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THE VOLUME I. BAINBRIDGE, GEORGIA, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 1872 NUMBER 37. The Weekly Democrat TVBUSHED evert thcbidat morvivg. SUBSCRIPTION TERMS: One Copy one year One Copy six months $3 00 2 50 Reading Matter on Every Page. (From the ffennnah Morning 5ewe.) ATLANTIC AND GULF it AIL- ROAD. Seventeenth Annual Meeting of Stockholders^—Annual Re port of the President—Elec tion of Directors.— The seventeenth annual meeting of the stockholders of the Atlantic ami Gulf Railroad Company was held at 11 a. m. yesterday in the of fice of the Company on the Ray, op posite the Central Railroad Rank. The attendance of stockholders was large, and represented thirty-one thousand nine bundled and ninety three shares. On motion, lion. Iverson L. Har ris was called to‘the chair, and Capt. ,T. M. B. Lovell, of Savannah, I chosen Secretary. Col. John Screven, President of the Rood, then submitted his annual report, which, on motion of Mr. T. IV. Fleming, was received and unanimously adopted. president's report. Atlantic k Gulf It. R. Co.,) Savannah, January 1, 1872. [ The President and Directors re spectfully submit to the Stockhold ers the following statement of affairs of the Company for the year ending the 31st ultimo. The,'gross earnings of the Com pany for the year 1871, exclusive of amounts not yet adjusted with con tracting Companies, but which be long to the earnings of the year, amount to $1, 044,6(17 98, derived ns .follows: From freight. * 791,280 GO “ Passage 217,50 > 62 •• Mails ' 21,720 00 Incidental Sources 14,101 70 Total $1,044,007 98 As compared with .the earnings of tint previous year, t he earnings for 1871 show an increase or $12,(396 9T. This increase is small in itself, hut in a view of all the conspicuous causes, which have impaired the value and the volume of railway transportation during the last six months of the year, it should be a subject of congratulation, that any increase has been obtained at all, and that this Company has not suf fered in common with most of its contemporaries, while it is signifi cant of the amount to which this in crease might have been augmented •had these causes not existed. During the first six months of the year, the business of the Company was prosperous and active, showing n increase on the business of the amc period in 1870 ot about twen- y-threc per cent. After the expira tion of this period, the cotton crop as severely damaged by successive wins of extraordinary violence, and, following upon this providential cause of a reduction of the resources -of transportation, ensue* a warm struggle at competitive points, re sulting iu a large reduction of rates. The cotton receipts of the Road from September 1st, 1871, to date as compared with the.cotton receipts for the same period in 1870, fell off 56,276 bales,- while the comparative -earnings cJ the Road declined about fourteen per cent. The gross earn ings of the year were therefore sus tained by the successful results of the operations of the first six months. The advance in these months was 98,484 08, the loss in the last six onths was $85,787 11, and the dif- ice between these amounts is 12.696 97, the increase above sta- ted. It may be unnecessary to indulge in reflections as to what better re sults might have been accomplished during the past year, in view of a larger production than the country yielded, i)ut as experience With rail- I ways terminating at the Southern Atlantic, ports has indicated, as an WPTOtnutc rnlc of trt ' Eporwli<)n jJ^rtlq.oftb.cotto.MaoU,. r to that of the outward and the gross be improper to “* tema, Hut with » rrop^, poontrx ou which the road is depeo dent, the earnings for the past year would have been highly satisfactory. The general balance of the Treas urer, and the report of the General Superintendent, hereto appended, exhibit the condition of the Com pany’s affairs, in their respective de partments. The true position of the Company in its most important aspect seems not to l>c understood. Its road is commonly regarded as a finished work. In previous reports this im pression has been carefully sought to be removed. The Atlantic & Gulf Railroad is an unfinished enterprise. It has not been completed to the terminus designed to be reachcd?by the originators of the scheme, as specifically indicated by its charter from the State and on which the subscriptions of the State and airthc original Stockholders of the Company wero predicated. The charter declares the route of Road shalljic sclcctcd'“with distinct refer ence to a speedy connection with the Gulf of Mexico, at Pensacola or Mobile;” and again, that it was “the intention of the State of Georgia, by this act to^,provide a main trunk railwayJacrossTher “ territory, ^'con necting the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico.” Thisjintention, so-'emphat- ically declared by the act of the Leg islature, in response to the main purpose of tUe§ projectors of enter prise, has been as emphatically adopted, and as steadily pursued bv their successors. The administra tion of the Company has regarded the completion of the Road to Pen sacola or Mobile, but preferably the latter, as not merely essential to[tlie true objects of the charter, but as important to the ultimate* prosperi ty of the Company. If any deviation from this leading pupose lias occur red, it has been temporary, ami with a view only to strengthen the main hire by lateral lines, bv which it would be at once supported and protected. It was not until the close of 1870, that any'pausc in the progres^of the main line was en tertained,^jand tjic experience of the yoar 1S71 is sufficient to show that the ..Company should not rely Ex clusively on its temporary local es tablishment. Local improvements, though sensible, may be slow—slow er still, because of calamities. Com petition may bo arrested to prove only the lull of an ever-shifting strug gle, and so, too, the development of new non local business may be re strained by causes as multifarious as they may be unexpected. Under such conditions, and with an income not commensurate with the invest ments of the Company, sand liablerto fluctuations as uncontrolable as they may not prove very successful, the soundest policy would look to an early resumption of the Westward progress of the Road and to its com pletion to it legitimate terminus. The Board of Directors, not at any time unmindful of the. import ance of this object, and pausing onlv for a favorable opportunity for ac tion, have determined that the line should be extended so soon as the necessary means can be obtainod Active measures have been taken to restore a restoration of the public lands in the State of Alabama, gran ted to the Company, and of which it was deprived by limitation in 1867, and other measures will be adopted as soon as they may be authorized l\v*the proper occasion. It is not now proposed to enter upon an elclwrate discussion of this important subject. Perhaps the val ue of the completion of the Atlantic k Gulf Railroad to the State, to the city of Savannah, to their co-stock holders and to the country at large, is already sufficiently manifest But aside from the reasons already set forth of its importance to the Com pany, we may be permitted to sug- •gest, that it may prove the most po tent balance that can be established against the vast railway consolida tion scheme which is penetrating the Southwest with %igantic*trides, and which has justly alarmed the whole commercial and railway in terests of the jsouth. Threatening to absorb the resources of the South Atlantic ports, and to despoil their railways of supplies ot transporta tion, they must bring themselves by theshortest routes in contact with the great markets on the Gulf, and thus seek the tributes justly due to grea ter celerity and cheapness of trans portation. Tho value of the com merce passing around the Florida Capes was estimated, before the war, at $400,000,*000. This must be greatly augmented by the natur al Improvement or the Gulf States under the development of their rail ways and the increase of their popu lation and production, and if there is force in, the prominent law of com merce and trade, that they first seek the nearest available market, New Orleans, the most conspicuous of those on the Gulf, must continue ttr concentrate the largest share To this point, a commanding system of railways brings a great volume of commerce to swell the ponderous burthen of the Mississippi and will unite New Orleans with jthe the Southern Pacific Railway. It is to reach these grand objects that the completion of the Atlantic & Gulf Railroad is aimed,.looking to estab lish the shortest line of communica tion between the Atlantic, and Gulf cf Mexico, to share in the vast com merce passing from the one to the other, to carry it into and cross-‘the territory of Georgia, to aid in de positing it in her own seaports, and to give them a second connection with the Southern Pacific Railway, below the thirty-second parallel. If these views ‘ arc chimerical, it may follow, that the Port of Savan nah especially, must surrender the extension of one of the strong arms of her present progress and future attainment to a new power threaten ing to sap the foundation.of her com mercial establishment. If, on the contrary, the project of the Atlantic and Gulf Railroad is susceptible of the development in its entirety, with which sound reason seems to invest it, its worthy of an energetic effort for its early consummation. Assuming New York as the ob jective point, the route via "Mobile, Montgomery, Atlanta and the Rich mond Air Lino, will be about 200 miles shorter than tho route by the extension of the Atlantic and Gulf Railroad via the Coast Roads’ while the liTtter route beyond Savannah may he in adverse control. Savan nah must, therefore, depend on her advantages by sea to Northern and foreign ports, in conjunction with her possessing a short rail route be tween New Oilcans, Mobile and the Atlantic. Computing" the distance between New Orleans and New York by what is known as the Richmond Air Line, at 1363 miles, the distance from New Orleans to Savannah would 614 miles, and the freight mileage from Savannah to Now York by sea would be*200 miles, making a total of 814 miles against 1363, and a difference of 449 miles in favor of the rail and water route via Savan nah. The time made on the latter would be nearly the same as on the former route in the transportation of treights, while the difference of cost must go to the advantage of the latter in the ratio of the difference ot freight mileage, or nearly as eight to fourteen. To these conservative advantages, looking to the protection of the ex isting interests and to their future promotion, should be added others tending to open a new and inviting path for immigration, locally and westward, over a short line in 'a temperate latitude, to the develop ment of a large local commerce now unknown, at or intermediately be tween the termini, and to the en largement of the concentrating and distributing power of these and of every point through which the line will pass. Submitting them, as involving the highest interests of the Company, these proixisltions are laid before the stockholders, and their co-opera tion respectfully invited to promote the extension and the completion ot the road to its originally projected terminus. John Screven, President. The Chairman then read a com munication from Morris. Ketchum, Esq., inquiring whether the stock holders were willing to authorize the Board of Directors to act as agent of the Company in considering a proposition to lease the road to cer tain capitalists for a term of yearg. Action with reference to this com munication was deferred until to wards the close of the meeting, and the Secretary read the minntes of the preceding annual meeting, which were adopted. Col. J. L. Seward, ot Thoinasvllle, offered a series of resolutions rela tive to the extension of tae road westward to the termini originally contemplated by the charter of the Company. The resolutions were seconded, and Col. Seward, R. H. Hardaway, Col. Screven, Dr. R. D, Arnold, Hon. B. F. Bruton, and others, advocated their adoption.— The consideration of questions as to the probable cost of completing the road, as'well as the assistance that would be. extended by the State, were discussed at length by the Chair, M. C. Smith, Esq., Judge J. R..-Alexander, and' Hon. James M. nunter—afyer which the question recurring on the passage of the reso lutions, they were unanimously adopted. Col. Seward then read a preamble and resolution relative to the necesi- ty of encouraging through Rev. C. IT. Howard, .immigration to points on the line of the road, and request ing State and corporate aid in behalf «of the project. Adopted. THE KETCHUM LETTER AND THE PRO POSED LEASE, Mr.’D. G. Purse then asked if it was- in order to consider the com munication of Mr. Morris Ketchum, and being answered in the affirma tive, "the communication* was again read, and Mr. Purse offered a reso lution to authorize the; Board of Directors ,to|act collectively as agent of the _ Company .relative to any proposition7that might Be made to lease the road for a term of years, and then urged its passage. Dr. R. D. Arnold objected for the reason that no proposition could'be considered until it was made, and moved to lay the letter aid resolu tion on the table. j Captain E. T. Davis, Thomas- ville, said he hoped the litter would be- politely considered, and that a reply then be written to Mr. Ketch- uin. He was in favor, le said, of leasing the road on goo|l security, provided the party leasing would make it pay well, and after placing it in good order, to return it to tho stockholders at the expiration of the lease. ii n i ■■■’. • Captain J. M. 13. Lovell said that if thcre“was not money iu the road, Mr. Ketchum would not have sent his communication, and he therefore thought that the Company had bet ter manage the road themselves. Col. ScreveR thought that the letter and resolution, should be con sidered at once, and after several amendments and provisos had been read, the following resolution, pre pat ed by Hon. B. F. Bruton, of Bainbridge, was unanimously adopt-. ed: Resolved, That in response to the communication of this date from Morris Ketchum, Esq., addressed to the presiding officer of this meeting, in reference to the lease of the road, etc., the Directors are hereby in structed to invite a specific and definite proposition, and that when such a proposition is received by them, if it is such as in their opinion is entitled to earnest consideration, that they shall proceed to lay the same before a convention of stock holders to be called as early after as practicable. ELECTION OF DIRECTORS. The stockholders then proceeded to elect fifteen gentlemen to consti tute a Board of Directors for the ensuing year, with the following re sult: John Screven, R. D. Arnold, Wm. Dnncan, John Stoddard, Hiram Roberts, Charles Green, W. H. Wiltbcrger, J. L. Yillalonga, A. M. Sloan, Edward Lovell, R- H. Hard away, A. T. McIntyre, W. J. Young, C. J. Munnerlyn, W. O. Fleming. Each of the gentlemen received the full vote of the stockholders, and the meeting adjourned. in battle. He was educated in the Military academy of St. Petersburg, whence be graduated With distinc tion, receiving a lieutenancy of en gineers. Subsequently he obtained a place on the general staff of the Imperial army apd served with cred it in the Crimean war. He was af ter wards appointed Adjutant of the Emperor, and military tutor of the elder children of the Czar. He' is still young, being about forty-five. He has been very active in trying to bring about a solution of the Rou manian difficulty, in which attempt he has given offense not merely to the Germans, but also to the aggres sive Russian party. The Presidential Outlook.-— Among that class of politicians who, thrde months ago, could see but one candidate, there is now an anxious query whether President Grant is reasonably certain of carrying sev eral important States, wherein con fessedly serious political blunders have been made. New York, Mis souri, Louisiana, Georgia, and per haps Indiana, will vote, it is feared, against Grant, if he is renominated. Their loss would probably cost us the field. Such a tiket, however, as Trumbull and Blaine, or Wilson and Calfax, or Colfax and Hawley, would carry either of these States without loosing the vote of any that could be got for Grant. Every po litical campaign has its watchword that gives the clue to the popular sympathy. All the signs of the times indicate that the key-note of the Re publican party in the next campaign will be reform in public administra tion. With such a spirit a candi date who needs to be defended and apologized for, explained and clear ed up at every point, is Simply not available. To' all such the people will apply the French motto, Quis' excuse slacouse. He must be above the necessity of defense.—Chicago Tribune, 7. besides many other charitable insti tutions, all supported by the private charity of Catholics.” of Baron Yon Offenberg.—The new Russian Minister to the United States has last served at one of the most important of the minor courts of Europe, having held for some time the position o'f Counsel- General at Bucharest, and Russian agent for the Danupian Principali ties. He has been for some nine years in the diplomatic service, his first post being at Constantinople. He was subsequently Secretary of Legation at Yiena, and diplomat ic agent in Paris and Berlin. It will be evident therefore that he has had a highly useful diplomatic training. His previous career was ■ also not undis tinguished. .He was the son and grand-son of Russian Military officers who served with distinction and died The Ladies. The ladies at Washington w stove-pipe hats. Nilsson will sail for Europe in *iprit to fill operatic engagements there. Miss Maggie Mitchell is the hap py mother of a little Barefoot of her own. ‘ ‘ When a wife reigns, it seems nat : ural that she should storm too. She does so sometimes. A new style of ear-ring has a chain fastened from one ear-rjng to the other, passing ’under the chin and answering the double purposed a necklace. Naomi, the daughter of Enoch, was 580 years old when she married. While there is life, there- is hope. It was probably a discarded one who said: “Any fool can make a woman talk, but it’s hard to make one listen.” The reason why so few marriages are happy is, because young ladies spend their time in making nets, not in making cages. A New Orleans exchange says that a young widow in that city, who writes well, “is training for an editor.” Who is the editor she is training for ? A Cleveland youth, who gave his girl a bottle of “I love you,” per fume, has paid $200-to prove thathe did’nt mean anything by it. To be thine is the last fashiona ble feminine ambition. Scrawny necks are all the rage, and young ladies whose nature has not been thus blessed, paint their rounded shoulders with serial wrinkles. A female thus cruelly applies an old saying: •'Misfortunes never eome single,” And so, like birds »f a feather, The marriages and the deaths Are always printed together. Very Cheap Thunder. The New York Herald, which al- waj s goes armed to the teeth with Damascus Blades ten feet long and' rifled Columbiads as large as an or dinary saw-log, insists that the Ala bama claims must be settled to our entire satisfaction, or there must be an effusion of blood. It declares that if we can’t secure those claims peaceafly, why then we must resort to the arbitrament of arms and make the money come at the point of the bayonet. It is the easiest thing in the world to talk in that way, and to boast of what we can do and are determined to do in case our vener able friend, the Mistress of the Seas refuses, us indemnity for the dama ges inflicted upon us by Admiral Semrnes and the ship-builders on the Clyde* but suppose, for the sak argument, or something of that so; that we should make a peremptory demand upon Great Britian lor the immediate payment of those claims upon pain of finding herself at the point of the bayonet, and she, in stead of coming down with the cash, should send over fifty or sixty ele gantly equipped iron-clads to New York with the intelligence that she had.quit paying claims of any sort at the 1 particular point in question, do you suppose that'any of those su- peranuated old tubs of Robeson’s could go out tojmeet the messengers and receive the information in manner calculated to make ns feel proud of ourselves and of that bit of bunting'of whichfit has been observ ed that all its hues were born in heaven? £For%onr part, we are afrakltheyjeonld not. If there is to be a fight about the Alabama*claims, of course our part of it will have to be do.'.e by Robeson, and the Her aid ought to know that a man who has just'marrjed at his age for the firstitime iirliis life couldn’t easily be made mad enough to do much fighting with suchja*navy' as he hap pens just now'to have on hand. Let ii's hope that we shall'.not be com pelled to fight about this matter— that all the excitement which sprung up in the British capital the other day about the aspect of affairs at Geneva will cndjnjsmpke—and that all the use we shall have for bayo nets for the next few years will be to pin to the Presidential chair for an indefinite period that noble and profound statesman who now lends to the position a species of unearth ly lustre, which it never borrowed even from Washington himself.— Courier Journal 10th’. Roman Catholic Church in the United States.—A recent number of the Catholic World directs atten tion to the rapid growth of the Ro man Catholics in tho United States. It says; “No where has the Catholic Church increased so prosperously within the last fifty years as is in the United States of America. Two thousand churches and chapels were built;.an an increase of 1,800 clergymen^ 160 schools established for the Catholic training of 18,000 boys and 34,000 girls. Moreover, there existed in 1867, 66 asylums, with 4,968 or phans of both sexes; 26. hospitals, with 3,000 beds; 4 insane asylums, Gov. Reed of Florida Impeach ed. -[Special Telegram to the Morning Neire.] Tallahabsks, February 13, 1872. HARRI80N REED IMPEACHED. On the seventh instant, as you have been advised by mail, the Assembly, by a unanimous vote, impeached Har rison Reed, the carpeb-bag Governor of the State, of high crimes and misde meanors. A committee was appointed to notify the Senate of the action of the Assembly, but the Senate had adjourn ed to the 10th. The Assembly then ad journed to Saturday. * LIEUTENANT- governor DAT INSTALLED. On the afternoon of the 10th,- the Assembly Committee informed tbs Sen ate of the pjssage of the impeachment resolution, • and Lieutenant-Governor Day was thereupon sworn in as Acting Governor, and Reed retired. THE ARTICLES. The articles of impeachment number iwefre, and embrace charges of over-* issue of bonds, embezzlement, bribery and corruption. THE HIGH COURT OF IMPEACHMENT. The,Senate meets to-morrow as a High Court of impeachment, when Heed will be arraigned. No trial will probably be bad tbia session. THE OSBORNE FACTION. The movement to impeachment comes from the Osborne Ring, the mem bers of which oppose a trial, fearing the result. ADJOURNMENT ’The Legislature is likely to adjourn sMe die oo Monday. WHAT THE OSMORNITES WASTED. Billings has been elected President pro tern, of the Senate, which breaks up the cunningly-laid schemes ot the Osborne men, who wanted Day to re sign, so that their man could come in as Governor. Gilbert was the i to re sign his seat in the United Staes Sen ate, and an Osborne roan was to have been appointed. Osceola. Savage Battle Between rfors,—For a week or two past the boys of tbe ri val villages of Bellaire,: on tbe Ohio side of the rivet? and Benwood, on the West Virginia side, have been engaged iu fighting. Whenever a Be J lair boy was found on this side of the river he was unmercifully beaten, and when a Benwood boy was discovered in BeH- air tbe flogging was rapid with inter est. Not longer ago than last Saturday week the boys of the two places met on the ice and engaged in a regular pitch ed battle, using stones and even pistole, ome of the combatants are now in the Marshall county jail, awaiting trial for- riot. On Saturdaypost a vast number of boys, about one hundered and fifty on each side, met on the ice, by appoint ment it would seem, and engaged in s most terrific fight. Every eonceivable'missile was 'used, and several of the combatants received cuts in tbe bead, and face. The battle raged with fury for about two hours. One boy, a ’ad about thirteen years old, named Fnrson, whose parents live in Bellaire, wits struck behind the'enr. He fell on tbe ice, stunned. In a short time he.revived sufficiently to'*enable him to go home. He suffered terribly through the night, and yesterday morn ing he died from the effects of hia in juries.— Wheeling (Va.) Register. NOTICE SPECIAL ATTENTION, PAYERS! TAX Parties who did not pay their Poll Tax' for the year 1870, are hereby notified thst the last Legislature passed an act requiring ita ' collection. So they will eome forward im mediately and settle it? or executions will he issued. I ea n be found atthe store of L, 3t, Griffin T. 3. JETER, Tax Collector. 1 Bainbridge, January 24, 1872—tf PROP, CHRICHEU. Of the Bainbridge Male and Female Insti ll having rented the large and commodious luing recently Occupied by the Bev. JHr. Cliett, is prepared to accommodate pupils of the Institute at very low rates. The dwelling is situated in the eastern and healthiest por tion of the city. Bainbridge, January 26—1 m 5 0 BARRELS OF PLANTING IRISH CONSISTING OF TEN barrels peach bloom, TEN BARRELS EARLY ROOSE, TEN BARRELS GOODRICH, TEN BARRELS PINK EYE, TEN BARRELS JACKSON, Just received and for sole cheep for essh by X. M. GRIFFIN THE PEOPLE’S PIPER! *®“POR FOUR DOLLARS* THE SiraMFEHnSEI WILL BE MAILED TO YOU DAILY, o¥e YEAR I grTHE ADVERTISER pmV lishes as much reading matter a* any paper in the State. The Associated Press Dispatches and Markets, Specials from Atlanta and the Legislature, a weekly Com mercial Review, elaborately com piled, and, in fact, is a thoroughly LITE, COMPREHENSIVE News paper, furnished at a price that has already given it Double the Circula tion of any other Georgia Daily.— Tri-Weekly edition $2 per aamm ; Twice a week, $1 50. Agents wanted. BEARD &, KIMBALL, Proprietors, Savannah, 6a. BOWER*' ATTORNEYS AiT BAIN BRIDGE, GA. . Office In th» Court House. LAW D. McGill. M. ffHlu, RCOOX JkO’KEAI* ATTOftNEYS AT LAW, Bainbridge, 'Ga. Law Office up stairs near the Post OAeft