Newspaper Page Text
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The Greoi'^ia "Weekily Telegraph.
the telegraph.
18C9.
'^q^ FEIDAY, JANUARY 22,
— Board orEdncation.
Tbt- Board of Education for the county of
bb jjjgt in the Ordinary’s office yesterday at 3
• loci: in the afternoon. Some fifteen applica-
C ‘ were recived for license to instruct poor
^IdJJrea, and after scrutinizing and hearing their
l Iications, on motion the board adjourned to
jlonday evening, 18th, at 3 o’clock, at the same
l IflCO.
The Atlanta Railway Convention.
The Athens Banner says the Convention of
Railroad officials which met a few days since in
Atlanta did much good for the cause of immigra
tion in Georgia. Tbo Constitutionalist leams
that the convention resolved to reduce tho faro
for all person® coming South to prospect or ex
amine our country to the reasonable sum of two
cats a mile, and all immigrants are allowed to
travel for one cent per mile. If this bo true, a
powerful impetus has been given this work,
jnd we may expect at no distant day to Teap the
rewards which must follow in its pathway. One
preatobjection urged by immigrants to coming
South was the high price of transportion. Now
that ceases to exist, and we, with our splendid
I resources and attractive climate, remunerating
i soil and natural advantages, most attract a large
nmnberof those who now seek the distant West
jf they are good, substantial men, with
them will come for Georgia a day of prosperity
brighter and longer and more cheering than any
rre have ever known. Let the efforts be con
firmed: let every man but do his part, and we
b»ve no fear but that Georgia will surpass her-
jelf. even as tho Empire State of the South.
Griffin and North Alabama Railroad.
Commenting upon this enterprise, the Newnan
Herald of the 15th says “ we have been placed
in possession of other facts, to which we will not
now give publicity, but we are satisfied that the
.umoimcement that over half a million of dollars
C in be easily and readily secured to aid the con
struction of the road, is no humbug. Our citi
zens have been deceived with flattering promises
of money so often, that they are loth to believe
encouraging news. They are not blameable for
this—especially if the promises given were those
of some New York company. In this instance,
neither New York men nor New York companies
«e concerned. Although we do not give the
names of those proposing to furnish the money,
ntilL we say, in onr opinion, they are perfectly
reliable; and in this belief, we apprehend, the
reader would concur, if properly informed. At
tend tho meeting next Saturday, and you will
hear'more about it.
Collecting to Some Purpose.—One of our
traveling and collecting agents started out the
other day, on a collecting tour, and collected a
young lady, giving a receipt therefor to the par
son. He forwarded to the cashier of the office
an account current, showing date and particu
lars of the transaction, which was received yes
terday. The necessary entries were made, but
subsequently the paper was mislaid, and incon-
aequence, we shall be unable to publish the
wedding until we get another copy. N. B. P. S.
Enreka—it is fonnd—and reads as follows:
Married, at the residence of the bride’s father, in
Taltwt countv, on the 14th instant, by the Rev. T.
A. Brown. Mr. War. J. i. Smith, late of Oglethorpe,
Ga. to Miss Nannie E. McCrary, of Tabot county.
The Track Farms of Norfolk.
The Norfolk Journal has received, from
official sources, the following estimate of the
shipments of garden produce from Norfolk to
Northern markets during the past year: 1,000,-
000 baskets strawberries; 50,000 barrels pota
toes: 40,000 barrels poas; 10,000 barrels snaps;
G50.000 heads cabbage; 20,000 barrels cucum
bers: 100,000 boxes tomatoes; 5000 barrels
squashes; 2000 barrels beets; 40,000 bunches
radishes; 100,000 cahtclopes; 50,000 watermel
ons. The estimated value received for the
above is $1,043,200. This calculation, it will
be observed, does not include what has been re
ceived from tho sale of apples, pears, plums,
cherries, etc., which would probably amount to
$2.1,000 more.
Paraguay.—The news from the heroic little
republic of Paraguay is bad enough. According
to Itio Janeiro dispatches, the allied army
stormed and captured Villetta, and utterly de
feated Lopez, who made his escape with only
two hundred men. We will not believe tho latter
portion of this until further advices. If it is
tme, however, the war maybe considered as
virtually over and the weak little State crushed
by its more powerful neighbors.
Unman nature naturally sympathizes with the
veak in a fight with the strong; and, hence,
»majority of the world wanted Paraguay to
(’>me out victorious in its war with Brazil. Bat
Lopez has made a heroic fight—successfully de
fending his country for three years against ar
mies many times larger than any he could bring
into the field. We hope he still has onongh men
to continue the contest.
Sugar Crop of Lonisfana.
Tbo sugar crop of Louisiana for last year, is
estimated at 125,000 hogsheads of sugar and
100.000 barrels of molasses, worth at current
prices over $20,000j000, against 33,000hogsheads
of sugar last year, and the same proportion of
molasses; or, in round figures, a total of hot
one-third of the production this season. Next
Jew it is said that 250,000 hogsheads of sugar
lie produced, because the planters generally
,a Wisiana are retaining a large portion of
’Arcane for seed. In some instances the en-
i* r * crop 0 { plantations has been reserved for
thispotpose.
First bale over the Macon and Brunswick
‘AUboada bale of cotton has been received
l >rr -2sivick by the Macon and Brunswick Bail-
‘ oa< L The Banner notes the event.
Tail oakg from little acorns grow.
•'widsktox ire Gulf Boad.—The Savannah
' vertis er of Thursday says, about forty min-
' s« o’clock yesterday morning, the
uox j express passenger train on the Gulf Boad
•^ lI rith an accident about two miles this side
_' ,3: '° n No. 2, and in consequence no trains
fa »We to pass up or down tho road yester-
^e train at the time the accident occurred
over a dilapidated portion of the
. - before it could be stopped ran into a
“1'irt. Five carg wefg more or jggg badly
but no lives were lost. A portion of
"° r k * n Fbo culvert is broken down
~ ‘ e ^"ofiway blocked in such a manner as to
6vt at the passage of a train. A sufficient
‘ WCt - with
Prophesies of General Frank Blair.
General Blair, according to a Herald Bohe
mian, has been ventlllating his opinions upon
the incoming administration and the general
downward tendency of political affairs in'Amer
ica, which will ever tuate in absolutism and a
dictatorship. General Blair is a shrewd obser
ver and a man of far more than ordinary intel
lectual force; but his prophetic ken is some-
times at fault, as we all have good reason to know,
The Herald represents General Blair discours
ing as follows
“No man i3 more folly aware of the great danger
that menaces the country through the Radical doc
trine of immediate and perfect equality between the
negroes and the whites than General Grant. The
conviction is, therefore, unavoidable that some ex
traordinarily powerful temptation is leading Grant
on to a fixed goal, to reach tho which principles of a
life-time will be sacrificed.
_ “The maimer in which the existing political prin
ciples will overthrow our present form of govern
ment, tho General thinks it is now clearly foreshad
owed. A minority roles the country, and. as in all
cases where a minority controls, tho equilibrium is
preserved by militaiy authority. If all the whites
in the country had the right of suffrage, the case
would be far different, but they have not. A large
portion are kept down by tho bayonet. If the ques
tion of negro suffrage, pure and simple, were sub
mitted for the acceptance or rejection of the loyal
States, the pernicious dogma would be overwhelm
ingly repudiated. Bnt tho dominant party is
pledged to confer tho elective franchise upon the
negroes of every State, and it will be done.
“The character of tho carpet-baggers who now
misrepresent the newly reconstructed States in Con
gress is a fair indication of what a depth of degrada
tion the ballot-box has reached through the Radical
policy; and when tho negroes of the whole country
vote, the character of the officers elected will be
below the moral and intellectual standard of those
now administering the government.
“Then the needs of tho nation will be neglected
or badly attended to, Taxation will be rather in
creased than diminished. Plundering the public
treasuiy will become respectable. Anarchy and mis
rule will flourish triumphant; and no better results
than these can be expected from so fearful a vitia
tion of tho corner-stone of republicanism—tho bal
lot-box.
“When these calamities fall upon us, said the
General,—and the day does not seem far distant—
the people will be prepared for almost any change,
for no chango could be for the worse. Then they
will call upon Grant to release them from their in
tolerable burdens. They will say, ‘Let ns have a
dictator, along, on emperor,but ‘let us have peace!’
Give ns any form of government, only rid us of the
horrible incubus that is dragging us to destruction.”
It may be said that the people will not permit
such a revolution. But they will. They have en
dured calmly a revolution almost as great already
within tho last few years. The political chango that
has taken place in Spain is not so thorough as that
which has occurred in our own country. They have
deposed a corrupt sovereign, but thoy accept anoth
er in the hope that the government will be more
perfectly administered. They have simply effected
a chango of sovereigns. We have submitted to a
radical change of republican principles.
“One branch of the Government has usurped all
powere, and the people bear it; thoy have so legis
lated that there is not a thread or fibre of the Con
stitution that has not been snapped or strained, and
tho people bear it; they have unlawfully abridged
tho Presidential prerogatives, and the people bear it;
they have overawed and silenced the voice of the
Supreme Court, and the people bear it; the Govern
ment is being robbed and plundered of hundreds of
millions annually, and the people bear all.
“When the straw falls that is to break the cam
el’s back, the people will have to bear it, for how
small soever the ruling minority may be, tho strength
of tho military principle of the Government will
then be irresistible.
“I trust that my fears may not be well founded.
I hope that Gen. Grant may turn out to be as wise,
as incorruptible, as faithful, as patriotic, and as
trustworthy, os bis friends fondly believe him to be:
but I must confess that my confidence in his disin
terested patriotism and his modest shrinking from
the exercise of unlimited power is not as firm as I
could wish.”
The fact is, the people of America will as soon
clamor for the itch, small-pox or cholera, as a
king, emperor or dictator, eo nomine. Absolu
tism, by that name, will have as little toleration
as African slavery, and wo are just as particular
about names as wo are careless about things.
Hence we shall go ’on indefinitely with a Presi
dent and a Congress—State governments and
universal Bcpnblicanism, which, (the Constitu
tion being practically abrogated,) may mean any
thing or nothing, according to circumstances and
public exigencies. •
For example, tho Presidency in tho hands of
Mr. Johnson is a dumb show. It means nothing
at all; but in the hands of Gen. Grant, before
he gets through with it, it will be the General-
in-chief at the head of his army. Congress, ac
cording to the Constitution, is one of three co
ordinate departments of the Government, and
during the next administration, will probably
subside into a scape-valve for blowing off party
8team, with a caliope attachment to play such
tunes as the Executive may call for.
We shall, therefore, have in a short time a
perfect recitation in the essential character of
the government without a single change in
name; and why then should the people clamor
for dictator, King or Emperor when thoy hate
the name, and will yet have the strongest de
velopment of the thing itself—a ruler with few
or none of those stern checks of law or precedent,
which interpose the most insurmountable lim
itations to European absolutists?
The real necessities of the country will be met
without any violation of its tastes and prejudices.
The people want repose. They are tired of
everlasting agitation. They are disgusted with
the tyrannies and inanities of Congress—its
blatant, sloppy, effervescent and overflowing
rhetorio—its indifference to tho practical welfare
of the country—its crude fanaticism, bigotry and
intolerance—its extravagance and recklessness—
its utter impracticability in evexy shape and
form. In short, they see that there cannot well
be a worse government than that of a Supreme
Congress ; and since they cannot hope for the
restoration and supremacy of the Constitution,
all parties will hail Executive Supremacy with
delight. It will at least put ns under the control
of one sensible mind, holding a direct personal
responsibility to the people, and an undivided
accountability.
The next contest between the governmental
departments will, therefore, as we judge, end in
precisely reversing the present condition, and
Congress will probably fall as far below the true
constitutional measure of its powers and influ
ence in tho government os it is now above tt.
This result must be vastly facilitated and as
sured by its own voluntary self-debasement and
self-degradation, in incoiporating within itself
so large a proportion of bastard Representatives
and Senators—mere adventurers, without moral
or intellectual weight or the smallest claim, in
sound lawor morals, to tho position they occupy.
The intelligence of tho nation revolts at the
spectacle and will mentally challenge the legal
ity and justice of every decision of those bodies;
and particularly so, if any of those decisions
should be obnoxious to popular censure.
No branch of government can voluntarily de
base itself, and still hope to retain popular re
spect and prestige. The Justiciary of England,
in the hands of Scroggs, and Parliament, rep
resented by “the Bump,” are infamous and ri
diculous to this day. Never again, until Con
gress mu regain its moral and intellectual pow
er and prestige—until new Clays, Wcbstere,
Calhouns, Bentons, Casses, and so forth, shall
reinspiro a popular reverence, or Executive tyr
anny shall invest it with the sacred character of have ratified the Constitution submitted to them un-
. , Av,. n
the champion of popular rights arid Constitu
tional liberty, will Congress regain its old posi- I
t the necessary material, was sent out
- **-tiday afternoon, audit was thought that the i ,. . , , .
’"Rage emu ,1117 . ., “. . faon in tho American system.
lV p- nonjit all bo repaired by this morning,
' a <be trains will again commence running-
GOVERNORS MESSAGE.
Executive Department, \
Atlanta,’GA.; January 13, 1869. )
To the Senate and Some of Representatives j-
Upon the assembling of Congress on the 7th
of December last, being the earliest opportuni-:
ty afforded for the purpose, the following com
munication was presented to that body :
“To the Congress of the United States :
“ Having, as Provisional Governor elect, under
the Reconstruction Acts, been authorized—by “ An
Act to admit tho States of - North Carolina, South
Carolina, Louisiana, Georgia, Alabama and Florida
to representation in Congress,” which act became a
law. Juno 25,1868, to convene the Provisional Legis
lature of Georgia; and having by proclamation, un
der date, June 25,1868, actea.upon that authority,
and having, on the 4th day of July, 1868, been ap
pointed Provisional Governor of Geoigia, by Major
General George G. Meade, commanding the Third
Military District, under and by virtue of the power
vested in him by the Reconstruction Acts, I deem
it my official duty to represent to your honorable
body that the lawB under which the State of Geoigia
was to have been admitted to representation in Con
gress have not been fully executed: and to present
for your consideration the reasons which lead me to
this conclusion.
“ Ry section VI of»An Act for the more efficient
government of the rebel States,’ among which States
is enumerated the State of Geoigia, it is provided
that ‘ until the people of said rebellious States shall
be bylaw admitted to representation in Congress,
any civil government which may exist therein shall
be deemed provisional only.’ The government of
the State has, therefore, been, and must continue
to be, provisional, until the conditions required by
the act, which became a law Juno 25, 1868, shall
have been complied with by a Legislature organized
in accordance with the Reconstruction Acts previ
ously adopted.
“ Ry section IX of the supplementary Reconstruc
tion Act, passed July ID, 1807, it is required that ‘all
persons hereafter elected * * to office in said
Militaiy District * * * shall be required to
take and subscribe the oath prescribed by law for
officers of the United States.’
“The Government having been Provisional at the
time of the assembling of the Legislature referred
to, the law, therefore, required that such persons
only as were eligible under the Reconstruction Acts,
should be permitted to participate in the necessary
provisional legislation precedent to recognition as a
State. Tho fact, however, ib that all the candidates
for tho General Assembly who had received the
highest number of votes, were, without regard to
their eligibility under the law, permitted to take
seats in the provisional legislative body, and to par
ticipate in th6 legislation and tho organization there
of-having first been simply invited to take an oath
prescribed in the new Constitution, which Constitu
tion had not at that time become, and under law,
could not then be, of force.
“The result of this failure to execute the law baa
been a defeat of tho purposes which Congress had
in view when passing the Acts—these purposes hav
ing baen the establishment of a loyal and Republi
can State Government,affording adequate protection
to lifo and property, the maintenance of peace and
good order, and the free expression of political
opinion.
“The wise discernment displayed by Congress, in
requiring by its legislation that none tint those who
were loyal should participate in the establishment of
a provisional government which was thereafter to bo
clothed with tho rights and immunities of a State in
the Union, charged with the care and protection of
the lives and property, and tho civil and political
rights of its citizens, is made the more apparent by
the consequences which have ensued from this fail
ure in tho enforcement of that legislation.
“I would, therefore, respectfully invito the at
tention of your Honorable body to this subject, and
ask that such steps be taken as may to you
wise and proper for the obtaining of full informa
tion in relation thereto; and to the end that Loyal
ty may be protected and promoted by the enforce
ment of the laws enacted by the Representatives of
the American People.
“Burp6 B. Bullock.
“By the Governor v
“Eugene Davis,
“Executive Secretary.”
By the adoption of resolutions by your honor
able body, setting forth in effect, that persons
were eligible to membership under the act of
June 25th, 18G8, which prescribed the condi
tions imposed by the proposed amendment to
the Constitution known as Article Fourteen,
which persons it was admitted had taken an offi
cial oath to support the Constitution of the
United States, and afterwards gave aid and com
fort to the enemies thereof by holding a com
mission under a State engaged in rebellion
against the United States, and aiding in various
other ways the enemies of that government, and
subsequently by your action in excluding from
your body a large number of citizens of the State
and of the United States, who had been duly
elected and seated, and who participated in the
adoption of the fundamental conditions imposed
by Congress; members too, without whose votes
those conditions would not have been adopt
ed, and your body having based that action upon
your deliberate judgment, that under the Con
stitution and laws of this State persons having a
certain portion of African blood in their veins
were not eligible to office, and such action be
ing in very marked contrast with the policy and
with, the spirit of tho Reconstruction acts of
Congress, attention was naturally directed to a
careful examination of the law, to the manner
of its execution, to ascertain how it was possi
ble that these results could follow the adoption
of the policy of Congress by a large majority of
the body politic. This result of the examination
is embraced in the view presented to Congress.
_ It is therein alleged that if there had been a
literal execution of the law, a primal legislative
organization would have been limited to those
who could swear that they had never voluntarily
borne arms against the United States, and had
never sought, nor accepted, nor attempted to
exercise the functions of any office whatever,
under any authority, or pretended authority in
hostility to the same.
Such a body, when it should have adopted the
condition, precedent to the admission of the
State to representation in Congress, would rigid
ly examine the claims to eligibility of such
other members as might apply for seats under
the Constitution of the State and that of the
United States—when legislative action should
have vitalized the State Constitution; and it is
reasonable to suppose they would not admit to
seats persons who fell under the disability im
posed by the act of June 25, 1868, and by the
Fourteenth Amendment.
The result of this careful observance of the
letter and the intent of the law would, it is be
lieved, have prevented the subsequent legisla
tive action, which, so far as it may be permitted
to stand, has virtually overthrown the wise poli
cy inaugurated by Congress; a policy so lately
and so fully endorsed by the American people at
the ballot box.
The position taken in my communication to
Congress as to the requirements of the Recon
struction Acts is founded upon the following
official opinion of the Major General who, un
der those acts, commanded the .Third Military
District, which opinion was announced previous
to the election for members of the General As
sembly, and by which all persons were put upon
notice as to what would be required:
office under the provisional government It is not
deemed necessary here to discuss the effect this
view of the law may have as to other officers. But
legislation has to ‘be taken while the State is yet
under provisional government; and the members of
the Legislature must be qualified to hold office under
that provisional government.
‘[Official.j R. O. Dbum, A- A. G. !
This position is further sustained by the fol
lowing extract from General Orders'No.. 61,
dated Headquarters Third Militaiy District, At
lanta, April 15, 18G8:
“H. The question having been submitted whether
the members of the. General Assembly of this State,
to be elected next week, will be required, before'en
tering upon their duties, to tako what is commonly
.lied 'the test oath.’the Commanding General is of
lFrom the Atlanta Ncte Era. j4/>r«729,18S7,
EUOIEIXJTY FOB OFFICE.
‘As the question of eligibility under the new Pro
visional Government is now one of great interest,
we have been at some pains to place before our rea
ders an official opinion upon this point.
“A person who had never held an office before the
war. but who voluntarily aided and abetted the re
bellion by holding a civil office at one time during
the war, sought the opinion of the Commanding
General as to whether he would' now he eligible if
elected.
‘(We give below the official opinion, by which it
will be seen that the test oath will be required.
“Congress will, however, no doubt pass an en
abling act, relieving persons who, in good faith, de
sire restoration of the Union, (and who have proved
their faith by their works,) from the operation of
tho 9th section, and of other disabilities, which
would otherwise prevent them aiding in restoration.
‘Headquarters Third Military Dist., )
‘Department Georgia, Alabama and Florida, -
Atlanta. Ga., April 15,1868. )
The sixth section of the first Reconstruction
Act of Congress declares ‘Thai until the people of
said rebel States shall bo, by Law. admitted to rep
resentation in the Congress of the United States,
any civil government which may exist therein, shall
be deemed provisional only,' etc.
of this State be ratified by them, and he approved by
Congress—is required to convene and adopt the pro
posed amendment to the Constitution of the United
States, designated as ‘Article XIY,” before the State
can be admitted to representation in Congress; it
may be decided that the members of said General
Assembly are, while taking this preliminary action,
officers of a Provisional Government, and as such
required, under the 9th section of tho Act of Con
gress of July 19,1867, to take tho test oath.”
If there were any doubt—based upon phrase
ology—as to whether the provision of the 9th
section of the Act of July the ID, 1867, requiring
the oath to he administered, should be made to
apply, it would seem that the eleventh section of
the same Act would, in this case, render its ap
plication imperative. The eleventh section
reads as follows:
“That all the provisions of this Act, and of the
Acts to which it is supplementary, shall be construed
literally, to tho end that all the intents thereof may
be fully and perfectly carried out.”
That such a literal construction of the law was
expected is evidenced by the following extract
from a communication of General Grant to Gen
eral Pope, under date of August 3, 1867:
“I think your views are sound, both in the con
struction which you give to tho laws of Congress and
the duties of tho supporters of good government to
see that when reconstruction is effected no loophole
is left open to give trouble ami embarrassment here
after. It is certainly the duty of Disirict Com
manders to study What the framers of the Recon
struction Laws wanted to express as much as they
do express, and to execute the laws according to that
interpretation.”
Also, General Rawlins to General Meade,
July 7th, 1868:
“ Tho Reconstruction Acts are required to he con
strued liberally, to the end that all tho intents
thereof, viz: the re-establishment of civil govern
ment in States lately in rebellion may he fully and
perfectly carried out; and itpcoeild seem that persons
ineligible to hold office under their provisions
should not be permitted to defeat them.”
My own examination of the Reconstruction
Acts lead me to the following conclusions :
L Until the full recognition by Congress of
Georgia as a State in the Union there can be no
authority for government within her territorial
limits except that derived from the laws of the
United States.
2. This authority for government is found
in the laws known as the Reconstruction Acts of
Congress.
3. The terms and conditions npon which Geor
gia was to have been admitted as a State are
prescribed in the law of June 25th, 1868, enti
tled “An Act to admit, etc.”
4. There being nothing in that Act which re
pealed or annulled the requirements previously
enacted as to eligibility, those terms and condi
tions could be legally adopted only by a legisla
tive assembly organized under and by virtue of
the laws of the United States then in'force, and
by a body whose members were eligible under
the Acts of March 2d and July 19th, 1867.
5. Until said terms and conditions should be
adopted by such a legislative body as that re
ferred to, the new Constitution could have no
vitality as fundamental law.
6. In the Act of March 2d, 1867, the following
condition was prescribed for persons holding
office under the provisional government:
no person shall be eligible to any
office under any such provisional governments who
would be disqualified from holding office under the
Sd article of said (fourteenth) amendment."
7. That this restriction was not by Congress
considered sufficiently comprehensive to insure
establishment of State Governments in harmony
with its policy, is made manifest by the fact that
the following still more restrictive provision was
embodied in the Supplemental Reconstruction
Act which became a law on the 19th of July,
1867:
“And be it further enacted, * * * That all
persons hereafter elected or appointed to office in
said Military Districts under any so-called State or
municipal authority, or by detail or appointment of
the District Commander, shall be required to take
and subscribe the oath of office prescribed by law for
officers of the United States.”
8. Congress is the sole, final interpreter of the
true intents and meaning of the Reconstruction
acts, and the arbiter npon questions of execution.
[Gen. Grant to General Order, July 23, 1867 :
i. * * xho law, however, nukes the District
Commanders their own iuterpretots of their power
and duty under it; and in my opinion the Attorney
General and myself can do no more than give our
opinion a3 to the meaning of the law; neither can
enforce his views against the judgment of those
made responsible for the faithful execution of the
law—the District Commanders.”
Also General Meade to General Grant, July
18, 1868:
“My judgment, therefore, is to acquiesce in the
decision of the Senate, and leave to Congress such
action as may hereafter be deemed proper in case
the Senate has failed to comply yiththe law.”]
The fact that there is not in Georgia adequate
protection for lifo and property, the mainten
ance of peace and good order, and the free ex
pression of political opinion, is too well known
and understood to require argument, or the pre
sentation of the evidence winch has reached me
from many portions of the State. In fact, it is
hoped that it may never become necessary to
make public information which would so severe
ly reflect upon us as a people.
Let us consider what would be the practical
effect of executing the law in accordance with
the view above presented.
The persons elected in April last would be re
assembled. Such of them as could take the re
quired oath, or who had been relieved by Con
gress of legal and political disabilities would be
seated. This would restore the colored mem
bers to the positions to which they were elected.
The body, Urns organized,] would, by legislation,
adopt the requirements precedent to our recog
nition as a State. Our State Constitution would
theh become of force, and supercede the Re
construction Acts. Persons who could not take
the'test oath, but who would be eligible under
the State Constitution and tho fourteenth
amendment would then be admitted—the body
above referred to being the judge of their eligi
bility.
This would not be ‘ ‘reconstructing reconstruc
tion,!’: but simply a vindication of the sufficiency
of laws heretofore enacted to secure results
which were contemplated at the time of their
passage, and anticipated by the persons who
voted to sustain them.
It is, however, urged with force, to objection
to the view heretofore presented, that the words
“under any so-called State or municipal authori
ty” would prevent the application of the afore
said 9th Section of the Act of July 19, 1867, to
persons who were elected in April last, under an
Ordinance of the Convehtion, ahd that the eli-,
gibility of members of the Legislature rested
only upon the new Constitution and the Four
teenth Amendment. [General Grant to Gener
al Meade, April 29, 1868 :
“The officers elected under the new Constitution
are not officers of the provisional governments re
ferred to in the Reconstruction Acts, nor are they
officers elected under any so-called State authority,
and are not therefore required to take the oath pro
scribed in Section 9, Act of July 19, 1867. The eli
gibility to hold office must be determined by the
now Constitution, and the Amendment to the'Con
stitution of tho United States designated as Article
14.”]
But even in this view of the ease, it will un
doubtedly b8 held by Congress that the action
of your honorable body, in expelling the colored
f members, is inconsistent with our State Consti-
; tation, and accomplishes, a revolution and an
But tho, plastic character of our Government,
divested of Constitutional restraints, enables us
- “oroaxioN of the Crop is in Martlet ? I *° change its entire natnre^u ithont altering it.-,
J «ohroe county the talk is that about one- name 6t•apparent form. ?be people seem tons
J?* cotton crop of that county was in U“>Hy indifferent to the one but e^eedmgjy
of planters on the first day of January, P arti<mlar atcfnt tho otbe /’ “ nd Ql f , . .
of Ata Georgia counties.one-half I P c ct to see nothing of thrones or dictator-
1 ta planters’ hands. The general aver- ^ps.
Georgia was believed to be '
a third. . kvp
„ Gr Bui 1 Toombs.—The friends' of General
■V Tlie Corn Trade, o _
It seems,is already opening in Columbus. The office under the
„sV« !'“Are our planters out of coin SJSSSSSSSSSSSsSmS
^ ^tio Chronicle and Sentinel, will F
^ n °w convalescing ! *
Enquirer asks : "Arc our planters
so soon? We see large quantities of it coming
co'nvalescint] ' drays, and being 1 .’ft at the various groce-
‘ ^ •» l*
peetof speedy restoration to his accustomed ’ * CaX 1 Miertobnr com than not to have ] State of Georgia while that State was in hostility Itis, thereforei'espeotfullyrecqmmended that
ftoaiiMlfa/Tv w o ms accustomed „ p . But (is bettm to com no. . the United States. . He is consequently ineligible to we, ourselves, take the initiative m the consurn.
^^^^^^■■^^^■^^^■^■^^■^■overthrow of the government established under
Under the provisions of tbo fifth section of the J that instrument; and that steps must,be taken
same act, ‘the pcqple of said State cannotLe admit- ; c O mr r0SS itself, to vindicate its legislation,
la tu. BMomlraclion Ail., .nd Coogm. .tall; Itare beuig ui opirnoa m lie nmds ot ni.ny
liave approved tlie same; and nntil said State shall tae sitting members of . your honorable body,
have adopted the amendment to the Constitution of j touching the right of colored citizens, directly
the United States, proposed by Congress, known ad j opposite to that entertained by a majority of
‘Article *14,’ and said Article shall have become apart • those who voted to ratify tho Constitution, and
of the Constitution of . the United ^latest* Xiieee j differing from the opinion entertained by Con-
and other provisions of. the Reconstruction Acts ; ° hia act ion ' was .there taken upon it,
atstess t h #
tionsfmust ‘be deemed provisional only.’ Tlie ninth vention to reassemble, when the Constitution
section of the Supplementary Reconstruction Act: I would, without doubt, be so amended as to re
passed July 19. 1867, ‘requires all officers elected or J move any uncertainty that may sow exist as to
appointed trader the provisional government of a the establishment of a loyal State ; Government,
State to take and subscribe tho oath of office pro-. Republican ip form and in fact—one that
scribed bv law for pfficcrs .of tlie United States.’ ; vronld-uphold and promote tho great principles
; £ civil liberty and personM rights^ w^gh have
o 1 reguitrationas a voter, or be ^ developed by the results of the war, and
- visions of thepro- endorsed by the verdict of the whole people.
|_ T . l ... J >/ • We may be well assured that tho Government'
iftab entering npon Ms. duties, a'provMon*! theoUnited States will not hesitate in the
S officer is required,: among other things, to swear great work of regeneration until its success is
it he basuneitlier sought, nor accepted, nor at- full and complete—established above and beyond
mpted to exercise the fnn^pnaDfjMraoffice what-.- jjj 0 e f those whose convictions of duty led
autnepty, them to engnge in an offort to destroy that which
mation of the policy of Congress: and acting
upon our own sense of the obligation we owe to
the authority from which we derive all we now
have, or expect to enjoy, of civil self-govern
ment, undo what has been done.
Restore the colored members to their seats,
and exdude every person from participation in
your legislation who took an official oath to sup
port tho government of the United States, and
afterwards gave aid or cqpnfort to its enemies,
until such persons shall have been relieved, by
Congress of the disability thus incurred—bearing
in mind that the only relief from such disability
is found in the action of two-thirds of each
House of Congress, and cannot be accomplished
by the individual opinion of the person affected
that the “ aid or comfort was not voluntarily
afforded.”
It is hoped that thorough action in this direc-'
tion will effect what we Si so much desire, the
final adjustment of our political status as a State
in the Union; and promote peace among*our
selves by granting, what nearly one-half of our
whole voting population demand, and to which
they believe themselves entitled—the great
right of choosing one of their own number to be
their representative.
The sentiment in favor of universal amnesty
was rapidly growing throughout the nation, un
til checked in part by the course pursued here;
and now, unfortunately for us, the demand of
the popular voice is correctly expressed by the
words of a distinguished Senator on a late' pub
lic occasion, when he says:
“ The pure minded, the noble 'Whittier sends ns a
sentiment to-night in favor of -universal amnesty
and the removal of all political disabilities. To that
sentiment Ido not assent. HRA me no more am
nesty or removal of disabilities till the life of the
humblest individual who walks on God’s footstool,
be he black Or white, is as sacred in Camilla, Geor
gia, or in New Orleans, in Louisiana, as it is in the
peaceful village of Amesbury, in Massachusetts."
Let us, then, do all in onr power to prevent
what may be deemed by Congress a necessity—
the denial of the appeals of our citizens to be
relieved of their political disabilities; and per
haps the still further restriction of political
power by withholding it entirely from those who
do not heartily acquiesce in, and abide by, the
policy that recognizes our late slaves as men—
entitled to all the rights and immunities of other
men before the law.
It is not desired that tre ason shall be punished,
but it is demanded that loyalty shall be respec
ted, and, if necessary, protected.
My only object is the establishment of a loyal
State government—a government that will se
cure to every Union man, and to every man
who favors the reconstruction policy of Con
gress, be he rich or poor, black or white, pro
tection, full and complete, for his person, his
property, and in the expression of his political
opinions.
The same immunity from proscription and
outrage which is now enjoyed by the most arro
gant supporter of secession and opponent. of
Congress, must be vouchsafed the humblest
Union man and supporter of the Congressional
policy, before wo: can have perfect liberty or
perfect peace.
If, however, these recommendations do not
find favor with your honorable body, it is most
respectfully suggested that such action npon this
subject b8 promptly taken as yon deem wise and
proper; and that you may then adjourn until
some convenient time in midsummer, leaving the
whole matter with Congress, where, if not satis
factorily adjusted by ourselves, the question
must be finally disposed of.
Having, as I deemed it my duty to do, pre
sented to Congress the communication which is
this day laid before your Honorable body, I
have abstained from urging upon Congress any
plan or measures touching the subject, except
that, on being called before the Reconstruction
Committee of tho House of Representatives, and
being asked for my opinion as to what should
be done, I stated in substance as follows: That
there should bo a literal execution of the Recon
struction Acts, and that, in my opinion, these
Acts require the primal organization of the Leg
islature to be made by the admission of those
only who can take the test oath, or have been
relieved of their disabilities by Congress; that
this course would restore tho colored members
to their seats without any special legislation,
and place the Legislative Department of Geor
gia in the hands of loyal men; that after the
adoption by such a body of the fundamental
conditions precedent to the State’s admission to
the Union, under the Act of June 25th, all mem
bers eligible under the State Constitution and
the Fourteenth Amendment would be admitted,
and no further aotion by Congress wouldbe nec
essary.
The clear and comprehensive report of the
Treasurer, herewith transmitted, will afford all
the information now at the command of that of
ficer as to the financial condition of the State.
The debt of the State has not been increased,
except in the caso of temporary loans, which are
provided for by previous legislation. The inter
est on the public debt has been promptly paid
since the inauguration of the present officers.
Attention is particularly invited to the full and
able report of the Comptroller General. His
recommendations are specially commended as
being entitled to careful consideration.
If the General Assembly recognizes the Con
stitutional Convention, which assembled under
the Reconstruction Acts, as the proper repre
sentative of tho people of the State, it would
seem eminently wise that it should adopt, at
tho proper time, the recommendation of the
Comptroller General, that the unpaid expenses
of that body bo paid ont'of the Treasury, and the
receipts from the Convention tax,when collected,
placed to the credit of the general fund in the
Treasury.
The amounts appropriated and due to the va
rious public institutions have been paid and
their condition will be quite satisfactory, when
the changes recommended by your several com
mittees shall have been effected.
Tho management of the Western & Atlantic
Railroad has been devoted exclusively to the
development of its resources, and has restated
in satisfactory remnnoration to the Treasury,
and afforded accommodations acceptable to the
public and to its several railroad connections.
The satisfactory manner in which the energet
ic and able contractors—Mqssrs. Kimball—have
executed their contract with the city of Atlanta
cannot fail to receive your approval.
It is fortunate for us, that added to the bless
ing of good crops, the saleable value of our staple
is sufficient to make its production very profita
ble ; and this being the season when prepara
tions are essential for itSj successful culture, let
us abstain from legislation that is not in tho di
rection of a final settlement of our political dif
ferences, and give full attention to this prepara
tion and to the production of sufficient provision
crops to meet the homo demand.
With the increased quantity of tho staple
which may bo expected from our improved ag
riculture, we shall be able to develop our inter
nal resources; build railroads, maintain our ed
ucational institutions and take rapid stride along
the path of peace and plenty. -, .
You now have Legislative Halls, Com
mittee Rooms, and public offices, superior, to
any fonnd in the Southern States, and equaled
by few of those in. the North. The removal
and establishment of the new Capitol has been
accomplished at comparatively trifling cost to
the State.
The old building at Milledgeville can be made
useful for public purposes,'in accordance with
the recommendations from your committee, and
are particularly described in the report of the Su
perintendent of Public Buildings, to which
your attention is invited, together with the re
port of tho principal keeper of the Penitentiary.
The reports from the Superintendents of the
Insane, and other Asylums, have not yet reach
ed mo.
Rufus B. Bullock, Governor.
ATRold and Heavy Robbery.—Yesterday morning
Prank Hickson, a negro drayman, who has been
flourishing around Macon for the last three or four
years, robbed the safe of Messrs. Little, Smith
Co., leather and harness dealers on Cherry street,
of about 8300 in cash, two $500 Macon bonds, and
other rateable papers, amounting in all to between
$2,500 and $3000.
Mr. Little had sent Frank back from the front of
the building, and down into the cellar after some
boggy hubs. In making the trip, Frank noticed
that the safe door was opened, and watching for an
opportunity, he seized a book which contained the
money and valuables above named, and carried
down to the cellar; and put it through the grate in
the cellar window, so that he could get it again when
he left the store, from the outside. So, after bring
ing np all the hubs wanted, heleft, and went around
to the cellar window, and got the book. He passed
on to the rear of the building and out into the alley,
and all the .while hurriedly Btuffed his pockets with
money, not even stopping to pick up an occasional
hill which he dropped. When he got near the mouth
of the alley on Second street, he threw the book
and remaining contents into a sewer in the rear of
Mr. Ross’ .furniture Store, with tho object of
getting it again after nightfall.
In about a half hour after Frank left the store,
the book and contents were missed from the safe,
and he was suspected of being the thief, and was
soon after arrested. In all of his pockets were fonnd
bank bills and fractional. currency, rolled and
doubled np in the smallest possible size, to the
amount of thirty or forty dollars. He stoutly de
nied that he stole it, and pretended to have borrow
ed it. - Of course he knew nothing of the book and
its contents, but Capt. Simpson, of the Police force,
assisted by officer Wiley, soon bronght him to
knowledge of its whereabouts, by a little ingenius
strategy. When found, the book and contents were
dripping wet and in a most filthy condition. After
the book was found, it was discovered that about
6210 yas still missing, and again Frank was “brought
to taw.” He then owned np and told where the bal
ance of the money was, stating that it could be
found wider a pile of bricks in tho rear of the Dixie
Works, on the comer of Cherry and Fourth steets,
So all tho money and papers stolen were recovered,
though in a wet and bad condition, and Frank was
lodged in jail.
Capt. Simpson and Mr Wiley are entitled to mu ch
credit for tho skill and ingenuity with which they
managed this' case, and in securing the large and
valuable amount of property which Frank had con
cealed in two or three different places.
Fightinq the Tiger.—On Wednesday last three
young m(sn from ono of the counties east of this,
arrived in Macon on their way to college. Unfortu
nately for them, they determined to stay over a day,
and having nothing to do to amuse themselves,
more than to knock about the city and see what
was going on, they accidently, or by the solicitations
of some kind friend, who desired to victimize them,
fell into one of our gambling hells, and, green as
they were, got to “fighting tho tiger.” Of course
they got “scratched” badly, and one of the young
men lost every dollar he had left home with to pay
traveling expenses, board and College tuition. He
felt very bad about it and endeavored to drown his
feelings in the “intoxicating bowlbnt he did not
drink deep enough—only a sufficiency to make him
noisy and disorderly.
The time soon arrived when they must either go
on to school or return home, and all three repaired
to tho passenger shed Thursday evening—two of
them to continue on their way to school and our hero
—drunk and penniless—not knowing what to do or
where to go. Ho could not get on tho train with his
friends without a fare ticket and he had no money
to bny one, and could not borrow it. His condition
was pitiable and desperate, and in hiB agony he be
gan to curse, swear and behave in a disorderly man
ner. Ho was arrested by the police and brought be
fore the Mayor yesterday, who fined him 65. The
fine was paid by one of our kind hearted officers,
and cnongh money furnished tho yonng man to take
him back homo. He is represented to us as a young
gentleman of excellent family and character, and
we would not chronicle his misfortunes bnt for the
lesson they teach our youth.
Many young men make just such false, and not
unfrequently, fatal steps; and if by giving them
word of warning and guarding them against the
danger of visiting gaming houses and other places
of ill repute, we can save some one or more from
the misfortunes which generally follow, we feel that
it is onr duty as a public journalist, to utter that
word of warning. In all cities of the size and pop
ulation of Macon, there are “professional” charac
ters who make their living by duping and defrauding
the ignorant aid unsuspecting. They have their
faro-lioxeB, dice and gaining tables, their houses of
ill-fame, vice and debauchery, and agents hanging
about hotels and restaurants to force an acquain
tance with yon, to extend cordial invitations to visit
their establishments where you may spend a most
pleasant if not profitable hour(?)
Beware of them, young men, when visiting the
city. They axe more dangerous than tho wild beast
of the forest, more deadly than the serpent’s fangs.
Have nothing to do with them.
-Preachers shqpldn’t be personal in
It is man—not men—that is to .be
Pen Points.-
their sermons,
reconstructed.
In matters of importance, it is always better to
think twice before speaking once. Thoughts can be
controlled; words, when ont, sometimes make a
tremendous bobbery.
If you want a thing done, do it yourself.” Very
good advice, no doubt, but suppose yon want to get
a sister or daughter married.
Greatness is comparative. Ono may be a great
A
A Lying-in Hospital and Foundling Asylum
has recently been incorporated in San Francisco.
The Lying-in Hospital will have a department
for respectable married women, which will be so
arranged as to afford them all the attention and
comforts. necessary to their condition. Another
department is designed for single women. This
is especially intended for unfortunate girls, who
have hitherto led a respectable life, and who de*
sire to regain the path of virtue. They will be
received under an assumed name, and will re
map; unknown except by the Trustees. When
really to leave the hospital, they .will receive such
assistance as will enable th'ein to become good
women, feeling that their misfortune is buried
in oblivion. Tho Foundling Hospital is designed
to provide for the fatherless children bom with
in its precincts, and also for all infants brought
to its doors. They will be carefully reared and
educated. ,r ‘
In . the centre of the largest valley in the great
Horse-shoe llasin oftke Rocky ' Mountains, in
the Territory of Montana, there stands a remark
able landmark called “Beaver Head Rook.” It
ov4rhqngaa rivfir of ihat name, measures 150
feet ir. height, and is visible for fifty miles up
and down stream.- The traveler^, trapper, or
emigrant, 'who has safely escaped through Da
kota and reached.this.spot, although at the base
of the Rocky i^duhtains', may, gaso nponnavi-
gable waters ihnt; reach to the Gulf of Mexico.
The Sulphur .mines in Sieily give employment
to mpre than Sh.OdO. ^'. 7 ' • • • ■ ■ ■’ -’- .A "
performer on tho jews-liarp, or on an organ,
great feat may be done within tho limits of a quart
measure, or in tho broad universe. There can be
great skill in opening an oyster, in the nice surgery
which comes so near destroying life in saving it. The
little patch on a garment is often more skillfully
wrought than the garment itself.
Look at motives! There you get the thing as it is.
Many an act would be robbed of its eclat if its motive
were seen. Honest people never do anything bnt
from good and worthy motives; but honeBt people
don’t predominate, it is sad to say, in this world,
There are often daggers in smiles, poison in words
uttered with seeming sweetness, and fatal stings in
the proffered hand of so-called friendship. Scan the
motive rather than tho act. An egg-shell is good,
but the egg is bettor.
There is far more sunshine than cloud in the
world, mid the blue sky oftener bends lovingly down
than does the threatening black. Nature grows
flowers everywhere, alike in tho untrodden and un
seen wilds, and in tho garden of the florist. Our
year of happiness—or what should be such—far out
number those of sorrow, and the heart beats re
sponses of joy a thousand times where it beats to
sadness once; It is well to think of these things.
Tho tendency of mankind is to take short, imperfect,
false views of its surroundings. We get everything,
deserve nothing, and grumble pretty much all tho
time.
A young bachelor friend, and a high-strung fellow,
who has doubtless been there, says ho had any time
rather ask his father for a cool thousand than a lady
for her warm hand. No doubt. He knows tho lady
would, probably, get nothing substantial in return.
This asking for bands and hearts is a shabby busi
ness unless equally good ones can be exchanged.
Otherwise it is downright robbery.
Some people have no nonsense, and some have
nothing else. Each errs. Nonsense, is like cream
and sugar in tea or coffee.—perhaps not absolutely
essential, bat gratifyingly agreeable. Solid sens©
is heavy. Nonsense is the leaven that renders it
light Tho best way is to have a supply of each.
Beauty is said to bo a fatal gift. Of course very
few ever know anything of this from experience-
Plainness is a common inheritance. Host people
arc perfectly satisfied with it because they can’t help
themselves. It is policy to take quietiy what must
be. There is a consolation in the saying, “hand
some is as handsome does,” and if it only does
enough, tho thing will be fairly balanced. The ad
vantage of being plain is much better than that of
being beautiful—you are never likely to lose it.
Never exaggerate. Put things down, orup; as they
are. Stretching never pays, and-in the long run
never deceives. Don’t call a mouse a rat, a girl a
woman, a pair of breeches and- a dress coat a man.
They are nothing of the sort. The world dearly likes
to make a thing out more than it is. In gossip, tlie
rule is far ahead of the arithmetical. Instead of
carrying one for every ten, it is more likely to cariy
ten (whoppers) for every one (of truth.) Good and
sensible people never exaggerate. This proportion
of the population of every community Is always in a
great minority.
The Political {Status la Washington.
The editor of the Richmond Dispatch, now in
Washington, communicates the following highly
interesting review of the political condition te>
his paper of the 12th V'
Washington, Janaary II, 1899.
The event of the day is the vote repealing the
tenure-of-office law by the House of Represen
tatives. It is the first manifestation of the force
of the inooming administration bronght directly
to bear npon the acts of Congress. It is gener
ally considered as a step in conformity to the
clearly expressed will of General Grant. It is
matter of felicitation that Congress has been in
duced at last to acquiesce in Borne will or wish
beyond their own, and in doing so to do a proper
thing, which has not been an ordinary event of
late years in that body, It is a breach in that
solid wall of arbitrary self-will with which Con-
S has for some years surrounded itself. The
nate event invites hopeful expectations of
an improvement in national legislation, oi
Besides indicating a respect for the will of a
man who has power to baok his suggestions,
wishes, or will, this act restores to the Executive
Department a power over the public offices
which was given to it at the foundation of the
Government Its withdrawal was a signal feature
of the usurpation by Congress of nearly all the.
power of the Executive, by which Andy Johnson
has been left a mere cypher. True to its bitter
hostility to that man, Congress dates the com
mencement of its present act of “ reconstruc
tion of the Executive Department from the
conclusion of Mr, Johnson’s term of office.
General Grant will be President.' Congress
knows it, and to know is to acquiesce.
The minority in the House in thw Important
vote is ultra Radical. The Liberals and the
Democrats combined. Tins is significant At
least on this question there has been a Grant
party formed out of the two parties of *tfae
House, v We do not see but that with reference
to the abandonment of other measures that have
been employed to cripple Mr. Johnson the same
kind of division may take place. And will not
a few of such divisions stamp a clear impression
npon the political character of Congress ? That
just taken place was npon aqcestion of such
import that alone it must go far to settle senti
ments and combinations. The friends of Grant
must feel strongly the opposition of so large a
number of Radicals to the repeal of the tenure-
of-office bill, while Gen. Grant can infer from it'
nothing less than that they have by their votes
declared a want of confidence in him,
In saying that General Grant will be Presi
dent of the United States, I believe I may add
that he means to be President of the union of
all the States, including those now held under
military government. He is understood to have
expressed himself to this effect. If General
Grant, in pursuance of this desire, were to show
a liberal policy towards the now prostrate South,
and especially towards Virginia, a party would •
be formed in the South to support bim which
would be remarkable for its strength and har
mony. The so-called Republican party at the
South, estimated by its present numbers and
standing, is as nothing compared to the political
organization that might be so formed
The Virginia committee are still assiduously
engaged in the prosecution of the objects of-
their mission here. They continue to be receiv
ed with marked courtesy, and are listened to
with apparent interest. I feel that I may say
that ears which we-had imagined were hopeless
ly closed to them have hearkened to their sug
gestions and their remonstrances. The political
temperature is moderated, the ice is melting,
and spring-time will be followed by summer, I
most earnestly believe.
Whether my hopes are realized in the fullest;
degree or not, remains to be seen. I advise all
to expect not a great deal—they may he dis-
appointed Bnt I will say this, that the pres
ence of this Virginia committee in t.bm city now,
is highly beneficial to ns, and is doing a great
deal to soften bitter feelings, and inctacata
kindly relations. They appear just as new pol
icies are about to germinate, and new affinities
are about changing old party relations. A hap
py time to call the representative mind to con
sider the question of restoring Virginia to the
Union, npon the broad basis of equality and
justice, which can alone restore harmony and,
prosperity,
A Fast Girl-Graphic Sketch of the
Belle of Sau Francisco.
San Francisco Cor. of the Providence Journal. 1
Mrs. Ellet, in her recent book on “Famous
American Women,” makes mention of a Cali
fornia lady, remarkable for her ability to enter
tain twenty gentlemen at once by her vivacious
conversational powers. If this were the only or
chiefly remarkable thing about Miss Hitchcock,
she would be a far less remarkable personage
than she is. But she is a character, and such a
character as this age can not and need not dupli
cate the country over. As Americans, we have
long boasted of the versatility of our climate,
soil and people. Perhaps Miss Hitchcock was .
a necessary national production that the world
may be convinced of the truthfulness of this
boast. She is a public character—an actress
requiring a far broader stage and larger house
than other actresses of the tone. She is an only
daughter, an only child, I believe, of" a wealthy
and most respectable family, her father, Dr.
Hitchcock, having come to the coast as an army
surgeon during the Mexican war. He is now a
retired physician, and among the most substan
tial and worthy of San Franciscans.
His accomplished daughter has long been one
of the belles of this city, without whom no so
cial gathering of the ton was complete if she
was in the country. When a Child she was res
cued from a burning building by some members
of Knickerbocker engine company, No. 5, since
which time she has never forgotten them—wear
ing conspicuously, at all times and all places,
a neat gold “ 5 ” upon her dress, and at times
making the company, of which she was a duly :
elected member, costly presents, ranging from
the cherished “5” to the gold mounted fire horn.
She was eccentrio to an extent that would shock
our New England notions of propriety, showing
her excentricity, now by presenting the “Fives"
a barrel of brandy, now by staking a thousand
on a favorite horse at the races, ngain by riding
on the cowcatcher with the constructing en
gineer over the entire length of the Napa Val
ley Railroad, to which ride she challenged said
engineer, and still again by the noblest deeds of
philanthropy and charity. She has upwards of
§50,000 in her own right, and of course is ex-
pected to inherit the hundreds of thousands of •
!ier father’s estate. From her own purse she
supplies the wants of many needy objects of
charity, being generous in the extreme and of
noble impulse. I
She vibrates between San Francisco and Paris,
taking new York and London in her way and as-
totashmg the natives of each of these quiet (?) 1: ■
intermediate cities by what she does and wnat
she does not do. She defies all rules and con
ventionalities of society, dresses and acts as she
pleases everywhere, selects her company from i -
all classes at will, and yet commands the confi
dence and good will of all She is conspicuous
at the grand balls of the Empress at the Ttale-
ries, attends annually the Derby in England, * i
where, it is said, she amuses herself by winning
or losing a few hundred pounds a day at the i
hands of the young springs of nobility. A few
days since she started in company with her
parents overland for New York and thence to
Paris.
Tiro days after her marriage notice appeared
as evidence of the last of her eccentricities, she.
in a quiet way, with the personal knowledge of
but two human beings beside Lereself and the
fortunate (?) groom having suddenly experiment- 1
ed in the role of a bride. Another admirer was
with her all the afternoon of that day, until six '
p. m., when she went, as he supposed, to dinner.
At S P. 5L, he met her again by appointment and
went with her to the thcatre ; after which he ac- 1
companied her and the family as far as Sacra
mento on her overland journey, quite ignorant ,v ”
ofjjthe fact that since eight p. m. he had been in
company with Mrs. Howard Coitinstead of Miss '
Hitchcock. This is the same youth whom she
dared to drive down the embankment on the
Cliff House road a few days ago, which he did lH
at the cost of §1,200. Her husband is left be
hind, she not having seen him, itis said, since
they left St. Louis.
From Ike Plains.
Sr. Louis, January 13.—The following tele-
gram has just been received, dated Fort Hays,.
Kansas, January 12:
Major General• W. -4- ffyjhol*, A. A; Q.-JL,-..,
Major General Sheridan, commanding at Fort
Dodge, reports that Lieutenant Martin, of the 3d
Infantry, has just arrived from camp and reports y
that Colonel Evarls has captured a Comanche .!!
village of sixty lodges. Three men of the 3d
Cavalry wore wounded. No Indians were killed.
Colonel Eyans had returned to his depot camp
on the Canadian River.
[Signed.] Chauncev MoRuneb, . ,j,‘.
Assistant Adjutant General \ ; f
Approved. Av. T. Sherman,
Lieutenant General.
The exports of tea from China and Japan up to
17th November, 1863, were 118,500,000 pounds,
being an increase of 31,000 pounds on the ex
ports to tho same time the previous year.
