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THE WEEKLY CONSTITUTIONALIST
WEDNESDAY MORNING. MAY 29,1807.
TO OUR SUBCRIBERS.
Til* Wksklt Constitutionalist will here
aflcr lie mailed on Tuesday Ins lead of Wednes
day morning. Wc make this change to accom
modate many subscribers. It is oui aim jyid
purpose to make the paper a lirtt class news and
family journal, and we confident!} hope that
the influence of our subscribers will be exerted
to aid us In doing so by extending its circu
lation.
[Prom the New York World. .
THE LIST HOLY HORROR.
When that excellent citizen, and eminent
journalist, Mr. D. D. Forney, tore himself
away but -the other day from his onerons hi--
hors as Secretary of the Senate and editor of
“my two papers, both daily,” to start, as he
himself expressed it, upou a brief* “ tour of
•relaxation among the decrepit antiquities of
the other"henrsphere,” he made a little speech
to his clerks aud employees.” It was a toucli
. iug little speech, and sfit forth in the clearest
light the obligations under which L). D. Forney
has laid his country. But the eloquent orator
did nol*confl.ie hiiusclf to a retrospective reci
tal of his pa9t achievements in the cause of
public and of private morals. He announced,
with much grace, his intention of acting as a
volunteer missionary to the heathen of Europe.
“ While cleansing and purifying ourselves,”
exclaimed the spotless and anointed Foruey,
“we arc educating mankind ; aud when an in
telligent Americau citizen like myself passes
from his own new country into the ancient na
tions, he goes there in some respects a school
master.” As Forney has no w been in Europe
at least three weeks, he has, of course, got
through with all that the effete monarchies
have to show biin in the way ot ‘‘galleries,
stone effigies, and pyramids,” and is ready to
enter upon his pedagogic duties. We trust,
therefore, that he will lose no time iu im
pressing upon the European mmd the admira
ble results of liberty and civilization iu Massa
chusetts, as exemplified in the case of (he Rev
erend Sereno Howe, minister of the Gospel,
member of the Great and and a
conspicuous leader of the temperance aud anti
slavery reformation in the old Bay State. The
details of this case have been set forth iu the
Massachusetts journals with a fullness and par
ticularity which may well excuse us from re
ferring to them more minutely here. Suffice it
to say that, according to the testimony of these
Massachusetts journals, the Reverend Mr.
Howe, while engaged as’a member of the Mas
sachusetts Legislature in devisiug new ways
and means for depriving his fellow-citizens of
the right of moral self-control and in drawing
up projects soy the “edification of the young,”
was discovered to have been guilty of practices
which abundantly justify the old legal phrase
of Christendom, and which must, for human
nature’s sake, be alluded to only as “ crimes
not fit to be named among Christians.” Asa
# physical and moral phenomenon, the existence
“of Ruoh a person might well attract, aud would
certainly reward, the keen analysis of a Haw
thorne. A" Satyr in the disguise of a Baptist
minister; a modern Gilles de Retz feeding on
the bodies and souls of tender young children,
not iu a Norman casYle, but iu a New England
parsonage, is a study, not for the social satirist,
hut for tbc physicians of the soul. No sjch
ty pc seems to have passed under the tcalpel
anti the probe of Forbes Winslow, and it
is no proper function of the journalist to deal
with it.
But there is one aspect of this most shocking
story which it docs legitimately belong to the
sphere of journalism to dwell upon. The Rev.
Screno Howe, upon the discovery of his true
character, had he lived in any country of the Old
World, would have been ineon'iucntly seized
by the secular arm and delivered over to the
justice of the realm. Had he been u priest of
the Catholic Church in France, or the rector of
an Anglican parish, no considerations of polit
ical or ecclesiastical expediency would have
been suffered to secure for him indemnity and
escape. Painful and revolting as all investiga
tion into such offeuses against humanity must
necessarily be, it requires but a slight acquaint
ance with the tone of the bench, of the press,
aud of public opinion iu England or Fi ance to
satisfy us that nothing could have prevented
such investigation from being sharply, fear
lessly aud rigorously made. But in Massachu
setts—aud this is the point to which we hope
that our evangelist Forney will invite the spe
cial attention of Europe—in Massachusetts
this representative man of the most aggres
sively “ moral ” of all American common
wealths is no sooner confronted with his ac
cusers, and cowed into confessing his inde
scribable guilt, than Church aud Slate at once
couibiuc tor cover up the scandal, and to liurry
the accused out of the way as quickly as pos
sible. It does uot even appear tfiat so much as
the faintest form of a judicial examination into
the case was complied with. The man’s own
w ord is' taken for his crimes ; he is permitted
hastily to resigu his seat iu the Legislature;
and, with the obvious connivance*)! the au
thorities of the State, .lie is huddled off into
the darkness ot the outer world of the Gen
tiles. What becomes of him, or what is to
come from contact with him to other commu
nities beyond the pale of the Massachusetts
Israel, seems to have been a matter of profound
indifference to the ehoseu people within that
pale. That intensely moral and intensely loyal
community, which, as the French say, has
‘‘twisted itself in indignation” at the idea that
nobody should be banged or drawn or quartet
ered iu expiation of tbc crime of “ treason,”
eoudones with one consent a tissue of infamies
beside which the crime of “treason” shows as j
a light and venial offense. Radical New Eug
•laud newspapers so “ respectable” as the I’rov-!
ideuee Journal eau exult with brutal joy over I
the “ suicide” of political opponents like the
late Mr. Hise, of Kentucky; but no voice!
18 raised to dcuwu <* an exemplary vindication I
of . the moral sense of Massachusetts against
the damning charge of indifference to the
moral slaughter of scores of young children by !
the very hand to which they had been entrusted !
for nurture aud for admonitiou. This is the'
really startling and unprecedented feature of j
this last Massachusetts horror. The delver in
to the early records of the Puritan settlers of
New England will find that crimes similar to
and scarcely les9 atrocious than these of East
Abingdon darkened the dismal annals of those
lugubrious days; aud it needs no ghost come
from the dead to tell us that In the intervening
ve» r . these here been carefully bidden out of
' Ifcbt by .nose «bo have pretended to depic
the hiSlory of the land of the Filcnmr But
u-blle for such concealments it may be ideaded
that they are the dictates of a filial piety such
as Sbem and Japbet displayed towards their
unhappily “overtaken” sire, it is open and riot
to be denied that the Revtyend Sereno Howe,
iu bis capacity of a moral reformer and a Loyal
Leaguer, has received from the public 6ense of
Massachusetts a pardon aud a shelter which
would never have been extended to him had he
been a publican and a “copperhead.” Is this
the fruit of a Lllow-feeling in the secret heart
of Radicalism? Or is it simply the extreme
madness and sublimated selfishness of the
spirit of party triumphing over all that is due
to justice, to humanity, and to religion ? .What
ever be its origin, it is a 6lrange and terrible
outcome, is jt not, from that profound “cleans
ing aud purifying” whereof the enlightened
Foruey boasts that it has fitted such as himself
to be the instructors and “schoolmasters” of
mankind.
. BRow-Bsim sorsNos.
One of the m ast curious exemplifications oi
brow-beating may be found in the sbrewd inti
mation of Attoruey General Stanbert to the
Supreme Judges that they were little better
than m rt n of straw. He warned them that Con
gress could do terrible things, and not the least
terrible, impeach them or—most terrible of all —
cutoff their salaries. This kind of geutle sug
gestion seems to have had some effect, for the
great cases recently refused a hearing, for want
of jurisdiction, were brought to this unhappy
termination not so much by a contrary verdict
as by the inexplicable absence of Mr. Justice
Grier, an absence that, until satisfactorily ac
counted for, looks like a Congressional trick of
pairing off or dodging the issue. If Mr. Justiee
Grier favored an injunction, his absence
was culpable. If he did not favor it, he can be
forgiven. But, as the ivorld will probably
never know exactly what Mr. Justice Grier's
opinion on this point is, his conduct is liable
to stricture. Well may the Charlcsto n Mercury
observe in view of this strange business, that
“ the Supreme Court which was supposed to be
the citadel of the Constitution, may now be con
sidered its grave.”
If Congress has been abl* to impose upon
the Supreme Court, it has likewise made
science tremble. Prof. Agassiz, universally
rccogrilzed at the North as an infallible savant,
was so much afraid*of public opinion, which
has its focus in Congress, that he allowed a
great truth in science to lie hidden in his bosom,
because the very greatness* of it would have
militated against the aforesaid public opinion
and reduce him to the necessity of obtaining
more kicks than half pence. The following
paragraph from the San Francisco Industrial
Magazine will explaiu the remarkable utter
ances of Prof. Agassiz and his equally re
markable taciturnity :
“ Prof. Agassiz says that, as. the slavery
question is over, he is able to speak frankly of
the different races of men—that they are dis
tinct as the races of lower animals. The off
spring of two animals of the same race,
whether brute or human", is invariably like the
parents. The offspring of two different races
is invariably unlike either parent; and in
stances the mule and the mulatto.”
Having quoted his View of this ethnological
question, the editor pertinently asks what pre
vented the great Agassiz from 6aying this five
years ago ? It is a significant commentary
upon the liberality and intelligence of the Ame
rican people that a man so distinguished for
erudition cannot at times openly speak of’the
laws of nature from four of political ostraeiza
tion.
Aud yet -this is the Republican parly, (be
party of free speech, of enlightened policy, of
universal liberty, of God and humanity !
The Herard Correspondent*— I With the
New York Ihrctld self-praise and heavy lying
arc chronic complaints. The Mobile corres
pondent of that journal is thus shown up by
Major St. Paul, of the Times:
“There was on our light ou the night of the
panic at the Kelley meeting, an individual
represented to us as a special reporter for the
New York Herald. As far as we can remember
him, lie was in the prime of manhood, above
• lie middle size, stout aud square built.
“When the panic- commenced, and a move
ment was made by the c rowd to part in the
centre, this individual, iu bis terror and fear,
fell on liis belly and sneaked under the
speaker’s table, there disputing the small
protecting space with the speaker himself
and certain other, prominent officers of the
meeting.
“ How and when that individual crawled out
on liis knees and hands, we cannot tell, as
other equally amusing scenes were then engag
ing our attention, but as that individual was
•within touch of us, we can affirm that be telis
a willful falsehood wltqn he cays lie saw any
thing but the feet of the table under which lie
was hiding.
“And yet that individual, who had been
treated by the Mobile press with all possible
courtesy, to whom Southern editors had opened
their sauctum ; that individual, devoid of the
least particle of manhood, did not blush when
recovering from his fears, to send infamous
slanders as the report o' the affair, as if he
had had the courage to stand np and look
at it.”
Conquerors’ Rights.—To teach people that
conquerors have “ rights,” is to educate them
iuto despotism. As matters now staud, how
ever, it is no ordinary despotism with which
the South is cursed. It is the Abolition public
ofnnion of the North that is crushing and killing
the South, and there is no hope for this country
until that opinion is exploded. The majority of
the North, as the matter now stands, are iutent
upon carrying out the experiment of negro
freedbm and equality. Even Wendell Phillips
does not desire to persecute the South beyond
that point, and if Gen. Long-street siauds- ready
to “accept” the programme of amalgamation
as onc'ot the “ rights of the conqueror,” then
there may be peace aud good fellowship ahead.
As our friends of the Advertiser said, not long
since, when the South gave up the Union iuto
the? hands of their mortal cuemics, they com
mitted the terrible error which has been the
source of all their vrocs. We beg them to put
no more clubs in the hands of the AboliLiopists
with which to beat out their own brains. Least
of all, we regret to sec so ga’lant a man as Gen.
Longslrect contributing the Weight of his influ
ence in that direction, and acknowledging that
rights” can be gained Ly brute force —that
the bully or the highwayman, in fact, is the ar
c;icr of Uio rules of Eternal'Justice.
[Day Book.
THE BOOTH DIARY.
REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF WAR.
OFFICIAL COPT FROM THE JUDGE ADVOCATE
. general.
So much has been said about the spoliation of
the Booth diaiy since the charge was made by
General Butler in Cougress, that flic people
generally, and almost without an exception, the
leading journals demand shat the book be pub
lished, no matter whether its contents be im
portant or unimportant. Upon representations
to Mr. Johnson of all the circumstances, and of
the general demand that the diary be printed, in
order that the people may for themselves judge
of the frets and merits of the controversy in
reference to If, the President has given his con
sent that a copy be published. Mr. Johnson,
never hiving himself seen the diary, had, some
days ago, ordered a certified copy to be made,
which was accordingly* furnished. We are per
mitted to publish this record, as citified by the
Judge Advocate:
Executive Mansion, >
Washington, D. C., May 9, 1807. j
The Secretary of War will please Lmiisli the
President with a certified eo w of the “diary”
found upon the body o! J. Wilkes Booib, to
! gel her wilh a succinct slaleineiW of all the facts
connected with its capture and its possession
by the War Department.
Andrew Johnson.
War Department, )
Washington Orrr, Miy 11 1567. \
Sir: I have the honor to submit herewith a
copy of the entries contained in the memoran
dum book ‘found on the person of J. Wilkes
Booth at the time of his capture, certified by
General Holt, Judge Advocate GcaeiuJ, (who
has possession of the book,) together with his
report in relation thereto.
The memorandum book was first seen by me
about the 26th day of April, 1865, shortly alter
Booth’s capture, and a few hours before his re
mains reached Washington. It was brought
to my house by Provost Marshal Baker and
another person, who was, I think, Lieutenant
Colonel Conger.
The book was then examined by me, in pre
sence of General Eckert, Assistant Secretary
of War, aud was found to contain only the
entries certified by General Holt, also some
photographs of females. Immediately preced
ing the eutries some pages, appeared to have
been cut out, but there was nothing indicating
what had been written thereon or whether any
thing had been written, nor when or by whom
they had been cut out.
Immediately after careful examination of the
book and its contents, it was placed in the
hands of General Eckert, in the same condition
as when I first saw it, to be delivered to the
Judge Advocate General, in whose possession,
after its delivery to him by General Eckert, I
am intovmed aud believe it has continued until
the present time.
The last time I saw the book was some time
last winter. It was then before the Judiciary
Committee of the House of Representatives,
and was, in Ml respects, in exactly the same
condition as when I saw it first, without any
change or alteration, so fa»- as I could discover,
in its contents.
General Eckert-reported to me that, upqpi
receiving the memorandum book from me, he
sealed it up, and locked it up in his safe, and
it continued in his possession until he deliver
ed it to the Judge Advocate General, and that
it was then in th§ same condition as when it
was brought to my house by Baker.
Very respectfully, your obe’nt serv’t,
Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary ol War.
To the President.
The following is the copy of the writing
(which was in pencil,) found in the diary taken
from the body of J. Wi!ke\ Booth.
Official copy: * J. Holt,
Judge Advocate General,
• “7V Amo."
Apuib 13-14, Friday, the Ides.
Until, to-day, nothing was ever thought of
sacrificing to our country's wrongs. For six
months we had worked to capture. But our
cause being almost lost, something decisive
aud*great must be done. But its failure was
owing to others who did not strike for their
couutiy with a heart. I struck boldly, and
not as. the papers say. I walked with a flam
step through a thousand of his friends; was
slopped, but pushed on. A colonel was at bis
j side. I shouted sic semper before I tired. In
jumping, broke, my leg. 1 passed all his pick
ets. Rode sixi.v miles Unit night, with the
bone of my leg tearing the flesh at every
jump.
I can npver repent it, though we hated to
kill. Oiir country owed all her troubles to
him, and God simply made me the insti mneut
of Ins pmmhnvul.
Tnc country is not
April , 1865.
what i! was. This forced union is not what T
have loved. I care not what, becomes ot me. I
have no desire to outlive my country. This
night (belore the deed) I wrote a long nrtielc
and leu it (prone ot theeditorsof the A r . timid
lntelligen er, in which T fully set foilh our
leasoiis for our proceedings.* He or the Gov’r
• Friday, 21.
After being hunted like ,n dog through
swamps, woods, amt last night being, chased
by gunboats (ill I was forced to return wcl,
cold, aud starving, with every man’s band
against me, lam 'here -in despair. And why ?
For doing u ha. Brutus was honored lor. \Y ital
made Tell a Hero ? And yet I for sinking
down a greater tyrant than they ever knew am
looked upon a- a common eiit-iliro.it. My
j action was purer (inn either ot (heir-. One
j hoped to be great. The other had not onlv hi
j country’s b..t Ids own wrongs to avenge. I
• hoped for no gain. I knew no private wrong,
j I sii lick for inv country aud tu.it alone. A
! country ilia! g; owned beneath ibis tyranny and
; prayed lor (his end, and \<*i now ialiQl.t (tie
j t old hand they extend io me. God can to:
j pardon me if I hive done wrong. Yet 1 eun
| not see my wrong except iu serving a degenerate
j people, i’ne lit tie, t lie very little, I left behind
j to clear my name, the Gov’mt will not allow
lio be primed. So ends all. For my country
I have given up all that makes life sweet and
| holy, brought misery upon my family, aud aui
j sure there is no pardon iu the Heaven tor me
! since man condemns me so. I have only heard
of what has been done, (except what I did ray
self,) and it fills me with horror. God, try and
forgive me, aud bless my mother. To-night I
will once more try the river with the intent to
cross. Though 1 liavo a greater desire and
almost a mind to return to Washington and in
a measure clear my name—which I feel lean
do. Ido not repent Uie blow I struck. I may
before my God, but not to man. 1 think I have
done well. Though lam abandoned, with the
curse of Cain upon me, when, if the world
kne w mdiioait, that one blow would have made
me great, though I did desire no greatness.
To-ulglit I try to escape these blood lionn Is
once more. Who, who can read bis fate ?
God’s will be done.
I have too great son’, to die like a criminal.—
O, may he, may be spare me that, and let me
die bravely.
I bless the entire world. Have never hated
or wronged any one. This last was not a wrong
unless God deems it so*. And it’s with him to
damn or. bless me. And for this-brave boy
with me, who ofieu prays (yes, before and
since,) with a ti de and sincere heart, w s it
crime iu him, if so, why can he pr iy tHe same.
I do not wish to shed a drop of blood, but"
“I must tight the course.” ’Tis all that’s left
me ?
Upon a piece of paper foitnd iu the diary, and
supposed to have been torn from it, is written
the following:
* My Dea—, [piece torn out,] forgive me, but
I have some little pride. I cinnot blame you
for want of hospitality. You know your own
affairs. I was sick, tired, with a broken limb,
and in need of medical advice. I would*not
have turned a dog from my door in sueli a
plight.’ However, you were kind enough to
give us something to cat, for which I not only
tuatitk you, out oti Hcjoitui Oi the rebui,,
manner in which to—[piece torn out. | It i6
not the substance.bnt the way in which
ness is esteuded that makes one happy iu the
acceptance thereof. The sauce to meat is cere
mony. Meeting were bare without it. Be
kind enough to accept the enclosed §5 (although
hard to spate) for what have ree’d.
Most respectfully, your obedient servant.
REPORT OF* THE JUDGE ADVOCATE GENERAL.
Bureau of Military Justice, May 11/67.
Respectfully returned with the copy asked
tor.
The “ diary” purports to be one for 1864, nud
the leaves cut or torn Irom it probably contain
ed entries of that year aud were thus destroyed
by Booth himself. It is absolutely certain that
the diary is, in all respects, as it was when it
came into my hands, and Col. Conger, who
was prom incut in the pursuit and capture of
Booth, after having carefully examined it in my
presence on yesterday, declared its condition
lobe now precisely the same as when he look
it from Booth's body alter he had been shot—
the writing in it being the same and all which
it then contained. Col. Conger was evataiued
before the Judiciary Committee ol the House of
Representatives to-day.
J. Holt, Judge ’Advocate General.
Greeley and Gerrit Smith on Confiscation.
Ou the subject of confiscation, Mr. Greeley
said: “Now, what about confiscation ? I have
heard in Richmond that colored men will not
buy homes or land because they ate expecting
homesteads as the fruit of confiscation. (“ D t
so!” IVoin black ; “ not so!” from a white man.)
Believe me, friend, you can much sooner earn a
home. Confiscation is the work of years, by a
tedious legal process. If we have passed through
the* cxappei at ions* of the last two years
witivout carrying this idea into execution, wa
need not hope for it now. Tnad. Streeps, the
great man-who heads the movement, and who
is, perhaps, one ol the greatest men who ever
sat in Congress, is the duly advocate of spelt a
course among all our senators and Representa
tives. No bill has ever been reported to attain
such a result since the surrender of the rebel
armies.
“ The speaker, continuing, remarked that iu
his judgment confiscation would be attended
with famines and disastois such as never before
attended this country. Mr. Stevens argued that
$500,000,000 would be put in the treasury by con
fiscation-; but history had never yet furnished
an example w’liere $500,000,000 had becu put
into any treasury by confiscation. Confiscation
bred deadly feuds. ' The feuds commenced in
consequence of the confiscation of lands in Ire
land by Cromwell,* two hundred years ago,
were not settled to-day. He did not believe that
any wise man who was the friend of the black
man would advise them to wrest land by confis
cation from their neighbors.”
Mr. Smith (who was one of the earliest and
has been the most consistent Abolitionist in the
country) said:
The North was as responsible as the South
for slavery. He had contended for this in the
North. He had been chased by many mobs iu
his lifetime, but never by a Southern mob. They
were afl Northern, pro slavery mobs. Judicial
annals of the Northern States showecLthat slave
ry was countenanced by decisions in the courts
upholding the slave law.
The Northern people, cunningly as Yankees
are wont to do, gave to their schools and colle
ges a pro-slavery character. Slavery in the
South helped the North a great deal. In fact,
the North derived more benefit from slavery
than the South did.
“ You,” said he, “ only held the cow while we
milked her.” (Great laughter.j
[Here John Oliver (colored) proposed three
cheers for Gerrit Smith, which were given hearti
ly-J
He had said that there was a common respon
sibility between the North and the South for
the war. Let them both mingle their tears of
repentance, and let neither of them say, “ I am
innocent.”
He then spoke of the charity he would gladly
extend to the Southern people to relieve their
wants, aud it he could, he would for a half
dozen years relieve them from direct Federal
tax.
The speaker next took up the subject of the
relation of the whites and blacks towards each
other. Why should not the whites, love the
blacks ? Think of them for generations toiling
for you patiently and earnestly. Think of this,
and love them, for such is God’s will.
He agreed with Mr. Greeley that much grati
tude was due the colored people by those who
had left them during the war in charge of their
property and families, and iu no instance was it
known that, they had violated their trust.
He then urged the white landholders to facili
tate the blacks in getting homes ; for when they
had a home they would be better citizens. He
enjoined npou them not to be unwilling to ‘sell
lands to the blacks ; for if you do, they will
judge you to be their persecutors. m
Sell them cheap, and give them a long pay
day. Don’t grudge them their newborn freedom
and tlieir newly acquired right of the ballot. Ac
quiesce in this new state of affairs. They have
got,*these rights, and they are due them. He
would also caution the whites against impartial
legislation.
The blacks lie asked, why could they not love
the whiles? (The colored portion of the
audience here shouted almost to a man. “We
do love them.” This drew out applause from
the whiles, which was responded to by the
blacks, aud very good feeling was evinced.)
The speaker was pleased at (his.* He said it was
the best thing he had heard during the evening.
Mr. Davis.
Tlic Sf. Louis (Mo.) Dispatch docs not be
lieve Unit Mr. Davis will ever be brought (o
trial. It says:
The did -would be n legal adjudication of a
question already submitted to. and forever .set
tled by the nib; r’.lir-ut-ofthc sv\ ord. I would
be the submission by (he vietor of .the. whole
subj 'et of contest to a court and jut y, with a
po-etiiiilv of an adverse issue. We ti .tdiv
lliink stu ban ab irdi y will be com mi ted. It
is mueb 'more tvobnle lhai the trial will be
postponed, lho jm i- mar re’e,'se t on bail, amt
I lie whole in titer ended by a pat Ion.”.
The Boston Advertiser sajr.* of the.release :
The bail will never surrender their prisoner,
and will nev-M- pay their bond ; *by soma expe
dient or ot ‘ter the business 'will be ms fibred to
.ooze away; Hr Deople of Richmond will be
gently jet down from their excitement, and by
some decorous proQp.-s the ease will be dis
missed and the rebel leader will be freed under
circumstances which lor drum.die effect, which
he so much consults, are rather better for his
purposes than an acquittal.
The New’ York Times says :
We understand, on what ought to be good
authority, as coming directly from Chief Jus
tice Chase himself, that he was not in auy way
a party to the release of Jefferson Davis oil
bail. He knew nothing whatever ot Judge
Underwood’s intention, was not consulted by
him on the subject, but fully expected that tfce
trial would take place, and that he himself
would preside at it. Nor is he now aware of
the reasons which led to a different result.—
Judge Underwood acted in the matter wholly
on his own responsibility—so far at loa6f as any
persons officially connected the Gove: i>-
ment were concerned. We do no: vouch for
the truth of this statement—lmt only for the
fact that it com -s :o us directly from a reliable
person, who claims to have received it from
the Chi f Justice.
The lutcrmtl Revenue Commissioner, in
transmitting his decision favoring the deduc
tion from income on account of 10-scs on
stocks, incidentally promulgates a principle
which the assessors and- others concerned in
the administration of the sv<-
tera arc prouc to forget. Theirlcn#u iM-inci
ple appears to be to interpret theTur^ulversely
to the tax payer, and on every point ol doubt
ful construction to take advantage of their
power, and decide in favor of the Government.
Mi. Rollins, on the other hand, reminds oneot
his official correspondents that the construc
tion of the Tax Law should be conti oiled by
the deposition of Congress in regard to it; and
since that disposition was last session decided
ly in favor of the tax payer, tlie rule should be
to decule doubtful points in the stone spirit.
This is the true rule at all times, and though
strengthened by the action of Congress, should
not be dependent on it. In the interpretation
of law the bias should be toward the rights of
the citizen, and especially iu detcruiluibg UL
liability as a tax payer.
General Order Concerning 'Registration.
Headquarters Third jJilitary District, l
(Georgia, Alabama and Frorida,) >
Atlanta, Georgia, May 31,18d7. )
General Orders No. 30.
In accordance with an act of Congress, sup
plementary jo nu act to provide a more efficient
government for the rebel States, & ■., dated
March 3d, ISO 7, the following arrangements are
herein made for the registration of voters in the
States ol Georgia aud Alabama : t
I. The States of Georgia and Alabama are
Jivided iqto registration districts, numbered
aud bouuded, as hereinafter described.
11. A Board of Registration is herein ap
pointed for each district, as above* mentioned,
to consist of two white Registers, and one
colored Register. In the State of Georgia,
where only the two white Registers are desig
nated iti .this order, it is directed that these
white Registers in each district immediately
select, and cause to be duly qualified, a com
petent colored man to complete the Board ol
Registration, ami report his name and post
office address, without delay, to Colonel C. C.
Sibley, commanding disiiiet of Georgia, at
Macon, Georgia.
111. Kncli Register will be required to take
and subscribe the oath prescribed by Congress,
by an act Mated <Ju'v 3, 1363, and an additional
oath to discharge i.ulhiuHy ihc duly of Register
under the late acts ol Congress. It is not be
lieved that any of the appointees, hereinafter
designated, will be unable to take the. test oath
-drove mentioned. Blank terms of these oaths
will be sent to the appointees at open, and on
being executed and returned to the Superin
tendents of State registration, their commis
sions as Reg islet s will be issued, aud forwarded
io them immediately.
IV. In order to secure a full registration of
voters, it is determined to fix the compensat ion
of Registers according to the general rule adopt
ed in taking the c ensus. In the cities, ihc com
pensation is fixed at tittcen cents tor each record
ed voter; in the most sparsely settled counties
and districts, at forty cents per voter. The
compensation will be graduated between these
limits, according to the density of the popula
tion, aud the facilities of communication. Teu
cents per mile will be allowed for transporta
tion of Registers off the lines of railroads or
steamboats, and five cents per mile, wheu t ravel
is done on railroads and steambqats.
V. It is hereby made the duty of all Regis
ters, and they will be expected to perform it
strictly, to explain to till persons, who have cot
heretofore eujoyed the right of suffrage, what
are their political rights and privileges, and the
necessity of exercising them upon all proper
occasions.
VI. The name of each voter shall appear in
the list of voters, for the precinct or ward in
which he resides; and in cases where voters
have, beeu unable to register, whilst the Boards
of Registration wereiu the wards or precincts,
where such voters live, opportunity will be
given t<f register at the county seats ot their
respective counties, at a specified time, of which
due uo(ice will be given ; but the names of all
voters, thus registered, will be placed on the
lists of voters of their respective precincts.
VII. The Boards ol Registration will give
due uoliec, so that it may reach all persons en
titled to register, of the date when they will be
in each election precinct; the time they will
spend in it; and the place whore the registra
tion will be made; and upon the completion of
the registration lor each county, the Board of
Registration will give notice that they will be
present, for three successive days, at the county
seat of such county, to register such voters, as.
have failed to register, or been prevented from
registering in their respective precincts, and to
hear evideuce in the cases of voters, rejected
by the Registers in the several precincts, who
may desire to present testimony in their own
behalf.
VIII. Unless otherwise instructed hereafter,
Boards of Registration are directed, in derterm
ining whether applicants to register are legally
qualified, to hold that the terras “executive
and judicial,” in the act of Congress of March
23, 1867, comprise all persons whomsoever,
who have held office under the Executive or
Judicial Departments of the State or National
Governments —in other words, all officers not
legislative, which last are also excluded by the
act. Persons who apply, td register, but who
are considered disqualified by the boards, will
be permitted to take the required oath, which,
with the objections of the board, will be held
for adjudication hereafter.
IX. The lists of registered voters for eacli of
the precincts will be exposed in some public
place iu that precinct, for ten consecutive days,
at some time subsequent to the completion ol
the registration for each county, and before
any election is held, in order that all supposed
cases ol -fraudulclii. registration may be thor
oughly investigated. Dire notice wilt be given
and provision made for the time ami place for
the examination and settlement of such eases.
* X. Blank books of oaths required lo be da
ken bv voters, and blank registration lists, as
also lull and detailed instructions for llie per
formance of their dtnies, will • be at once for
warded :o the Boards of Registration, oppoint
cd in tiiis o der, and it is enjoined upon these
boards lira! they proceed to complete the reg
istration with till energy and dispatch.
XI. The de ailed instructions to Registers
will designate the member ot each board who
shall lie iis President.
XII. Violence, or threats ol violence, or any.
Ollier oppressive means to prevent any person
from registering his name, or exercising bis
political rights, are positively prohibited ; and
it is distinctly announced (hat no contract or
agreement with laborers, which deprives lljein
of tlieir wages for any longer time than that
actually consumed in re, gi-loring or voting,
will be'permitted to be enforc'd ug.iind thorn
in tiiis district; and this off •■use, or any pre
viously mentioned in this paragraph, will'c mse
the immediate arrest of the off aider and his
trial before a mdii.cy commission.
X‘lL Tnc e\-o;ci>e of (be tight of every
day authorized voter, under the late :n in of
Cong»ess m register aud vote, is guaranteed
%y the milt a .v authorities in tiiis. district ; and
a ! l persons whom oever sue warned against
any attempt to interim* to prevent any man
from exorcising this right, under any pretext
winder*, other tbuu objuiiou by the usual
legal Hinder
XiV. Ii case of any disturbance, or violence
at i tie places of registration, or any molestation,
o. Registers or of applicants to register, the
Board o Rogid ratio j will call upon the local
e vil nut ho, i. i -i- for a police force, or a pos-cto
arrest tlie offenders and preserve quiet, or, if
necessary, upofi then cares;, military authorities,
who are hereby instructed to furnish the neces
sary aid. Any c* vil officials who refuse, or who
fail to pi ot eel Registers, or applicants to re
gister, will be reported to the headquarters of
the officer commanding in the State, wdio will
arrest such delinquents, and send charges
against them to these headquarters, that they
may be brought before a military commission.
* * * * * # *
By Command of Brevet Major General Pope.
G. K. Sanderson,
Capt. 33d Infantry, and A. A. A. G.
The Right of Negroes to Enter Thea
tres.—The following important correspon
dence appears in the Newv Orleans papers :
Mayoralty of New Orleans, )
City Hall, May 14, 18<»7. $
'Hem y D. Ogden, City Attorney:
Sir : I have flic honor to request your opinion
relative to the right of coffee houses, restau
rants, theatres, etc., managers of public balls,
etc., io refuse the selling of their mercluiUuioc,
or admitiance into their es! ablisLnicuU, to any
portion or portions of citizens. ,
Very respectfully, your o'dt serv’f,
E. Heath, Mayor.
In answer to the Mayor’s communication,
Judge Ogden replies, after acknowledging the
receipt of-the same, as follows :
I have the honor to submit that I entertain no
doubt of the 1 g .1 right of tjie above enumerat
ed cither to ret use the soiling or admit! inee Jo
any portion or portions of citizens or inhabit
ants. .. .. ,r
In accordance with this opinion the Mayor
issued a proclamation; warning all persons
against attempts to enforce their supposed
lights L»V violence.
Gerard H illock, for many vense editor of the
New York Journal of Commerce , a wealthy
and benevolent man, once said: “From my
boyhood I have observed that every man grew
covetous in proportion as be grew rich, if be
did not keep giving.”
[From the Montgomery Mail.
The Effort to Depose General Joseph E.
Johnston.
Our city sister, Selma, lias been unfortunate
of late. Wo ale glad to see, however, that her
true flirted men have had spirit enough to
resist successfully the attempt of the Saffold-
F.tirbanks parly to oust Gen. Joseph E. John
ston fiom the Piesidency of the Seim*, Rome
and Dalton Railroad Company. It will lie re
membered tluil last year a certain Mr. Breed, a
Cincinnati man, who represented himself as a
millionaire, entered into a contract with the
company by which the road was leased to him*
tor ten years, in consideration of the payment
of a certain sum per mile annually, he binding
himself to complete the road to Dalton within
forty months for $31,000 per mile, if made with
his own funds, or tor $25,000 a mile if the
means were raised on the credit of the com
pany. Recently, Mr. Breed bag come forward
and admitted that lie is merely a man of straw,
and that be cannot build the road without the
credit'of the company. Hence, lie declares
that be will proceed ub further with bi-> con
tract unless the company wilt issue $3,005,000
in bonds, and additional emiliyates ol stock to
! the amount of $1,250,000, -one million and a
j quarters of the former to be taken by him with
' stie stock al eighty cents on the dollar in pay
ment for the construction of the road at $31,000
per mile as the woi k* progreicc*, the remainder
of the bonds to be deposited m New York iu
trust for the redemption of Hie first and second
mortgage bonds of the company.
Under this proposition it will be seen that
the money to build jthe road would be raised
upon the credit of the company, and that Breed
would get $31,000 a mile, instead of $25,000 a
mile, as under the ex sting agreement.
Tiffs proposition* if assented to by the com
pany, would have put more than a million of
dollars into the pockets of Breed and bis back
ers. It was hoped that Selma, llnough fear of
a delay in building (lie road, would accept the
new proposition. The Damocles sword which
Mr. Breed held over the city was his threat to
throw up his existing contract, unless the com
pany yielded to bis demand. It will be seen
that such a threat is after the style ot the Re
publican threat of confiscation, which is held
in terrorem over the heads of ah oppressed peo
ple.
Fortunately, for the interests of Selma end
the company, General Johnston, the President
of the road, objected from the outset to a ratifi
cation of Breed’s demand. Hence it .became
an object for the friends of the repudiators to
remove General Johustou from the Presidency,
at the recent election for Directors. At the
annual meetiug of stockholders Mr. Barney,
agent of Mr. Breed, approached the subject
shrewdly, speaking one word for Mr. Breed
and hinting two words against General John
ston. Whereupon Judge Byrd referred with
warmth to the statement of Mr. Barney that
General Johnston’s name had been an obstacle
in negotiating with Northern capitalists, and in
reply to a diselaimei of Mr. Barney, of any
other than kind leelings individually for Gen
eral J., Judge Byrd referred to the general be
lief that the change of the city government by
the military authorities had been hastened in
order to cast the city vote against the General.
Mr. Hall, of the new city council, said that lie
had beeu appointed to east the city vote, unin
structed; yet it was apparent that no instruc
tions were necessary for such a council to vote
against General Johnston.
Ex-Mayor Reese stated that the old city
council had designed voting for General John
ston.
General Pettus came to the aid of General
Joliuston with a speech which demolished the
Breed repudiation ; and the following resolu
tions offered by Judge Byrd were adopted by a
large majority :
Resolved , That the stockholders disapprove
the contract lately proposed to be made by the
Board of Directors with Mr. Breed, and they
prefer to stand ou the original contract
by the Board of Directors with him in \866.
Resolved, That the Board of Directors to be
elected by this Convention be authorized to
make the best contract they can for the interest
of the creditors and stockholders of the com
pany, for completion ol the road at the earliest
practicable time, and we hereby pledge our
selves to sustain whatever they may do in the
premises.
When this matter was disposed of General
Joseph E. Johnston was re-elected President
of the company, by a large majority. We con
gratulate Selma upon this action of tlt,e stock
holders of the road. It exhibits a determina
tion not to be brow-beaten by the so-called
capitalists, whose favor many people appear to
regard as a better thing titan respect for our
own good and tiye citizens. Tire Northern
capitalist who refuses, to invest in a Southern
railroad because an honest and intelligent gen
tleman like General Johnston presides over it,
would refuse to do so because it is a Southern
road.
It is a matter of honor to Alabama that this *
attempt to reconstruct Hie Selina, Rome and
Dalton Railroad Company has been routed,
horse, loot and dragoons.
The Antecedents of Hayward, the In
cendiart.—A communication to the National
Intelligencer says :
Jedekinh K. Hayward is from the town of
Hopkinion, New Hump-hire. The year before
the opening of (lie war be-, was a jneniber of
Dartmouth College,amu was held in utter con
tempt by bis entire class. He was elected a
member of one of lh" secret college societies
be!< re his true .char u*'or was known to (be as
sociation, and when h .was made known to
them lie was expelled. Hi* then, in ulfcr dis
regard of the obligations which lie solemnly
assumed iu lavonting a member of the society,
divulged all iis secrets, and Ibis, superadded to
the depravities for which be was expelled,
awakened Ihc ludigirbion of the whole body of
siitdenis onVule the society lo such a degree
t hat he skujked country, not daring
to remain during the senior year at college,
and did not graduate with Ids i-lass mute. .
Din ing his college life he attempted to teach a
school, but getting into a fight with one of his
scholars, Was so so erely handled as to put a
stop lo Ills labors as a teacher of youth.—
Since he was driven from college by his out
raged fellow-st a dents be has Keen roaming In
various ]»laee.—-at one lime in Plymouth, Mas
sachusetts and at another in New York city,
I ttrning up as a pliiLiiihropUt in a negro as
semblage, and l. -t as criminal before the city
authorities in Richmond. We have no unkind
word- to use against this violent and bad man,
and will only say that .when such men of mad
ness are thrown upon the surface of Southern
society to shape and control its destinies, calm
and good men may well be alarmed for the
country, especially in such times of inflamed
passions as these which are passing. The pco
ple-who know Hayward, and especially the stir
dents of Dartmouth College, during his noto
rious connection with that institution, will
more tliau corroborate all we have suggested
of him, and appreciate the idea Os heralding
him as a philanthropist.
The New York Tribune lectures M. du
Chail! u on It is lecture a few days ago on the
negro. The stone of offense appears to be that
the gorilla-finder, after reviewing the condition
of the negro in his savage state in his native
home, and contending that tlie African has no
“ power of progression,” proceeds to say : “Os
all the uncivilized nations, the negro has been
found the most tractable and docile, and he has
a number of good qualifies that compensate, in
a measure, 'or the bad ones. We ought, there-,
fore, to be kind to him and elevate bun. Tiiat
he will follow in tlie coiir.-e of time, other
lower races, and will finally disappear, I have
very linle doubt.”
Tue Tribun ? tells M. du Chaillu that he may
be a very good hand at felling traveler’s talcs,
but be should confine himself to that, and not
deal iu generalization.
| Charleston News.
The New York Herald \s alarmed at the re
sults of the Radical crusade against the South.
Congress did the mischief and it very properly
appeals to Congress to remedy it as follows:
“ Congress should come to the rescue on this
point. It should certainly assemble in July and
take measures to provide against political cam
paigning iu districts not politically free, but
subject to military law. If it does not we shall
see undone all that lias hitherto been done
toward a restoration ol the States.” ,
•