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About Weekly constitutionalist. (Augusta, Ga.) 185?-1877 | View Entire Issue (July 31, 1867)
THE WEEKLY CONSTITUTIONALIST * [From the Chronicle & Sentinel. * Notes on the Situation. , JJY B. H. HILL. NUMBER VIU. Even, then, if wc are really a conquered people, I have shown that by the well-es tablished rules of the laws of war and of nations, we are not “ subject to the will of the conqueror,” except as that will was de clared before the surrender, and, therefore, agreed to by the surrender. I have shown that any terms prescrilied after the -war is over, and alter a surrender *is. accepted, are not only not binding on the conquered but are infamous in the conqueror, and amount to a i*nv declaration of war against those who were entrapped into laying dowif tlietf arms, and who are, therefore, for the time being, helpless. And whether Congress or the Executive, or both, as is variously claimed, pr whether the President, and the Benate (as is the truth), be the peace mak ing power ol tic- United States, I have shown from the official records of each and all, that the only conditions demanded of the Southern people, in laying down tiieir arms, were the preservation of the Union under the Constitution, with the single change of the abolition of slavery, which single cliai!g<‘ was very doubtfully and im perfectly demanded, but was very promptly and cheerfully yielded. No principles, than those 1 have an nounced, arc better settled, or more in con sonance with natur&l reason and justice; no terms were ever more distinctly declared as the purpose of waging the Avar, or more j sacredly promised as the conditions of the peac-; and no surrendering people ever did more promptly, more absolutely, more sub missively, or with one-tenth the sacrifice of property and hope and pride and feeling, comply with all the terms demanded on their part, than did the Hon them States and people. They laid down their arms ; they gave up the great principle of govern ment which t iieir fathers taught them never to yield, audio maintain which they had fought so long and endured so much ; though already impoverished they gave up four billions more of properly —the descend ed patrimony of centuries ; they struck tin letters from their slaves by their own, con sent, and, with words of encouragement and hope, gave the freed slaves, by tiieir own laws, absolute civil equality with their former owners ; they abided, without com plaint or claim for damages, the burning of their cit ies ; the devastation of their homes; the destruction of the food for their women and children, and a thousand other acts of war which no civilized code will justify, and no’civilized precedent will mitigate; they changed their organic laws, and re digested their municipal codes to conform j them to the new order of things. They re-! pudiated the obligations and contracts j they Lad assumed to their own people i and to mankind to secure help in what j they had deemed a struggle for liberty and i life. They hazarded a social revolution! and a paralysis of every form of labor, j which might well have awed the most! thrifty people and the most firmly estab lished society. All these things they did, and suffered to show good faith in fulfill ing the obligations of their surrender, to maintain the Constitution and preserve the Union. Yet two long years have elapsed, and they have not been permitted to enjoy a single privilege, nor suffered to escape a single burden of that Union! Nay, while waiting to receive what Was so earnestly, so sacredly promised—their recognition as equals in the Union —they have seen swarms of agents of the United States per meating every neighborhood of tiieir land, and stealing, in the name and by tlie per mits ofthe Government, and carrying away their cotton and other remaining means with which they had hoped to begin the recuperation of their condition ; and they see continued among them a hybrid, insti tution, born in war and unknown to the I Constitution, with a crowd of officers to j execute its functions, many of whom make j companions of their former slaves to so- 1 ment hatred-to the Southern whites, and i some of whom find mistresses among their former slaves, and use their offices to levy black mtyl on all classes for their support. And all these things, and. more, our peo ple bear, and speak about only in whis pers, lest by resisting and resenting the outrages of even robbers and vagabonds, they furnish to those robbers and vagabonds the pretence for the charge of a lingering spirit ofr ebellion against the’Government! And now wc are told, by these Military Rills, that the very constitutions and gov ernments we so promptly and so submis sively formed and organized in order to fulfill all the possible obligations of our sur render, must be abrogated and annulled; that new constitutions must be organized, in which our former slaves are all to par ticipate, and from which every intelligent and virtuous man*whom our people have deemed worthy of trust and confidence at any time during his whole life, shall be for ever excluded. To this new government the negro race is to consent for the white raCe, and by it the emigrant robber and vagabond, with their bribed Southern co adjutor, are to rule both races. And until this oppression shall be fixed upon us, and made part of the irremediable law of the land, and shall receive the approval of the authors of these bills, who are never to be subject to the government they thus dictate our people are to live under military sur veillance, subject to charge without crime, to arrest without warrant, to warrant with out oath, to trial without jury, to impris onment without remedy for release, to rob bery without appeal for redress, and to death without any process of law! Even this bitter cup of hMlish ingredients might be drank, but for the nausea which makes us vomit when we see it commended to us—urged upon us by some who were born among us—who have been often trust; ed and honored by us ; nay, by those who hurried us into secession to get our rights, to save our honor and “to avoid equality with the negro;” who assured us secession would be peaceable, and who, after secess ion, did all they could to provoke a war; who pledged us the “ last man aml tyWMt; dollar” if the war should come, au|p£ho employed their talents in diseouraglff? the men, in quarreling with ourselves and in j making money when the war did^eome: j who bravely promised us that no enemy j should invade our soil without “ marching i over their dead bodies,” but who, when the I enemy came, only betrayed us to subjuga tion ; who now inform us of their confi- j dential receptions into the councils of our I oppressors, and can bring from those conn-! oils only the assurance that, unless we drink j tins cup, one more bitter shall be provided. And, as evidence of fidelity, wisdom and kindness in all this, they are willing to sub-! mit to their own disfranchisement, and, I therefore, can have no possible motive but j our good! The Constitution is violated; the laws of! nations are defied; the pledged faith of the j nation is mocked; and unresisting people ! we air warred on; a disarmed people are insulted; an impoverished people are op- j pressed; a trusting people are betrayed; the Union is rent wider and wider and even wider asunder, and all, all by those who load the weary air with constant loud pro- claims that they alone are loyal, or wise, or true! • ” Ala? \ our country rinke beneath the yoke : It ye-p*, H blc-ijr, and e ch new day a gash I« add'it ;o her wound*.” NUMBER IX. Tlm- time has not come to write Coufed i crate history. Passions control men.' False hood and slander are more acceptable than truth, to the spirit of revenge. Truth would shame revenge, but falsehood grati fies it. Resales, the most important Con federate archives, containing the reason, the philosophy, the explanations of Confed erate actions and history and motives, arc not accessible. may be proper to add I do not know where they are. They have not come to light, and it were well for 1 some who‘seem to be in high favor with 1 themselves and the deluded people if they never come to light. I am no Sadducee, and however the wicked flourish now. I have firm faith in the resurrection of the : just. But many will write. Confederate his tories, biographies, memories, recollections, i etc., etc., are getting to be plenty as black berries in June, but not half so Valuable.— 1 have tried to keep up with these prema ture births, but find it difficult, i have seen enough to know that nearly all of these books are written, either by or under the ! immediate supervision of those who were chiefly intent during the struggle in mak-‘ ing war upon the Confederate administra tion. They were, therefore, excluded or ex cluded themselves from the Confederate councils, and really know less than most people; and the little they do know, or think they know, they received through a very jaundiced medium, which gave it horrid colors. Some of them seem, at last, to be discotering, what unselfish patriots always knew, that k in. making war upon, and in breaking down the people’s con fidence in the Confederate administration, so unjustly, and so falsely too, they made i war upon and broke down the Confederate I cause. They fear the world will find this out. Conscience being thus troubled and i reputation in danger, they become restless and cannot wait. They rush forward like | most criminals, to justify before they are ! formally accused. Other's write to get pay, | and say anything to fill a book. Hence | these works are generally self-vindications, : or self-eulogies, or miserable libels and per | versions, and are not only unworthy of j credit, but should be as insults to an uufor j lunate but gallant people. General Early’s 1 book is an exception. He writes of what he saw and did, and writes like a patriot, j His work will be valuable to the historian | hereafter.. There may* be a few other ex- I ceptions, but I do not now think of them, i Some others of like character are said to j be preparing, which I hope will appear. But the fiercest storms exhaust them | selves, and so will even this storm of the American passions. Revenge cannot al ways rule. The full truth will appear and impartial history wili be written. In that day, I venture now to say, no fact will be brought ouc more clearly than this: The Confederates were not conquered by either the skill, or the power, or the numbers of the armed enemies. The Confederacy was crushed by ideas, and not by bayonets. And the ideas were very few—indeed may all be embraced in two; and neither had the slightest foundation in truth. They were born of treachery and disappointment, and nurtured by those worse than Gorgon whelps—ambition, selfishness and revenge. Here are the ideas: 1. That the. Confederate Government had become or would become a permanent mili tary despotism. 2. That our people had but to lay down their arms, and they would be restored, at once, to all their rights in the Union. There were several considerations which made our people peculiarly liable to be en trapped into believing these ideas. In the first place, the masses of the Southern peo ple really loved the Union according to the Constitution. In truth, they were the most faithful and devoted friends the Union ever had, or, I fear, ever will have again. It re quired many years of slander, intermed dling and threatened aggressions and bad faith on the part of Northern extremists, and of. importunity and fiery exhortation by the' Southern extremist,’to make the masses of our people entertain the idea that their rights were not safe in the Union.— And. when finally they did consent to leave the Union, the great actuating motive in going was to save the guarantees and prin ciples of the Constitution, which they were persuaded could not be preserved by re maining in the Union. And they were ;is ; sured by tlie-extremists, North and South, ; they could go peaceably. : Again: While many of our intelligent men and counsellors were actuated with sincere convictions, and did honestly be lieve a division must come, sooner or later, | and that the sooner it came the better for j all sides • yc*, there were others who had far other motives. These last did not act : from convictions, but from desires. There ! fore, they were very noisy and clamorous, i They abused everything in the North, and denounced as traitors and sobmissionists j and cowards those of our people who did : not believe the Union ought to be dissolved ! for existing causes, or could be dissolved at all peaceably. As light things rise when I tlie air is stirred, so, in the excitement of j passions* these men became the favorites. They expected to be the founders of anew : government, and go down to posterity as | the Washingtons and Jeffersons of a Re | public. But the war came, and that portion of ! the masses who were most anxious to se cede, were disappointed. Secession was to j be peacable. So the high otfices in the new government' were filled, and alas ! how many of the j noisy and self-sufficient Weir disappointed ? i Republics are ungrateful, and the people ! strangely thought it was necessary to select considerate men to make Washingtons ! As the war progressed, hardships in creased. These hardships causeil some to grow unwilling,. and the Confederate Government was driven, as have been all people who go to war, to employ harsh measures to make the unwilling do their duty. These harsh measures required agents, and agents, as agents often do, be came exacting and oppressive. These harsh measures were seized upon by the disap pointed politicians, and used as pretexts to make the people believe their Government intended to establish a military despotism. In the meantime speculatian became riot ous ; the example being set by some in high places, others al4b thought it no harm Ito use these “ God-given talents to make money.” These evils multiplied the neces sities* for harsh measures to support the army, and the hash m easures increased the noise of the politicians and the consequent demoralization of the people. While this internal treachery was doing its work, the United States, in every form, and by every department of their govern ment, were assuring our people they had seceded under a mistake; that their rights were secure in the Union; that they had no purpose in prosecuting the war but to pre serve the Union unimpaired; and that, in deed, our seats were vacant in both Houses of Congress, and we had nothing to do but to send members to fill them/ Emissaries came from the North under pretence of be fog driven here as Southern sympathisers, and joined our malcontents to disseminate the two ideas. Treachery became bold and desertion became respectable. In this way the masses of the Souther people were conquered, and the remnant* of patriots were overpowered. The actual statistics show that during the two last years of the war, for every one ot our soldiers whom the external armed enemy killed, disabled or captured, the in ternal unarmed enemy induced three to de sert. And this work-went on, too, in the lace of the fact that General Grant’s only policy for defeating General Lee was in wearing out his army; and also in the face of the fact that Mr Lincoln, in his last an nual message, declared the hope of.suppress ing the rebellion consisted fn the abandon ment, by the Southern people, of their Pres ident or chief. Therefore, I aflirm, the treachery within was thrice as strong as the power without in subduing the Confederates. Thus, -some of those who were most ac tive in destroying the Union, were also most active in destroying the Confederacy. And these are now tlie favorites in the South with the Radicals of the North.— They are received into the counsels at Washington ; and they are cheek by jowl with Wilson and Sumner and Stevens in their‘efforts to destroy the Constitution.— Men, who I know made bitter secession speeches, have been traveling through the North proclaiming their suffering as perse cuted loyalists, and having roused the frag mentary conclave of a Congress to secure measures to disfranchise those whom they deuounced as traitors, because they opposed secession, in order that they may get the offices oi these States as rewards for their “devotion to the Union!” And the poor, deluded, helpless Southern people are thus be-spattered with their own filth ! These facts suggest several points which deserve the most serious consideration of the Northern people. L The first is that they are under the: most* solemn obligation possible to recog- i nize these States as existing members of the j Union, with no diminution of tiieir rights , except as to slat cry. Tiiis*was tlie avow ed purpose ofthe war. ’ This was the pro mise to the Northern people by their Gov-1 eminent, to encourage them to fight; and this was the pledge ofthe Southern people, j to induce them to cease fighting. 2. That this purpose lias been defeated;! this promise has been violated; this pledge lias been broken by tiieir Radical leaders, with the clear and unmistakable intent of! destroying the Constitution, and that in ! tins work they are iioav joined and aided by tlie most vindictive, the active and •the most unscrupulous of the original | Southern secessionists. J. That the Southern people became weak in prosecuting the war only because they listened to this pledge, and laid down their arms only because they believed it. That though tiiis generation may be helpless because they were entrapped, the next will refuse to believe and will remain strong— invincible. That these deceptions can breed nothing but distrust; that these oppressions can produce nothing but hate; thatoppress ed and*oppressors can never live together in peace, and that our children and chil dren's children will be the victims of this Typhaan union of tlie Northern Radicals and the Southern Secessionists, with no gain to either section, but “havoc, and spoil and ruin.” NUMBER X. But it is said the negro race is now free, and made citizens by our laws, and there fore, are entitled to political as well as civil equality. It is idle to reason with a fanatical mind. A fanatic is a lunatic. The conclusions of such are never founded in reason nor affect ed by experience ; they are founded in feel ing and live only oh passion. We must ap peal and still appeal and notecase to appeal to tlie rational American mind, and by reason, and the experience of mankind, save, if we can, our country from the awful, indescribable horrors which must result, and result soon, from.the crazy domination of men who make “ liberty and equality ” the touchstones of political wisdom. This mad theory is nothing but war upon tlie teachings of reason, the experience of all ages, and the law God.. It was never the doctrine of any but the agents of revolu tion, and it never bore lor any people any fruits but anarchy and blood and the evils that follow in the train of unrestrained passions. But to suppose, as an abstract proposi tion, we concede the negro race is entitled to political equality ; how does that justify these military bills ? Does the negro’s right to vote authorize a violation of the Constitution by Congress ? If it is right to enfranchise the negro, is it right to disfran chise the whites ? No principle is better or more universally conceded in American politics than that the people of the States <done must regulate the political franchises of their citizens— each State for itself, ii this principle is to be rejected then no other need be respected. The first great question we must determine is this : Do we mean to support the Con stitution, or do we mean to violate it ? Do we mean, when we swear to support the Constitution, to vote for that which vio lates the Constitution and justify our per jury by some vagary about abstract right ? 1 press the question to every man’s con science. Have you obtained your con sent to disregard* the Constitution ? Don’t dodge, or explain,-or quality; an swer the question. Have you obtained your consent to disregard the Constitution? Have you obtained your consent to swear to support the Constitution, and flippantly write or say, “ 2he Constitution is dead?" If dead, why swear to support it ? If not to be regarded or respected or observed, why swear to support it? The military bills are conceded to be unconstitutional. Whether we be States, or Territories, or Provinces, Congress is forbidden by the Constitution to deny trial by jury, or to authorize a warrant without oath, or put upon trial without indictment, or suspend habeas corpus , except during insurrection or invasion, in case of a citizen, or estab lish military rule over citizens iu time of peace, anywhere — in any single foot of land— State, Territory or Province. These, these, oh, my deluded countrymen ! these are the constitutional shield, and buckler, and hel met, and breastplate of every American citizen, of every grade and color, on every inch of American soil. They are the whole armor of liberty. And every one of these military- bills authorize to be disregarded, , and placed at the will of a military officer, who is uot even a citizen of the State or i territory in which he dominates! I ask again and again, and I beseech all men to ask; it is the earnest, anxious, i piercing appeal of the dying hope of liber ty ; Are you trilling to violate the Constitution Are you willing, first, to swear to support it, with th<i intent, at the same time, of swear ing to violate it? Then, I proclaim—all posterity will proclaim—your heil-mort gaged conscience will never cease to pro claim : you are jterjured, and perjury is not h alf your crime—you commit perjury in ordef to become a traitor / And now mark this: The very oath which yoif take requires you to swear to support the Constitution, and if you take that oath and then vote for a convention to carryjout tiiese military bills, or aid in carrying them out, you vote to accept, to approve, to es tablish * that which is a violation of the Constitution, and, just as sure as passion shall subside, and reason return to our pie, and sober, oath-observing patriotism shall again rule in the laud, so sure will you -be branded, and just ly branded, as a felon, and whipped throughout the land with the; stinging, ceaseless lashes of public iula my, because you took an oath to sup port the Constitution with intent to vio late, because you committed perjury in order that you might help to destroy your country. And in vain will you hunt excuses to palliate your changeless infamy. The malignity which now makes you call patriots rebels; the cowardice which.con tinues a war upon the unresisting whom you induced, with the most sacred pledges, to lay down their arms; the meanness wnich devises oppression for the helpless, the vileness which presses dishonor on those you have entrapped into your power; the worse than hypocritical statesmanship which disfranchises white men in order to enfranchise black men ; the criminal philan thropy which provides for the sure destruc tion °f the deluded negro race under pre tence ol elevating it, all these will only rise np to mock and laugh at you then. Like the hell-hounds which “death, by rape be got of sin,’’ when Heaven’s Almighty hurled down to helf those who, by deceit and force, sought to destroy His supremacy, these very pretences which hate begets of hypocrisy, in this attempt to'destroy the Constitution, will become “yelling mon sters’’ in the political hell into which the genius of constitutional liberty will cast you, and will “kennel in the womb that bred them,” and “ howl and gnaw,” and “vex with conscious terrors” forever. I know how fallen is human nature ; I know how nations and people have often become the mere prey of bad, ambitious rulers ; I know the streams of blood with which hypocrisy, under pretence of saintly purposes, has often Hooded mankind; I know how countries have often been de stroyed, that a few wicked men might con tinue in power. But can it be that our people have become willing to violate our Constitution for our own dishonor and de struction ? Will they take an oath to get a chance to violate it, in order that they may degrade the white race, and destroy the black race V How many will tints violate it ? llow many will stand by it, live with it, ok die fok it *? That is tlie next count. . NUMBER XL In all ages governments have been over turned by men who made great professions of patriotism and good intentions. The serpent induced Eve to eat the forbidden fruit by flattering her, and declaring his counsel would do her good. He greatly de sired, he protested, to improve her condi tion. From that day to this traitors have been unable to find any better method of accomplishing their purposes. Ignorance is more easily duped than intelligence, and, therefore, knaves have always been advo cates of conferring power on fools ; and so fools have generally thought knaves were their best friends. For this very reason commonwealths —free countries—have pro duced more demagogues, and have become more fearfully the prey of anarchy than any other forms of government. The people generally mean well. They think they follow friends when they follow those who flatter them, and they follow with “ cheers and a tiger.” They go, like the fatted ox with pretty ribbons streaming from his horns, frisking to their own slaughter ! Were not they glorious Southern leaders who established the right to carry slaves to Kansas ? What, if God had decreed slavery could not prosper there, and our fathers had agreed it should not go ? Who cared for God and our fathers if their decrees and compacts stood in the way of “ onr rights /” Oh, how good theories and fair promises have wrecked hopes, destroyed prosperity, and subverted governments! Every com-1 maud in the decalogue has been violated in 1 the name of God, and every precept of the Saviour has been trampled upon under pre tence of promoting religion. Never, at any period of human history, have bad meu, or traitors, or devils, under taken. to accomplish a wicked worth with greater professions of good will or with circumstances more favorable for exciting the confidence of the people in the sincerity of their professions, than those by which and under the influence of which these Radicals have undertaken to destroy the Constitution of the United States and the principles of free government in America. With sincere convictions of right and ne cessity, but in a suicidal way, the Southern \ States and people seemed to place them selves in an attitude of hostility to the Constitution. And these Northern trai tors, who provoked the South to her folly for the very purpose, have ever since* been enabled to tickle and divert the minds of the Northern people with the flippant cry of rebel ” and “ traitor,” and thus, not only unperceived, but in the midst of the wild cheers and mad aid of the giddy, fool ish masses, have given the Constitution a thousand stabs. And still the, arch-lead-j ers give out the key-note rebel; and the Babel crowd catch up the refrain, and fools ! in office cry rebel; preachers of lies and < haters from pulpits cry rebel; lunatics in j school cry rebel; and, foulest of the foul,: Southern renegades cry rebel; and the trai tors thank God for the wild distemper of the people, and stab on! And the poor, outraged Constitution, under which our common fathers lived, and loved, and pros pered, and which would gather ali, black and white, “even as a lien gathereth her chickens under her wings,” bleeds and reels, and no one will hear her cries or heed her tottering! Equally insane, but equally favorable to the purposes of the Radicals, is the hypo critical pretense of elevating the black race. All wise or good men everywhere, aud more especially those in the South, desire to ele vate the black race, but Radical traitors and their Southern tools alone desire to de grade the white . race. By whatever other means the work may be done, it is certain the black raee cannot lie secure in privi leges or rights, by taking away from the white race these same privileges aud rights. Whether either race,, and which, shall final ly gain the mastery, or whether botli races can live and rule together as equals and in peace, are questions which good men may discuss, and, about which, possibly, even true men may differ, but one thing is very certain, neither race separately, nor both races together, can rule or be ruled wisely or peacefully, or with safety to life, proper ty, or franchise, by violating aud-trampiing upon the Constitution —the fundamental law for all. He who would, therefore, lie a friend to either race must be a frieud to the Constitution. He who violates this Consti | tution is an enemy to both races. He who observes the Constitution is a friend to both races. The very reverse of all this plain reason ing is every principle which can be adduced to support these military bills. Tliese bills violate the Constitution. These mils de grade the white race. Tliese bills trample jon the rights of both races; and all these ; things these bills do under pretence of elern ' ting the black nice! The work is absurd and impossible. The means proposed can not accomplish the end professed. Both . races must go together, or the greater ; must control the less, or the two must col lide. And when the .two eollide the less must perish or.be driven away or be bropght -j under control, however the greater race | may suffer by the collision and the strug gle* And the Radicals know this; and, there fore, the means they propose are not intended to accomplish the end they profess. The „ real end is to secure these ten States to keep the Radical party in power in the ap proaching Presidential election, ami this they seek to do reckless of consequences to black or white, to the Constitution or Gov ernment. The traitors are seeking to re tain. by this fraud and force at the South, the power they are losing by the detection of their treason at the North. They annul the Constitution in the name of loyalty: they exterminate the black race in the name of philanthropy; they disfranchise white men in the name of equality; they puil down all the detenses for life ami pro perty in the name of liberty; and in blas phemous hosannas to the Union they Are rushing all sections and all races into wild, chaotic anarchy; and all, all, that traitors may hold the stats of power they desecrate, and riot in the wreck of the prosperity 1 they destroy ! And will the Southern peo pie. whom they have so long slandered and ! oppressed, take them up, as the Northern people, .whom they have so long flattered ; and deceived, are casting them away. It was my purpose to discuss at length j the questions of civil rights and political j trusts, and by wliat means the first could be safely secured, and in and by whom the .last could be*wisely reposed and exercised; with the view of showing how illogical and ; contrary to human nature and experience and safety is the dogma that political equal ity is a right of citizenship, or necessary to the enjoyment' of civil equality. But why labor and worry the printer and weary the reader by proving that untrue which none but fanatics are unblushing .enough to pre tend is true. Why labor to prove these military bills will not work good to the negro, when they do not intend good to tlie negro—are not adapted as means to secure good to the negro; but are intended simply to add ten States to party power ! The lie-' groes are.enfranchised because it is believed they .will vote for the Radical party, and the whites are disfranchised because it is believed they will not vote for tlie Radical party. If the belief were i*eversed the rule would be reversed. The object is not to punish disloyalty, and tlie proof is found in the fact that the most bitter original seces sionists are once received into Radical favor by agreeing to support the Radical party, and the most unscrupulous is always received with the greatest marks of favor, because such are the most congenial and best suited for the work of destroying the i Constitution under pretence of preserving the Union; and preserving the Radical par- j ty under pretence of loving the clear people. ! It is proper, without fully elaborating j the argument, to suggest a few elementary j principles which all our people ought, in ‘these times, to keep constantly before them, j Inwall society or government arc rights to | be enjoyed, burdens to be borne, and trusts' to be discharged. Among the rights are the* right of prop-; erty ; the right of locomotion ; the rigid to j appropriate and dispose of the proceeds of j our own labor; the right to worship ac-! cording to conscience; and the right to protection from society in the enjoyment of. all these rights, and tlie right to have all the legal processes and remedies provided to make this protection effectual. These are called civil rights, and when we speak of civil equality we mean that these rights belong alike and equally tjp all citizens, to all classes, to all colors, to all sexes, to all ages and to all grades of Intellect, society and worth. These rights necessarily attach to and become conditions, of free citizen ship. The negro is* entitled to all these rights. And being now deprived of the protection which, as a slave he received from his owner, all good men ought to re joice that he can still be safe under the pro tection of the law; and, being unaccustom ed to assert his rights, a work which was performed by his master, all true men ought to be ready to aid him in that asser tion. And all but Radicals and renegades are willing to-aid him, but they seek to i- se him under pretense of aiding him. Among the burdens of society an l gov- j eminent, I may mention, working tlie pub- j lie highways, providing public buildings, : paying the public taxes, defending the pub-; lie’ safety, *&c., &c. These burdens ought > to be borne by all according to fitness and capacity, for these burdens constitute the ! consideration we pay for the protection we | get. Women and children, lunatics and idiots do not work the highways or defend ! the society with arms, because their posi- j tions or capacity forbid, but they are all citizens—or members of the society—and ; pay taxes. These are called burdens be- j cause they are borne, not for ourselves j only, but for others —for the public. Lastly, in every society or government, I they are trusts to be discharged ; offices are ; to be filled; laws are to be made, executed and administered, else there could lie no i rules or process for protection, and agents ; are to be selected for all these purposes, j The whole business of selecting agents to ; discharge duties, as well as the discharge j : of the duties themselves, comes under the head of trusts. They are called trusts be | cause they are powers exercised not for j one’s own good, but for the good of others — j j for the public. The authority to vote is, j j therefore, a trust reposed, and the exercise j of the authority is the exercise of a trust j —the trust of selecting agents to provide ! and execute the laws by which rights are ; to be protected. All men are born to! rights—which are personal—affecting each person only ; but no man is born to a trust j .to a power which affects all other mempers of society. You had as well say a man is born to an office as to say lie is born to a ! vote for that office. So, again, all trusts imply capacity and integrity. No man lias j ; a right to be entrusted to discharge a duty j affecting others who do not understand that j j duty, or who has not integrity to lie trust-1 ed with its faithful exercise. . j How can the rights of the members of society be safe if the protection fdr those rights is to be provided or applied by ignor ant or vicious agents ? And how can | ignorant or vicious agents be avoided if j i norant and vicious persons are born to the right to select them ? Rights are personal—born with persons —belong to the person, and affect tlie per- j son ; but trusts are relative—and born with j society—belong to society—and are for the j good and under the control of society. ' How is any man born with a right to take : my rights, or to select anothar to take my rights? Buffrage, then, is not a right —it is not a privilege—it is a trust, and a most solemn and sacred trust. It is the trust of preserv ing society, of securing rights, of protecting persons. Would you select an ignorant, or vicious, or untrustworthy man as your trustee, or the trustee for your wife or your child in the smallest concerns of life ? How, then, would you make a trustee of an ignorant err vicious man to discharge these great duties, on ifre wise and faithful discharge of which all rights, and all protection, and all things depend ? The burdens of society are light or heavy according as the trusts of society are wisely or unwisely, faithfully or unfaith fully discharged. The heavy taxes under which America groans spring alone frdm the unfaithful and wicked execution of the trusts of our people in selecting agents, and of the agents in discharging their duties. Universal, indiscriminate, ignorant, vi ious unite suffrage has buried a million of ! victims slain by each other’s l m »and« ~ ; st-roved the peace .and prosperity !>f thl. country, and saddled an innocent and u : ,!t - v s'icvm,, Will it be wise to extend the sacred j desecrated trust of suffrage to more iJor anoe to more vice, and at the same time wlthdniw those trusts from intelligence aid I Men born with the right to vote, as the.- are born to breathe the air; or enjoy the proceeds of their own labor. Then wliv U i it that women and children and lunatics and idiots areaiot allowed to-vote ? Thcv breathe and eat ami pay taxes. It is, therefore, the right of society to de cide upon whom shall be devolved the trust of preserving society and administering protection to rights. And it is the duty of ! society to withhold these trusts from’the ignorant and vicious—since the ignorant : and vicious should never be Intrusted, and have no right to be intrusted with the ex ercisc of power by which they may rob or '•kill or torture others. And it follows that every society must : determine this matter for itself, for it alon e i is to be affected by the exercise of the trusts created. It is flagitious, it is mean it is cowardly, it is treason to the very j frame-work of society to say that. Massa ! chusetts or a fragemeiitary conclave of per jured Congressional traitors from other States shall determine who shall be en | trusted with the great duty of preserving society in Georgia; and language breaks in the vain effort to express tlie contempt and scorn I, feel for the dastard Georgian who would consent for Massachusetts or that fragmentary conclave to so determine. . The negroes in Georgia are citizens of j Georgia. They are free and have equal* j rtghts, and shall enjoy them. They will be required to bear the burdens only in pro portion to their capacity. They will be " empowered to discharge * the trusts when | time and experience shall ghow they “are ; capable and worthy ” and the good of so l c-iety will be promoted thereby ; and thus i Georgia will determine for herself, and not ! to please enemies or to keep traitors in par : ty power. [From the National Intelligencer. i General Butler Pushed to the Wall. It will be remembered that Gen. Butler, | while Congress was still in session, seized ■ upon a minor article of the Intelligencer, j based entirely upon interpellations in the | House of Representatives, to denounce it j in phraseology consistent with practice in 1 the lower ranks by wliat are termed the “ Tombs ” lawyers. The Intelligencer, of course, could not re tort in kind. Bearing upon the whole sub ject of the exchange of prisoners, the fol lowing letter of Col. Robert Ould, the Con federate Agent of Exchange, whose state ments will be relied upon by all men who know him, will show that General Butler himself was greatly in error in his premises. He forgot to state that the most important part of the correspondence in reference to the exchange of prisoners occurred between Colonel Ould and Generals Hitchcock and Mulfonl during the period when the Con federate Agent of Exchange was forbidden by his Government to negotiate with Gen eral Butler in reference to the question of exchange: July 23, 1667. To the Editors of the National Intelligencer: I respectfully request the publication of the following letter received by me from Colonel Ould, of Richmond. It will be perceived that it fully sustains my state ment in the House, with the unimportant exception of the number of prisoners offered to be exchanged, without equivalent, by the Confederate authorities. Very respectfully, Charles A. Eldrtdge. Richmond, July 11), 1867. lion. Charles A. Eldrtdge : My Dear Sir : I have seen your remarks as published. They are substantially cor rect. Every word that I said to you in Richmond is not only true, but can he proved by Federal officers. I did offer in August to deliver the Federal sick and wounded, without requiring equivalents, and urged the necessity of haste in send ing for them, as tlie mortality was terrible. I did offer to deliver from ten to fifteen thousand at Savannah without delay. Although this offer was made in August, transportation was not sent for them until December, and during the interval the mortality was perhaps at its greatest height. If I had not made the offer, why did the Federal authorities send transpor tation to Savannah for ten or fifteen thou sand men ?' If I made tlie offer based only only equivalents, why did the same trans portation carry down for delivery only three thousand men ? Butler says the offer was made in the. fall (according to the newspaper report), and that seven thousand were delivered.— The offer fras made in August, and they were sent for in December. I then deliv ered more than thirteen thousand, and would have gone to the fifteen thousand if the Federal transportation had been suffi cient. My instructions to my agents were to deliver fifteen thousand sick and woun ded, and if that number of that class were not on hand, to make up the number by well men*. The offer was lhade by me in pursuance of instructions from the Con i federate Secretary of War. I was ready to keep up tlie arrangement until every sick ;.and wounded man had been returned. The three thousand men sent to Savan nah by the Federals were in as wretched a condition as any detachment of prisoners ever sent from a Confederate prison. All these things are susceptible of proof, and I am much mistaken if I cannot prove them by Federal authority. I am quite sure that General Mulford will sustain every allegation here made. Yours, truly, R. Ould. P. S.—General Butler’s correspondence is all on one side, as I was instructed at the date of his letters to hold no correspon dence with him. I corresponded withe Mulford or General Hitchcock. Valuable Invention—Self-Acting Ratl koao Switch —One of the most valuable in ventions pertaining to Railroads that has ever been made has recently beau perfected by Mr. J. P. While, a Savannah mechanic, well-known lor his improvements .upon sewing machines. The invention, for which he has seemed a pa tent, was conceived and perfected by him while guarding a Railroad during the war. The main feature of the svdtch is that the ehgincer has in his own hands the machinery by which he can switch the train from the main to the out side track while the train is in motion. It is adjusted by levers attached to the locomotive in front of the forward wheels, and so arranged as to be easily managed While the cars are in full motion. . These levers, coming in contact with others attached to the switch itself, pro duces the desired change immediately. Care, however, must be taken that the lever opposite the desired course is used. As soon as the switch is moved from one side to the other It locks by means of levers, and remains so unu another change is effected. « [ Savannah News & Herald} Newspaper Change!- W. L. Scruggs and J. B. Dumble have bought out the Atlanta Daily Opinion, Which is now under theh’ “ ana «®* ment. Will that dumb bell answer the R. dical wire pullers ?
