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About Weekly constitutionalist. (Augusta, Ga.) 185?-1877 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 22, 1868)
iiid not see how any gentleman could dare to g g the convention, and be would not stand it himself He would have, after ft while, per haps, to introduce a resolution praying for re lief tor one hundred colored persons who were illegally confined in Savannah jail. If was'an alarming fact, that while only eight white persons were detained there, there were one hundred colored persons there accused of murder. Those offenses occurred at the time Sherman parsed through here, and lie could not see how they were to be tried. They could not be tried by the Confederate law, and as it was war times they could not he tried by any law, and they should he released. Mr. Gilbert said this was not a court for the trial of prisoners. A. Alpcoria Bradley (negro) would not admit of any argument on this matter, and could not be prevented from making bis statement. The matter was referred to the Chair for de cision, and it was decided that though the gen tleman was taking a very wide range he was not out of order. A. Alpeori 1 Bradley (negro)then proceeded in a most terrific manner to object to the reso lution and afterward sat down. The rules were suspended after some further discussion and the resolution was laid over. W. Shropshire, from the Committee on Finance, presented the following: Your committee beg leave to report that pre terinitting any opinion as to the validity of the constitution of 1865, or the acts of the General Assembly that existed under and by virtue of its authority, wc beg leave to recommend the adoption of the following resolution: Resolved , That in the opinion of the conven tion it is unwise and inexpedient to directly or indirectly interfere with the legislation of the General Assembly authorizing the issue of bonds for the p irpose of paying the indebted ness of the State. Wesley Shropshire, Chairman. The rules in this case weie suspended and the resolution taken up for action. B. Conley moved the adoption of the resolu tion. Mr. Bedford thought they ought to be caie ful how they acted in the matter, as they may have to pay the debts incurred by the State for war purposes. After some discussion, a motion was made to lay the resolution on the table and have three hundred copies printed, which was lost. The question of the preamble and resolu tions was then brought hack and acted upon, when they weie adopted without division. !). G. Clotting read a resolution requesting the commanding general to investigate all pro ceedings connected with the late elections, which was unanimously, or nearly so, objected to, and the question was withd'awn. J. E. Bryant, from the standing Committee on Franchise, reported the chapter on the elect ive franchise. It contained a provision for uni versal suffrage, except such as were disqualified by article 14 of the proposed amendment to the United States Constitution and by tiie laws of Congress. It also provided lor registra ion. After some discussion tlie report was laid on the table, and 500 copies ordered to be print and for the use of tiro members of the conventh j J. R. Parrott moved that the rules be sus pended for the purpose of. taking up Ihe report from the Committee on Relief, and of making it a special order for to-morrow. 11. M. Turner (negro) read a resolution to the effect that no business should lie transacted by the convention until the constitution was framed. A motion to suspend the rules was objected to and the resolution laid over. After some further discussion, the conven tion adjourned. Wednesday, January 15,1868. Tho convention opened with prayer—Mr. Parrott in the chair—the Journal was read. RELIEF. G. W. Asbburn moved during the reading ol' the Journal that the reading of the names of the members who voted on the preceding day be dispensed with. Carried. A. T. Akerman moved a reconsideration of the action of the convention on the preceding day in reference to the report of the Finance Committee. He read the resolution as it ap peared in the morning pamu\ He character ized it as a carefully worded one, but it appear ed to him that it simply contained a promise on their part that they would abstain from the matter altogether and not touch it at all. He thought that if they touched it at all, they ought to do so with a determination to up hold the credit of the State. When he moved an amendment to the resolution on the pro ceeding day, murmurs of “No, no” ran through the hall. If there were any persons in the convention who designed to repudiate the debt of the Slate, they ought, in His opinion, to come forward and declare their intentions, in order that it might be known what was to be done on so important a question. They were not asked to recognize any bonds which were not legally issued, and be thought it was due to the honor of the State that they should take immediate and decisive action on so im portant a question. He therefor© called for the yeas ami nays on a reconsideration of the question. B. Conley begged that the gentleman would not press the taking of the yeas and nays. H. 11. Whitely spoke against the motion, and J. L. Dunning favoring it. REPORT FROM THE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION. J. 11. Caldwell presented a report from the Committee on Education. On motion the rules were suspended for the purpose of taking up the report. The report referred to the right of Mr. An derson, ot Houston, to a seat. It is stated that he was not eligible, from the fact that he was one of the registrars from the 23d district; that lie bad served as a manager and made out the returns which had been sent up. The question was taken up, and, on motion, it was ordered that 500 copies be printed for the use of the convention. A. Alpeoria Bradley (negro) stood up with a paper in liis hand, in which he said lie found an appeal from Governor Jenkins to the con vention, on which he was about to offer some remarks, when he was interrupted by a mem ber, who had perhaps read it, and told that the name of the writer was not “Governor” but “ Guss.” A. Alpeoria Bradley (negro) stood corrected and sat down astonished at his blunder, and followed by a slight twitter, which was perhaps intended for a laugh. TIIB RELIEF QUHSTION RESUMED. F. B. Bedford counseled care in the matter, and hoped there was no member of the con vention who would not be willing to see the credit of the State of Georgia preserved. On motion of J. L. Duuning, the question of reconsideration was laid on the table, there be ing only 13 nays. PAYMENT OP MEMBERS. Philip Martin moved the suspesion of the rales for the purpose of takiug up a resolution which he offered. Carried. The resolution called on the convention to request General Meade to order the Treasurer of the State of Georgia to deposit in the hands of N. L. Anfjier, the disbursing agent, subject to tbe order of the convention, funds sufficient to pay all the expenses of the convention, and that the Secretary furnish General Meade at once with a copy of the resolution. W. F. Edwards moved that tbe sum of ?100,- 000 be inserted in the resolution, which caused some laughter. Janies D. Waddall offered a substitute to the resolution, which he withdrew upon a motion by J. E. Bryant to table. A. Alpeoria Bradley (negro) stood up with a resolution in his hand, and, looking quite dig nified, said: I would like to offer a resolution, and ask for the suspension of the rales. In consequence of a great deal of suffering now going on, and particularly among the colored people of this State, and in violation of the order of the commanding officer of the United States, No. 83, Gsnsral Pope had so much of that order printed at applies to the soldiers and officers, bnt more than one-half of what refers to the suffering of the people, and particularly the eolored people, he has left unnoticed, and left us to be punished in a most inhuman man- Commonwealth, and, there fore, I would ask that this be read. Chairman—The proper way is to move to suspend the roles. A. Alpeoria Bradley (negro)—l want to have it read. Chairman—lt will not he in order unless you move a suspension of the rules. A. Alpcoria Bradley (negro) Ido that. Yes, that is what I want, and I would like to have the order of General Grant read. Chairman —That is not id older. A Alpcoria Bradley (negro)—But that is part of my argument. Chairman—The Secretary cannot read your argument. A. Alpeoria Bradley (negro)—l would say there is nothing more common than for a gen tleman to send up his paper to be read in the House of Congress. {Laughter.] There are three soldiers in jail in the State of »-outh Ca rolina. They are detained there on a charge of murder. The officer is in this city now who gave hem the arms and told them to shoot the parties if they troubled them, and they were not arrested until after the military went away, and when there was no civil law neither in South Carolina and Georgia. There is a woman there who the jailor gave three hundred lashes to, as she says, because she made too much noise, and because she did not do every thing they wanted her to do. The jailor got out o that scrape by coming here and telling General Pope: by stating she was insane, and it wason that account they were set free and the worn n detained in jail on a simple cbaige of assault and battery and in my judgment she is as sane as any person in this house. There are four that I want released. There is a man named James Wallace who has been put in jail and de nied hail by hie honor the Mayor. He is not allowed to Vivo bail or bonds eontr, r j ,„ the laws of the United States and of the State of Georgia, and this order from General Giant is that relief shall be given in such cases I have laid this matter bed ore General Saxon, and he told me to go to the commanding general with out delay. , . He (A Alpeoria Bradley, negro,) went on in a very animated manner to revert to a case which came nearer to himself. It occurred in Savannah, and was the case with which the public are already familiar, as the one in which he threatened to shoot the editor of the Savan nah Republican. He depicted the affair with yreat vehemence— almost became poetic on the subject of his grievances on the occasion. He had been threatened by the editor of the R pub lican. whereupon he put his hand in his bosom and said, “ shoot away.” This was all he had done. He never attempted to shoot. Oh, no ! It was the other party who was to blame, and yet, lo and behold, for merely uttering these words he was put into prison. What mon strously absurd people they are in Savannah, and what a terrible man is that Mayor who would not even allow him out on bail, although the sum of $20,000 was offered for “ my bonds for one night.” These words were uttered with a terrihle'air, which assumed somewhat of the demoniac as he proceeded. He then said in a milder hut not less disgusting tone, 11 I wish ihe commanding general to take notice of these things : he is bound to protect person and property.” For this assault he (meaning the Mayor of Savannah) refused to take bond from him (Alpeoria) in short, save Alpeoria, he (meaning the Mayor again) paid no more atten tion to my appeals than he would it I had been a dog barking before him. Alpeoria looked around with a sad countenance as if imploring sympathy, but the brethren did not shed one compassionate tear. He however ventured to the charge with an evident degree of delight, and said : “ 1 am much more competent to take care of myself than thousands of colored per sons, and if 1 am treated so how is it to be with those who are not, by those monsters in human form.” (While uttering this last sentence his whole countenance assumed a frightful expres sion, partaking more of the supernatural than anything we have seen for many years, and led us to suppose, in a moment of forgetfulness, that we had before us a certain individual from a certain clime.) The motion to suspend the rules was then put to the vote and carried, and the resolution taken up and adopted, which was sympathy enough for A. Alpeoria Bradley, (negro.) The following is a literal copy of the resolu tion as written by Alpeoria, and is given to the public in order that they may understand whit kind of legislation is to come from such a source: Resolve, That the Delegates of The People of Georgia, in Convention assembled do re quest The Major General in Command to have examined all the Jail and other prisons, and have released There from all persons, unlawful ly deprived of Their liberties: And all persons tried ex party; in violation of the Constitu tion and laws of the United States, and The State of Georgia. L. N. Trammell presented a report from the Committee on Privileges and Elections. On motion the reading of the report was dis pensed with. BILL OF RIGHTS. The constitution and preamble of the Bill of Rights was next taken up, and on motion it was agreed to revise the preamble separately and it was taken up for consideration. It was also agreed to act on the report section by section, when the House went into a com mittee of the whole. Several amendments and substitutes were of fered to the said preamble, and a great amount of discussion ensued, in which religion and the love of God were the ] revailing features. Sev eral members thought it wrong to have a con stitution framed, the preamble to which did not say oue word about God or bis goodness. This was more than such high Christian feel ings could brook, aud they accordingly burst out in lengthened streams of indignation. — Others were of opinion that introducing re ligion would give it somewhat of a sectional character, and that the convention would, of course, disdain anything that smacked of sec tionalism, because, as the whole world knows, they are not prone to sectionalism. The fol lowing is the preamble referred to : PREAMBLE. We, the representatives of the people of the State, of Georgia, in convention assembled, to secure to all eitizeus thereof the enjoyment of life, liberty and property, and of pursuing hap piness, do ordain and establish this constitution for its government. J. D. Waddell, among the many substitutes and amendments, offered the preamble of the constitution of 1865. Mr. Bell proposed an amendment to insert after the word “ happiness ” the words “ in voking the favor and guidance of Almighty God,” which was lost with the other substi tutes and amendments, aud that ol J. D. Wad dell, after long discussion, adopted. W. L. Clift moved that the report be amend ed by the adoption ot the caption in such a way that the word “preamble ” might precede tbe preamble adopted, and so that the words “ Constitution of the State ot Georgia” might follow the preamble, which was, after some dis cussion, adopted. The committee of the whole, into which the house hud gone, upon taking up the bill of rights, now proceeded to revise the declarations of rights therein contained. R. H. Whiteley and E. J. Higbee offered sub stitutes tor the first and second sections. A long diseussiou ensued, in which the usual amount of declamation was indulged in, and the result was that both substitutes were tabled. A. T. Akerman moved that the report be amended by adopting instead of sections 1 aud 2 the following (which he read), and accom panied with some telling and argumentative re marks : Sec. 1. Protection to person and property is the paramount duty of government and shall be impartial and complete. This, after considerable discussion, was agreed to. J. E. Bryant read a substitute to section 2, to the effect: “ That all persons in this State, born in the United States, or naturalized, or who shall legally have declared their intention to become citizens of the United States, are here by declared citizens of Georgia, possessing equal civil and political rights and public privi leges.” The substitute was ordered to be laid on the table and printed. The third section, which runs thus: “No person shall be deprived of lif«, liberty or pro perty except by due prcceee of law,” wae adopt ed without any change. B. Conley moved an amendment to the fourth section, so as that it should read: M There shall be no imprisonment for debt,” and striking out the words, “ except for fraud, or when the debtor resideefbeyond the limits of the State, or is about to remove therefrom.” C. D. Davis aud A. T. Akerman, in somewhat lengthy remarks, opposed the amendment.— They expatiated upon the laws of the State and the evil results which might follow such a law, inasmuch as evil disposed men but too often take advantage of such loose legislation to de fraud honest creditors. j e Blount favored the amendment because he considered it would protect the poor and honest debtor from the intiigues of lawyers, and the snares which technicalities were sure to throw around him. He knew enough of the chicanery of the law to know that many a time bad a poor honest man been thrown into pri son and kept there until election time, when the candidate would perhaps, m order to get his vote, go and pay the bill He wanted some protection for the poor and hones man, but he was not there to defend fraud on the part of Crane spoke at some length in favor of the original section. He did not know that there was a single technicality in jail, and never knew of one to be there. [Laughter.] He was for prot cting the honest creditor against the deceptions which were but too often practiced U \y l Clift moved an amendment by striking out the words “ except for fraud or so that the section might read, “There shall be no im prisonment for debt where the debtor resides beyond the limits of the State or is about to remove therefrom.” . . , J. E. Bryant spoke m favor of the original amendment. , W. L. Crane addressed the house again on the subject, with some force, and expressed himself in favor of the origiual section. J. D. Waddell moved that the committee ot the " whole rise and report, which was unani mously agreed to, and the committee reported accordingly. T. G. Campbell (negro), when the conven tion was about to adjourn, moved that the rules be suspended, which was agreed to. He then offered a resolution to the effect that a copy of A. Alpeoria Bradley’s (negro) resolution in reference to the prisons and those detained in them be Iran smittedjmmediately to the com manding general. Carried. The convention then adjourned to 10, a. m., next day. * Thursday, Jannaiy 16tb, 1868. The convention opened this morning in the usual way. The Journal was read. A. T. Akerman asked for leave of absence on account of necessary and unavoidable busi ness. Granted. Leave of absence was also granted for two sick members. E. L. Higbee presented a report from the Committee on Enrollment. H. V. M. Miller handed in a report from the Committee on Militia, which included all male citizens of the State of Georgia between the ages of eighteeu and forty-five years, and as such, subject to military law, which specified that they should be equipped according to law, subject to the authority of Congress. It also specified that no person conscientiously opposed to bearing arms should be compelled to do so, but they should pay an equivalent for exemption, the amount to be prescribed by law and appropriated to the common school fund. J. L. Dunning moved that a committee of five be appointed on miscellaneous matters, and on suggestion of a member the words “per taining to the Constitution” were added. BILL OF RIGHTS. The discussion of the 4th section of the Bill of Rights was taken up, pursuant to adjourn ment, and W. T. Crane resumed his argument He proceeded to say that he was in favor of a just code of laws being framed which would do justice to all parties, and to all the citizens of the State of Georgia. It appeared to him that the discussion on this subject was drifting altogether in one direction, and that was that it was proposed to protect, altogether,the debtor, while all sight wasi lost of the honest creditor It was said that it was a very bard matter to imprison an lioaest man lor debt, but such was not the object of the section. That section would have no terrors for the honest man who was willing to pay what he honestly owed. It would never interfere with him ; but its great object was to reach the dishonest man and the swindler, and to protect the honest creditor from imposition. He was not there to uphold any bill that would tend to thwart the ends of justice, but was of opinion that if' any portion of the section was stricken it would result in injury to the honest and well meaning creditor. It was proposed to strike out all of the section after the words “ except for debt,” but he be lieved the bill was not intended to deprive the honest poor man of any of his rights any more than it did the rich man ; it only proposed to give the creditor the right to defend himself against the thieves and the swindlers. GEMS OF ELOQUENCE—AFRICA SPEAKS A PIECE. M. H. Bentley (negro) was on his feet and the Chair said the “gentleman had the floor,” and he proceeded to speak. He commenced by hoping the reporter would not take it down wrong, as he did yesterday, and so the reporter is very careful now, and must necessarily be in the future, after this re buke. “ Now, gcntlemeiL I want to know from you, where is all tbe honest men of Georgia gone to ? that’s what 1 want to know now. I want to know from you what became of them ; that’s the question. I think this is the best thing you can do for the honest man. Why, gentlemen, in tbe place where I live the Jews sell poor col ored men clothes for fifteen dollars that is not worth five. Yes, that’s what he does. It is found out and the Jew goes to the judge and gives him a couple o’ dollars and he gives the bailiff about a dollar and a half and that’s all that’s ever said about it.” It would be impossible to do this individual justice by attempting to report verbatim what neither himself nor any body else understood ; besides, the reporter could uot catch enough of his language audibly to know what he was driving at. It will suffice, perhaps, to say, that if he reported him wrong yesterday, when he did not at all, he is doing here an act of clemency now, by concealing his uufortunate ignorance and assurance from the world. A RICH SCENE. R. Cromley (negro) the Cattalineof the most potent, grave, and reverend ceniors, was the next orator, and such an individual, and such an oratory ! it is vain to attempt to describe the oratorical powers of this sable geniu*. He was one moment in the pulpit, anotherjn the prison, (where rumor whispered he ought to be iu reality,) and another moment legislating for a nation. Shades of Webster, of Clay, of Madison, of Calhoun, and others, whither have ye fled? Will ye never more revisit the land ye loved so well, and inspire your degenerate successors with that pure and undying patrio tism that once pervaded the breasts of Ameri cans ? Let the public take a specimen of what our legislators can do. “ I want,” said the negro, “ the gentlemen of the convention to understand here, this morn ing, that the whole inhabitants of the State of Georgia are my people.” Aye, that is the ex pression. “My people,” (irrespective of race or color,) “ and I think I know something about human nature, and I am satisfied that every sensible man in the convention knows what human nature is.” (Laughter.] Here the distinguished orator was interrupt ed by the preceding brother, who took occasion to ask him : “ Were you never a driver on a plantation ?” Whereupon said Cromley, rais ing himself up in his dignity, replied : “ Thank you, sir, I have always beeu above driver on a plantation.” That passed off very well, for the indignant preacher (for such he is) whose pride in the moment of victory was but, alas, too soon to be humbled by a brother of the white species. He, Cromley, was in the act of saying that every man who did not pay his honest debts ought to be sent to jail. Now this would indicate a good sound principle on hi 6 part, but he evidently bad forgotten that those who “ live in glasshouses should not throw stones,” for C. C. Richardson atood up on the moment and put unto him the pertinent question : “At the time you were coming here wes there not e bail warrant taken out against you because they thought you were about to leave the State ?” Foor Cromley reeled but a moment beneath the weight of this last assault, but he did net flinch for a moment. On tbe contrary, he eeme up to his work with renewed energy, for this was not a time to quail, and eaid: “ Well, 1 will reply to that. It is very trne, your honor, I was owing a little money, aud the man had a right to collect it, and if I did not pay it he had a right to send me to jail.” “ There is,” said he, “ a great channel opened up by this amendment for thieves and scoun drels", both black and white, and I tell you in this convention to-day, that the whole State of Georgia is corrupt. [Laughter.] The white man takes every advantage he can of the poor negro, and I tell you another thing, and 1 want you all to understand me, too, that there is not a colored man in the house who has done more for this convention than I.” A. Alpeoria Bradley (negro) in a low tone. “ He lies.” Croraley continued —“ It is as creditable to pay a Dutchman as an Englishman, and I am satisfied the man that would not pay a Dutch man would not pay me.” [Laughter.] While he was thus discoursing, another col ored brother, named Joiner, stood up and said: “ If every man that does not pay his debts should be sent to jail, you ought to be sent there too.” [Loud laughter.J Cromley again proceeded. “ Well, I will tell you I have heard a good deal of speaking here to-day. I want you to give me seme water here little boy.” [Laughter.] On he went again. “ Well, God Almighty help this convention, if there is to be no imprisonment for debt.” [Continued laughter, and cries of “ silence and order ” from the Chair.] A. Alpeoria Bradley (negro) came up at last. He could stand it no longer, and as he is usually finding fault with everything done by the Presi dent, or whoever occupies the Chair, he thought it high time that he should rise to a point of order. The Chairman said he was out of order, whereupon he sat down, saying: “He can go on now, we have no rules.” Cromley again speaks. “ I want these gentle men to understand that while I am on the floor I know what I am talking about. [Laughter.] And I say to you that if you accept this amend ment you will be confirming the words of Ben. Hill, and all them persons that speak about this convention and sav it is composed of thieves and blackguards. [Prolonged laughter and some confusion, with cries of “ order, order,” from the Chair. J Bradley (negro) arose once more and said, with a most offensive insinuation towards the Chair: “I want to ask the gentleman (the speaker), as wc have no rules, will the Cretans probably succeed against the Turks?” [Laughter.] Chairman —That is not in order. Bradley (negro), “By what rule do you call me out (if order ?” Chairman—“ By such rules as we have them here.” Some confusion here ensued, in which Brad ley (negro) took a leading part, and was told by the Chair that Cromley (negro) find the floor. Here and there colored delegates asked a question w T hieh we could not understand. He was yielded the floor by Cromley, who was about'to resume, when Bradly (negro) arose to a point of order, saying the speaker had yielded the floor, and he wanted to know if he (the speaker) could address them again. Chairman—The gentleman has the floor. ‘ Cromley (negro) proceeded in the most vehe ment and excited manner. “And I’ll tell you what’s more, gentlemen, whenever you hear of me going to jail it will be because 1 have a right to go there.” Bradley, (negro) hear! hear ! [Laughter.] At this stage of the proceedings several mem bers tried to"put a stop to brother Cromley’s effusions, but in vain. Some moved to ad journ ; some cried out question ; but they were met by the cool reply from Cromley—“ I tell you I wont yield any more until I get through.” Soon after, however, finding that the excite-, ment and confusion were on the increase, he said, “well, I will stop,” and sat down. No sooner had Cromley sank “from our gaze,” than A. Alpeoria Bradley (negro) made bis appearance. His countenance actually glis tened with rage and disappointment. He look ed to where the negro who had last spoken sat, and scowled with such a fiendish expression of features (if they might be so called) as left but little hope for the feelings of the unfortunate wretch. If it would not be profane to apply poetry to such an impersonation of ignorance and audacity, well might the words of Byron be introduced : “ And where his frown of hatred darkly fell, Hope, with’rifig, fled, and mercy sighed farewell.” All eyes were turned at once on the object of his vindictiveness, aucl while ail were prepared to hear something rich, he commenced by say ing that “he would first proceed with his re marks on the subject under discussion, and for fear his feelings might overcome him too soon, and then come to his friend at the close. He spoke of the law ot the different States and of the United States, and he went on to show the absurdity of imprisoning poor men for debt, and when he had reasoned with that great lo gic so peculiar to himselt upon the matters touching the question at issue, and satisfied himself, if nobody else, that he was what is commonly called now-a-days a “great common er,” he faced his man. Then occurred a scene which it would be difficult to portray. He smiled and sneered, and it would be difficult to say which was the more unearthly of the two. He lashed Cromley with a vengeance. He spoke about some person who had stolen some chickens from a man’s premises. When spo ken to on the subject, said he would not do so again, and the next night was at the same work as fresh as ever. Wko'this was intended to ap ply to there could be but little doubt, and his language, though low and scurrilous, had one redeeming feature, which was, that it left no mystery in the minds of his hearers. It is to be regretted that we cannot follow him, word tor word, so as that the world might be able to judge for itself ot the state to which the people of the South are reduced. He was very mad, very mad indeed, about the manner iu which he was treated by the newspapers, and he could not help feeling very indignant at be ing called a “ Massachusetts imported nigger,” when the tact was, he was a native of South Carolina. The newspapers took great delight iu misrepresenting him. They made him say dls, dat, and t’other, and yet he could not see why they should so ill use him. Poor, outrag ed A. Alpeoria Bradley! (negro.) Members Bhermau, Richardson, Bedford, and Whitely favored the amendment, and spoke at some length on the outrages which were sure to result to the poor man from its rejection.— They denounced the orignal section as placing the debtor altogether at the mercy of rich cre ditors, and trusted the amendment would be accepted by the convention. The cause of humanity demanded it, and all other States that had rejected arrest for debts had flourished very well. J. E. Bryant also favored the amendment in a brief address. L. N. Trammell moved that the entire section be stricken, as he had grown tired of the dis cussion. The motion was lost. Mr. Akerman then addreesed the committee, aud showed the statements of preceding speakers to the effect that the constitutions of the loyal States forbid imprisonment for debt were incorrect. He read from the constitu tions of six or seven Northern States provisions similar to that in the old Constitution of Geor gia, which allowed a fraudulent or absconding debtor to be imprisoned. He exposed Brad ley’s misrepresentations of the law of Georgia, and said that if there was oppression in Savan nah, the fault was not in the law, but in the administration of it. Referring to the arrest of Georgians for debt in New York, he asked why should not Georgia creditors have the same remedy against New York debtors when found here? Bradley, (negro) interrupted with the answer, “Because the New Yorkers put down the rebellion in Georgia.” To which Mr. A. responded by quoting the Constitution of the United States on the subject of the equal rights of the citizens of the several States. He pressed this argument with so much effect that even the noisy Bradley was silenced for the time. He replied to Mr. Whiteley’s argument that Texas had abolished imprisonment for debt in her constitution, reminding his hearers that when Texas mad* her constitution she was the asylum of *ll th* outlaws of the continent, and that such a rule was very naturally adopted by such a peopl*. The old rul* worked well in the country por tion of th* State, and thi* embraced nine-tenths of h*r population. A good rule ought not to be sat aside for occasional abuses. Tha quwrtion of th* proposition to strike out next cam* in order, and th* votes counted standing. Thaj atood ayae, 70; nays, 43. Th* fourth saction aa amandad was then read as follows: “ There shall be no imprisonment for debt.” Adopted. The discussion of this question created con siderable anxiety among the parties on either side, and its close seemed to give relief even to those who were defeated. The Committee of the Whole, into which the house had resolved itself in the morning, now rose and reported progress. Th£ convention then adjourned to 10, a. m., next day. Friday, January 17. The convention opened with prayer—Mr. Parrott in the chair. The Journal was read. H. V. M. Miller moved that the rules be sus pended in order that the report ot the Commit tee ou Militia be taken for action and the usual number printed. The rules were suspended and the motion to print adopted. GENERAL MEADE. M. A. Potts handed in a resolution, which was read, as follows : Resolved , That this convention do unani mously tender their thanks to Gen. Meade, military commander of the district, for the course he is pursuing in regard to reconstruc tion. John Harris thought the motion was rather in advance. He agreed in part with it, but he did not believe that he should remove persons from civil State offices and fill those offices with military men in every case. He moved that the motion lay on the table for the pres ent. A. T. Akerman moved that the words “ has pursued ” instead of “ is pursuing ” be substi tuted. The substitute was accepted and the rules suspended. The resolution w r as then put to the house aud carried—the following-, with a few others, voting “no” in every case: Foster, of Paulding, Fields, Martin, of Carroll, Gore, Waddell, Har rison, of Carroll, Burnett, Harris, of Newton, Griffin, Hooks, Christian, Holcombe, Martin, of Calhoun, and Hudson. THE BILL OF RIGHTS. B. Conley moved that the house resolve itsell into committee of the wfiiole, for the purpose of taking up the bill of rights. I. Seeley offered a resolution to the efleet that no member addressing the committee should occupy a longer time than ten minutes ou any one question, unless by a vote of the majority ot the committee. It was sometimes the course when the House of Representatives of the United States resolved itself into a committee of the whole to limit speakers to five minutes, and he thought that this body ought to be sat isfied with ten. A. T. Akerman was opposed to the resolution. He was opposed to the right of discussion be ing stifled. J. E. Blount was also opposed to the gagging of members when questions of so grave a char acter were up for discussion, and thought such an idea was an outrage. The motion was withdrawn. J. R. Parrott moved that as they had no rules to govern Them, they adopt the rules by which the House of Representatives of the United States were governed in committee of the whole, except that limiting debate. I. Seeley moved to strike out the word “ ex cept.” The question limiting debate was put and lost. A division was called for, but the call was suppressed immediately upon A. Alpeoria Bradley (negro) standing up and, in a half sneering manner, saying, “ Not at all —it is uot seriously necessary.” The motion was then put and carried, and the rules of Congress adopted. FIFTH SECTION OF THE CONSTITUTION. The consideration of this section was taken up. R. H. Whitely moved that the fifth section be struck out as he thought that the matter pro perly belonged to a legislative body. G. W. Asbburn moved that the section be adopted. The section read ns follows: “Tbe punishment of all frauds shall be provided bv law.” J. L. Dunning moved that it lie amended by inserting after the word “ provided ” the word “ for,” which he withdrew after some discuss ion. The question was then put to the house and adopted, aud the SIXTH SECTION Was taken up, which reads as follows: “ The writ of habes corpus shall not be sus pended unless in case of rebellion the public safety may require it.” t G. W. Asbburn moved the adoption of this section. Madison Bell moved an amendment by in serting after the word “ rebellion” the words “ or invasion.” G. W. Ashburn accepted the amendment. Tbe amendment was put and carried. The yeas and nays were then taken on tbe section ns amended, and it was carried. SEVENTH SECTION. G. W. Ashburn moved the adoption of the seventh section. E. L. Higbee moved an addition to the sec tion, making it read as follows : “ But the General Assembly may. pass laws to prevent persons from carring coucealed weap ons.” Madison Bell moved an amendment by in serting at ihe end the words “But the sticret carrying of deadly weapons shall be prohibited by law.” Several members spoke on the question. D. C. Cotting moved the following amend ment : “ But this provision shall not be construed as permitting the practice of earning concealed deadly weapons.” Lost. Madison Bell proposed an amendment as fol lows: “To insert at the ends the words ‘the secret carrying of deadly weapons are prohibit ed by law.’ ” The amendment was favored by L. L. Stan ford and J. S. Bigbee in cogent and forcible terms. Lost. L. L. Stanford offered the following amend ment : “ Carrying deadly concealed weapons shall be prohibited by law.” J. E. Blount spoke at some length on the subject and in favor of the last amendment. — He could see no other way of striking at the root of the evil or prevent the carrying of con cealed deadly weapons. He gave some strik ing evidences of crime which had come under his observation, and referred to the fact of the blacks carrying arms, and said he had always forbidden them to do so. He had never car ried a deadly weapon in his life, and he would never do so. He thought it was the surest evidence that a man wanted to hurt somebody when he carried concealed weapons, and the man who had right and justice on his side, and meant to keep the peace, had no need for them. It was only the coward and the ruffian that car ried arms, and such should be held amenable to the law. A. Alpeoria Bradley (negro) up again, said : “ Will the gentleman allow me to ask a ques tion ?” J. E. Blount (coldly, and somewhat aggrava ted at the untiring thirst for interruption ex hibited by Bradley,) replied : “ Yes, go on.”— Alpeoria smiled—as much as to say, “ well, don’t get mad, because I don’t care one fig for you.” J. E. Blount—“ Go on with the ques tion quick—l’m in a hurry.” A. Alpeoria Bradley (negro)—“ What would you think if a judge was to give a man permis sion to carry arms when he knew it was in self-defense ?” “jPut him in jail,” said the speaker; “put him out of office.” And now, said he, very excitedly, and pulling up his sleeves, let me alone; I want to unravel this whole matter ; I want to turn it inside out and unwind it. He then proceeded, at great length and with great vehemence, to dilate upon the benefit* that were likely to flow, from the adoption of the amendment, to the country and to eociety; and he concluded by expressing a hope that the convention would adopt it. A. W. Holeombe said he thought it was a most extraordinary proceeding tor men who had come here to restore order and harmonize all classes in the State, to make it necessary that every eitiaen in the State of Georgia should arm himself to defend his life and protect him self from every man he met on the road. In stead of giving a license to wicked and evil disposed persons, they should do everything iu their power to restrain the passions and calm down the prejudices of men. This was a posi tion to which none could object, and if, instead of doing this, they made laws which fostered crime and riot in the land, posterity would have reason to look back to them with censure, aud the manifold outrages to which, in our own times, they gave rise, would bring dis grace and dissension in their midst. It ap peared to him as if most of the gentlemen thought of nothing but the arming of the ne groes, and were forgetful of the evil passions which such a course might lead to; but, for himself, he could only say to them, do as be comes men who are assembled to make import ant laws to restrain crime. Take out of the hands of every one the weapon by which crimes may be committed, aud, by doing t is, they would bring down upon them the bles. iugs and the respect of mankind in general. A. ALPEORIA BRADLEY. Up again, spoke of the efforts of some per sons to give the white men the privilege of go ing up to every poor colored man they met ou the road, taking a hold of him, and searching him for arms. He wanted colored man to have the right to carry about with him a moans of defense. T. G. Campbell, another negro, made a speech on the question, and we do not hesitate to say that it there was nothing iu the speech there was at least iu his actions and bearing a visible respect for those around him. The rules were suspended for the purpose of taking up the amendment of A. T. Akerman, and alter counting the votes on the amendment it was found they stood —ayes, 59; nays, 59. The Chairman having the deciding vote he decided in the affirmative, and the amendment was declared carried. The vote was next taken on the section as amended.- A division was called for when the votes stood—yeas, 76 ; nays, 57, aud the section was declared carried. The following is the amended section : A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free people, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be in fringed, but the General Assembly shall have power to prescribe by law the manner in w'hich arms shall be borne by private persons. J. E. Bryant moved that the committee of the whole rise, report progress, and ask leave to sit agaiu. Carried. C. H. Prince moved that when the conven tion adjourned u would do so to meet again ou Monday, at 10 o’clock. Lost. A report from the Committe on Printing was handed in and the rules suspended. The report stated that the committee had en gaged the services of three phonographic re porters, who would probably be prepared to enter on their duties on Monday next. The committee recommended that reports of the proceedings of the convention be furnished daily to the Opinion and New Era newspapers, but said not one word about the Intelligencer. This is really poor gratitude for all our atten tions to them. On motion of J. Bryant, the rules were sn pended lor the purpose of taking up the fol lowing resolution, offered some days ago, by Mr. Bell, of Banks : Resolved , That there be incorporated in the constitution a clause requiring the General As sembly to foster important works of internal improvements, particularly the Air Line Rail road, by aid from the Treasury or the credit of ihe State. On motion of J. E. Bryant ,the resolution was referred to the Committee on Corporations. The convention then adjourned to 10, tv m., next day. [From the Charleston Mercury A Carolina “Loyalist.” F. J. Moses, Jr., a young lawyer, a na tive of Sumter, and son of Judge Moses. Delegate No. 4 was private secretary to Governor Pickens, and was in accord with the secession furore of the Pickens admin istration; retains, as a momento of the times, the desk on which he wrote the or der to fire on the Star of the West; survey ed in delight, from the Governor’s head quarters, the bombardment and reduction of Fort Sumter by Beauregard, and after the fight was over, and the fort evacuated by the brave Major Anderson and his com mand, on Monday, F. J. Moses, Jr., claim ed the honor, as Governor’s aid, of raising the Palmetto flag over tiic ramparts, which was duly chronicled in the gazettes of the day. He subsequently was enrolling officer for Williamsburg District, and then for Edgefield District, and aided the “ rebel lion” in every way except in the light.— Since the war ended lie lias discovered that he was always opposed to it, and while ed iting for some months the Sumter News , he changed base so suddenly in favor of the Radicals that the patrons of that paper withdrew in disgust, and lie was dismissed. Iu his valedictory he declared: “I am not now, and never have been, a Radical, in the common acceptation of that term,” and was at that time a member of the negro Union League at Sumter, and in accord with Wliittemore, Bowen, Wright & Co.— His speeches in the convention will no doubt be rendered doubly brilliant by the vivid recollections of the past, which the “ City by the Sea ” and the crumbled walls of old Sumter must inevitably revive; and it ought to afford him peculiar satisfaction to unite with his present noble associates in voting to disfranchise Governor Pickens and the other utibought and untainted white men of the State. [official. | Headq’rs, Third Military District, p {Dept. Georgia , Florida and Alabama,) > Atlanta, Ga., January 17,1868. ) General Orders, ) No. 11. 5 I. —John T. Burns, Comptroller of the State of Georgia, having declined to respect the in tructicns of, and failed to co-operate with the Major General Commanding the Third Military District, is hereby removed from office. 11. Captain Charles Wheaton, 33d Infantry IT. S. Army, i3 hereby detailed for duty in the District of Georgia as Comptroller of the State of Georgia. He will repair without delay to Milledgeville, Georgia and enter upon the dis charge ol the duties devolving upon him, sub ject to instructions from these Headquarters. By order of Major General Meade. R. C. Drum, A. A. G. Sumter Superior Court. —Adjourned term of the Superior Court, for this county, is now being held in Americus. Among other busi ness of importance is the re-trial of the negroes concerned in the killing of Judge Horne, last cummer. On appeal ol the case to the Su preme Court, that tribunal granted anew trial, on the ground, we believe, that the accused had the right, each, to a separate trial. On yesterday a jury was empanelled and the case of Edmund was entered upon and wit nesses examined. Judge Lyon and Judge Scarborough, being assigned to the defense, and Hawkins and McCay and the Solicitor Gen eral for the prosecution. Late in the evening the case was submitted to the jury and the ver dict of murder in the first degree was return ed. — Citizen. Certainties.—He who cannot find time to consult his Bible, will find one day that he has time to be sick ; he who has no time to pray, must find time to die ; he who can not find time to reflect, is most likely to find time to sin ; he who cannot find time for repentance, will find an eternity in which repentance will be of no avail. Fire in Friendship.—We understand that a destructive fire occurred in the village of Friendship on Sunday afternoon last, by which Messrs. Wadsworth and Btatham, merchants, lost some seven thousand dollars, in money and goods. During the absence of these gen tlemen, the store was set on fire by some vile incendiary, probably to cover up a previous roobery.— Sumter Citizen.
