Newspaper Page Text
THE GEORGIA WEEKLY TELEGRAPH.
lliftklij €rltp])!).
nf
S=^5jnTnswcr to nn nn-
pS.oul.1 s^ak at a Con-
l mating in St. Louis, au-
• ' «« »y * bat he did
> D *"^ vt „ mwW® >" Hitics,
fl in *’*5 •.
ir ,, „ P n paper l.y canrllc
nm l exceedingly awkward
' ^i.yct suck were our dif-
r ^ht The Gas Works, from
W n, f“ n t of order yesterday, and
•* wa5 rut off from the city,
t&U to learn that the ne-
• p T 0U id he completed during
I u 7 _ to"bf. Sustained.—We
! . Vngtwta papers of Sunday
i of the stockholders of the
and Transportation Com-
KiVthatcity Saturday night, rep-
K 1 ' 11 nftlie stock at that place,
l ; .fLUncc was expressed in the
,ntrn>ri'e, nnJ 5t was unani-
[ d to sustain the company at
Prjwtates instructed to that ef-
v vnt »»'>•<’ approaching meeting
, 1)r . Joseph A..Jive was Chair-
,• c liar her, Secretary.
’’ n ot only f»r ‘he interests of trade,
Like <>f the thousands oi maimed
V' a tfC to l>c thrown out of cmploy-
failure of the National, that sirai-
F i 0l wi n |>c held in every Southern
• ps taken to save the’ institution.
’ '^ n from the advertisement pub-
\\ BMping, that the subscribers to
'tjrtock of the company have only to
and comply with their obliga-
■ miff to put it on a safe footing for
etterfrom Washington.
Washington. Sept. 20. I860.
president is much embarrassed by the
jj.. importunities of his friends, as to
«r dispensing of patronnge. Whilst
L t0 the requirements of placing the
- n! positions in "the hands of true
. f j the Aministration, he is greatly
V ,1 a t the inability of the Conserva-
. outre upon those who are to be the
The Collcctorship of New
fined by Mr. Smy the (who has been
j in tbc balance, and found wanting)
kj* m ach concern, nnd the President
;;iinl to those who are clamorous for
^ t i„t as soon as they reconcile tlieir
ud unite upon a successor, he will re-
ite present incumbent. The post of
Officer of New York, still remains a
,,! contention, with the chances nar-
! t tmen Generals Slocum nnd Sickles,
.dejation of Pennsylvanians obtained
rvictr to-day with tbc President, and
:inj an avalanche removal of Radical
tt!«r.ts in that State.
new programme of having applica-
for place placed immctliately before
ads of Departments works well, and
y facilitates the Administration in get-
Uailicali ejected, and appointing Con-
livts.
retaw Seward has entirely recovered,
s daily at the Department, engaged in
iportant dnties of his office.
1 ff. Forney lias received a damaging
his aspirations for the Senate. Gen.
of Pennsylvania, heretofore a confi-
.1 and political friend of tlic “Dead
has revealed the fact that when Clerk
House of Representatives, lie received
of j10,000 in cash for the patronage
;!c; the books ordered by Congress
•Ae house of Morrison & Co., who do
in this city. The only injunction
J by Forney of Patton, who was privy
rile transaction, was that he would
smunicatc the circumstanro to Barry
*ho was Forney's Chief Clerk,
ns decided upon in Cabinet session
hr. that the position of Envoy Extra
ct, ic, to France should be tendered
‘-nil Dix. Tbc President had previ-
»wtained authoritatively that the ap-
ent would be accepted by him.
Wiled at the Paymaster General’s
-tnt, that claimants under, the new
Act will alone be recognized in prosc-
thums. all agents and powervof-attor-
'■? ignored.
•■•I Coster has been commissioned
- Major General, and ordered to report
t General Sherman nt St. Louis to be
' '1 to an important command in Kan-
the many political canards now bc-
• ainated by the Radicals for political
■ the most absurd is that ascribing to
' lent, by the advice of a majority of
• aet a n,l others, a purpose of chang-
policy by the advocacy of theconsti-
'•*1 amendment. The whole thing is
Atture-l out of cloth. The Adminis-
3 stands where it has been from incipi-
"^posed to the proposition—but, at
*®« time, prepared to leave the propo-
1 *>th the people, in whose verdict,
Mprcssed, they are always ready to
acquiesce.
' doubts are expressed wbethcr the
■} authorities will arrange for the trial
Fcrson Davis at the ensuing October
Should they fall to do so, it is gener-
■ icred that the pressure from every
w iH cause his release on parole or
a Pircd with the past season tlic demand
ttli i in the Departments fr^m Pennsyl-
Ohio aud Indiana for furloughs,
!| ome to participate in the pending
1 canvass, are quite few. Some are
r bnt the great mass prefer to hold
Pprehending that a participation to
l, '* n those who are sustaining them
Cu * t them their places, which they are
' a P«t with.
t-ooper, M. C. from Tennessee, who
. - '^ e past^sumnier acted as private Sec-
• 1,1 the President, having left for his
• Robert Johnson, Esq., son ofthePresi-
Charging the duties.
oe b pressure is being made to secure
,ai «nlof Maj. B. B. French, C-. minis
, >(1 [ Public Buildings. There arc sever-
. ^ n * nt aspirants. CoL Chas. S. Jones,
’ter of the army, who holds a string
(tt J^»tion to the President, is likely to
iJ25 The present incumbent, who
u ,1, Por ,>f ing «dl things to all men,
i., a ^'^“tlUclieni prior to the breach
j* r c«dent and Congress, but is
^ wuedly « Conservative.
regret it expressed by tbc
the Natiosnl Bxjm and
aJ^ x * Uon Company being necessitated
Kfit-f i^J^’grrment of its cirects for the
!j ”*u»toti Tliis Company lias been
r\*ccuted and its stoppage will lc
^vcrsally deprecated.
Potomac.
WHY THE SOUTH I'noULDAXD WILL
ADOPT THE CONSTITUTIONAL AMEND
MENT—THE NORTHERN ARGUMENT.
Moved thereto by various impulses, certain
lending journals of the North, though wide
asunder as tbc poles in their politicri senti
ments and sympathy generally, have come to
gether on the proposition to moke the adop
tion of the Constitutional Amendment, pass
ed by Congress nt its recent session, tbe great
issue of the day.
The Ilcrald led off in tlic campaign, and
for some days stood almost alone. Its favor,
itc tactics are to anticipate popular opinion
at the North and get into the current
early, thus appearing to lead instead of
being lead. It lias lost the immense patronage
formerly enjoyed at the South and would
punish us for it; hence its advocacy of a
measure which it has denounced systemati
cally for several months past. It never had
any rule of conduct except expediency and
revenge.
The New York Times and Albany Journal
have unchurched themselves with the Repub
licans by sustaining the President and the
Philadelphia Convention. They are both ont
in the cold, and heXico are trying to get up a
party to hover them by making an issue that
has a prospect of uniting a maj jrity of the
Republicans, in which event they will be re
instated in their party relations. They have
both repudiated the Philadelphia platform,
which they were largely instrumental in erect
ing, and are now making war upon the Presi
dent by advocating nn amendment which he
denounced in a special message to Congress
and tbnn which nothing—not even universal
negro suffrage— conkl be more odious to tlie
South. Indeed, our people should vote for
the latter ten times over Before they consent
to infamize themselves by adopting the
amendments referred to. With these papers
then, it is a mere party manoeuvre, intended
to save themselves at tbe North. They know
full well that no such measure could com
mand the support of nny man nt the South
whose nature bad not become thoroughly de
based and brutalized.
But tlic Tribune, under the lead of Greely,
also chimes in and gives the amendments its
earnest support. It sees that the South will
be both emasculated and rendered infamous
by adopting them, nnd tu this extent it will
be a favorite point gained. It is, however,
very far from pledging its party to the admis
sion of the South, even though it should
adopt the amendments. It will be but a step
in that direction, which may or may not
eventuate, after more sacrifices and humilia
tion, in complete restoration.
So much for the motives that influence
these journals, respectively, in tlieir present
efforts to secure the adoption of the constitu
tional amendment. The arguments by which
they urge it upon tlie Southern people are
entirely worthy of the selfish and dishonest
purpose which they have in view. We hope
every Southern man into whose hands this
paper may fall will make it his especial busi
ness to peruse tbe article which we cdpy else
where from the Times of tlie 2GtU ultimo. It
shows what sort of arguments the Northern
people are capable of using among themselves,
and that in shamelessly asserting them on this
occasion, they consider us sunk as low, politi
cally and morally, as themselves.
After reciting the argument based on tlie
unreasonableness of asking the Southern peo
ple to cut their own throats, the Times goes
to work to advance reasons why they should
be willing to do it. It grants tlie real char
acter of tlie demand, and then assigns rea
sons for a compliance tba t might well be
addressed to ingrates and knaves, but can
never be supposed to exert tlie slightest in
fluence over either patriots or gentlemen.
It calls npon us to disfranchise nineteen
out of every twenty decent and respectable
citizens of tlie South and consign their
names to infamy and disgrace, because the
disability may he removed hereafter by two-
thirds of both houses of Congress ? Laying
aside tlie deep and lasting infamy of the trans
action, we must say that while the Southern
people are fond of ventures, they are not
quite fools enough to take such a risk as that.
Another reason why we will adopt tlie
amendment and proscribe our own brethren,
is UBiqne, and could have suggested it
self only to the mind of a miscreant. It says
“Republics are ungrateful,” that “there is
no reason to suppose the South an exception
to the role,” and that “ the Southern people
will gradually neglect or forget their lead
ers,” and-“give them lip rather than remain
out of the Union.” What must be the moral
ense of the creature that is capable of resort
ing to sucli nn argument os this ? How little
lie knows ot the Southern people!
Another reason why wc will submit to this
deep degradation, is of a kind with the fore
going: It says, l»y destroying all the leading
and trusted men of the South, “new men
will conic to tbe surface,” that these are am
bitious, nnd will glory in the opportunity to
rise-thnt the people generally are “anxious to
be relieved from the Frcedmen's Bureau,
and military control,” “ to fill Federal and
State offices again, nnd to thine in tlie great
arena of nntional affairs”—that to obtain
these ends. Hie Southern people will “wil
lingly accept diminished representation and
sacrifice their leaders.”
Can anything be more atrocious in Its con
ception, and more insulting to the people of
the South ? How utterly mean and unprin
cipled they must be themselves, and wliat a
low opinion they must have of «», to delib
erately outrage us with sncli proposals.
So much for the Times—it considers us
knaves and capable of any degree of wick
edness and treachery. The Herald, on tlic
other hand, has a favorite argument,
which it addresses, not to us
but to the President. It considers tbe South
ern people so many conquered and submiss
ive slaves, who hove only to hear the crack ot
their master’s whip to drop into line and
perform any duty that may be required of
them, however revolting to tlieir manhood
and pride. Here is its language:
“A little pressure upon the Ooternors of the
Southern States concerned, like that which
was applied in behalf of tlie constitutional
amendment abolishing slavery, will do tlie j
work in regard to this new amendment.”
Let Southern men read these things and
then determine whether they are the vile serfs
and villains that they are thus represented
to be. We tell tlic unprincipled slanderers
that would thus cover us with reproach, that
the men of the South were bred in a differ
ent school from themselves, and that they
consider tlieir honor worth ten thousand such
Unions as they would have us sacrifice it to
maintain. The North has nothing to grant
that would compensate us for the lore of self-
respect, nnd tlic surrender of all daim to the
respect of mankind.
53?” Gen. Wheeler is going to Houston,
Texas, to live.
From the New York Times.
Tlic Objections to tlic Coriotitntioii-
ul Amendment.
One strong argument, urged for factious
purposes by the Democrats, is that the South
ern States will never accept the third section
of the Constitutional Amendment
This section, it will be remembered, ex
cludes from the Senate or tlic House, or from
any United States or State office, civil or mil
itary, any person who had previously taken
an oath to support the Constitution as a
member of Congress, or an officer of the Uni
ted States, or a member of any State Legis
lature, or as a Judicial rr Executive State of
ficer, and has engaged in or given aid*to the
rebellion. It is urged by Democratic jour
nals that this exclusion will embrace all the
prominent leaders of the South, and that wc
cannot expect of tbe rebel States—indeed,
that it would be the height of baseness—that
they should gain all the benefits of amnesty
and leave their leaders to punishment.
They claim that in the view of the South
all their statesmen and generals and officers
were engaged in a righteous cause which has
been unsuccessful, and that now to deliber
ately abandon these trusted servants after
defeat, to political exile, is what could not be
expected or demanded of the insurgent
States. If this exclusion were a law forced
upon them by their conquerors,it]would be dif
ferent and might be borne, but to enact
it themselves, and to make it a part of the
organic law of the nation, when without
their adoption the amendment might never
be passed, is too much to ask from any pop
ulation. The rebel States, it is said, will stay
out for years rather than accept it, and there
fore, it becomes an impracticable proposition
of sentleincnt.
We admit that there is some force in the
objection; but there arc also very strong
countervailing considerations. It must be
borne in mind that this disability can be re
moved by a two-thirds vote ot each House in
nny individual case, so that persons present
ing themselves from the Insurgent States who
had not been particularly obnoxious in the
rebellion, might be immediately received, even
though they were reached by tbe provisions
of this section.
Then, again, in all probability, a large num
ber ot “ new men ” will no w come to tlie sur
face at tlie South wlio Lave never been in any
Federal or State office, who arc ambitious,
and who will seek office under tbe State or
National Governments. These men will natu
rally seek to win over tlieir communities to
accept tbc Amendment, and, if adopted, they
will be the first to present themselves to Con
gress, or to tlieir own Legislatures.
Republics, too. are ungrateful; the South
ern States will be no exception; they will
gradually neglect or forget their leaders. It
may be that they will see that it was espe
cially the unbridled ambition of a few des
perate and able men wbicb participated war,
and then obstructed peace, and finally over
threw all in a common ruin.
They will hardly be wjlling to sacrifice al
the great advantages of sharing in the Gov
ernment of the country for the sake of these
few leaders. They will prefer to give them
up, or to leave them to take their chance ot ad
mission to Congress, rather than for them
selves to remain “out of the Union,” or under
the direct Government qf Washington.
It is claimed, too, by tbe objectors, that
they will never accept negro suffrage, They
are not obliged to. If they prefer to be rep
resented by fewer members, and to preserve
the ballot tor the white race, they are at lib
erty to do so. But this need not prevent their
acceptance of the Amendment. Without the
additional representation ot the black popu
lation, tliey will still possess the same power
in the Senate as of old and a powerful and
compact body in tbc House. They will still
command a large electoral vote, and they
will be anxious to throw it for the next
President They may, not improbably, hope
to keep tbe negro out for many years if
they desire it, and still wield a powerful in
fluence in national politics—to be increased
bv the creation of new States in Texas. TV e
do not know what there is in this feature of
the Amendment which should prevent the
Southern States from accepting it. Their
people are ambitious. They desire to bo de
livered from military control and frcedmen’s
bureaus, and to fill the Federal and State of
fices again, and shine in the great arena ot
national affairs, and be fully conscious that
they are parts of this great Republic. To
obtain these important ends they may well.be
willing to accept a diminished representation
and nn exclusion of tlieir most obnoxious
leaders. Wc believe they will be so, and
that before the next Presidential election,
possibly within the year, the Amendment may
be a part of the Constitution.
Foreign Demand for Amcrlcnn
Colton.
The most sedulous efforts have been made,
both in this country and in Europe, since the
termination of the late war, to create the
impression that tha production of cotton in
the Eastern Hemisphere had increased to
such an extent within the past five years, that
the great cotton Alamifactnries of Europe
would obtain the most of their supplies of
this article from that quarter, to the exclu
sion of the American product. To expose
tbe fallacy of this supposition, we have sim
ply to refer to official documents. The June
report of the Agricultural Department, as we
learn from a New York paper, draws a com
parison between the nmount of raw cotton
imported from the United States into Great
Britain, during four months of 1865, and the
four corresponding months of the present
rear. It exceeds the quantity imported from
India bv one hundred per cent., and equals
the totals from all other localities. The
amount is cquivelant to 508 C2C bales of four
hundred pounds each.
The report adds tiic remark tliat half a
million of bales in four months, valued at
$70,000,000, would be respectable figures in
the trade with one foreign nation, even for
the palmiest days of cotton shipping
from tbe ports of the United States. Yet
there is every practical reason to believe tliat
this aggregate will be left behind, just in
proportion as we can increase our crops.
This statistical exhibit effectually explodes
the fanciful theory so often put forward by
the enemies of the South, that the quality of
the India staple is equal, if not superior to
that raised in these States.—Sat. Herald.
Ex Exgink on a Teak.—Day before yes
terday the engine Pulaski, used by the Ten
nessee Railroad Company, to carry timber
from the Central depot to the New River
bridge, got on tlie biggest kind of a tear,
the consequences of which might have
proved very serious.• It seems that the engi
neer, Mr. Andrews, was returning from tne
•depot to the bridge with bis engine and
one flat car attached, and something getting
out of order, he stopped the locomotive about
a mile lrom the bridge, and got out on the
track to see what was the matter. While he
was on the ground the locomotive suddenly,
and of its own free will and accord, clapped
on steam, and started rapidly off, Mr. A.,
having no opportunity to get on it before it
was out of reach. The speed of the uncon
trolled iron-horse became accelerated at eve
ry revolution of the wheels, and by the time
it neared the bridge it wasgoinglike a streak
of greased lightning sliding down a harked
sapling. OAe span of the bridge, which was
a temporary one, had been taken out nnd was
being replaced by a permanent structure, and
when the locomotive reached the clinsm it
plunged headlong into the raging waters of
New River, and now lies there a complete
wreck.
There were about thirty workmen engaged
on the bridge nt the time, but most fortunate
ly, they were all nt the further end of the
span, and thus escaped unharmed. Had they
been on the side from which the engine ap
proached, the destruction of life would have
been frightful, as, so great was its speed, it
would have been utterly impossible for them
to have gotten ont of the way.—Lynchburg
Kcics.
Newspaper Change.—We learn from a
notice to the “publick” that Mr. H. Rives
Pollard has sold to Thomas H. Wynne the
Richmond Examiner.
From the N. Y. .ndepf ndent.
WORDS FOR THESE TIMES.
NUMBER 111.
BY LEONARD BACON, D. D.
The Public Faith Pledged to the Becotered
States.
The faith of the United States is plctjgcd
not only to individual citizens who remained
steadfastly loyal in the midst of rebellion,
and to tbe thousands who were once enslaved
who were emancipated by tbe war, but also
to the several States whose governments were
temporarily subverted by treason.
From tlie first act of the rebellion to the
final surrender, it was never admitted, either
by the National Government or by tlie peo-
6 1e, that any State bad seceded from the
nion; for the basis of tbe war on our part
was that the secession of any State is legally and
constitutionally impossible, and that all pre
tended acts or ordinances of secession were
null and void in law. Certain States bad
been seized and occupied by tbe enemy.—
Their legitimate government bad been sub
verted, all their chief officers having become
traitors. They had lost their delegation in
Congress, their Senators and Representatives
having deserted and gone into rebellion; and
while they remained under the power of the
enemy a new election was impossible. But
all the while, it was well understood that,
though the legitimate government in those
States had been overthrown, and though
they were unfortunately not present in Con
gress, the States themselves were still in ex
istence as constituent portions of the Union ;
and that the war was prosecuted for tlie pur
pose of relieving them from the presence of
the enemy, and restoring them to their liber
ty nnd to their participation in the general
government ot the nation.
Such was tbc only fair interpretation of the
manifesto in which Congress, when tbe ene
my’s lines were within sight of the Capitol,
declared the nature of the conflict, and defin
ed the ends for which the war was to be pro
secuted on our part. Not a syllable of that
manifesto implied that any State had com
mitted treason, or had forfeited its rights as
a member of tlie Union. Not a syllable im
plied that the States seized by tbe rebels had
ceased to exist Not a syllable implied that
the war was a war with revolted or seceding
States; or that disorderly States were to be
coerced into obedience by tbe imperial power
of the nation. The conflict was declared to
be not a war between States, but a “ civil
war,” which had been “forced upon the coun
try by the dhunionistsot the Southern States.”
The ends for which the war was to be prose
cuted were precisely defined; first, by dis
avowing “the purpose of conquest or subjuga
tion,” giving assurance to the people within
the lines of the enemy that they should not
be regarded, in any event, as a conquered peo
ple, over whom Congress might exercise the
rights of a conqueror; next, by disavowing
“ the purpose of overthrowing or interfering,
with the rights or established institutions of
those States;” and then by announcing the
positive purpose “ to defend and maintain
the supremacy of tlic Constitution, and all
laws made in pursuance thereof, and to pre
serve the Union, with all tlic dignity, equali
ty and rights of the several States unimpair
ed.” So unequivocally was it assumed tliat
all the States which bad been seized by the
rebel power were still in existence and still
in the Union, and that it was tlio duty of the
National Government to defend them nnd de
liver them.
No distinction is more intelligible than
tliat the government of a State is one thing,
and the State itself another thing. A new
government does not mako a new State.—
The State survives not only the nnnual or
biennial change of administration, but all
changes in the form of its constitution. It
may survive the temporary subversion of its
government. Every functionary of the New
York State government might die in one
day; but tlie State ot New York would not
therefore be dead. Every functionary might,
in time of war with a foreign power, go ovei
to the enemy; but the State would not there
fore be extinguished, or taken out of tLe
Union. TVliat is the State, then, as distin
guished .from its government ? Traitors
who have taken arms against the United
States, are not the State, be they ever so ma
ny, or ever so powerful, for they are the ene
mies of that State, as well as of the nation.
The people who inhabit the territory of a
State, and are neither foreigners nor ene
mies, are the State. The manifesto, then, in
which Congress made solemn declaration to
the world that the war which hod been
forced upon the country was not to be pros
ecuted for the purpose of conquest or subju
gation, was a pledge of the national faith that
.the inhabitants of each Southern State, xot
being foreigners nor enemies, should be rec
ognized at the close of the war not as a con
quered people, nor as inhabitants of conquer
ed territory, but as a State in this Union of
States—a State delivered from usurpers and
oppressors, and retaining its rights and es
tablished institutions. It was a pledgs of
the national faith that success on our put in
the conflict would he the preservation «f the
Union, not under a consolidated government,
with the States, some or all, reduced to the
condition of provinces; but under tie old
National Government, “with all the rfgnity,
equality, and rights of the several Strtcs un
impaired.” TYill anybody deny this! Will
anybody pretend that the nation in its victory
is released from the obligation to keep its
promise) Commercial men can uederstand
tbe shame of repudiating a debt, tan they
not also understand the shame of repudiating
such a promise as this ?
Long before the termination of tie con
flict in arms, it became necessary to define a
method in which distinction should be made
between tbe loyal citizens and rebel enemies
of the United States, in the regions which
had been held by the so-called Confederate
Government, and which were beginring to
be recovered by our armies. Teclnically,
all persons wlio had submitted, cvecreluc
tantly, to the illegitimate and hostile 'overn
ment set up by the leaders of tlie rcbdlion—
all who had continued to reside paccably
within tbe territory held by that govaument
—were enemies of the United StaES, and
were in danger of the penalties of Teason,
as having given nid and comfort to the re
bellion. But the case was one in wlich the
rigorous enforcement of law would be not
only the worst statesmanship, but cxreme in
justice and ctuelty. Summum jus, summa
injuria. Such a method of dcnlingjvitk the
entire people involved in the rebellion would
not only have been contrary to tlie solemn
declaration that the war was not prosecuted
for conquest or subjugation; but, if once
avowed by the government, would lave vir
tually cbnnged the war into 0 war ol exter
mination. Nobody less frantically maignant
than Mr. Tliaddcus Stevens, could liavecnter-
tained the thought. Accoidingly, an >ct of
Congress was passed, authorizing the Presi
dent to proclaim nn amnesty to the rcbeli, on
such conditions, and with such ex<ep-
tions as he should judge necessary —
President Lincoln’s proclamation, issisd
in conformity with that act if
Congress, offered to nearly all persons impl-
enteu in the rebellion a full pardon on verj
liberal conditions. Every man desiring to be
a loyal citizen was required to take aud sub
scribe an oath of fidelity to the Constitution
and laws of the United States, and of submis
sion to the fact that the slaves within the
lines of the rebellion had been emancipated
by the war; and his subscription was to be
“registered for permanent preservation.”—
Certain classes of persons were excepted from
the amnesty: namely, all who are or shall
have been civil or diplomatic officers or agents
ot the so-called Confederate Government, all
who liaTe left judicial stations under the Uni
ted States to aid the rebellion; all who are
or shall have been military or naval officers
of said so called Confederate Government,
above tlie rank of colonel in the army or lieu
tenant in the navy; all who left scats in the
United States Congress to aid the rebellion;
all who resigned commissions in the army or
navy ot the United States, and afterward aid
ed the rebellion j and all who have engaged
in any way in treating colored persons, or
white persons in charge of such, otherwise
than lawfully as prisoners of war, nnd which
persons may have been found in the
United States service as soldiers or
seamen, or in nny other capacity. All these
classes together could have included only a
few thousands from among the millions tliat
were implicated in tlie rebellion. To all oth
ers a full pardon was offered on the easy con
ditions just described.
When Mr. Johnson became President, he
issued another proclamation, renewing the
offer ot pardon on the same conditions, bit
largely increasing the number of exceptions.
To the six classes excluded from President
Lincoln’s offer of pardon, President Johnson
added eight more, some of them more numer
ous than all the exceptions of the original
proclamation. He had, as President, the
right to make those additional exceptions.—
Indeed, he might have lawfully revoked the
entire offer, so far as those persons were con
cerned who had not already put themselves
on record as having taken and subscribed the
required oath. But to all who had accepted
President Lincoln’s offer, and to all who
should thereafter accept it on the invitation
of his successor, the taith of the nation was
pledged. So long as they should keep that
oath they were to be recognized ns the loyal
people in their respective States.
Such was the method which the nation,
by its constituted authorities, prescribed for
ascertaining the loyal people in the several
States which had been seized and held by
the enemy. The public faith had been pledged
to thosesere^il States that, upon the overthrow
of the rebel power, their territory shbuld not be
held as conquered territory, and that they, the
States, should not be regarded as having lost
their places in the Union, or their rights under
the Constitution: and in order to redeem that
pledge, it had become necessary to distin
guish in each State bet ween those who should
be regarded as cnemie.i of the United States
and responsible for tiie rebellion and those
who might be recognized as constituting the
recovered State. In other words, there must
be an amnesty with exceptions. Among
those who were not excepted from the offer
ed amnesty, the loyal people, including all
who were willing to abide by tbe results of
the war, were to be identified by means of a
test oath, and were to receive a full restora
tion of tlieir rights as citizens. The oath tak
en, subscribed, rogistered, and thenceforth not
broken, is the proof of loyalty. The loyal
people in each of those State, respectively,
are the State, and the amnestied people are
the loyal people. It is too late now for the
Government to make any distinction of loyal
and disloyal among those who have availed
themselves of the amnesty, and who cannot
be convicted of violating the oath they have
taken.
Doubtless the loyalty of amnestied rebels
in those recovered States is far from being
that fervid patriotism which we in this part
of the country have been wont to designate
by that name. Doubtless tbe senators nnd
representatives from those States, elected by
such constituencies, will be not very much
better, if admitted to tlieir places in Congress,
than the average of Southern members in
former times. Many, no doubt—probably
tlie majority—of those pardoned rebels, still
bdieve that tlieir “lost cause” was tbc. right-
e*us cause, that the secession was valid and
justifiable, and that tlieir neighbors who re
fused to join them in the war against the
Constitution were the only traitors. But we
tiust not forget that, so long as an amnes
tied rebel cannot be convicted ot some overt
ret in violation of hisoatli, lie is loyal before
the law, and has all tbe lights belonging to
loyal citizens, whatever his opinions on con
stitutional or historical questions, and liow-
tver extravagant or disgusting the language
in which he expresses them. ,
nc was in law a rebel enemy of tbe United
States; but Laving been pardoned, without
any change of heart and mind, he is now
only a sympathizer with the late rebellion,
or wliat our Northern people call a Copper
head, having the same rights with Northern
Copperheads. That class of citizens at the
North are no better—politically, morally, or
religiously—than the same class at the South
—and I am sure that they will not be dis
pleased by my saying so ; but they are not
recorded in law as enemies of the country or
as aliens; they have the right to vote and
to be voted for, nnd if any of them get votes
enough to put them into Congress, and can
take the oaths required by law, there is no
legitimate method of keeping them out.
The reader will observe that nothing has
been said as yet about the reconstruction oi
government in a disorganized state, and the
way in which the reconstructed government
is to be authoritatively ascertained and rec
ognized. Next week that part of the subject
may come up for consideration. At present,
it may be enough to say that, if any one of
the recovered States is in fact reorganized—
its elective constituencies being loyal citizens
of the United States, and not nnpardoned
rebels and enemies—the faith of the nation is
pledged to that State; and, however conve
nient of expedient it may seem to violate the
public faith in such a case, the shame and tlie
peril of renouncing or disregarding a sacred
engagement because it proves to be less ad
vantageous than it was expected to be are
more to be dreaded than nny troubles or dan-
f ers involved in the promise. Here is what
as been the chief strength of President
Johnson’s position in his conflict with
Congress. Thousands of fair-minded and
patriotic men have thought that he was only
intending to do his part toward performing
the engagement of the nation to the recov
ered States. If what he calls his policy were
this, and nothing else, and if the policy of
Congress were founded on Gen. Butler’s doc
trine, that those States are “conquered pro
vinces,” and that the people there are “in the
position of a conquered people, subject to the
disposal of their conquerors—all property
forfeited, all rights forfeited,” the President
would have on his side whatever force there
is in the principle of fidelity to sacred engage
ments, and Congress would be palpably in
the wrong. Thoso who desire to defeat 3Ir.
Johnson in thisconflict must take care not to
give him nny such advantage.
Connecticut, Sept. Cth, 1866.
THE “ FINNTGIX ” VOTE. to"ram, kilogram, and myriajjram; and in
the descending scale, decigram, centigram,
Respectfully Dedicated to all thoie “Finnigins’’ milligram.
Who have taken such a suddeu liking lor the In this brief Space, you behold the
wily “Rads.” * whole metric system of weights and meos-
urea. What a contract to the nnterior con-
BY JAMES L. ROCIIE.
The country is changed for the betther of late:
There’s love, only love, where there was only
hate, .
And thoso who while living his band would not
shake, . .
When “Finnigan’s" dead, they would die for
his sake.
But while they ars praising your “rich Irish
brogue,”
Tho truest among them at heart is a rogue,
Who changes his creed as he changes his coat—
To blarney you out of the “ Finnigin vote.”
It is mighty quare in these quarest of times
.That those who accused you of all sorts of crimes,
And thrated you always the same as a baste,
Should take such a liking to you in a haste.
But, Paddy, asthore! they hate you and your
cause
As much as they hate those “neutrality laws;”
And every oneot them would cut your throat
The same day you gave them the “Finnigin
vote.”
While Ireland complained during the ages of
wrong, ’ ,
Where were all those champions of freedom so
long?
While even her tyrants were moved by her fate.
Who are those she lists, for the first time so late?
Och! Paddy, avick, they ‘are kDaves in disguise,
Whose aim is to draw the wool over your eyes;
The speeches they make, and the speeches they
quote,
Are baited all through for the “ Finnigin vote. 1
When “rads” take the chair in your Finnigin
halls,
And dance at your picnics, and waits at your
balls.
It is not for loro for poor Rridget or Pat,
The haughty old rads condescend to do that
Faith, they have some raison more potent to
move
Those kindly attentions to Patrick than love!
For, merry or sad, by their looks you can note,
That they have • their eyes on the " Finnigin
vote.” *
•
In famine’s darkest days, when poor Ireland
asked bread,
What was it her friends and her foes did and
said?
Who was it sent ship loads of food 4o her then?
And who, on to-morrow, would do it again ?
It was not the Greeley’s, tho Boutwell’s, or
Banks’, 1
Or any of those in the “ radical ” ranks—
Oh,’no, for unheard was each prayer sho wrote,
By those who now bid for the “ Finnigin vote.”
From the New York Tribune.
The Metric System.
Since the Tower of Babel was thrown
down, and mankind punished fer its pre
sumption by confusion of races and tongues,
scattered humanity has unconsciously but
steadily striven to reunite. Innumerable dia
lects hare been absorbed into each other,
and coalesced into languages, though nearly
four thousand dialects still exist. The En
glish language, which a few hundred years
ago, scarcely existed in a little island, is now
spoken in every quarter of the globe. This
simplifying process is the result of as
similation, for the English is a composite lan
guage, not of tlie extension of any single
tongne. Of the original languages of Eu
rope few are now known to the world—the
very name of the Janzygian is scarcely
known out of Liburnia. Steadily, century
after century, men have been learning t<^
speak alike; and though there may never be
a universal language, certain universal prin
ciples are destined to destroy the unmeaning
Babel of tongues which has retarded tlie civ
ilization of the earth. In every way civiliza
tion tends to rear universal customs, privileges
and laws. Modern science, comprehending
this tendency, endeavors to assist it. Tho
metric system is one of the latest attempts
to create a permanent standard tor all na
tions ; and as it is destined to be adopted in
the United States, we shall explain it to our
readers,
The present system of weights and meas
ures i9 based upon no principle. It is empir
ical and traditionary, and therefore confused
and uncertain. Every child has trouble to
master it, and few men understand any part
of it, except that they may use in business.—
The English foot is a measure founded on the
average length of the human foot, and so with
the span, the hand, and the nail. Three bar
leycorns make an inch, these barleycorns be
ing supposed to be healthy grains taken from
the middle of the ear. The unit of weight is
in like manner a grain of wheat. Different
kinds of weight, Troy weight and avoirdu
pois weight, add to the difficulty of master
ing these accidental standards. In short, this
system of weights and measures is unknown
in other countries, and is not easily under
stood in our own. It does not correspond
.with our civilization; and the French system,
the universal system, should replace it.* The
IIow Rniii is Formed.
The following short explanation will show
the philosophy of what within the past seven
days has been the most common “local” qo
metric system was proposed at Paris, in 1790, curence.
Tiie Equinoxes.—It is a.well-known fact
that both tlic autumnal and vernal equinoxes
arc distinguished throughout the world by
the storms which prevail about the time of
their occurrence. The origin of these atmos
pheric commotions has never been satisfacto
rily explained, but are generally supposed to
he the result of the united tidal action of the
snn nnd moon upon the atmosphere, an action
which at the time of the equinoxes ia exerted
with greater force than at nriy other period
of the year. It may not be uninteresting to
the general reader to know that the equinoxes
arc the points in the ecliptic at which it is in
tersected by the cquinoctional line, and are
so called because at the time the sun appa
rently passes this point it is equidistant from
all points in equal latitudes on both sides of
tho equator, and consequently makes the
days and nights equnf all over the worltL—
The equinoxes occur about tbe 21st of March
and September, respectively, the difference of
timo In different years arising from the differ
ence between the conventional and the true
or solar year. After the autumnal equinox
tho sun has passed 1 tsytke south side of the
equntor, and continuer to recede from us un
til it reaches the tropfc'ol Capricorn, 23 deg.
south, on the 22d ot December, at which
time the northern days are at their shortest.
Tor the Inst six months-people in this lati-
ttde have been getting mere than their equal
share of the sun's light and 1 heat; for the next
six months the same advantage will be on the
side of the inhabitants of the southern half
of the globe.—Sun.
l3PThe arrival of a few soldiers in Wash
ington has been exploited as a first-class sen
sation, by some of the special correspondents,
who talk about the concentration ofan army
of 23,000 at the capital. The whole number
now there, and ordered there, it is stated will
not exceed the usual assignment to-th6 head
quarters of a department.
J3?” The harbor of Galveston, Texas, is
fast closing up with sand. Light draft ves
sels now ground in the channel where the
water was formerly twenty feet deep.
and the idea was to measure an arc of the
earth’s meridian, and subdivide it till a new
unit was reached. This work was done; and
—though the measurement is said to have
been incorrect, by some hundreds of yardi
the result is sufficient for all practical purpo
ses. The meter, which is the universal unit,
is one ten-millionth part of the distance from
the equator to the poles, or 39.37 inches in
length. The application of the decimal scale
to this standard results in a system of unpre
cedented regularity and clearness. It is now
used in all business transactions in France,
and has been adopted by most of the Euro
pean countries. In 1864, Qreac Britain passed
an act authorizing the use of the system: nnd
Congress, July 27, passed a bill which, though
it does not make the system compulsory, es
tablishes it as legal. The standard weights
nnd measures are to be furnished to ^ach
State, nnd our postal system is partially ac
commodated to the new system. It is thus
fairly before the country.
To Mr. Sumner’s exertions in the Senate,
the passage of this bill this session is du£,
and his clear exposition of the system may
be quoted. The unit of length we have giv
en is the foundation of the system, and from
it all measures of weight and capacity arc
derived. ' These are stated thus by Mr. Sum
ner :
The unit of measures of surface, or lalltl
measures is the are, from the Latin word
area, and is the square of ten meters, or, in
other words, a square ot which each side is
ten meters in length.
The unit of solid measure is the *fere,from
Greek, and is tho cubic of a metre, or in oth
er words, a-solid mass, one meter in length.
The unit of liquid measure is the liter,
from tbe Greek, and is the cube of the tenth
part of the meter, which is the dicemetcr, or,
in other words, it is a vessel, where, by inte
rior measurement, each side and the bottom
arc square dicemcters.
The unit of weight is the gram, also deriv
ed from the Greek, and is the one thousandth
part of the weight of a cubic liter, of distill
ed water—this beiig just above the freezing
point.
Such- arc the main elements of the metric
system. Brrt each of these has its multiple
and its subdivisions. It is multiplied deci
mally upwards 1 and divided decimally down
ward. The multiples are derived from the
Greek. Thus, deed,- ten ;• heclo, hundred ; kilo
thousand; my via, ten thbitsand, prefixed to
meters, signify ten meters, one hundred me
ters, one thousand meters -and ten thousand
The subdivisions are derived from
tusion ! A boy at school can m.lster the me
tric system in an afternoon. Months, if not
years, are required to store away the perplex
ities, ^incongruities and inconsistencies ot the
existing weights ;i u,i m -a.-ures: and then
memory must often fail in reproducing them.
Tlie mystery of compound arithmetic is es
sential in the calculations which they require.
All this is done away by tiie decimal progres
sion, so that the first four rules of arithme
tic are ample for the pupil.
Tfre present system has but one advantage
—it is established. To tbe metric system
there is but one objection- it is not in use.
But it is not an experiment In France it is
popular, and in tho markets an stores, meat
and cloth are sold by the meter and kilo
gram. Once understood, it will be every
where used; and its adoption by Austria,
Spain, Portugal, Belgium, and many other
countries, is another reason for its adoption
in the United States. We cannot cling to
the old confusion, while other nations aban
don it Our commercial relations with En
gland would alone require that this country
should at once join with her in tho reform.
Mr. Sumner well says: “If we look closely at
the metric system, wc must confess its sim
plicity and symmetry. Like every creation
of -science, it is according to rule. Master
tho role, and you master the system. It may
bo acquired by the young with comparative
facility, and when once acquired, it may be
used with despatch. Thus it becomes labor-
saving and time-saving.”
Tlic standard meter, copied from the bar
of platinum preserved iu tbe French arch
ives as tho perpetual standard, will. soon be
deposited with ovary Sate. We Urge upon .
tho Directors of Public Schools the^impor-
tancc of having the metric system explained
to the children. Let it henceforth be a part
ot a common school education. Its use is
imposed upon no one by law, but hercaffcr its
use will be cumpulsory lrom tho fact that
very few people will understand the present
arrangements of barleycorns and penny
weights. A universal system of weights and -
measures, is at last possible; and we have •
reason to look to the French Exposition for
a common system of money. Thus, one by
one, the bars of commerce, the obstacles to
civilization, are removed, and the confusion
of Babel is banished by (he intelligent co
operation of nations.
Conflict of Authority in Florida.
I Tlic Tallahassee Sentinel, of the 27th inst.,
contains a lengthy correspondence between
the Mayor of that city and Major-General
Foster, upon the question of military and
civil jurisdiction in certain cases—the former
asserting the supremacy of civil law under
the late proclamation ot the President, and
the latter taking the contrary position, upon
the assumption that martial law is still su
preme in that State.
It appears that several arrests were lately
made by the police of Tallahassee, and fines
imposed upon officers and enlisted men of
the United States army, for alleged offences.
General Foster protested against the proceed -
ceeding, and requested the Mayor to instruct
tlie police to take the names of any offending
officer or soldier and forward the same to his
headquarters, when the matter would be in
vestigated, aud if guilty the offenders would
be punished. This the’Mayor declined to do,
upon the ground that martial law had been
abrogated by tbe proclamation of the Presi
dent, and all offences against the laws of the
State fell properly under ftic judicial notice of
the State tribunals.
Gen. Foster, iu his rejoinder to the em
phatic refusal of the Mayor to comply with
lis request, says:
“ I am compelled to call your attention to
the fact that'inilitary law is still supreme in
this State, and I hereby forbid you to arrest,
hereafter, any officer, enlisted man, or em
ploye of any of the departments of the Uni
ted States army while in the discharge of liis
official duties; but request that you will send
me the name of any of them, against whom
complaint is made, tor my investigation and
award of punishment.”
The Mayor replies again, and tells the
General that lio cannot revive martial law
without denying the authority of the Presi
dent to proclaim tlie restoration of peace and
civil law, and that inasmuch as Gen. Fester
had seriously impeded the course of public
justice he (the Mayor) would take the earliest
opportunity of arraigning him baforc the
civil tribunals ot the State. Here the matter
rests.
1. Were the atmosphere, everywhere, at all
times, at a uniform temperature, we should
never have rain, or hail, or snow. The tvater
absorbed by its evaporation from tlie sea and
the earth’s surface, would descend in an im
perceptible vapor, or cease to be absorbed by
the air when once fully saturated.
2. The absorbing power of the atmosphere
and consequently its capability to retain hu
midity, is proportionally greater in cold than
in warm weather.
3. The air near the surface of the earth, is
warmer than in the region of the clouds.—
The higher wc ascend from' the earth, the
colder do we find tbe atmosphere. Hence
tbc perpetual snow on the very high moun
tains in the hottest climates.* Now, when
from continual evaporation the air is highly
saturated with vapor, though if it be invisi
ble and the sky cloudless, if its temperature
is suddenly reduced by cold currents of air
rushing from a higher to a lower latitude,
its capacity to retain moisture is diminished,
clouds arc formed, and the result is rain.—
Air condenses as it cools, and like a sponge
filled with water and compressed, pours out
the water which its diminished capacity can
not contain.
Good Habits of the Jews.—It is a sub
ject of remark in London that the Jewish in
habitants of tlic East-end have escaped al
most unscathed during the prevalence of
cholera in that quarter. Only three or four
cases of cholera have taken place, nnd the
cases of diarrhoea have hardly exceeded those
of an ordinary summer. A similar excep
tion was observed in 1849, when the Hebrew
community only lost about one in 2,000, as
compared with six in 1,000 of the general
population of the infected districts. 3 Then,
as now, the immunity was ascribed to cer
tain observances nnd habits inculcated by tlie
Jewish faith. For example, the houses of all
Jews undergo a thorough cleansing once a
year, and every room is'lime-whited at least
as often; more than one family never occupy
the same room, (two or three or more families
sometime' occupy a single room among the
lower orders of the surrounding population);
considerable care is taken with respect to the
qnalify of the food used, minted provisions
being proscribed, and all fie si 1 meat being in
spected by a religious officer before being con
sumed; nnd, finally,- the poorer members of
tlic community are libenflly cared for through
the benevolence of the rich, applications for
workhouse relief not being allowed.
[JV1 T. World.
meters.
the Latin. Thus, deci, ccnt’i -muli, nrefixed to I T „ • TT
meter, signify one-tentli, one hundredth and!, JoI,x ‘-FRRATr. Hon. George S. Bontwell
one-thousandth of a meteri All this will up. fly* week addressed the citizens of Marlboro,
pear iu the following table:
Massachusetts, aDd in the course of his re‘-
| marks stated that John Surratt, who was j m .
Equivaii-m <a oaomiiiaiioa I plicated iu the assassination of Mr Lincoln*
VSiSiuB? S *V“ I*P»nme«t», anil was known lo many
Metric denominations
and values.
Kilometer, 1,000 meters,
Hectometer, 100 meters
Decameter, 10 meter;
Meter, 1 meter,
Decimeter 1-10 of a meter,
Centimeter 1-100 of a meter,
Milimeter, 1*1000 of a meter,
, 1 ^’ n - officers ot the Government.
328 ft. 1 in. ...
.3.1.5., ‘ nclles - To Hire.—Our readers hav<
39.37 inches.
3.937 inches)
.3937 inches.-
.0394 inches.
t been advised
of the indictment and conviction of Elihu
Toland, formerly of Edgfield. S. C , for |,ig.
amy,- in Florida. He was fined $1000 and
costs. The Sheriff of Gadsden countv, Fla.
The same prefixes may he applied in as- gave notice that on the 22d he would hire
cending and descending scales to the are, the Elihu Toland to any person or persons who
liter and th* gram. Thus, for example, we | will take him for the shortest period of time
have in the ascending scale, decagram, hec- and pay fine and costs amounting to $1 i2g'