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VOLUME n—NUMBER 41.
She ffttcipuffic gonrnal,
IS PUBLISHED WEEKLY
—A T—
THOMSON. C3-A..,
—B V
H. C. RONEY.
RATES OF ADVERTISING,
Transient advertisements will be charged one |
dollar per square for the first insertion, and seventy
five cents for each subsequent insertion.
nvnns.
DU. T. L. ULI'.ftSTKDT
OFFERS III?S
PROFESSIONAL services
To the Citizens ot Thomson and Vicinity,
fie can be found at the Room over Costello’s, *hen
tot profrssiouftUy abscut.
REFERS to
Pro. J V Eve, Pro. Wm. I(. I'ougutt, Dr
J..hs S. Coleman, Or. S C. Kve.
paul a Hudson;
Mornm at Cab,
Tiion«u.\, unuin.i t,
C iT Prompt attention given to the collection of
claims.
Will practice in all the courts of the Augus
ta, Mid lie and Northern Circuits.
Oilier.—At the Office former!/ occupied by Jor
dan E. White, Esq. seplSinS
11. RONEY,
at lab,
THOMSO r,
Will practice iu ihe Augusta, Northern aud
Atrddle Circuits,
no I— 1 y
CHARLES S' DuBOSE, “
mronxm \itm m
WjirH?ntoii,
\7i’l pi .ictir-e n all the Courts of the Northern,
Augusta & Middle Circuits.
VT}l. 8. ROBERTS, rich’d b. morris, jas. a. shivers
Central Hotel,
33''sT
mis. \\. n. tmouas,
AUGUSTA, GEORGIA.
«ep 111 f
m* and. starm*
COTTON FACTO 1 1
J±TS TD
&EIEMI COMkISSiDI MEREBAIT.
Ho, 1 Warren lllock,
Augusta, Georgia-
CtT Will give prompt attention to the selling of
Cotton anil other produce.
CiT Commission for selling cotton, One Dollar
Per Bale. sepllm2
W. H. HOWAItn. C. H. HOWABD. W. H. HO'.VAItD, JB.
W H. Howard & Sons,
mEiiEaEimiiiriffliK,
No. 2 Warran Block,
A"usta, Georgia.
i£®r Commission for Selling cotton One Dollar per
bale. Strict personal attentiou given to biuinoss
entrusted.
All orders strictly obeyed. Liberal Cash Advan
ces made on Cotton.
Special attention psid to Weighing of Cotton.
Bagging and Ties furnished at Lowest Market
Prices. s p pH ts
i: MimpmTaa.
Wholesale and Retail Dealers in
lISUSIfITEGMIITI & C. C. V&BE
—ALSO—
Semi-China French China,
Glassware, &c.
214 Broad Street, Augasta, Ga
aprlO ly.
Roberts, Morris & Shivers,
Successors to
Jas. T. Gardiner & Cos.
WAREHOUSE
A^STED
(Sommissttm HJewtate,
Mclntosh Street .lugusta Ga,
Will give their personal attention to
the storage and sale of cotton, and such
other produce as may be Bent to them.
Commission for selling cotton one dol
lar per Bale.
Cash Advances made on Produce
in Store-
Sept, 4th 3m. >
.T««t«yo House’s Letter In Ke.
ply to 3lr. Georg-e Stovall.
Washington, Wilkes County, Ga. >
October lid,, 1872. )
To the Editor of the McDuffie Journal:
Sir—ln your issue of the ISth, ult..
appeared a letter from Mr. George
Stovall, vindicating himself and con
demning myself, which deserves some
notice from me. Before proceeding,
however, with this notice, allow me to
say that I am much obliged to Mr. Stov
all for giving me so good a reason and
so tiimly an opportunity to review the
Resolution providing for the representa
tion of McDuffie county, and my con
nection therewith ; the bill to exempt
agricultural products from taxation bv
Muncipal Corporations, and my connec
with it; and the bill to allow the Or
dinary of McDuffie county to issue
County Bonds, and my connection with
it.
Ist. As to the Resolution of which
Mr. Stovail thinks so highly, and I so
poorly, which was passed by the House
of Representatives through “the pow
erful efforts and appeals of Mr. Stovall
and his friends,’’ which Mr. Stovall says
Judge Twiffgs pronouced '‘superior to
the original bill,” (an expression utterly
repudiated by Judge Twiggs) and
which, it appears from Mr. Stovall’s
letter to me of the 23d of August last,
even Governor Smith, or somebody
else for him, had given reason to be
lieve he would endorse ; an expression
as to the course of Governor Smith.
which he authorizes me to say “no one had
any authority from him to make.” I did
condemn this Resolution as soon as it was
brought to my notice, knowing it was
unconstitutional, and perhaps spoke of
it (as I shoul 1 not have done) contempt
uous y, and opprobriously. 1 knew
then, as I now know, that the Supreme
Court of Georgia in two cases in 42d
Ga., pages (il and 84, the cases of Coley
vs. Henry, and of Martin vs. Iluson,
had decided that this mode of repealing,
or suspending laws bv a joint Resolution ■
was unconstitutional. 1 knew then,
as I now know, the Cushing, the very
highest authority in this country on
Pa liamentary law, had, in discussing
the power ofa joint Resolution, ex
pressly confined its use to administra
five purposes of a local or temporary
character. I knew then, as I know
now, that such a precedent as repeal
ing by Resolution an existing apportion
ment, law, and divesting rights of repre
sentation, (rights more highly valued at
this time than ever before iri the histo
ry of our country) could not be found.
For these reasons I declined to support
such a Resolution as a proper mode of
legislative action, and simply gave it
such support as would not compromise
my principles. As to that “beat speech”
of mine to which Mr. Stovall refers, it
was very short, not exceeding in length
ten minutes, and confined to the si uple
view that the Resolution could do no
harm if Columbia county acced -1 to
the arrangement ; that the county of
McDuffie was clearly entitled to repre
sentation, and to refuse hei representa
tion while she paid her part of State
taxes, was unjust and unwise. Mr.
Stovall says this speech came too late,
as I had given tune to she Senator from
Warren County “to go around” and
“see the members, and by private argu
ments,” get them pledged against the
passage of the Resolution. In this re
mark he is clearly mistaken ; for the
motion or Resolution on whien I made
that’bestjspeech.” avoided all opposition
from Warren County. The real reason
which caused the failure of the Resolu
tion was the decided opinion of its ille
gality, as I was assailed with questions
on this point from the very beginning
of, “my besr speech.” If Mr. Stovall
means by the above remark to accuse
me of delay, and neglect in “not going
around and by private arguments” solicit
ing support for my motion, I must
plead guilty. I have never, as Mr.
Stovall terms it, “gone around and tried,
by private arguments ” to carry my meas
ures. I have never solicited support
for things I wanted done, by “ running
around and using private arguments,” be
cause I considered, and now consider,
such a course to be utterly destructive to
pioper deliberation and discussion I
have never hunted up Judges or Gov
ernors to get expressions of opinions
from them in advance as to pending
measures, opinions which they never ought
to give. I have tried to carry my own
bills, and the bills put in my charge by
others, by open, public arguments be
fore committees and the Senate, and so
far I have no reason to complain of a
want of success. But, says Mr. Stov
all further, “this Resolution passed al
most unanimously through the House,
THOMSON, McDUFFIE COUNTY, GA, OCTOBER 16,1872.
and, for this cause he concludes “it was
all right.” I have seen, since I have
been in the Senate, several Resolutions
and Bills pass almost unanimously
which were gross violations of the Con
stitution, and cruel wrongs to our poor
and ruined people ; so that my faith in
legislative proceedings, resting on this
foundation alone, is just now very weak.
I will refer just here, as illustrative of
my position, to that outrageous Bill
giving the Atlantic and Gulf Railroad
Company State aid, by endorsing its
bonds to the amount of $2,600,000, for
an extension of the Road through the
State of Alabama and securing the
State by a 2d mortgage, which, after
passing the House of Representatives,
passed the Senate by a two-thirds vote ,
to the Resolutions on the lease of the
State Road, which passed the Senate by
more than a two-thirds vote, and the
House by two thirds vote or ntarly so ;
to the Resolution which passed both
branches of the General Assembly, al
most unanimously, at the late session, giving
to members and clerks double mileage, a
Resolution which would have created a
burst of indignation if it had been pass
ed by a Bullock Legislature ; to the
Resolutions giving thousands of dollars,
wrung from the hard earnings of the
people, without a shadow of propriety
or justice, to clerks, door-keepers,
messengers and pages, all of which
passed nearly by a unanimous vote ;
to'ttie Resolutions, which passed almost
unanimously, multiplying door-keepers,
clerks, pages and servants, as fast, near
ly, as importunate friend- demanded
places, to the scandal of good govern
ment, and bringing the Democratic
party into disrepute for violations of its
pledges; all of which I opposed but
with so few supporters as to appear
singular if not ridiculous.
2d. As'to the bill exempting agricul
tural products from taxation by Munici
pal Corporations. Tyiis bill, which ,
reads as billows : “'SuV&jtjfneral
bly do enact that . , f r wSfipal
'
products or the st’te L“ Antroducisul
by Mr. Lumpkin, of f’-dluinbu county,*
passed by the House.’ but lost in ti e
Senate, from non-action upon it, not
from a vote against it, I now say again,
after more mature reflection, should not
have passed as it was proposed. It is
true, when this bill was read the second
time in the Senate, it was referred to
the Judiciary Committee, of which I
was Chairman, and w>B, without that
discussion of its provisions which so
important a bill deserved, favorably re
ceived and reported upon, and I now
here candidly admit my own share of
blame tor this negligence. It is true
also that, several times after reporting
on this bill and recommending its pas
sage, I conversed with Mr. Latnkin, and
promised him to give the bill tny aid,
not then having thoroughly considered
its extent. I have no recollection of
such a conversation as reporteJ by Mr.
Stovall, but lain willing to put the (acts
down as tie states them, aud to say fur
ther, until the very day before the
Senate adjourned, I thought favorably
of this bill. At that tune, on account
of the remarks of Mr. Hi I Iyer condemna
tory of the bill, and bis proposal to
amend it, I was led to consider the bill
more carefully, aud came to the conclu
sion ttiat it w..s too sweeping to be then
passed, if 1 had, on acoouut of previ
ous conversation and committals, advo
cated a bill which I believed to be
imperfect and not changed my course
in accordance with my convictions, 1
wo- Id have been uitoriy unworthy of
the high position of a State Senator and
unlit to be trusted by the people whom
I represented. Now, as to this bill,
what does it propose? It clearly pro
hibits the taxation of ail agricultural
products or their sales within the limits
of a Municipal Corporation, no matter
where made, no matter how lung held, no
matter how many limes sold. Mr. Stovall
says it was uecessary to make this bill
so sweeping, because, if foreign pro
ducts are left liable to taxation, the tax
taken from domestic productions will
be levied on these foreign productions,
and in this way the prices of these arti
cles will be raised on consumers. To
this objection 1 reply, if uli agricultural
productions of every country, our own
and foreign, are exempted from taxation
by Municipal Corporations, which ex
pend annually much money for the pro
tection of agricultural products within
their limits, these taxes will be levied
on other supplies necessary to consumers, to
raise this money, and thereby their prices will
be raised. It the corn, wheat, hay, oats
and cotton of the seller cannot be taxed,
his sugar, coffee, molassess, iron tobac- j
co, bagging, ties, shoes, blankets and j
osnaburgs, can be, and the amount raised !
from these articles to pay the city
taxes will be put into the price of every
thing in his store. The object of this
bill to protect our own ageicultural pro
ductions from taxation by Municipal
Corporations, under certain circumstan
ces, is proper, and meets my cordial
approval. It seems to me that, when
our own agricultural productions are
I transferred to Munieipa Corporations,
i for sale, and are sold within a reasonable
I time and no expenditure by such Corpo
rations can he said to have been incur
red for protection against losses of any
kind, then no tax should be levied on
them. It may be said, even if a law be
passed embodying these principles, the
tax lost by such moderate prohibitions
will be made up on other articles, an i
the prices of these thereby raised. To
which I say, while I know it is possible,
Ido not believe such result probable.
Such a law, occupying a moderate
scope of the ground subject to a taxation,
and founded,'ijs it would be, on princi
ples of justice, might be acceptable to
all parties. This much I say lurther in
relation to this bill to exempt agricul
tural products from taxation, it I have
committed an error in my conduct as a
representative and an agricultural district,
by simply as itg a suspension of Legis
lative action urtil another session, in
order to make a permanent and practi
cal bill, I erred unintentionally. What
ever others may suspect, and even say,
of my motives n this matter, I know
that my motives were pure and honora
ble, and that 1 am incapable of doing an
intentional wring to the agricultural
interest of my district. The interest
which, by almost superhi man efforts,
elevated -.ye to the honorable position
ofa State Senator; the interest which
has contribui.ed so much to my prosperi
ty in life, anfVwliich has, in times past,
shown me so. many marks of confidence ;
■ich I am so closely
strongest ties of every
am determined in the j
ast. toalo, all in my |
otil/ f, ' '‘rests 1- ***■'•’ I
i bill authorizing the
proper authojties of McDuffie county
to issue bonds to the amount of $15,-
0 )0, and winch passed, exempting them
from countyjhxation everywhere in the Stale,
but not from State taxation, which Mr.
Stovall sifys the people of McDuffie
countv should thoroughly understand,
and particularly how uiuili lie wanted
to do, and how much I prevented him
from doing. I now propose to say a
tew words—and only a tew words—in
my justification. When the Cobb
county bili, and the McDuffie county
biil came from the House, they were
both alike in exempting the bonds to
be issued under them from Slate and
county taxation. These bills were refer
red to the Finance Committee of the
Senate, not by myself, but by so i.e other
Senator, and t»y that Coounittee were
amended, by striking out the clause ex
empting the bonds to be issued from
State taxation. I will state that I was
not a member of that Committee, and
never expressed an opinion on the sub
ject to any one of the Committee, and
1 am, therefore,, not responsible for this
amendment; though, iu my judgement
it was right, and should be rigidly en
forced. 1 examined personally the le
port of’ the Finance Committee on these
bills, and saw that they had this report
written upon them. So, I felt justified
in stating to Mr. Stovall that the Cobb
county bill had not passed, and could
not pass as the same came from the
House, with the exemption of State
taxation ; and I felt, justified in pursuing
the course I did in relation to the Mc-
Duffie county bill, which contains sim
ply an exemption from county taxation,
and none from State taxation. Now,
how did the Cobb county bill pass?—
Not as Mr. Stovall says. It passed with
the exemption from county and Municipal
taxation only, not from State taxation. The
McDuffie Ootids and the Cobb county
bonds are both to be subjected to State
taxation, and not to comity taxation. I
have the certified copies of these Acts be
fore me, and write from a careful exam
ination of tlvejr contents. The assertion
of Mr. Stovall, “that the records will
show that Anderson’s bill passed, and
chat the bon Is of his county are now
exempt from the same tax from which
the Senate refused to exempt ours,” is
simply and wholly a mistake. The
question, hovVever, remains : Ought the
McDuffie county bill, or any other
county bill, <)f which many have passed
without an exemption from taxation, to
have been parsed with a clause exempt
ing them from State taxation ? I say
not, and for several reasons; In tue
first place, such an exemption is not
needed, as some seem to suppose, to
give these county bonds increased value
or circulation. But one tiling will give
these bonds a high valueand circulation :
That is taxation— strong, determined,
presistent taxation. Taxation sufficient
constantly to pay the interest accruing
thereon, and a port on of the principal,
annually. If the people of a county
have made up their minds resolutety to
putonly g tod men in theircounty ofllices,
men fitted by their intelligence to attend
to public business, and honest enough
to take care of the public money, and
sustain them in levying and collecting
the necessary taxes to pay their bonds,
then they will have value and cireula
tion, and will not need such “clap-trap,”
as an exemption from State taxation to
bolster them up. This very provision
of exemption from taxes exists in regard
to State bonds when held lor minors and
others interested in Trust Property, and
yet the exemption does not add one
cent to the market value of these bonds.
While administrators, executors, trus
tees and guardians are investing daily
large arnou ts of the trust money in the
bonds of the Georgia Rail Road, liable
to State tax ; in the bonds of the cities
of Atlanta, Augusta and Savan uth, all
liable to as other proper
ty, they will not invest a dollar in State
bonds, because the State government
has failed, and still fails, to pay State
bonds as they become due. In the next
place, 1 think such an exemption as an
exemption from State taxation an un
just one, not to be encouraged. Can
any man give a g od reason why Mr. A.
who buys county bond, should he/d
the same free from taxation ? Does not
such a build-holder receive all the pro
tection of the laws of the State which
other citizens do as to their property?
Do not the Courts sit to protect liis
bonds as much as to protect other prop
erty ? Is not all the vast and expensive
machinery, in all its departments of
government, kept up as much for him as
i others,? ,
Ag u, sth ii an fS^mpti.r;
Intbjj; State has already ab’’''"»ri :
fid bonds to’bb issued by Lb :
and only one, the county of Gwinnett.
has such an c x mriptiou. The county of
Gwinnett applied for and obtained the
exinption previous to the last session of
the General assembly, when little atten
tion was paid to these applications now
numerous. Against the policy of the
State, arid iu my opinion a wise policy
as to these county bonds, f would not
ask for an exemption from State taxa
tion. II other gentlemen thimt it their
duty to seek these uuvuntages for their
counties, I have no word of coin Main!
to make against them. I simply say
that I shall not seek such advantages.—
Now, Mr. Editor, not desiring to boast
of what I have done for the people of my
State, one and all, but simply to show
tne people of my District that I have
served them faithfully, honorably and
efficiently, I point to the Acts of both
sessions oftlieLegislatme, drawn by me,
and passed by my efforts, sometimes in
the free of the fiercest opposition. At
the session of 1871, the following bills,
dr>»\vn entirely by myself, became, and
are now laws of the State : An Act to
provide the mode of changing the place
of trial in criminal cases, and regulating
the payment ofuli costs connected with
such change; an Act to compensate
(Jit rks,Ordinaries and Sheriffs lor servi
ces whereuocompeusation,or noadequte
compensation, is provided ; an Act to
give Plaintiff’s iu execution a right to re
cover damages iu cases where frivolous
claims aud defences are tiled ; an Act to
secure the several counties of this -tate
train cost when persons are p it iu jail
aud then, on account of the abandon
ment of prosecutions or settlement of
them, jail fees are unprovided and have
hither to fallen upon the public; an
Act to provide for taking bonds o pub
lic officers and qualifying them ; au Act
to relieve joint debtors in judgement,
giving jiont debtors the same rights s
securities to control the executions
agaiust them for their indemnity ; an
Act to make it penal to withhold money
or personal property belonging to the
State of Georgia, which provides, if any
person has legally or illegal/y fraudu
lently or wrongfully received, or shall
hereafter so receive money or property
of the State, and shall refuse to surren
der the same, on demand, to the Treas
urer of the State or his ageuts, such !
person sba/1 be guilty of a felony ; an J
Act to amend the law of arson in this i
State, so as to make it a felony to set on
fire or burn any fence, stacks or shocks!
of fodder, corn, oats hay or any grain.!
At the session of 1872 the following j
Acts drawn by myself became and are
now laws of the State. An Act to regu-
TERMS—TWO DOLLARS IN ADVANCE
late the time of holding elections in
this State, separating State from Feder
al elections, and e/ections from both, un
der which law the ejections of this year
and hereafter, have been and are to be
held, presented to the Senate for its ac
tion by Mr. Heard of the 19th Senatorial
, D strict at my request; an Act to allow
: b.lls in equity to be disposed of at the Ist
; term of the court; an Act to extend the
j law of conspiracy in the State, making it
i il felony for any two or more persons to
conspire or agree to defraud, cheat orille
gally obtain from the State of Georgia or
any county thereof any property or mon
ey ; an Act to deprive Ordinaries of this
State from granting writs of habeas cor
pus in capital felonies; an act to define
the duties of administrators in certain
cases by allowing them to act also as
guardians without giving bond or with
out appointment as such by the Court
of Ordinary when minors whose proper
ty they hold cannot procure guardians;
an Act to authorize the Governor of this
State to instit te suits to recover money
or property of the Statu; an Act to
regulate the amount f rewards for Fel
ons ; an Act to provide for taxation of
printing materi.il, which alone brings
into the list of taxable property nearly
four hundred thousand dollars. 1 might
refer to many important acts amended
by myself, and to resolutions of great
public importance, but I forbear, fearing
that I have already exhausted your
patience, Mr. Editor, and that of your
readers.
W. M. REESE.
SENATOR 26th DISTRICT.
Tlio Value ot Time.
When the Roman Emperor said:
‘I have lost a day,’ lie uttered a sadder
truth than if he had exc'aimed : l I have
iost a kingdom.’ Napoleon said that
the reason why he beat the Austrians
was that they did not know the Value of
five minutes. At the celebrated battle
of Rivoli, the conflict seemed on the
point ot being decided against him. He
<awgthu orUjsufl .state of aiiklis. »nd. in
■ ; S' ■ ri irs 1
. o;;.u ter'’ .proposal fyr an armnlHf
inwary ' Austrians, Jell into *h .
snare';* tor a few minutes the thdfnders
of battle were hushed, Napoleon ser'zed
the precious moments, and, while
a > using the enemy with mock negotia
tions, re-arranged his line of battle,
changed his front, and in a few minutes
was ready to renounce the farce of dis
cussion for the stern arbitrament of
arms. The splendid victory of Rivoli
was the result.
The great moral victoiies and de
feats of the world often turn on five
minutes. Men loiter, time flies, and all
the great interests of life are speeding
on with the sure ami silent tread of
destiny.
Hart, thesculptor, isuowiu Florence,
engaged upon a beautiful female figure.
On being asked how long it would take
him to complete the work, he replied
‘several years.’ Some surprise being
expressed at the length of time necessa
ry, the sculptor remarked, ‘Y >u know
takes the Almighty niuetee i years to
make a perfect woman.’
Knowing that his conduct as Gover
nor has been such as to deserve im
peachment, Gov. Davis, of Texas, asks
President Grant to send troops into the
State this fall to intimidate the, people
and prevent a fair election of legisla
tors. Will Grant do it? We shall
see.
The Alexandria ‘Gazette’ (Greeley)
regards it as refreshing, in the midst of
the political war of words now raging
over the Inn f to meet with one con
temporary, the Raleigh (N. C ) ‘Senti
nel’ (Grant), calmly discussing in its
columns, day after cay, the authorship
of the ‘Letters of Junius.’
‘Do try to talk a little common sense,’
exclaimed a sarcastic young lady to a
visitor. ‘Oh !’ was the reply, ‘but
wouldn’t that be taking an unfair ad
vantage of you V
Beast Butler said at Cincinnati that
he thought Simon Cameron could man-
Pennsy Ivainia. but that .things
'ooked squally for Grant in Ohio and
Indiana.
■ i »
Private advices Iroin Louisiana to
the New York Sun, put Greeley’s ma
jority in that State at from ten to
twenty thousand.
What with the destruction ot thejute
crop and the threatening Indian disturb
ances, a rise in hair is pretty certain*
Houston Texas watchmen get sls
per week in coin.