Newspaper Page Text
common cause. After much exertion and great
risk, I sncceeded jn procuring a supply suffi
cient to make several hundred pounds of pow
der ; which was landed in the State a very
short time prior to the commencement of the
blockade of our ports. A short time after its
importation, I offered the powder material and
the steamer Huntress to the Secretary of War
for the common cause, at their original cost to
the State, without even charging interest on
the money during the time intervening between
the purchase by the State and the proposed
sale. This proposition was declined by the
Secretary. At a later period in the season, I
renewed the proposition, with the alternative
that if the Secretary refused to take the steam
er, which had been purchased by order of the
State Convention, and which was no longer
needed by the State, the Confederacy having
assumed the control of our naval affairs, he
could have the powder material without the
steamer at its market value. This latter-prop
osition was accepted and the market value of
the powder material fixed by the Secretary
himself at fifty per cent, upon original cost—
It was at the time worth in the market over
three hundred per cent upon the original cost,
but as it was no part of my purpose to specu
late for the State on that which was essential
to the success of our common cause, I permit-
' ted the Secretary of War to take it at his own
price. The State Treasurer has advanced the
money to purchase the material at my request,
without warrant, and after the sale, as no war
rant had passed, I refunded to the Treasury
the amount of money advanced by the Treas
urer. By this transaction I not only obtained
and turned over to the Confederacy, at a price
several hundred fold less than it could have
been elsewhere obtained, a supply of material
of very great value, but also made a clear profit
of $22,133 70 for the State. As the drafts
upon the military fund were much heavier than
was anticipated when the appropriation was
made, I found it necessary to use this net profit
which I had made for the State, in the pur
chase of provisions and other necessary sup
plies for our troops. I therefore paid it over
to the Quartermaster General of the State, and
took his receipt for the amount, which he has
expended tor the use of our troops, and for
which he will account in his report. I have
ordered this receipt to be recorded on the Ex
ecutive minutes and the original to be filed sub
ject to the inspection of any committee, or other
person Interested.
PEN ITXNTIARY.
You are referred to tho report of Col. James
A. Green, the active and energetic Principal
Keeper of the Penitentiary, for a statement of
the operations of that' Institution during the
past fiscal year. It will be seen that after the
payment of all its indebtedness for the year, it
has a handsome sum to its credit; and that no
appropriation is asked for its assistance or sup
port for the ensuing year.
ASYLUM AND OTHER INSTITUTIONS.
For a statement of the condition and wants
of the Lnnatic Asylum, Academy for the Blind
and Institution for the Education of the Deaf
and Dumb, you are respectfully referred to the
reports of the officers in charge of these Insti
tutions.
state university.
As required by the Statute, I transmit here-
with the Report of the Trustees of the State
University. So large a number of young men
who would otherwise have been pursuing their
Collegiate studies, have volunteered and gone
to the army, that the number of students in
the University must be expected to be materi
ally diminished during the ensuing year.
SEOHGIA MILITARY INSTITUTE.
I apprehend I need enter into no argument
in the present eventful period of our history
to satisfy the General Assembly of the yeat
utility and importance of the Military insti
tute to the State and to the South. The f ronds
and patrons of the Institute have much rc won
future, I recommend such legislation as will
compel those who may hereafter enrol their
names as members of a Volunteer Company
adhere to the organization for at least twelve
months, and to respond to any call which may,
within that time, be made upon them for active
service in the field, and for such term of ser-
vice as may be required by the statutes under
which they may be called out for the defence
of the State or the Confederacy.
WESTERN AND ATLANTIC RAILROAD.
For a statement of the condition of the West
ern and Atlantic Railroad, the General Assem
bly is referred to the report of the late able and
faithful Superintendent, Dr. John W. Lewis,
i/hose resignation took effect with the end of
the fiscal year of the Road, on the 30th of Sep
tember. Major John S. Rowland, of thecoun
ty of Cass, who has been appointed Superin
tendent, is energetically and faithfully engaged
in the discharge of his duties. The other able
officers of the Road generally remain in their
positions as heretofore. Their past fidelity and
efficiency, together with the well known cha
racter of the Superintendent for honesty, in
tegrity, practical business sense, and financial
ability, are, I trust, sufficient guaranty that the
future management of the Road will be faithful
and successful. If the blockade is continued
so as to prevent all exports of produce, the fall
ingof off freights during the ensuing year will
probably seriously affect the income of the
As will be seen, by reference to the Report
of the State Treasurer, he has received from
the Road $438,000 of net incomes for the past
fiscaf year, ending 20th October last.
VLORIDARY BOUNDARY LINE
At the last session of the Legislature, a re
solution was adopted, directing me to re-open
negotiations with the authorities of the State
of Florida, in regard to the boundary line be
tween the two States, and to urge the adjust
ment of the disputed line, so as to “protect the
rights of citizenship of the people residing near
the line, who have been recognized by the laws
and constitution of this State, as being citizens
to the lands which they hold under grants is
sued by the Stale; and to have, if practicable,
the boundary fixed so as to retain and keep the
fractional lots of laud sold by Georgia, within
the jurisdiction of this State.” Owing to the
fact that the energies of both States were taxed
to the utmost capacity by the existing war, and
that tho official term of Gov. Perry was near
its expiration, I delayed action till after the in
auguration of Gov. Milton, when I transmitted
to him a copy of the resolutions of our last Leg
islature, and invited his attention to the subject.
He replied, that he would lay the resolutions
before the Legislature of Florida. I transmit
herewith a copy of the correspondence, which
is all that has transpired since the adjournment
of the last session. Should I receive notice of
any action - on the part of the Legislature of
Florida on this subject prior to your adjourn
ment, you will be promptly informed of the
fact
THE CONFEDERATE WAR TAX.
to be proud of the results of their labc-r.—
Most of its graduates hold useful and impor
tant positions in the service of the State or the
Confederacy, while some have already sacrific
ed their lives on the battle field, gallantly lead
ing their followers in the hour of victory. I
am happy to be able to state that the prospects
of the Institute are at present very flattering.
Feeling that the State needed the services and
military skill of Maj. Capers, the Superintend
ent, during the winter upon the coast, I have
given him a commission as Brigadier General,
and assigned him to the command of the sec
ond Brigade of Georgia State troops. As it is
not probable that the campaign upon the coast
will last for more than six months, it is hoped
that General Capers may be able to resume bis
position in the Institute before the commence
ment of the next summer. Considering his
services of great importance to the State in
conducting themilitary education of our youth,
the Board under whose supervision the law has
placed the Institute, could not willingly con
sent that General Capers accept such military
commission as would carry him out of the
State, and sever his connection with the Insti
tution where his services are so highly appre
ciated.
To sustain the Institute and place it upon
solid basis, it will be necessary that such ap
propriations be made to endow it as will place
the professors’ salaries beyond contingency.—
I commend the Institute to the enlightened
statesmanship and fostering care of the General
Assembly.
EDUCATION.
The annual appropriation of one hundred
thousand dollars, and the dividends from the
Bank Stock belonging to the State, and the in
terest upon the educational bonds, - amount in
the aggregate, to $145,054 00 for the past year.
Tins will be distributed among the Counties for
school purposes, unless the Executive shall be
otherwise directed by legislation Anterior to the
day fixed by law for the distribution. While
our financial embarrassments, growing out of
the war, may be very considerable, I entertain
the opinion that it would be better for the peo
ple to submit to the taxation necessary to raise
ibis sum, than to withheld it from those enti
tled under existing legislation to participate in
its benefits.
THE NEW CONSTITUTION
The twenty-fourth section of the Act passed
b'y the Congress of the Confederate States for
the collection of a War Tax, is in these words:
“If any State shall, on or before the first day
of April next, pay, in the Treasury notai of the
Coomteafte States, or in specie, the taxes as
sessed against the citizens of such State, less
ten per centum thereon, it shall be the duty of
the Secretary of the Treasury to notify the same
to the several tax collectors in such State, and
thereupon their authority and duty under this |
Act shall cease.”
In a previous part of the Act, provision is
made for the appointment of Assessors by the
Confederate Government, and the valuation of
taxable property in each State. It would seem,
therefore, and there is no way of ascertaining
the amount which each State is required to pay
till this assessment is made. After this is done,
fifty thousand dollars per annum, for five years, j ny. We have few capitalists who arc not
I am informed that the whole capital stock will | slaveholders. Each slaveholder has an inter-
be at once taken, and the ships purchased, j cst not only in the day’s labor, or the week’s
ready to be placed upon the line immediately labor, but in the ‘person of the laborer; in his
after the removal of the blockade. This would
cost the State less than she has proposed to
guarantee to a foreign company. And as the
line in this case, would be owned jointly by the
State, and an association of her most enterpris
ing citizens, there would seem to be weighty
reasons, why our people should prefer it to any
line controlled by foreign capitalists who would
have no preference for a Georgia port as the
flesh and blood, his muscle and his bone; in a
word, the man is his. If, therefore, the labor
of the man is worth one dollar per day, the
man, himself, is worth one thousand to fifteen
hundred dollars, and he who owns one hund
red of these laborers is a rich man, and enjoys
all the importance and position which wealth
gives in society. Reduce the price of labor to
fifty cents per day, and you greatly reduce the
American terminus of the line, if superior in- value of the laborer in the market, and in like
ducemcnts should at any future timjj.be offered ; proportion you reduce the value of the estate
by any other Southern city. *co* j of the owner. If you reduce the price of labor
So soon as the blockade is raised, it will be-1 to twenty-five cents per day, the laborer can-
come a matter of the first importance that the ) not, by Itis labor, comfortably support himself
line be immediately put in operation, and that j and .amity. In this ca?e, as bis labor is worth
permanent and safe arrangements be made with j nothing to his owner, he is valueless, and the
European capitalists for advances upon cotton, person-who owns one hundred such laborers
and foe the regulation of our exchanges upon a with the responsibilities attaching to the own-
just and equitable basis. j ership, is not only poor, but has a heavy bur-
No country on the globe possesses more na- den annexed to bis poverty,
tural advantages, and no country has suffered As most of our slaves are owned by men of
greater wrong than has been inflicted upon the capital, and as capitalists, like other men, look
South for the last quarter of a century, under to their interests, and as the value of the es-
the unjust and iniquitous system of legislation | tate of each slaveholder depends upon the value
adopted by the Government of the United
States. The Union has at last been severed
beyond the possibility of re-construction; and
the Southern States are no longer commercial
ly, nor politically, the appendages or provinces
of the Northern Government, but they are free,
sovereign, and independent, while that Govern
ment has become a Military despotism. If the
people of the South are true to their own inter-
of labor, it becomes the interest of the com
bined capital of the country to keep up the
price of labor to sustain the value of property,
The poor white laborer is also interested in
keeping up the price of labor, as he has to work
to support himself and family, and if he is in
telligent and examines this question, he cannot
fail to see that the surest way to keep up the
price of his own labor is to sustain the institu
€k(§tnxm$.dmwh
FRIDAY MORNING, NOV. 15, 1861.
ests, they will never in future have any politi-ftion of slavery. It the labor of the negro is
cal connection with the people of the North, nor 1 worth in the market one dollar per day, the
and the sum for which the State is liable is
known, each State ma; pay this sum into the
Treasury, in gold and silver, or Confederate
Treasury notes, less ten per centum, and there
by prevent the collection of the same by Con
federate officers. While I would have greatly
preferred that Congress should have apportion
ed the sum to be raised among the States,
without the intervention of Confederate Aeses
sors, it is much better, in my opinion, that we
at least prevent the Confederate Tax-Gatherers
from making their appearand among us, when
we can save ton per centum upon the whole
sum by collecting it under State authority, and
paying it into the Confederate Treasury ; and
I think it would be more satisfactory to our
people that they be visited by the Tax-collec
tors'of but one Government I therefore re
commend such legislation as may be necessary
to secure the collection of Georgia’s quota by
her own State Collectors, either those who col
lect the State tax, or others to be appointed by
State authority for the purpose, and its pay
ment, when collected, into the Confederate
Treasury. The State Collectors could afford to
do the labor for a very small per centum on
large a sum. While the State, by the adoption
of this policy, would act upon a principle ahke
compatible with her dignity and sovereignty,
she would save to her Treasury a very consid
erable sum in the difference between the actual
cost of collection, and the sum allowed her on
that account Should it become the policy of
the Confederate Government in the future, to
bolish our tariff system, with all the expense and
corruption that attended the system in the old
Government, such a course might greatly lessen
the expenses of the Government and eause the
people to hold their public servants to a much
more strict accountability for wasteful expen
ditures ; and in that event I am of opinion that
the amount necessary to the support of Gov
eminent should be justly apportioned among
the States, and each State should be permitted,
by her own Collectors, it her people prefer it
to raise her own quota, and pay it into the
Treasury, without the intervention of Confeder
ate Collectors.
CIMMEKCIAL INDEPENDENCE.
The new Constitution proposed by the State
Convention on the 23d day of March last, while
in session at Savannah, was, by my pioclama
tion, submitted to a vote of the people of the
State for ratification or rejection, on the first
Tuesday in July last The vote cast was quite
a small one, owing doubtless, to the fact, that
the thoughts of our people were so much en
grossed with the war, that little attention was
given to any other subject; and as the Consti
tution had received the sanction of tho Conven
tion, composed as it was of so many ol the
brightest intellects, and best meu of the State,
the people were, it would seem, generally will
ing, to ratify their actiou without serious oppo
sition. The election returns received at the
Executive Department, show the following re
sult:
For Ratification .11,409 votes.
Against Ratification ..10,704 votes.
Majority for Ratification.. 795 votes.
After the result was known, on the 20th day
of August last, I issued my proclamation, as
required by the resolution of the _ Convention, I pledge the State to secure to the Company what
The contest in which we are engaged must,
it is admitted by all, result in our political in-
dependence But our deliverance from politi
cal bondage will be of little advantage if we re
main in a state of commercial dependence. If
our exchanges at the end of the war,. are still
to be made through New York and other North
ern Ports; our Cotton shipped upon Northern
ships by way of New York to Europe; taxed
with increased freights, insurance, commissions,
wharfage, and other incidental ex|>enses incur
red upon that route ; and our goods imported
over the same line burdened with the usual ex
pense to us, and profits to the Northern mer
chant, which must result from indirect impor
tations ; we shall remoin in fact, subjects to
Northern rule, and our political destinies will
soon be controlled by those who have our com-
mcrcial interests under their power. This evil
aan only be prevented by the inauguration ofa
system which will secure direct trade and direct
exchanges with Europe. It is a question well
worthy the consideration of Congress, whether
this object cannot be better accomplished by the
establishment of free trade with all the world.
Your predecessors, at the last session, duty ap
preciating the importance of this question, pass
ed an act incorporating the “Belgian American
Company,” and authorizing the Governor to
permit their commercial relations to be control
led by the Northern legislation or Northern
capital. The South was not only the great
productive section of the old Union, furnishing
most of its exports, but it was the balance
wheel which kept the machinery of Republican
Government in regular motion, and its trade
was the great artery of life to the Northern
section. With every advantage of soil and cli
mate and all the material elements of great
ness, no longer compelled to submit to an un
just draft upon her industrial pursuits to build
up and pamper the power of a haughty rival
section, the South seems to hold in her own
hands, under the smiles of a kind Providence,
the high destiny of her own future.
OUR COMPETENCY FOB SELF-GOVERNMENT.
He who has read bistory attentively, and
studied carefully thetheory of Government,
can have but little difficulty in arriving at the
conclusion, that a Republican Government can
only be maintained upon the basis of domestic
slavery. The assertion, so often repeated,
that our people are competent for self govern
ment, is no doubt true when property qualified;
but if it is intended by the term, “people,” to
include the whole people, and to permit all of
every class white and black indiscriminately to
exercise political rights, it is then doubtless
untrue. The capacityof the people for. self-govern
ment, depends upon their virtue and intelli
gence, and the experiments made in France and
other enlightened countries, where domestic
slavery is not tolerated, have shown that suffi
cient virtue and intelligence never exist to en<
jkblo tho pcoplo to perform the task, when the.
whole mass of the people of every class are per
mitted to participate actively in the affairs of
the State. Hence, the ’ general rule, that
country which does not tolerate domestic slave
ry, is governed by monarchy. It is admitted
that the opposite of the rule is not always
| true, as some countries, like Brazil and Spain,
tolerate domestic slavery, and are governed by
monarchy. Nor is the rule itself probably
without a single exception, as in the case of
Switzerland, which, on account ol its peculiar
locality and condition, is tolerated as a public
by the other governments of Europe.
Take, as an illustration, the people of the
Confederate States, and of the United States.
We say the people of the Confederate States
are competent to govern themselves. This
true in the sense in which the expression is
used; but if wo use the term “peopld' in its
broadest sense, and embrace the four millions
of negroes as a part of the people, entitled to
exercise political rights, then it is not true.—
The people of the United States are intelligent
and enlightened, but the whole people, inclu
ding menial servants, imported paupers, and
free negroes, all under their theory possessing
and exercising equal rights and equal power at
the ballot box, are certainly incompetent to
govern themselves. Hence that government
must soon terminate in monarchy.
Intimately connected with the above cause,
is another that must tend to hasten the result
I allude to the irreconciblale conflict, which, un
der their domestic system'exists, and must con
tinue to increase, between Capital and labor.—
There, the capitalist who desires to employ la
bor has no interest in the person of the labor
cr, but only an interest in his day’s work. He
is under no obligation other than the common
dictates of humanity to provide for the wants
of the laborer or his family in case of sickness
or other misfortune. It follows thati t is the
interest of the combined capitalists of the North
to depress the price of labor and procure work
as low as possible. On the other hand, the la
boring class is interested in keeping up the
price of labor. In this conflict, if the laboring
class strike for higher wages, when prices arc
no longer remunerative, the competition for
employment which will be produced by the an
nual importation of very large numbers of for
eign paupers, will give the capitalists greatly
the advantage in their efforts to maintain low
prices. This, together with the consqeuent
necessities of the laboring class, will naturally
foster the agrarian feeling already engendered,
and the conflict will become constant and bit
ter. The laboring class including the lowest
menial servants, and naturalized foreign pau
pers, being voters will naturally have the ad
vantage at the ballot box, on account of their
superiority of numbers. This will induce the
capitalists, on the other hand, to use their toon-
ey freely to influence the elections which will
be productive of increased rottenness and cor
ruption in the body politic.' Riots and mobs
will grow out of the contest, till thinking men,
discovering the tottering basis upon which so
ciety rests, and tne insecurity of propei ty, will
naturally be induced to seek protection in a
stronger form of government.
Amid this chaos and confusion, in the throes
labor of the white man is worth more, or cer
tainly as much; and while the institution of
slavery is maintained, every capitalist in the
country who owns slaves, is interested in, and
will use his influence to keep up, the value of
labor, and the poor white man gets the influ
ence of his more wealthy and powerful neigh
bor in sustaining the price of his labor. On
tka other hand, It Slavery is abolished, it be
comes in the South as it now is in 'the North,
the interest of the combined capital of the
country to depress labor, and get it as low as
possible, as the capitalist would then be no
longer interested in the person of the laborer,
and the value of his estate would be no longer
dependent upon the price of labor. The inter
est of tlie capitalist in the last case would bo to
get labor low, and as the negro would, when
free, be placed nearer a state of equality with
the white laborer, and would have a right to
make his own contracts, he would come into
direct competition with the poor white laborer,
and would soon under-bid hnn, and reduce the
price of labor to as low a rate as would sustain
life. This would bring ruin upon tho poor
whiteman, and degrade his family farbekw
their present condition. It is very clear, there
fore, while the institution of slavery exists,
that it is the interest of the rich man to sus
tain the price of iabor of the poor white man;
and that it is, for the same reason, the interest
of the poor white laborer to sustain and perpet
uate the institution of negro slavery. In other
words, the rich and poor are alike interested in
sustaining slavery and in sustaining the price
of labor. Tho slaves themselves are also in
terested, as they are more civilized, more chris
tianized, and in a better condition than the like
number of their race ever were in any other
country or climate. If the price of labor is
high, and the slave is worm a high price in the
market, the owner has a heavy pecuniary inter
est in addition to the common sympathy of our
nature to prompt him to treat the slave well,
as his value to his owner depends upon
the preservation of his life and health, and
these depend much upon the manner in which
he is clothed, and fed, and attended to in sicks
ness.
From the foregoing reflections, it naturally
follows, that our w hole social system is one of
perfect homogeneity of interest, where every
class of society is interested in sustaining the
interest of eve-y other class. We have all the
Itarmonious elements necessary to the perpetu-
ity of that republican and religious liberty be
queathed to us by our fathers; with none of
the distracting and conflicting elements which
must destroy both in the Northern States, and
which have already precipitated the country
into a bloody revolution, and attempted to hurl
to the ground the fairest structure ever dedica
ted to Liberty on the fuoo of the globe. To
sustain this priceless heritage is the highest
earthly duty of the Christian and the patriot
Ruthless and bloody hands have been laid up
on it To wrest it from them may cost hun
dreds of millions of treasure, and many thou
sands of the most invaluable lives of the South
But be who would stop to count the cost, would
do well to ask himself, what is my property
worth when I am a slave ? or, what is oiy life
worth, if by saving it, I must transmit a heri
tage of bondage to my children ! If we are
conquered, our property is confiscated, and we
and our children are slaves to Northern avarice
and Northern insolence. Sooner than submit
to this, I would cheerfully expend in the cause
the last dollar I could raise, and would fervent
ly pray, like Sampson of old, that God would
give me strength to lay hold upon the pillars
of the edifice, and would enable me while bend
ing with its weight, to die a glorious death be
neath the crumbling ruins of that Temple of
Southern freedom which has so long attracted
the world by the splendor of its magnificence.
JOSEPH E. BROWN.
LIGHT AND SHADE.
We give to-day a streak of light and streak
of shade in our daily, dagucreotype of the pro
gress of the war. The news from Kentucky is
glorious, while that from Port Royal is dark
and menacing. But let no man give way
to needless apprehensions. The enemy may
embarrass us by taking possession of this and
othetTpointa of the coast His heavy arms
ments may prove too much for our feebler ord
nance and scanty munitions. What then ?—
He will but singe our border, while the great
heart and tho vital energies of the Confederacy
will remain unscathed and free as ever. If he
wants to see what fighting realty is, let him but
attempt to penetrate the interior. The record
of his achievements and his ruin will then de
volve upon tho charity of his enemies, for no
man will return to tell the tale.
We must look for reverses upon our coast—
They will be the inevitable result ol superior
force, and the terrible apathy which has perva
ded our people upon the subject of coast defence.
It is wonderful what* notions have prevailed up-1
on this subject, and how vastly the great ma
rine power of our antagonist has been underval
ued. But give our troops dryland and close
quarters, and right there we will have the inva
der. As for this thin skirting of outposts round
our gigantic frontier, what do they amount to
in the way of making good his vaunted threat
of subjugating the South!
Suppose in the war of the Revolution Great
Britian had undertaken to subjugate the Col
onios by skirting the Canada line, blockading
the coast and making now and then a success
ful descent upon snch points as Hatteras and
Port Royal—would not the threat and the mode
adopted to accomplish it have excited the ridi
cule of the world ? She adopted no such tac
tics. She marched her troops from Massachu
setts to Georgia—she penetrated our whole in
terior with her legions, and yet failed to sub
jugate America. What folly, then, is the talk
of subjugation by an enemy able only to pene
trate here and there the mero outer cuticle of
this great Confederacy.
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY.
Except the organization and receipt of tho
Governor’s Message, nothing of much interest
has yet marked the session. Thursday was
devoted to a canvass.of the Gubernatorial re-
TIIE SPIRIT OF SPECULATION.
A writer to-day appeals to the Legislature
upon a topic which will not fail to receive its
attention. War has obstructed the ordinary
channels of trade, and confused and disarrang
ed all the circumstances which usually deter
mine prices. In such a state of affairs, were
trade left to the usual number of middlemen,
prices could hardly fail to be high. Trade is
cautious and grasping. It will run as few
risks as possible, and remunerate itself to the
largest extent.
But when to the natural effect of these dis.
arrangements is added still another, the mis
chief becomes intolerable. This last and worst
evil is the multiplication of the middlemen.—
Thousands of outsiders, stimulated by the re
puted gains of trade, and perhaps thrown out
of their ordinary avocations by the war, rush
into the business and buy right and left—every
thing they can lay hands upon—not to act in
pod faith the part -of a medium between the
producer and consumer, but simply and only
that they may benefit themselves by grinding
the public. They select articles in active de
mand, and the}’ increase the demand by buying
when they do not need, and the scarcity by
refusing to sell, except at most exorbitant rates,
which thereupon become the “quotations ”
That is tho way, for example, with salt.—
Large amounts are transferred from hand to
hand with small refetence to the demand for
consumption, and the price of the article is de
termined, not by the legitimate considerations
of consumption and supply, but by the judg
ment of speculators rs to the extremity of dis
tress the community may be ultimately driven
to for common salt! If it were clear that six
months hence the South would be making salt
enough to supply her own wants (which we
hope she will do), salt would go down to two
dollars a sack this week.
And so with numerous other articles. The
speculator is argus-eyed in detecting chances
for a desperate necessity ahead. He labors to
anticipate it and to realize desperate profits.—
We have his foot-marks already in the flour
market, although everybody believes more flour
was raised last year than can be consumed in
eighteen months. He is bobbing round among
the factories, monopolizing their productions
ahead, to freeze the people into paying big pro
fits. As foreign goods of all kinds grow scarce,
he is ready to buy at any price, so as to make
them scarce, and get a higher price. When-
GOVERNOR BROWN’S MESH
Many of the Governor’s recommend^
important. He suggests an «pproprwl
three and a half millions for thedef en J
State—one million to be collected by
and State bonds to issue for the retnti/\
a portion of it in State treasury notes, re J
ble in payment of all State dues, andf 1
in eight per cent, bonds of $1,000 each T
For the relief of cotton Dlanters, he r
mends the State to advance in treasur* i
two-thirds the market value of cotton <
warehouses in the interior of the State i
sured.
He recommends the extension ofth ( ,
law and bank suspension act. Also
cract with Messrs. Moses & Gray, of (V
bus, for the manufacture of arms, and »
scription of $200,000, and an annual 1
of fifty thousand dollars to the prop K
vannah and European steamship line.
The Governor is most righteously dow B J
on speculators in food and clothing, and
law to authorize the seizure of provisions
supplies in the hands of speculators, wh c - I
cessary for our troops, upon the tender s
just and reasonable compensation tobefi
by competent valuing agents.
ever any body must buy, he is a little ahead of
him, and if it is the government, so much the
better. His whole career is a public embar
rassment and mischief. It hot only depletes
turns, and the inauguration was to coins off the people needlessly, but excites and keeps up
yesterday.
The General Assembly, as a whole, in point
of intelligence and capacity, outranks any
which has convened in Milledgeville for some
years past It contains a large proportion of
new men, and yet men like the members from
this county, for illustration, whose lack of leg
islative experience amounts to no disqualifica
tion—who, in point of intelligence, capacity
and knowledge of the public wants, judgment,
and discretion, are likely to prove most valu
able members.
There was little to be learned from outside
talk. The war and the invasion were the all
engrossing themes. They had a commonly be
lieved story in Milledgeville, Thursday, that
Gen. Beauregard had resigned, which was sta
ted to have come by private telegram in most
positive shape, and this report threw a cloud
over the gossip. Fortunately, like a half doz
en others one hears in the course of the day, it
was untrue. In politics, there was no talk
worth heeding. Some reported nil), James
Jackson, Iverson, Nfsbet, Toombs, and John
son, as the probable candidates for C. S. Sena
tors, and others added that the friends of Hill
and Iverson had joined teams and gained a
point in the election of Speaker. What foun
dation existed for this report we cannot say.
of revolution, some.master spirit with great
ability arid ambition, will attract attention and
win popular applause. This will place him in
position to command, when appealing to the
necessities of the capitalists he will engage to
make his sword their protector, and to distri
bute the honors of the Empire qmong them, if
they will make their gold the pillars of his
throne. The result will be, that the country
will seek repose in the downfall of Republican
ism, and the establishment of Monarchy.
The very opposite of all this is true' in the
Confederate States. Here, domestic slavery is
fundamental part of our social system. We
have over four millions of negroes who are tho
menial class of our society. They have no po
litical rights and seek none; they take no part
in the Government, but are a dependent class,
generally contented and happy, having all their
Arms! AkjrsM—We rejoice in tho belief
that the Governor’s proclamation for thirty
companies to arm themselves with shot guns
and rifles in any way they best can, will be
followed very shortly by a notification that the
companies will be armed by the State with the
very best description of fire arms known to
modern service. Oyez! oyez!!
John Hampden, our venerable friend
and correspondent, declares chat in the recent
battle near Columbus, Ky., when Gen. Polk
charged the enemy in the flank, that he made
a better charge to that congregation than he
ever did (although they were first rate) to the
congregations in his diocese.
Horriblo Cruelties of the Lincolnites to
the Nog-roes,
The Norfolk Day Book learns from negroes
who have recently effected their escape from
the hands of the Lincolnitcs at Old Point and
Fortress Monroe, that the most shocking bar
barities are practiced by the Lincolnites upon
tho poor negroes who have fallen into their
possession. One of these is thus described:
We are credibly informed that the negroes
who have escaped from their Southern owners,
and are now at Old Point, are being put in har
ness,' like so many oxen, and beneath tho lash
of a cruel and unmerciful overseer, are forced
to do the work ol mules, and haul large quan
tities of stone to the different works now being
built ft that place.
o The Fleet off Ship Island.—The New Or-
natural wants supplied by "those who are re-1 leans Crescent, in its “Talk on ’Change,” has
declaring,the proposed Constitution to be the was considered reasonable profits on the amount
Constitution of this State.
our Militia ststkm.
I invito tlie attention of tho General Assem-j Europe, provided the guarantee of the State
bly to the suggestions contained in the report should not exceed one hundred thousand dol-
| invested in a line of steamers to run direct be
tween Savannah and some commercial point in
of tlie Adjutant and Inspector General, recom
mending a revision of our Military Code.
lars, per annum, lor five years. The act also
11 made it the duty of the Governor to appoint a
would also suggest a change in the law rela- Commissioner to Europe to negotiate an ar-
ting to Volunteer Companies. During the past rangement for the line. In obedience to this
year these companies have frequently been requirement, of the statute, I appointed the
formed, and after their officers were comniis-j Hon. T. Butler King, Commissioner, and sent
sioned and the}’ armed by the State, have in a ! him to Europe early in the Spring. I have re
short time disbanded ami scattered their arms, ceivcd but a single dispatch from Mr. King
causing very considerable expense and trouble since his depaiture. In this, he informs me
to tho State to collect them again, and in some | that he has forwarded several others which 1
instances involving tlie entire loss of part of have not received.
the guns to the State. Aeain, it has IV. quent Azitfs impossible to foretell what may be the
ly happened after companies have been formed result of Mr. King’s mission, I beg leave to call
and their officers have expended large sums in the attention of th<- General Assembly to the
uniforming and equipping them, that a portion I fact tliat an association ol Georgians of high
of tho members becoming dissatisfied with the t character, and well kitown financial and com-
organization, or seeing, a-they beliew- l. anop-1 meicial ability,, is now being formed, for the
I ii-tiinily t<> gel in’-1 s -n ire M».iur -.villi .--nne purpi.-e e.-lahii-liingat as early a cay a- pos-
other company, have v ithdrawn, and reduced | sible, a lino at sh-am>Ts between .Sa\annah and
the Company to so small a number as to com
pel the officers to disband it. This has earned
iMich iMtitusion, and 1 as Iil-cn very discotnvg-
ing to those who have incurred heavy expense
>n organizing and equipping companies for
in Europe, a-
and facilities
oilers the
for direct
T<
It thi:
such commercial ;
greatest inducements
trnMeund intercourse.
1! the legislature will incorporate the compa
ny and subscribe, for tlie State, $2,00,000 to
laic of things in '.he 1 irs capital stock, and grant to it a subsidy cf
sponsible under our laws for their humane and
kind treatment In case of sickness, or per
manent bodily infirmity, they are not left as
are the paupers of tho North to the cold chari
ties of the world for the necessaries of life, but
public opinion and tlie laws of the land compel
their owners to make provision for their wants
and to treat their- witli humanity and kindness.
Here the white class is the ruling class. When
we say our. people are competent to the task of
self-government, we mean ichite people. But
it may be said, tlie paupers of the North, who
participate in the government, arc generally
white people. This is admitted, but many of
them are white people of tlie lowest menial
class; so low thai.tiiere is no class below them,
and they lack not only intelligence but pride
of character, lienee their votes are bought
and sold in the nnrket With us cverv white
tho following item:
There was intelligence received yesterday of
twenty-four sail of Hessian vesssels being in
Ship Islaid harbor on Tuesday. This number
was counted through a good telescope from the
look-out at Mississippi City. Flats and scows
appeared to be engaged in transporting materi
als from tha vessels to the shore near tho light
house on the Island. This is supposed to b6
tho advance 4f the great fleet intended for the
Gulf. It is reasonable to suppose that some
thing like a simultaneous attack is intended at
three or more points. This can easily be car
ried out when it is taken into consideration
that there are between two hundred and sev-
tydive and three hundred vessels, including
vessels of war, steamers and transports, com
posing tho supposed great armada. Leaving
forty-two vessels at Port Royal, they can come
man whether native or of foreign birth, feels tQ ^ Orleans, Mobile and Pensacola with
and knows that l.e belongs to the ruling class, ! two hunJrea an ^ fiIt _ I n the meantime, our
and that there is a menial class of m.lbons of LotKiriti- are preparing, and we can only say
persons entirely below him Tins inspires him to tho Asians come on.
with a pride ol charnet.er which fits him to par-
.p:
tieipa'tc in the political a I fairs of the iilati
par-
v If I
Anotuek Wav ofExpkessi.no It.—The Ed”
there aie individual exceptions to this rule, they ; field Advertise- gives an account of a rij e
felt, or to affect materially ll
choice ol i ulei s. Again, msi
conflict under our social system betw
a
ults in th
f perpetual
*P>
"sung a song, insisting that some special mem
ber of the swine family should persistently
continue to upturn the earth with his proboscis
hi! and labor, we have the most perfect harmo- (or perish in the effort.”
AFFAIRS IN SAVANNAH.
First and foremost we beg our readers, one
and all, to maintain a constant and resolute in
credulity in respect tc all the verbal reports
they hear from Savannah. Not one in a dozen
heard in the streets there has any solid founda
tion, and when these rumors are scattered
through the sountry, they grow as they spread,
and people are set into a ferment by the merest
riffraff of gossipry. Don’t believe anything
told you, even by a “reliable gentleman,” un
less he is personalty cognizant of the fact he
narrates.
*he current intelligent opinion in Savannah
is, that the city is to be attacked soon, but there
is no evidence that Savannah more than Char
leston is aimed at. The opinion rests solely
upon the fact that Savannah js considered the
weaker point of the two. As a natural result
of the conclusion, the destruction of the Port
Royal batteries exerted, for a time, a good deal
of apprehension among the people. There was,
however, nothing in that event unanticipated
by military men of any experience. No one
of them believed that such defences could be
maintained against the tremendous fire which
bore upon them—enfilading them at all points,
ploughing up the very earth upon which they
rested, dismounting every gun and destroying
the embankments. The shot and shell rained
upon these unlucky batteries sometimes at the
rate of nearly a hundred per minute, and pro
vidential it is that the brave garrison escaped
with only the small loss of twelve killed and
about forty wounded.
But although the fall of the batteries was a
matter of certainty before such an armament, it
was a grievous disappointment to common opin
ion, and hence for sotno days much ofa panic
prevailed in Savannah; but it subsided as sud
denly as it rose, and the people are now quietly
and resolutely preparing to give tho enemy a
warm reception. AYhat these preparations and
the means of defence are, should not be writ
ten, but we have full hope that the defence will
be gallant and successful. Meanwhile, every
available military resource of the interior
should be hurried down to the coast Let ev
ery man go who can muster a shot gun, rifle or
musket, and can possibly leave his business.—
Let him take with him" plenty of ammunition
and make his tender in person to the Mayor.
Georgians, shall our beautiful seaport, with all
its wealth of architecture, fall a prey to the
Northern vandals ? Not, we are sure, so long
as she has brave hearts and strong hands to de
fend her.
Carolina is pouring a living tide down to her
seaboard. Old and young, from mountain
valley and plain, are rushing to drive the inva
der from her soil. Shall not Georgia awake at
once and emulate her gallant sister State in
deeds of heroism for the preservation of all tliat
leheart of man holds dear?
a needless irritation and alarm.
Furthermore, he is like the old tnan of the
sea astride of Sinbad. There is apparently no
chance to shake him off. The reason is plain.
While the South can feed and clothe herself,
she is in no condition to produce that surplus
which alone, in the ordinary operations of
trade, would floor the speculator. Our amount
of supplies do not admit of hoarding, and
where it is practiced, prices must go up!—
Without a surplus, hoarding creates an artifi
cial scarcity—and makes famine prices. Prac
tically, therefore, the hoarder and monopolist
works the same result as a short crop.
This is illustrated in the corn prices prevail
ing : Although a very large crop of corn was
raised the last season—more than can be con
sumed before another crop—corn is worth a
dollar, and will probably run up to a price be
yond where it ranged last year, when little or |
none was produced. The planters are hoarding
their corn, and almost ready to shoot a man
who proposes to buy it It will not be till an
other crop has accumulated and they are forc
ed to sell by surfeit, that the villages and
towns will be able to buy corn. An attempt
is made to stigmatize one class—merchants and
traders—as peculiarly guilty of this shameful
business, and they may be more guilty than
others; but it is getting to be a general crime.
Times of public distress seetn to develope the
cupidity and selfishness of our fallen nature,
and many who loudly denounce the specula
tors are full of the spirit themselves.
In ancient Bible times we read that the devii
possessed men with a raging, demoniac spirit,
ready to destroy others and rend the unhappy
possessed. They dwelt like ghowls among the
tombs—defiled the dead and were a terror to
all the living. In these days, the fiend posses
ses tho man who fattens on the public embar
rassments, and whose only study is to increase
them that he may profit thereby. His busi
ness is to make scarcities—to add to the public
distress, and wring out high prices from des
pairing poverty. He is a more gentle and
comely devil than the old one, but more dan
gerous.
Now how are these monopolists and specu
lators—these artificial necessity-makers to be
dealt with ? We have seen that the South will
be ridden by them for a long time unless they
are thrown off—that they cannot be dismount
ed by excess of supply, because vi e cannot
hope to produce it for a long time. It is hard
to point out a remedy, which might not be per
verted to the injury of the innocent But in
our opinion whenever there is an accumulation
of food or clothing stufls held up from market
it ought to be set in motion by statute. Wher
ever a monopoly purchase is made in any mar
ket it ought to be punished. Wo think that
this trouble ought to be remedied, as iar as
possible, by direct legislation, and an active
public opinion be levelled against all who do
not keep their skirts clear of the business of
speculating on the public necessities. It has
frequently happened that monopolies have been
made by individuals under pretence of buying
for tho army. The Legislature ought to pro
vide for the heavy punishment of this false pre
tence, and make it a misdemeanor for individ
uals not connected with the Confederate ser
vice to wear the Confederate uniform or any
part of it
Enemy's movements on the Coast 1
We have no later news up to six o’clock
M., and do not look for any stirring event
some days. By last accounts the enemj
taken possession of Beaufort, the inhabit
having fled, and were apparently getting
for a march. Our force in Carolina was
lecting at the Pocotaligo, a station
Charleston and Savannah Railroad, about
enieen miles from Beaufort. Nothing
known of the strength of tho Lincoln
force. The whole fleet was said to carry ^
thirty thousand men, but the names of
two vessels composing it were published
New York prints, whereas only forty-ou
sels have been visible at Port Royal,
the fleet divided and a portion made for
other point (of which we have yet had
tice) or one half has been lost in the late si
or so disabled as to be compelled to put
It is believed from the extraordinary vii
of the storm and the testimony of prism
taken off of the three vessels known to
wrecked, that the fleet sustained very ext
sive lose.
But whatever force the winds and wives a*
have left to the invaders, it is certain thcyij
not long remain without employment on
soil of Carolina. The fiery indignation of
Palmettoes will burst upon their devoted
with an outraged and vindictive fury.
Nothing is known as to the particular di
of the Lincoln force—whether it is intended!
Charleston or Savannah. All the stories
ing about the country upon the wings o(
wind are mere conjecture. It was believed
Savannah that a combined assault by land
water was to be made upon that place, but
Iy nothing had occurred to develope the phi
of the enemy.
THE ARMADA.
The express brings information, supposed)
be reliable, that the Lincoln fleet has left Pi
Royal and sailed South. The rumor is ft«ti
has passed Brunswick and Fernandina, sod,
so, is doubtless destined for some one of ft
Gulf ports. What it has left behind at Per
Royal is not known. We shall, probably
before going to press. Meanwhile, we lew
that the alarm at Savannah has altogether«
sided, and many who left that flourishingplu
in haste, are sorry they did so. It is unde
stood that Mayor Purse will not permit tba
to return, except on paying a certain forfeit®
into the city treasury, and entering into bonds
not to leave again until the first bomb shell la
flown over the weather cock of the city hill
The statement that the Lincoln fleet tv
been seen lying off Marion, in Twiggs countr,
is erroneous.
THE CRISIS OF THE WAR
A Ye are now entering the great crisis of tin
war. -The next three months will show usth
worst our enemies can do. Hence we should
not suffer ourselves to be surprised ordiap-
pointed if they succeed in doing us some inju
ry. On the contrary, it will be a surprisit;
and remarkable thing, if their gigantic efforts
are not crowned with some degree of’success
It would be a strange war if all the reverse
were sustained by one party. But we hivt
nevertheless, an abiding confidence that the
winter’s campaign will be, in the main, fruit
less to tho Federalists—that the opening d
Spring will find them not a step nearer subju
gation than they now are, and a great dul
poorer and wiser. Then the Spring and Fil
elections will give an anti-republican Congress,
and in time, peace. The war may maintain i
lingering existence after next Spring, for i
longer or shorter time; but it will be prosecu-
ted without spirit and without hope. Letcour
age, patience and fortitude be our watchwords.
FROM MILLEDGEVILLE.
Gov. Brown has issued a proclamation de
claring that he will accept- for coast defence
for six months the services oi the first’thirty'
companies that make tlie tender, eacli company
to provide its own arms.
The official canvass of the Governor’s elec
tion shows Gov. Brown's majority to-be 13,691.
The proceedings of the Legislature are un
mportant.
A New Conical Shot.—Mr. AY. A. Rincs, at
Findlay’s Foundry, shows us a drawing of a
new conical shell, which seems to embrace some
valuable iueiis. Tho taper of this shell is of
chilled iron and the point of steel. From this
steel point a little shaft capped upon the inner
end, connects with the chamber of the ball, and
the concussion of the ball against any solid ob
ject explodes the cap in the interior of the cham
ber. Sut should the shell strike sand or earth,
explosion is secured by means of a fuse pro
jecting from its base, and ignited in the dis
charge from the gun. Each' shell is thus pro
vided with a double security for ignition, and,
at the same time, is so well ballasted as to be
sure of a direct flight point foremost. The in
ventor suftposes that the sharp point of this
projectile will obviate all possibility of its glan
cing off from any surface however hard or ob
lique. AVe suggest to him to make a few and ;
send them down to Commodore Tatnall for tri
A . \
Bane Note Pahsk.—The Richmond prints
say that the Franklin paper mill, of tliat city,
‘ i now making for the Confederate Government |
Opinion in France.
PlifN’CE NAPOLEON’S MEMOIR.
The Paris Correspondent of the New Yod
Herald, writing on the 18th October, declare;
that Prince Napoleon on his return from his
recent visit to America reported his opinioo
“that the Union is broken forever,” and th*
correspondent declares that ever since his re
turn the “government journals have becocx
more Southern in their views.” He adds that
the French government sees assurances of»
cotton supply “only in a recognition of the
rebel States!”
“A complete understanding exists betwetf
England and France on the subject, and anf
disaster to the Union army will be followed
instanter by an acknowledgment of the South-
Nay, I am by no means sure that even a victo
ry and rout under the auspices of General M f -
Clellan would alter the matter.”
The Correspondence gives the following »*
the substance of Prince Napoleon’s Report:
Prince Napoleon told his cousin that be did
not believe—
1. In the power of the Federal army to gain
any importont victory over that of the Confed
eration.
2. That, admitting the possibility of the fact
a Bank Note paper, fully equal to any ever
made in the North. This will be good news to
holders of Confederate securities.
it would on the morrow of victory be as far
its object as before.
3. That the whole Union, as comprised by
the North, was a tape of sand. He garehs
voice in an early recognition of the South,
have not the slightest hesitation in stating th*
as I am sure my information is authentic.
TENNESSEE CONGRESSMEN.
Gov. H. S. Foote has been elected in th*
Nashvillo District; AY. G. Swann in the 2nd;
Dr. Thomas Menees, in the 8th; D. M. Currta
in the 11th. Gen. Atkins and M. P. GeBtr?>
are believed to be elected.
Salty.—Gov. Moore, of Alabama, seized 1.’
400 sacks of salt at the depot of the Montgow
ery and AYcst Point Railroad. The salt** 3
in process of transportation to escape the opr
ration of the Alabama anti-speculating law-
Railway Connections in Augusta.—
Augusta papers are reviving the proposition 3
to connect the railways in that city. ^' ll '
should not take time to tali abodt the ma tter >
but go and do it at once. It is a horrible tbin?
to obstruct travel and transportation just now-
2rf!?"The wife of Hon.’ Allred Iverson, died
in Columbus, a few days since.