Newspaper Page Text
BY J. W. BURKE A CO.
Georgia Jovial & Messenger.
j M . a < «., Proprietors.
A. W?»EE»fc|! editors.
S. KOSIN
\V E m ESI >A Y, JULY 1 y 1868.
THU LEGISLATURE—THE I‘OI.H V OK THK
IIEMOUR VTI< MEMBER*.
The fourth of July, 18GS, will he a day
fruitful of important consequences to the
people of Georgia The Democratic party
of the Union will assemble at New York
to counsel together on the great question
of presenting suitable issues and a proper
candidate for the fall campaign—a cam
paign on the issue of which the life or
death of Georgia and the South will turn,
nay more, on which the life or death of
civil liberty throughout this broad land
hangs in a tremulous balance.
On the same day, the Legislatuie of
Georgia will meet in Atlanta to inaugu
rate the new government of Georgia, aud
bury the old one with all the proud a-so
ciations that link it in continuous chain
with revolutionary memories; or else to
spurn the new’ government and i.*lmly
wait the issue of the great November elec
tion, in tbe hope that that contest will be
overruled by Providence for tbe right, and
thus enable the old State to strike off the
fetters which bind her, and be again, what
of rigid she is, the peer of all her sisters,
one among tbe eldest born, one of the
old revolutionary thirteen.
We repeat, tbe precise question to be
settled by the Legislature is—Shall Geor
gia bide her time in quiet dignity; shall
she spurn the offers made to bribe her into
subserviency to a Constitution forced upon
her by the bayonet, and thus get her back
into a nominal Union with a National
Government that frowns upon her? or
shall she prostrate herself before tempo
rary power, meekly bow the knee, and on
her knee receive tbe empty diadem of
sovereignty, [placed upon iier brow in
mockery and derision ?
If such be indeed the question; if she
still, through her Legislature, has choice,
what man with instincts of patriotism
can hesitate one moment what to do?
Will not every Democrat in the Legisla
ture spurn the bribe, and await the issue?
Will not every patriot in that body, how
ever sweetly the siren song of relief may
have sounded in his ears and beguiled
him into a temporary acquiescence in a
policy degrading to his State, will he not,
now that tlie action of Congress has un
masked the duplicity of his beguilers and
unveiled their deceit, stand with old Geor
gia, aud align himself with her defenders?
We trust that the Democrats in a body
will act on this policy, aud “fight it out
ou this liue,” and will be recruited for
the fight by every honest man of every
party in the General Assembly.
But the question recurs, how can the
Legislature defeat the new Constitution,
and give us a breathing spell, at least, be
fore this miserable and filthy miasma en
ters the lungs of the Htate, and she sinks
into degradation,apathy and deatli ? We
answer, by defeating the Constitutional
amendment known as tbe 14th Article,
and foregoing a hollow union until the
geu.-rous Northern rnas-es shall be pre
pared to extend to us a hearty oue. That
preparation is being made now. The De
mocracy are assembling in enthusiastic
crowds in New York even while we write,
and among the masses assembled in coun
cil there, there will not be found one voice
in favor of that degrading amendment —
the 14th Article. Tbe Democrat who casts
his vote for it in the Georgia Legislature j
will be the first in the Union who does the
fatal act. He will separate himself from
his party and its principles, ami separate j
himself forever. The Democracy in the j
Ohio Legislature unanimously repudiated j
it as part of the Constitution of the United
States. California lias done the same
with like unanimity, and both demand i
from Congress that the previous assent
of tiieir States, when under Republican
Legislative rule, shall be considered as
withdrawn.
As one by one tbe Northern States
wheel into Democratic line, the same
action will betaken and the same demand
he made. When her Northern Demo
cratic sisters refuse to degrade her, shall
Georgia degrade herself? We trust not
Up to this time, Georgia may proudly say
what Francis I. wrote to his mother from
the ill-fated field of Pavia, “Madame, all
is lost save our honor.” God forbid that!
she should ever stoop so low as to respond j
to the demand of her haughty oppressors
and meekly say, “having lost all else, wc
surrender our honor too."
But some mau may say is it a surren
der of honor to vote this Constitutional
Amendment? What is this Fourteenth
Article?
We answer, it is the deliberate insertion
into the Constitution of the United Btates
of the principle that no man, who was
deemed worthy to hold office before the
civil war in Georgia or the United States
aud who fought for Ueorgia in that unfor
tunate strife, shall ever hold office again
either in Georgia or iu the United States.
It is tiie putting the seal of eternal infamy
upon every man of prominence who had
the manhood to strike a blow for his State
anil his section, and Georgia is invited—
oh, the bitter irony of the invitation!—to
affix this seal to the fundamental law of
the land herself. Her own hand must do
the deed, fcliame upon the craven heart
who counsels it! Eternal infamy upon
the hand that helps to affix the seal of the
State to sucli a bond !
To degrade the living who have faith
fully served Georgia in State and battle
field, is bitter indeed ; hut to brand the
dead, who died in her defence, must fill
the cup with such nausea as to turn the
stomach of an ostrich. What Georgian
“to the manor born ” can take the
draught? Let the adventurers and car
pet-baggers vote it but vote it “alone in
their glory.” We trust that even the col
ored members, natives ot Georgia, will
dash tiie pollution from their lips.
Hut it is said two-thirds of Congress can
remove the disabilities, and they will par
don all who are truly penitent and truly
loyal. Can they pardon the dead? Will
they wipe out thestigma that Georgia wil
altix to the memories of her Cobbs and her
Hartows, when she thus consents to brand
those memories? Are they penitent?
Who shall go to Congress on humble knee
in their behalf and beg that this stain be
wiped away ? The spirits of the departed
heroes would consider it adding insult to
injury, and, if it were possible, their ghosts
would rise to atfrighten the apostate friend
who begged the boon for them. Were
they living they could not be pardoned,
for they were Southern men and honora
ble men, and would not purchase pardon
by turning to he radical oppressors of their
country and iheir kindred. And noneare
pardoned hut those penitent enough thus
to act. Witness the fact that the names of
Jones, of Tennessee, aud Houston, of Ala
bama, were stricken from the bill of par
don because they were Democrats and
(i)CHtnbt and ipJesscnget,
! still true to home and kindred. The right
reserved to pardon in the 14th Article is,
perhaps, the meanest and most degrading
part of the whole clause. It is the parti
! sail, electioneering part of the article. It
! gives the radical party a bribe to otter to
| the and traitor, and they will
I use it unsparingly. No Democrat can
! hope to profit by It save at the sacrifice of
I bis party, and his country.
But this 14th Article does yet more It
gives to Congress the power to secure
ejuality of citizenship in the States, and
thus incidentally to regulate suffrage
therein, and not only the political but
social status of citizeus. Congress is
already almost as omnipotent as the Par
liament of England. Let us beware how
with our consent one single additional
power is added to the list. Our universi
ties, schools and private relations may be
drawn by necessary implication into the
vortex of this revolutionary whirlpool,
and all left us worth living for be wrecked
in the abyss.
In view of these reflections, we urge our
friends in the Legislature to vote in solid
phalanx against this iniquitous amend
ment, and earnestly hope a sufficient vote
I may be obtained to reject it, and thus to
| secure the material interests of our people
from imminent danger of greater ruin, at
ail events to preserve untarnislnd the
honor of the State.
IWT.4L EX.AMI WITH* OF FORT VALLISI
MALE VCAUKMV,
Fort Valley, June 27, 1808.
To tlu KtlUors of the Journal anti Messenger:
As this is the season when your columns
will be diversified by reports of Com
mencements, examinations, &c., and the
attention of the people called to the ad
vantages and facilities furnished by each,
permit us, as the visiting committee of the
Male Academy in this place, to say a few
words in reference to its examination,
which has just closed. This school is in
charge of Prof. T. B. Bussell, a patient,
laborious, painstaking instructor, whose
long experience and thorough qualifica- |
tions peculiarly fit him for the duties of)
tliis honorable aud useful vocation. The ;
examination of his classes occupied the '
forenoon of four days, sufficient time being i
allotted to each branch to show the pu- j
pils’ advancement, subjecting their pro
ficiency to tests, which, for severity aud
strictness, we have rarely, if ever, wit
nessed in any similar exercises. No favor \
shown, “no quarter given,” no questions
suggestive of the proper answers; each j
stood upon his own merits, and showed a
familiarity with the subject, or betrayed a
want of acquaintance. Considering the :
wide range of the questions, these latter
instances were comparatively few The
scholars exhibited a wonderful knowledge 1
of the rules governing words, both in the |
English language and classics, in their
different relations and dependencies, were
accurate in pronunciation, and exact in 1
mathematical calculations. Prof. R. is a
progressive teacher, adopting some ideas
of tiie many book-makers, but discarding !
many more, as cumbersome to the young
mind, “profiting little.” He isKirkham’s j
friend, and though lie may think with his
committee that a faultless Euglish Grain
mer cannot be produced, yet, if fairly
heard by a Teacher’s Convention, we think
could convince some that Mr. K. is not so
far from the true line as to authorize his
expulsion from the schools. We were well i
pleased with the good order and system :
which characterized the entire round of
recitation—having a ,sort of military pre
cision, well calculated to aid the young in !
the formation of polite Habits.
There was no mumbiiug; each scholar’s [
articulation was sfficiently loud and dis
tinct. This, we regard no mean item in j
the training of the young. Loud speaking
is a good thing, when used in moderation,
hut the low-toned voice, which scarcely
falls beyond the front seats, is more to he
avoided. Prof. R.’s boys, we venture to ;
say, will he iieard when they speak.
On Thursday evening the school gave a j
most interesting exhibition in declama- j
tion and dialogue, the young gentlemen j
and hoys engaged deporting with great j
propriety in manner, intonation and ges- i
ture, far eclipsing the prospect of Demos- j
tlieuea in the days of his incipient oratory, i
The selections were short—good taste in
the school master where many declaim— j
with but a single exception, well ruemor- j
ized aud uttered with much of theauthor’s j
spirit.
The dialogues were humorous, happily j
presented, producing many soul-refreshing j
laughs,so lare with the mature part of our j
population, in these times of national
gloom. Friday morning closed the exer
cises with original speeches from eleven
young men, such as would have done no
discredit to a junior class of a university,
with interludes of local aud instrumental
pieces, by several ladies of our village, “of
whom we make our boast,” followed by an
address from Samuel Hail, Esq., upon the
duties and qualifications of teachers ; their
relations to society; the reciprocal rela
tions of parents and pupils to t hem, replete
with sound sense, good views, and happy
J hits at pedagogues, and mere charlatans,
; in the didactic art. The speaker indulged
in humorous criticism of the impudent
preteusions of these self-conceited and
I spurious adventurers; aud deplored the
Southern foible, which so often made our
people tbe victims of imposition and de
ceit. In closing this notice, intended to he
very brief, we allude to the Fort Valley
Female Seminary, superintended by Mrs.
I C. C. Riley, the annual examination of
which closed the week previous. We were
present oue day, and can speak in terms of
praise of her pupils. Exhibition, composi
tions, tableaux, &c., were fully up to public
: expectation. The girls being rather young
for such exercises, their success was
mainly attributable to their teacher’s skill
and management. E. M. Brown, Esq., a
young lawyer of growing reputation, de
livered a very appropriate aud felicitous
address on the subject of education.
The Fort Valley schools present great
inducements to those in the surrounding
country having children to educate. Ex
| cellent society, fine moral and religious
influences, healthy and accessible, and
teachers of known aud tried faithfulness
and capacity. Jas. A. Miller,
B. L. Ross,
I. H. Branham,
Visiting Committee.
Down in Florida, the “ land of sun aud
dowers,” the carpet-baggers and negroes,
called by courtesy a Legislature, have, as
has already been announced, elected three
Senators to Congress. A. 8. Welch wa3
elected for the term ending March 4, 1869.
He is a school teacher fiorn Michigan,
who went to Florida to run a saw-mill
and failed. T. W. Osborne, a New
Yorker, who went to the State as agent of
the Freedman’s Bureau, was elected for
the term ending March 4, 1873. Abijah
Gilbert was elected for the term ending
March 4, 1875. Gilbert is a New Yorker,
and reported rich. He engaged to pay
the mileage and per diem of the members,
in convention scrip, $90,000 in amount,
and thus secured his place. There were
no old citizens of Florida competent to
represent the State. Judge Marvin,even, j
was voted disloyal.— Nashville Banner. 11 I
ALABAMA— I THK SITUATION.
In pursuance of tiie Reconstruction Acts
of Congress, a State Convention assembled
at Montgomery last winter aud adopted a
; new Constitution. After its various
i clauses were agreed upon, a resolution was
I adopted submitting the instrument to the
! ratification or rejection of a majority of the
: qualified registered voters of the State,
i All this was in pursuance of the instruc
tions of Congress, for the Reconstruction
measures stipulated that tbe Constitutions
agreed upon by uuy of the Southern Con
ventions should go to the people for ac
ceptance or rejection.
In tiie terms of these hills—generally
known as the military bills—a majority of
registered voters could either defeat tbe
new Constitution by voting or not voting
as they might elect, for it required a ma
jority of the voters upon the Registration
! Books to ratify it. The opponents of the
Constitution held a State Convention at
Montgomery some time before the day of
election, and determined to try to defeat
!t by not going to the polls at all.
The election was held, and accordingly
no one voted except those in favor of the
new Constitution. When all tiie returns
were received and corrected it was found
that the Constitution had failed by twenty
odd thousand to receive enough registered
votes to ratify it.
Tiie Radical party accepted and freely
admitted that it had been lawfully ami
fairly defeated. Both North and South
no one pretended to say otherwise. At
the same time the election for ratification
was being held, the radical party of the
State run a ticket for Governor, members
of Congress, and in many counties for
members of the Legislature, The Demo
crats, of cou sc, having resolved to stay
away from the polls had no candidates in
tiie field for any ollice whatever.
Notwithstanding its rejection by the
people, the Constitution was brought up
in Congress and a motion made by Thad.
Stevens to declare it the fundamental law
of Alabama ! Tills monstrous proposition
for the moment appalled even that body.
But after several months reflection, it
was engrafted upon the Omnibus Bill,
passed by Congress, vetoed by tbe Presi
dent and quickly passed over his veto and
made a law ! 'The President in tiis veto
message told Congress that tn the passage
of that hill it would violate its plighted
faith to the people of Alabama. That
unscrupulous and infamous body adopted
it nevertheless.
11 was further stipulated in the Omni
bus Bill that tiie candidates voted for at
the election should constitute the Govern
or, Legislature, etc., and hence it was tel
egraphed from Mobile ou Monday that
“W. 11. Smith, Governor elect, issued a
proclamation, to day, convening the Leg
islature at Montgomery, Monday, July
13th.”
Such is, briefly tiie enormity of tiie out
rage committed upon one of the States of
the American Union by its Congress. In
the whole history of legislation there is
nothing to compare with tbe infamy of
this.
The idniatfion of ArkaiiMU*— l*rol«*nl of the Dftn
«m* ratio Member#of il»** !lou*<- \*;aijt#t tho Enor
»nity.
Tiie recognized presence of three per
sons on tiie floor of the House from the
State of Arkansas, sent here by military
force, acting under a Brigadier General of
the army,, but, nevertheless claiming to
he members oT this Chbffh -s. and to stin.fe
with us tbe representations of free States
in tbe imposition of taxes and customs
and other laws upon our (people, makes it
our imperative duly in this, the first case,
to remonstrate most solemnly, aud to (pro
test as solemnly, against this perilous aud ;
destructive innovation upon tbe princi
ples aud practices of our hitherto constitu
tional self-government. The .so-called re
construction acts, which created the mili
tary governmentain other Southern States
to share with us in the legislative power
of tbe Northern and Western free people,
we have every rea on to believe have been
held to he unconstitutional by the Su
preme Court of the United States, the pub
lic declaration of which fact was avoided
only by tiie extraordinary aud strange de
vice of this Congress in snatching juris
diction from tbe court in the McCardle
case, when such a public decision was
about to he made of the three great j
branches of the Government, and seems i
then that after the Executive vetoed these
acts as unconstitutional, the Judiciary ad
judicated them to he so, w hile a Congress,
tiie creation of but twenty-seven of the
thirty-seven States of the Union over
rides these equal and co-ordinate branches I
of that Government— first, ty voting down
the vetoes ; next, by multiplying amend
ments to the Constitution. In an era of
(profound peace, when not an armed man
rises against the Government from the
Potomac to the Bio Grande, there, in ten
States, our American and historical way
of creating tiie organic law lias been ut
terly subverted by the bayonet. Ever
since tiie Declaration of Independence,
with scarcely an exception, and even
amid the battles of the Revolution, con
ventions have been convoked through,
and constitutions created by the electors
of the States, the only authorized deposi
tories of the sovereign (power of every ;
State, without exterior dictation, as under
the existing federal constitution. The
hardest and harshest test-oath required
from 1770 to the (peace of 1783 was an ab
juration oath of allegiance to George 111,
while some of the now so-called bayonet j
constitutions from tiie South propose ab- j
surd and cruel tests; absurd, as in Arkan- i
sa-p, where is interwoven in the organic i
law a mere party test between the Radical
reconstruetionists and the Democratic cou- j
servalives, such as would exclude from
voting, if living there, the thousands, the
tens of thousands ami the hundreds of
thousands of Democrats in the free States i
(article eight, section four); and cruel, as
in Alabama, where no white man can vote i
who will not forever forswear his own race ;
and color, and perjure himself by swear
ing, in defiance of the law of God, that .
the negro is equal and forever to be nis j
equal at the ballot-box, iu the jury-box,
witli the cartouche-box, in the school, in
the college, iu the house and home and by
tbe fireside —in short, in every way, every
where (article seveu, section four), in these
! and the other Southern States.
In the midst of the war President Lin-
I coin, in his proclamation of December 8,
1803, offered amnesty and pardon to the
rebels then in arms if they would lay
down their arms and take an oath of fidel
ity ; while now not a Union man in
Arkansas or Alabama can vote unless in
the first place he swears allegiance to tbe
majesty of this Congress, and in the next
swears off bis Americanism and African
izes himself. Hitherto constitutions with
us have been the outgrowth of popular
life, springing from the exuberance of our
enterprise aud energy iu the settlement of
tiie forests or prairies of our country,
i But here hefoie us now are nine constiiu
• tions with oue, if not three more, yet to
! come from Texas, which have all been
imposed upon the people by live military
satraps, or pentarchy, Ip a manner never
before known under our law, but borrowed
at best from imperial Roman colonization
or of the French Revolution. France is
then recorded to have had five constitu
tions in three years, so frequently made
and as frequently changed ttiat they were
ironically classed by the French people
with the periodical literature of the day.
Louisiana, a colony ot that I ranee* has
had four constitutions in four years, and
a constitution there has now become peri
-1 odical as in France during the agonies and
throes of the great Revolution. Laws and
statute laws which can never he created
by constitutions, are appended more or
less to all these constitutions, and these
! bayonets created one branch of govern
! ment, with no Executive, no Senate, no
! House of Representatives, no judiciary;
have ordained irrepealable, irresistible
| laws in the very organism of the State,
i such as cannot he created by the Execu
MACON, GA., TUESDA Y, JULY 7, ISDN/
tive, the Senate and the House of Repre
sentatives of legitimate governments when
acting in unison and all combined. All
Ibis has been done without regard to pre
ceding constitutions or precedents or to
the common law of tbe State or to the
laws of the nation. The military, which
while under legitimate institutions can
only he used in times of peacs to conserve
or preserve tbe Male, have hero been used
to destroy tiie States. The General of the
Army, who represents the sword, and
only tiie sword, of the Republic, lias been
exalted by acts of Congress above the con
stitutional Commander-in-chief of tbe ar
my and navy in order to execute those
military decrees, and as tbe surer way to
root out every vestige left of constitutional
law or liberty ; tiie same General of the Ar
my, in order to prolong or perpetuate his
military domination with the North and
West as well as tbe South, bus been se
lected by a party convention at Chicago
to head tiie electoral vote for the Presiden
cy ill ten of our States, which are as much
under his feet as Turkey is under tiie Sul
tan or Polaud under ttie Caar of Russia.—
But, as if to add insult to tiie injury of
this military outrage upon the popular
government in these ten States, they have
made State constitutions, at tbe cost of
$250,000. 'Tiie whites have been disfran
chised, while seven hundred and fifty
thousand negroes, inexperienced iu all
law-making and more ignorant than our
children, have been enfranchised iu their
stead, ahd have thus befell vested masters
and sovereigns over the whole white pop
ulation of the .South.
Because of ail this, and in opposition to
all this, we, representatives of the people
from the free States, in beliulf ol ourwn
Slitiielils aud of thousands und tens of {
thousands of others who would lie here
represented if the popular power without
could now constitutionally act here with- !
In, earnest/y ami solemnly protest against
this violence upon our constitution ami
upon our people, and do hereby counsel ;
ami ad vise all friends of popular govern
ment to submit to this force and violence j
only until at the ballot-box, operating
through the elections, this great wrong
can he put right. There is no law iu the •
land over the constitutional law There
is no government hut constitutional gov-
ernment : and hence all bayonet made, all
Congress-imposed constitutions are of no
weight, authority or sanction save lliaten
forced ny arms—an e ement of power un
known to A tnericans in peace and never
required. But as it acts in ami undersu
preme civil law, the constitution and the
statutes enacted in pursuance thereof, we
protest, then, in behalf of the free people
of the North ami West against the right
of this military oligarchy, established in
Arkansas or elsewhere, in the now re en
slaved Htates of tiie .South, to impose U(*>u
us through Congress taxes or customs or
Other laws t<» inttiuUiu tliis oligarchy or
its Freed men’s Bureau. We protest
against going into the now proposed co
partnership of military dictators and ne
groes in the administration of this Gov
ernment. We demand in the name of tiie
Fathers of the constitution and for tiie
sake of (>osterity, not its reconstruction,,
but the restoration of that sacred instru
ment which has been to us all a “pillar of
tire” from 1787 to its present overthrow ;
and in all solemnity, before God ami man,
under a full sense of the responsibility of
ail we utter, we do hereby fix our names
to tliis protest against tiie admission of
these three persons claiming to he mem
bers of Congress Lom Arkansas.
James Brooks Charles Sitgreaves.
W Mungeu. Lewis M Boss.
J B Beck. II McCulloch.
Stephen Taber. J Proctor Knott.
P Van Trump. J H Gollady.
Asa P Grover. J W Humphrey.
Chas A Eidridge. Fcoando Wood.
LB Trimble. J Lawrence Get/.
Samuel J Randall. F Stone.
George M Adams. M C Kerr.
A J Gios-brenner. John Fox.
Stevens F Archer. James It Johnson.
John A Nicholson. John V L Pruyn.
John Morrissey. W K Robinson.
Tbos L Jones. B M Boyer.
\V E Niblack. Geo W Woodward.
Julius Hotchkiss. C E Phelps.
Win II Karuum. A <J Uurr
John W Chanter. D M Van Aukerft ]
H B Ax tell. JR McCormick.
L 8 Marshall. Demas Barnes.
W S Holman. Janies M Cavanauh.
C W I’ Haight.
letter from iiai.l i oi hi
The .Journal and Messenger—Tin- C ro|*v —Railroad
to Charlotte s
Hall County, Ga., June 22, 1868.
Messrs. ./. IP. Burke <U Cos :
Gentlemen—l am due you for sub
scription, also Mr. S. Rose, for back sub
seription. Enclosed please find amounts
•in full. Times are hard here, but I
feel that economy would be a dry bone
without the Journal and Messenger.
1 like the bold, manly, fearless course it
lias adopted in defence of truth and right.
I wisli it could find its way to every home
in Northeast Georgia. True, the Demo
cratic, or white man’s party, has many
strong supporters here, hut I think tiie
number could he greatly increased by
strong, forcible argument, just such as the
Messenger is daily and weekly advanc
ing. May it continue in the great woik
before it till hated Radicalism reaps ttie
reward in store for it, and constitutional
liberty is healed of its thousand states, aud
ri-.es once more in splendor to light the
nation on to long lost peace and pros
perity.
The wheat crop of tliis sectiou is now
being harvested, and the yield is much
better than at one time it was thought it
would he. The heads, or ears, are gene
rally short, hut the grain, so far as 1 have
examined, is unusually large. Corn is
small for the season, owing to the late, wet
spring, yet it looks promising in color,
and if the seasons continue late, fineciops
may yet he made.
The subject that mostly engrosses pub
lic attention here at present, aside from
politics, is the Air-Line It. R., contempla
ted to run from Atlanta to Chariot e, N.
C-, and if built, will, with ttie other roads
now in operation, connect New Yoik ami
New Orleans ou almost an air-iine. It is
an enterprise greatly needed here, and if
1 carried out will lie a great means of devel
! oping the latent resources of this portion
of the State. And till it or some other
road penetrates this section, Northeast
1 Georgia must remain far behind other
parts of the State in many of the agricul
tural, mechanical and other improvements
that mark the progressive age iu which
we live.
Very respectfully, &c., B.
FROM THE NOUTII-VVEST.
A citizen of Macon returned yesterday
from a long trip to lowa. He says our
people have no idea of the extent of the
changes in political opinions of the peo
ple of the North-Western States. 11 look
ed to him like they had almost unani
mously abandoned the Radical and joined
the Democratic party.
They think the people of the United
States have lost their libeities, and that
Grant governs them from lils headquar
ters in Washington. The bitter feeling
they once entertained for the South no
longer prevails, and they heartily sympa
thize with us in our struggle against mili
tary despotism. They are sick and dis
gusted with the Radical Congress, and
have come to regard it as tbe most corrupt
and infamous body that ever assembled.
The people of the South are conjured to
persist in the stand they have taken
against negro governments and the re
construction measures. The North-West
will sustain them. We need have no ap
prehension as to how those States will go
at the November Presidential election. A
feeling of indignation against the viola
tors of the Constitution has been fearfully
aroused, and they are determined to rescue
it from pollution, even it it requires blood
shed.
THURSDAY, JULY 2, 1868.
| THE LKGISLATI KE A\l» RELIEF —-POLITY OF
THE UR-MOCK \l l« MEMBERS.
In our issue of yesterday, we showed
! that the Democratic members of (lie Gen
eral Assembly, with the aid of independent
Georgians in that body who had been
seduced Uy the siren song of relief into
temporary ulliuity with tbe Radical party,
might defeat the so-called new Constitu
tion tty voting against the proposed amend
ment to the Constitution of ttie United
Htates known as tbe fourteenth article;
and we gave our reasons w.y such vote
was demanded by every Impulse of honor
and every emotion of patriotic gratitude
to the living and tiie dead. We (impose
to-day to discuss ttie question whut should
be the action of the Democratic members
on tlte subject of relief?
Our readers are aware that our dictators
and Constitution-makers, tiie Radical
Congress, have stricken from the Consti
tution framed at Atlanta the relief clauses,
aud have udupted that instrument as tiie
Constitution of Georgia on condition that
tiie Legislature of Georgia will by vote
agrfcs to this alteration of tiie Constitution
by -c icurring in the striking out rtf these
relief clauses. If the Legislature do not so
concur, the new Constitution is not to be ;
the Constitution of the Htate —the Georgia
Senators and members are not to bead- j
ruitted to lake seats in Congress —anil
Georgia is to remain outside the Union, j
On the other band, if our Legislature does i
strike out the relief clauses, the instru- ;
ment witli those clauses out is made :
thereby tbe Constitution of the Btate—our
Senators aud members are thereupon al
lowed to take their seats iri Congress pro
vided they can take the test oath or have
had their disabilities relieved by Congress,
and the Htate is to he in ttie Union.
Ifit he, therefore, the interest o Un
people of Georgia to cripple and kill tliis
new Constitution so-called, the Legisla
ture can do the deed by refusing to con
cur with Congress in striking relief from
the Constitution; and inasmuch as the
Democratic members of the Legislature
and the Democratic party had no
hand in engrafting relief upon the Consti
tution, it seems to us eminently proper
that they should decline the invitation to
take part iu striking them out. Let those
who put it in, tahe it out, u..a io it-
Democrats steadily resist and vote against
every proposition to concur with Congress.
Indeed we are at a loss to see how they
can vote otliei wise. They will he sworn,
we presume, to support tliis new Consti
tution. If so, they will swear not to alter
it except iu the mode provided in the in
strument itself, and that mode will lie
found in Article 12th, as follows: “This
Constitution may lie amended by a two
thirds vote of two successive Legislatures,
and by a submission of the amendment to
the qualified voters for ratification.” Thus,
it is seen, that the Constitution can be
amended only by a two-thirds vote of
two Legislatures, and the ratification of
such amendment by the people or by the
call of a Convention ; tiut the Congress
proposes to the Legislature to amend it by
striking out oue of its most important pro
visions, by a simple and single vole of a
majority of the members of one Legisla
ture and without any submission to the
people. It seems that our Congress have
been so lung acting outside of the Consti
tution cf the United .States themselves,
tijupti sworn to support that instrument,
that they think other people as recklessof
on''is as themselves, ami therefoie had
no hesitation to say to tbe Georgia Legis
lature, “follow our example—strike relief
from tiie Constitution, and if thereby you
violate your oaths, you w ill have done
only wtiat we do often—“the end sancti
fies tbe means”—get back into the Union
without violating your oaths if you can,
hut get back into the Union.” Ttie down
ward tendency of this entire country trt
ruin, is exhibited no where so strikingly
as iu tiie utter disregard of the obligation
of an oath by our public men. They take
the name of ttie Lord in vain daily, on the
most solemn occasions—in the very act of ,
making laws for tlie government of God's ;
people; and it is only a matter of marvel S
that Jehovah exhibits so much long suf
fering and forbearance, as to sutler the
country to survive at all. Unless there be
a change and a speqdy change, we tremble
for the future of this great and once God
blest country.
But independently of the oath that
stands rigtit straight in tbe path of this vote
—like tbe warning angel in tbe path of
Balaam—a high moral otdigation outside
of the oath should constrain every honest
mau iu the Legislature, whatever ids
views on the abstract question of relief,
to vote against this motion to strike out.
it is well known that these relief provi
sions commended tliis Constitution to a
large number of people who would not
otherwise have touched it, and by their
votes and influence based upon relief alone
the whole instrument was latified. How
can any High-toned, honest man by his
vote make that tbe Constitution which
tiie people intended should not tie .’ I bey
intended this entire instrument—not a
part of it—to he their fundamental law—
who lias authority in right ami justice to
forge ttieir names to a paper they have not
endorsed, and bind ttieir liYes, liberties
aud property by a bond they have not
signed? Every lawyer who has read the
simplest work ou law knows that tiie ul
teratiou of a paper of any sort —bill, bond
or note-after its signing, vitiates the in
strument and releases tiie maker; and he
who thus alters it is guilty of forgery and
becomes a fit subject for the penitentiary.
“ How much sorer punishment think
you ” should he visited upon those who
without authority of law alter the funda
mental law of the 'State, and thus forge
anew fundamental law to hind forever,
so far as they can, the lives and liberties
and property of the people of the Htate ?
Thus we think we have shown that sol
emn sworn duty and high moral obliga
tion require all Democrats and all other
honest men in tiie Legislature to vote sol
idly aud forever against this proposition
thus to alter the Constitution in the teeth
! of itsown provisions. Fortunately for tbe
| Democracy, policy is the hand maiden of
! duty aud right on tliis vote, aud the iti-
I terest of the party is twin-sister with the
dictates of conscience. Ttie cohorts of
radicalism have been shaken all along
tiie line of battle by tbe news that Con
gress has strikenout tiie relief clauses, and
many are crying out already, “to your
tents, oh Israel! What fun her portion
i have we iu Judah?” Deserters from that
! line begin to swell tbe marching column
1 of tiie advancing and soon conquering
Democracy. Let the Radicals, and let
them alone vote out relief—let them bury
their own babe—still-born by the action of
Congress—and tbe low moan now heard in
the mountains of Northern Georgia will
swell into a wail of agony and revenge,
| and the very hands tlsat helped them to
deliver the sickly child will dig by its
grave a wider and deeper pit, and deposit
i in it, out of the sight of men forever, tiie
putrid, stiukiug corpse of Georgia radieal
' ism.
Special Correspondence Journal and Messenger.
LETTER PROM NORTHER* GEORGIA.
Athens, Ga., June 20, isaw.
Joe Brown’s indictment of the “Orristokrsiry”—
Tin- Democracy of Clarke county up and stir
ring—The dodge of Hufus, the elect, in convening
| the Legislature—Rumors as to the cause of
; Meade’S retreat—Kent McKay’s aspirations, his
j . coat, ids loyalty and biblical research—Deatli of
Judge James hansom—lllness of Mr. Bctij. ft.
j I till—Clarke county delegates to the State Dem-
I ocrutic Convention—Crops—Alarm of tire at the
j College, Ac.
J.oe Brown’s manifesto as chairman of the
Grant something or other at Atlanta, lias
been read very largely here. We borrowed
a oopy of tho New Era from a colored gen-
I Uetnan, or we told a negro to borrow it,
1 and enjoyed Brown’s thanksgiving for the
j removal of his disabilities, very much,
espec ally those portions of the docu
ment where lie appears to fee! his utter
degradation, and howls at his exclusion
I ftom the society of decent people. A great
portion of Joe’s paper is.devoted to a de
nunciation of what he calls the aristocracy,
i (Do you know that Joealways pronounces
tliis word as if it were spelt orristokracy ?)
Joe cannot stand politics being allowed to
Interfere in se“»*<tl relations, and recom
mends all the Grant men iu Georgia to be
very careful (keerful, Joe says,) not to
commit the sins of the orristokracy in this
particular. Joseph is ungrateful. Delias
no right to accuse the orristokracy of be
ing intolerant. He presents in his own
person the greatest, the most conclusive
proof of their tolerance. For eight years
tiie decent people of Georgia suffered him
to associate with them, and to sit at their
tables. Now it is true that they have been
compelled not only to exclude him from
their society, hut to forbid his being ad
mitted to their kitchens, because he might
bring with him some of his free nigger
associates and demoralize their house
holds. It was only when forbearance
cea.~ed to he a virtue that the orristokracy
refused to recognize Joe. The whip is in
tiie hand of every honest man. That they
will “lash the rascal naked through the
world” is a just punishment for undoubted
guill; ami that he feels it is consoling proof
that in his case the object of all punish
ment, example, will tie attained.
I am glad to inform you that the De
mocracy of Clarke county are fully
aroused, and are organizing for the cam
paign. Within the week two large
ami influential meetings of the ('arty
have been held at this [dace. On Satur
day evening ttie meeting was largely at
tended, General Win. M. Brown in the
chair. Spirited resolutions were adopted,
setting forth the lawless outrages and
tyrannical acts of the Radical party, and
pledging the Democracy of Clarke county
to use every exertion to secure tbe election
of the Democratic candidates at the No
vember election as ttie only way lo save
the country from destruction. A Central I
Democratic Club was formed, with Major ;
Lamar Cobb as .President, and a number;
of Vice Presidents. An Executive Com- j
mittee, with Major M. Stanley, as Chair- j
man, was elected to attend to the ue- j
live business of the campaign; and I
steps were taken for the organization of \
auxiliary clubs in every precinct of the !
county. The utmost harmony and en- i
Ihusiusm prevailed. Old Whigs aud old
Democrats fraternized as cordially as if
they had always belonged to the same po
litical church, and there were an earnest
ri‘ »w and resoluteness evinced throughout
the proceedings which justify the hope
that old Clarke will redeem herself in No
vember from the <ii»giace which she in
curred in April.
Bullock’s trick in calling the Legisla
ture so that a number of the Democratic
members may not he present at the or
ganization of the two Houses, and that
therefore the Constitutional amendment
and the election of Blodgett and Jo.
Brown may he “ tesolvcd through,” was
characteristic of tbe man an I of his par
ty. It smacks mightily of Blodgett and
Jo. Brown. But the probabilities are that
it will not succeed. Bleps may be taken,
nay, >te(is will tie taken, to send tiie news
to all the Democratic members and urge
them, w hetlier officially notified or not, to
is? at Atlanta on Saturday. 'Hie Radicals,
of whose faith there is no doubt, and tiie
nigger members, have been aware for sev
eral days that tiie Legislature would he
convened on ilte-lih ot July. The Leagues
were kept well posted, and through ttieir
secret agencies all the Radical tools were
kept in a state of readiness for immediate
use. How nice ami cozy it would he if,
Hi rough ttie absence of the Democratic
Senators and Representatives, Bullock,
Blodgett, Brown and Huibert could or
ganize both Houses with Radical presi
ding o/fieers, then (iass tlie Constitutional
amendment and elect Brown and Blodgett
to the U. S. Henate. Then if Congress
would only hurry up tiie cakes and admit
Georgia to representation in Congress,
what a tiling it would l*e for Clift, Prince,
Gove and Edwards! They could take
their seats and any number of oaths, and,
like tho Arkansas scalawags, claim pay
from the commencement of the 40th Con
gress. But should the Democrats be in
tiieir places, (and there are messengers trav
eling rapidly to warn them) iken what?
The terrible aristocracy may be there, and
the nice little tea party may be considera
bly disturbed aud the game blocked.
Many people are asking why Rufus the
elect has called the Legislature and not
“ R. C. Drum, by order of Major-General
Meade.” How does Rufus know that he
is the Governor eiect ? Has Meade abdi
cated in favor of Rufus, or is lie compelled
by the force of circumstances to govern the
Third Military District from a safe dis
tance? The rumors are very thick about
here as to the cause of the General’s rapid
retreat from Atlanta, aud if they Le true,
we recommend him to ask an appoint
ment to Alaska and set out for liis Arctic
command as speedily as possible. His pe
culiar mode of reconstruction and of pro
ducing intimate and harmonious relations
between the sections may he safely carried
out among the Esquimaux, but it is dead-
ly iu this latitude.
I heard yesterday from a very well in
formed source, that Rufus, the elect, is
pledged to nominate Kent McKay, Brown’s
Militia General, who said he hud nine
bullet holes in his coat, to a seat on the
Supreme Bench. The gallant General
who said in the Atlanta Convention, that
he went into the Confederate army and
“ became a traitor, from fear of public
opinion aud personal violence,” has cer
tainly done everything he could to debase
himself to tiie level from which Rufus
would he likely to look for otfice-holders.
I that lie has brought in blasphemy
to sustain his nigger equality doctrines,
aud though holding tiie place and making
tiie professions of a Presbyterian Elder,
lie told a lady some time ago that he did
not see how any Christian could be op
posed to negro equality, because tiie gene
alogy of the Saviour proved that “ He
had negro blood in his veins.” Fancy
sucli a man occupying the place once
lilled by Starnes, Benning aud Harris.
This community was much distressed to
learn on Saturday morning, that Judge
James Lansotn, of the Inferior Court ol
this county, had died the night previous
after a short illness. He was at bis plaef
of business the Monday previous, anti
though complaining a little, was uol
regarded as seriously ill. The disease ol
which lie died, was a combination ol
pleurisy and pneumonia, superinduced, il
is thought, by exposure when fishing
about a fortnight ago. He was a valuable
and much esteemed citizen, a merchant
of higit probity aud capacity, an impartial
judge, and a sincere patriot He was tiie
white man’s candidate for the Legislature
from this town at the April ele tiou, and
was contesting the election of his negro
adversary, witli a fair prospect of success.
He was buried yesterday.
Mr. B. H. Hill is, I regret to say, seri
ously ill at his residence here. He has
been Buttering for some time from inter
mittent fever, which has lately assumed
an aggravated form, and it is feared lhat
it may turn to typhoid. There is no
prospect of his being able to go to New
York to attend tiie Democratic Conven
tion.
Clarke county lias elected delegates to
tiie Htate Democratic Convention to be
held at Atlanta on the22d of .July. Major
Htanley, Mr. Archibald Griffith, Colonel
Barrow, Howell Cobh, jr., Captain Frank
Pope and John Billups, jr., are the dele
gates from Athens. Mr. Frazier, I)r.
Price and others, whose names 1 do not
remember, are tiie delegates “ from the
other side of the river.”
Here, immediately round Athens, we
have hail copious rains, and tiie crops
promise well. But iu all that country iu
tbe centre of Oglethor|»e county and tlie
borders of Clarke, scarcely a drop of rain
lias fallen for six weeks, and the farmers
are beginning to he more than anxious.
On Thursday of last week there was an
alarm of fire at the College. The roof of
the old College was discovered to he on
lire, and Ule greatest fears were entertain
ed that the building would lie destroyed.
The fire companies were on the ground,
ami “a good stream on” within eight min
utes after the first alarm, and through their
activity and promptness the building was
saved, and but little damage was done. It
appears ttiat a chimney had caught fire in
the morning, and thatsomeof ttie sparks,
having fallen on the old shingles, caused
the fire. Tiie rapid approach of the fire
engines, and the noise of the firemen,
caused the horses of Mr. B H. Hill, which
I were drawing a wagon on the street, to
take fright and run away, resulting in the
fracture of the driver’s leg, and some in
jury to the horses.
As I find that another of your corres
pondents has a prior right to the signature
over which I have written, I shall relin
quish it henceforth, and subscribe myself
l'ours obediently.
Helicon Spring.
FRIDAY JULY .% 1868.
- r -- : : ——~
THK LCfaItoLATI KK \<;\lV
In preceding issues of this paper this
week, we discussed the duty and policy of
the Democratic, and all other honest,
members of the General Assembly to vote
down the 14th Article proposed as an
amendment to the Constlt tion of the
United Htates, and to vote down the prop
osition to strike from the Georgia Consti
tution tiie relief clauses thereof; and we
stated tiiat if a majority would tnus vote,
the Constitution itself, the work of the
earpet-bag' adventurer, the bay net, and
the negro combined, would lie defeated ;
and thus when the Democratic President
shall he inaugurated ou tiie 4th of March,
1569, and a Democratic Home of Repre
sentatives be assembled to hack him with
the pow er of that branch of Congress which
represents ttie people, no manacles hut
military chains Would he upon the limbs
of old Georgia—no fetters imposed by her
self iu tiie shape of such a Constitution as
hat of the Atlanta Convention would
bind her—and the Democratic President
would instantly strike those military
chains from her limbs and she would lie
fiee again. But if Democrats and honest
Georgians opposed to this iniquity suffered
themselves to be beguiled into a support
of the Constitutional Amendment and the
striking out of those relief clauses, aud a
majority of the two branches of ttie Legis
iature shall so vote, then tliis miserable
Constitution will he fastened upon us,
Bullock will tie inaugurated Governor of
tlie Htate, a wretched Radical Judiciary
will he installed into power, a Democratic
President and House at Washington can
not relieve us without the aid of the .Sen
ate, and tlie Henate will he Radical for
some years, and thus Georgia will sleep
the sleep jf death for years to come, if not
forever.
Let us see if we are right in these views.
If we are, the issue is a most momentous
tone, aud awfully solemn is the res(K>usi
bility devolving upon each member of the
Legislature.
The third section of tiie act of Congress,
restoring Georgia and the other Htates is
in tiie foil,*, wing words:
“Aud he it further enacted, That tiie
first section of this Act shall take effect as
to each Htate, except Georgia, when sucli
Htate shall by its Legislature duly ratify
Article 14 of ttie amendments to the Con
stitution of the United Htates, proposed by
the Thirty-ninth Congress, and as to the
Htate of Georgia, when it shall, ill ad
dition, give the assent of said Htate to the
fundamental condition hereinbefore im
posed upon tiie same ; and tliereupou the
officers of eacli Stale, duly elected and
qualified under the Constitution thereof,
shall he inaugurated witlioutdelay.”
For the “fundamental condition” which
must be complied with before Georgia is
admitted,her Constitution ratified or Gov.
Bullock inaugurated, we must refer to ttie
first section of the same Act of Congress,
in which are these words : “Aud the Htate
of Georgia shall only he entitled and ad
mitted to representation upon this further
fundamental condition ; that the first and
third subdivisions of sectiou 17 of the 4tli
Article of tiie Constitution of said Htate,
except the proviso to the first subdivision,
shall be null aud void, and that tlie Gen
eral Assembly of said Htate, by solemn
Act, shall declare the assent of the Htate to
tho foregoing fundamental condition ”
Thus it is clear, that before this Consti
tution can go into effect or the Govern
ment thereunder he inaugurated and set
in motion, the Legislature which is to
assemble on Hatnrday next must do two
distinct acts—lst, ratify the 14th Article
ameudatory to the Constitution of the
United Htates, and 2nd, strike from the
Constitution of Georgia the relief clauses.
If either of these measures can he defeated
this Constitution is consigned to the lomli
of tiie Capulets—Bullock to the manage
ment of tiie Express Company and the
Presidency of tiie Macon and Augusta
Railway—and all other aspirants for judi
cial position and fat State Rail Road
offices to earning tiieir bread in the sweat
of their faces, or swindling a livelihood
out of some other pocket than the 1 reasu-
VOL UX., NO. 45-
ryof old Georgia an.l the pockets of her
tax payers.
Now, ‘ is not this a consummation most
devoutly to be wished?” Cannot good
people, in g.xal conscience, and with sim
plicity of heart, and eyes single to the
good of the people of ail this .State, with
out distinction of race, color or sex, pray
for this consummation ? Ought not this
heinous wrong to be righted? Ought not
this bayouet-imposed Constitution to be
rejected by the Legislature ? Can it not
jbe done in the way suggested—in either
| of the modes pointed out? Ought Guv.
Brown to be permitted to reap the reward
of his betrayal of the people whoso high
ly honored and exalted him in the pait?
If after all his efforts—his trip to the
Radical Convention at Chicago—his intro
duction of the President of that Conven
tion—his low, cringing speech there—his
suppliant attitude before Congress for par
don, aud pardon granted him on condi
tion of his Radicalism and sincere repen
tance that he had ever been a .Southern
man and a Democrat—if, after all these
efforts, his longing eyes shall be cast in
vain upon that cushioned chair in the
Senate Chamber at Washington,and he be
compelled to pursue his money-tnakilng
avocations at home—will not every hoal-st
man in the State exclaim, ‘‘the disappoint
ment is just—the retribution is righteous—
let him never reap the reward of his infa
my ?”
.Such he the doom of every Georgian
who loved ambition and office more than
honor and his native land! Such he the
fate of every adventurer from abroad who
Hocked like vultures, to prey Upon a
stricken Stale, and a brave, but fallen
people! That the former may hide them
selves in strict privacy from the facts of
all honest men, and the latter betake
themselves back without money or honor
to their native haunts, let the Legislature
reject the proposed amendment to the
Constitution of the United States, and the
proposed perjury and forgery involved
necessarily in striking by the sintrle
Legislative act of one General Assembly
from the Constitution of the State, what
that instrument distinctly declares shall
Ire done only by two-thirds of two suc
cessive Legislatures and by a ratification
of the people, or by tbe people in solemn
convention assembled.
I bus will Georgia lie relieved from a
rotten Judiciary, installed into office for
twelve years, as Gov. Brown declares in
his recent address as Chairman of the
Radical Executive Committee, for the
puri>ose of pronouncing laws- constitu
tional even before they are passed—thus
pre-judging the sac-red legal rights of her
citizens, an.l soiling with an ineffac aide
stain that ermine which the Crawfords
and Lumpkins and McDonalds of the old
en time wore with such unspotted purity.
Thus may our children he saved from the
awful doom of either abandoning the
home of their nativity and the graves of
their sires, or living under the most
wretched of all governments—the govern
ment of an ignorant, half-civilized rabble
just emerged from bondage, untutored and
unskilled in the simplest rudiments of
law, and therefore totally unqualified to
exercise the elective franchise and make
the law.
Let us not be misunderstood. We would
not again fetter the limbs of a single free
man of our .State, whatever may have
been ins former status or tii color of bis
skin; nor would we deprive any portion
of them of hope of political advancement
as they become worthy to use with dis
cretion and judgment tiie franchises
granted. We know those among them
who might with safety t<> the .State be en
trusted now with the elective franchise on
account of their intelligence aud morals;
but as to tlie principle of universal suffrage
among them, am} universal right to hold
any office from Governor and Judges of the
Supreme Court down, a principle engrafted
upon this so c died Constitution, we con
sider it an insult to Republicanism—a mere
mockery aud derision—a triumph of the
monarchical principle, and destined as
sure as effect follows cause, so to eventuate
in h few years. As we love in our hearts
the Republican form of government be
queathed by our fathers, let us never, on
any shallow pretext of temporary expe
diency, giveourassenttoa principle which
must result in Us overthrow.
Our readers will, we trust, excuse the
leugtli of these articles upon the duty of the
Legislature in the great crisis now ujnm
them. The questions dis«u~sed are emi
nently practical; our convictions are
strong, our feelings deep. God grant that
the General Assembly may so act, as that
their action may redound to the interest
and the honor of our native State.
THE LEUISLMIHE t\D RELIEF.
In ail address recently issued by ex-
Governor Brown lie assures the dupes who
followed his advice in voting for the new
Constitution under the idea that they
would lie relieved from paying their old
debts, that the Legislature after practical
ly complying with the requirements of the
orders of Congress striking out tlie clause,
will proceed to make laws which will an
swer the purpose He says :
While tin- ncci-'ity of striking out tie* r. !:• f
measures, under tin- direction of Congress, is de
plored by a majority of the friends of reooic-tru
lion, we think it la st that the Legislature should
yield this point rather than have tiie State remain
longer out of llie Union under absolute milium
government.
This advice is given the more freely as the 1 _
Mature, when it assembles, will have it in it' p
er, by the enactment of proper xlayle'-. and st.it
utes of limitation, to nilonl substantially there
lief contemplated by the relief nieusures. which
Congress directs shall be stricken out of the l a.
stitutiou. We not only cspeet to see proper -' .
Uaat enacted. but to see them sustained In the Su
preme Court soon to be organized. The Supr. lie-
Courts of three of the Northern Stat.-- have , \
pressly- decided a xlny la# to be Constitutional
since the war began, and our own Supreme Cmiri,
which set aside the old stay taw, was divided in
opinion In this state of the case, after the em
phatic decision of our people on this question, we
cannot doubt that our new Supreme Court wiilfoi
low the example of the Supreme Court of Penn
svlvania, and other Northern States, in allirm ng
the constitutionality of proper and necessary stay
laws.”
But this would be a clear case of whip
ping the devil around the stump. Govern
or Brown, which Beast Butler’s Congress
will not allow. Your citation of the Su
preme Courts of three Northern States
sustaining stay laws is absurd. Now if
Georgia was a Northern State the authori
ty would he good and of binding force,
provided the debts, or any part of them,
proposed to be wiped out were not owing
to Butler or any of his friends, and were
wholly due to Southern people. But there
is your difficulty : Georgia is not only one
of the rebel States, but a large per cent,
of these debts in question are owed at the
North.
Important Tnscrance Case Dkcihki'.
— Cincinnati, June ”<>. —An importtu i
decision was rendered in the Superioi
Court yesterday, involving several hun
dred thousand dollars insurance on <
whiskey establishment of 1-oot, .
Cos., destroyed by tire, and insured id
United Slates Marine Insurance (
panv. 'I policy or from <*xp!o**ivt»
! resulting from ex|doskm court
! mater.al was occasioned by the
found that the nre k « y r> , ud there
i forethe insurance company was not liable.