tUcchln Constitutionalist.
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* [From the Metropolitan Record.
Cotton Culture in the South.
Its Past History and Future Prospects—Statis
tics of Past and Estimates of Future Crops
—Protection to New England Manufacturers
—Fearful Mortality among the Emancipated
Negroes —White Labor in the Cultivation of
Cotton.
To the Editor of the Metropolitan Record:
Dear Sir : The value of cotton produced in
the United States previous to the war and the
influence it exerted over the industrial pursuits
of all civilized nations ; the vast fleets employed
in its transportation both in the raw and manu
factured forms, and the multitude of artisans
required for their construction and outfit, ren
der the continuance of the supply a matter of
the first importance to this nation and the
world.
It may not be uninteresting briefly to review
the history of the growth of the interests con
nected with the progress of cotton culture in
the United States. *
The great and rapid increase of commerce
since the seventeenth century has usually been
ascribed to the discovery of America. This
undoubtedly was the remote cause, but we
must look to a subsequent event lor the main
spring of the astonishing increase of commer
cial activity, which characterises the nineteenth
century. From the time of the discovery of
America till after the peace of 1783, the in
crease of commerce was slow, although inter
course with the teeming millions of Asia had
been opened to Europe by the discovery of the
Cape of Good Hope. She produced but little
to exchange for the luxuries of the East; set
tlements in this country were almost entirely
eonfined to the vicinity of the coast and the
large rivers. From 1790 to 1800 the people of
the Southern States were seriously discussing
the abolition of slavery on account of the un
ptofitableness of that description of labor ; the
foreign commerce was insignificant, being most
confined to the exchange of live stock with the
West Indies, and there were no manufactures;
the United States was essentially agricultural
from Vermont to Georgia.
The whole commercial marine of Europe en
gaged in foreign trade was not equal in tonnage
to that of the vessels to be seen in the harbor
of New York in a single day. Liverpool was
hut a fishing hamlet. Austria and Prussia had
no port. Spain had no trade except a few gal
leons to and from her American colonies once
vc. year—France hardly as much. A cotton patch
' of five acres was almost a prodigy in South
Carolina and Georgia.
Whitney invented the cotton gin (the only
great Invention that was ever perfected by the
inventor,) slowly but surely it grew into favor,
and rendered the extensive culture of cotton
profitable. African slaves were unfit by nature
and capacity for commercial and manufacturing
pursuits, but the possession of the gin made it
profitable to employ them in the cotton fields.
Slave owners began to leave the worn out
lands of the sea-board and seek the fertile up
lands and valleys of the interior ; forests disap
peared and in their stead white-robed fields
were to be seen on every hand; in fifty years
the production of cotton increased from one
to two huiidred bales to millions. In the mean
time the sterility of the soil, severity of climate,
and the rapid increase of population, compelled
the people of the Eastern States to eke out the
scanty supplies to be drawn from the earth by
the exchange of their live stock and lumber for
West India productions and the fisheries. At
this point commenced that diversity of section
al pursuits and interests, which finally culmi
nated in the late war.
The rapid increase in the production of the
raw material consequent to the general use of
Whitney’s gin caused a corresponding increase
of English manufactories and shipping, as well
as all the mechanical arts employed in building
and fitting machinery and vessels ; thus sprang
up modern commerce. Then came the war of
1812, and found the United States destitute of
manufactures of arms, munitions of war and
clothing. The difficulty in obtaining these es
sentia] requisites for maintaining armies in the
field caused great embarrassment to military
operations and often produced serious disas
ters.
After the close of the war, while the evils of a
dependence upon foreign nations for articles of
prime necessity were fresh in the minds of all,
Congress placed a tariff upon imports to pro
tect and encourage home manufactures, as a
measure of defense, and the people of New
England, unable to subsist upon the products
of the soil, turned their attention to manufac
tures. The gallantry of our little navy had se
cured for it the favor of the people ; the fishe
ries had lumished our best seaman, and it was
deemed important in a national point of view
to encourage this school for seamen ; accord
ingly laws were enacted to pay bounties to
fishermen and to grant a draw track of the duties
paid on the salt used in curing fish. Naviga
tion laws were passed to encourage ship build
ing.
The most important, ifnotall these measures,
were proposed by Southern men, and carried
by Southern votes, with the full knowledge
that the taxes laid must be paid out of the pro
ducts of the soil, and consequently by the agri
cultural section, and that all the direct benefits
would be reaped by the North ; thus New Eng
land by the operation of these enactments be
came a manufacturing and commercial people.
The immense demand for iron created by the
invention and introduction of railways caused
the Middle States to strike hands with the
Eastern to procure a protective tariff for the
products of their mines, and the line of separa
tion between the North and South was distinct
ly drawn, and tne diversity of interests became
greater and greater until the two sections were
placed in absolute antagonism.
Southern statespaen (agriculturists) cheerful
ly taxed the agricultural interests to build up
manufactures and foster commerce in order to
render the country independent of foreign na
tions for the most necessary articles of eon
sumption in the event of war, they never anti
cipated that the measure of protection adequate
to establish new indnstrial pursuits in success
ful rivalry of the same interests already estab
lished and prosecuted by powerful and wealthy
nations for a long series of years, would not
suffice for their continued prosperous exist
ence ; they did not imagine that Yankee greed,
like the horse leech, would be forever crying,
“ give, give.”
In consequence of the mighty impulse which
the passage of these laws gave to manufactures
AUGUSTA, GA., WEDNESDAY MORNING, APRIL 4, 1866.
and commerce, a fresh impulse was given to the
culture of cotton, fresher and more fertile lands
were sought and brought into cultivation, aud
the product increased from 250,000 bales in
1815 to 4,400,000 bales in 1859, and in value from
$20,000,000 to $247,400,000; the cotton planter
producing but a small portion of his supplies
at home, consumed the products of the teem
ing West and caused its rapid settlement.
At length, convinced that the high tariffites of
the North would never be satisfied till they had
reduced the Southern States to the condition of
tributary provinces, paying into their eofferS the
whole profits of their labor, they seceded, a war
ensued, which has ended in their conquest and
the abolition of slavery.
Noiv the question recurs—can cotton be pro
duced by freedmen’s labor to a great extent ?
That it cannot the present year will be evident
from considering a few facts. Since 1861 three
hundred thousand hands have perished of des
titution and disease, nearly two hudred thous
and have been forced into the army ; thus a half
million have been taken permanently from cot
ton culture, representing a production of
2,000,000 bales; their places cannot be supplied
in many years. One-half the b&t cotton lands
of Georgia aud South Carolina have been utter
ly desolated, and if the means w<(|4e at hand,
could not now be put in order in time to plant
a crop this year. The Mississippi and Yazoo
Valleys are utter wastes and will produce a trifle
in comparison with the .1,000,000 bales once
gathered from them. I will give what I look
upon as a large estimate for the coming crop.
Texas 300,000 bales ; the country whose outlet
is New Orleans, 150,000 bales; Mobile, 150,000
bales ; Georgia, Florida and South Carolina,
200,000 bales, making an aggregate of 800,000
bales, barely sufficient to supply the mills of the
United States. Nor would it surprise me to see
cotton among the list of our imports, as we
already see rice and sugar.
That your readers may be able to appreciate
the difficulties attending the culture of cotton
by means of hired labor of any description, I
will present, some of the conditions requisite to
its profitable production. The first condition
is an adequate and certain supply of labor for
thirteen months at least,; the preparation of the
ground for the reception of the seed must com
mence with the first of the year. This is an
operation of no little labor, especially on the
bottom lands, which have heretofore produced
the greater portion of the crop. All the old
stalks must be pulled up by the roots and
burned. This can be done only by the stoutest
hands, by the aid of levers, the stalks being ten
to fifteen feet higli and three inches in diameter.
After the cotton comes up, the soil requires
almost constant stirring to prevent the growth
of grass and weeds; it must be kept as clean as I
a garden, or a sickly growth and greatly diinin- j
ished yield is the inevitable consequence. No !
one can imagine the rapidity and luxuriance of ,
the growth of crop, or crab grass, on all the '
cultivated lands of the South, who has not seen
it; consequently a total cessation of labor for a
single week, during the months of June and
July, would cause the loss of the entire profit
of the crop at least. The planter must then
have the certainty of controlling a sufficient
amount of labor at this season to secure any
remuneration for his own outlay and time. As
successful culture requires great judgment and
long continued experience to determine what
implements to use at different stages of growth
and under different conditions of the soil and
weather—a mode of culture that would, under*
certain conditions, promote the health and
vigor of the plant, would at another cause it
to become sickly and the forms («'. e. buds) to
fall off.
The picking season commences about the
middle of August and ends at Christmas. Then
the ginning and hauling to market will require
from one to two months more, making at least
thirteen months from the beginning to the end
of the crop year. To secure the crop the con
stant labor of the whole available force of the
plantation is needed. On good cotton lands
more is always produced than the force which
cultivated it can gather. Cotton must be gath
ered as soon after opening as possible or it will
fall out, or be beaten out by rains and wind,
and be entirely lost. A cessation of picking
for a single week during the height of the sea
son, when the best cotton is to lie gathered,
would entail tlie loss of the year’s profits at the
least. After a killing frost, (say from the mid
dle of November till Christmas,) negroes would
pick but little unless compelled. The pods be
come hard, presenting curved spines at the
open end, which scratch the hands; besiflts, it is
cold work in the early morning, and negroes
dread cold. Thus the top crop, which in some
seasons and certain localities is the major part,
would be partially lost.
Can the labor of the freedmen be secured
thus continuously and certainly, as the conduct
of a cotton plantation profitably absolutely re
quires? Every man who understands negro
character, especially every practical planter,
will unhesitatingly answer no. Until some
method can be devised to compel freedmen to
enter into contracts to labor for terms of years,
and to fulfil their contracts faithfully, till they
become in some form or other fixtures to the
soil, more or less permanent, their profitable
employment on cotton plantations is impossi
ble. Many planters, tempted by the present
high price of cotton, having the land, stock
and farming implements, are about to make the.
experiment of planting with freedmen’s labor ;
but they regard it as an experiment, and one ol
very doubtful success at that. They say they
have no idea of making more than a half crop
at best; indeed the absurd conditions imposed
by the Freedmen’s Bureau render it impossible.
Still, they say a half crop at present prices will
pay.
Will the freedmen cultivate cotton to any ex
tent, if plantations are divided ai*l as much
land assigned to each person or family, as he or
they ought to cultivate?
Negroes never have in any land, nor under
any circumstances, voluntarily engaged in per
sistent, continuous agricultural pursuits, as
either lessee or owner of the soil; nor is it to be
expected that those of the South will prove an
exception. They have not sufficient judgment
or intelligence to cultivate cotton successfully,
without continual supervision ; the.cuitivation
of one or two acres in corn and sweet potatoes
•will be all they will attempt. Their natural
traits of character, their indolence and total
want of forethought forbid anything more. A
case which was lately told me will serve as an
illustration of these traits and a proof of my
position. A planter last spring made a con
tract with eleven negroes—good hands—to
labor the balance of the year for a share of the
crop, who eventually agreed to take the cotton
as their share. Each of these bands could pick
from 200 to 300 pounds of cotton per day.
They commenced gathering their crop, and in
one week they picked 290 pounds (equal to
about 80 pounds ginned cotton) and quit work.
Some of the profound reasoners on subjects
of which they know nothing, whose premises
are founded upon what they imagine ought to
be, and those eloquent deciaimers upon “ the
rights of man,” without any reasoning, main
tain that slavery has debased the negro, and en
tailed these traits of character upon him. They,
in their blind ignorance or designing rascality,
have put the effect for the cause. Negroes were
' slaves in consequence of their degradation , not
degraded by being slaves ; on the contrary, they
have been uniformly elevated in the scale of hu
manity by being enslaved bv either of the other
races; and when freed from slavery they have
always rapidly relapsed into their original sav
age state. These facts are matters of history,
and we see the same process of degradation go
ing on all around us among those freed so lately
as May last. The doom of the race in the Uni
ted States is written —speedy extinction.
The last question to be determined is—Will
cotton ever be produced by white labor tcran
extent to render the United States the great
source from which the supply of the world
shall hereafter be derived ?
The mere cultivation of the plant requires no
greater skill than may be easily acquired under
proper instruction ; but picking requires edu
cated labor as much as spinning and weaving the
fabric, and the training must commence in
childhood. So well established was this fact,
that a South Carolina or Georgia negro would
always command a higher price than one from
Tennessee. The fact that on the better class of
cotton lands more could always lie grown than
could be gathered, rendered it all important to
have fast pickers. The best hand could pick
from 300 to 400 pounds per day, while those
put to this labor after being grown, or brought
from the poorer lands, could never lie made to
pick more than from 100 to 200 pounds, making
an immense difference in a season of four and
a half months’ duration. So, it is evident, that
if the negro laborers could at once be replaced
by whites on the plantations in the same order
they were in 1861, their utmost exertions could
not produce more than from one-third to oue
half a crop during the present generation.
But an insurmountable obstacle to the em
ployment of white labor on the best cotton
lands, the lands from which the millions of
bales were drawn, exists in the nature of the
climate and the hygienic conditions of the at
mosphere. Throughout these fertile valleys the
malaria is so deadly that no white man can live
there constantly. Some of the largest cotton
producing counties in Mississippi poll from 14
to 90 votes only, no one except overseers living
in them, and often from three to five different
overseers were employed on the same planta
tion in a single year, (three or four having
died,) and this too when they perform no labor
and avoid exposure to morning and evening
dews and the heat of the noon-tide sun, while
the negroes enjoy good health. The same is
the case in the swamps of Louisiana.
It requires the constant labor of all the
hands from daylight till dark, after the picking
season commences, to secure the crop. In a
half hour after the hands enter the field they
are as thoroughly wet from head to foot by the
dew as if they had been plungedsn a river. In
two or three hours the scorching rays of an
August sun are poured upon their bent backs
with an intensity of heat of which no Northern
er lias any conception ; yet the vast fields are
white before them, and they must toil on if
they would secure the fruits of their previous
labors. The malarious exhalations of the early
morning, the saturation of the clothes with
dew, and the subsequent exposure to the di
rect rays of the noon-tide sun would prostrate
any white man on a bed of sickness, of serious,
probably fatal sickness, in a week. A planter
only can realize the loss a month’s sickness at
this season entails.
Cotton will be raised on the poorer uplands
by white labor, as it always has been; but even
here they avoided exposure to the motning
dews and mid-day heats; consequently they
could never produce us much even on these
lands as a negro could. Many, stimulated by
the present high prices, will plant cotton, who
never raised a bale before, and many will un
dertake the cultivation ot the bottom lands; but
will they continue its culture '< I think not,
after prices return to their old standard.
England requires an abundant supply of
cheap cotton ; she has bent all her energies to
foster its production in all quarters of the globe,
with what success the rapid decline in prices
within the past twelve months abundant, evi
dence. There is every indication tiiat prices
will still continue to decline, and that within
five years Liverpool quotations will range from
6d. to lOd. per lb., if not even lower. When
this takes place cotton will cease to be cultiva
ted in the United States by white labor, and in
1876 we shall produce less cotton than in 1866.
Vidi.
A llaro Fate.—There is now residing near
the little village of Willlamsboro’, in the State
of North Carolina, an honorable veteran with a
family, a wife and five young children, living
upon charity. He is eighty-six years of age—
iought in the battle on the Lakes in the war
with England, under Perry and Elliot, and re
ceived irom the State of Virginia a sword, with
gold scabbard and mountings, in testimony of
the appreciation entertained of bis public ser
vices. At and before the late war, lie was a
captain in the Navy of the United States, and
in honorable retirement by the Star Chamber
Naval Board who sat upon the merits of other
deserving and distinguished men. When Vir
ginia passed the ordinance of secession, he re
signed his commission, which was all he had,
and from honest conviction, a sense of duty
and honorable instincts, cast his lot with the
Confederacy. Virginia supported him during
the war. That support has now ceased. Now,
he is penniless and dependent—absolutely so.
It is owing to the kindness of a friend in this
city, Major Smith, that he has a temporary shel
ter over his head. His dwelling in Portsmouth
is occupied by one who lias it from the Freed
man’s Bureau, or some other authority, and he
is thus prevented from returning to his home
and occupying his dwelling. The Attorney
General has been petitioned—and the President
of the United States has been appealed to by
his wife aud by his friends. But his crime was
in being an old naval officer, and who has not
the influence which some other naval officers
possessed, to obtain his pardon. He has been
told that he has committed a very grave offense,
and like the widow in Scripture, that he gave
away his mite*—doing all he could against the
best governnpnt that the • sun shines upon.
This veteran and dependent man is Hugh Nel
son Page, of the State of Virginia.
[Norfolk Virginian.
A correspondent, who recently visited the
tomb of Thomas Jefferson, says:
The walls inclosing the remains of Jefferson
and his wife and children, besides those of some
relatives, arc gradually falling to the ground.—
The gate is left unlocked, and ingress can be
obtained by every vandal curiosity-hunter dis
posed to desecrate the tomb of Jefferson for
the sake of possessing a chip of the stone monuj
ment covering his grave. To such an extent
has this petty larceny been curried, that the
tombstone presents the appearance of a broken
piece of granite. Even the gravestone of Mrs.
Jefferson has not escaped these thieves.
New York, March 25.—0n and alter the Ist
of April next, Messrs. Coolis & Cos., Financial
Agents of the Mexican Republic, will pay at
their office, No. 57 Broadway, interest in gold
due April Ist, on the $30,000,1X10 Mexican loan.
The Herald’s Mexican correspondent repre
sents the message of Governor Anderson, of
Ohio, in January last, as having produced quite
a sensation in the Republican party in Mexico.
From the Columbus (Ohio) Crisis.
Death of General J. H, Morgan.
An Authentic Account of that Event — He is Shot
Twenty Minutes after he had Surrendered to
the Federal Trooj)s.
BY AN EYK WITNESS.
Happening to be present at the death of Gen
eral J. H. Morgan, 1 have concluded to send
you a few memoranda of that and its accompa
nying events. I accompanied the expedition
into Tennessee made for the purpose of driving
back General Gillem’s brigade of Federal cav
alry. We arrived at Greenville early in the
evening of the 3d ot September, 1864. Green
ville Is distant from Bull’s Gap (General Gil
lem’s position) nineteen miles. The General
established his headquarters at the house of a
Mrs. Williams, in the town of Greenville.—
His own brigade was sent on the road leading
to Rodgorsville, to a point three miles from
Greenville, for the purpose of getting forage,
and a detachment of Tennessee cavalry, 600
strong, was ordered, under Colonel Bradford,
to encamp on the road leading to Bull’s Gap,
and to |pieket the roads leading towards the
enemy. This force was not increased, because
a larger number of horses could not be foraged
in that direction. The country between Green
ville and the Gap is billy aud wild, and very
poor. Gen. Gillcm stated afterwards that lie
received information of the status of affairs
about Greenville at half-past nine of that night.
He immediately moved bis command in the di
rection of Greenville; when about five miles
from town he halted, and sent a detachment
through the woods, and succeeded in getting
on the flank of Bradford’s command; he drove
him (Bradford) back from the road, leaving it
open to Greenville. 'A detachment of four com
panies of the 13th Tennessee cavalry was then
sent forward to charge the town. They met
with no resistance. The square on which Mrs.
W.’s house is situated (the house and grounds
occupy the square) was surrounded immediate
ly ; officers of the stuff being aroused by the
couriers, of whom there were three or four at
the front gate, rushed out and were captured
one-by one. Gen. Morgan attempted to escape
through tlie garden ; finding exit in that, direc
tion cut off, lie concealed himself umong some
grape vines. Ho had no weapon at all—Cap
tain Rogers having one of his pistols, Mr. John
son, A. A. G.’s clerk, the other. While the
officers of his staff and couriers were together
under guard within twenty yards of Ids place
of concealment, he necessarily heard the ques
tions asken them and the threats made against
them. The questions were as to his where
abouts—the threats to make them tell his place
of concealment. Seeing that there was no hope
of successful concealment, he came out and sur
rendered to Cupt. Wilcox, Cos. G, 18th Tennes
see cavalry. He had already both of Gen. M.’s
pistols in his possession. This Captain sat on
his horse (he and fifteen or twenty others had
ridden into the garden, having hrokei* down
the plank fence to get in) aud conversed with the
general aud us for some time—about ten or twen
ty minutes ;he then rode off. In a few minutes
after he left a man rode up and presented ids
gun at Gen. Morgan ; the General said : “For
God’s sake don’t shoot me—l am a prisoner.”
Tliegun was fired and the General fell. The muz
zle of the gun (a Colt’s army rlflc)was within two
feet of Morgan’s breast when it was discharged;
his clothing and his body were blackened with
powder. This man then dismounted aud threw
the General’s body across Ids horse, in front of
the saddle, and rode about town shouting
“here’s your horse thief.” When Gen. Gillem
gave us permission to go and nitond to Gen.
M.’s body, we found it lying in the road, about
one mile from the place where he had been
shot. It was so covered with mud tiiat we
could scarcely recognize it. The ball struck
the centre of the breast, about three or four
inches below its junction with the neck, and
came out behind the left hip bone. He met his
death as he met ids foes a thousand times be
fore ; there was no shrinking—not a quiver of a
nerve—though he saw murder in that brawny
felon’s eye. Kentucky will yet be proud of
John Morgan—of bis gallant, dashing life and
fearless death. And in the “ laud of sun and
flowers ” long will his deeds be the theme of
“song and story.” The man who shot him
was named Campbell, of Go. G, 18th Tennes
see cavalry. He was promoted to a lieutenancy
for bis bravery on this occasion.
At Knoxville the staff officers were locked up
in iron cages, in a jail, whose windows had
neither glass nor sash. They had neither change
of clothing nor overcoats nor blankets. These
had all been taken from them. They were per
mitted to go into the prison yard in the day
time, and they bad a dead line there.
We found at Knoxville several officers and
men of Morgan’s command, who bad been
taken two weeks before ns. They told ns that
the soldiers who captured them said that they
had orders not to take Gen. Morgan alive.
After this it was rumored that the soldiers of
Gen. Morgan’s command refused to take as
prisoners of war men belonging to the 13th
Tennessee cavalry. Gen. Gillem sent a commu
nication, under a flag of truce, to General Breck
inridge on this subject, complaining that some
members of tli# Thirteenth bad been killed, and
stating tiiat be supposed that it was done In re
taliation for the “reported" murder of Gen.
Morgan. lie stated tiiat Gen. Morgan had been
killed in fair fight, and enc’ >sed a copy of a
note from Capt. Rogers, o» Gen. M.’s staff, in
answer to one from hinr inquiring into the cir
cumstances of General Morgan’s death. (Rogers
was then a prisoner In Gen. Gillem’s bands.)
At the bottom of this copied note was writ
ten, “ A true copy. A. C. Gillem, Brigadier
General.” When General Breckinridge after
wards attacked and routed Gen. Gillem, we cap
tured his headquarters desk and private papers,
among which was the original note of Capt.
Rogers, altered and amended to read as the
copy Gen. Gillem sent Gen. 8., and very differ
ent from the said copy. These papers are still
in existence.
So far from Senator Douglas ever having ex
pressed the opinion attributed to him by Mr.
Bancroft, that Abraham Lincoln was Che most
honest man he ever knew, the Quincy (Illinois)
Herald says it is informed Mr. Douglas is
known to have entertained and expressed a dif
ferent opinion.— Petersburg Index.
We did not know Bancroft told any such
story on Douglas, but werfoknow tiiat Douglas
expressed himself, in his most cool and dispas
sionate conversation, to the full purport re
ported by the Quincy Herald. “ Unscrupulous
cunning” was the term he used In speaking of
him, more than once.
Since Mr. Bancroft has so high a regard for
Douglas’ opinion of men, it may be interesting
for him to know that Douglas considered a
meeting held in this city in defensedf the ideas
be was championing in 1858, os having )»een
greatly weakened by having “ a political imbe
cile” — Mr. Bancroft —as its chairman.
[Freeman’s Journal.
New York, March 25.—There Is continued
activity at the Fenian headquarters.
Reports from Ireland says that all letters for
suspected parties are opened by the post-office
authorities in that country.
VOL. 24. NO. 14.
The President and (Jen. Butler.
an interview on tiie frekdmen’s bureau
BII.L.
The Washington correspondent of the New
Orleans Crescent communicates to it the follow
ing account of an interview between the Presi
dent and Gen. B. F. Butler:
The interview was very lengthy, extending
over one hour and a half, during which time
the notorious Benjamin employed all the arts
of which he is capable to impress the Executive
mind. Ido not pretend to report the conver
sation verbatim, but present the substance of it,
and in some parts the exact words employed.
1 have also good reason to know that the
Crescent is the only Journal which lias received
accounts of this important interview. I may
premise that Butler has been for some time
frequenting the Radical haunts, and, although
holding no official.position, is recognized as an
efficient wire-puller. The President was not
astonished, therefore, when a card was brought
In, requesting the honor of a few minutes'
tete-a-tete ; but having been wearied by repeated
interviews on this same subject—the signing of
the Freedmen’s Bureau Bill—Mr. Johnson bad
become exhausted and petulant, and said in bis
expressive manner, “ When did he come ?
Well, let him come in.” After being seated
face to face with the President, the “hero of
New Orleans " laid out hi* case In full, urging
the approval of the bill, and suggesting its
adoption as the basis of a compromise between
the Capitol and the White House.
The President, with bis usual impcrtiirhlc
manner, listened to the entire rigmarole of the
politician, and then answered him with the
words of the statesman; words that were doubt
less immediately reported to Ills Radical friends
in waiting: “Gen. Butler, you are very well
versed in all the astute theories now urged In
the Capitol, but let us leave this slim-slam and
come down to plain common sense. We fought
this battle for the Union ; our entire course du
ring the war was an endeavor to restore the
States to their constitutional positions ; we tried
to do so in Georgia, and I ask you would you
not have received Georgia during the war as a
State of this Union had she sent a representa
tive to Congress ? Wherever I found a green
spot of loyalty In Tennessee I tried to sustain It,
and endeavored to obtain a representation for it.
If they were States then, why are they not
States now ? You have appointed judges over
them, you collect taxes In them, anil you remse
them representation. Why, they have not even
a delegate, like the Territories. Their voice—
the vote of eleven millions of people—cannot
be heard in the National Capitol. This is hard
and unjust. Are you afraid of a few Southern
members? Why not admit those who ean take
the oath and send the rest home to havo their
places tilled by other men? You think to
soothe me by admitting the Tennessee delega
tion, because I happen to belong to that State,
but the rights of every State of this Union arc
equally dear to me. Your party tulks very
much of supporting my policy, but when it
comes to voting, you follow a different course.
You talk of my kingly conduct, ‘of losing my
head;’ this is almost equivalent to Inciting peo
ple to assassinate me. If you proceed in tills
manner, a revolution will not bo far distant.—
In the name of God, when is this to stop?
This bill secures them—the negroes—all they
ought to liuve, and n little more, too. Ido not
say whether I will sign the bill or not.” After
Andy has once expressed his opinion, ho lias a
peculiar manner of shutting himself off from
the further conversation of the speaker, and
this manner he adopted on the preseut occa
sion. During the interview lie had continually
used the word General with a slightly satirical
tone.
Indiana Democratic State Convention.
This body met in Indianapolis on the 15th
lust., and after* nomination of candidates for
State officers adopted a platform, whereof the
following Is a synopsis:
The first resolution denies the right of seces
sion.
The second approves the reconstruction prin
ciples avowed in President Johnson’s annual
message, solemnly condemns the action of the
majority In Congress, cordially endorses the
veto, and pledges the President the eurnost and
disinterested support of the Indiana Democracy
in all liis conflicts with that tUnatlcal Congres
sional majority.
Third—Believes tfyit the sole power ot Con
gress over the admission of members is con
fined to their election return and qualifications;
that it h:is usurped powers in excluding from
representation eleven States, acknowledged to
be in the Union by having votes counted In
favor of the, constitutional amendment; that
the elected members from Southern States are
constitutionally qualified, and should be imme
diately admitted. Upon the refusal of Con
gress, it is the prerogative und the duty of the
President of the United States to defend and
uphold the integrity ot every State now in the
Union, aud take care that the laws be faithfully
executed.
Fourth—lt inflexibly opposes the prohibitory
or protective tariff.
I ifth—lt declares that taxation and represen
tation should go together, and that Government
bonds should oc taxed.
Sixth—lt repudiates the rebel debt.
Seventh—Thauks the soldiers and demands
the equalization of bounties.
Eighth—Pledges support, regardless of party
affiliations to any State or national official
guided by the principles this day avowed.
Ninth—Denounces the conferring of suffrage
upon negroes In the District of Columbia.
Tenth—Opposes the repeal of the constitu
tional article prohibiting negroes and mufattoes
from settling In the State.
Eleventh—Encourages immigration.
Twelfth—Eight hours should be the legal
day’s work.
Thirteenth—Favors religious toleration.
Fourteenth—Sternly condemns the immense
financial und other frauds of the abolition State
and Federal Governments.
Fifteenth—Pledges the party to oppose all
prohibitory liquor or Sunday laws.
Sixteenth—Denounces the expulsion of Mr.
Voorhees as a high-handed outrage of a profli
gate, unscrupulous party.
» ■ ———n ' ■ <*
The President Endorsed Auxin.— When
Andrew Johnson was a tailor iu the little town
of Greenville, East Tennessee, he had the re
putation of being one of the best tailors in all
that region of country. So popular was he that
the little boys were accustomed to sing upon
the streets the following verse, the product of
some youthful brain at the time :
If you want to buy a bran new coat,
I’ll tell you what to do;
Go down to Andrew Johnson’s shop,
And buy a long-tailed blue.
m i ii i
New Yobk, March 25. — A message from the
President to Gov. Hamilton, of Texas, iu which
be reiterates his hopes that the loyal represen
tatives irom the Boutb will be permitted to take
their seats in Congress, is published. It bears
date of February 16,1866.
