Georgia weekly telegraph and Georgia journal & messenger. (Macon, Ga.) 1869-1880, March 29, 1870, Image 2

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Georgia weekly telegraph and Georgia journal & messenger., March 29, 1870, Image 2

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Newspaper Page Text•' : V' *"“ i4 ™ - *< •' i *.h-j>'•> Tlie Greoreria, Weekly Teles;:ra/Qli and Journal 1& JVXessengei?. SEMI-WEEKLY Telegraph & Messenger. PUBLISHED WEDNESDAY AND SATURDAY. SATURDAY MORNING. MABOH 2C, 1870. About Fences in Illinois. The agriculturists of Illinois are having a sort of “protracted meeting” in Rockford, and listening to all the lights of science and practical •wisdom in the matters of farming. We quote the following from a report of their discussions in the Hearth and Home: Wednesday morning, O. B. Galusha, of Mor ris, opened the discussion on the Fence Law, showing the heavy burthen tb3t the necessity of making and keeping np a “good and sufficient fence” is upon all land-owners, but especially npon the small farmer, and closing with some resolutions looking to a change in our present statute law. The discussion, which was animated was entirely in favor of its abolition, though differing as to the best method of reaching it. Edwards stated that the fences of the State cost more than all the buildings in the State, cities and towns included. Now, that is, indeed, a startling announce ment—that the fences in Illinois cost more than the honses, including the many thousands of costly structures which make up tho numerous large cities in that State, which embrace Chica go among the rest. Bnt we have little donbt that it is true of Hlinois—true of Georgia, and true of most of the States of the Union. Wlrnt an awful tax on agriculture, and a tax which is dispensed with in most of the countries of Con tinental Europe. Soothing. The Courier-Journal pours oil upon tho wounds of Avery, Conant & Co., in the follow ing kindly manner: These fellows all asked for Government pro tection and the defeat of the Bingham amend ment on account of the disturbance which they described; and of tho orgin of this disturbance every one of them gave a different story. When they agreed with Bullock to lie frr him, they should have so arranged it as to avoid all dis crepancy in their lying. A special telegram to the Charleston Mews dated Washington, March 22d says: “To-day the President informed several Southern men that as soon as the Texas bill was passed, he wonld send a special message to Congress favoring universal amnesty as a fit ting close of reconstruction.” We’ll believe it when we read it, not before. Grant will do just what his Congressional mas ters tell him. And they don’t talk that way, much, just now. The Senate and the Bingham Amendment.— The Washington correspondent of the Charles ton Cornier says, on tho 20th inst: In regard to the Georgia bill, I find that the Bingham amendment will probably pass the Senate. This is the opinion, both of Conserva tive Republicans and Democratic Senators whom I hava seen to-day. Its defeat would se cure the passage of the Butler bill; otherwise, no Democrat would touch it. It is a choice between two evils. The Radical Futcbe.—The Pennsylvania Re publican members are pushing tho protective tariff on the party ground. But it is well known that the Republican party in Pennsylvania is on its last legs, tariff or no tariff. Iron and coal duties cannot uphold it, for it is confessedly rotten at the very cam. It is broken np into riDgs and cliqjes of mercenaries. Political re. action must be tho consequence, and the same rule applies to the Republican party generally throughout the Union.— Washington Corres pondence Charleston Courier. At the African mass meeting in Washington, last Tuesday the following resolntion was passed: “Resolved, That the thanks of tho Republi can party of America are specially due President Grant for throwing himself and his administra tion on the side of the Republican party in Mis- sippi and Texas, and so 6ecnring them to the great progressive party; and that the loyal mil lions of this nation are not less sensible of the courage, perseverance and earnest devotion to principle of Rufus B. Bollock, Governor of Georgia. Gen. H. H. Sibley, formerly of the United States army, and afterward a prominent South ern officer in the war, is now a Brigadier in the service of the Viceroy of Egypt. He writes to his friends in Georgia, under date of Alexan dria, January 21st, that he arrived at that city on the 19th of that month, and met Gens. Mott and Loring. The three officers then had an in terview with the Viceroy. The rite of circumcision is no longer univer sally practiced among the Jews. Sixty-three Jewish physicians of Vienna have published a manifesto against it, and the Rabbinical Con gress at Philadelphia resolved that the male child of a Jewish woman is, even if uncircnm- cised, by the very fact of birth a member of the Jewish community. San Domingo, via Havana, March 21.—This city voted for annexation to the United States, 1,000 against 9. After the election the Ameri can flag was carried in triumph through the streets of the town. The inhabitants are large ly in favor of annexation. They’ll bo largely in favor of separation, after they try annexation awhile. The Rev. Dr. Osgood writes to the New York Post that he is “confident that with proper ar rangements a man can make the usnal tonr of Europe for a thousand dollars in six months, and for a thousand dollars more he may see Egypt and Syria, and retnra by Turkey and Greece to Italy or Franco, after a full year’s absence.” Molue Junes, a sister of the Captain, is can vassing Atlanta for subscribers to Mark Twain's book—“The Innocents Abroad.” Mollie says she has a rough time of it in that place, and is carrying ont the title of the book in the .singu- lar nnmber— feminine gender and nominative case to is understood. BenButleb is credited with saying to a mem. her of the Cadetship Committee : “This thing mnst be wound up. You must ease it down on Roderick, for if once fairly warmed np in the work of bringing to light the secret history of Congressmen you will blot the party from ex istence.” Eight of the United States Senators are na tives of Ohio, to-wit: Ross, of Kansas; War ner, of Alabama; Horton, of Minnesota; Drake, of Missouri; Tipton, of Nebraska; Sherman, of Ohio; Fowler, of Tennessee; and Howell, of Iowa. Good for Fast Tennessee* Tho Chattanooga Times says the prospects for a fine wheat and a good com crop in East Tennessee, are excellent. Tho peach trees are in full bloom, and fruit is uninjured. On that mixed Wyoming jury we told of the other day thore was a-woman with a very sug gestive name—Mrs. Amelia Hatcher. As the verdict, after a set of four days, was manslaugh ter, it may be said to here been hatched ont. PopothlemIticonico, or Littlo Slinking Bull, of tho Sioux, being offered by Butler a cadet ship at West Point, declined, saying “Ugh! you send nigger dar—stink enough already.” Death is very busy with tho patent medicine men. Radway and Swain are gone, and now tho decease of Townsend, of Sarsaparilla fame, is an nounced. Are they taking their own physic ? Many of tho Memphis commission merchants are refusing advances to farmers, who will not promise to plant plenty of com the coming sea son. The Sonth and the Bingham Amend* meat. To binge a constitutional scruple on the point of indicating a preference of Butler's bill with the Bingham amendment to the same bill with out it, is unsound simply because we are com pelled to take that bill in one shape or the other. If we could choose, wo would not have it at all bnt since it must come let us have it in the least injurious shape. * A man on trial before one of these military tribunals, would certainly protest against the legality and jurisdiction of the Court, and per haps the justice of the verdict; but his protests being overruled, if he be wise, he wonld seek to escape with as b'ght a sentence as possible Should the Court allow him to choose between fine or imprisonment, he would probably decide to part with his money instead of his personal liberty. Hundreds of Southern men havq plead before these nnconstitntional tribunals and sought an acquittal from them, and not one of these unhappy defendants have ever been charged with conceding in this way the legality of^fco Courts. They availed themselves of all the remedies in their hands to assert and main tain their rights and here their duty and respon sibility ceased and determined. In like manner, under the suspension of civil and political rights in tho South by Congress, our duty and responsibility are determined by our power. We cannot reasonably or logically be held to assent to a single violation of consti tntional law, because we adopt all lawful means to mitigate the rigor of its operation. Wherever we have choice or discretion, or power, to pre vent the infraction of public or private rights, and fail to do it, then we are at fault. It is our duty to uphold constitutional liberty as far as we can, and it is also a duty to onrselves, when we find our efforts vain, to save onrselves, by all jndicions and lawful means, from all the loss and damage it is possible to prevent. These propositions, it seems to ns, are too plain for reasonable dispute, and are practically accepted by most men in all the concerns of public and private life. Tho Southern States indeed went far beyond them when they assented, by acts of their Legis latures, to tho abolition of slavery and the re pudiation of their public debts after the conclu sion of tho war. No power should compel a man or a community to acts of wrong doing. The only possible excuse we can set np for re pudiation, and for a concession of the power of the Federal Gongress to destroy the right of property, was that we could not help ourselves, and all resistance would be practically vain. Bnt we donbt the validity of this defence. All that we mean to insist npon here is that we. the Southern people, do not compromise onrselves in any shape or form with the nnconstitntional and oppressive legislation of Congress against ns, by seeking to mitigate its severity, and con forming to a legislation which we are powerless to prevent. Oar power measures and deter mines our duty and responsibility. We must simply do the best we can, under the circum stances, for onrselves and the country. Now, if Georgia had members of Congress, we should hold it to be their duty under present circnmstances, to vote for the Bingham amend ment, and then, if it was necessary to prevent a worse result, to vote for the bill with the amendment upon the simple issce of the inevi tability of a worse measure. No man has a right to set np bis opinion as law for another in foro conscienlio’. Every man most jndge for himself, and these are cases of a sort in which the conditions and circumstances mnst enter largely in determining the line of duty. Butin onr best judgment, in this case a wise legislator, protesting agamst the whole principle and policy of such legislation, bnt finding it inevitable should do his utmost to diminish its evil conse quences to the people, and that is tho precise kind of action which is practically true to duty and convictions. The wise Ruler, Legislator and Statesman is | bound to find compromise the grand essential feature of sound practical and beneficient gov. erament. He is bound to conform his action to tho existing condition, and endeavor to make the best of it. Even the despot most respect popular prejudice. The positions which can be squared by an iron rule are few. The first les son even the petit juror learns is that his oath, a true verdict to give according to the evi dence” npon a precise and rigid application to the fullest extent of private judgment, wonld defeat the ends of pnblic jnstice. What the world wants is a loyal and honest purpose to uphold the principles of jnstice, constitutional law and civil liberty to the ut most practicable extent, and that is the rnle to live np to and. to live under. The Constitution alist, who tak63 onr logic on the Bingham amendment to task, mistakes the particular writer to whom he replies; but that is immate rial. We rest with confidence on the soundness of the positions no matter who lays them down. It is what sent them to Congress, and filled their filthy pockets. By it they live and thrive. Deprived of it, they die. We hardly look for them thna to cut their own throats. Well, we have stood the pressure most gal lantly for five long years, and we can stand it five more. It mnst be removed some day.— That’s settled, even in the convictions of these carpet-baggers and renegades themselves. Let ns take fortune as it oomes—with a smile of contempt for its frowns, and a serene equanimi ty for its richest favors. We will ralo this land in good time, and with that assurance let ns be •ontenL If Grant and his alliea choose to strike off onr fetters, well and good. We shall use our liberty to the best advantage, and with a purpose founded on the most earnest convictions of duty to all classes and all inter ests. If they do not see fit to nnfetter ns, still well and good. Every day of their tyranny does bnt bring into closer harmony of thought and action this Southern people. It makes ns liter ally one people—a compact, irresistible mass, that, when it is let loose, is bound to crush its way to assured dominion. A fico, then, for Grant and his amnesty so far as it does, or can affect onr future. It bnt hastens a day that is snre to come without it The logio of events and Time's revenges assure to ns a realization of all that it can either promise or perform. Iij is bnt the ripple on the mighty current of events that is bearing this people and this Southland to a destiny that will be worked ont without re. ferenco to any agency but the decrees of Provi dence, and the demands of justice and right. We stand prepared to hear the verdict of am. nesty or no amnesty, with the most placid equa nimity. Wisdom From St. Fonts. We are indebted to the St. Lonis Journal Commerce for a morsel of agricultural wisdom, which oil experience has proved consummate practical folly, to-wit: that common sense teaches the Sonthem States to devote their la bor to cotton and cane, and bay their com of the Western States. To prove this, he prints the following table of the relative Com capaci ty of Western and Sonthem States, taken from the report of the Agricultural Department for January, 1870: YIELD OF COEN FEB ACBE STATED IN BUSHELS. Northern States. Southern States. Missouri 31 North Carolina 13 Illinois 24 South Carolina 11 Indiana 24 Gcoigia 10 Ohio 30 Florida 10 Michigan 28 Alabama 13 Wisconsin 26 Mississippi 15 Minnesota- 29 Louisiana 9 Iowa 33 Tennessee 18 Kansas 42 Kentucky 5 Nebraska 42 Virginia.'. 13 Grant and Universal Amnesty. The World’s Washington correspondence of the 23d, says that: “In bis talk with the Sena tors who waited on him last evening, the Presi- dent stated his pnrpose, as soon as Texas should be admitted, to send in a message to Congress recommending a general amnesty. The mes sage has been already prepared, and is ready to be sent in. It is probable that this course has been resolved on after consultation with a por tion of the more conservative Republican lead ers in Congress; bnt recent discussions indicate that no measure of the kind can pass withont a violent opposition from politicians of the Drake and Thayer style.” This grand stroke of magnanimity presup poses, of course, the defeat of the Bingham amendment, and the accomplishment of plans to secure Radical ascendency in Tennessee and North Carolina, where both are ont of tho ques tion, if a fair expression of popnlar opinion is allowed. After Georgia is turned over to Bol lock and his gang for two years more, and Ten nessee to Stokes or Brownlow, and North Caro lina’s handcuffs are seeurely locked and the key given to Holden—then, we suppose Mr. Grant will deign to recommend general amnesty. Why should we not go down on onr knees and “toss high in air our ready caps” over snoh grace and mercy ? Why should we not Bhont hosannahs to the great, the good, the patriotic Prince of Silence, for his wonderful, unparalleled kind ness and generosity? Ah! we have been so often fooled—so often had onr fingers burned, just as we stretched them forth to take the gracious boon that said so much and meant so little, that small blame eon be imputed to ns if we are very, very cau tious. We know only too well the devilish gnile of this Radical party. We have been scourged too often by the hand that, encased in velvet, and with tho most pacific gestures, showed the iron beneath as it fell with crushing weight upon our heads. Who can wonder, with the record of the past half decade fresh in memory, how or why the Sonth is slow to be lieve that theie is such a thing ns justice, much less magnanimity in the heart of Radicalism? Bat suppose it truo, and Grant in earnest, what then ? Can he force it through Congress? Can he rally the carpet-baggers and scalawags to support a measure that digs their graves and fashions their coffins ? We doubt it. Human nature is stronger ovon than party discipline, and tho instinct of preservation paramount to all others. We shali be greatly deceived If a _ . . . majprity of the party in either House backs j Secbetaky Fish has telegraphed that the rail- T ,. ficaTion of tho Fi; tec-nth Amendment will be tnolr peace policy. It ia war they j proclaimed as soon as Congress shall have de-1 pander. That breathed life and I ehrefljjSpfc.'fdoTiMon of GaoroV- rvd Tens. . f evil bodies -and pieaner ccnls *' Figures, they say, don’t lie, but the Southern farmer has only to persist in the policy of im porting all his food for man and beast from the West, to find himself lying flat in the bogs of bankruptcy. And speaking of ten bushels of com to the acre for Georgia—while this may be the average there are few farmers who have not some swamp lands on their places unfit for cot ton, which will produce twenty to forty bushels to the acre, with proper treatment. If Georgia will grow her own pork, wheat, com, oats and forage she will get rich and save the Western and Atlantic Railway all those dis astrous freight blocks which are a ground of complaint, and interfere so ruuch with her hap piness. If the Sonthem States will follow snit, they will get as much money for their diminish ed cotton crop as they would for one which en. grossed all their labor, and save the vast snms they expend for Western food besides. We don’t blame the St. Lonis people for their opin ions to the contrary. They have good 'reason for their opinions and we have a good one for our’s. It is for their interest to supply the Sonth with food and it is oars to raise it at home. They want onr money, but common sense tells us it is better to keep it in our own pockets. Another! The “loyal” bosom of the great North has re ceived another dreadfnl stab, and howls of an- guish and lamentation are heard in all the con gregations of the chosen. Another “bright particnlar star” has dropped from the firma ment—another saint been overcome by the tempter. One Bailey, Collector of Internal Revenno for the Wall Street District, New York city, the richest in the Union, has mizzled with $200,000 of demnition cash belonging to tho Government. At least he is short in his accounts that sum, and the inference is that as Bailey is “trooly toil” to the backbone, he has it snng in his pocket. Bailey was always at war with those whom he suspected of an intention to defrand the best government, etc. He was tno sworn enemy of the whisky ring, and the tobocco ring and all the other rings, and when they least snspected him was inthe habit of pouncing npon, and spoiling them. Hispraise as a faithful,zealous,incorrupt ible official was in all loyal months,tosncha de gree that Bailey and honesty,Bailey and fidelity, Bailey and general superiority to everybody else in his line, had come to bo synonvmons. Bout- well swore by him and Delano held him as a twin brother. In short, Bailey was on the top. most wave of “well done good and faithful ser vant.” Bnt Bailey has gone, and his cash is short Where, thonsand-tongued rumor hams inces sant explanation. Some say he has commit ted suicide, bnt that’s preposterous. Bailey’s sort don’t take that shnte. Wo prophesy that Bailey will torn np after a while in great distress, and penitent to the extent of melting the heart of the Cardiff giant. He’ll get white washed, keep his $200,000, and moBt likely buy his way into the next Congress to enrse “reb els” and introduce bills for the suppression of lawlessness and violence at the Sonth. Revels Recalls Unpleasant Memories. In the coarse of Morton’s speech read by Bevels, the following passage is found: It was the sable sons of the Sonth that val iantly rushed to the resene, and bnt for their intrepidity and ardent daring many a Northern fireside would miss to-day paternal counsel or a brother's love. Sir, I repeat the fact that the colored race saved to the noble women of New England and the Middle States the men on whom they lean to-day for security and safety. Many of my race, representatives of these men on fields of battle, sleep in the countless graves of the Sonth. That is to say, the husbands and sons of “the noble women of New England and the Middle States,” instead of going to war in their indi vidual capacity, went into the market and bought black and yellow substitutes at so much a head, lend sent them to assist in filling “the countless graves of the South.” The Radical love for the negro consists principally in using his person as food for powder, and using his vote to perpetuate Radical power. “Pnshiog Tilings.” Tho Colombia, (S. O.) Radicals, at a meeting of tho Union Leagne, Monday night, nominated John Alexander, a white man, so-called for Mayor, and seven negroes and four whites for Aldermen. Sonth Carolina Caff is “poshing things,” and we say bravo! He famishes the votes, and should have the spoils. Whittemore, we see, is to have a negro opponent and so is Bowen, the ex-Confederate Captain and convic ted murderer, from the Charleston district. The carpet sackers are packing thoir bags for a flight elsewhere. Wo' hope they will not wing it Georgia-wards. The ice already housed along tho Hudson thjs season is estimated at 289,000 tons, abont u third'of the usual quantity. The last cake has Sources or the St. Johns, Florida. We copy the following interesting letter from the last number of the Brunswick Seaport Ap peal: As many of my friends have desired informa tion in relation to tbs Upper St. John’s in East Florida, I make this communication to you that much labor may be saved. Before proceeding to a description: The River is, perhaps, cue of the most remarkable on the globe. It mouths into the Atlantio, abont 20 miles South of Feraandina, whilst its source, (if it may be said to have a source), is in what is usually called th« Everglades, near or at the extreme Southern joint of the Peninsula. Its course is from South to North, and its length between 400 and 5i0 miles, including its many devions windings, [for it boxes every point of the compass,)—it is mvigable for steamers of vari ous sizes, from Sea steamers, down to the small est sizes. In the spring of 1839, in company with that veteran and indomitable pioneer, Capt. J. O. Duval, we started on a small steamer from En terprise with r. vi«w to find the source of the great river St. Johns. We passed by the mouth of Lake Jessup, a lake sixteen miles in length by eight miles wide, thence through Lake Har ney, a fine lake of from five to six miles in di ameter, every war—this is a lake with beauti ful sand beaches ; thence through a tolerably large diffused lake called Puzzle Lake, (the name I suppose given from the difficulty in find, ing the windings ind serpentine channel of the river through it; there being an innumerable quantity of grass points, sloughs and lagoons, navigators are pizzled,) we proceeded through this lake to the ieighborhood of what is called Orange Mound. Hero wo lost the channel of the river, and get into what is called Salt Run, belonging to tht channel of the river ; we pur sued this run fer fifteen or twenty miles and landed in H " L i ■. Here are three lakes linked together by narrow channels, the waters of which are as brackish as the sea, the eastern one of which reaches to within five or six miles of Indian river; being thus foiled we retraced onr steps to the neighborhood of Orange Monnd in search of the river, and having failed to find it we fell back to Mellonville ; and here ended tho expedition of 1859. On Wednesday, the 9th of Mracb, 1870, the same indomitable Captain Duval, Mrs. Sayer, Miss Hattie Sayer, of Bartow county, and your humble servant, left Lake Monroe in the little steamer “Charles Willey,” with a cargo of corn, flonr, etc., destined for Fort Taylor, on Lake Winder. Just before we reached Orange Mound we struck the confluence of Sait Ron and the great St. John’s. Here the channel is abont fifteen fifteen feet wide and ten or fifteen feet deep; tho current is rather sluggish at this ’ oint for miles. Next we struck what is called Mad Lake, after having spent some hours in catting ont a raft of water lettuce, grass, smut weed and cane roots, of abont eighty yards long. Passing thence, we entered Crow Lake, which is something of the character of Puzzle Lake, only a little more condensed. Above this we struck another raft of lettuce, etc., perhaps one hundred and fifty yards in length; we cat through this in five or six hours, and passed on into Cane Lake, oft-times the channel of tho river being so narrow that the weeds and veget ation on tho banks would come within a few feet of meeting in the centre of the channel. often the stern of onr little craft wonld stick fast on the banks at the same time. In cases of this sort, we would cut loose by mancenver- ing, poshing and herring. After leaving Cane Lake, we came npon a raft of over two miles long; here we found big trouble, bnt folly determined not to retreat, we took into a lagoon, tho upper end of which reached to within 200 yards of the river chan nel above the raft, though we had a cargo of several tons weight, by dredging with hoes, spades, etc., and fastening the anchor deep in the mnd and staking it well with poles, hitch ing block and tackle, we succeeded in ten bonrs, in reaching the channel above tho raft. Here ended onr last serious trouble, tho channel in many places was very narrow and often the cur rent rapid. A few miles before reaching Lake Poinsot, the river widened out into a beautiful stream, one hundred yards wide and fifteen or twenty feet deep. This Lake is one of the most beautiful sheets of water on the St. John’s, and tho third in magnitude, being from seven, to eight miles across; passing through this lake, we found one of the finest rivers of the Upper gt. John's, boijjg of sufficient width and depth for a large Sea steamer. Seven or eight miles on this river brought us into Lake Winder; and about 1 i o'clock, Saturday night the 12th inst, we cast anchor at our mooring on tho west bank of Lake Winder. This is a very pretty Lake, something less than the size of Lake Munroe, at Enterprise. We were then within 12 miles of Lake Washington, which is the head of, and connects tho St John's with the Everglades. Here, daring the day (Sunday) the Capt de livered his cargo to the various^onsignees, and sold ont his own “truck,” by bartering and oth erwise, for hides, “venisonsaddles,’’deerskins, wild cats, etc. Our whistle from the lake, was responded to by the crack of the rifle, from the distant coves and encampments for miles aronud. The scattered denizens of that far off end of the earth having heard of our intended visit to their swampy abode, gathered men, women and chil dren for thirty or forty miles around to see the great show of a little steamer on their waters, and bay calico dresses, shoes, tobacco, sugar, coffee, floor and corn. By 8 o’clock in the morning onr little boat was jammed and packed with living Floridians; tho joyous chatter and laugh was shared by the old and the young; and they did absolutely appear to be a happy people, and at one time I counted over fifty on tho up per deck of the littlo ‘‘Willy.” In the evening, the sight-seeing and tho day’s “jollification” being pretty well over, and wo having learned that the rafts between Winder and Washington were thick and heavy, (the two lakes being 12 miles apart) it was deemed inexpedient to pur sue the excursion further. About in the evening, we hauled in the anchor, blew the whistle, and fell back to Mellonville in “good order”—a distance of about 150 miles. Nothing of much interest occurred on onr downward routo, except at tho “haul over” above Lake Cane, tho water having fallen, we were compelled to “haul back,” by the use of anchor, block and tackle. I am spinning this thing too long, bnt mnst say a few words in relation to the geography, topography and products of this most remarka ble country. Its general elevation cannot be exceeding fifty feet above the level of the sea. The prairies are fiat and level, portions only a few feet above the water in the river and lakes; occasional skirts of hammock on the onter edges of tho prairies; cabbage trees are frequently fonnd dotting the praries, and occasional clumps or clusters of cabbage, live oak and backberry, covering elevated spots or monnds on the prai ries, with very rich and productive soil; the higher np tho river the broader the prairies, often from fifteen to twenty miles wide; they are generally very rich but too low to be of any value for any agricultural purposes, but affords an inexhaustible winter and summer pasturage for stock. Upon tho whole the country, as it is, of little value, except for stock raising, game, tropical frnits and gardens. The river, in many places, even np to Lake Winder, is broad and deep enough for sea steamers; at other places scarcoly wide enough for a large yawl, yet al ways deep. This is doubtless attributable to the fact that at some places the water is con centrated in the channel, and at others dispersed through and over the prairies and mRrshes. Aligators may be reckoned by the acre, fish by the legions, and the feathered tribe by squads, companies, regiments and corps. There is ono faot, however, in Physical Sci ence, which to me is inexplicable! The St. Johns, for several hundred miles runs parallel with Indian and Halifax rivers at a distance, varying from 20 to 6 miles, the former running North and the latter Sonth. Often the current of the St. John’s is rather rapid than otherwise. I will dismiss this subject with one more (to me) remarkable recital. On board of the 8testal er Nick King, from Jacksonville to Brnnswiok, (Friday the 11th of March, 1870) aboat 4 miles over the bar of St. John’s, we discovered in front and to the right, that which was at first believed to be a heavy sea, with breakers, whioh turned ont to be n Inrge school of Whales, play ing and spouting in the water, often 20 feet high; 20 or 30 feet of their backs might often be seen several feet above the surface—some times C or 8 feet of their heads and tails, en tirely above the water. Their nnmber could not have been less than 15 or 20, perhaps the donble of it. Where did these great fish come from, and what is their object? It may be that they are tho Carpetbaggers of the Sea, come down to feed npon the great family of Porpoises at the month of the St. John’s. D. R. Mitchell. Bbunswick, March 15th, 1870. . A Word to the Democracy of Georgia, fear our strength, and fearing it, if left nntram- Thcmas D. Carr was hung on Friday at St. Clairsville, Ohio, for the mnrder of Louisa O. Fox. He acknowledged having perpetrated fourteen cold-blooded murdere and made five unsuccessful attempts to take life boforo the killing of Ilfis Fox. \ ■ Editors Telegraph and Messenger: Some ten days ago, I prepared and forwarded to the editors of the Angusta Chronicle and Senti nel, for publication in that paper, a few “Thoughts for tho people of Georgia,” but whioh they have neglected to insert in their columns; though, judging from a portion of the phraseology of tho leading editorial in that paper of tho 17th instant, they had not failed to receive and read, but without any al lusion to my communication, attribute the sentiments therein expressed to the extreme Republican idea of a “subversion of popular rights,” without attempting to show that this subversion had not been permanently effected. I simply stated an accomplished fact—that our government had been thoroughly revolution ized, and that a new form of government had been established by the enactment of Consti tutional amendments and “fundamental con ditions,” and by which we are now bound. They are now the supreme law of the land; and though neither you nor I, nor the Demo cratic party, helped to make or pass these Constitutional amendments and “fundamental conditions,” yet they are, notwithstanding our opposition to their imposition upon the coun try, the rule of our action as much so as any other clause of the Constitution or law of Con gress. And are we not bound to obey them, and to faithfully execute their requirements? We may not like these new conditions of our national constitution, yet does this absolve us from a strict obedience to those conditions? Is it the part of a good and law-abiding citi zen to refuse to recognize and obey a law be cause he may regard, and that correctly, that law unconstitutional or oppressive? I speak as unto wise men. Tho times are pregnant with lessons of instruction. Let the follies of the past teach us wisdom for the future. In State and national politics we have pre sented in the past an undivided front of oppo sition to the great leading measures of the Radical Republican party. This was our duty as well as privilege, for we honestly believed those measures to be dangerous, as subversive of our liberties. Butour political antagonists, backed by Federal bayonets, were successful, and our opposition was attributed to the old spirit of “rebellion,” instead of an honest ef fort to secure good and equitable laws; and instead of checking or even modifying the stringent legislation of the centralized govern ment towards the people and State of Geor gia, has only aggravated it, and brought upon us and our posterity the humiliation of unjust laws and an unequal position among her sister sub-divisions of the municipal regulations of the National Government. I speak here of States now in their relative* position to the National Government, as I would of the sub-divisions of States into coun ties, and counties into townships for the more convenient purposes of local government Is not this in fact the condition of things to-day? This is no longer a Federal Union, for this would imply a government of co-equal parts, which does not now maintain. It is a consol idation—or as the Republicans claim, a “Na tional Government” This is not the govern ment of my choice, or even that of our patriot forefathers, for it is too fearfully true that the last link in tho chain of centralization is about being successfully welded in the adoption of the Fifteenth Amendment to tho Constitu tion. With the adoption of this, the is sues of the late war and those that have di vided the people of the South and their rulers since tho close of the war, will have passed away. Whatever our private opinions may be with reference to these issues, pro and con, they can be of no practical value now. so far as a basis of political action is concerned. We may speculate and philosophise as to the means used to secure the adoption of the late Consti tutional Amendments; but for the futuro they will constitute a leading, if not paramount part of the Constitution, and if we would be wise and practical; if we would adapt means to ends, and so adjust our political action as to meet living issues and present needs, we will abandon tor the present at least, every unnec essary political weight that will hinder our progress in a material and political prosperity which awaits us in the no distant future if gui ded by wise council. I do not mean by this that we are to frater nize in future with our political enemies and the enemies of self government. I mean no such thing. We may accept and maintain that which is true in fact; and in this agree to support the laws and the Constitution, without supporting all tho dogmas of the Radical party or its unscrupulous leaders. There are and will be living issues enough to employ our time and patriotism upon, without keeping before the people the ghosts of the ouried past In view of the adoption of the Fifteenth Amendment, there is a necessity of the reor ganization of the Democratic party, for it must, in view of the altered state of things, continue to lag behind, or adjust itself to the new rela tions which ensue, and to the general practi cal necessity which arises under the new dis- msation of our changed form of government, or need we waste time in the unprofitable task of fretting our souls on accouut of the success of measures which we failed to defeat, and in which we take no pride, and yet, as good citizens, we are in duty bound to obey. Indeed, so far as any practical utility is con cerned, we need not and should not linger one moment longer around the debris of past issues. They are inanimate now, and I fear are like liberty when once lost, lost forever! They are gone and will not come back at .our bidding, be our efforts ever so daring or patri otic. The inexorable mandates of the Consti tution have settled the dispute, and point out the new path along which we must all travel. What, then, is our duty ? Is it folly to be wise 1 Shall we sullenly and unyieldingly go on, fretting, stewiDg, and floundering about in the slough of the past, while our enemies are up and at work? Nay, let us rather act as men fully alive to the necessities of the present and the wants of the future, with liv ing is.-ues and forces and comprehensive aims, who submit to no superior patriotism, and yield to no obstacles that are in the way to aa ultimately just and economical government It is true, we need just now _ a little more well directed elasticity, adaptation, co-opera tion, union of forces, power, influence, any and every thing that will combine and hold onr forces together in the pursuit of one common interest which shall result in good to all, white and black, ignoring at the same time all party differences that have grown out of the issues of the past. We need especially jnstnow to enconrnge and foster a uniform system of free school educa tion, by jndicionB and well defined municipal law; and though this may increase onr taxes, it will, in the end, repay ns an hundred fold. We need to reorganize, to a certain extent, onr district courts, by the enactment of statutes so as to secure to the freedmen the amplest pro tection of law within the State, semiring him in every right before the law belonging to every other citizen. One uniform expression of opin ion should be given, and pledges made and kept that no pains nor necessary prudential expense shall be spared to seonre these results. Success is potential. It is power. It is in fluence. But we can never obtain it by a stolid indifference or sullen opposition. In the lan guage of the late Chief Justice Taney: “It ia onr duty to expound and execute the law as we find it:” Laws are passed by majorities, and often by the casting vote, and yet minorities are alike bound by Buch laws, though opposed to their enactment; and we think it too firmly and clearly established to longer admit of dis pute, that the Constitution must continue in the future, as heretofore, the supreme law of the land, despite its altered condition, and that its provisions are obligatory npon all alike. It is the arbiter of the people, at leaBt, if it is not of Congress. Nor can we secure its fall benefits by an exercise of unreasonable prejudice or a snail-like pace, whioh refuses to keep np with unmistakable change and the positive faots of history which cluster all around us. We cannot secure whatever of good it may possess by an unyielding adherence to old standards and old formulas of thought and opinion. These are among the past, and; though good in principle, cannot be made available in practioe for the present at least. We must rise to the necessities and and, cess’ at . cyr joccMqancf. ~Oq.V one moled, are this day asking Congress to expunge from the “Georgia Bill,” now before that body, the only clause which will give to the people of Georgia the power to right the wrongs under which she suffers—to prevent the perpetuation of that political inenbos now hanging npon the body-politic of the State, like a fetid, canker ous sore, and which seeks to perpetuate its power and plunder at the point of the bayonet. As men governed by wisdom and not by preju dice, we certainly ongbt to adjust onr political theories, platforms and affiliations to the cir cumstances snirounding ns and to the highest interests of society. And we should do this, too, in conformity to the spirit of the laws and institutions that pertain within onr midst at tho time—that is, in conformity with the “fanda that we now witness the strange.. whole power of the State being wi*td«3 the case of the last mentioned [1’•*!» terest of adventnrere and fclanderenof people, and in favor of one private ent.! 0 ** against another! Aa if this were no: !?** the military forces of the United State* O* been sent down to elnteh ns by the throat *5* the carpet-bagger and scalawag rifle our ©ts! Poet 3. A third reason why the Legislator.:., purer and better days refused its assem polioy under consideration, was founded ^ the inequality and injustice of the poii cv If the State should lend its assistance section, even handed justice would tenJ the policy was a sound one, that it should do^ . . I sftmo for every other section that ndoLiviJ® mental conditions, regardless of class, persons it. The faot that one section was mm.!, or distinctions. Accepting the situation as it ” ' is, we .should assume its responsibilities and share its labors in common with our fellows. To neglect this is to perpetuate the power of our enemies and the enemies of a good, pros perous and peaceful government in onr State. Moreover, then, let ns bring the moral influ ence, intelligence and character of onr best men eligible to places of trust under the arbitrary and unjnst laws of Congress, into the political arena, and let their force and tone give shape and direction to popnlar sentiment and action. In a choice of men for positions of trrist as your representatives, it is by no means safe to select men of the Repnblican party becanse of their present conservative views, and their opposi- .„ uv , w „ U1JU „ >al ana tion to the extreme measures of the Radical lines, it might well have been apprehend 1 ?* wiDg of their party, for in the end they will de- collisions, litigation, nnblia ceive yon. Wo should select men from onr own party ; men identified with onr every in terest, bnt who have accepted of the existing condition of things and are apace with the in evitable progress o[ the times. Such will never go back upon yon, nor forsake you and yonr interests in the day and hour of yonr need. Onr mistakes in the past should make us wise for tho future. We may be permitted even to take lessons of instruction from onr political enemies. They fully comprehend the situation and accept of the progressive idea which has reunited in the amendments to the Constitution, which, in fact, establishes universal suffrage withont regard to class, color or previous con dition—and which is now in sympathy with a large class of our citizens—and shall the Dem ocratic party remain behind only to behold itself buried amid the ruins of the past ? This stand still polioy, or policy of offering factious and at the same time ineffeotnal opposition to estab lished principles of our Government, ' whether these principles be right or wrong, and poor, and that another seotion cr!!! Eoll, an even surface and abounded in wealth* population, could make no difference- aa a* wise the levelling dogmas of the socialist wonld be admitted and justified * I terprises which would benefit the whole t* ^ would, of course, stand npon a different It may be, moreover, that the Lecislah,,.: lieved it wonld be better for the State to?!* take the whole business of providing Wor v internal improvement, as it provides fZ,? transportation and delivery of the mails “• leave it entirely to individuals, with the’? 10 various herein before set forth. Where th« e should lend its aid to build rival and c— lines, it might well have been apprehe„ collisions, litigation, public demoralization ,8 * ! I personal corruption wonld be the certa; ' suits. Nor could ithave escaped theattetta fe ‘ j the Legislature, that where a governmeBt f upon the policy here condemned iuj? i effect must be to discourage enters vitable effect must be to discourage prhZ'Z 1 ' terprise, and to blunt the energies andde-i the industry of tho people; whereas it uZ, part of wise statemanship to foster the o-e ul vitalize and encourage the other. ° ’ aa " Bnt tho injustice of the policy of Slate ail was doubtless well understood bv the advocat- of the policy themselves. The Central the con and Western, the Georgia, tho Atlanta Point, the Southwestern, the Muscogee the A gusta and Savannah Roads were “nil built !' private capital. They were undertaken and J. ried through in the face of obstacles apparent insurmountable, and at a time when raiirji were in theirinfancy, and when their project! had to contend, not only with a lack of meJj s .' at> 2 bnt with a lack of faith also. Many of these (and , architects of onr railway system sank under tt» v 1 j heavy burden they had undertaken to can- will not stop here to discuss,) will not now but their successors, dismayed neither bvflS secure us success. If they are wrong, I wonld nor fi re> nor pestilence, took np the work'Z suggest that the surest and quickest means of - • - - - securing their repeal, is to enforce their re quirements with an impartial and rigid hand. In conclusion, then, let me say to my Demo cratic friends in Georgia, that the elements of reform should be set to work at once within the I a. s the greatest economy on the part of a* Democratic party of the State, and by the , several direct ones, to discharge their h e arv^ force of truth and justio all disturbing influen- j debtedness and keep the roads in rnnningoriw ces will be removed and n healthy and vigorous i 0n e of the roads mentioned above was sold on organization produced preparatory to entering i at on ] y a tithe of it , original cost; while the «tod upon tho summer and fall campaign, which; of others, even after their completion, cm- will ensue if justice and the privileges of our I ma nded in the market only one-fourth of rtu State Constitution are permitted to ns in the ! it fc a d cost the stockholders, recognition of the right of the State to repre-; The Legislature was not unmindful of ti* sentation in the national Congress. A thorough , f ac ts here stated; and hence it steadily refused infusion of a genuine spirit in harmony with the 1 to sanction the policy so persistently forced bkb march of events and the changed condition of ; it3 attention. It believed it wonld be gross \ our country, will ensure our success. Shall we j justice and bad faith for the State to Intel ft* accept the terms. C. P. Culveb. j lists against the private companies which tij Washington, D. C., March 19, 1870. j done so much for the people, by lending its aid NOTES ON THE RAILWAY SITUA- | to bniId up^dandcompetiDg lines. Mi ! course on the part of the State towards a portita iiun. i c £ j ts own p 60 pi e — a people, too, who deserted Number Five. ; so well of it—wonld be, in the opinion of the Editors 1 degraph and Messenger : For the j Legislature, not simply unjust, but disgraceful decade proceeding the late war the most per- : and criminal, and would eventually check >1 sistent efforts were made, as was shown in my ' private enterprise, and destroy the faith of the last article, to embark the State of Georgia in P eo P^ e ln tbe integrity and justice of their on a general system of granting aid to railroad en-! government terprises. The advocates of this new policy, , . np the work vhei* their predecessors had been forced by deaths I Jay it down, and pushed it on to final compV tion. * 1 For many years after these roads had L, finished, it required all their earnings, as I actuated by a common purpose and looking to the same end, combined their forces as occasion required, the friends of each particnlar enter prise agreeing to snpport all other applicrtions, on condition that they were assisted in return. This sort of tactics is known in parliamentary The men of the last generation were stroig enough to resist successfully every effoii, whether made by our own people or by foreign speculators, to enlist the State in the disreputable work of making war npon one interest or con-! mnnity, for the benefit of a rival interest or j community. But the times have changed, t parlance as “log-rolling”—a term well under- '• n ? en bayo changed with them. The policyre- stood by the hardy pioneers who felled onr mac b firmnes by onr fathers, nov forests and opened np the land to cultivation. In those early days, when the people were poor and tho population sparse, and when hardly any one individual possessed force enough to clear his land of the trees after they had been cut down, it was the enstom with each owner of the soil to assist his neighbors to “roll their logs,” on condition that they wonld aid him to roll his. This convenient arrangement, though very good in agricultural operations, our Legislature re fused to adopt as a principle of action in its of ficial proceedings. Every effort was made to move the Legislature from this wise resolve. Applications were presented for aid, first to one enterprise and thea to another, and when these had failed an attempt would be made to push through an omnibus or general State aid bill; and when this, too, had been rejected, applica- bids fair to become the accepted policy of the State. A servile population has been set free and clothed with the elective franchise. The wisdom, virtue and experience of the State hare been exiled from onr public counsels, and > horde of hungry adventurers moving down npon us from tho North, has usurped their places.- What is to be the result of this change and of this invasion, it does not require the gift of j prophecy to foretell. Meanwhile let ns glance at the work which the present Legislature has already accomplished. We need not stop to remark upon the compo sition of the Legislature, or npon the circum stances attending the election of its members, or upon tho snpport which it has received from the military arm of the Federal Government It wields the power of the State of Georgia, tions in behalf of particular enterprises wonld ] an< ^ such, it has passed laws binding the be again presented. All such applications, how-' ® ta * e *° guarantee the payment of the bonds ever, from whatever quarter brought forward, ! l b ftt have been or may hereafter be issued fo. ■ ... - | the construction of the following railroads, to- wit : The Macon and Angusta road; the Geor gia Air Line road; the Sonth Georgia sod Florida road; the Alabama and Chattanooga road; the Brunswick and Albany road; the Cartersville and Van Wert road; and the Dal ton and Morgantown road. The preceding Legislature had passed an act to lend the credit of the Stute to the Macon and Brunswick road. The State has bonnd itself, by these acts, to en- I dorse the bonds of some of these roads to the extent of eight thousand dollars per mile, and of others to the extent of ten, and twelve, and fifteen thousand dollars per mile. To the I Brunswick and Albany road, controlled and | managed by Avery and Conant, of New York, the State has agreed to lend its aid to the ex tent ui fifteen thousand dollars in gold per mile!—more than it will cost to bnild the'road. These roads, when finished, will be abont sii hundred miles in' length, and the State has pledged itself, through the Legislature, to en dorse their bonds for a total sum of nearly .seven millions of dollars! The Macon and Augusta road, it is understood, has not availed itself of tho act passed for its benefit. The act for the benefit of the Macon and Brunswick road was passed by the Legislature of 1866. Wo have here, with these limitations, the work of one Legislature, whose term of office has not yet expired. What it will not do, if Congress should unfortunately prolong the term of to members, it is impossible to foresee. We mV be snre it will do all it can to bankrupt the State, and to destroy the admirable railway sys tem adopted by wiser and better men, and built np by their private means. What do the tax paying people of Georgia say to the exhibit here made ? And this may be only the beginning of the end. Are they dis posed to mako war upon the old railway line* of the State ? Are they ready to make them selves and their posterity hewers of wood and drawers of water for others? Will they sit illy by and suffer a Legislature made np of ign°" rant negroes, and thriftless adventurers, and inexperienced and weak-kneed Democrats to saddle upon them a debt which it may requirt fifty years of grinding taxation to pay? It is no answer to say that the State cannot lose by its endorsement of the bonds of the®* railways, because it has a mortgage npon the roads 'when completed. This is but a shallow view of the subject. What wonld be thought of the man who would endorse the paper of every applicant who desired to purchase prop erty, provided, a mortgage was given himoh the property thus purchased ? What would be come of the endorser in the event of the insol vency of the purchaser, and the deterioration, depreciation or destruction of the proper^- What interest have Conant and Avery in makms the Brunswick and Albany Road a good rcad.o in keeping it np when finished, provided the. get the $15,000 in gold per mile for which the Legislature has pledged the State to endorse i bonds? ■ „ , h , Tho old railways were able to transact all w* business of tho people at a time when onr crop were almost twice as heavy as they are now and when our means of paying for freights au, passage were much greater ; yet is doultiw whether there is a road in the State which, fr°® its beginning until the present time, has pm its stockholders seven per cent, upon their > vestment. If, then, the present forcing p r0 ^. is kept np and railroads are multiplied, wd> the business for them is diminishing, p™? j ns bow they are to be maintained, and how State is to be protected against the event payment of the bonds which it may endorse HisTosicrs- except in the cases of the State and the Atlantio and Gnlf roads, met with the same disastrous fate. - The Legislature refused to appropriate the money of the people, or to lend thoir endorse ment to tho parties soliciting the same, for several sufficient reasons, two or three of which may be mentioned here. 1. It was not believed to be sound political economy for governments to embark in enter prises of this character. It was a well estab lished tenet of faith among Southern statesmen, as well as among tho better' class of Northern statesmen, that governments should not engage in works of internal improvement, except under extraordinary circumstances; but that enter prises of the kind here alluded to, should be left to private capital and local effort. Gov ernments are chiefly designed to regulate the foreign relations of their people—to decide npon peace and war—to insure the impartial admin istration of jnstice, to provide postal facilities, and to regnlate taxation and commerce and the coinage of money, and other like duties. It is left to private enterprise to clear 4he forests, bnild up cities, create manufactories, establish lines of ships, and open np avenues for the ebb and flow of commerce. This is the practice in all free countries where the pnblio voice is al lowed to be heard. It is only where the gov ernment is antocratio, as in France and Russia, that a different rale obtains. 2. The Legislature foresaw that a departure from the general policy here indicated, wonld certainly involve a heavy sacrifice on the part of the tax-payers, both in means and morals. Experience had already shown that internal im provements, when undertaken by the pnblic authorities, cost far more than when undertaken by individuals, and that they were a fruitful source of corruption, vexation and disturbance. And just here we may pause to say that our own State Road does not constitute an excep tion to this generalreinark, notwithstanding the fact that it has been administered until quite recently, as honestly and impartially as any government work was probably ever adminis tered. And an engine of corruption and evil it can be made in the hands of wicked men, is now painfully manifest to all who have eyes to see. And what has occurred may be only a foretaste of the bitter cup the people of Georgia will yet be forced to drain. Even under the least partisan administration of our State gov ernment, the Western and Atlantio Road was ever a disturbing element in onr politics. While that great work has rendered important aid in developing the resources of Northwestern Geor gia, and has placed ns in easy communication with the teeming West, it may well be doubted whether it would not have been as well in the end to have left ’its construction to private en terprise. It is not believed that it has paid in good money seven per cent upon its cpst, in cluding its original construction and equipment, and its subsequent repairs. It cannot be claimed, therefore, that it affords any real relief to tax payers, since the contributions whioh it makes to the State Treasury are required to pay the legal rate of interest on the money, which they had already advanced to bnild tho road. Ia tho meantime, it has been used as a means to cor rupt tho people, debauch onr politics, and de stroy the Government of the State! Even in the case of the Atlantio and Gulf road, which has been managed with scrupulous integrity by a private company, we find that the subscription by the State to that great work has involved it in litigation with its own citizens, aod has made it necessary, in the opinion of the Governor, for it to enter the lists as the partizan and champion of particular interests, controlled in part, if not in whole, by non-resi dents, against other interests owned and control led entirely by its own people ! No reflec tion is meant io be cast npon the manage- Thb conflict between the Spanish Gove?® mont and the Catholic clergy in Spain is W tion is meant to na cast upon me manage- pruaemng u crisis, xutt s— ment of tho road just named. The allusion i3 j Madrid publishes a decree requiring the.»JNgg made for purposes of illustration only. The ! and clergy to' take the oath to the onr) ! rt.YTiflHttifmn within n nmnfh. Tb6 OQBSJ**.. _> for the con :t gr. .‘.or xtp, j to i’ j ct.it piilz'-ns.- -$o between church and state.