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About Weekly constitutionalist. (Augusta, Ga.) 185?-1877 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 22, 1868)
THE WEEKLY CONSTITUTIONALIST WEDNESDAY MORNING. JAN. 22,15G8 TO OUR SUBORIBERS. The Weekly Constitutionalist will here after be mailed on Tuesday instead of Wednes * day morning. We make this change to accom modate many subscribers. It is oui aim and purpose to make the paper a first class news and family journal, and we confidently hope that the influence ol our subscribers m ill be exerted to aid us in doing so by extending its circu ation. NEMESIS. All the prophecies of Southern states men concerning the aims and motives of Northern fanaticism are having swift and terrible fulfillment. In destroying the lib erty of the South, the North effectually overturned her own republican freedom ; in subjecting us to the dominion of the sword, she is rapidly drifting under the same fell power. The “ man on horseback came to the South.aift, ATTiLA-like, the very grass withered under his war-steed s tramp. When he came among us, years ago, we predicted that, having exhausted us, his march would be Northward. Every day brings us nearer to this crisis; every day brings the Northern people more ruth lessly to share of the measure of calamity meted out to us; every day of inertness renders the task of resurrecting the heri tage of their and our fathers more difllcult and uncertain. Verily, evil does not es cape retribution, even beneath the stars. The bloody planet that went down at Ap pomattox Court House rises at Washing ton in the sphere of malignant Mars. In reading the subjoined appeal of the Nation al Intelligencer , methinks we hear the shouts of 1801 ; methinks the dead hosts have risen again from the land where they were dreaming: People of the North, ar 1 . Yon free? Arise and Sneak! “Freemen of the North! Know that the clutch of usurpation is at the throat of your Ministers of Justice; that your treacherous servants, determined to destroy your Consti tution, defended by your Chief Magistrate, have desperately resolved upon abnegating the legislative branch ot your Government, en trusted to their perfidious hands, and in order to demolish all restraint of treason, are about to destroy all the departments of government, even their own, and lifting your liberties from your sovereign shoulders, to lay all at the feet of a military despot. Know, people of the great free North, that your chains are forged ; that the bayonets, as it were, are sharpened, the muskets charged, the orders written, that are to meet out to each one of you what liber ty, what property, what life he shall retain. Behold, at your firesides the apparition of the guard for a midnight arrest; in your places of worship, the armed censor of > T our prayers ; in your fields, at your work-tables, on the high roads, the snaky and skulking detective. Listen ! you may hear the drum, as it drops in at your startled ear, the palsy that thickens your yet free tongue. We tell you that the Su preme Court is to be struck down, that the equal balance of the Three Great Departments is swaying from its equfibrium ; that the great tripod of the Republic is to be broken up ; that from your political temples your betrayers are banishiug your gods, and from the genius of your freedom are wrenching her inviolable sceptre. That a few wretches, drunk upon ir responsible power, loathsome with guilt, hideous with blood, and mad with lust, may riot in your halls of power, through the degra dation of the South, your liberties are to be de stroyed, your Constitution subverted, your Re public dissolved, and your name dishonored among nations forever. “ Arise, freemen, in yonr fiery majesty I Consume with the lightning of your powerful rebuke this devilish combination of perfidy and greed. Shake off the fatal incredulity which lays you supine in the midst of peril, and let not the sun go down ere you have shaken the earth with your mighty tread. Gather, in every hamlet in the land, from Eastport to Astoria, and send up to Heaven the shout of your indig nation. The winding sheet of your freedom is woven and its coffin made. Shall it die and be buried ?” MOEE DISENCHANTMENT. The New England volunteers, of the late war, are getting rid of many illusions ap pertaining to the motives of those who sent them against the South with Are and sword. A soldier of the Sixth Maine Regiment has written a letter to the Madrid (Me.) Union , in which he expresses a sense of contrition and indignation which is destined to spread and intensify. This veteran “ boy in bine” says: “ I have been a Republican five years. I fought the South in arms three long years; 1 marched over desolated fields and grounds de luged with blood. I thought, as scores ot others did, that I was fighting for our old flag and the Constitution, but I got greatly mis taken. I found out before the close of the war that 1 was fighting to keep an army of plunderers in power. 1 think they have been kept in power a little too long for the country’s good. It is time they were relieved. I think there are honest men enough to rule this na tiou. The Republicans have had a fair trial, and they have proved incompetent. We ask them now to stand back, just stand back, and give place to a better class of men. This they must do, no matter how much they dislike the idea. I, for one, never will consent to be ruled by a negro. Ihe Republicans must remember that there are in the loyal States ONE MILLION of soldiers who t rill not be ruled by negroes, or consent to sec any portion of our own white race thus degraded ! No, never 1” As this is, probably, the prevailing opin ion among many of his comrades in differ ent States, Mr. Stanton will find some dif ficulty in the way of assuming dictatorial powers lor himself or liis friend Grant. If the imperial purple is to be made a ques tion of military arbitration, we predict that* the clarion of Hancock Avill bring more warriors to the field than the tom-tom of every tyrant from Maine to Aliaska. AN ARCH DECEIVER. The article published this morning, from the National Intelligencer , relative to the Stanton affair, puts Gen. Grant in an awkward position for a man of honor, and consigns him to the sympathies of Pope as illustrated by Gen. Franklin. If the breach of faith thus recorded be true, Gen. Grant has committed political, as well as moral, suicide ; and, in affiliating openly with Radicalism, he is not one whit behind its false and fleeting perjuries. A stolid silence and a strong cigar will not prove his innocence. Under this crushing ex posure of the Intelligencers, he must either thunder forth denial, or, expect, in the lan guage of Mr. Hubbard, of Connecticut, to have his back broken before the people. At the present rate of progress, the great Yankee hero bids fair to dwindle, before the end of the canvass, into a very smutty idol. RICH, RARE AND RACY. We advise a careful perusal of the pro ceedings of the Bones and Banjo Conven tion. They are unusually unctuous and farcical. Several negroes, envious of Aaron Alpeoria, have appeared upon the stage and add to the general attractiveness of the show. A mutual exchange of compliments, on the score of roguery, passed between the black and white animals. If Gen. Meade has an artistic relish for a genuine cala boose scrimmage, the debate published this morning should make his loyal sword rattle and his Republican heart stand still. New England Politics.—-The Boston Post says: “ There is a strong undertow in the political tide in Maine, New Hampshire and Connecticut, more noticeable than in Vermont and Rhode Island, and ivorking to more distinct and practical results than it so far has in Massachusetts.” The Post adds: “The people realize the necessity of a complete change in politics. The overthrow of the party in power will therefore be a popular overthrow, if any. There are no compromises to be tendered, and no half concessions to be accepted. It is life or death for the nation. We are dy ing of a disease which there is no possible hope of conquering except by first ridding ourselves wholly of the cause.” An Apt Comparison.—Beverly Nash, negro delegate to the South Carolina me nagerie, thus portrays that oiled and curled Assyrian bull, James L. Orr : “ Governor Orr is in the position that the old woman said President Tyler was when he tried to turn a somerset from the Whig to the Demo cratic party ; left hanging upside down, with the head down. The Conservatives try to kick him off from the Conservative tree, and the Republicans are willing to let him hang by his heels until all bis brains run down into his head, and he will die of political appoplexy.” Comment is useless. When a public man liasbeen brought to that pass, he is between the devil and the deep sea. An Honorable Man.—The Atlanta In. telligencer publishes a string of Yankee hating resolutions, written and read by Parson Caldwell, in 1863, and by him presented to a conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The last resolution runs thus : “ That under no possible circumstances would we consent to live again under the Gov ernment of the United States with such a peo ple.” In 1868, Parson Caldwell is one of the most Yankee-slobbering and nigger- wor shipping members of the Bones and Banjo Convention. If Caldwell y is one of the Lord’s anointed, the devil may as well shut up shop and take to the conventicle. Dodging the Issue.—ln his “ reply ” to Gov. Jerkins, Gen. Meade says : “ I do not deem myself called upon to answer the argument of your letter.” It was a good thing for the General that he did not “ feel called.” The sword has violated the parchment upon which Jen kins inscribed his unanswerable justifica tion ; but the powers of intellect crowded into a world of Meades would have fallen abashed before the spirit and truth of that immortal argument. Good Authority.— The greatest finan cial authority in England, and one of the greatest in the world, thus pronounces sen tence on American taxation: “ Every sort of industry—almost every kind of available and conspicuous act—is seized upon and taxed. A ninety-ninth part of this interference in England would have caused a rebellion .” In the face of this judgment, Mr. Gree ley's appeal to the “ holy aspirations ” of discharged laborers and clerks has the force of a conundrum. Letting the Light In. —The Revolution ist is a new paper and the organ of Wo man’s Rights. The editor, or editress, thus exposes the sham morality- of Massachu setts: “ With sixteen huudred divorce cases in one year in Massachusetts, we should think the family relation was already somewhat disturbed even at the Hub, and while woman in that State has no right to the joint earnings of the marriage co-partnership, and is ranked in the constitution with idiots, lunatics, minors, pau pers and criminals, she is already as degraded politically as she well can be.” This is Yankee evidence, mind you. And yet, the carpet-bag gentry desire to recon struct Georgia after this filthy fashion. “In Fine Spirits.” —Washington dis patches informed the public that Mr. Stan ton, on taking possession ot his old office, appeared in unusually fine spirits, and con versed freely with those about him.” To which Mr. Raymond, of the Times, retorts: “As the same phrases have been often em ployed in recording the last moments of; felons about to be hanged, they are neither . characteristic nor complimentary.” [From the Macon Telegraph. IMPORTANT CORRESPONDENCE, We publish below certain documents and •orrespondence, presenting to our readers all the proceedings which resulted in the removal of Governor Jenkins and Treasurer Jones. We learn that, since assuming the command of the Third Military District, Gen. Meade has is sued no instruction to, nor asked any specific act of 00-operation from, Gov. Jenkins, save his request contained in his letter of the 7th inst. (if that cau be denominated an instruc tion.) It would 6eem, therefore, that the re movals were predicated upon the refusal of the Governor and Treasurer to defray from the Treasury the expenses of the Convention now sitting in Atlanta. The Governor’s refusal to pay the salary of Solicitor Bigby is not referred to in the order of removal, unless it be re garded as evidence of fatiure “ to co-operate with the Major General commanding the Third Military District.” AN ORDINANCE To levy and collect a Tax to pay the Delegates and Officers connected with this Convention, as well as all other incidental expenses. Be it ordained by the people o f Georgia in Con vention assembled , That it shall be the duty of the Comptroller General of the Slate of Geor gia to levy and assess a tax of one-sixteenth of one per cent, on all the taxable property of this State, as returned on the Digest for the year 1867, in addition to the State tax ; and the Comptroller General shall direct and require the lax collectors of the several counties of this State to collect the extraordinary tax so asses ed, or so much thereof as will defray the ex penses of this Convention, and pay the same into the Treasury of the State of Georgia on or before the Ist of November, 1868. Be it further ordained , That the Treasurer of this State is hereby authorized and directed to advance to the disbursing officer of this Con vention, out of the Treasury of this State, forty thousand dollars, to defray the expenses of thi6 Convention, and the pay and mileage of its members and officers, up to the twenty third day of December, 1867. Be it further ord lined, That N. L. Angier is hereby appointed the Disbursing officer of this Convention, and is authorized to receive and receipt for the sum aforesaid from the Treasu rer, and to pay out the same on the warrant of the President of this Convention, on the re port of the Auditing Committee. The amount so advauced oy the Treasurer shall be replaced from the proceeds of the tax ordained by this Convention to be assessed and collected for the expenses, pay and mileage of the members and officers thereof. Be it further ordained, That the several Tax Collectors shall receive the same per cent, for collecting the same as they now are allowed by law for collecting the State tax. Adopted December 20, 1867. J. R. Parrott, President of the Convention. P. M. SniLBLEY, Secretary of the Convention. \En dorsement. J lleadq’ks Third Military District, l Atlanta, Ga., December 20, 1867. ) In conformity to the provisions of the within Ordinance, the Treasurer of the Stale of Geor gia is hereby authorized anti instructed to pay out of the State Treasury the sum designated in this Ordinance, to the Disbursing officer of the Convention, for the purposes herein speci fied, and to file this Ordinance with the order endorsed thereon, and the receipt of said Dis bursing officer of the Convention, as his vouchers for the amount. JonN Pope, Brevet Major Gent ral, Commanding. Official: H. Clay Wood, A. A. G. Treasury of Georgia, ) Milledgeville, Ga., December 21, 1867. ) Brevet Major General John Pope , Commanding Third Military District , Georgia , Alabama , and Florida : General : I received, to-day, by Dr. L. N. Angier, your letter of authority and instruc tion to pay to him, as Disbursing officer of the Convention now assembled at Atlanta, a cer tain sum for the use of said Convention. Holding my office under the Constitution of the State of Georgia, adopted in 1865, being sworn to perform its duties according to that Constitution and the laws of the State, by which I am forbidden to pay money out of the Treasury except upon warrant of the Governor and sanction of the Comptroller General, and having entered into heavy bonds for the faithful performance, of the duties so prescribed, I am compelled to decline making the payment or dered by the Convention and authorized by you. I have the honor to be, very respectfully, etc., John Jones, Treasurer. Headq’rs, Third Military District, 1 (Georgia, Alabama and Florida,) v Atlanta, Ga, January 7,1868. ) His Excellency Charles J. Jenkins , Provisional Governor of the State of Georgia , Milledge ville, Ga.: Dear Sir: I have the honor to submit here with for your consideration a copy of an Ordi nance recently adopted by the Constitutional Convention of the State of Georgia, and a copy of the endorsement thereon made by Brevet Major General John Pope, who, at the date of such endorsement, was in command of this Military District. I also enclose a copy of a letter addressed to General Pope by John Jones, Esq., Provisional Treasurer of the State of Georgia. You will observe that said Ordinance author ized and directed said Treasurer to advance to the disbursing officer of the Convention, there in named, out of the Treasury of the State of Georgia, the sum of forty thousand dollars, to defray the expenses of the Convention and the pay and mileage of its members to the 23d day of December, 1867, and that General Pope’s en dorsement on said Ordinance authorized and instructed the Treasurer to pay the sum desig nated in the Ordinance to the Disbursing officer of the Convention, for the purpose specified, and to file the Ordinance with his endorsement thereon, and the receipt of said disbursing offi cer, as the Treasurer’s voucher for the amount so paid. The Treasurer declined to pay the amount so ordered to be paid, on the ground that he held his office under the Constitution of the State of Georgia, adopted in 1865, being sworn to perform its duties according to that Constitution and the laws of the State, by which he alleged he was forbiddeu to pay money out the Treasury, except upon warrant of the Gov ernor and sanction of the Comptroller Gener al, and that having entered into heavy bonds for the faithful performance of his duties so prescribed, he was compelled to decline making the payment ordered by the Conven tion and authorized by General Pope.— Under these circumstances, I deem it proper to request you to issue an Executive warrant on the State Treasurer for the payment of the amount, and for the purposes specified in said Ordinance. 1 am clearly of the opinion that the Convention is authorized by the Recon struction Acts of Congress to exercise such leg islative power as may be necessary for it to dis charge the duties which those Acts impose on the Convention. To enable it to discharge its duty the payment of Us current expenses, and of its members, is absolutely essential. Iu this view I consider the present Ordinance as “ an appropriation made by law,” in the sense used by the Constitution of Georgia, which pre scribes that “ no money should be drawn from the Treasury of this State, except by appropria- j tion made by law and I. therefore, trust that j you will not hesitate to give the Executive war- j rant required by the Treasurer. If I a:n cor rectly informed there is a precedent lor the ac tion of this Convention in the appropriations made by the Constitutional Convention which assembled iu this State in 1865. You will please show this communication to the Compirofier General. Hoping that in the performance of the diffi cult and embarrassing duties now devolved upon me I may have the co-operation and as sistance of the Executive Department of the j State of Georgia, I am, most respectfully. Your obedient servant, Geo. G. Meade, Major General U. S. A., Commanding Third Military District, j Executive Department, ? 1 Milledgeville, Jauuary 10, 1868. ) Major General George G. Meade , U. .S'. A., Com manding Third Military District : General —Your communication of the 7th instant, enclosing, for my consideration, an or dinance of a Convention now sittiug in Atlanta, “To levy and collect a tax for defraying the expenses of the Convention, and for other pur poses,” having an endorsement thereon by Ma jor General John Pope, then Commanding the Third District, authorizing and instructing John Jones, Esq., State Treasurer, to pay the Disbursing officer of the Convention forty thousand dollars to pay its expenses and the pay and mileage of its members and officers up to the 23d day of December, 1867, and the reply of Mr. Jones to General Pope, was re ceived after 10 o’clock, p. in., yesterday, and numerous unavoidable interruptions have prevented me from replying in time for the mail of to-day. After reciting the substance of the enclosed papers, you add, “ under these circumstances I deem it proper to request you to issue an Ex ecutive warrant on the State Treasurer for the payment of the amount, and for the purpose specified in said ordinance.” After careful consideration, and with the clearest conviction of duty, I must, General, respectfully decline to comply with your re quest. With a full appreciation of the cour teous terms in ivhich your request has been preferred, I ask your consideration of the rea sons which have prompted the answer here given. They apply to three aspects of the sub ject under consideration: First. I have considered it as arising under the Constitution of the State of Georgia, adopted in 1865, and the Constitution of the United States, both of which, upon my induc tion into office, I took a solemn oath “to the best of my abilities to preserve, protect and de fend." One of the provisions ol the former is expressed in these words : “A T o money shall be drawn from the Treasury of this State, except by appropriation made by law." Here is an at tempt to draw from the Treasury of this State a large sum of money. Has an appropri ation of this money been made by law ? Clear ly not, according to my conception. I venture the assertion that any learned, upright jurist would hold that the term “laic,” as used in this connection, signifies a statute emanating from the law-making power established by that Constitution, and none ether. What else can it mean? You say, “In this view” (i.e. in view of the necessities of the Convention) “ I regard this Ordinance as an appropriation made by law in the sense used by the Constitu tion of Georgia.” From this conclusion, Gen eral, I most emphatically dissent. Whence does this Ordinance emanate ? From a Con vention assembled to make a Constitution for the State of Georgia, which is intended to su percede that in which the above prohibition is contained—a Convention not assembled either in the manner pointed out by itself, nor by the spontaneous action of the coustituency.recog tiized by it. The concluding clause of our Constitution of 1865 reads thus: “ This Con stitution shall be altered or amended only by a Convention of the people , called for that pur pose by Act of the General Assembly Bear iu mind, General, that I am now dis cussing your proposition, that the present Or dinance is to be regarded “as an appropria tion made by law,” in the sense used by the Constitution of Georgia, which prescribes that no money shall be drawn from the Treasury of this State, except by appropriation made by law. Asa logician, for the put pose of the argu ment, you concede that I am bound by the Constitution, and are seeking to convince me that this Ordinance comes within the excep tion to the prohibition. Now, look at it iu the light of the concluding clause I have quoted, prescribing bOAv, and how only, it shall be al tered and amended. That clause is conserva tive of the Constitution itself. The Conven tion which passed this Ordinance, and which is assembled expressly to make a Constitution for Georgia, is not called as provided in that last clause, and is, therefore, put under the ban of the Constitution now existing. Yet you say au Ordinance made by it is, in the sense of that very Constitution, a “ law ” ap propriating money. If Ibe right in defining the term “ law," as used in the prohibiting clause, I have only to add that the law mak ing power established by the Constitution has made no such appropriation. The Convention which made this Ordinance is called into being by certain acts of the Congress of the United States, is one of the agents of that Congress (yourself being another) for the purpose of carrying into effect a certain purpose. You construe those acts as giving authority to the Convention to appropriate money out of the Treasury of Georgia. Do you hoid, General, that the Congress of the United States could directly, by its own simple act, appropriate money from the Treasury of Georgia ? If you do, you Avill confer a great favor by designating the article, section and clause of the Constitu tion of the United States (whence only its pow ers come) conferring that power. If you do uot ao hold, (and I scarcely think you do,) will you insist that the Congress can confer upon its agents larger powers than are possessed by itself ? Should you say that you are not per mitted to consider those Reconstruction Acts without reference to their constitutionality or their justice, or tlieir expediency—that you oam# here to execute them, and must do so ? Pardon me for replying that you and I look at them from a different stand-point. I have said that I have sworn to support the Constitutions ol Georgia and the United States, and I have a serene consciousness that in declining to obey the behest of the Convention, and to comply with your courteous request, I but pay a duti ful homage to both Constitutions. Secondly, I have considered the subject with reference to the Reconstruction Acts them selves. I can find nothing which in the re motest degree authorizes the construction that they intended to saddle the Treasury of Georgia with the cost of their novel enterprise. It is very clear that they intendedsthat cost, up to the assembling of the Convention, to come out of the Federal Treasury. They have, with equal distinction, provided that the Convention shall provide for their own compensation and other expenses, by levying a tax upon the peo ple for that express purpose. But you may say, this is too slow ; the Convention cannot possibly await the collection of the tax—there is nobody else that can and will advance to them, and, therefore, you must. But the Con gress have not so said. It is a very old and a very safe rule of construction “ expressio unius, exclusio est alterius .” The Congress having ex pressly specified how the expense of the whole scheme, from beginning to end, shall be pro vided for, it cannot fairly be argued that they intended any other provision. Nothing but a most latitudinary construction could justify the inference that this legislation imposes a bur den upon the State Treasury. Think you, General, it would become the Governor of one of these States, required by law, to disburse certaiu sums for designated objects and scan tily supplied with means for the purpose, to adopt such a rule of construction, and in a fit of generosity, at the expense of justice and of duty, to volunteer so large a contribution to a cause with which he had no official connec tion ? Will you do me the favor, General, in imagination, to place yourself in the position of one of these unfortunates, and ask yourself the question, would Ido so t It may be that the Congress w r as not adequately provided for this Convention, which it brought into being, ■ but that is a question between the parent and j the child. Even if it be so, I incline to think '< that no blame attaches to you or to me. Iu j connection with this point, I will say farther, I cannot perceive in these multiplied reconstruc tion acts, the Congress has imposed upon me | any active part whatever. They have gracious- ; ly consented to leave me undisturbed in the performance of the humble functions intrusted , to me by the Constitution and laws of the State, upon the condition that I do not “7?ui-| der, delay, prevent or obstruct the due and prop er administration of those acts. But you per ceive this imposes only a negative duty. Be lieve me, General, in my official position com pliance with your request would involve a tre mendous activity, nay, even the abandonment 1 ot previously imposed positive duty. This brings me to say : Thirdly, that I have considered this question with reference to the resources, and the exist- j ing liabilities of the Treasury of Georgia. Into ; these (although tolerably familiar with them i before) I have carefully looked, since I had the ; pleasure of seeing you, and I now state dis stiuctly my firm conviction, that if I assume j and meet the expenses of this Convention, I shall be unable to pay „he civil list, the princ-i-! pal of the public debt near maturity, the inter est of the remainder and other necessary j charges. If your thoughts revert to the pro posed reimbursement, I have only to say it Aviii come too late. 1 Hoping that these reasons for my course will be as satisfactory to yon as they are conclusive with me, I have the honor to be, very respect fully, your obedient servant, Charles J. Jenkins, Governor of Georgia. Headq rs. Third Miiltary District, ) (Georgia, Alabama and Florida,) ( Atlanta, Ga., January 13, 186S. S Charles J. Jenkins, Milledgeville, Ga.: Sir : I have received with profound regret your communication of the 10th inst,, in which you decline to accede to the request made in mine, of the 7lh inst. As I cannot bat consider your action as a failure to co-operate with me iu executing the laws known as the Recon struction Laws of Congress, and as I am fur ther advised you have declined to pay the sala ry ol M. S. Big 1)3% Solicitor General of the Tal lapoosa Circuit, on the ground that said officer having been appointed by the Military Com mander of the Third Military District, you can not recognize the validity of his appoiutmeut, I am forced most reluctantly to view your ac tious as obstructions to the execution of the Reconstruction Laws, and have no alternative but to remove you from your office, as 3 T ou will see I have done from the enclosed order. I do uot deem myself called upon to answer the arguments ol your letter. The issue is very plain between us. I must require the ac knowledgement of the validity of the Recon struction Laws, and j'ou plaiuij’ deny them as having any binding force on }*our actions.— Both ot us are acting from a conscientious 6ensc of duty, but the issue is so plain and direct that all hope of harmonious co-operation must be abandoned. \V ith feelings of high personal respect, and with sincere regret for the course I feel myself compelled to take, I remain, most respectfully your obedient servant, George G. Meade, Major General Commanding. Headq’rs, Third Military District, ) (Georgia, Alabama and Florida,) V Atlanta, Ga., January 13, 1868. } John Jones, Esq , Milledgeville : Sir : Your refusal to obey the instructions of Brevet Major General Pope, commanding 1 bird Military District, is viewed by me as au obstruction to the execution of the Reconstruc tion Laws of Congress, and I am, therefore, compelled to remove you from office, as you will see I have done by the enclosed order. \ ery respectfully, 3*our obedient servant, Geo. G. Meade, Major General Commanding. [From the National Intelligencer. The Stanton Affair- We collate from the Star and Express, of yesterday afternoon, the description of the retrocession of the War Department to Hon. Edwin M. Stanton. It appears that at nine o’clock yesterday morning the then Acting Secretary of War, General Grant, came to the War Department as usual, and, after arranging some papers, locked the door ot the private office of the Secretary of War, and, taking the key with him, pro ceeded to the headquarters of the Army, nearly opposite to the War Department. About half-past ten o’clock, Mr. Edwin M. Stanton appeared at the War Department, and proceeded immediately to the oflice usually occupied by the Secretary of War. I hiding the door locked, he took a seat in the ante-room, where he was the recipient of many T warm congratulations from Sena tors and members of the House of Repre sentatives, who had assembled apparently to see what would take place. Mr. Stanton appeared to be in unusually fine spirits, and conversed freely with all around him. Upon the arrival of Mr. Stanton General Dent, the Acting Adjutant General of Gen eral Grant as Secretary of War ad interim, hurried over to the Headquarters of the Army to inform General Grant of the fact, and to obtain the key to the Secretary’s office. In a few minutes he returned, and placed the key in the hands of Adjutant General Townsend, who, in a sort of “ pre sent arms ” styde, delivered it up to Secre tary Stanton. As soon as the reinstated Secretary was fairly ensconced in his office, the Radical members of the Tennessee delegation in Congress waited upon him in a body to pre sent their congratulations, and to ask him to use his influence to continue the opera tions of the Freedmen’s Bureau in the States of Tennessee and Kentucky after the 15th of February next, at which time, by order of the President, it ceases in those States. Mr. Stanton replied, that so long as he had any power, he would use it to pro tect the weak, and would do his best to have the request carried out. He further stated that it would be a few days before matters would commence to run right in his office. As the Tennessee delegation were with drawing, they were met by General Grant in the hall. After exchanging salutations with them and General Howard, who was present, and expressing satisfaction at the action of the Senate in restoring Mr. Stan ton, he walked towards the Secretary’s office, when the latter appeared at the door and shook the General warmly by the hand, and both passed in. It is understood that General Grant and Mr. Stanton were closeted together on Mon day evening, after the passage of the Senate resolution. During the interview between General Grant and Air. Stanton, General Dent trans ferred his desk to General Pelouze, who had occupied it during the latter part of Air. Stanton’s former administration of the De partments and General Hardie gave up his position to General Shriver. At half-past two o’clock Air. Stanton was locked up in his private room with several persons, whose names were not ascertained. At a few minutes past three o’clock an order was issued by Air. Stanton, informing the employes of the Department that he (Air. S.jjiad again taken possession of the portfolio of the War Office. At four o’clock Air. Stanton left the War Department for liis residence, giving, in his usual way, various orders to the messengers who have usually attended upon his particular office rooms, showing thereby that he had quietly settled down for a continued stay. It is understood that Air. Stanton, during the day, transacted no official business what ever, except to draw his salary of $3,000 for the time he was out of office. The statement, which we take from the afternoon papers, of the circumstances of the re-occupation of the War Department by the deposed Secretary, astonished no one more than President Johnson, who was greatly surprised at the surrender by Gen. Grant of the trust reposed in him as Secre tary of War ad interim. The people of the country will doubtless be startled at the annunciation that Air. Stanton has so quiet ly resumed possession of the War Depart ment, and will be curious to know how it ! was effected. In justification of the Presi- j dent, we are at liberty to state the follow- j iug additional circumstances, from which j our readers will draw their own conclu- j sions: Some time after the appointment of General Grant as Secretary of War ad in- ! terim , he had a conversation with the Pres-! iuent upon the subject of the probability of! the refusal of the Senate to recognize the suspension of Air. Stanton, Grant stated that in such event he might not wish to identify himself with either party in the controversy, but added, in es- 1 feet: “I shall in that event either hand j'ou ! my resignation as Acting Secretary, or let a mandamus be issued against me to sur render the office.” This conversation was renewed from time to time, and, on last Saturday, when Sena tor Howard’s report from the Senate Com mittee on Alilitary Affairs in favor of Stau ton was under discussion, General Grant was pointedly asked by the President if he had changed his mind in reference to the course he would pursue if the Senate should refuse to make Stanton’s suspension final when he reiterated the promise previously made, that he would either hand in his re signation as Secretary of War ad interim early enough for the President to appoint his successor or take any other action he might deem requisite, or allow a mandamus to be served upon him for the surrender of the office; adding a promise to the Presi dent, that he should hear from him on the subject on Monday. Monday passed without the promised communication. On Monday evening, after it was known that the Senate had passed Howard’s resolutions refusing to recognize the suspension of Stanton as Secretary of >\ ar, General Grant was present at the re ception at the Executive Mansion, where he greeted the President but mentioned nothing of any change in the determina tion previously declared. The President heard nothing whatever from General Grant upon the subject until twelve o’clock Tues day, two hours alter Mr. Stanton had taken possession of the War Office, when the fol lowing communication was delivered to him by Major Comstock, one of General Grant’s staff officers: Headquarters Armies United States, > Washington, D. C., January 14,1868. $ His Excellency Andretc Johnson, President of the United States : Sir : I have the honor to enclose here with copy of official notice received by me last evening of the action of the Senate of the Uuited States in the case of the suspen sion of Hon. E. M. Stanton, Secretary of War. According to the provisions of sec tion two of “ An act regulating the tenure of certain civil offices,” my functions as Sec retary of War ad interim ceased from the moment of the receipt of the within notice. I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant. U. S. Grant, General. In Executive Session, 'i Senate of the United States, > January 13, 1868. S Resolved, That having considered the evidence and reasons giveu by the President in his report of the 12th December, 1867, for the suspension from the office of Secretary of War of Edwin M. Stanton, theSeuatedo uot concur in such suspension. John W. Forney, Secretary. lleaqruarters Armies United States, January 14, 1868. Attest: Geo. Iv. Dent, A. A. G. Soon after the delivery of this communi cation General Grant called in person upon the President during the meeting of the Cabinet, and upon being reminded by the President of his reiterated promise, and especially of the promise made only on Sat urday morning last, General Grant admitted the promise in the presence of members of the Cabinet. We content ourselves at present with a simple statement of facts, and will reserve all comments. - The Slander Suit.—Several months since we were notified that a suit had been brought against the proprietors ot the Constitution alist by Henry L. Sponsler for the sum of $20,000, for damages which he claimed to have sustained iu character or reputation, by reason of a paragraph published in the columns of this paper on the fifth of Ma>% 1567, to the ef fect that a “ horrible outrage ” had been com mitted on the person of a little girl about thir teen years of age, the daughter of a respecta ble citizen of this place, by a man named “ Sponsiler,” doing business near Daboney’s stable, on Ellis street. The paragraph added : “The brute was committed to jpil; bail Mas offered, but refused by the magistrate.” At the time of notification that a 6uit would be brought, we “ accepted the situation,” feel ing confident that our duty as public journal ists demanded that we uphold the liberty of the Press in this, the first attempt in this city to trammel it, or prevent the truthful report of whatever appertained to the safety and welfare of society. We also promised our readers a full report of the trial, but when we tell them that, notwithstanding the fact we, among other things, pleaded justification, the details of this horrible affair, as developed during the trial, are so ineffably disgusting and revolting, we feel snre they will decide with us that the promise is “ more honored in the breach than the observance.” The plaintiff offered four or five witnesses, with a view to prove good character and so forth. Also introduced the testimony of the child—ten and a half years of age—as taken before the magistrate’s court, in which a pre liminary examination was commenced against Bponsler, charged with the crime of rape. By this testimony the able counsel for the plain tiff attempted to discredit the child’s testimo ny as taken in the presence of commissioners in Warrenton, Ga., the present residence of the father of the unfortunate little girl. The two statements of the child were not exactly alike, but it seems the jury decided they could be harmonized. The testimony on the part of the defense ful ly proved: The want of malice; the lawful publishing an ascertained fact, and the justifi cation of that publication. James C. C. Black, Esq., counsel for Sponfi ler, conducted his case admirably and did not fail to avail himself of the great advantage he had in the conclusion. lie asserted that if the jury should find a verdict in favor of the defen dants (rb e Constitutionalist), they would virtually pronounce his client (Sponsler) guilty of the crime of rape. They did find in favor of the defendants. Col. Lallerstedt, our counsel, managed the case with marked ability, quoting unlimited authority to sustain the positions assumed, evidencing a thorough preparation in the case. The charge of his Honor Judge Gibson was brief and to the point. It was 9, p. m., when the jury retired, thereforethe Judge instructed the foreman to seal and retain his verdict until yesterday morning. . nine and a half o’clock yesterday the jury came into Court with (he following verdict : “Henry L. Sponsler vs. Stockton & Co.— We, the jury, find for the defendants. “liiomas H. Russell, Foreman.” Thus ended the first libel suit against a news paper in this city. The people are not willing to strike a blow at its liberty. Spiritual Advice.—Bennett advises all young geniuses, or genii, out of employ ment to “ start anew religion.” He farth er observes that aspirants ot this character should begin with the women and depend upon the men to follow with the cash. This counsel of Sawney's was, no doubt, elicit ed by Beecher’s announcement of his life of Christ. «-
