Funding for the digitization of this title was provided by the R.J. Taylor, Jr. Foundation in partnership with the Atlanta History Center.
About Weekly constitutionalist. (Augusta, Ga.) 185?-1877 | View Entire Issue (March 25, 1868)
THE WEEKLY CONSTITUTIONALIST Democratic Meeting. Augusta, Ga , ) Saturday night, March 14, 1868. \ A meeting of the officers and members of the Democratic Ward Clubs was held at the Club rooms of the Third Ward on Ellis street this night. On motion, E. H. Rogers, Esq . one of the Vice-Presidents of the 3d Ward Democratic Club, was called to the Chair, and Win. K. Itusc, Secretary of the 3d Ward Democratic Ciub, was requested to act as Secretary. Du motion of W. C. Jones, Esq., a commit tee of one from each Ward was appointed to select officers for a county club. The Chairman appointed as the committee: For the Ist Ward, Judge A. P. Robertson, For the 2d Ward, General A. K. Wright, For the 3d Ward, W. M. Thomas, Esq., For the 4th Ward, John Kenney, Esq. On motion, W. C. Jones, Esq., was added to the committee as chairman. The committee retired for consultation, and on returning reported the following gentlemen tor officers of the Richmond County Democrat ic Club: For President, Judge Wm. T. Gould. For Vice Presidents, Judge A. P. Robertson Ist Ward ; John Phinizy, Sr., 2d Ward ; John D. Butt, Esq., 3d Ward; Robert H. May, Esq., 4th Ward ; Robert Allen, Esq., Bridge District; • Adam Johnston, Esq., Poor House; Powers District; Ed. Perrin, Esq., Rock District. For Secretaries, L. T. Biome, J. V. H. Allen, Wm. K. Huse, and Patrick Dunn. For Treasurer, Henry Myer, Esq. For Executive Committee, the officers of the Club; which, on motion, were unanimously adopted. There being a vacancy of a Vice President (or Powers District, on motion, the committee were empowered to fill the vacancy. On motion of J. M. Newby, Esq., a commit tee of one from each Ward was appointed to invite the Hon. B. H. Hill to address the Democracy of Richmond county at his earliest convenience. On motion of Judge Robertson the motion was amended so as to include any public speakers that would address us. The Chairman appointed as the Committee to invite the Hon. B. H. Hill and other public speakers to address us. J. M. Newby, Esq., of the Ist Ward. General A. K. Wright, of the 2d Ward. John D. Butt, of the 3d Ward. Robt. H. May, of the 4th Ward. General Wright being called upon then made some eloquent remarks, giving an account of the action of the Central Committee at its re cent session at Macon ; also giving some advice as to the future course that ought to be pur sued in the coming election, in regard to the j selection of candidates, &c. Judge Aldrich being called upon also made a few remarks on the coming election. Remarks were also made by several other gentlemen about the coming election, and on business pertaining to the Club. On motion, the meeting was then adjourned, subject to the call of the President of the Rich tuoud County Democratic Club. E. H. Rogers, Chairman. Wm. K. Huse, Secretary. Beware of Cotton.—Many of the papers in the South are running to extremes on the cotton growing subject. The true policy doubt less is to put in enough food, raise enough pork have plenty of milk and eggs, then cotton may be put in with safety. If it pay well, so much gained ; if not there is no distress on that ac count, though there may be disappointment. Taken with this allowance, the following cau tion irom the Vicksburg Herald is worth atten tion : Do not be deluded by this little “ spurt” in the price of cotton. It may be that it is simply a bid to induce Southern planters to raise cot ton again, and still further involve them in debt. We cannot raise cotton profitable any more, therefore drop the cultivation of it. There are thousands in the South who are reduced almost to abject poverty by persisting in raising cot ton to the exclusion of everything else. Plant the ramie, flax, caster bean—anything but cot con. Be sure, however, to plant plenty of corn, potatoes, wheat and all similar articles of food. But let cotton alone. This rise in cotton is only temporary. From North East Georgia.—A friend a Dahlonega, Ga., writing to the LaGrange Re porter, says: The almost universal feeling with the people of Northeast Georgia is opposed to negro po litical and social equality. A few persons— principally the league men—are willing to adopt “ manhood suffrage ” because Congress said so. Much has been said about Cherokee Georgia carrying the constitution of the negro convention through. I will venture the asser tion that fewer white men vote for the consti tution in Cherokee Georgia than in middle or lower Georgia. We want no relief here—such as this convention gives. There are no such homesteads here as the constitution allows. If l-t alone our people could get along and pay all their debts, or be willing to show their Lands.” Sad Accident. —We learn that on Wednes day, 4th instant, Mr. Henry Ballard, w hile at tempting to remove a slab from the circular saw mill of Dr. Fuller, on Rabun’s Creek, was caught and thrown upon the saw running rapidly, cutting and mangling his body in a frightful manner. Drs. Wolfe and Fuller ren dered all possible surgical assistance, but to no purpose, the unfortunate man surviving the ac cident about ten hours. He leaves a wife and three small children. — Lnwrenceville Herald. Important Rumor.—lt was currently re ported last evening that the Justices of the In ferior Court intend filing a petition in bank ruptcy for the county of Chatham. Several persons who ought to pay taxes have discover ed that the different sections of the law under which they are taxed, are illegal, and have in terposed legal quibbles to such an extent that no money can be collected. The county is without funds, and we are told that the Justices have concluded that the best and readiest means of meeting the difficulty would be to have the county take the benefit of the Bankrupt act. [Savannah Republican, \?>th. The Court of Assizes at Ajaccio has just tried a woman named Maria Castola on a charge of burning to death a married woman whom she considered her rival. The victim had gone from her husband’s house to visit her parents and recover her health, and on her return she found Castola occupying the position of her husband’s mistress. Quarrels took place be tween the two women, and the accused finished the affair by forcibly placing the wife upon the fire and holding her there until she was literally roasted to death. The husband was not im plicated, no charge being made against him.— Castola was condemned to hard labor for Hfe. A Horrible Outrage.—We understand that a fiendish outrage was perpetrated by a number of freedmen, at the Jewish cemetery, last Friday night. It appears that these devils in human form, supposing that some valuables had been interred with the dead, repaired to the spot,Jand, with pick and shovel, exhumed two of the bodies and cut several fingers from their hands, very likely supposing they con tained rings. They left both of the bodies in a sitting position, as they were discovered next day. Three of these villains, we under stand, were arrested last night, and are now in prison.— Vicksburg Herald. An intelligent lad of six summers, the son of a down East Senatoy, recently visited the in sane asylum, at Augusta, Me., and told his inquiring father, on his return, thar “ they were making speeches just like the Legisla ture.” Important, Military Orders. Headquarters, Third Mililary District, > (Department of Georgia, Florida A Alabama,) C 1 Atlanta, Georgia, March. 12, 186 S. ) ' General Orders, No. 37. Whereas, a duly certified copy of the fol- j lowing resolution and sections ot the Consti- 1 tution of the State Os Georgia, as adopted by I the Constitutional Convention of said State, at Atlanta, March 11th, 1868, has this day been delivered to the Commanding General: I. A resolution requesting General Meade to enforce certain provisions of the Constitution, which provide tor the relief of the people: Resolved. That the Commanding General of the Third Military District be requested by gen eral order to require the courts and officers of the Provisional Government of the State ot Georgia, until the State is fully restored to its regular relations to the United States, and the State organization is in full operation, to en force and carry out the provisions of this Con stitution for the relief of the people, to wit: article Ist— declaration of fundamental PRINCIPLES. Sec. XVIII. There shall be uo imprisonment for debt. article sth—judiciary. Sec. XVII. 1. No court in this State shall have jurisdiction to try or determine any suit against any resident of this State upon any con tract or agreement made or implied, or upon any contract made in renewal of any debt exist ing prior to the first day of June, 1865. Nor shall any court or ministerial officer of this State have authority to enforce any judgment, execution, or decree, rendered or issued upon any contract or agreement made or implied, or upon any contract in renewal of a debt existing prior to the first day of June, 1865, except in the following cases: 1. la suits against trustees, where the trust property is in the hands of the trustee, or has been invested by him in other specific effects now in bis bands, and in suits by the vendor of real estate against the vendee, where not more than one-third of the purchase money has been paid, and the vendee is in possession of the said lands or specific effects for which he has sold it, and he refuses to deliver the land or said ef fects to the vendor. In such cases the courts and officers may entertain jurisdiction and en force judgment against said trust property, or land, or effects. 2. In suits for the benefit of minors by trus tees appointed before the first day of June, 1865. 3. In suits against corporations in their cor porate capacity, but not so as to enforce the debt against the stockholder or officers thereof in their individual capacity. 4. In suits by charitable or literary institu tions for money loaned, property, (other than slaves sold) or services rendered by such in stitutions. 5. In suits on debts due for mechanical or manual labor, when the suit is by the mechanic or laborer. 6. In cases when the debt is set up byway of defense, and the debt set up exceeds any debt due by the defendant to plaintiff of which the courts are denied jurisdiction. 7. In all other cases in which the General Assembly shall, by law, give the said courts and officers jurisdiction; Provided, that uo court or officer shall have, nor shall the Gen eral Assembly give jurisdiction or authority, to try or give judgment on, or enforce any debt, the consideration of which was a slave or slaves, or the hire thereof. 11. All contracts made and not executed du ring the late rebellion, with the iutention and for the purpose of aiding and encouraging said rebellion, or where it was the purpose and intention of any one of the parties to such contract to aid or encourage such rebellion, and that fact was known to the other party, whether said contract was made by any person or corporation with the State or' Confederate States, or by a corporation with a natural per son, or between two or more natural persons, are hereby declared to have been, and to be illegal; and all bonds, deeds, promissory notes, bills or other evidences of debt, made or executed by the parties to such contract, or either of them, in connection with such illegal contract, or as the consideration therefore, or in furtherance thereof, are hereby declared null and void, and shall be so held iu all courts in this State when attempts shall be made to en force any such contract, or give validity to any such obligation or evidence of debt. ’ And in all cases where the defendant, or any one in terested in the event of the suit, will make a plea, supported by his or her affidavit, that he or she has reason to believe that the obligation or evidence of indebtedness upon which the suit is predicted, or some part thereof, has been given or used for the illegal purpose ' aforesaid, the burden of proof shall be upon the plaintiff to satisfy the court and the jury that the bond, deed, note, bill or other evi dence of indebtedness, upon which said suit is brought, is, or are not, nor is any part thereof, founded upon, or in any way connected with, any such illegal contract, and has not been used in aid of the rebellion, and the date of such bond, deed, note, bill or other evidence of indebtedness, shall not be evidence that it has, or has not, since its date, been issued, trans ferred or used in aid of the rebellion. article 7th—homestead and exemption. j Section I—l. Each head ot a family, or I guardian, or trustee of a family of minor I children, shall be entitled to a homestead of i realty to the value of two thousand dollars in j specie, and personal property to the value of i one thousand dollars in specie, both to be i valued at the time they are set apart. And no I court, or ministerial officer in this State, shall j ever have jurisdiction, or authority, to enforce any judgment, decree, or execution against said property so set apart (including such im provement as may be made thereon, from time time) except for taxes, money borrowed and expended in the improvement of the home stead, or for the purchase money of the same, and for labor done thereon, or material fur nished therefor, or removal of encumbrances thereon. And it shall be the duty of the Gen eral Assembly, as early as practicable, to pro vide, by law for setting apart and valuation of said property, and to enact laws for the full and complete protection and security of the same to the sole use and benefit of said families as aforesaid. 2.—A1l property of the wife, in her posses sion at the time of her marriage, and all prop erty given to, inherited, or acquired by her, shall remain her separate propery, and not be liable for the debts of her husband. 11-— Therefore, by virtue of the plenary pow ers vested by the Reconstruction Acts of Con gress in the Commanding General of the Third ’ Military District, and for the purpose of giving i temporary effect to the wishes of the people of ! Georgia, as expressed by their delegates in con vention, It is ordered: That the foregoing sections of ■ said constitution, shall, from this date, be deem | ed to have taken effect and to be in full force in the State of Georgia, and shall continue in full force and validity until further orders from ; these Headquarters. HL—The courts and officers of the Provis ' ional Government of said State and allthemuni : cipal and other officers in the same are here by required to enforce and carry out the above provisions for the relief of the peole ofthe State of Georgia. IV. —General Orders No. 11, issued from these Headquarters, January 16th, 1868, are hereby rescinded, as are also General Orders No. 21, issued February Ist, 1868, so far as the same relate to said General Orders, No. 11. By order oi Major General Meade, R. C. Drum, Assistant Adjutant General. Headquarters Third Military District, 1 (Dep’t of Georgia, Alabama and Florida,) C Atlanta, Ga., March 16, 1868. S General Orders, No. 45. All civil officers in this military district are hereby required to obey all the orders issued from ttiese headquarters relating to the per formance of their official duties ; and any offi cer refusing to obey any such order shall, on conviction thereof before a military commis sion, be punished by fine or imprisonment, or ; both. | By order of Major General Meade. R. C. Drum, Assistant Adjutant General. El ctioii Order. Headquarters Third Military District, ) Department Georgia, Ala. and Florida, ’ C Atlanta, Ga., March 14, 1868. ) General Orders No 39. hereas, The Constitutional Convention ot the K.tate of Georgia, which assembled in Atlanta, iu compliance with General Orders No. 89, issued from these headquarters No vember l.t, 18b 4, did, in pursuance of the acts of Congress specified in said General Orders, proceed to frame a constitution and civil gov ernment for the State of Georgia, and provide for the publication of said constitution ; and did further, by an ordinance of said conven tion adopted March 11, 1868, submit for ratifi cation to the persons in said State registered and to be registered as voters under the acts of Congress aforesaid, at’ an election to begin on the 20ih day of April, 1868, and to be kept opeu from day to day, at the discretion of the General Comm.indiDg, at such places as he may designate. 11. And Whereas, By an Act of Congress, which became a law March 12, 1868, it is pro vided that, hereafter, any election, authorized by the Acts ot Congress aforesaid, shall be de cided by a majority of the votes actually cast; and at the election, in which the question of the adoption or rejection of any constitution is submitted, any person duly registered in the State may vote in the election district where he offers to vote when he has resided therein for ten days next preceding such elec tion upon presentation of his certificate of re gistration, under such regulations as the Dis trict Commander may prescribe. 111. And Whereas, Said Acts of Congress provide that the election for ratification of said constitution shall be conducted by the of ficers or persons appointed or to be appointed by the Commanding General, and at the date fixed by said convention. IV. It is ordered: That an election be held in the State of Georgia, commencing on Mon day, the 20th day of April, 1868, and continuing four days, at which the registered voters of said State, may vote for or against the consti tution submitted to them by the ordinance aforesaid. Those voting in favor of the consti tution shall have written or printed on their ballots, the words “ For the Constitution,” and those voting against the constitution, shall have written or printed on their ballots, the words “ Against the Constitution.” V. It shall be the duty of the Boards of Reg istration in Georgia, in accordance with said acts, commencing fourteen days prior to the election herein ordered, and giving reasonable public notice of the time and place thereof, to revise, for a period of five days, the registration lists, and upon being satisfied that any person not entitled thereto has been registered, to strike the name of such person from the list, and such person shall not be allowed to vote. And such boards shall also, during the same period, add to such registry the names of all persons who, at that time, possess the qualifi cations required by said acts, who have not been already registered. In deciding who are to be stricken from or added to the registration lists, the boards will be guided by the acts of Congress relating to reconstruction, and their attention is especially called to the supplementary act which became a law July 19, 1867. VI. Said election shall be held in each county in the State under the superintendence of the Boards of Registration, as provided by law, and polls will be opened, after due and sufficient notice, at as many points in each county, not exceeding three, as, in the opinion of said Boards, may be required for the convenience of voters. And in any city, or other place, where there is a large number of voters, it is hereby made the dut.y of said Boards to open as many polls as may be necessary to enable the voters to cast their votes without unreasonable delay. VII. Any person duly registered in the State as a voter, may vote in any county in the State where he offers to vote, when he has resided therein for ten days next preceding the election. When he offers to vote in the county where he was registered, and his name appears on the list of registered voters, he shall not be subject to question or challenge, except for the pur pose of identificatian, or as to residence. And any person so registered, who may have re moved from the county in which he was registered, shall be permitted to vote in any county in the State to which he has removed, when he has resided therein for ten days next preceding the election, upon presentation of his certificate of registration, or upon making affidavit before a member of the Board of Re gistration, or a judge or manager of the elec tion, that he is registered as a voter, naming the county in which he is so registered ; that he has resided in the county where he offers to vote for ten days next preceding the election, and that he has not voted at this election. Blanks for such affidavits will be supplied by the Boards of Registration, and the name of the voter making oath must be endorsed on his ballot, and all such affidavits must be forward ed with the returns oi the election. VIII. The polls shall be opened at each vot ing place, during the days of election, at 7 o’clock, a. m., and close at 6 o’clock, p. m., aud shall be kept open, between those hours, without intermission or adjournment. IX. All public bar-rooms, saloons, and other places for the sale of liquor at retail, at the several county seats, .and at other polling places, shall be closed from 6 o’clock of the evening preceding the election until 6 o’clock of the morning after the last day of the elec tion. Any person violating this order shall be subject to flue or imprisonment. Sheriffs and their demities and municipal officers will be held responsible for the strict enforcement of this prohibition by the arrest of all persons who may transgress the same. X. The sheriff ot each county is hereby re quired to be present at the county seat, and to appoint deputies to be present at each polling place in his county, during the whole time that the polls are kept open, and until the election is completed, and is made responsible that no interference with the judges of elec tion, or other interruption of good order shall occur. And any sheriff, or deputy sheriff, or other civil officer failing to perform with ener gy and good faith the duty required of him by this order, will, upon report made by the judges of the election, be arrested and dealt with by military authority, and punished by fine or im prisonment. XI. The Commanding officer of the District of Georgia, will issue, through the Superinten dent of registration for this State, such detailed instructions as may be necessary to the conduct of said election in conformity with the aet of Congress. XII. The returns required by law to be made of the results of said election to the Command ing General of this Military District, will be rendered by the persons appointed to superin tend the same through the commanding officer of the District of Georgia, and in accordance with the detailed instructions already referred to. XIII. No person who is a candidate for office at said election shall act as a registrar, judge, inspector, manager, clerk, or in any official capacity connected with conducting the elec tion. XIV. Violence, or threats of violence, or any oppressive or fraudulent means employed to prevent every person from exexereising the right of suffrage, is positively prohibited, and every person guilty of using the same, shall, on conviction thereof before a military commis sion, be punished by fine or otherwise. XV. No contract or agreement with laborers made for the purpose of controlling their votes, or of restraining them from voting, will be permitted to be enforced against them in this District. By order of Major General Meade. R. C. Drum, Assistant Adjutant General. Richard Bullyinore, a Buffalo pork dealer, recently called his men into his office, and hav ing read over a statement of his business for the past year, first deducted ten per cent, for the capital invested, and then divided the balance of the profits between himselt and twenty-two of those who had been longest in his employ ment. The sum divided amounted iu the ag gregate to a month’s salary for each. At a large party, the other evening, while a young lady was playing the piano with pecu liar touch, a by-stander remarked: “I’d give the world for her fingers!” He was greatly taken back by her prompt reply that he might have the whole hand—for his own. But, then, itb leap year, you know. [Frum the Montgomery Advertiser. An Admirable Document. Montgomery, Ala., March 16, 1868. To General .Tames IL Clanton, Chair mao of the Executive Committee ; Sir : Having returned from the North to my home in this city it seems to me to be proper to address this public communica tion to you, in your official character. In reference to the special object of my visit to Washington, I have already in formed you that, by the rules of the Na tional Democratic Committee, only one del egate from eacli State could be admitted, and that, for obvious reasons, I acceded to the propriety of my colleague, Mr. Hous ton, occupying the State representative po sition iu that body. He has no doubt made you acquainted with the proceedings of the committee, and I leave this special matter with him. Nor can I, in adverting to a more general topic, present much in formation that public facts have not al ready put into the possession of all think ing men. For a considerable period, as you are aware, a bitter and uncompromising strug gle has been going on between the Radical party, represented by the Congress, and the Democratic or Conservative masses, repre sented, to a greater or less extent, by the Executive and Judicial departments of the Government. The Radical party is com posed of a minority of the Northern people who have formed a political combination with the negroes and their few white allies in the South, and the Democratic or Con servative party is composed of a majority of the voters in the adhering States, and the nearly consolidated white population of the Southern section. The parties to the contest in truth may be legitimately de scribed as the Republican party (so called) on the one side, and the people of the United States on the pther. The paramount issue between the parties is perfectly well defined. The people of the United States demand the restoration of the political relations of the States, temporarily interrupted by the war, on correct principles. They demand the old Constitution—the old Union—the old Laws—the old Flag—aud they demand State and Individual Liberty as it existed in this country for three-quarters of a cen tury before the late civil conflict. On the other hand the Radical party demands fun damental changes in the organic structure of the Government—that many cherished principles shall be regarded as having be come obsolete in the progress of the times— that the Legislative department, holding a two-thirds vote over the President’s veto, shall be permitted to exercise Autocratic authority—that State Independence shall be sacrificed to a powerful and unchecked centralization—and that the flag of the United States shall, in effect, be substituted by the banners of a semi-military system, existing under false and pretended Repub lican forms. In the atmosphere of Washington it was apparent to me that all questions of com merce, of industry, of finance, of public debt, of revenue, of bonds, of taxation, of Southern reconstruction, had become mat ters of subordinate importance—only the res gestce as it were—the minor facts and circumstances connected with, and bearing on, the main issue, as I have just stated it. But the very point and imminent peril of the contest upon this issue, already grave and portentous enough, and soon most pro bably to agitate the country to its very centre, is to be found in the anomolous fact that the Radical party openly, and serious ly, claims the right to rule the nation on the ground of “loyalty” in themselves,and for additional reason that all who op pose hem are either “ rebels,” or the friends of > rebels,” although their opponents un doubtedly embrace a large majority of the people. The ominous significance of such a pretension is evident. In England, France, Prussia, or in any other country where the government rests upon popular suffrage, those who are responsible for ad ministration sedulously seek to conciliate the sentiments of the people, and habitual ly shrink from assuming the arrogant atti tude of coercing their constituents by a claim of unreasonable powers, and by in sulting and unpopular measures. In Eng land, particularly, no body of men repre senting the government in parliament would dare venture to stand out per sistently on a line of foreign or domestic policy, much less on a question of a change of institutions against the clearly expressed wishes of a large majority of the people. But the Radical party, hav ing condemned a large majority of the people ofthe United States as “ rebels,” or as the friends of “ rebels” and claiming right to rule on the assumption of their own “ loyalty,” have apparently determined to prosecute the contest they have in augurated regardless of consequences, and thus to defy the people and practically to subvert the government. They have already taken fearful steps toward this end. They have endeavored, as you know, by their re volutionary measures, to suppress the voices of six hundred thousand white voters in the Southern States—they have stripped the Executive department of its constitutional powers—and they have finally presumed to summon, on the most frivolous charges, the President of the United States to plead at their bar, as a political malefactor—they have assaulted the Supreme Court, and plainly intend, if permitted, to compel that hitherto august tribunal to serve as a mere tool of their usurped authority—they have enacted laws, and then construed these laws in derogation of the judicial depart ment, and executed them in derogation of the Executive Department. They have at tempted to seize upon the suffrage of the States and sought to destroy tlie iast rem nant of State independence—and it is be lieved that they are now concerting mea sures by which they may cocerce or terrorize a majority of the Northern and Western people to submit to their power. You will thus perceive that the leaders of the Radical party have boldly commit ted themselves to a plan of revolution. If they pause and waver, they are lost. If they shall proceed further, I believe that they will excite the fury of the people, and’ be positively overwhelmed. Whether they shall determine to advance, or shall think it more prudent to surrender at the point they have reached, will be indicated by the final vote of the Senate on the arti cles of impeachment. Should they depose the President, you may rest assured that they have resolved to carry out their de signs at every hazard. But I think the Radicals have become, not only suspicious of General Grant’s sup posed popularity, but, are extremely doubt ful whether the rank and file of the array will consent, in a day of trial, to be used against the people. In the recent New Hampshire election, General Grant’s name does not appear to have exerted the slight est perceptible influence upon the canvass. No doubt it would be well, both for the Rad ical leaders themselves and for the country, if they could be persuaded to desist from their violent proceedings. If the Presidential elec tion were to take place d tiring this month the Radical warty would not receive seventy-five electoral votes outside the Southern States. When it occurs in November next they will probably receive still fewer electoral votes, provided the election be fairly conducted. And should the Radical leaders be mad enough to persist in the revolutionary en terprise of silencing or coercing the ballots of the people, there will be an uprising in which they will be swept away like chaff in tlie path of the hurricane. The people are perfectly confident in their strength, and of course desire to effect redress or grievances if possible, in the forms of the Constitution. They wish, fur every reason to avoid colli sion and public violence. But they will not permit an oligarchy of Congressional tyrants to oppress them by substituting the will of a party for the Constitution and laws of the land. They will} take whatever measures may be necessary to'prevent it, and upon this, it is my opinion the people of Ala bama may rely. Fortunately, too, an error of judgment in this respect can do no possi blenarm. Consequently I trust that your committee will advise our fellow-citizens to submit patiently, for a few months, to any evils they may be forced to bear. Let them pro test against their oppressions and await a stirs deliverance. In order to vindicate the constitution the Democratic or Conserva tive party, when installed in power, must sweep away every pretended government, set up against the will of the people by bay onets, under the present reconstruction laws of Congress. This mission of Demo cratic conservatism will be to restore the old Constitution, the old Laws, and the old Liberty, and to raise over us the true flag of the United States for our protection. And to reach this result they must inevitably trample out these hideous evidences of Radical lawlessness. Let us do no act unworthy of our race or State—let us preserve our man hood, our honor—yield to neither threats nor bribes—suffer uncomplainingly what we are compelled to endure—but with the fixed determination at the first opportunity to re assert our constitutional rights in the Union in all their original vigor. Very respectfully.your obedient servant, Robert Tyler. (Fron? the Cincinati Enquirer. The Number of Electoral Votes in the Union. A correspondent asks us to publish a list of the electoral votes now possessed by the States, as they are cast in the election of a President and Vice-President of the United States. Here it is: California 5 Connecticut 6 Delaware 3 Illinois 16 Indiana 13 Kentucky 11 Maryland 7 Missouri 11 Nevada 3 New Jersey 7 New York 33 Ohio 21 Pennsylvania 26 Oregon 3 West Virginia 5 New Hampshire 5 175 These States are most likely—all of them —to go Democratic. The Republicans have the best chance in the following States: lowa 8 Kansas 3 Maine 7 Nebraska (doubtful) 3 Massachusetts 12 Michigan 8 Wisconsin (doubtful) 8 Rhode Island 4 Vermont 5 Minnesota 4 62 The Southern States, which are now called “ military districts,” in Radical par lance, have the following electoral votes: Alabama 8 Arkansas 5 Florida 3 Georgia ’. 9 Louisiana 7 Mississippi 7 North Carolina 9 South Carolina.... 6 Tennessee 10 Texas 4 Virginia 10 76 The total number of electoral votes in the Union is. therefore, 315. If the South ern States all vote, it will require 158 votes to elect. If they do not vote, 236 will be the whole number cast, of which 119 con stitutes a majority. Our readers may find it of interest to cut out this table and pre serve it. The Admission of Alabama. —Congress laid down the terms on which States might return to the Union, requiring as a guaran tee of the action of the people that the con stitution should be voted upon by a majori ty of the registered voters. This gave voters a chance to express their dissent by staying away. These were the terms; Con gress made them and they were accepted by the people. The people of Alabama acted on the terms laid down by Congress and tlie decision was against the Congressional plan, and now Congress proposes to re pudiate that plan and act withoutreference to it. Congress required that a certain number of voters should act to give a bona fide character to the constitution. The re quired number did not act,the constitution lias not the bona fide character Congress de sired to give it; but Congress accepts it.— It required the people of the State to assend to niggerism as a condition of their return. They do not assent, and Congress lets them in. What, then, has become of all the Radical virtue ? If the State maybe now admitted despite tlie contumacy ot her peo ple, despite their repudiation of Republican policy, why has it been kept out till now? Judging by the action in the case of Alabama, reconstruction comes down to a fine point. Something like a hundred Northern adventurers and niggers get to gether somewhere in a State and make what they call a constitution. Evidence that this constitution is the act of the people is not necessary ; neither is evidence that the people assent to it. Let it only be present ed to Congress, and Congress will pass a law declaring the State in. That is the whole process; and since reconstruction is so simple and easy, it may seem wonderful to the country that so many astonishing political geniuses as the Radicals number could not accomplish it before. New York Herald, 12th. Opinions of Southern Radicals on the Radical Nominee for Governor.— The following extracts, says the Macon Telegraph, are given upon the best authori ty, and we think none of them will be dis puted : “ It is a nomination that will ruin and bankrupt the State.”— Gov. Brown. “ The dearest intents of the people of Georgia are being trifled with and jeopard ized (in Bullock’s nomination), aud I now enter an appeal, from all such proceedings, to the people of Georgia.”— lL P. Parrow. “If endorsed by the people, the ticket will bring the State to disgrace, ruin and bankruptcy.”— ll. P. Farrow. " When I conclude to cut my throat, I may be mad enough to support a nomina tion.”—lL P. Farrow. The Hon. Jack Bell Afiain I We have it from reliable authority that R. B. Bullock, Esq., of Augusta, whose name is mentioned in connection with the position of Governor of Georgia, and who will be recollected as a member of the‘ Au gusta ring” in the late negro-radical conven tion which was in session here, told the Hon. Jack Bell, big buck negro from Ogle thrope county, and brother member of the convention, to go home and run for the Legislature, and to induce as many other negroes as he could to do the same; that if he [Bullock] could get fifty negroes elected to that body he could easily control it upon being elected Governor. Upon this, the Hon. Jack Bell immediately issued a circu lar to his constituents. That circular we published some days ago. We copy the above from the local column of the Intelligencer of this morning. The editor asserts that he speaks from “ reliable authority.” Now, we demand this “ author ity,” and we further state, that if the charges herein above made are true, R. B. Bullock’s name will come down from our columns, and the influence of the Opinion, whatever that may be, will in future be given against him.— Opinion of the nth. The “ authority” asked for by the Opinion is that of Dr. J. E. Blount, a somewhat prominent member of the late convention. He stated in the presence of several gentle men that he had heard Mr. Bullock say as above charged. The names of those gentle men we are prepared to give if necessary. [lntelligencer, 19th. A Lady Editor—Ad Interim. Thesfollowing is the salutatory of Mrs. Fan ny B. Gallaway, wife of the editor-in-chief, in assuming charge of the Memphis Avalanche during the incarceration of her husband by Judge Hunter, of contemptible fame. It has a noble tone, and we have little donbt that the Avalanche, under Mrs. Gallaway’s conduct, will make the infamy of this modern Jeffreys more conspicuous than before. With all the gallantry due her sex, we welcome her to the corps editorial: Twenty-six years ago I gave my girlish heart to the husband whose name I proudly own.-- We have lived through adversity and prosperi ty, but in whatever condition our lots have been cast calumny has never dared to assail my husband’s name. Notwithstandingthis fact, he was yesterday torn from his little family, and is now a prisoner in the county jail; but, thank God, he is a prisoner without a crime. He has been torn from his home for the offense ot ex ercising the rights which are his by the laws of the land. To be a free country a free press is as indispensable as light is to day. It is, iu fact, the sun of the social and political system, from which emanate the healthy influences which produce vitality, strength and fertility. For exercising rights which the Constitution guarantees, my husband has been incarcerated in jail. Not only my prayers, but the prayers of all good people of both sexes will follow him in his prison cell. I shall not speak un kindly of the man who sought to degrade my husband, and who has brought unhappiness upon two families. But as the principal editor and the local editor have both been arrested, and no freeman is allowed to speak through the columns of the Avalanche, there is n» oth er alternative left but tor me to assume the po sition forced upon me by the persecutions and misfortunes which despotism always brings upon the noble and the brave. A preconcerted arrangement has been made to crush out the paper. It cannot be done. During the incir ceration of my husband and Mr. Campbell, I am constrained to take change of the paper, and can be found at the emorial rooms of the Avalanche, and if men are not brave enough to defend their rights and their liberties, I trust the paper, for the next ten days, will prove that there’s one woman ready to defend the rights and the liberties which weak and timid men seem disposed to yield. Fanny B. Gallaway. Delegates to the Chicago Radical Con vention. —The Atlanta convention have made choice of the following delegates to represent the negroes, carpet-bag Yankees and apostate Georgians in the Chicago Nominating Conven tion : Delegates at large—Foster Blodgett, J. R. Parrott, E. Hulbert, C. H. Hopkins. Alternates—J. L. Dunning, H. K. McCay, J. L. Seward. First District—A. L. Harris, Isaac Seeley. Second District—R. H. Whiteley, John Mur phy. Third District—J. G. Maull, W. C. Smith. Fourth District—G. G. Wilbur, W. H. White head. Fifth District—D. G. Cotting, Ephraim Tweedy. Sixth District—F. W. Adams, Madison Bell. Seventh District—L. P. Gudger, W. H. Wat son. Each of the delegates from the Congression al Districts are empowered to select an alter nate in case he should be unable to attend. Hard on the Traitors Mr. Harding, a Radical member of the Radical Congress, in speaking ofthe bill to remove “ political disa bilities,” said : He had more respect for an honest, open Confederate, who had shown big colors, and had openly fought against us, than a mean sneak who had contemptibly taken the oath of office to the Confederate Government only to betray it. He had no confidence in such men. He could never vote for a man who had been so dishonorable as to swear allegiance to a government only to betray it. Because he is a Republican you propose to admit him, but what assurance have you that he will vote with the Republicans ? He has violated his oath once, and may do it again. You have no assurance that he will keep any oath, and his action in the past leads to the conclusion that one oath would not be more binding than another. Musical Wager.—Mr. Scarborough, an or ganist, bet that he would strike one mil lion of notes on the piano in the space of twelve hours. This singular wager was decided on the 4th of June, 1828. Mr. 8. took a compass of three octaves, ascending and descending the different scales, and struck: 100,266 notes the Ist hour, 125,928 “ “ 2d “ 121,176 “ “ 3d “ 121,176 “ “ 4th “ 125,136 “ “ sth “ 125,136 “ “ 6th “ 127.512 “ “ 7th “ 117.512 “ “ Bth “ 48,520 “ “ 20 minutes, Making 1,030,392 notes in eight hours and twenty minutes, which, with the periods of rest, amounted to eleven hours and fifty-five minutes. One of our cotemporaries, says the Philadel phia Ledger, thinks there is no necessity of any one buying umbrellas, aud gives its readers the following questionable advice on the subject: Take your stand in a doorway on a rainy day. As soon as you see a man with a nice umbrella, step out and say to him, “ Sir, 1 beg your par don, but you have my umbrella.” Nine times in ten he will surrender it, for how does he know it was not you he took it from. A man who left his wife in New York and went to Chicago, narrates that as soon as he reached the city, and before he was fairly out of the depot, he was attacked by a score of small boys, who pressed upon him the cards of various lawyers, and assaulted him with shouts of: “Want a divorce, mister?” “Here you are; divorce yen in fifteen minutes!” and such like astonishing cries. A teacher of an Episcopal school in Hart ford advertised his boys to sacrifice something during Lent. They retired, deliberated, and I decided to sacrifice—hash!