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THE WEEKLY DEMOCRAT. VOLUME I. BAINBRIDGE, GEORGIA, THURSDAY, APRIL 11, 1872 HUMBER 44 The Weekly Democrat, PUBLISHED every Thursday Mournso. SUBSCRIPTION TERMS: One Copy one year - - - $8 00 One Copy six months - * * 1 50 Reading Matter on Every Page. From the Atlantd SutL Ex-Gov. Jenkins’ Letter to Gov. Smith. It if" with no ordinary pleasure tve lay liefore our people the lolloping highly important and exceedingly interesting letter from that noble citizen of Georgia, Chaa. J. Jenkins, detailing historical facts and retain A .connected with his adiaiuis- its removal from office as-j March, 13«6. amounting to six hun- vrfltiuu Governor of Georgia. It is a simple recital, sublimely grand in its simplicity, logic and truth; , Augusta, Ga., March 13,18 <2. His Excellency, James M. Smith. Sir—Since my removal from the office which you now hold, in Jan uary, 18G8,G>3 Major General Meade, of the United States Army, com manding Department of Georgia, I have refrained from communication with the dc facto government of the State. Hail there been no interference of the Federal Government, my term of office would have expired in Novem ber, 1867, and there would then have been assembled a Legislature to whom I would have rendered an ac count of my stewardship, accompan ied by the usual reports of the Treas urer and Comptroller General for the year. Such a communication, with like accompaniments for the preced ing year, had been submitted to the General Assembly at their second session in November, 1866. There having been neither Governor or Legislature elected in 1867, I under « provision of the Constitution, held • <ovei; hut there was no Legislative Assembly. From the time of my re moval until the installation of the present Governor and Legislature, those departments have not, in my judgment, been filled by persons rightfully representing the people of Georgia, or faithfully guarding their interests. I am informed that a committe ap pointed for that purpose by the Leg islature convened in 1868, examined the books and accounts of Mr. Treas urer Jones lor tfhc last year of my administration, and ccporwxl thorn correct. I desire, however, to make a for mal representation of Certain trans actions during my official term, of which no account has been given, and some of which have been gross ly misrepresented to the public. Such a communication to a State Executive, from «, predecessor, is, I know, unusual, if not unprecedented; but I trust you will find in the cin cumstances, heretofore and now sur rounding me, a justification of it, and that you will kindly place it on tffie, with the archives of the State, where it may hereafter be accessi ble for reference if desirable. I need scared}' remark that, ow ing to the snsjiension of the State government at the close of the war— serious complications with the Fed. «t;U government reselling from that conflict—the utter exhaustion of our treasury, the impoverished condition ■of our people, and the interference by Congressional legislation with the ■State government first iaangurated after the war, my administration \vas fraught with difficulty, respon sibility anil anxiety. When I enter- «d upon the duties of the office there Was no money in the treasury—there were outstanding liabilities of Gov ernor Brown's last term, (owing to his removal by the United States government several months before its constitutional cad)—debts con tracted by Provisional Governor Johnson, to carry on the govern ment and the expenses of the Con vention of 1865, provided forty tem porary loans. There were also ante- war bonds, and interest coupons of considerable amouut which matured during and after the war—the ex- |>ensc of the Legislature which came in with me, and the accruing de mands of the civil list. The bed and track of the Western 9»d Atlantic railroad were in a di lapidated condition, its depots and bridges in a great measure destroy ed, and its rolling stock partly lost or destroyed and partly worn out and valueless. Its Superintendent pgderJYovisional Governor Johnson, *vith Ins approval, had contracted a /debt with the Untied S&des Govern- p*euA of about four hundred and sev enty thousand dollars (470,000) in /the purchase of rolling stock and other railroad property, ami still in these items there was a large defi ciency. The Capitol, its grounds ami fur niture, and the Executive Mansion and its furniture required extensive repairs and renewals. The Peni tentiary had been partially burned and rendered insecure, requiring a large outlay }q rebuilding and strengthening it. Besides all this, there were no ,5*? es collected in 1865. In view of this condition of our financial affairs, |t must, I think, surprise the reflec ting mind that the Legislature, to meet these liabilities, and put the machinery of government again in motion, resorted to' the credit of the State by the issue of its bonds only to the amount of three millions and thirty tiiousand dollars($3,080,000.) The Convention of 1865 did, in deed, authorise the issue of bonds, amounting to five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) to meet the em ergencies < f the hour. But these, owing to restrictions put upon them, were found available only for tery short loans, ahd were so used, and redeemed with proceeds of bonds af terwards authorized by the Legisla ture, except about twenty-six thous and dollars, (20,000) which had not been presented at the Treasury, al though called in. There were also bonds authorized by 7th section of the act of 12th ($3,030,000.) The authority for issuing these bonds, and the purposes, to which they Wefe to be applied, will be found in the act of the 12th ofMareh 1860, and the i 1th section of the General Appropriation Act of the same year. The following items embraced in the act first mentioned were obviously provisions for funding existing indebtedness, and therefore did not increase the public debt: Section fl—To pny the nu nred bond debt and intex'eet thereon 930,000 Sec. 1—To pny debt to United >-Uiten Gov ernment for railroad property purchas ed during Provisional Gov. Johnson’s •term, and iuterest 500,000 IiTians con (fact*d by Provisional Gover nor Johnson ..... .. 30,000 dred thousand dollars ($600,000,) to pay file land tax issued by the United States Government against the people of Georgia. These bonds were engraved witli others, but as the Uuited States authorities refused to receive pay ment of the tax from the Executive of tiie State, were not signed or seal ed until after the next session of the Legislature (Nov. 1866.) On their assembling, I reported to them the failure to use these bonds for the purpose intended, and ad vis cd that the Executive be authorized to issue them in redemption of, or change for bonds of the State, which would mature within a short time. Authority to that effect was given by the Legislature, and then these bonds in all respects similar to other bonds issued under the act of March 12, 1866, were executed. As tiiesc bonds bore a higher rate of in terest than tiiose to be redeemed by them, and were secured by a mort gage on the Western and Atlantic Railroad, it was believed that no difficulty would be encountered in exchanging them for the latter on terms advantageous to the State, and thus our suffering people be re leased from taxation, to meet a heavy demand upou the treasury at no distant day. They were according ly placed in the National Bank of the Republic (New York) for that purpose, and notice of the terms on which the State would make tiie ex change extensively published. This exchange had been commenced, but no great progress had been made in it at the time of my removal. Know ing no safer place of deposit for them, and desiring not to suspend the process of exchange, I suffered them to remain there, giving writ ten instructions to the agent to con tinue it, but beyond that, to deliver them to no person except upon the order of John Jones, Treasurer, or of myself. The Legislature assembled in 1868, /passed a resolution authoriz ing the Governor inaugurated by them to take possessionfof all bonds of the State executed but not nego tiated, wherever to be found. Un der this authority, as I have been in formed, the acting Governor R. B. Bullock, demanded of the bank the uncxchangeil bonds then in their possession, and the agent, under le gal advice, surrendered them to him, but required of him an indorsement on each bond, of the manner in which he became possessed of it. The precise amount so delivered I know not, but suppose it could have varied little from six hundred thous and dollars. I am, of course, ignor- aut of what disposition has been made of them. If they have been faithfully applied to the object in tended, they have not increased the indebtedness of the State, but have only postponed, to a more conven ient time, its payment, protanto, and the relief has accrued, or will accrue, to the administration succeeding mine. If otherwise, the misapplication is chargeable to the Executive, who, rather than conic to an account with the fairly elected and honest repre sentatives of the people he has charg ed with having plundered, inglori- ously fled l he State. In no event can those bonds be fairly set down as an original indebtedness incurred by the State during my official term, and by my advice. Other bonds were issued by me, in conformity with the act of Febru ary, 1856, authorizing a subscrip tion to the stock of the Atlantic and Gulf Bailroad Company, acd the issue of bonds of the State, in pay ment of installments on that stock, as the corporation might show itself entitled to them. Evidence that they were so entitled, was in each instance adduced, before the bonds were issued: amounts, debts, etc., will appear by reference to the re cords of the Treasurer's and Comp troller General's offices.. But this Jiabilty was incurred ten years before my time. The amount of the two classes of bonds last mentioned have, in an indisci im itating. unscrupulous partisan spirit, beeR adiled : to the three million* and thirty thousand mentioned before, and the grand aggregate presented as gn increase of the public debt under my administration and by my advice. I think I have disposed of those two classes, and will not again refer to them. I now propose to show that the publie debt was increased Making an aggregate uf.... $1,360,0.0 Which deducted from the new bond debt of $3,030,000 leaves as increase of public debt.... 1,670,000 Among the sppropriatlons filade and paid from proceeds of these bonds were two extraordinary items of pure charity, ha ring All the moral obligations of debts, viz.; to purcLX* e co: n for the des titute aud artilicisl limbs lor disabled soldiers .,... 220,000 Learinga balance of....... 1,450,000 This balance was relied upon to repair and complete the equipment of the Western and Atlantic Rail road: to repair and refit the State House, and its grounds, the Execu tive Mansion and furniture; the Peni- tentia;y; to pay the unfunded debts of the State (by no means inconsid erable,) and to defray the entire ex penses of the government for one year, including the support of its great public charities, and the ac cruing annual interest on the public debt. This sum of* oiifs ttiillicn font* hun dred anil fity thousand dollars was subjected before it came into the Treasury for general use, to a dimi nution by the -expenses incident to the preparation and engraving of the bonds, the execution of the mort gage, commissions to agents employ ed in the sale of them, and the rate of discount upon them, for no bonds of any other Southern State could then be negotiated at par value. The 1 Kinds first sold—about nine hundred thousand dollars ($900,000) in amount—yielded about ninety per cent. A few were aftewards sold for ninety-five, and they would undoubtedly have reached per value in the market but for the depressing effect of the Congressional legisla tion upon the credit oi the Southern States. Under this withering influ ence, these bonds afterwards fell below ninety in the New YoVk mar ket. For more minute details re specting the disposition of these bonds, reference is made to the _re- cords of the Treasury aud of Comp troller General’s office, to which as I write I have not access. I have mentioned a debt contrac ted by the Provisional Superinten dent of the Western and Atlantic Railroad under Provisional Gover nor Johnson, and which debt occas ioned my first unpleasant complica tion with the United States Govern ment. The Superintendent insisted that he was by the terms of the con tract, entitled to a clear credit of two years, upon the amount of the purchase. The Sale-Agent of the United States, on the contrary, af firmed that by the terms of sale, the purchaser could only be entitled to such credit on giving bond with approved personal security, for the payment of the debt at? the expira tion of two years; in default of which, monthly payments of the twenty- fourth part of the debt, with inter est, at 7.30 per cent, must be made, until the debt was extinguished. The contest between these officials was an unequal one. The monthly pay ments were peremptorily demanded I suggested to the Legislature the expediency of authorizing the Su perintendent of the Western and At lantic Railroad to give a bond for the payment of the debt within two years, and of pledging the faith of the State for its payment. Accord ingly the act of the 13th March, 1866, was passed, and a bond execu ted in conformity with it, and deliv ered. Still, for lack of personal se curity, the monthly payments were demanded. In an interview with Mr. Stanton, Secretary of War, I protested against this, and insisted on the payments oi the whole sum at the expiration of tiie two years— urging that the pledge of the State’s credit was more than equivalent for personal security.- He heard me patiently, but when I concluded, remarked curtly, “I can give you no relief. You seem to think because this railroad is the property of the State, and the debt incurred, her debt, and because she had given her bond for it, she should be admitted to the privilege of purchasers giving bond security. I cannot make that distinction. The terms must be complied with.” I asked permission to take issue with him on that Doint. I pressed upon him the universal recognized comity between nations and States, between organized governments, and stated a carollary from it, that one Government would accord to another a credit never given to an individual, I concluded thus: “I have not supposed, Mr. Stanton, I should live to see the day when the Uuited States Government would send the Governor of a State out to hunt after personal security for a money contract. I cannot lower the dignity of my State by doing such an act.” The eteth Secretary relented, con sldered, and finally took the matter before the Cabinet, who referred h to the Secretary of War, and the Attorney General, with power to act. I then went before the latter to discuss the question with him. So soon as I broached the proposition requiring a Slate to give personal security for a debt, Mr. Stanberry, that upright man, courteous gentle man, and able jurist, interrupted me with the remark, “Governor, I confess that proposition revolts me.” “As it has done me, Mr. Attorney General,” I replied. He rejoined, “Oh, that will not do. Mr. Stan ton must give that up.” And he did glrc it up, and cheerfully, at last. I refer tpxthig matter partly to show that, among those distinguish ed men, members of the administra we may infer, by the CalSS^^E jeorgia was, at that time, recognize^ as having the status of a State of the Union. Early in the year 1860, the Collec tor of Internal Revenue for the 4th District of Georgia, required the Superintendent of the Western and Atlantic Railroad to make monthly returns to him on the gross receipts from the road,jand to^pay a tax of 2 1-2 per cent, upon them. Believing the tax to be illegal, because assessed upon the revenue of the State, L appealed against it to the Secretary of the United States Treasury, who, after a reference of the question to the Solicitor of the Treasury and a report by him, over ruled my appeal and ordered the collection to proceed. Not satisfied with the decision, I filed a bill in equity in the District Court of the Uuited States, in the name of the State of Georgia, against the Collec tor; seeking to enjoin the collection of the tax. After argument upon a rule against the Collector, to show cause in Chambers why an injunction should not issue, the Judge reserved his decision until tin next term ot the Court iu Atlanta; but assured the Solicitor ot the State, in the presence ot the District Attorney and the Collector, that meantime no further action iii collection of the tax would be taken. During his temporary absence from the State, however, and before his decision, the Collector peremp torially demanded payment of the tax then accrued (amounting to more than twenty-four thousand dollars) within ten days, in default of which a levy would be made upon the property of the road. Informed of this, I directed the Superinten dent to pay under protest, which was done. As soon as practicable afterwards in a personal interview with the Sec retary of the Treasury, I brought all those matters to his consideration and found him profoundly ignorant of the filing of the bill, the proceed ings in Chambers, the assurance of the Judge respecting suspension of action, aud the subsequent inforce ment of payment. I do him the jus tice to say that he manifested genu iue surprise and indignation at the last stage of the proceeding. He pro nounced it “all wrong,” and immedi. aiely summoned bet'oie him the Depu ty Commissioner of Internal Revenue (the chief being absent at the time,) who, after hearing the recital, concur red in the Secretary’s opinion, and declared himself equally ignorant and innocent of the wrong. The result was that the Secretary ordered the suspension of the collec lion, until reutlitiou of the Judge’s de cision, (saying he thought I had adop ted the best course for the settlement cf the question,) but declined to ri fund the sum paid under dures which had been pronounced “all wrong” until the decision was made. At the next term of the Conrt, Judge Erskine delivered an elaborate opinion, concluding with an order of junction pendente litft. A copy of this decision was forwarded to the De partment with a second demand of payment, which was declined on the ground that the Secretary was consid ering the propriety of carrying up the question. The Collector, I was informed, nev er answered the bill nor put in an ap pearance; and at the September term, 1867, the Jndge granted a perpetual injunction, and decreed that the sutu paid under duress, be refunded. A third demand was then made for repayment, but I was answered that the legality of ilia tax had been refer red to the Attorney General of the United States, and that the Depart" ment would await his opinion. That was soon after given, sustaining the decree of the Court, which declared the tax illegal. Then upon a fourth demand the money was refunded, but interest on it was rpfused. although the Treasury of the United States had held it about eighteen months, and al so during the same time, interest was accruing at the rate 7.30 per cent, against the Western and Atlantic Railroad to the United States, on the debt before mentioned, and soon after paid in fulL B ut for this appeal to the Judiciary, in limine, it cannot be donbted that tbisonerou3 and illegal lax Would, year after year, have been extorted from oar impoverished State by the spoiled aud spoiling millions of pow er. It is but one of many exhibitions of the tyrannous and rapacious spirit j l which the ruling party have requited the unconditional six) n-ineere sub mission of the Southern people to tbe authority of tbe Federal ^Government These wrongs I impute to the ruling party—tbeir* Is tbe mu; and theirs, iu tbe time of recompense, will bn tbe shame and tbe suffering. We can only possess ourselves in patience, looking for ihe outstretching of Ills right arm, who has «ai<l, ‘‘ Vengence Is mine any I void repay.” Bpt these things should not be al lowed to pass unheeded or uuebrosi- cled. Great as were the embarrassments encompassing the office during tbe first year of my term, they were vastly increased by tbe passage of tbe Recon struction Acts, and tbe entrance into tbe Slate of a military ebieftuin, trans ferred from “head-quarters in the saddle” to tbe beudquaiteis in Atlau la. This man came invested with des potic power over tbe people of Geor gia, and with authority, at his sover eign pleasure, to remove from office any one of their chosen servants. And these tilings, shades of Washington, Jefferson and Madison 1 were done, notwithstanding the distinct recogni- tic n of Georgia (cither before they were commenced or daring their porgiess) as a Stats within the, Union by every de partment in the Fedeltll Government. I pause not, to produce proofs of (be assertion; but I cha'lengc an issue upon it. These reconstruc ion acts, it will be remembered, had been passed by the Congress of the United States over he veto of tbe President, based upon their unconstittuiouality. So soon action was tskeu under them—so soon as the fool of the military despot was impressed upon the soil of Georgia— epaired to Washington and filed bill in the name of the State of Geor gia, against the intruders in the Su preme Court, seeking to enjoin aud set aside these proceedings, as in fringements upon tbe reserved sover eignty of the State, and in violation of the Constitution of the Uuited States. The right of the State to file that bill, and the jurisdiction of the Court in the case depended upon the fact alleged, and she was one of the State of the Union. As a foreign power, or a conquered province, she would have had no right to do so—the Court, had no jurisdiction in the premises. Still, as the records of the Court show, upon full presentation of the com plaint, formal permission was grant ed to tile the bill; nor was she after wards dismissed the Court, nnredress ed, on the ground that she lacked that status. After argument, the bill was dis missed because in it there was alleg ed neither interference, not* the threat of interference, witli her property, which the Court held was necessary to make a case for their sublime con sideration. Nothing, so far, had been disturbed, or threatened, save the tnodesl, though peculiar, priceless diadem of her reserved sovereignty, (in Radical estimation a paultry bauble), of which that elevated Tri bunal could not condescend to take cognizance. The deep humiliation Which theft pervaded the entire mass of a proud people—proud in their historical reminiscences, and their conscious ness of thorough rectitude of inten tion of conduct, will be long remem bered. Their final submission was as truthful and unqualified as their re sistance had been honost, open, and heroic. But that humiliation Was intensifi ed iu the person of their Executive, forced as he was by circumstances, into daily contact with the insolence of an intruded Ruler, trained to arbi trary military command, unfamiliar with civil government, and rChdei- ed giddy by his unwonted eminence. Had I yielded to the promptings of personal feeling, I would at oftce have escaped the pain of this unpre cedented subordination by resigning the office. But knowing that the position would enable me to keep open to our people, a channel of com munication with the Chief Magistrate of the Union (who was a reluctant agent in their erushde against liber ty) and might thus in some degree, alleviate their sufferings, I resolved to remain in it, yielding all questions of mere policy, but maintaining prin ciple, to the extent of my power, and falling (if fall I must) in its de fense. I was powerless to prevent the removal of faithful officers, of the judicial department, or tbe ap pointment of others to fill their places, or to arrest the latter, in the unau* thorized exercise of their ill-got ten offices; but I declined to pay them the salaries appropriated to officers constitutionally appointed and com missioned. This alone would proba bly have induced my removal; but an occasion of greater moment soon af ter occurred. The Congress of the United States by their nefarious reconstruction acts had provided for the assemblage of Convention, at Atlanta, to frame Constitution lor the State in lieu of that adopted in ’65, after the dose of the war. . The latter was confess edly Republican in character, ac knowledged as the Supreme law ot the State, the Constitution of the United States and all acts of Con gress in conformity therewith—had received the President’s approval, and under it, the existing State Gov ernment bad been organized. The Congressional act which call- ed-tbe Convention pf ]ge7 and ig£g together, provided for defraying their expenses, only by authorizing them to levy » tax for that purpose. The body, finding themselves anpro- vided with subsistence, and incapa ble of feeding upon their patriotism until relieved by the process of taxa tion, experimented •♦non the credit ot tl»e State, which though always a previously reliable resource in emer gencies, failed to attract capital wheu tampered with by them. In this extremity, they turned their longing eyes upon the Treasu ry of the State. Whether originally prompted, or only encouraged by the military Dictator, they passed a resolution requiring the Treasurer of the State to pay to their financial agent the sum of forty thousand dol lars, for the present use of the Con vention. This resolution (being only an vutering wedge) waa approved by General Pope, under whose broad shadow they held their daily sittings’, and armed with this high 'authority, the agent designated repaired to Mi In edgeville, aud made formal demand of the money upon Colonel John Jones, Stale Treatirer. That worthy gentleman and faith ful officer, refused payment, in the ab sence of au Executive Warrant. About this time General Pope, (proofs of whose numerous abuses of power had been multiplied to the President by myself and others,) was removed from Ins command in Georgia, and General Meade appointed to succeed him. One of the successor’s first acts was a requi sition upon me for a warrant upon the Treasurer to satisfy the demand of the Convention. With this I refused to comply, on tbe ground that the Cotisli” tntion, under which 1 was elected and iuauguated, and which I had sworn to obey, expressly provided that no money should he taken from tbe Treasury, except by Executive warrant, upon appropriation made by law; and that no appropriation ha-1 been made by law to defray the expenses of that Convention. I insisted that the requisi tion was unwarranted, eveu by the re construction acts. The Congress had nos ventured upou an aat so flagrant as the direct appropriation of money from the Treasury of Georgia. But they i ad bestowed a largess of power upon a military chieftain, whoso lack of training in the principles of civil government, rendered him little scrupu lous in overstepping constitutional barriers. I felt, aud feel, that the argument was with me; but tbe power was with the General, and beneath its pressure, I mid the urgnment went down together. I was removed by a military fiat, and Brevet-Brigadier- General Roger, of the U. S. Army, a subordinate of Gen. Meade, appointed to supercede me. On presenting himself to assume the Government, the appointee in answer to a question by me, read ine an ex tract from his instructions, directing him, in case of resistance, to employ such force as might be necessary to overcome it. Having at my command no force whatever, I contented mys3lf with a protest against the proceeding, a9 a flagrant usurpation, violative of ihe Constitution of the United States, and a declaration that I forbore re sistance, only because I Was powerless to make it-=-aud so retired. I believe it is pretty generally under stood, that as far as practicable, in the brief interval allowed me, I placed tbe movable values of the State, aud certainly the money then in the Treas ury, beyond tbe reuch of the spoilers, and in the exercise of a legal discre tion, suspended the collection of tax es then iu progress. At all events the immediate oqject of this extreme measure, the placing of the funds act ually ill tbe Treasury at the disposal ot the Constitution -makers, then un constitutionally Assembled at Atlanta, was defeated. Cotemporaneonsly with this entire, undisguised usupation of the Executive Office, those military men took actual possession of the State Capitol, and its grounds—K>f the Executive Mausiou aud its furniture and grounds, and of the archives of the State. Furthermore, they revoked my order suspeDdicg tbe collection of taxes, which they required the collector to pay to their owji ’appointed treasurer, seized upon the iucorne of the Western and Atlantic Railroad (then in goo<£ order, and ancoeasful operation] and, in short, took within their grasp every dollar of the subsequently incoming revenue of the State. No insinuation is intended, that they appropriated to their own use soy portion of the State’s money, un less in the way ..of salaries to which they were not entitled, and about which I know nothing. It is doubtless true that they went out with cleaner hands than did their immediate successors, the so-called Representatives of tbe people. The charge is, that by the strong hand of power, they wrested this prop erty from the rightful possession of the constituted authorities of tbe State, and applied it, in their discre tion, to public uses authorized by her fundamental and statutory law, and subversive of her sovereignty. Seeing that they bad then made themselves amenable to the jurisdic tion of the IL S. Supreme • Court, as that Court had been understood to de fine it, in their decision of the previous case, and believing myself still dejure, though not de facto, Governor ot tbe State, I again went before the tribu nal, alleging these acts of progreseive usurpation, aud seeking redress against the wrongdoers. Tbe bearing of dm erne would karst broogbi dietioctfy major tbe itTieW of tbw Coon the oooauustioaaiity of ifid reeoaetiaction «c's, which 1 especially desired. Not m> ihe Court. They—' or a majority ol then— Mt a royal repugnance to that delicate iaeoq. Leave to AU tbe bill, on application made in open Court, and upon a state' men* of tbe allegations contained in it, was onheeitaxingly given; tbs Ah* torney General of ihe United States being present, and making so objec tion; aud the bill was delivered to the Clerk. But tbto permission was revoked within twenty-four hoars, as having been improvideotly granted, although it ueither infringed any existing inlo of practice, nor committed the Coert to anything toaebiog the merits of tbs case. Then why revoked ? For no conceivable reason other than to opus that cms to the operation of ~a new rule of practice, adopted after the pev> mission to file the bill; and .which pro duced unnecessary and vexations di< lay. Yet more, in consequent stages, additional delays were occasioned by exceptional rulings of the Coart; and at last we were gravely told that there did not remain of the form time enough to hear and determine a mo tion for injunction. Before the commencement of the next term [as the Court has probably anticipated J the Atlanta Convention has done its work—Meade and Ruger have disappeared from the scenes, aud Bullock and his hungry horde, by force of the bayonet, under the flimsy veil of Constitutional reform, had be* come “lords of the ascendant.” The suit before the Court was not of a vin dicative character—Jamages were not sought against the defendants; but only a riddance from their usurpations. Of course it wouid have been folly to pursue them after their abdication. The causes could not have been press ed against them. Let it not be said that the object aimed at by this litigation was aceom- piished without tbe action of the Court. Far from it. Had the Court pro nounced the leconstruclioo acts un constitutional, we would not only have been delivered from Meade and Ruger, but from tbo whole Atlantic Conven tion. The existing Slate Government would have been sustained; Bullock would have remained iu the Ex press Office, and the present derange ment of oar finances, as well «a many other evils, would wave been avoided.. When it is considered that the en~ foaceinent of tbe reconstruction acts; then in progress, would inevitably overthrow existing State constitutions^ and with them existing Slate govern ments; that the Executive and Legis lative Departments of the Federal Governments were distinctly at issue,, upon the constitutionality of those acts, and that there was in the Su preme Court a care pending and a no' lion in that case, ready for a bearing, which called for a judicial teilieineet of that question, what can. excuse a- refusal to hear it ? No more momen tous question was ever submitted to- that Court, If the allegations in the- bill failed to give the Court jurisdic tion, why not say 60 ? If tLe Executive Department were, wrong, and the Legislative Depart ment right, on that great issue, why not, by a solemn judgment, term in* to tbe controversy, and give quiet to (btr country ? They said there did not remain of the term time enough for tbe bearing —but why uot ? The term was not closed by legal limitations, but by judicial disoretioo. Were these, their Honors, weary—ex hausted by their judicial labors? Ah! let them contemplate the wearrneae of spirit, the exhaustion of resources^ since inflicted npou tbe people of Georgia by the misrule they were called upon to arrest, but would not even enquire into, and then jtmtify, if we can, tbeir delinquency. I entered that court with all. tfed veneration for it inspired by « Mar shall, a Taney and tbeir Compeers. I left it with painful impression, which time has not mitigated, that the then incumbents (or a majority of them) had, by procrastination, deliberately evaded a judgment they could not have refused, without dishonor L* tbemselves, yet could not have render- —■ - 1 ed without offebse to the despotic arid menacing faction then and still wield' ing tbe power of tbe Government. It was probably under ihe promptitie of a similar feeling that the venerable J nstice Grier, the senior in years of them all,- about the same time; from his seat on tbe Bench, in open eeSnoif, declared himself ashamed Of the atti tude assumed by the Court )in anoth er case resulting froiti posWyVreuriy), and like an olo Roman, shook the re proach from his skiria; Here 1 tarn aside to notice a rumor, invented and circulated to toy preju dice. by certain mendacious Radicals of Georgia—that in these soiM I bad, without authority of law, feXpObded thirty thousand dollars of the people’s money. The expense of the first suit, instituted and ended whilst I waa still undisputed Goverudr of Georgia, amounted in all (htefdding lawyer’s fees, Court costs and printing expens es) to two thousand seven bandied dollars [$2,?00, This sum I psh^ont of tbe contin gent fund, placed.*at my disposal; a ballance of which' remaioed unexpen ded on my retirement. That the pas sage of the reconstruction aet% and [COyiLUDEft OS KWrXTRFAGX.]