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THE GOTJNTRYMAN.
By J. A. TURNER.
INDEPESDENlf IN EVERYTHING—NEUTRAL IN NOTHING
$5 for Three Mouths.
VOL. XIX.
TURNWOLD (NEAR EATONTON) GA., TUESDAY, AUGUST 23, 1864.
NO. 34
Got. Brown’s Letter,
“Atlanta, July 20th, 1864.
“Hon. Richard M. Clarke—
“Dear Sir :—As a lriend, you call my atten
tion to the fact that my political enemies in
south-western Georgia, not content with as
sailing my acts, as a public officer, are de
scending to personal abuse, and attacking my
character for honesty; and that some of the as
sailants are stimulated to greater bitterness,
by my late proclamation, ordering them to thj
front,to delend the State, and protect their own
homes. With some, this is, no doubt, the great
est sia of my life. In an emergency like this,
when we must put forth every energy, and call
into requisition all the manhood of the State,
to check the advance of an enemy that threat
ens the destruction of all our property, and all
that is dear to us, 1 had hoped that even politi
cal animosity would have been buried for a
time, but it seems that partizan rancor and po
litical hate never sleep.
You say that it is insinuated, in such a man
ner as to amount to charges—
1st. That I am part owner in a large whis
key distillery, in Lee county.
2d. That I was, and perhaps now am, a part
ner in an Atlanta trading house, which specu
lated largely in the necessaries of life.
3d. That the money, with which I purchased
lands in south-western Georgia, was made by
me, in some illegal manner, by virtue of my of
fice as governor.
I reply:
1st. I have no interest in a distillery, in Lee
county, or any other county, or place, and nev
er had ill my life. I never made a gallon of
whiskey in my life, in partnership, or other
wise, and never bought and sold a gallon, or
made one cent, by the sale of whiskey, or other
liquors.
§d. I am not, now, and never have been, a
partner in any trading house in Atlanta, en
gaged in speculating in the necessaries of life,
or any' other matter, or thing,, I have not
bought and sold, or in any way speculated in
the necessaries of life, since the war began.
Nor have Isold even the proceeds of my own
farms,.to aDy considerable extent t but I have
given to the Samilies of soldiers, without money
and without price, much the larger portion o(
all the supplies I could spare, and, indeed, all
I could spare, except what I have let the gov
ernment have, at its own price.
The third charge is very indefinite. It is
not said bow, or in what manner, by virtue of
my office, I made the money to purchase lands.
You, and every intelligent man know, that I
do not handle, or control, a dollar of the public
money, only as it is drawn from the Treasury,
by executive warrant, under a legal appropria
tion. The person entitled to it, or tbe officer
in whose favor it is to be drawn, receives and
receipts for the executive warrant, in the exec
utive office.
He takes this warrant to the Comptroller
General’s office, where it is registered, and,
with the Comptroller’s indorsement, he carries
it to the Treasury, and the money is then paid
to the holder of the warrant, by the Treasurer.
I neither see nor handle it. All I do, is to
draw the warrant upon the Treasury for it.
As the country has really nothing to do with
my private affairs, it is cot my babit to speak
of them publicly,-but as my enemies strive to
excite prejudice in the mines of honest, credu
lous people, by vague insinuations that I did
not have money to purchase southwestern lands,
you will excuse me for informing you how I
happened to have the money.
✓
At the commencement of the war, I had a
handsome estate, with a competent income,
which J had made by industry and energy in
my profession, and, J trust, tolerably sound
judgment in the purchase and sale of property,
with what the world calls good luck, as by the
purchase of a tract of land, at a very small
price, for timber, upon which a mine was dis
covered, which enabled me to sell it for $25,-
000.
Since the war began, as the records of the
country will show, I have inherited, in right of
my wife and children, over $20,000 in gold,
or its equivalent. This was invested in such
securities as have, and would, command more
than enough Confederate currency to pay for
all the lands I have purchased anywhere else.
A short calculation will show, that this $20,-
000, at twenty for one, is §400,000 in currency.
Twenty thousand dollars, so invested as to be
worth ten for one, is $200,000. The latter is
nca ly double what I gave for southwestern
lands. But as I did not choose to sell all my
securities at the time, I ‘ borrowed $50,000 of
the currency, which I gave lor these lands,
and I regret to say; I still owe this sum. 1
have the consolation to know, however, that
my creditors are not uneasy, and that I have
property plenty to pay it, whenever I choose
to put it in the market. No man ever sued me
for money, and I do not recollect that a credi
tor ever dunned me. I have made it a rule al
ways to pay iny debts, when due, no matter
what it cost me, unless the creditor informed
me that he did not need, or want the money.
In making this statement, I do not wish to
be understood, that I have made no money
since the war began. I have a large family,
and the people of Georgia pay me $4,000 per
annum, in curreucy, for my labor, and the re
sponsibilities I have to meet. You know that
this would not purchase even the most commou
necessaries of life, for my family.
My estate, well managed, naturally yields
me considerable income, and I have made
some money, by buying and selling railroad
bonds, and other property, but not as much
as I should have been glad to have made, and
as I intend to try to make in future, if I can
do it honestly. 1 have never dealt in the neces-
saries of life, and never expect to, but, if, by
the exercise of a sound judgment, I can pur
chase of corporations, or money-dealera, stocks,
or bonds, or other property, and by parting
with them, at the proper time, can sell them at
profit, and make money by it, I expect to do it.
And, as I consider it nobody’s business, I am
willing for him who is without sin, or for him
who would not do the same thing, if he saw
where he could do it honestly, and make it
pay, to throw the first stone. If God has
blessed me with good judgment, ae to theyalue
of property, and with forecast enough to know
when to buy, and when to sell to profit, I think
my lamity entitled to the service of that gift,
and I hope by it, and other honest employment,
to be able to educate and give my children a
reasonable advancement in life, and to have
something to meet proper demands for the ex
ercise of charity to the poor and afflicted, pro
vided theeDemy does not take it all from me,
If they do, it will be when I can no longer re
sist, and it n-iy life is spared, I shall still do ali
in my power to provide lor those dependent
upon me.
You are authorized to make such use of this
letter as you may think proper.
Very respectfully,
JOSEPH E. BROWN.
The New York Albion.
We take the tallowing lrom the Charleston
Courier : Cannot some friend favor the Courier
with late issues of the New York Albion?
It has, no doubt, been, latterly, unusually
pungent, and pithy, and prolific in good things,
on the right side, and for honesty, and decency,
and truth. In proof of this assertion, we need
—intelligent readers will need—no better testi
mony than that giveu by the New York Herald;,
of the 18th July—a journal whose abuse is Ute-
surest guide, and index, to whatever ot decen
cy and truth'is left in New York, in men or in
stitutions. Tne Herald says;
“The English Organ.—Among the various;
organs that represent foreign interests, and
ideas, in our midst, there is an English organ,
conducted on the true English theory, that all.
that is good, and admirable, is England, and
the English, and that all that is not English*
and is American, is contemptible and vile. It
is the ostensible purpose <5f this journal to Hat
ter the national vanity of its subscribers—En
glishmen who have come here to make money
—and it»does this, principally by decrying thia
country in a very Euglish spirit—that is, in a
spirit of bullying, ignorant, arrogant self-suf
ficiency. English sentiments are, at any time,,
sufficiently unpalatable to the American people**
but this war has made them doubly so, now-
England is against us openly, and with the.
rebels; and the English organ, true to its mis
sion, as an exponent of English opinion, here,,
is thus more than usually offensive. It is a,
secession organ, giving aid and comfort to the
enemy, and since it seems to fancy that, as a
consistent Euglish paper, it must oppose the.
war, and favor the South, it ought to have- the
decency to suspend publication, and so save
trouble.”
What he Called Her.—“A philosopher who
married a vulgar, but amiable girl, used to
call his wife ‘brown sugar,’ because, be said*
she was sweet, but unrefined.’*
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