McDuffie weekly journal. (Thomson, McDuffie County, Ga.) 1871-1909, October 16, 1872, Image 1

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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.