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The Greorgia Weekly Telegraph.
THE TELEGRAPH.
MACON, FRIDAY, JANUARY 29, 1869.
Few Laborer* Tor a Plentiful Harvest.
Our Texas correspondence yesterday brought
nn' froni that far distant region even a louder
complaint about the scarcity of labor than we
hear from every other section of the South.
The outcry for labor is universal, and it is curi
ous to note that, although we hear as the cause
of the scarcity that the negroes have emigrated
from this section to some other, yet we find a
supply nowhere. Vy, ^
Our Texas correspondent yesterday told us a
dismal story of deserted plantations and tenant
less cabins. The negroes of Texas, he said, had
returned to the old States from whence they em
igrated with their masters in slavery times. But
the old States complain of tenantless cabins al
most as much as Texas does. The negroes are
not here.
Correspondents in Southern and Southwestern
in
to Middle and Northern Georgia, but Middle
and Northern Georgia don't see them. On the
contrary, we hear that the negroes are thinning
out wonderfully in the old Black Belt, and in a
very few years the agricultural operations of
that section will be carried on almost exclusively
by white labor. It is stated in the Savannah
Republican, that Cherokee Georgia has also
been almost entirely deserted by the negroes,
and nobody can tell where they are gone to.
This includes the tier of counties just above the
Black Belt, and above that again there never
were many negroes even in slavery times.
Thus we see that all over Georgia, unless it
may be the Ogeechee region where the negroes
have showed themselves equally numerous and
disorderly, the black race is apparently thinning
out with great rapidity.
We say apparently, because, after all, the de
crease may be a good deal more apparent than
real Let any Macon man, for example, contrast
the situation this year with that of last January,
and the difference will surprise him. Last year,
in tho months of January and February, one
could scarcely pass a block without being ac
costed by some negro and asked for a situation.
“Boss, does yon want to hire any body ? ” was
a demand which met him at every turn. This
The Macon Telegraph.
We are indebted to Col. Styles, of the Alba
ny News, for the following notice of th8 Tele
graph, all the more highly appreciated, as com
ing from so intelligent a source, b
“To say that this magnificent newspaper stands
in the front rank of Southern Journalism, is
to say simply what every one of its readers
knows. Itis one of the ablest conducted, and
most neatly printed dailies we have, and we arc
glad to see that the energy and enterprise of
the accomplished proprietors are appreciated by
the. public. It affords us pleasure to refer our
readers to the prospectus in another column.”
We are glad to say that at no period inits his
tory, in peace times, has the Telegraph made Geo - u ^ negroeBa re moving up
so rapid advances, as since the opening of the I fn ^ v nrthern Georria . but Mid
new year.
We would particularly recommend tho Semi-
weexlt Telegraph to the attention of readers
who are supplied by semi-weekly mails. We
think they will find it a very profitable invest
ment of four dollars—the price of a year’s sub
scription. A specimen copy will be sent to any
address, upon application by letter.
Our mammoth Weekly is getting a wide and
diffusive circulation. We yesterday had appli
cations for specimen copies from Canada West,
and in nearly all the Western and Middle
States, we have subscribers. Terms—$3 00 a
year. Size—fifty-six columns quarto. Speci
men copies gratis.
Senatorial Elections.
On the 19th inst, James A Bayard was elect
ed U. S. Senator from Delaware, to serve until
March 4th, and Thomas Bayard to serve there
after for six years. Charles Stunner was re
elected to the Senate for six years, from Massa
chusetts ; Hannibal Hamlin, from Maine; S. F.
Chandler, from Michigan; Carl Schurz, from
Missouri; Alexander Ramsay, from Minnesota;
Reuben Fenton, from New York ; John Scott,
from Pennsylvania. Some day M. H. Carpen
ter was nominated for the Senate from Wiscon- .... , . ,,
sin. Thelndiana Legislature failed of an elec-| J ear - “if you want to lure any body, youmust
tion. TLo vote stood. Cumback TO; Hendricks ; 8et a , foot > and ***">. eas y
64; scattering 1C. Radicals bolted Cumback’s i *° sat f act ° n, y-
’ . . ° . , . . , | Last January “Huff s Corner,’ as it is called,
nomination. The Nebraska Legislative caucus ! _ , ... .
, , _ ,. | swarmed from sunrise to sunset with a sooty
also failed of making a nomination. ! _ . „ , . , . ,
° : throng of anxious applicants for labor places.
, Cotton King Again. ; That comer was a sort of Labor Exchange, and
The New York Commercial Advertiser is of j the scene of continual but very desultory chaf-
the opinion that cotton bids fair to mount his . fering. The anxiety was all on the part of the
throne again. Assuming that the crop will real- laborers. This year, “Huff’s Comer” has
ize to the South between §200,000,000 and j ceased to be a mart of labor, and we hear that
$300,000,000, it says that this sum will not have a good many plantations in the vicinity of Ma
to be made over to factors, who in former years j con are far short of the supply of labor which
took the lion’s share. It will not have to be ex-1 they had last year.
pended for doctor’s bills, incurred by sick and It is not worth while, then, to talk about
infirm negroes; or to maintain a large and float- j emigration as the cause of local deficiencies,
ing population of slaves in comparative idleness i That would create a supply or a redundance in
until the planting season again begins. Huge > some other places, and such a supply or redun-
store bills will not have to be met as in other . dance cannot be found any where,
days, when planters supported large bodies of We must, in our judgment, look for a solution
slaves. The whole amount can be appropri- of the problem to a variety of causes—the He
ated to the recuperation and regeneration of the crease of the negro population—the diversion of
region desolated by the iron heel of war, and in their labor to other industrial pursuits—the
a very few years at tho farthest the South will withdrawal of increasing, but not considerable,
be on her feet again. j numbers every year to farming on their own
Cotton is thus once more to become King, a ! account and, lastly, the tremendous increase of
king with free subjects, rich and powefrul, and ! the demand for labor resulting from the high
independent of all foreign dynasties. The j price of cotton.
Southern people can now, that slave labor has j Planters, this year, are planning their agricnl-
disappeared almost indefinitely, increase thc-ir j tural enterprises with views so widely different
cotton resources. And to this end they should from those which actuated them last year, that
do all in their power to attract Northern capi
talists thither, who, bringing with them Yankee
energy, enterprise, and resources, will prove of
invaluable aid and assistance in developing and
pushing forward Southern prosperity.
A Japonica Tree.
The Charleston Courier has been “charmed
into an ecstacy of admiration and delight,”
(poor fellow) by a basket of Japonicas. Which
that papersaysgrew on a tree on Welcome Farm,
now the property of our much esteemed friend,
Wm. Ufferhart, Esq., at the bend of King-street
road. This tree, we are told, is at present fif
teen feet high, at least forty feet in circumfer
ence, is now prolific of bloom, and bears during
the season, speaking entirely within bounds,
not less than 5000 of the choicest Japonicas.
Georgia Senator Elect.
The Senate Judiciary Committee has decided
to report against tho admission of the Hon.
Joshua Hill as Senator from Georgia. They take
this action on the ground that his election was
illegal, as the Legislature, previous to the elec
tion, expelled a number of its colored members
in anillegalmanner.—Several Northern Papers.
As the northern press appear to be generally
under the impression that Messrs. Hill and Mil
ler were elected after the negroes were expelled
from tho Georgia Legislature, itis necessary for
us to state that precisely the reverse is the
truth. That election came off several weeks
before the expulsion, and we believe every ne
gro in that body voted for Mr. Hill.
The Georgia Case.—Tho Senate Judiciary
Committee hod another long discussion Friday
on the Georgia case, without reaching a conclu
sion. They reported to the Senate a constitu
tional amendment, to be article fifteen, that the
right of citizens to vote and hold office shall not
be denied or abridged by the United States, or
by any State, on account of race, color or pre
vious condition of servitude. A clause is also
added, giving Congress the power to enforce
this. The same committee reported against re
stricting tho Presidential office to'one term.
Sa vannah Republican.
Anna Dickinson.—Six years ago this remarka
ble woman was a poor girl working in the Phi
ladelphia mint She is now recognized by the
northern people as one of their leading politi
cians. She can get as large an audience to hear
her speak as.'any man among them. ‘‘Last
night,” saysa Philadelphia paper, “against wind
and weather, Miss Anna Dickinson filled the Ac-
cademy of Music from pit to dome, a feat which
only a few of the most brilliant orators of the
nation have ever achieved.”*
“ Entangling Alliances.” — Washington's
admonition to the American people to “ beware
of all entangling alliances with foreign nations”
is still all powerful, even with Congress. Gen.
Banks introduced a resolution in the House the
other day extending the protection of the Uni'
ted States over Hayti and San Domingo. Some
one at once repeated that passage from the
Farewell Address, when the House laid the res
olution on the table by a vote of 127 to SG.
Sawing off the Limb Upon Which he is Sit-
unq.—An Alabama Judge has decided that the
government of that State is illegal As the Judge
holds office under the State government, his de
cision looks very much like sawing off tho limb
on which ho is sitting. If the government be
illegal, of course he is not a legal officer, and it
logically follows that his decision is illegal.—
Aushdllc Press.
That Judge is certainly in a bad fix. But if
the government is illegal,the Judge is illegal, and
nobody in tho State is competent to decide them
illegal but the Judges, the question arises, who
can decide ? !
What Low Freights will Do.—Speaking of
the steamboat trade upon the Chattahoochee,
the Columbus Sun says, “as an evidence of what
low tariffs can accomplish, we are informed,
that the two boats of the Central Line on our
river, cleared each, during the month of De
cember, $1500. In November they lost §900.
Low tariffs have greatly increased their freight
and passenger lists.”
few or none of them would be ready to subscribe
to an exact transcript of their views and feelings
at that period. Consequently, what was last
year considered a sufficent venture in an uncer
tain business, seems this year altogether meagre
and inadequate. Planters’ views have wonder
fully enlarged and, by contrast, greatly exag
gerate the actual diminution in the labor supply.
Now, the scarcity of negro labor, although it
retards the progress of public and private recu
peration, should, by no means, be regarded as
nn tuunixed evil. It is teaming in advance to
get ready for the great change in industrial
economy teliieh is slowly but surely coining upon
us, whether we will or no. That change is the
substitution of white for black agricultural la
bor.
The eyes of our political economists are turned
to the ends of the earth in search of somebody
to put into the Southern cotton-fields when the
negro shall pass away. We are np to our eye
brows in schemes for securing an immigration
from abroad, mainly, as we believe, to furnish
new supplies of field-laborers who will take sub
stantially the places of the African in our old
farming economy.
These ideas are all chimerical No such la
borers will come. But there is already in Geor
gia an immense fund of white labor to draw upon
for the production of crops, which will be em
ployed in their production upon its own terms ;
and which we may well hope will yet be stimu
lated to active and prosperous industry in the
way of small farming by instruction and exam
ple. This population could now, by well-di
rected industry, nearly double the cotton crop
of Georgia, and to that, as well as to the immi
gration of small farmers from abroad we must
look for the steady increase and development
of our great cropping interests. Why not?
Xcw Mefliotl of Cottou Culture.
According to the Yorkville (S. C.) Enquirer a
planter in Edgefield District, in that State, un
der a process similar to that proposed by Mr.
Poullain, raised last year fifteen hundred pounds
of lint cotton to one acre of land. He planted
two stalks to the hill, at a distance of eight feet
each way. Thehillswerepreparedasiffortrans-
planting fruit trees, being dug down to a depth
of twenty inches and two feet in diameter. San
dy loam dbd manure were then filled in, and the
seeds planted. The enormous yield is attributed
to the thorough subsoiling, the manure and the
space—the latter being sufficient to allow the
rays of the sun to penetrate to tho lower branch
es of the plant and develope these fully. As
cotton is essentially a sun plant, never thriving
unless fully supplied with sun warmth, the
philosophy of this method is at once apparent.
Another method has been tried in Union Dis
trict, in the same State, and with the Dixon im
proved seed. This is to subsoil deeply, and
plant in bills three feet each way, thinning out
the plants when large enough, to two in each
hill About fifteen hundred pounds of seed cot
ton to the aero was obtained from a five acre
field planted late in the spring in this way.
New York Senatorial Election.
Corruption Rampant.
The Western papers publish tho followingdis-
patch from New York:
“New York, January 19.—Fenton’s obtain-
ment of the New York Senatorship is said to
have cost him and bis friends half a million of
dollars. When Marshal O. Roberts returned
from Albany last week, he said if ho had met
all the demands made upon him in consideration
of the Senatorship, it would have made bim
poor, and ho is worth some five or six million
dollars. Under the circumstances Roberts with
drew."
What must be the upshot of such wholesale
public demoralization and corruption ?
The Spanish Throne.—The people of Spain
having rejected a republican form of govern
ment, and decided by a popular vote for a mon
archy, the Cortez will meet on the 15th dnv of
February to decide the various claims of candi
dates, of which ’there are twenty or thirty.
Among the list are Charles Sumner, several of
the Washboumes, (eight or ten,) whilst the en
tire carpet-bag delegation in the South would be
perfectly willing to “make the sacrifice.”
The United State* Senate—I* the
tion Declining?
A newspaper before ua says, * ‘ if any one will
take the trouble to glance o+er Gibbon’s ‘De
cline and Fall of the Roman Empire,’ he will
find that the degradation of the government and
the immorality of the people ran parallel with
the corruption, yenality. and vice of the Senate.
If it be true that history is philosophy teaching
by example, what signs of cheer have we in the
United States, unless perchance a different or
der of things should transpire?” Just before
the late Senatorial election in New York—the
most populous and the most wealthy State in
the Union—the New York Times said:
“It seems to be quite generally conceded
all bands that money will decide the contest—
in other words, that when the lines are fairly
drawn, so as to determine the strength which
each can count upon, the one who buys the
most votes from the opposition will carry the
day. This is not the view of the case which we
shonV be most eager to flaunt in the faces of
the corrupt monarchies of Europoa, though the
fact that it is the one most widely taken here,
by the men most familiar practically with such
contests, gives it a melancholy interest. Of
coarse, political schemes and combinations will
be resorted to first; when they fail, the cash
value of votes will become a matter of calcula
tion.”
Reuben E. Fenton was the successful condi
date. A dispatch before us says “it cost him
and his friends half a million of dollars. "When
Marshal O. Roberts returned from Albany last
week, he said if he had met all the demands
made npon him in consideration of the Senator-
ship, it would have made him poor, and he is
worth some five or fix million dollars. Under
the circumstances Roberts withdrew.”
What can a nation expect of men who obtain
the high dignity of a position in the’Senate by
such means as these ? H they openly buy it from
a State Legislature, the legitimate conclusion
follows that they are open to bribery and cor
ruption, after they shall have been sworn into
that body. Such disgraceful and shameless
proceedings has a direct tendency to destroy the
confidence of the country in its Congress, and
to break the force of any measure itmay enact,
for a law ceases to be a law so soon as it fails to
be respected by public opinion.
The dozen or fifteen men who fbw pretend to
represent the Southern States in that body, have
neither moral or intellectual greatness. Most
of them are not even citizens of the States they
falsely register from, but who got their posi
tions after the fashion Mr. Fenton did in New
York, with only this difference—the members
of their Legislatures did not cost exceeding
five dollars per head. They and their carpet
bag confreres in the Lower House, have already
excited the derision and the disgust of every
honest man. Nor can we hope for a revolution
in that body in a long series of years. On tho
4th of March next, the terms, of Messrs. Buck-
alew, Hendricks, and Doolittle expire. They
are statesmen of splendid ability and irre
proachable character. They have failed of a
re-election because they, npon several occasions,
rose above the whip and lash of party, and ad
vocated measures which characterized Congress
in the purer and better days of the Republic.
The reader can hardly have forgotten the
■Stockton case of a few years ago. A question
arose as to the validity of Mr. Stockton’s elec
tion, on the gronnd that he had not received a
majority of the joint vote cast. It was debated
for a long time. Before the final vote was ta
ken, Mr. "Wright, then Senator from New Jersey,
was obliged to go home on account of ill health,
but before doing so be “paired off” with Mr.
Morrill. When the roll was called the Senate
was found evenly divided, and it required a ma
jority to deprive Mr. Stockton of his seat. Mr.
Morrill rose in his seat and voted against Stock-
ton, deliberately violating his word of honor
implied in his pair-off with Mr. Wright, who
was still absent Never before was such a wil
ful act of dishonor committed by a Senator for
so base a purpose.
We have the authority of the Boston Com
monwealth for stating that “every afternoon
after 3 o’clock some twelve or fifteen United
States Senators are so drunk that they are
unable to attend to business.”
The House of Representatives has almost com
pletely lost the respect of the country. The char
acter of some of its members is most reprehen
sible. A Washington dispatch informed us the
other day, that “General Washbume, member
of Congress from Indiana, is a candidate for
door-keeper of the next House, and will be sup
ported by the Indiana delegation.” The door
keeper is lowest in grade and pay, we believe,
of the servants of ‘the House; and, to the un*
initiated, it seems strange, no doubt, that a man
who has once sat upon the floor as one of the
law-makers of tho nation, shonld so demean him
self and disgrace his former constituents as to
seek or accept a paltry appointment which
should, of right, be given to some wooden-legged
pensioner. But there are “stealings” con
nected with the place, of such immense propor
tions that it has become an object of contention
among Congressmen themselves, and the incum
bent usually finds himself able, in a short term,
to act as banker for impecunious members, ad
vancing money npon their pay when they have
emtied their pockets at gambling.
How long can a nation last with such men as
these making its laws and shaping its destiny!
The contrast between the honor and dignity of
the British Parliament, the Parliament of Ger
many, the Corps Legislatiff of France, and even
the Cortez of Spain, and tho Congress of the
United States, is perfectly appalling. But it has
its exact parallel in the Senate of Rome in the
days of its pnetorian bands.
YYliat Will the South be When She
Gets Her Growth?
The New Orleans .Times points out that, with
a very small portion of her arable surface (not a
tenth, as we suppose) in cultivation—harrassed
with poverty and political disorder and perse
cution—tormented,obstructed and circumvented
by rampant folly and fanaticism, the South has
this year, in one exportable crop, added more
than two hundred millions to the wealth of the
country. The Times then asks!
“If with so partial a culture, conducted with
out capital and with so many drawbacks, the
South is enabled to produce one single article of
the high exportable value of $200,000,000, what
limit can bo placed to the resources and wealth
of this section when they are fully developed
and the population is increased so cs to meet
and supply the demand for a proper cultivation ?
Who can anwer that question ? Let Congress
withdraw the legislative rubbish with which it is
blocking our pathway—let it cease the vain ef
fort to africanize onr State governments and
to derange tho natural relations of labor and
capital —let the Radical party stop its false
alarms about social disorder and insecurity, and
revolutionize the South, if it can, by stimula
ting emigration to this section, and in ten years
the South will create from her soil a heavier
gold value than the entire national debt 1 Gen
tlemen Republicans of Congress, will not this be
better than the continual fight against reason
and nature—perpetual fuss and reconstruction?
Columbus Cotton Market.—The Sun of Fri
day says the receipts of the day before were
273 against G01 bales same day last season. To
tal receipts since 1st September, 1868, 36,875;
against 63,894 the year before. Shipments,
21,862; against 46,528. Stock on hand 15,518;
against 17,369 last year.
Plenty op Money and Don’t Know What t»
do with it.—Tho Rome Courier says there are
hundreds of planters in Floyd and adjourning
counties who have now in hand from §1,000 to
$5,000, and feeling sort of good over it, but
really not knowing what to do with'their money.
Letter from Washington.
Virginia and the General Government—The
Portly and Courtly Conference Committee—
Dragging Mississippi into the Union—A Dele
gation from Georgia Wanted at Washington.
Washington, January 17, 1869.
The "Virginia Committee of Conference prom
ises to be eminently successful. After consulting
with Genefals Grant and Schofield; President
Johnson, Judge Chase, Mr. Sumner and others
of all parties, thus bringing together, and as it
were pntting in tune the discordant elements of
the Washington factions, the Committee is pre
paring a bill which it is thought will result in per
fect harmony. The basis of the movement is,
impartial suffrage and universal amnesty. Un
doubtedly the negro, less than Frenchmen,
Spaniards, Italians, and the dozen other people
who have failed in managing their own affairs,
aro unfit for self-government, but it is the whim
of the hour, that they should vote, and unfortu
nately the whim of the hour is potent. The ne
gro must vote! The Virginia Committe accept
ing this misebevious folly, seek, with every
prospect of stKcess, to secure rights for the
white people, which will modify to a very great
extent the evils of negro suffrage.
You are famiar with the names of the mem
bers of this committee—they are historical Their
persons ore porly and their manners courtly—
they are true s<ns of the mother of Presidents,
and in their pnsence, the caipet-bag and scala
wag representatives of the South have hats off
and are speechless.
The committee last night, in a body, visited
Judge Chase, spending two hours with a com
mittee composed of Dewees, fromNorth Caroli
na; Hamilton, from Florida; Clifts, from Geor
gia; Mullins, from Tennessee! The Judge
would never live through it, it would kill him.
It would probably also kill the committee.
In contrast with this absurd picture, the ele
gance, grace, dignity, good sense and good man
ners, which characterized the interview between
Judge Chase and the Virginia Committee is
striking. Tho large views of the Virginia gen
tlemen evidently excited the admiration and
sympathy of the Chief Justice, and the exchange
of sentiments between the gents and their host
promise results which will doubtless prove bene
ficial to the whole country. The meetings of
the committee with Gen. Grant and other in
fluential personages were characterized by the
same social political and intellectual—equality
in the latter respect, however, the advantages in
many instances with the Virginians.
Before the adjournment of Congress for the
holiday recess, the indications were strong that
the State of Mississippi would be dragged into
the Union under the defeated Constitution;
the committee of five thought they had tho Gov
ernorship, the Senatorships, the patronage of
the State, and indeed all the people of Mississip
pi in their grasp. Their first repulse was achiev
ed by Major Jeff. L. Wofford, who has acted
with them and was elected on their ticket to
Congress. The action of Major Wofford in thus
working against, what seemed to be, bis own in
terest, attracted the attention and somewhat as
tounded the Reconstruction Committee. It was
a kird of thing they were unaccustomed to.
Majer Wofford was patiently and respectfully
heard. The carpet-baggers, however, would
in at probability, have carried their point in
spitt of Major Wofford. They were very much
assisted in exciting the prejudices and passions,
by the unyielding and vindictive course of Judge
Sharkey and Judge Field, of Mississippi who
werd sent here to aid in defeating them. The
two old gentlemen lost both their temper and
their discretion; they had the matchless folly, at
this late day, to discuss the Constitution ! But
the Mississippi Committee of five, have been
routed, horsojfoot and dragoon, by the Virginia
nine; the compromise which they have nearly
effected, in tho case of Virginia, will be ap
plied to Mississippi and to Texas. Under this
compromise—or any compromise, or any plan
other than that of bringing the State into the
Union by the mere force of Congressional action
and in spite of the wishes of the people, Eggles
ton and his crew have no hope. They are
more odious to the : people of Mississippi than,
your Bullocks and jour Blodgetts are to the peo
ple of Georgia.
The happy influence which the Virginia Com
mittee seem to have excited over the political
features of the capital and the good results
which promise to flow from their presence here,
is suggestive. Why is Georgia not represented
in the same manner ? The Conservative element
of the State has had no representation here since
the war, and many a golden opportunity has
been lost. Tho venom of the shallow misrepre
sentations of Gen. Sibley in reporting on the
Ogeechee troubles” would be neutralized by
the bare assertion of a committee composed of
the pure citizens of Georgia. This apathy on
the part of your people is not in keeping with
their past conduct when danger threatened the
State, and surely, there never was a time when
Georgia stood more in need of bravo and true
defenders than at the present. There are slan
ders, misrepresentations and inuendoes current
here every day, which are used to the disadvan
tage of your people, which imprudence incar
nate, would not dare to whisper, were a commit
tee of your best and truest men on guard here.
There are opportunities occurring almost hourly,
which the committee could turn not only to the
advantage of Georgia, but to the benefit of the
whole South. Messrs. Hill and Miller, and others
like them, who aro dependent npon Congress
for place or favor have no influence; judging
others by themselves, the legislators attribute
to these gentlemen selfish motives. No such dis
advantages as that, would affect any delegation
of the private citizens of Georgea, who might
come here with a purpose single to the best
interest of the State.
Send your committee at onoo. Let them come
prepared not only to defend tho great interests
of the Empire State of the South, but to co-op
erate with like committees from other States for
the welfare of the whole South. If nothing
else will stir their patriotic ardor, call on them
in the name of the noble-hearted women of
Georgia, who have made so many sacrifices, in
times past, for tho glory of the State, and in
whose behalf it were but justice that a great
effort should now be made to rescue tho State
from all the pejjls of negro rule! Kentuck.
The Female Clerks in the Treasury
t Yepartmcnt.
Secretary McCulloch has found it very difficult
to discharge a female Treasury clerk. A few
weeks ago it was ostentatiously noised abroad
that heavy reductions were being made in tho
bureau of the Treasury Department,-and the
register’s office especially. Register Jeffries
sent to the Secretary two lists of ladies who
were idle at that time in Jiis bureau. One list
contained ninety names and the other seventy.
Of these 1G0 ladies about 100 were discharged.
The consequences of i this redaction of force
immediately followed. Mr. McCulloch had
little time* to do anything else than listen
to the remonstrances of Senators and Rep
resentatives, who could not understand why
their fair friends had been discharged, and who
insisted on their prominent reinstatement. The
Secretary was very obliging, and therefore com
plied, and about seventy-five ;of the pretty fe
male clerks were reinstated. Gen. Jeffries did
bis best to find work for them, and about thirty
were employed in counting the January cou
pons, which had began to come in; thirty of
them were detailed for duty in the office of the
Third Auditor, and. the remainder are simply
idle.. They report at the office daily and then
depart to seek amusements until something
turns np for them to do.—Dispatch to the N. Y.
HtrtM. * "■■ ■
. j; , ti
, “The Great Stock Trade Again.”
The Savannah Republican, which undoubtedly
is one of. the most ably edited newspapers iu
the South, has an elaborate editorial under the
above caption which, but for the editor’s dis
claimer, would leave almost any reader to infer
that it was inspired'by the management of the
Central and Southwestern Railroad companies.
The opinions of the editor of the Republi
can have always carried great weight, and with
none of his admirers have they had more than
with the writer of this communication.
But, in the editorial referred to, views are ex
pressed from which the people in this and other
sections of Georgia—with some interested ex
ceptions—differ very widely. They regrqt that
the editor, who until quite recently, favored the
building of tho "Macon and Brunswick Railroad,
on the ground that it would open another chan
nel of communication between Savannah and
the interior, shonld now devote his influence to
defeat that object." It is not for ns in the inte
rior to say what is best for the interests of the
city of Savannah. Her own citizens are entitled
to decide on this subject. But the-people of
the interior believe it will promote their inter-
ests to have a choice of routes to the seaboard,
whereby to insure a wholesome competition, in
stead of being dependent on one company only.
They are endeavoring to secure that advantage,
but events now transpiring make them fear that
the great power , of the Central Railroad will
crush out the effort, and drive off the capitalists
who, after years of trial have at length been
induced to embark their means in developing
the resource's of Georgia.
"Whatever doubt might have been indulged
heretofore, as to its being the object of the man
agement of the Central Railroad Company to
crash out all competition, those doubts are now
dispelled by an exposure of that Company’s real
condition, made in the article referred to, from
the Savannah Republican. The editor explains
that “it” (the Central Railroad Company) “has
not paid a legitimate dividend to the stockhold
ers since the war;” also, that “dividends have
been paid to appease the clamor of needy
stockholders—thousands of widows and orphans
among them—but it was done at the cost of nec
essary repairs. But one depot has been re
built and one repaired on the entire line of the
road from Macon to Savannah. ” This exposure
is made by a friend of the Company, while
writing in its favor, and has caused intense re
gret, as well as astonishment, to all who have
read it. It was published several days ago in
Savannah, where the Company is located, and
the present managers reside, and has been re
published in Macon. It has not yet been con
tradicted, and it is therefore to be regarded as
almost official The Central, however, wields
great power still and when one considers its in
ability to pay its legitimate dividends, or to
keep its road in repair, while it is incurrmglia-
bilities for several hundred thousands of dol
lars—paying for the stock it purchased double
the market price—to break down the business
of the Atlantic & Gulf Road, in which the State
of Georgia invested a million dollars of the
people’s money; and has besides loaded itself
with other vast amounts to subsidize and con
trol other lines ; there seems to be manifested
a desperate spirit of monopoly which is danger
ous to all interests of the State, and especially
to those of Middle Georgia.
“Sleepy Hollow,” >
Near Blake$, Ga., January 18, 1869.)
The purchase by the Southwestern Railroad,
of stock in the Gulf Road, which will give the
former controling influence in the management
of the latter shonld command the profound con
sideration of tho people of this section, and if
the sale is not consummated, we should use
every available means to prevent it, at least un
til the purposes of that corporation be made
known.
The establishment of a great monied railroad
monopoly in the State, to be wielded solely for
the pecuniary aggrandizement of stockholders,
whose power in twenty years, if not checked
will rival that of the State Government, may
well startle the thinking community. There can
be no question as regards the direct or indirect
disastrous effects of such a combination to
force trade out of its natural channels; but in
this paper we shall not discuss that branch of
the subject—wa will rather speak of it, only as
it bears immediately upon our local interests.
It is well known tho original scheme of the
proprietors of the Atlantic and Gulf road was
merely to commence the Southern Pacific route.
The Montgomery and Eufanla road is graded
to Union Springs, and trains are winning with
in about fifteen miles of that town. The dis
tance from Union Springs to Bainbridge, by the
path a road would probably travel, is about one
hundred miles, through a country remarkably
favorable for railroad construction. This gap
filled, and the cost would not exceed $1,300,000
and we have a continued track, as wa understand;
by the same gunge from Savannah to Shreve
port, Louisiana. This connection being made
the Gulf road would be the most remunerative of
any in the South.
No thinking and informed man doubts that
tho Southern Pacific road will be built. Upon
the completion of the northern route, the ne
cessity of two lines of travel will be so manifest
tho former road will be built at once. This, we
take it, is almost susceptible of demonstration,
and if we aro able to fill the gap above men-
tined, before other routes and connections are
marked out and decided npon, this immediate
section, in ten years, will enjoy the numberless
advantages of lying in the vicinity of the line
of trade and travel between the South, "West and
East. Ordinary land, within five or six miles of
this road, will rise in value from two dollars to
twenty-five dollars per acre.
The construction of a road connecting Bain
bridge with Montgomery would bring the stock
of the Gulf road at once to par, and capital
will be offered in abundance to the enterprise,
as soon as attention Is called to the feasibility,
advantages and resources of the project.
With regard to this coup d'etat of the South
western and Central companies, as at present
advised, we hesitate to hazard an opinion; but
we surmise the- immediate object is to prevent
the extension of tho Gulf road, so that when
the Montgomery and Eufaula road is completed,
trade will be forced np the Southwestern track
and to Savannah via the Central road—thus kill
ing the Brunswick scheme, injuring Macon se
verely, keeping the Gulf road permanently in
its cradle, with a wet nurse, and shutting this
section “out in the woods” for all time. If
this surmise be correct, the combination we
speak of will cripple the State more than Sher
man’s march from Atlanta to tho coast.
"We earnestly recommend onr people to give
this subject immediate attention. Let promi
nent men in each county, take the matter in
hand, and bring it before capitalists, whether
they be found at the North or in Europe.
J. M. M., Jr.
Affiiirs in Brunswick.
We are gratified to note by the following ex
tracts from the Brunswick-Banner of the 15th
instant that affairs in that "city are looking up.
The Banner says:
There are now eighteen stores open in this
place where merchandise is offered for sale.
We notice that considerable activity is mani
fested on the part of the house carpenters in our
city. Several new buildings are in course of
erection, and others are soon to be commenced.
The wing to the Ocean House will in a short
time be ready for use. The demand for houses
to rent is so great that any one with a capital of
several thousand dollars, could not find a better
investment than to build several neat dwelling
houses. ; - ’•rjtofridS
An exchange says Jubal Early will take ad
vantage of President Johnson’s amnesty procla
mation and return home, singing “ The yearof
Dubai E. is come; return, ye wandering sinner,
home.” . ‘
Rise of Cotton.
From the Boston Journal, January 16. J
In the Journal of November 9th, 1868, we
drew attention to the fact that the consumption
of cotton by Europe, in the cotton year ending
September 1, 1868, exceeded the supply for that
year by four hundred And seventy-eight thou
sand bales; that the stock was declining and
that the estimated supply for. the year was in
adequate ; and we ventured to predict that the
price of middling cotton would advance before
April it* New York, to twenty-eight cents, al
though it might fluctuate in the interim and pos
sibly be affected by a decline in the value of
gold. Our prediction has been already verified.
Cotton has risen from twenty-two and one-half
cents at the South and twenty-four cents in New
"York in November, to twenty-eight, to twenty-
nine cents in January, and is still progressive.
We adverted to the fact that last year, when the
planters and manufacturers, by their combined
efforts to depress prices and escape from the
cotton tax, had reduced the prioe to fourteen
cents, England had stepped in and secured her
supply and left our manufacturers in the rear,
compelling them to buy at twenty-eight to thir
ty cents. Our dealers and planters, and onr
Board of Trade, were beguiled by fallacious es
timates from England, and the nation lost at
least thirty million dollars in its exports, while
our mills were subjected toEnglish competition,
with doth made from American stock, laid down
at an average of twenty per cent, below the
prices paid by American manufacturers.
It was very desirable that such a mistake
should be avoided by America this year, and we
advocated purchases for our Northern mill^
while England waited for the stock to accumu
late, and thus far the chief purchases at the
kAiath have been made by the Continental houses
and Northern buyers for their own consumption.
They have already taken for America and the
Continent five hundred and sixty thousand bales.
A few weeks since, the English agents circu
lated discouraging statements in the shape of
reports of half a million bales afloat on their
way from India, and of a crop of six hundred
thousand bales coming from Egypt, but the half
million of bales on their way from Tndi« to Liv
erpool are now reduced to less than eighty thou
sand, and as twenty weeks are required for the
voyage, We can now calculate safely, that until
late in June, the weekly deliveries at Liverpool
from India, via the Cape, cannot average more
than five thousand bales. The semi-annual re
ports of the Central Railway of India from Bom
bay to Baroda, and of tbe chief railway of In
dia from Calcutta to Delhi, published in Decem
ber, 1867, in Herapath’s Journal show a de
cline in the production and transportation of
cotton in India, which is ascribed to the decline
of prices.
The Directors of the first line complain of a
decrease of revenue, because the natives, in
consequence of the fall of cotton, have substitu-
ed for cotton, grain, which previously came "by
railway from other districts, and thus the rail
way looses the freight of both. The Calcutta
and Delhi line ascribes the loss of half a million
of revenue to the decline of cotton, which has
compelled it to reduce charges. It is thus ap-
arent that, this mysterious country” feels, like
Igypt, the effect of the fall
In Egypt the crop declined one-third in 1867,
and as repeets the six hundred thousand bales
expected from Egypt, no such quantity is forth
coming. The bales referred to were doubtless
the small bags from the country, which are com
pressed on the sea coast into bales of more than
four hundred pounds, and thus the eseimate for
Egypt will be reduced at least thirty per cent.
During November the arrivals at Liverpool
from Egypt, Brazil, Smyrna and all places but
India and the United States were but twenty-
one thousand bales a week, and if to this for
months to come, we add five thousand from
India, we have but twenty-six thousand for the
whole weekly snpplyfortheeomingfive months,
exclusive of American cotton.
Fortunately for this country, England has
thus for held back, hoping to see the market
break under our accumulating stock, but she has
not ben gratified. The planters are stronger
and under less advances than last year. The
tax was removed, and they remember tbe rise
after their sales last year, andhave sent forward
their crops with duo moderation; and now the
stocks of England are running low and she will
be obliged to enter the market, and her move
ments are foreshadowed and heralded by a rise
of prices.
In former days, before the negro women had
left the plough, our crop averaged three millions
six hundred thousand bales and we could spare
two millions six hundred thousand, bntnow, with
a less force in the field, we could spare but one
million six hundred and fifty thousand last year,
when we had some stock coining over from 186G.
We have begun tbe cotton year with no surplus,
and an increased home demand, which calls for
at least a million of bales. We cannot spare
more than seventeen hundred and fifty thous
and at the outside this year to meet the growing
wants of Europe.
For three years past there has not been leas
than an average annual growth of three hundred
and sixteen thousand bales in the consumption
of cotton in Europe. The Commercial Chronicle
set it at four hundred and fifty-seven thousand
bales last year. The European consumption,
although depressed by high prices during the
war, has grown from four million two hundred
and seventy-two thousand bales in I860 to four
million six'hundred and four thousand bales in
1863, and lust, year England exported more cot
ton cloth than in any previous year, although
she has intimated to the planters that she might
reduce the hours of labor, possibly with a view
to bring down their cotton.
By telegrams to December 31st, itis announc
ed that now, after the India supply has mostly
arrived, and but four or five thousand bales a
week can be expected from the East, before the
last of June, the whole stock of Liverpool is but
three hundred and fifty-two thousand bales.—
This is in marked contrast to the stocks before
the war, whetaitwo or three times that amount
was not uncommon. This light stock is unsuf-
ficient to meet for six weeks the average demand
for export and consumption. We have now re
maining but one million two hundred thousand
bales of our crop which we can spare for expor
tation, and if itshonldall go forward before July
it would furnish less than forty-six thousand
bales a week.
The Continent of Europe, Scotland and Mex
ico will we may well presume, require of this
at least fourteen thousand bales a week, andthis
leaves but thirty-two thousand bales a week for
Liverpool. If we add this to the twenty six
thousand bales which Liverpool may hope to
draw from other sources, she will have in the
aggregate but fifty-eight thousand bales a week,
to last until the new crop of India begins to ar
rive at the close of June, and to provide stock
for the interregnum in the arrivals of American
cotton between July and November.
Last year the average weekly consumption
and export of cotton at Liverpool was sixty-five
thousand bales, and Liverpool must draw upon
her reserved stock for most of the deficiency of
ten thousand bales a w^gk, and thus rapidly re
duce her -reserve of three hundred and fifty-two
thousand bales, or reduce her exports, in which
case the Continent may be deficient. It will not
be surprising if she should be driven, by sheer
necessity, in tbe course of the spring, either to
stop some of her spindles or to bring by propel-
lors, some of the Bombay cotton of the new crop
through the much dreaded Canal of Suez, in or-
derto expedite its passage to Liverpool, andthis
may be done, as the canal will be finished in Oc
tober, with a depth of twenty-five feet, and by
May, large steam propellors may effect a pas
sage. This may relieve the pressure of the
sprin'a but it will lessen tbe supply in the fall
and if*it should prevent exhaustion during the
summer, it will clear the field for onr coming
crops in 1SG9:
It is to be hoped that our mills have anticipa
ted England and given out large orders, and that
we may this year turn the tables upon the Brit
ish manufacturers and meet England again suc
cessfully with our drills and Sheetings in India
and China.
England has thus far this cotton year taken
but three hundred and five thousand bales, and
our stock is ninety-six thousand bales less than
it was at this time in 1868.
" A Radical Jury. ; —A Jacksonville, Florida,
correspondent of the Savannah Republican, of
tho 19th, says:
I have seen evidence that Florida is in ad
vance of Georgia in reconstruction. I visited
the United States Court-house, and there I
saw out of the twelve jurymen on the trial of a
case before the United States Judge, nine of
them negroes. I had the curiosity to see them
closely. Two of them were fast asleep, their
heads thrown back and mouths wide open. Two
or three others looked wondrous wise, as if
they were trying to evince great attention and
astuteness. On the whole the thing looked very
farcical and I could not help thinking of the
depth to which liberty had brought us.
During a recent snow storm in southeastern
France 8000 sheep perished.
Philadelphia has more than 10,000 shoe
stores, annually supplying over 800,000 pair^ of
feet.
During the last twenty-one years New York
city has'received 34, 855-,000 hides.
Foist
TWO LTOt LOST. '
From the Liverpool Gazette, December
Mr. Liotiel Van Buren. oliief officer of th»
American steamer. Stony Banner, Captain 3nT
mere, hie favored us with the foUowraTLS
account at the foundering of that vessel mtheT
Iantio ocean, with the loss of one hundred
thirty-two lives:
The steamship, Starry Banner, 2000 tons bnr
den, bound to New York from Alexandria witb
crew and passengers, numbering 164 soak ^
totally lost on the night ,of the 21 st December in
latitude 49 N., longitude 23 "W. She had bad
weather from the time she left Southampton an
to the 18th, when she encountered one of the
most violent storms ever experienced.
The gale was terrific in the extreme, and
raged with fury for three days, the ship, crew
and passengers being completely at its mercy!
The bows of the steamer were stove in, and the
bulwarks shivered to atoftis; the life-boats
were all lost. On the 19th, while the Captain,
third and fourth mates, and boatswain were on
the bridge, a tremendous sea washed over the
vessel, carrying away the bridge, officers’ qoar.
ters, galley, etc. ; in fact, every thing on the
deck fell a prey to the violence of wind and wa
ter. Not one of those who were on the bridge
were rescued. The steamer was now in charge
of the chief officer, Lionel Van Buren. The wa
ter had got into the fire-room, putting out the
fires. On the morning of the 20th a terrible
hail-storm set in; pieces of ice fell as large as
good-sized potatoes; no one could remain on
deck while it lasted.
By 6 o’clock the plate-bows gave way, and it
was feared the steamer would have gone down,
but she was kept well before the wind, thin be
ing the only chance left. The second oflScer,
being on watch, Tvas going toward the wheel-
house, when a sea struck the steamer’s stern,
carrying away the wheelhouse, the officer and
wheelsmen into the sea. Only one of them was
saved. By 10 o’clock the gale had increased—
the vessel dipped and tossed, the waves running
mountain high. Tho cargo heaved against the
decks, completely bursting them up; and the
steamer was now looked upon as lost, there be
ing ten feet of water in the hold. All hands
were now called into the saloon, and the chief
officer told them he had done everything iu his
power to save the vessel and she was now left
to the mercy of the waves.
It was pitiful to see the passengers and crew.
The ladies could not control their feelings, for
they apparently felt their time was short in this
world. Children clung to their mothers; hardy
old seamen were down on their knees praying
to heaven for mercy. The vessel was now hove
to. By 12 o’clock, a tremenduous sea struck
the saloon on the starbord side, shivering it to
atoms square through the other side, and sweep
ing more than a hundred human beings into the
raging waves. Had it not been for the fore
thought of a passenger, by name Henry Joy, a
Major in the United States army, and a native
of London, who persuaded a number of the
crew and passengers to go into the hold previous
to the destruction of the saloon, the whole of
those on board would have been struggling in
the water.
As soon as Major Joy could get out of the
hold, which he did with two seamen, and when
he saw so many human beings in the water, he
threw off his coat and jumped overboard, des
pite the entreaties of his fellows; for it was
considered madness to throw himself into such
a raging sea. To all persoasion he turned a
deaf ear, making for answer that he had
swimmed in as rough a eea, and he should not
stand by and see Ins fellow men drowned with
out lending a hand to save them. By this time
the ship’s crew were all out of the hold, and
were throwing ropes to those in the water.—
Major Henry Joy himself saved twenty-two,
who couid not swim, including seven ladies and
five children. Three of the saved the Major
brought to the ship at one time, holding two
with his teeth and the third trader his arm. It
was said by all "who witnessed; his heroic con
duct, that lie was the most powerful swimmer
they ever knew. Si^ty of those washed into
the water were seen no more. The chief officer
was knocked insensible from a fall off the fore
castle, and remained so for several hours.—
There being now no other man capable of man
aging the ship, it was by unanimous voice,
given into the hands of Major Joy. Night had
now set in, and the storm raged as strongas
ever. Major Joy went down below and found
twelve feet of water in the hold.
He then ordered the men to commence mak
ing rafts out of whatever they could get, lashing
them well together, for the steamer was sinking
fast. Guns were fired .and rockets thrown up,
but nothing came to our assistance. Major Joy,
who kept to his post all night, reports seeing
the starboard light of a vessel, but no notice
was taken of our distress. He was washed over
board twice during the night, but succeeded in
gaining the ship again. The sea was noi
making a clean breach over the vesssel and she
labored heavily. A sudden crash was heard
in her stern, and on looking it was found
that her starboard side was stove in, and she
was fast going down. Major Joy ordered the
rafts to be launched, and tho survivors were
lowered on them. .The rafts were lashed to
gether, so as to prevent them from drifting
apart. Everything was done quietly and or-
derly, Major Joy being the last to leave the
wreck. About ten minutes afterward the steam
er went down stem foremost.
The survivors were on the rafts two days and
three nights without food or water, when the;
were rescued by a French bark, and landed in J
very destitute state at Boulogne on Sunday las.
Several of the crew and passengers died f roa
exposure while on the rafts, and others jumped
overboard. In all, one hundred and thrrty-rto
persons perished.
“Where dtfac Gregor Sits is the Head I
of the Table.”
Horace Greeley on “Reconstruction at
Once.”
From the New York Tribune, Jan. 19.]
In every State lately dominated by Secession I
the late Rebels are divided in sentiment and
action; and their division grows daily more ds
finite and palpable. On one side are the land
holders, merchants and men of property, w®
all who are inclined to industry and thrift, km?
of whom opposed secession so long as they
ly could, and all Of whom now ask, “What p*
in fighting longer against Destiny? The OjP
is restored; slavery is abolished: the blacks tx
enfranchised; let ns cordially accept these fa<®
bow to the inevitable, make peace between -*
mansion and the cottage, cordially invite®
immigration of men of capacity, means and O"
ergy, and rebuild the waste places of our Sts®
double their annual products, and cause tit-
deserts to blossom as the rose. "We hav- j! ; L
ished useless tears in profusion-on a past wo M
can never bo recalled; henceforth, let us j
ourselves wholly and heartily to the present® 1
the future.” *
Opposed to these, stand a very consider®*
but decreasing faction of sore-beads and man?
nants who were foisted into consequence byttt j
rebellion, and who forget its hardships and pc'" I
in the contemplation of its delusive hopes, >-1
thrilling excitements, and its fallacious gloria j
These want to maintain the war in the only f 059 j
still practicable—by scowling at and threaten j
ing the Unionists whom they dare not shoot.j
trampling on the blacks wherever they c a2 .'f I
so with impunity, infesting in masks at to*- j
night their humble dwellings, burning th«* j
school-houses, abusing their preachers or tea* I
ers, and confederating with the dregs of c -,|
Northern cities to keep the country distrac.<^ |
and convulsed, while its industry andprogi®!
are retarded and paralyzed, by an absurd, ® |
timely wrangle, contesting the "right of to 1
millions of our native people to a voice iu g
Governments which they have fought to up- j
hold and are taxed to maintain. .. . J
It is now within the power of the Republic®’!
in Congress to give secure and lasting peace . I
the country by joining hands with the forme-“I
these parties on the simple, lucid, comprea I
sive platform of universal amnesty and imp* I
tial suffrage. Let us do so at once, and I
Ku-Klux and their abettors will speedily I
hunted ont of every populous, organized
munity, ■ and compelled to disband or a 1 'I
school-houses, and all other means of inteile s
ual and moral improvement will be placed |
der the protection of all who have property'I
hope to acquire any, and the rights of I
blacks secured against effective assault, o. I
compact which pledges to their support all “y j
is substantial and honored in the entire con®
bargain, no make-weight, is needed toj£ I
cure our hearty advocacy of universal anm I
so far as the past is concerned.
deal sternly with those who, from rebel j
nity, persist in disturbing and harassing V I
ista, white or black, we would; in any cas«! I
franchise every man who now heartily acw j
the triumph of the Union and ite logical j
quenoes. But a good thing is never disparftT. ■
in cur e yes by ite tendency to secure an I
equally as good. We greatly desire oomP^ I
