITATION'S for Letters of Administration, j must be published thirty days; for Dismission j f n-n Administration, monthly six months; for ■Dismisson from Guardianship, forty oat •. Rules fortlic Foreclosure of Mortgage must be published monthly for four months, eatali psh.rig lost p ipers, tor the full space of three months; -for cornpeltin? -titles trmm Kxcenforors Adiiiintstrators,wheie a bowl bnsbeen <;tven by ihe deceased Ihe full space of three months. GOVERNOR COBB’S MESSAGE CONCLUDED. EDUCATION'. The cause of Education numbers, among its friends ne supporters, more zealous or liberal, than the people of Georgia.. It is with sincere pleasure and honest pride that we can point to the progress of edu cation in otir State. Our University was never in a more flourishing condition, and never more deserving of the confidence and patronage of the State. Other col leges have sprung up in generous rivalry with this institution under the patronage •of private enterprise, affording the most exteusive facilities for a liberal education to all who tuay be possessed of the necessa ry means. Colleges and Seminaries for ■the edueation of our daughters arc to be found in almost every neighborhood, foun ded upon private munificence and conduct ed with marked energy and ability. I would not unuecessarily mar this picture, so grateful to our feelings and so gratify ing to our State pride; but a sense of duty demands that our attention should be turned to another branch of the subject, which presents for our consideration far different results Whilst the minds of those, who have been blessed with the ne cessary means, are being stored with all the rich treasures of knowledge, placed in their reach by these flourishing institu tions—there is to be found another class, less favored of Heaven, who are growing tip in utter ignorance. The propriety of providing for the education ot‘ the poor is recognized by every one; but I am not sure that its importance is fully apprecia ted. Ido not speak of that complete aud finished education which can be acquired only in our higher semiuaries and colleges, hut I refer to it iu its more limited sense. The man who can read and write is a well educated man, in comparison with one, to Yvlioin the Alphabet is an unmeaning mys tery; and the gulf that separates these two classes i3 far wider and deeper than the one that lies between the humblest scholar and the most learned Professor. Give to every son and daughter of the State an •opportunity of learning to read and write, aud we become that day an educated peo ple for all the practical purposes of Gov ernment. The honesty, purity, and intel ligence of the people constitute the firm foundations of a republican government. To the extent of our ability it is our duty .to foster and nurture the elements of secu rity and strength. Georgia has in some ■degree realized this truth and exhibited a ■disposition to act upon it. Her ablest sons liavc been summoned to the task of devi sing systems for the education of the poor; and our legislative tables groan under the accumulated reports of committees appoint ed to investigate and report upon the subject. All that could be done in this way has been done, and yet the sons and daughters of poverty are unprovided with the opportunity of learning to read and write. Can nothing more be effected? Is this held of labor, so inviting to the patri ot and philanthropist, to be abandoned and forsaken? To answer these inquiries, we must ascertain, first, what has occa sioned this failure heretofore? and second ly, are we able and willing to overcome the difficulty in the future? The first point is very clearly presented in the statement in this simple fact—the number of children returned under our poor school, is (38,000) thirty-eight thousand, and the money ap propriated for their education is ($23,000) twenty-three thousand dollars. In oth er words, for the education of each child the Legislature appropriates the sum of sixty cents I can use no argument or ’ language that will present in more forcible 1 terms the main defect in our past system, < than is to be found in this statement. We i have failed to educate the destitute chili dren of the State, because we have failed to appropriate a sufficient sum of money tq effect the object It is more than use less to discuss plans and systems until the necessary means are furnished to make any plan successful. This view of the sub ject brings me to the second inquiry: Cau this difficulty be met and overcome? In other worjis, will the Legislature appro priate the necessary amount of money.— At present I am not prepared to recom mend any largo increase of the appropria tion My object is more particularly to call your attention to a period in the fu ture, when the reqiured sum cau be devo ted to this object without the imposition of any additional tax upon the people. If I am right in the views which I have al ready presented to the financial Condition “’•7 'Ui’kl -rttr, —T - rrnr rinrnit|ir;ii4 -i, he ©eorgift jenersouioit. of the State, present and prospective, in * the course of a few years the public debt will be paid off, aud there will be no ne cessity for incurring another. When that i time shall have arrived, our present tax l an ay be reduced one half, and still furnish ample means for an economical adminis tration of the government—giving no jnst errase of complaint on the ground of taxa tion. The State rail road under the sys tem I have recommended will bring into the Treasury a certain and regular reve nue of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. To that sum I look to supply the present defect in our educational system for the poor. To that patriotic object, ns well as the necessities of the institutions established by the State for the Deaf and Dumb, the Blind, and the unfortunate Lunatic, it should be 6acredly devoted; and until the wants of each and all should have been supplied, not one dollar should |be withdrawn for any other purpose I ! have invited your attention to the subject |at this time that the public mind may be j directed to its consideration in advance of the period when policy may with proprie ty be adopted. PUBLIC PRIST:NO. I call your attention to the law on the | subject of public printing. It is defective | in many respects, and requires Legislative j action. The great delay that occurred iu ! the printing of the Law's and Journals of } the General Assembly, should not be per mitted to occur again Under the law ns it now stands, there will always be more or less danger of its recurripg. In the es timation of many persons, the Executive is held nartjy responsible for such delay, and yet he is to prevent it.— Provision should be made by law that the public printing should b t done at the seat of Government, under the eye and super vision of the Executive, and he should be clothed with power to transfer }t from the hands of the public printer wheuever he fails to complete it in a given period, to be fixed by law. Whenever there is unneces sary delay, the Executive should be au thorized and required to make such deduc tions as the exigency in his judgment justi fies; aud similar power should be lodged with him in case the printing is not execu ted in manner and style required by law. It should be made the duty of the Secre tary of State, to compare the printed laws before their final publication, with the en rolled in office, and proper compensation should be allowed him for the discharge of this duty. The style and execution of the printed acts should be improved. The act of 1834 required them to conform to the law’s of the United ‘States, as at that time published. Since then great im provement has been made in the printing of the laws of the United States, and we should in this respect keep up with the progress of the age. ANNUAL SESSIONS. The experiment of biennlaTsessions of the 1 General Assembly, has been sufficiently tested by experience, and I believe that the public judgment of the State is pre- i pared to pronounce against it I was a mong the number of advocates, and so vo ted when the question was submitted to the people for their decision. lam now’ satisfied, that in common with a large ma jority of my fellow’ citizens, I was wrong, and am prepared to recommend a return ,to annual sessions. Even if the policy of biennial sessions w’as right at the time of its adoption, the increased interest and im portant public works of the State; have w rought such a change in Qur affairs that a different system is now required for otir progressed and progressing oonditkm. A single consideration should satisfy every man of the propriety of annual sessions. At present, all power is placed in the hands of the Executive for two years, and his term expires, and the people are called npon to pass judgment upon his official career"before his actings and doings can be submitted to the test of Legislative in vestigation. lie cannot be called upon for an exposition of his official doing3 until the General Assembly meets, and that docs not take place until his term of office S has expired, TOid he has cither been re ! elected or defeated, or has voluntarily withdrawn from the public service. This is wrong in theory, and mijftit work much injury in practice. It was an economical view of the subject, w'hich induced the people to resort to biennial sessions, but it may w'ell be questioned w’hether the re suit has justified this expectation. The fact that the General Assembly meets only once in two years, renders it necessa ry to extend the length of the session.— Ihe accumulated business of the two years must be disposed of, and additional time is required to do it. In order that the people may have an opportunity of passing their judgment upon this subject, I recommend that an act altering the con stitution be passed by the General Assem bly at its present session, and,;the ques tion submitted to the people at the next > general election. If approved by them, your successors can perfect the alteration, and if condemned, the act can then be re jected. An opportunity will thus be of fered of having the question decided by the direct action of those most deeply in terested in the matter. ATTORNEY GENERA!,. My experience in office has brought vividly before me the fact that innumera ble occasions occur, where the Executive,’ on account of the varied and increasing interests of the State, requires the mature and deliberate counsel of persons skilled in the law. The hurried and off-hand opin ions of the best lawyers, are worth but little under such circumstances; and the separate solemn advice of feed counsel on every such question, would be a heavy draw upon the contingent fund. My own conviction is, that an officer known as the Attorney General* of the State of Georgia, with such a salary as would command the best counsel in the State, would meet the necessity of the cast. To ‘the general du ty of advising the several Executive De partments of the Government, might be added with propriety, the representing and advocating the interest of the State in all questions arising before our Supreme Court. The duties of such an officer, it is , unnecessary for me to specif)'. The ne cessity and propriety of such an officer GRIFFIN, (GA.) THURSDAY MORNING, NOVEMBER 24, 1853. will be felt by every ono occupying the Executive Chair. THE SUPREME COURT AND STATE LIBRARY. A t the time the Supreme Court was es tablished the idea prevailed that the con venience of parties litigant required that the court should hold its sessions at points accessible to them. %or that purpose it was provided in the law organizing the court that it should sit at nine different places. Experience has show'll that this was a mistaken view of the subject, tis the parties seldom if ever attend the court. I heir attendance is not necessary, and they therefore stay away. No one will question the fact, that this migratory fea ture is attended with great inconvenience to the members of the court. If this was the only objection to it, it might be borne with, but it deprives the court of the ad vantage of consulting good libraries, which are not to be found at many of the points, where it is now held. Without attempt ing to present the many reasons which might be urged in favor of the change, as they will readily suggest themselves to your minds, I recommeud that the places for holding the court be rCfllTccd tir-the nurftber required by the Looking to the future permanence ana usefulness of this court, I think it advisa ble that the Conatitution be so amended, as to authorize its entire sittings at the seat of government. I can see no good reason w r hy it should be otherwise. The docket of the court could be so arranged for each of the Judicial Districts, as to enable counsel to attend to their cases with as much convenience at Milledgeville as at any other point. In this connection, I call your attention to the condition of our State Library.— For many years the library has been total ly neglecttd and lost sight of by the Le gislature. The last General Assembly made an appropriation of a thousand dol lars for it. This amount regularly con tinued with the system of exchanges with the other States, would in the course of a lew years furnish a Slate library, of which we might not be ashamed. The small sal ary given to the librarian will not secure the services of a competent officer, unless the appointment is connected with some other office, us lias been done during the last two years. The librarian’s report is herewith communicated. It will show the condition of the library, its increase since I came into office, and also the regulations which I have adopted to preserve it from its former fate. It cannot be necessary for me to submit au argument to the Legis lature in favor of obtaining and keeping a good State library. State pride, if there was no other consideration, would make an appeal iu its favor, that ought not to be disregarded. Its propriety and use fulness, however, arc too apparent to re quire further comment. I confidently com mend to your favorable consideration the policy adopted by your immediate prede cessors on this sulyecL MISCELLANEOUS SUBJECTS. A vacancy oocured on the Supreme Court bench during the present year, by the resignation of Hon. Iliram Darner, which I filled by the appointment of the Hon. Ebcnezer Starnes. There have been several vacancies occasioned by death and resignation, on the Circuit Court bench, but as they are no longer filled by the Legislature, it is unnecessary to speci fy them. The creditors of the Bank of Darien, have been for years applying to the State for the liquidation of their claims, holding as they do, that the State is liable for them. It is time that this matter should be dis posed of, and I recommend that provision be made by the present General Assem bly for the final settlement of these claims, either by submitting the question involved to the decision of the courts, or some other tribnnal to be selected by the Legis lature, and agreed to by ihe parties in in terest. I was directed by a resolution of the last General Assembly, to withdraw the block of marble, which had been furnished for the Washington Monument from this State, on account of the objectionable in scription upon it, and to provide another in its stead, with the simple inscription of the arms of the State. Finding that the object of the Legislature could be carried ont by an alteration of the inscription on the block already furnished, I adopted that course, as the most economical and appropriate under the circumstances. By joint resolution of the last General Assembly, I was required to appoint a commission to examine and report to the present Legislature, on the claims of Wm. Q. Anderson, Thomas Anderson, and Ri chard J. Willis, securities of John K. An derson, on his bonds, as cashier and agent of the Darien Bank. I appointed Charles Dougherty and Wm. llope Hull, and here with transmit to you their report upon the subject. My predecessor informed the last Gen eral Assembly that the question of the boundary between Florida and our own State had been submitted to the Supreme Court of the United States, and that he had engaged the services of the Hon. J. M. Berrien, as the Attorney of the State At the instance of Judge Berrien, I asso ciated with him the Hon. George Badger, having been authorized by resolution of the last Legislature to employ additional counsel in the case. ‘1 he case is still pend ing, and will probably be decided at the approaching term Os that court. A question of boundary between South Carolina aud Georgia has arisen since the adjournment of the last General Assembly. The correspondence between the Goremor and the Attorney General of South Caro lina and myself on that subject is here with transmitted. My views are so fully presented in that correspondence, that I deem it unnecessary to add anything in referetiee to it. I recommend that the suggestion contained in the last letter of the Attorney General of South Carolina, be acceded to, and that provision be made for submitting the question of boundary to the decision of the Supreme Court of the United States. It presents the most sa tisfactory mode of settling a dispute, -which if left unadjusted, might at some fu ture day lead to unpleasant consequences. By a joint resolution of the last General Assembly, I was directed to appoint “two suitable persons as delegates fro.n this State to attemiur convention of delegates, from tluPTbirteen Original States,” which was held in Philadelphia, on the 6th of July, 1852. I appointed the Hon. Mar shall J. Welborn, of Columbus, and the lion Asbury Hull, of Athens, who ac cepted the appointment, and thQir repjrt of the action of the-eanvenfckm is herewith transmittenr The], object for, which this convention assembled, and the mode by -wbieb-that object is to be consummated, are so fully and satisfactorily presented in the accompanying report, that I do not feel called upon to do more than ask for it yonr careful consideration. It is no local or sectional movement, in which the peo ple of Philadelphia and Pennsylvania a lone are interested. It was prompted by a national sentiments broad as the Union —and a spirit of gratitude and veneration as deeply implanted in the hearts of the American people, as ar6 the memories of our revolutionary struggles. Georgia lias participated so far witli commendable zeal, and patriotic ardor in this noble enter prise—and I doubt not, that every step of its future progress will be marked w’ith the evidence of her liberality. The last General Assembly passed a joint resolution authorizing one “to erect, on the public fgrdunds, near the State House, a suitable monument to the mem ory of our late distinguished fellow-citizen, Hon. John Forsyth, and pay for the same out of the money appropriated! for that purpose by the act pf the Legislature, ap proved February 23, 1850.” ‘I he propo sition contained in this resolution, meets my cordial approval. No one entertained a higher appreciation of the services and brilliant career of Mr Forsyth, tbau my self, and it wouljl have me sincere pleasure to have carried out the intention of the Legislature, ts lF'oould have been done. The amount of the appropriation is wholly inadequate for the contemplated object. A monument erected on the State House square, to the memory of Mr. Forsyth, should not only be creditable to the State, but worthy of the distinguished dead; such a monument cannot be obtain ed for one thousand dollars. For this rea son, aDd for this reason alone, I have taken no steps to carry out tin's resolution, and I now recommend that the appropiation be increased to a sum that will secure such a monument as theoceasion calls for; a mon ument worthy of the State of Georgia, and worthy of the distinguished defender of the Constitution and Union of our fathers. We have just had our first judicial elec tions under the law giving those elections to the people. The policy of the law has been vindicated, and it presents an appro priate occasion for recommending an cx tension of its provisions to the remaining cases of State officers elected by the Le gislature. Our election laws need amendment.— The duty of deciding upon the returns of of many elections, is, by implication devol vefl upon No rules liow e for'arc presf!fTiMfii“B-H tWa goA;n.unytA—- 1 his should be remedied by the passage of an act, plainly defining his duty, po.ver and mode of procedure. The great number of laws which have been passed on the subject of the lands be longing to the State has involved that subject in great difficult/. Many of these laws were of a mere looal character, but their application being general in the terms of the statute, has produced a con trariety of provisions difficult to reconcile. The whole subject needs thorough aud radical legislation, and I trust it will re ceive your consideration during the pre sent session. For the disposition of the re* maining ungranted lands of every de scription, that have been regularly survey ed, I would recommend that the policy of the act of 1843 be adopted. Experience has proven it to be, by far the most eco iuomical and satisfactory mode of disposing of the public lands. The slow but steatfy development of the mineral resources of our State, should bring to yonr attention the importance of providing for a thorough survey of the State. Other departments of interest would be greatly baqefitted by it—and I recommend that amplepro vision’ be made for that purpose. I was requested by resolution of the Senate of the last Legislature to make the alterations and arrangements in the Sen ate Chamber rendered necessary by the increased number of that body It has been attended to—and a portion of the expense paid out of the contingent fund. No special apppropriatiou was made to carry out this resolution, and it now be comes necessary for you to make an early appropriation to pay the balance due to Air. Lord, the contractor. As he was a mong the up fortunate number who suffer ed severely from the late fire in this city, I would urge upon you tbe*justice of pro viding for the immediate settlement of his account. Your attention has doubtless been ar rested by the detractive elWracter of the fire to which I have just alluded The in dividual sufferers make no appeal to you for relief, but it is in your power to lender esseniial aid, not only to them but to the whole community, by decisive action upon the subject of a removal of the seat of go vernment. The constant agitation of that question has paralyzed the energies of the people of Milledgeville and crushed their spirit of enterprise. The future prosperity of their city is involved in it, and so long as it remains an open” and unsettled point, the effect will be felt and seen in the downward tendency of every* - interest nected with the prosperity of the city. Ample time has been allowed for her as certaining the popular will on the subject, and legislative expression should now be ’given to the judgment of the people. It is due not only to this community, but al so to the future comfort of those, who may be officially called to spend a portion of their time at the Capitol. S'ch arrange ments as are necessary to make Milledge ville a pleasant residence for the members of the General Assembly, and others call ed here by public business, can never be , made until it is known that the* seat ol will hot be removed. What ever, therefore, may be the pubtip will on this subject, let it be made knwrn in sncli authoritative form, as will teVivve all doubt land anxiety, in reference to it. FEDERAL RELATIONS. I herewith transmit a communication I from the State Department of the Feder al Government, accompanied with a copy of a “cori'Uiar convention between the Unite 1 Slates of America and his Majes ty the Emperor of the French” Your attention is called to. the provisions of the seventh article of the convention. Therewith transmit the resolutions of various State Legislatures, which have been forwarded to me. Since the last session of the General Assembly, an occnrrence has transpired in which Georgia, though not directly a party, is in my judgement deeply interest ed, and to which I deem it my duty to call your attention. A citizen of Virgin ia, on his way to Texas, with slaves, is, by force of circumstances, compelled to make a temporary transit thn ugh :hecity of New York. Upon Habeas Corpus be fore Judge Payne of that Siata—the ne groes were declared free, aud the citizen deprived of his properly. Though in demnified fully, I believe by voluntary snbsciiption, yet the principle involved in the decision is one of vast importance and starling tendency, in which the inter et of Mr. Lemmons becomes insignifi cant, and the interest of slave hold ing State paramount and equal. Vergin ia and Texas have no deeper interest than Georgia and Alabama. It is understood that an appeal has been taken from the decision, to the appellate court of New York, and it is probable that the final ad-, judication of the question involved will be made by the Supreme Court of the United 1 States. The deliberate determination of any question by that tribunal commands I and should receive the respect of the : country, and constitutes a precedent con- ! trolling subsequent cases. The principles 1 involved in the decision of Judge Payne will be better considered in a coutt room than in a document like the present. It is not my purpose therefore to submit an argument on the correctness of that and ci sion. If such is the law', it is the first lime that it has been solemnly, ihus pro duced in a case made before, any tribunal within my knowledge. If it be true that the citizens of the slaveholding State*, who by force of circumstances or for con venience seek a passage through the ter ritory of a non slaveholding Slate, with their slaves—are thereby deprived of ih ’ir property in them, and slaves ipso facto become emancipated, it is time that we know the law as it is. No Court in America has ever announced this to be thelaw. It would be exceedingly strange if it should be. By the comity of Nations, the personal status of every man is de termined by the law of his domicil, and whether he be bood or free, capable or incapable there, he remains so every where anew domicil is acquired, Tbi* is but the courtesy of nation to nation, founded, not upon the statute, but is ah -oiwiHjt noooituary for live peace anti bar* mony of Stales, and for the enforcement of private justice. A denial of this com ity is unheard of among civilized nations, and if deliberately and wantonly persist ed in, would be just cause of war. Can it be possible that the courtesy yielded by independent nations to each other, can be rightfully denied by one of these States to the others? Is the bot.d of Un ion an authority or reason for a course of conduct unjustifiable without that bond? Did the framers of the Constitu tion, so wise and so provident as to all other possible causes of disturbance be tween the States, permit so preguant a source of discord to pass unheeded and unprovided for? In yielding our right to make treaties, and to declare war, have we left ooiselves remediless in case of palpable violation of thelaw’ and comity of nations? The adjudications of these questions by the tribunal organized un der the constitution, cannot be reviewed with indifference by us. Every slave holding State should be heard before that tribunal. I therefore recommend, that iu the event of the Lemmon’s case being carried before the Supreme Court, the Executive be authorized o employ able couocel, in behalf of the State of Georgia, 10 be heard before that court, upon these questions. The geneiai condition of our Federal Relations presents a flattering prospect. Since the happy termination of those angry sectional strifes, which for a time threatened our peace and quiet, the coun try has returned to a state of calm repose, and ait the indications of the present, point to a happy, peaceful and prosperous future. HOWELL COBB. Pacific Railroad. A Pamphlet written by a member of the Philadelphia Bar, thus sums up the advan tages of this great projected enterprise: Ist It will necessarily secure to us a virtual monopoly of the Chinese and Ja panese markets. 2d besides the mails of this Continent, those of all Europe, for all parts of East ern, Middle and Southern Asia and of all Europeau possessions in the Pacific, will be carried over this eqnally safe and ex peditious route, aud this mail service will, in itself, constitute a large source of reve nue. 3d. The United States mails between the two great sections of the Union will be carried over this road with a great sa ving of expense to the nation and of time to the commercial community, and with a certaiuty that cannot be otherwise attain ed. 4th. All the travel of Europe for the larger portion of Asia and all the Eastern Pac.fic Islands, will pass over this road, both going and returning. sth It will be a cheap and safe medi um of conveyance of domestic exchange and commerce, to the amount of millions on millions every year, between the great regions of the Pacific and Atlantic States. 6th. It will afford an outlet to the shores of the two Oceans for all the pro i ductions of the Mississippi Valley States, aud enable us to supply with bread the crowded populations both of Europe and Asia. 7 th. It will largely increase the business of all railroads ruuniug through the States, from the main trunk to any Atlantic sea i port. , Bth. It will employ, during the years consumed in building it, thousands of our laboring people in a healthy climate, and will offer facilities to emigration, and will be the means of currying population to our territories, and of creating new and happy Sta'es in the vast wilderness of the continent. * 9th. It will be a mighty bond of union, of safety and of peace, between onr own American States and with the world. 10th. Jt will enable the government to discharge certain constitutional obligations of defence and protection, under which the United States exists in respect to each one of the States, and which, so far as California is concerned, cannot be pro perly discharged without some such means of speedy and direct communication be tween herself and the other States of the confederacy. 11th. It will act as a powerful stimu lus on the industrial prosperity of the < whole country, and particularly on the business interests of our great Pacific and Atlantic sea ports. 12th. It will be the great world road of commerce. Letter from Mr. Toombs. We find the following letter from Mr. Toombs in the Chronicle & Sentinel. It is in reply to one from Jefferson Davis, published some weeks ago ia the Jefflr- j sonian. Greensboro, Ga.,Nov. 2, 1853. To the Editor of the Chronicle Sentinel. Sir—Col. Jefferson Davis having as sailed me in a letter to one Gaskill, which has been published in the newspa pers of this State, makes it proper that I should address the public through the same channel. I shall say nothing of this Gaskill, except so much as may be necessary to elucidate the controversy with the Secretary of War. My accounts with him have been settled. He has twice obtruded himself upon public meet ings which I have been invited to ad dress. At the last meeting, for having previously held up his father and moth er, in his native state, Vermont, to the indignation of the people, for having im piously declared that God had killed Gen. Harrison and Gen. Taylor for th>* benefit of his party, and for his utter disregard of all truth, I felt constrained, in his presence, to give him a severe but well merited castigation. I have heard noth ing more of him since the meeting, until he turned up in this under the protection of the War office There I shall leave him. The letter from Gaskill to the Secretary of War is not published, but it stems from the ac cou t given of it by him and the Secreta ry, that I am charged with having de nounced Jefferson Davis as a disunionist sitting in the counsels of the nation, and with lepreser.ting him as having advoca ted, in a speech delivered at Philadelphia, ihe constitutionality and expediency of building the PaciSfc Uailroed with the resources of the Federal Government. — The first charge seems especially to have excited the ire of the Secretary, and he repels it in language which demands of me an appropriate reply. What was said by me on the occasion refered to, was not done in a corner, it was said to a public assembly of the peo ple; therefore, the truth of the charge could have been easily ascertained. The iusuai course pursued by gentlemen, who ri|ay feel themselves aggrieved under sdc.h circumstances, is to inquire of a person who is alleged to have made an uffensivc charge, concerning its teuth; that of swaggering braggarts and cunning pallroons, is to indulge in vulgar epithets and argumentative personalities, just so far as may not implicate them with the falsehood, if the charge should prove to he untrue. ‘The Secretary of War has chosen to pursue the Tatter course.— Whatever advantage this cot rse may have, it is not to he commended for its chivalry. The only allusion which I made to the Secretary oi War, having any relation to the first charge, was of a wholly diflVreal charac er to that alledged. I arraigned Gea. Pierce before the peo ple, for betraying the Compromise and. its friends in the face of all his pro* sessions, by bringing its enemies into power. To sustain , this charge I re viewed the positron of each member of the Cabinet, and showed that not one of them were identified with that great measure, and that the fidelity of each one of them to it might be justly questioned. I stated that Col. Davis had, in the Sen ate, voted against its leading.measures —united with its enemies, and opposed it at home, and was beaten by Gov. Foote of Mississippi, mainly cm account of that position. I then proceeded to show that the policy of the government was just such as might have been ex* peeled from such a combination. That its animating principle was the cohesive pro perties of public plunder, to which all were invited who would join and support the coalition, whether Freesoilers, Disuniouists or compromise men. These were the positions which 1 everywhere maintained during j&e late canvass, and unfortunately for the country, the gov- ‘ eminent was constantly furnishing addi* tional evidence for their support. It was union with the enemies of the Constitu- 1 lion and the South that I denounced. 1 consider disloyalty to the Federal Union itself a virtue, when compared to the servile business of consenting to am! ‘main taining a coalition with the Buffalo Free soilers; traitors who have for the last Sve years been openly vindicating the larceny of our slave property, backing mobs to re sistance of constitutional laws passed for our protection, and excitiing them to the murder of those of our c lizens who attempted to recover their property under them. And in the lowest deep there ii> yet a lower deep, nnd the administration has reached it. Not content tkith taking these men to their bosoms, under the fraudulent pretext that they have been cleansed by being dipped into - the fiithy common sewer of governmentpaironage, the administration has combined wilh them, to ciush and trample under foot the true friends of the compromise, and the only trufc friends of the Constitution and the South in the Northern States.— Ft openly sustains John Van Buren and bis mercenary gang of Freesoilers, in their warfare against son, O’Conner, and their patriotic corn rades in New York, (To have separa ted from these political lepers, on the. ground of their Freesoilism. Denun ciation of this policy, would but weak en the force of its naked statement. The Secretary of War seems to plead as a sett off” lo this charge against him self, which was never made by me. He says, “his most ardent language never reached the extreme to which (I) went, both before and after the measures, com monly called the Compromise of 1850, had been presented, and its priciples and the constitutional rights involved, had been fully discussed.” This is certainly true, for I have never known the Secreta ry betrayed into a strongmuch less an im prudent expression in behalf of the rights of the South, or against their threateued invasion. For my'self, from my youth up, 1 have ever held the Union subordinate to the great principles it was intended to perpetuate—as a means by which they were intended to he secured, and not as an end to which they were to be sacrifi ced. 1 know many good and true men in the South, better and truer than the Secretary of War, who do desire disunion now; ] know others who have openly ceclared that they oid desire it, who are now enjoying lucrative offices under the t ederal Government, and to enter upon them have taken the oath to support the Constitution of the United States. But I shall leave this ethical question of their eligibility to be settled between them and the presant administration. Jn the contest of 1850, I was against the Union, in the event of the infliction of threatened aggressions upon.our rights, which aggressions were openly stated and cleaily defined. I have never re tracted, changed or modified the posi tions then assumed and maintained; and each of them are firmly planted in the fourth resolution of the Georgia Plat form, and are fundamental tenets in the political creed of the Union Republican party of Georgia. Because these eon tingencios did not happen, and can never happen while the compromise is preser ved, “in principle and substance/* I have supposed the Union and the Compro mise against the opponents of either, at the South: that they may never happen. I have opposed, and shall continue to op pose the Freesoilers and Abolitionists at the North, and their friends and allies un der whatever political flag they may sail. The second charge referred to by the Secretary of war needs no reply. I co. <* sider his letter a plea of guilty, and an attempt to justify. iVIy charge was based upon his own speech, printed by his authority in the Washington Union, of the 4lh of August. 1 read extracts from that speech, and araonj others the very extract to which he refer*, and comment - ed upon them. I did hold the President responsible for the principles laid'-dowr* in that speech. My estimate of the President is not high, but it is not, as yet, low enough to suppose him capable of permitting two of his Cabinet officers to remain in his Cabinet after making such public speeches in his own presence, unless lie approved the principles and policy’ laid down by them. I will therefore, for the presant , simply turn over the Secretary’s justifi cation to theconsiiieradon of his political ftiends in Georgia, who, with such singu* lar unanimity, before the election, main tained their old political tenets on inter nal improvements by the general govern ment, and condemned the opinions ex pressed by Messrs. Davis and Guthrio at Philadelphia. 1 am respectfully, Your obeeient servant R. TOOMBS. The Waß'in China.— lts Barlarttics. — The advices from China give shocking ac counts of the barbarities which arc com mitted at the sacking of towns and on the field of battle. It is stated that in one engagement one thousand were killed, be sides a large, number who Were drowned by being pursued into the river; in anoth er, seven thousand were killed; in another, seven hundred were burnt to death and killed, only ninety prisoners having been brought in by the victors; but they had the heads of one hundred and fifty others. Numerous engagements , are mentioned where thousands perished. The Emperor appears to set the example of barbarous cruelty. When one of his officers is de feated he takes his head off. Every gen eral, therefore, is fighting for his own head. From Texas. —The accounts, with re gard to the crops of Texas, arc generally quite favorable, and especially those of cotton and sugar. Frost was said to have visited every portion of the State, except the Islands along the Gulf Coast. In the Western portion of the State, corn was selling at 25 a 30c. per bushel, and pro visions of all kinds are reported to bo very abundaut. The Triuity, Brazos and Col orado were, in fine condition for steamboat navigation, and several steamers were preparing for the trade. A letter from a gentleman, who had just visited thfe Gau daloupc mountains, reports that his party found an abundance of gold at the place some time since designated by Mr. Stew art. He says the gold is found in the soil, as in the dry diggings of California, and uot in quartz. There was plenty of wa ter within half a mile of the mine, ahd with cradles, &c., gold could be obtained with/ little difficulty. Mrs. Partington says she has notice l that whether flour was dear or cheap, sh had invariably to pay the same money for half a dollar’s worth. Governor of New Jersey. —Price, De mocrat, is elected Governor of New Jer sey. The legislature is also Democratic. The Eastern Warbeocv.— By the ar rival of the steamer America,, from Liver pool, we learn that the Turks had fired : ; upon a Russian steamier, killing - several persons. The combined fleets of France and England were inside the Dardanelles. No. 47 J •