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About Weekly constitutionalist. (Augusta, Ga.) 185?-1877 | View Entire Issue (July 10, 1867)
THE WEEKLY CONSTITUTIONALIST WEDNESDAY »ft)RNINO. JULY ,1*67. TO OUR SUBORIBEES. The Weekly Constitutional!* 1, will here after be mailed <»n Tuesday ins ead of day morning. * We make Ibis change to accom mod.tte many .PbacrlbOT. « purpose to make the paper a first class pews anil family journal, and we confidently hope that the influence of our subscribers will be exerted to aid us In doing so by extending its circu lation. THE GLORIOUS FOUETH. The following extracts will speak for themselves: Congress shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives; that the Senate shall be composed of two Senators from each State, chosen by the Legislature thereof for six years; and that the House of Represen tatives shall be composed of members chosen every second year by the people of the sev eral States, and that “ Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which shall be included with in this Union, according to their respective numbers.”— Constitution of the United States— so-called. WHO MADE THE UNION ? Answered by Thad. Stevens : “ Massa chusetts, Pennsylvania, and the town of Lancaster.” Answered by the Constitution: “We, the People of the United States.” WHAT HAS BECOME OF THE UNION ? That devoted East Tennessee loyalist, T. A. R. Nelson, asks and answers: And what has become of that glorious Union which the resolution of 1801 averred it was the fixed and unalterable purpose of Congress to maintain ? What has becouie of that glorious Union for which —not to speak of the heroic efforts of the patriot soldiers of the North —more than twenty thousand of the sons of East Tennessee so long and so bravely battled? Where is the Union of 1861 ? Where are the thirty six States that then composed it ?* Where is the'Constitution that bound them to gether ? Where are the Senators and Rep resentatives who, in accordance with its provisions, were elected by the States and the people, and have a "right to compose the Congress ? The rebels tried, in vain, to destroy that Union and overthrow the Gov ernment ; and it has been left to the parri cidal hands of Northern politicians to do what the rebels failed to do; to do what the patriot men who fought for its preserva tion on five hundred battle fields said should not be done; it lias been left to them, the unscrupulous minions of revenge, the mer ciless political tyrants of the North, with unlineal hands to dissolve—but it is to be hoped only for a little season —the political i bands which connected us together. No politician of any party dreamed of such a result in 1861. No officer or soldier of the Federal army who knew what he was light ing about, ever toiled, or suffered, or fought, or bled for such a consummation. And yet, treating it as a practical question, look ing to results just as they are, I repeat that the Union of iB6l has been, and is, dissolv ed ; not by the efforts of rebel soldiers, not by the efforts of Tennessee soldiers, but by the herculean efforts of Charles Sumner and Thad. Stevens, and their misguided satellites and followers in Congress. Yet, deny it as they may, smooth it over as they may, recoil as they well may from their own horrible work, Congress itself has done what Southern cannon and Southern mus ketry could not do. It has kept, and is still keeping, ten sovereign States out of the Union. THE RESOLUTION OF 1861. In July, 1861, the following resolution,, of fered by Mr. Crittenden, was passed by an almost unanimous vote in both Houses of Congress, viz: “That, in this national emergency , Congress banishing all feeling of passion or resentment, tcill recollect only its duly to the whole country ; that this tear is not waged, upon our part, in j any spirit of oppression, nor for any purpose j of conquest or subjugation, nor purpose of j overthrowing or interfering with the rights or i established institutions for those States , but to ! defend add maintain the supremacy of the Constitution, and to preserve the Union, with all the dignity, equality, and of the seve ral States unimpaired; that, as soon as these objects are accomplished, the tear ought to cease." HOW IT IIAB BEEN KEPT. The same remarkable man, T. A. R. Nel soNj shows how it has been kept : There it stands, and will stand forever, ion the journals of Congress—a solernu de- j claration, in the presence of Almighty God, and of all the nations of the earth, as to what were the great objects and purposes of the war. There it stood, down to the very close of the conflict, a pledge to Union men, a pledge to rebels, a manifesto to all the world that the Constitution and the Union were the sole objects of the war. There it stood, and will stand forever, a pledge that slavery would not be abolished. There it stood, and will stand forever, as a pledge to the rebels that, if they would surrender at any time before the resolution should be re pealed, they would not be treated as a con quered or subjugated people. There it stood, and will stand forever, not merely as au in vitation to the rebel States to abandon the rebellion, but as a guarantee to them, by the only war-making power known to the Constitution, that if they would ground their arms they should be treated as an un conquered people, and their dignity, equali ty, and rights remain unimpaired. Ami how have these solemn promises beeu main tained? Congress kept the sublime oath s lt wou M “ banish all feeling of SyKS w resentment, and recollect M ,' vhole Country ?” Look Charles le^ lers - There stands who lea , der of the Senate, .courage to resent it. Afw ‘X. m ,7 ►pat speech on the * barbarism of sla”lrv " he was denounced bv Mr er A’ floor of the Senate, as rope, crawling through the ba?k cSorto whine at the feet of British artetoSScy craving pity and reaping a rich harvest oH contempt—the slanderer of States and of men.” There stands Thaddeus Stevens the leader of the House, who has doubtless suf sered from Southern Bit or quailed before • Southern denunciation. There they stand, with* festering hatred of the South and of Southern men, too timid to resent Southern .nsults when they were offered, and like all vther cowards, destitute of magnanimity ®nd implacable In their revenge. There I .t. froaded to madness by the mcm ! £££2s insnTts, dreading the return of ! southern talent and invective to the conn- j . uKI debates'of the nation, plotting every possible means of humiliation ! Animated hr the strongest feelings of passion and re sentment, they ignore the noble patriotism of the resolution of 1861, and with fiendish exultation and delight, forge and rivet the { chains of conquest and subjugation upon their fallen and powerless enemies, and re joice in the thought that the once haughty ; and imperious South is so much impover- j islied and humbled by the adverse fortunes ! of war that it dare not, if it would, utter one murmur of complaint. A QUESTION FOR FEDERAL HEROES. Did you volunteer to fight for negro equality and a violation of the Constitution, j or to uphold and maintain that sacred in-: strument in all its parts ? A RADICAL SHAM. TJie Thirty-sixth Congress (the first Abo-: lition or Republican Congress that ever j assembled) had solemnly recommended to the people of the States the adoption of the Adams-Co’rwin amendment to the Constitu tion, which proposed to place slavery on a firmer basis than it had ever occfupjed be fore, and to declare that it should never be abolished in any State without the consent of the people of that State. That resolution was adopted by the Republicans (“so called 1 ’) during the last session in which I served in Congress, and was urged by me when I came home in all my speeches, and in the address which I published near the close of the canvass, as one of the strongest arguments to show the folly and Avicked ness of the rebellion. — T. A. R. Nelson. WHAT’s IN A NAME ? The great and patriotic struggle for the Union has degenerated into a selfish contest for place and power. It is not names which should distinguish Uniou men from rebels. All history proves that principles may be sacrificed under a show of patriotism, and despotism established in the name of free dom.—lbid. CONFISCATION. Bills of this sort ha\ r e been most.usually passed in England in times of rebellion, or of gross subserviency to the Crown, or of violent political excitement, periods in which all nations are most liable (as well the free as the enslaved,) to forget their duties and to trample upon the rights and liberties of others. During the Revolutionary war bills of attainder and ex post facto acts of confis cation were passed to a w ide extent, and the evils resulting therefrom \\ r ere supposed, iu times of more cool reflection, to have far outweighed any imagined good.— Judge Story. BTATE RIGHTS. We (as States) have rights, which the Federal Government must not invade, rights superior to its power, on which our sover eignty depends, and we do mean to assert these rights against all tyrannical assump tions of authority. [ Chief Justice Chase, August 19, 1864. You cannot forcibly hold men in this Union, for the attempt to do so, it seems to me, would subvert the -first principles of the government under Avhich we live.—Benja min Wade, Vice-President. Cong. Globe. 34 th Congress, p. 25. Any people, anywhere, being inclined and i having the power, have the right to rise up | and shake off the existing government and foym anew one that suits them better. Nor j is this right confined to cases in Avhich the ; people of an existing government may choose !to exercise it. —Abraham Lincoln. Cong. Globe. 30th Congress, p. 94. If the Declaration of Independence justi- I fled the secession from the British Empire I of 3,000,000 colonists in 1776, avc do not see i Avhy it should not justify the secession of j 5,000,000 of Southerners from the Union in |lß6l. WheneA'er a considerable section of our Union is all deliberately resolved to go out, Ave shall resist all coercive measures design-* ed to keep them in. We hope never to Ih'e in a Republic Avhereof one section is pinned to another by bayonets. If the cotton States unitedly and earnestly Avish to AvitlidraAV peaceably from the Union, Ave think they should and Avould be allowed to do so. Any attempt to compel them by force to remain would be contrary to the principles enunciated in the immortal Dec laration of Independence—contrary to the fundamental ideas on Avhich human liberty is based. \Horace Greeley, Nov. 26. Dec. 17, 1860. AV. H. SEAVARD TO THE FOREIGN POWERS. *There is not even a pretext for the com plaint that the disaffected States are to be conquered by the United States, if the revo lution fall; for the rights of the States, and the condition of every human being in them, Avill remain subject to exactly the same luavs and form of administration, AVhether the revolution shall succeed or Avhether it shall fail. Jn ease the States would be federally connected with the neAv Confederacy; "in the other, they as noAV, be members of the United States ; but their constitutions and laAvs, customs, habits, and institutions in either case avIII remain the same. HOW HE TOOK THE OATH. “ With certain mental reservations.” [Charles Sumner. THE LABOR OF HERCULES. “ I liaA e labored nineteen years to take sixteen States out of this Union.” [ Wendell Phillips. * A TERRIBLE CONFESSION. “ Mr. Mallory, this Avar, so far as I have anything to do Avith it, is carried on on the idea that there is a Union sentiment in those gtates, AAiiich, set free from the con trol now. held over it by the presence of the Confederate or rebel power, will be suffi cient to replace those States in the Union. If I am mistaken in this, if there is no such sentiment there, if the people of those States are determined w ith unanimity, that their States shall not be members of this Confederacy, it Is beyond the power of the people of the other States to force them to remain in the Union; and,” said he, “in that contingency—in the contingency that there is not that sentiment there —THlS WAR IS NOT ONLY AN ERROR, IT IS j A CRIME. —Abraham Lincoln, in the pres- \ ence of Mr. Crittenden. THB WORDS OF MB. LIK COLX, AS DICTATED BT HIS OWS IDEAS OF BIGHT. “1 have no p ur P oec > directly or indirectly, to interfere with the insti tution of slavery where it exists. I believe I have no lawful right to do so, and have no in tention to do so.”— Mr. Lin coin's Inaugural, March, 4,lß6l. “ The war is waged to preserve the rights and equality of the States unimpaired.” Congrct iionaJ Resolution signed j| 61 ‘* fr - Lincoln, July, THE WORDS OP MR LIS - AS DICTATED BT HIS PARTT. “ I Abraham Lincoln, do hereby order and de c'are that all persons held as slaves in the said States are and hereaft r shall be free.”—Procla mation Sept. 22, 1862. “To whom it may con concern—Any proposition which embraces the res toration of peice, the in tegrity of the whole Union, and the abandon ment of slavery, and which comes by and with an authority that can control the armies now at war against the United States, will be received and considered by the executive government.” —Proclamation, July 18, lw4* R. l p. Died. —ln Washington City, District of, Columbia, on Monday, May 13th, 1867, of paralysis, Columbia Liberty, after a se vere and protracted illness of seven tedious years. BANQUO’S GHOST. “ The National Debt is a National SAvindle.”— N. V. Herald. CRUELTY TO PRISONERS OF WAR. About two weeks since, we bad occasion to correct some slanderous comparisons institu ted by Harper's Weekly, conceruiug the treat ment of prisoners of war, Federal and Confed erate. In sneering at the state of society in this region, Harper said that Andersouville was merely the legitimate growth of Southern civ ilization and would hare been impossible at the North. We took this declaration for what it was worth and briefly but severely exposed its falsity. We shOAved that Andersonville Avas made possible by Northern vandalism, barbari ty and bad faith, not by Southern depravity. The invasions, cruel and unusual, of such Huns as Sheridan, Sherman and Pope caused much of the suffering at Andersonville. Wit ness the desolations of the Valley of Virginia and Georgia from the mountains to the sea. Witness that brutal order, so scrupulously car ried out, to “make the land’s ruin so thorough that a crow flying over Avould have to carry his own rations.” This Avas Gen. Grant’s signal for barn burning, implement-smashing, crop destroying, famine-producing in the South and ferociously was he obeyed by his lieutenants. Witness the repeated violations of the cartel of exchauge. Witness the vigorous blockade by land and sea making medicine difficult and al most impossible of procuration. Witness the forcible theft of laborers Avherever the Federals trsd. We went further and averred that statistics proved greater fatalities in the different North ern prison pens than in the Confederate gaols. We have seen these statistics, from an official Yankee source, and know that tne per ceutage bore heavily against Southern life. The New York Times has taken up the cud gels for the North in reply to an article from the Richmond Enquirer. An answer has been elicited from the Rev. J. G. Wilson, President of Huntsville Female College, who brings to light a frightful scene of inhumauity, wheu all the Northern land was full of comforts, full of wealth and full of “ New England ideas.” Mr. Wilson’s communication is as follows : Female College,* ) Huntsville, Ala., Tuesday, June 18. ( To the Editor of the New York Times : My attention has been called to an article in your paper of 31st ult., in which, replying to some remarks of the Richmond Enquirer in re gard to the treatment of prisoners, it is said : “ Nobody on either side ever pretended for a moment that rebel prisoners ever died in our hands or even seriously suffered for lack of food or clothing or shelter. Nosuch charge has ever been made.” Will you then permit such charges to be made through your columns? 1 was captured in October, 1863, aud spent six mouths in Camp Mortou. In March, 1864, I was remoA r ed to Fort Delaware, where I remained until June, 1865. The winter of 1863-’4 is well known to have been intensely se\*ere. Many rebel prisoners, to myOAvnknoAvledge, spent that winter without a blanket, and in the scant and ragged summer clothing worn Avhen eaptnied. The barracks were the old cattle sheds Used when the prison was a fair ground, and open enough for the winter Avinds to sweep through freely. Scores of the men in the dead of winter slept in these sheds, upon the hare ground, without covering, huddliug together likj hogs to keep from freezing. It is well known to hundreds now living that several died, actually frozen to death, Avhile a large number were so badly frost-bitten as to be lamed for life. During the larger portion of the time the hospital arrangements were shamefully defi cient, and by many of the surgeons and atten dants the sick were not only grossly neglected but most inhumanly ireated. Men barely able to crawl, through weakness from insufficient food and disease consequent upon exposure, were forced, in the se\-erest winter weather, to stand at roll-call for two and often three or more hours in line, like sol diers on dress parade, and cursed like brutes or beaten over the heads with sabres or clubs, and sometimes shot at for moving a little to keep from freezing. In several instances -pris oners were shot on the most frivolous pretexts. A quiet orderly man, an Englishman named Coats, belonging to my division was murdered in cold blood by a private of the Invalid Corps named Baker, who was on guard. Instead of being tried and punished; B ker, though a private, was sent next morning into camp to take charge, as Sergeant, of our divi sion, in which position he heaped upon the de fenseless men every indignity that so inhuman a wretch could devise. At the very time that such aii outcry was raised about the mortality among Northern soldiers in Southern prisons,* the inmates of Camp Morton knew the mortality then in pro portion to the number of men to be several per cent, greater. At Fort Delaware our barracks were more comfortable, but the rations were miserably in sufficient, and prisoners who could not Obtain money from friends with which to procure ex tra supplies from the sutlers, suffered the pangs of hunger night and day, and reduced to skele tons, and eaten np by scurvy from scanty and unwholesome food, fell ready victims to dis ease, and died by hundreds. At the close of the war, of about 7,000 men in one pen, fully one-half, if not three-fourths, were but walking skeletons, hundreds of them ruined for life with scurvy. It was a daily occurrence lor large numbers of the men to be beaten over the head with bludgeons, or kept for hours tied up by the thumbs In the most agonizing torture. A Dutch Lieutenant, Dietz, in charge of our pen, was for weeks in the habit of coming in with a large cowhide and lashing the meu most un mercifully—in one instance cutting a gash in the face of an Alabamian named Pardue, in which'your finger could lia\’e been laid. ' It was no uncommon thing for the guards, npou the slightest pretext, to fire into the quar ters in which Were 300 or 400 men, and several prisoners were needlessly and recklessly killed by them. The above, and the half has not been told, are plain, nnexaggerated facts, which can be substantiated by most unquestionable testimo ny, and for the truth of which I pledge my character and repntation as a minister of the gospel. I request the insertion of this as an act of justice. J. G. Wilson, President of Huntsville Female College. This statement so plain, so pointed and so full of authority compelled the editor of the Times to remark : “ This letter comes from a souree so respect able and responsible, and its statements are so specific, that we have no hesitation in publish ing it Our Government has no excuse for in humanity to the prisoners it captured during the war, and its honor is involved in punishing with just severity all instances of such cruelty on the part of its agents as are specified above.” There seems to be a vast dqal ot delusion on subject of Northern inhumanity even among journals so famous as the Times. Will this candid editor pot Mr. Wilson’s facts to good account, or will he, as is generally the case, ignore them as soon as possible, and six months hence, declare that “ nobody on either side ever pretended for a moment that rebel prisoners ever died in our (Yankee) hands, or even seriously suffered for lack ot food or clothing or shelter ?” Will he lurther declare that “no such charge has ever been made ?” Mr. Wilson’s statement is one of several hundreds, but the rnau who wrote the Philadelphia Con vention Address and afterward rejoined the Black Republican party ; who usually spoke one way and voted another way, can aflord to be astonished at an unvarnished recital of Federal barbarism and then very quietly forget all about it. IS THIS THE WAY TO GET IT ? In a letter from Hon. Joseph E. Brown, addressed to the Philadelphia Press , (one of Fornet’s papers,) and appearing in that jour nal under date of the 17th ult., we read the following: “My sincere desire is to seethe Union re stored as speedily as possible, and with it amnesty for the past and fraternity and har mony for the future—each section bearing its just share of the burdens, and receiving its fan proportion of the benefits of a common gov ernment.” Now, we would in all seriousness *ask il ex- Governor Brown or any other man of half the ability possessed by that gentleman, supposes for one single instant that the success of the Sherman plan of reconstruction would eventu ate in arfy such desirable state of affairs as that in this excerpt alluded to ? Is there any “ amnesty ” proffered by the plan ?—is there any hope of “ fraternity is there any reasonable prospect of “ harmony for the future held out f” Where, for instance, is its forgiveness, when its very soul and essence is a lasting condemna tion to political irapotency and shame of some of the best men in the South? Where its “fraternity,” when the man of the North is made a Dives and the man of the South poor Lazarus, to feed on the crumbs that fall from the rich man’s table ? Where its “ harmouy,” when race is perpetually arrayed against race and section against section? No! Ex-Gov. Brown knows in the light of his own con science and in the sight of God, that there is only persecution instead of amnesty, civil war for fraternity and the discords of hell in the place of harmony in this latest spawn of ava rice, ambition, hate, cowardice and trickery. Give us “ amnesty for the past and fraterni ty and harmony for the future it is all we ask The platform which sets this forth is our plat form, the party advocating this our party, the men who favor it our friends, and though such men be black with the smoke of an hundred battles against Liberty and the South, we can, in all political acceptation, stand side by side and shoulder to shoulder with them in the days to come. MYSTERY OF MYSTERIES. Col. Donn Piatt, editor of the Mac-a-cheek Press , a Radical journal, tells some horrible tales out of school, and tells them, too, with the mystery of a German philosepher. In a recent number of his paper we read : “ Committees are appointed by Congress and one of these, nearly a year since, traced a fraud involving a million of dollars to the door of an official so high in office and the affections of the people that all would be startled and pained were it made public. And the report has never bceu published. And why? Because it might affect the next election.” There are several individuals high in office and popular affection, and it is but just to the innocent that the illustrious culprit, the politi cal Sebexo Howe, be exposed in public meet ing. Give us his name, thou sage of Mac-a cheek, and let the country repose from guess ing. If there be further concealment, many people will determine that, like a prince of the blue blood, he is too mighty to name, though low enough to steal. Close upon the heels ol this Udolpho sensa tion, we find the following startling rumor in that staid and respectable journal, the Atlanta Intelligencer : Disgusted.— Jt is said that one of those fa mous patriots who are hunting for soft places under the Government, and who recently went North to solicit alms to aid in running a Radi cal paper in Georgia, has returned somewhat disgusted with his brethren of the higher lati tudes. They were slow in coming down w ith the material aid. They have no objection to paying emissaries from their own section, but don’t seem frantic to entrust funds in the hands of Southern Radicals. Perhaps they are right. Speak! Tho people of Georgia burst with curiosity. Let the “.famous patriot ” have his day of notoriety. Every tea table is resonant with guesses and conjectures. Speak! It is not Br ? not Bar— ? not Sc ? Bpeak ! thou man of steel, and save the “ land you love.” BEGISTEATION. We call attention to an address to the people of Chatham county, in another column, ema nating from Mayor E. C. Anderson, General Henry R. Jackson and other distinguished citizens ot Savannah. The necessity of a prompt and general registration of the whites is clearly and eloquently presented. We must repeat that, whether in favor of a Convention or opposed to it, registration is the*only way to make the Convention serviceable, and likewise, in case of attempted mismanagement and degradation, the only way to apply the corrective. What is said ,n this address to the people of Chatham applies with equal force to the people of Richmond and other counties. Onr readers should give an earnest perusal and, as far as their consciences permit, come forward at once and secure a title to suffrage. A Terrible Picture.— A' correspondent of the New York Hetald , writing from South Carolina, says : “ Great [are] the apprehensions of the whites of a negro State government, which, from the 'barbaric- ignorance of their blacks, will be apt to adopt such laws of heathenish confiscation, agrarianism and negro social equality as will make existence in the State intolerable to the white man and worse than death to the white woman.' On the side of the blacks there [is] a corresponding degree ot enthusiasm, and they [havej already fn their political meetings thrown out some ominous hints of making property exclusively pay the expenses of the State, and of giving some unusual exemptions and State favors to the laboring class.” A harsh specimen of the “ fraternity, amnesty and harmony ” predicted by Gov. Brown as a necessary consequence of the Sherman Bill. Ben Wade crows and his pnpils imitate him. A distinguished New York divine, pressed to go to Europe, is angry upon his return to find his substitute so mnch preferred by his parishioners that they propose to retain him and let the “ original Jacob ” go. Such action will stop a great deal of bronchitis. There is a church at New Haven, Connecti cut, built and endowed by the late Gerard Hal leck, of the New York Journal of Commerce, the special object of which [s to “ preach re ligion and not politics.” Confederate Numbers in the War.— An abstract of the returns of the Confederate armies shows that the greatest number of soldiers of all arms and rrfnks on the rolls at any one time was 550,000; the greatest number present lor duty at any one time was 300,000, and then only for a brief period, besides a few thousaud rangers and bushwhackers. At only three pe riods did Lee’s army number 100,000 present lor duty. When McClellan, with 147,000 men, feared to advance toward Manassas, supposing the enemy had 150,000 men, their actual force was less than 40,000. When McClellan reached the peninsula, says the Cincinnati Gazette (Radical), and was held in check at Yorktown by Magruder, with what he supposed to be the whole rebel army, Magru der had barely 15,000. When he reached the Chickahominy with over 100,000 men, and fear ed to advance because he estimated the enemy’s force at over 200,000, they had but 47,000, which was increased in May to 67,000. When Meade reached the Rappahannock, after Gettysburg, with 80,000 men, Lee had but 45,000. This Was when Halleck was directing operations, and he forbade the -offensive. In October, wbeu Meade had 70,000 and Lee 45,000, Meade was driven back*within sight of Washington. There are many other figures iu these returns which will be found more interesting, historic ally, than gratifying, to military pride. In spite of our preponderance of numbers the rebels generally managed to be strongest at the point of attack. Our triumph was not achieved by military genius in the conimauders, but by the pasieut endurance and most lavish sacrifice of the men, and by an expenditure of m.*ans as if the national resources had no limit. Marriage of a Well Known Clergyman. —The Rev. J. L. M. Curry, formerly a member of the United States Congress, and subsequent ly of the Confederate Congress, from Alabama, but now an eminent Baptist clergyman, was married in Richmond, Virginia, on Tuesday evening, to Miss Mary W. Thomas, daughter of James Thomas, Esq., of that city. The Rich mond Dispatch says : The bridal party left Richmond Tuesday night for New York, where they remain until Saturday, when they will take the steamer for Europe. They will be accompanied on their ocean voyage by the Rev. Dr. Samson, of Co lumbian College, Washington ; Rev. Dr. Wil liams, of the First Baptist Church, Baltimore ; Rev. Professor Thomas Hume, late ot Peters burg, but now of the Dauville (Va.) Female College ; Professor Huntington, of Columbian College ; Rev. 't. W. Tobey, of Alabama ; Rev. Win. D. Thomas, of Greeneville, S. C-, and several lady friends. Thad. Stevens. —Mr. Drake, one of the edi tors of the, Union Springs (Ala.) Tunes , who is now traveling in the Northern States, had an interview, a few days since, with Thaddeus Ste vens, at his home. After a long interview, dur ing which the old man of the mill seemed in clined to dodge, Mr. Drake said : “Suppose, sir, Alabama should organize a government enfranchising the negro, providing for his education, and giving ample guarantees for his protection before the courts and in so ciety, and under that government should send good men, who could take the ‘test oath,’ to Congress, would you admit her to representa tion ?” Without a moment’s pause, he answered with strong emphasis, “ No, sir,” and thus closed the interview. New England Ideas, Killing, as a Fine Art. —Horace Greeley has made the crime of feeticide the subject of a recent article. Dr. Blanchard Fosgate, formerly physician to the New York State Prison, at Auburn, classes it among tho recent causes for the increase of crime in general in greater ratio than the in crease of population in this country would seem to warrant. Dr. H. G. Stover, of Boston, has written a book on the subject, which shows that the people of Massachusetts, respect of this particular crime, in the villages as well as iu the cities, “are nearly twice as corrupt as the population of France, and eight-fold more de praved ihen that of the city of New York.” The Right Spirit.—We copy from the Churchman an article with the caption “ a visit to Georgia.” It is gratifying to know that oc casionally there comes among us those who have Christianity so developed as to constrain them to write of things as they find them—who are possessed of that charity which vaunteth not itself and which bclieveth all thiugs and hopeth all things. We trust that the writer s suggestion to his brethern with reference to an Episcopal Church for the co’ored people of our city will be heeded by those who have the means. He evinces a fair appreciation of the colored people in the remark that moderate i ituaiism would suit their tastes and temperaments. A New Plan.—The Herald's South Carolina correspondent has settled the reconstruction scheme for that unhappy State. He says : “The iqanifest destiny of South Carolina, if peace is to be maintained between her two races, is the relinquishment of her soil by the whites to the absolute occupation of the blacks.” As this is a neat way of interpreting the Sher man Bill, we wonder what Gov. Orr and Gen. Hampton think of it ? The Whole Object.— The New York Herald thinks that the Reconstruction question will give no further trouble, since it is now deemed certain that the proscriptions, intimidations, and apathy of the whites, and the successfal manipulation of the negroes, will give the Southern Btates to the Radicals. This is what was wanted, and the object of the whole schem ing. The Plot Confessed !—The Washington Chronicle has announced : “ If we reach the day of that election with the constitutional amendments not adopted , and Andrew Johnson still acting President of the Lnited States , there will not be wisdom enough in the land to prevent another fearful struggle." The Radicals are determined to have another war among themselves, in order to get “ more enjoyment—more recreation.” Come op Philip Sheridan ! Profoundly Grateful.— Secretary Beward expressed himself profoundly grateful to the Connecticut Assembly for permitting him to “ speak what he thitk6 and what he feels.” The Secretary, says the World, is at least consistent in regarding that as an unusual privilege for himself which he has so often denied as the right of other American citizens. The inconvenience, says the Madison News, which we have so long and patiently borne, from being deprived of mail facilities, seem about to be removed to some extent. Mr. Thomas Hollis, of this place, has taken a con tract to carry the mail from Madison to Eaton ton tri-weekly, beginning on the first of July. A Card. New York, June 24, 1567. To the Editor of the New York Times Sir: 1 notice in the journals of this morning a card signed by J. M. Knap]*, in reference to a suit which 1 have commenced, to procure an injunction against the Merchants’ Union Ex press Company, and for a receiver of its pro perty. I commenced that-suit for myself and my associates for the purpose, if possible, of sav ing something lrom the wreck of the concern, and to prevent further unwarranted expend i tures. I believe the facts stated in the com plaint, as published in this morning’s Herald , can each and all be proved. I shall prosecute the suit with vigor. It will appear therciu that the secret and clandestine arrangements alleged in the complaint are not “ simply ridiculous, as well as recklessly and wantonly untrue.” Mr. Knapp may not have bceu aware the efforts that have been made to effect such a selling out of our company, but others of the defendants were. As to Mr. Knapp’s suggestion, that ihc- com pany is not insolvent, but, on the contrary, has several hundred thousand dollars, I have only to say that it is sufficiently negatived by the fact that #2,000,000 mors have been called for by it to put into that omnivorous rat-hole—its treasury—l do not propose to pay. I have in structed my counsel to receive the answer which Mr. Knapp says will be served “at ouce,” aud I will unite with him in any “force” which be may see fit to use to hasten the trial. Meanwhile, my associates who entertain an opinion similar to myself will decline to pay the further‘call of ten per cent. It is the last feather. Respectfully yours, 8. P. Waterburt. Query ?—“ Does the electiou for or against a convention include the election for delegates at the 6ame time, or will separate elections be held ?” There will be but one election. The supple mentary bill provides that registered voters shall write the names of candidates for said con vention on one side and on the reverse the words “for a convention” or ‘agaiust a conven tion.” Paragraph 3 of the supplementary bill pro vides : “ That at said election, the registered voters of each state shall vote for or against a Conven tion to form a constitution therefor, under this act. Those voting in favor of such a conven tion shall have written or printed on their bal lots by which they vote for delegates as afore said, the words “for a convention.” Those voting against such convention, shall hare writteq or printed on each ballot the words “against a convention.” Rents. —This is the season when landlords and tenants a#e usually making arrangements for another year. There is a general feeling that rents must be reduced, and, as we noticed a day or two since, oue or two landlords have voluntarily made material differences. In Columbus about a hundred tenants have addressed the following to the landlords and property holders: The undersigned tenants have determined unanimously that the present rate of rents paid for business houses is.excessively higher than is justified by the present condition of financial and commercial affi'irs, and it is agreed that ifr is only necessary to respectfully call the atten tion of property-holders to the necessity for if, in order to secure such an*abatement a-> would be equitable. That rents have been too high cannot l»c questioned, and it certainly needs no laboreil argument to prove that business men arc less able to pay high rents now than formerly. If any have a doubt of this, we would refer to the great reduction in income ; none but property holders having any to report. The present is dark indeed; but the future shows nothing but gloom to the merchant.— With no profits for a year, and no hopes of any in the immediate future, we must curtail oui expenses, among the most important of which is house rent. There are vacant houses which wc could se cure at much less rent than we are now paying, but we have become identified with the houses we occupy, and desire, with lower rents, to pre serve that identity; hoping, with this prudent precaution, to pass safety through the approach ing financial storm, or that, perchance, it may happily blow away, and we may again be able to pay the rents which have been recently so remunerative to our landlords. Hoping to preveul the confusion which would result from a general removal from our present locations to cheaper houses now va cant, and about to become so ; and, before adopting any of the other propositions which have been suggested to secure lower rents, we, f ne undersigned tenants, would re-pcctfulty re quest our landlords aud the property holders in the city generally, to make, before the first of August, such equitable agreement with their tenants, for a reduction in rents for the coming year as will he just to the landlord, and, at the same time, not burdensome to the tenant. Cholera. The Epidemic Raging in Memphis — Forewarned, Are we Forearmedf The following important information has been furnished the Republican Banner by Sur geon A. C. Swartzwelder, in response to the re quest of Dr. Joseph Jones, Health Officer ot tbe city ol Nashville: Nashville, June 27, 1867. Dr. Joseph Jones , Health Officer city of Nash ville : Mr Sir: The enclosed telegrams have been received from Memphis and Louisville.— Every confidence may be placed in their cor rectness. To the good citizens of Nashville, that from Memphis is of the highest moment. It looks as if a dark cloud were gathering in the Southwest, which at any moment may fall upon their devoted heads. If, in your judgment, their publication will do any good you are at liberty so to use them. Very sincerely, your-ob’t serv’t, A. C. Swartzwelder, Surgeon IT. 8. Vo Is. Memphis, June 27, 1867. To Maj. Gen. W. P. Carlin , Asst. Com.: About seventy (70) persons have died ot the cholera since June 13th ; seveu (7) deaths re ported yesterday. [Bigned] Fred. 8. Palmers, Lt. Col. and Sub. Asst. Com Louisville, June 27,1867. To Bv't Maj. Gen. W. P. Carlin , Asst. Com: Only one (1) case of cholera has been report ea in Louisville this season. [Signed] Sidney Burbank, A6«t. Coro- Fallen by the Way.— The Mobile Register says with much pith, “wc must not be sapris ed if multitudes of our public men fall by the way and yield, »#me, early, like Gov. Patton and Brown, and others, later, like Gen. Loag street and Capt. Senmoes. Wc ask tbe read er’s careful perusal of the argument of tb« clear-sighted and brave Georgia statesman, to show that everything, including” honor, is to be lost, and notbiog to be gained by the course which these gentlemen advise. In so solemn » dilemma, let no man be governed by the weight of names, but jndge for himself on his con conscience and Ms duty to God and country
