Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

VOLUME II—NUMBER 30. ®he llcfuffie fowual, IS PUBLISHED WEEKLY —A T— THOMSON'. GA., —B Y— RONEY & SULLIVAN, HATES OF ADVERTISING , Transient advertisements will be charged one dollar per square for the first insertion, and seventy five cents for each subsequent insertion. BUSINESS GARBS. ~~E. S. HARRISON, I’ll vsicimi ;uul Sui'freon Offers hia services to tho public. Office with Dr. J. S. Jones, over McCord ec llurd;iwav*s. ■prlom3 Thomson, G»: /. m W&PMJP 4* €@. Wholesale and Retail Dealers in EIELISH WHITE GRASITI & C. E, WARE —ALSO— Mcmi-l'li itis* I'reiich C liinrt« Glassware, <Vc. 244 Broad Street, Augusta, Ga aprlO Iv. H. C. RONEY, A ttoiii uj at full), mo.ns ft v, u.i. Will practice in the Augusta, Northern and Middle Circuits, no 1 y JAMES A. GRAY & CO., Have Removed to their jVow E l-oii Front SStoi*e, BROAD STREET, AUGUST , GA aprlOtf 'globe hotel. s. W. CORNER BROAD & JACKSON STS., AUGUSTA, GEORGIA. JACKSON & JULIAN, Proprit’rs. k Wo beg leave to call the attention of t.hc trnvcl- Ming public to tills well known Hotel, which ve l have recently leased and placed on a tooting ■second to none in Hie South. No expense will he fcntvved p. render it a first. class House m ew n ■espoot. and every attention is paiu to the comfort land convenience of guests. Hlfi. T. h. LILUtSTKIIt OFFKHS IIIK PROFESSIONAL services To the Citizens ol Tliomsoa and Vicinity. Ho can he found al the I!" e.i over Costello's, when not professionally absent. , REFERS TO ran. J Eve, Pbo. Wir. 11. Douohtv, Dit John 8. Coleman, Db. S. C. Eve. O IST 'rilVLlU. TILL THE FIRST OF NOVEMBER. J WILL furnish planter.; and others in want of s es <> s: s on City Acceptance, till Ist November next, at cnsli prices. Id- COIIKN. apr 3 13m3 Augusta, Ga. CHARLES S DuBOSE, V/r/v./ W* AVni-i-***** on, Oa. Will practice in ail the Courts of the Northern, Augusta & Middle Circuits. ~ar. uve. Wholesale and retail dealer in ©US7 S'2AD3ll] 1 LAMPS AND LAMP FIXTURES, Manufacturer and in all kinds of TIN AN) StEET IRON WARE! guttering, roofing, And all kinds of Jobhina done promptly and neatly. GmG 158 A Broad St., Augusta, Ga. Established in 1543. T. 11. MANLEY, —WITH — CrjEO . Moi-lson' d> So.y. NURSERYMEN, have pon Bale a lauge assoumest of ORNAMENTAL TREES, EVERGREENS, & ROSES,' Cirape Vines and Small Fruits, DWARF AND STANDARD FRUIT TRUES, Rochester, N. Y. JAMES H. HE IVEY’S Steam Dyeing and Scouring I*2:* liroad St., Augusta, <>ia. Near Lower Market Bridge Bank Building for the Dyeing and Craning of dresses, shawls, cloaks, ribbons, &c. Also gen tlemen's coats, vests and pants cleaned and dyed in the best manner. Fieee dry goods, cloths, me, rinoes, delanc, alpaca, rep goops and jeans dyed and finished equal to those done in New York. «3T Orders by Express promptly attended to. Augusta, Ga. apr.3m3 Svapnia —is Opium purified of its siknening and poisenous properties, It is a perfect anodyne, not producing headache or constipation of the bowels, as is the case w ith other prepara tions of opium. -John Farr, Chemist New York. Cxovernor’s Message. Executive Department, Atlanta, July 17, 1872. $ To the Senate and House, oj Representatives: It is made my duty by the Constitu tion to give to the General Assembly information of the state of the Com monwealth, and to recommend to their consideration such measures as may be deemed necessary and expedient for the public good. I approach the discharge of this duty with a feeling of diffidence, produced by a consciousness that the subjects me will require a more extended notice than I shall be able to bestow upon them. When I entered upon the duties of the Executive office, in January last, great confusion existed in almost every department of our public affairs. Gur finances were in the utmost disorder, and the stock boards of this country and of Europe had been flooded with bonds, purporting to have been issued by this State, but yet regarded of doubtful validity. The administration of justice had been rendered ineffective by the abuse of the pardoning power; the confidence of the people in their public servants had been impaired by the faithless conduct of leading officials, and a feeling of general distrust and insecurity prevailed. The civil author ities had so long been subordinated to military power that many true men had reached the melancholy conclusion that civil liberty had already ceased to exist. The earnest efforts of every depart ment of the government have been di rected to the correction of these abuses, and if these efforts have not yet proved entirely successful, it has been because the evils sought to he remedied were manifold and deeply rooted. Evils, the result of years of misrule, cannot be extirpated in a day. Much patient labor yet remains to he done, and in its performance 1 earnest ly invoke the assistance of the represen tatives of the people. PUBLIC DEBT AND FINANCES. By legislative act, entitled ‘an act to protect the people, of the State of Geor gia against the illegal and fraudulent is sue of bonds and securities, and for other purposes connected with the same,’ passed December 9, 1871, it was provided that a joint committee of the Senate and House of Representa tives should be appointed, whose duty it should be to ascertain and report the number of bonds and indorsements which had been issued and put into cir culation by Rufus B. Bulloc/r, fate Governor ; the aggregate amount there of, by whom the same were sold, the amount of money paid therefor, the times when, and the persons to whom such payments were made, and all other fact connected with the history of said bonds. The committee appointed by virtue of this net will submit their report, I learn, during the present session of the Legislature. While it is proper that 1 postpone-any extended remarks upon the clasesof claims and securities men tioned in the act, until after the infor mation collected by the committee shall have been laid before you, yet I feel constrained to say that, in my opinion, the State is bound for the redemption of only such obligations as have been issu ed in conformity with law. If money raised upon unauthorized securities has come into the treasury, the State is hound to account for the same. But considerations of public policy forbid that the State should recognize as valid and binding, any contract entered into by any person not authorized to make the same. The Governor has no au thority, by virtu© of his office alone, to issue bonds of the State. To do this, he must be specially authorized by a legislative act, passed for that purpose. When so empowered, he becomes a special agent, and cannot transcend the limits of the grant conferring his pow ers. It is a well established princi ple, that persons having dealings with public agents, in matters Me this, are strictly bound to look to the authority of such agents. The following is a consolidated state ment of the existing debt of the State, created before the fourth day of July, 1868, showing the amounts and dates of the issue and maturity of the bonds : When Issued. When due. Amount. 1812 and 1852 1872 $ 050,500 00 1812 and 1843 1873 127,000 00 1841 and 1848 1874 251,500 00 1858 1878 100,000 00 1859 1879 200,000 00 1800 1880 21X1,000 00 1861 , 1881 100,000 00 1860 1880 3,600,000 00 Grand Total $5,238,500 00 THOMSON, McDUFFIE COUNTY, OA., JULY 31, 1872. From the foregoing tabular statement, it will appear that the total amount of our bonded debt, contracted prior to July 4, IS6S, is $5,238,500 00. To meet the bonds falling due this summer, the Governor was authorized to issue bonds to the amount $700,- 000 000, due in twenty years and hear ing interest at a rate not exceeding seven per cent, per annum, payable semi-annually. As required by the provisions of this act, I have caused bonds to be prepared, and the same are now being used in exchange and re demption of the old bonds falling due the present year. By the third section of the act, a temporary loan was author ized in a sum not exceeding $300,000, for the purpose of paying the semi-an nual interest, due the present summer, upon the bonds of the State issued be fore the first day of June, ISGS, which loan, it is provided, shall he paid back out of the moneys received from the taxes paid into the treasury during the year 1572. Acting under the authority thus con ferred, I borrowed from the National Bank of Commerce, in New Yor/t, the sum of $200,000 at seven per cent, per annum, to be re-paid on the first day of December next. This sum was placed to the credit of the State on the 29th day of June last, and is sufficient to pay the interest falling due upon our old debt in the months of June, July and august. An arrangement has also been effect ed with the National Bank of Com merce to act as the agent of the State in exchanging the old for the new bonds falling due this year. This arrange ment is as follows .• An oiler is made to the holders of the old bonds to ex change therefor the new seven per cent, bonds authorized to be issued by said act. In the event this offer shall not he accepted, it is proposed that the semi annual interest shall continue to be paid upon the old bonds until the State shall be able to redeem the same. This ar rangement is the best that could be ef fected in the present condition of the public credit, and it is believed that it will give satisfaction to our creditors. There exists no law authorizing the payment of interest upon the old bonds after their maturity, hut being satislied that the proposition to that effect, em braced in the arrangement above refer red to, if carried out, will he promo tive of the public welfare, I respectful ly recommend that the same he approv ed by the Legislature. In effecting these arrangements, I have to acknowledge the obligations under which 1 rest to the Hon. Charles J. Jenkins, who, while refusing all pe cuniary compensation therefor as the agent of the State, brought to my aid the benefit of his well-known wisdom and experience. By the wasteful expenditures of the administration, the State was deprived of the means of paying the semi-annual installment of interest on the public debt, and to supply such means, it be came necessary to resort to the doubt ful expedient of a short loan. The necessary effect of this will he to place three semi-annual installments of inter est on the public debt upon the reve nues of the present year. In December next, we shall have to pay the tempora ry loan contracted to meet the interest falling due thiß summer. Then, fol lowing closely in January and February thereafter, another semi-annual install ment will fall due. Fills we shall prob ably be able to meet without difficulty. Iu June, July and August of next year, however, another like installment will become due, and will he upon us before the taxes of next year can be collected. The temporary loan just negotiated should be promptly paid at maturity, and provision be made to meet future installments of interest without re course to temporary expedients. It is of the highest importance that the credit of the State be fully re-estab lished, to the end that the heavy bur dens now resting upon the people may be removed as speedily as possible. The present impoverished condition of the country, produced by the late civil war, the disorganization of our labor system, and the wasteful extravagance which characterized the acts of thosj lately in authority, render the practice of the most rigid economy indispensably nec essary. Our resources should he hus banded, our expenditures confined with in the strictest limits of necessity, and public officials held to rigid accountabili ty. By a wise, honest and faithful ad ministration of the government, the public credit will soon be restored, and the people be relieved of the weight of taxation which now opposes them. FLO-4 TING DEBT OF Wh STERN AND ATLAN TIC RAILROAD. Your attention is also respectfully called to the propriety of making provis ion for the payment of the floating debt of the Western and Atlantic Railroad. The annual report of the Comptroller General, herewith transmitted, shows that these was paid out of the public treasury during the year 1871, to claims belonging to the class just named, the sum of $453,059 92. There is still a largo number of such claims outstand ing, a portion of which have been audit ed by the commissioners appointed by the Legislature, in the act approved October 24, IS7O. At rue late session of the General Assembly, a committee was appointed with power to investigate the conduct of the said commissioners, and to in quire whether any claims had been al lowed them after being rejected by the Legislature or by the courts, or wheth er any claims had been allowed which had been barred by the statute of limitation, and whether any fraudulent and illegal claims had been allowed, and upon what evidence. No warrants have been issued for tho payment of these claimssimo my accession to office. It is a matter ol doubt whether any ap propriation exists for their payment, and I deemed it proper and respectful to await action on the part of the Leg islature before directing further pay ments to to he made. I would also call your attention to tho fact, that there is outstanding a large amount of claims against the State, in the foijn of change bills, and notes is sued by the Western and Atlantic Rail road. Most of these purport to have been i .tied during the late war and others near date as far back as tire tune when .he road was being constructed. I havtj been informed that it has been held by the courts of Tennessee, that the fu; amount specified on the face ol the change bills issued during tho war, is recoverable. In view of the fact that much itigation may arise, and great expen; a ho incurred in suits brought iu t he courts of Tennessee lor the collection of th"i*’ibi!!s f respectfully reecommend that some provision lie made whereby these evils may he avoided. LEASE OF THE WESTERN AND ATLANTIC RAILROAD. The attention of the Legislature has never been formally called to the lease of the Western and Atlantic Railroad, and 1 therefore transmit herewith cop ies of all the papers of record and on file in this department, refering to the same. From tlic3e papers it will appear that on the 27th day of December, 1870, my predecessor leased the road, its rolling stock and other property, for the term of twenty years, for the suin of $25,000 per month, or $300,000 per annum. This rental has been regularly and punct ually paid. The terms and conditions of the lease are fully set forth in the accompanying documents, and need not to be recapitulated here. The circumstances attending this transaction from its inception to its con summation, have excited great interest in the public mind, and have been the subject of much diverse criticism. In consequence of this fact, the Legislature at its late session, by a joint resolution, provided for the appointment of a com mittee, whose duty it was made to in vestigate and report upon the lease,— This committee I am informed, will submit their report during your present session. Any discussion of the lease therefore, at this time, and in advance of the official evidence, might justly be deemed premature. The magnitude of the interest involv ed, and the concern which the transac tion has excited in the public mind, render it proper that I should invoke at your hands, whenever you shall feel it to be your duty to take up this impor tant matter for consideration, the exer cise of your highest wisdom and justice. In the discussion which will doubtless arise, I feel assured that you will lose sight ol neither the true interests of the people, the honor aud dignity of the State, nor the rights of the lesseess. roruL 111 EDUCATION. I transmit herewith the report of the School Commissioner upon the present condition and wants of our common school system, to which I respectfully invite your attention. The attempt to establish the common school system in this State has not been crowned with the success which was an ticipated. It is not diflicult to underi stand the causes which have led to this re sult. In the impoverished condition of the people, it has been found impracticable to raise the means at once to carry into successful operation a system so expen sive, without too great an increase of taxation. Even the scant means which have come into the treasury, and which by the Constitution were set apart and devoted to common school purposes, have been misapplied. By order of the General Assembly, in j the year IS7O, the sum of $242,027 62, belonging to the school fund, was taken from the treasury. Soon after this was done the Legislature passed an act estab lishing a common school system. The grave wrong was committed of first misappropriating the school fund, and next of establishing a cumberous and ex pensive system, requiring for its success ful operation a heavy outlay of money. No sufficient appropriation was made for defraying the expenses of the system. The necessary consequence of this un wise procedure was that heavy debts were contracted in the employment of teachers, and for other purposes. The present General Assembly at its lato ses sion sought to correct existing evils by remodeling the whole system. The law as it now stands, although an im provement upon previous legislation, is still very defective. These defects are pointed out in the report of the Com missioner, and the necessary remedial legislation suggested. I cannot too ur gently recommend that provision be at once made for paying the just claims of teachers. When the school fund was taken from the Trensmy, certain bonds of the State were deposited in lieu of the same.— The Governor was authorized to sell these bonds to raise money to pay the teachers, hut the power to sell was ex pressly made dependent upon the con dition that such sale should he made without injury to the public credit. Upon inquiry made of the Treasurer, I found that the bonds bore lithographed coupons, and in his judgement were so defectively executed as to be of little or no value. As an evidence of this, it was stated that they had been offered by the late Governor, in the NevV York market, but a sale of them had been found impracticable, except at a ruin ous sacrifice. Being satisfied that the mere fact of these bonds, thus executed, being placed upon the market would greatly impair the credit of the State, I deemed it to be my duty to defer any attempt to sell them, and to submit the matter to the General Assembly. AGRICULTURAL LAND SCRIPT. By an act of Congress, passed in the year 1862, donations of land were of fered to the States for the purpose of es tablishing agricultural and mechanical colleges. The States accepting the do nations were allowed until the second day of July instant, to establish tiie colleges. The script issued to the State of Georgia, under the provisions of said act of Congress, was sold by my prede cessor, at ninety cents per acre, making the sum of $243,000. Os this the sum ol $50,400 has been received. The remaining portion will not become due until the third day of July, 1873. Finding that the time in which the college in this State must be establish ed, it at all, would expire before the meeting of the General Assembly, and feeling unwilling to apply to Congress to extend the time, for the reason that such application in all probability would have been used as a pretext for attaching to the donation conditions which would have rendered the same odious to the people, I determined that it was my duty to execise the power conferred upon the Executive by the Legislature, and to save this important fund for our people. The qeustion arose, how could this best he done. In looking over the State, it was fou,nd that we had several excellent in stitutions of learning, and that the peo ple in several localities desired to have the coUege established in their midst.— This was natural and praisewothy.— But my duty was plainly pointed out by law, and beyond this, I could not go. The act of the Legislature, ap proved December 12, IS6G, conferred upon the Governor all the power nec essary to save the fund to the Sthte.— The act of Congress, however, making the donation, required that the college should be actually established by the second day of July, 1872. There was no such college in existence in this State, and I, as the chief executive officer under the government, had no authority to create such an institution. The Legislature had failed to organize a college for this purpose, or to dispose of the fund, and would not re-assemble in time to take the necessary action.— What then could he done V By the terms of its charter, the trus- TERMS-TWO DOLLARS IN ADVANCE tees of the University of the State lo cated at Athens, already in successful operation, possessed ample powers to* establish such a college as that describe ed in the act of Congress making the donation, and it was only by the prompt exercise of these powers by the trustees that the fund did not be bome forfeit. The tustees held a meet ing in this city on the thirtieth day of March last, when they organized a col lege in conformity to the law granting the donation, made formal application l for the use of the fund, and received an Executive order bestowing the same upon the University. I herewith transmit copies of the proceedings had at said meeting of the trustees, and of the Executive order referred to. It may be remarked that the act of Congress prescribed the eonditons upon which the donation was made. One of these conditions required that the State, upon accepting the donation, should become bound to preserve the fund, and to see that no part of the same was lost or misapplied. The ac ceptance of the fund made the State a trustee for the uses declared in the act creating the trust. To enable the State to perform its duty and to protect the fund it was manifestly necessary that the same should be kept within th# contio! of the Legislature. The Uni versity is a State institution, and the action of the trustees may be reviewed by the General Assembly. This is true of no other institution of learning in the State. In granting the use of the fund to the University, therefore, I was careful to place it where the Legi slature would still retain the power to interpose for its proper application and preservation. No part of the principal fund, or of the interest, could be ap propriated to the purchase ot erection of buildings for the college, but no de lay was occasioned on this account, since there were already suitable build ings belonging to the University, which could be used for that purpose. Eot these and other reasons which might be given, I deemed it to be my duty to save the denatiou in the only practicable way left open to me, and to grant the fund to the University of the States It may be added that the college went into operation on the first day of May, i under the most promising auspicies, and that there are already about one hun dred students receiving instruction in the same free of charge. The propectis that this number will be largely increas ed, and that the State, so far at least as her agricultural and mechanical inter ests are involved, will soon enter upon anew and more prosperous Career.— What we most need is thorough and practical education, and this the new college promises to secure to all classes ot the people—to the poor as well as to the rich and more fortunate, PENITENTIARY, By authority of the act approved December 14, 1871, authorizing the Governor to farm out the convicts in the Penitentiary, I proceeded, after due notice given, to lease the same for the term of two years, to Messrs, Grant, Alexander & Cos., at the sum of fifty dollars per capita per annum.— The number of convicts in the Peniten tiary on the day the lease was executed, was 432. The number on the first of this month had increased to 475. Thirty two have been discharged in the meantime, their terms having expired. This mar/red increase in the number of convicts is not due to any augmenta tion of crime in the State, but is be lieved to be the result entirely of a more rigid and proper enforcement of the laws. This institution heretofore has been a source of expense to the State. Under the present arrangement, how ever, it is not probable that any appro priations will become necessary for its support and maintainance, On the contrary, it will probably be productive of considerable revenue. PARDONING POWER. It may be here remarked that in the present state of society, I have felt it to be my duty to confine the exercise of the pardoning power within very strict limits. Courts and juries constitute the proper tribunal for the trial of criminal offenses, and it is no part of the duty of the Executive to intervene to screen the guilty from punishment. The theory of the law upon this sub ject is, that when guilt has been ascer tained in the manner prescribed by the supreme authority, the interest of socie ty demands that the offender be punish ed. The most painful duty wdiich de volves upon the Chief Magistrate of tbe [Continued on fourth ■page.']