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THE WEEKLY CONSTITUTIONALIST
(From the New York World.
Horace Greeley as a Liar.
There is no nobler, no worthier duty de
volving on the good patriot than that ot
instructing tincl enlightening his fellow
citizens with regard to the functions and
operations of the Government under which
they live. He may be prejudiced in his
views and mistaken in some of his conclu
sions; yet if he is honest and candid—
above all, if he takes care to state facts pre
cisely as they exist, and never mislead his
hearers as to what has actually taken place
—he can hardly fail to do good. Let him
give history her honest due, and he can
hardly lead his hearers far astray by his
deductions and arguments.
But of all evil-doers, the Political Liar
one who habitually and enormously falsi
fies occurrences and statistics, thereby de
ceiving and misguiding honest, well-mean
ing men, whose leisure and opportunities
for studying documents are inferior to his
own—is among the basest and most wick
ed. He is like a belligerent who poisons
fountains, burns hospitals and decoys the
enemy’s vessels into his power by display
ing a flag of distress. No malefactor more
richly deserves the scorn and execration of
mankind.
Thus far this article is an exact tran
script from an editorial in yesterday’s Tri
bune. without any other variation than the
substitution of a different name in the head
ing. We are willing that Mr. Greeley
should know how his civilities seem when
retorted, and that our readers may estimate
the amenities of discussion as exemplified
by one of our oldest journals. In restoring
these singular courtesies to their owner we
will also pay him back his arguments with
such changes as are needed to make them
applicable. There will be greater varia
tions from the model iu this part of the ar
ticle : and as we desire to gather the Tri
bune s choicest flowers into a bouquet we
will bting in the closing paragraph here,
substituting, as in the title, Mr. Greeley's
name for Governor Seymour’s.
Need we add one word? Is not the in
famy of Horace Greeley unspeakable?
The substance of the charge is, that Gov
ernor Seymour has misstated the military
expenses of the Government under the ne
gro reconstruction regime. We re-copy
from the Tribune the passage of Governor
Seymour's speech at Bridgeport, Conn., last
Friday evening, that occasioned its editor’s
furious outpouring of blackguard epithets,
whic i, if applicable to anybody, fit himself.
The Tribune says that the speech “ consists
mainly of variations and improvements on
this fundamental assertion
“ Now when the Republican party inau
gurated the policy of governing the South
by force, it involved the necessity of main
taining great armies—great standing arm
ies. It involved great national expense.—
The war ceased nearly four years ago, and
yet it trill cost this year more than $150,000,-
000 to m rintain an army to keep the people of
the South in subjection— a people that ought
rather to be helping us to bear the cost of
governing the nation.” (Applause.]
The Tribune confronts this statement
with a great parade of statistics and esti
mates which relate to a different subject from
the expenses of “ the year]' to which Gov.
Seymour referred. And on its exhibition of
irrelevant matter which does not shake nor
even touch Gov. Seymour's statement, the
Tribune civilly brands him as an infamous
liar! We shall presently see whom these
coarse denunciations fit, if they fit anybody.
The Tribune rests its charge on au alleged
estimate of General Grant for the ensuing
fiscal year, putting the military expenses at
$77,124,707, and the estimates of an appro
priation bill “ reported to the House by its
Military Committee in full accord and daily
intercourse with Gen. Grant,” the total be
ing $32,987,293.
These inconsistent estimates are for pre
cisely the same period, and are both made
to rest on the judgment and opinion of Gen
eral Grant; and yet one of them is more than
double the other. What would a time-piece
be worth which should give the hour as
half-past eleven and presently afterwards as
a quarter past five. What is General
Grant’s opinion worth when he makes an
estimate of seventy-seven millions, and
another estimate of the same expenses for
. the same period thirty-two millions ? One
or the other estimates, even though General
Grant made it, is certainly false ; and if he
made one estimate which is glaringly and
monstrously false, it is conceivable that he
may have made two that are false. The
same motive, whatever it may be, that caus
ed him to make the smaller of these esti
mates less than half of the larger, may have
caused him to make the larger less than
half of the truth. General Grant is in collu
sion with the Republican party to deceive
the country. False estimates for the en
suing fiscal year are cooked up for elec
tioneering purposes, with the intention to
supply the residue by a deficiency bill after
the Presidential election. The fiscal year
for which these false estimates are cook
ed up begins on the Ist of July, and if the
appropriations suffice to carry the army
through the first quarter, which ends
October, the payments at the end of the
next quarter (January Ist) will not be due
until Congress has been a month in session,
which affords ample time for supplementary
appropriations.
Having thus convicted the Tribune's evi
dence of irrelevance and self-contradiction,
and shown how interested and worthless is
the authority on which it rests, we turn to
more authentic sources of information. If
Governor Seymour, or any other statesman,
wishes to ascertain the expenses of the
Government, to what department would he
apply ? Certainly, to the Treasury Depart
ment, which has this class of subjects spe
cially in charge. No accessible statements
are so pertinent and trustworthy as those
of the Secretary of the Treasury, and if the
Tribune had wished to present the truth,
and not to deceive its readers, why did it >
not quote from his report instead of lug
ging in the cooked-up and self-contradicto
ry electioneering estimates of General
Grant? Gov. Seymour’s statement relates
to the military expenses of this fiscal year,
and the following tables from Secretary
McCulloch’s last annual report bear direct
ly on this point:
THE QUARTER ENDING SEPTEMBER 30, 1867.
The foliowing is a statement of receipts and
< zpenditures lor the quarter ending September
3 . 1867:
Receipts.
J .cm Cu-.torus.. .$48,081,907 61
From Lands 287,460 07
Fr< m Direct T x. 647,070 83
From Int’l Rcv’tte 53,784,027 49
From m; see J’neous
sources 18.361 462 62
■ 8121,161,928 62
Expend i lures.
For Civil 5ervice.813,152,348 08
For Pensions and
Indians 10 184 486 11
Eor War Dep'merit 30,537,056 85
For Navy Dep'ment 5,579,704 67
For interest on the
public deb: 38,515,640 47
Loans paid 200,176,368 34
Receipts f’m loans 135,103,282 00
Reduction of loans 65,073,086 34
ESTIMATES TO JUNE 30, 1868.
The Secretary estimates that the receipts and
expenditures for the three quarters ending June
30, 1868, will be aa follows :
Receipts from cus-
t0m55115,300,000 00
Rec’ts from Lands 700,000 00
Receipts from In- ’
ternal Revenue. 155,000,000 00
Receipts from niis-
cella’ous sour’s 25,000,000 00
The expenditures for the same
period, according to his esti
mates, will be—
For Civil Service 37,000,000 00
For Pensions and
Indians 22,000,000 00
For the War De
partment, inclu
ding $34,500,000
for bounties .... 100,000,000 00
For the Nary De-
partment 22,000,000 00
For the interest on
the public debt 114,000,000 00
Leaving a surplus of estimated
receipts over estimated expen
ditures of $1,000,000 00
Governor Seymour evidently and prop
erly meant to include both the army and
navy expenses in his statement. Our large
navy, like our large army, is needed only
to stand guard over and coer, e the South.
We are in no danger of a foreign war; but
If there should be a new uprising in the
South, the navy would be needed to co-op
erate with the army, the same as in the
late war. For the first quarter of the
present fiscal year the expenses, as given
by Mr. McCulloch, are actual, for the last
three quarters they are estimated. They are
as follows:
For the First Quarter.
The War Department $30,337,056
The Navy Department 5,579,704
For the Last Three Quarters
War Department 100.000,000
Navy Department 22,000,000
Total for the year 5157,916,760
When, therefore, Governor Seymour
stated that these expenses for this year will
be more than $150,000,000 he was support
ed by the highest authority the subject ad
mits of.
“ Need we add one word ? Is not the in
famy of Horace Greeley unspeakable ?”
That the electioneering estimates for the
next fiscal year, which the Tribune parades,
are thoroughly dishonest and deceptive is
proved by the following table, taken like
wise Horn Secretary McCulloch’s last re
port :
The receipts and expenditures for 4he next
fiscal year, ending June 30, 1869, are estimated
as follows:
Receipts from Cus-
t0m'5..5145,000,000 GO
Receipts frsm In
ternal Revenue. 205,000,000 00
Receipts from
Lands 1,000,000 00
Receipts from
miscellan eons
sources 30,000,000 00
The expenditures for the same period are es
timated as follows:
For the Civil Ser-
vice $51,000,000 00
For Pensions and
Indians 35,000,000 00
For the War De
partment, in
cluding $25,-
500,000 for
bounties 120,000,000 00
For the Navy De-
partment 36,000,000 00
For interest on
public debt.... 130,000,000 00
Leaving a surplus of estimated
receipts over estimated ex
penditures of $9,000,000 00
The foregoing estimates are made on the gen
eral average of the receipts and expenditures
for the past nine months.
The expenses of terrorism and subjuga
tion for the next fiscal year, instead of be
ing only $32,000,000, as the Tribune asserts,
will amount to nearly five times that sum.
As estimated by Mr.’McCulloch, they will
be:
For the War Departmentsl2o,ooo,ooo
For the Navy Department 36,000,000
Total for the yearsls6,ooo,ooo
The epithets of the Tribune are, there
fore, tendered back to the person whom
they fit. “Is not the infamy of Horace
Greeley unspeakable?”
[From the New York Citizen.
Is He Dictator Yet ?
The of yesterday, in its largest
and loudest type, at the head of its edito
rial columns, an article stating that “ Gen.
Grant finds it not inconsistent with his du
ty as a soldier, to announce it as his opin
ion that the onlj 7 hope for the peace of the
country is the success of the pending im
peachment trial. He feels that national se
curity demands the removal of the Presi
dent. * * * When the General of our
armies entertains this conviction, there is
no room for doubt as to the duty of the
Senate. The loyal nation demands the
President’s removal. On reading this,
may we not well exclaim:
Is this the land our fathers loved
Whose fr edom they have died to win ?
Is this the soil whereon they moved,
Are these the graves they slumber in 4
Are we the sons by whom are borne
The mantles which the dead have worn ?
We pillory the foregoing paragraph as
one of the most significant ever published
within our experience of American journal
ism. Here is the President on trial before
something which either is or pretends to
be a court of justice. There is no allega
tion made by the Tribune that his guilt or
innocence are the points to be determined.
But since the “General of our armies” en
tertains a conviction favoring the removal
of the flbeused Chief Magistrate, “ there is
no room for doubt,” says this Radical jour
nal, “as to the duty of the Senate.” —
What! can we have so far fallen already ?
Can our Senators, sitting as judges, under
solemn oaths to “ well and truly try and
true deliverance make,” have already fallen
so low as to have no other “duty” than
that of carrying out a “ removal of the
President,” prescribed to them anil dictated
by “the General of our armies?”
On behalf ofGeneral Grant, we hope and
beiieve there is no syllable of truth in the
Tribune's statement. And on behalf of the-
Anterican people, we most earnestly pray,
if this atrocious averment sliajl prove true,
that President Johnson nitty have the
firmness to exercise his unquestionable
prerogative—even if it be the last act of
his official life—by revoking Gen. Grant’s
commission, and ordering the name of this
great mutineer to be stricken from the
muster-rolls of our army, if this be true,
Gen. Grant is already assuming the part oi
Cromwell; and it is time for all men who
value our free system of government, to
prepare themselves for resistance to this
threat of military usurpation. Never
could men die<)etter Ilian facing odds in
such a quarrel. But we utterly refuse to
believe at present, and can neverbe brought
to believe, without positive evidence, that
General Grant has so far forgotten his oath
and duty, both as a soldier and citizen.
The statement looks to us like a reckless
electioneering canard, designed to influence
the contest in Connecticut. But on what
melancholy days must we have fallen, when
such a canard as this can be considered
popular or likely to secure more votes to
the party putting it forward !
[From the National Intelligencer.
The McOardle Case.
Whether there is judicial protection for
liberty in the United States is not decided.
The question was argued, on behalf of the
present generation and of their posterity
on the one hand; and on behalf of the
usurpers and despots who dare dispute
with the people the sanctity and majesty
of their organic law, on the other. ‘Per
haps it is better, for the present When
the next term begins the decision of the
Supreme Court may reaffirm the Constitu
tion, or recognize a successful revolution,
of the former, the three long years of wron 07
cruelty unequalled, of corruption unpre
cedented, and of dishonesty immeasurably
deep, broad and corroding, will sink the
whole fabric of Radical misrule under the
judicial fiat that will descend upon it as
the storm of fire descended upon Sodom,
leaving but a poisonous pool iu the path
ot our history, a conspicuous exam
ple to instruct nations and warn peo
ples. But if the Constitution shall then
have passed away—if the executive power
shall have been annexed to a desperate
junta in control of the legislature, and an
imperial despotism seeks to coerce the
judges to lend the sanction of the ermine
to the deeds of the sword, it would boot us
little to be able to revert to a time so recent
as the present day would be, to measure,
by a solemn adjudication, the magnitude of
our loss, or count in its noble truths, our
stores of grief and shame. Perhaps if the
Supreme Court now pronounced that
McCardle is a freeman, and, therefore, the
whole organism of oppression a vast en
gine for murder, robbery, assault, abduc
tion, trespass, intimidation, extortion, in
sult, and slander, for the purpose of com
pelling whole communities of free white
people to choose criminals for their rulers
and negroes for their associates—all in the
false form of laws of the United States for
the restoration of the Union, the just de
cision would be contemned and derided by
thousands of deluded citizens, ignorant of
their tolly and blind to the party chains
with which unprincipled bodies have bound
them.
One of the most aged and learned of the
judges of the Supreme Court has spoken
the becoming, and, we doubt not, the actual
sentiment of every brother on the judicial
bench of the whole country, in the follow
ing, now lodged in the file's of the court, as
an everlasting memorial to the honor of the
venerable Mr. Justice Grier. Well does he
anticipate the inevitable imputation of
weak evasion of a duty whose obligation is
inexorable in proportion to the peril threat
ened against its performance:
“Ex parte. Wm. H. McCardle. This
case was fully argued in the beginning of
this month. It is a case which involves
not only the liberty and rights of the ap
pellant, [McCardle,] but of millions of our
fellow-citizens. The country had a right to
expect it would receive the immediate and
solemn attention of this Court. By the
postponement of this case, this Court' will
subject themselves (whether justly or un
justly) to the imputation that we have
evaded the performance of a duty imposed
upon us by the Constitution, and waited for
legislative interposition to supersede our
action and relieve us from our responsibility.
I can only say, ‘ Pudet luxe opprobria nobis, el
potuisse dici, et non potuisse repelli.' ”
[From the Charleston Mercury.
Another Card.
In the Card published on Saturday, I con
fined myself to the action of the meeting in
Columbia. In taking leave, however, of
the public, as Attornej 7 General, after a ser
vice of near twenty years, I desire to say a
word as to the office, and the more so be
cause I consider myself the last of the At
torney Generals of South Carolina. I mean
of the old White Man’s South Carolina—
one of the original “Thirteen”—the South
Carolina which gave to the “ Revolution”
her Rutledges and Pinckneys, and to the
crisis preceding the “second War of Inde
pendence,” her Lowndes, Cheves and Cal
houn. which has contributed to the counsels
of the country since, her McDuffie, Hayne,
Preston and Legare—of that South Carolina
I am the last Attornej 7 General!
Heretofore the office has been, in this
State, as in England, one of the prizes of
the profession, to be attained only after
long and arduous service. The Attorney
General is the acknowledged head of the
Bar, and the Bar have jealously guarded the
position.
The office, since the Revolution, has been
filled—first, by John Julius Pringle, a learn
ed lawyer, of large experience, with a very
lucrative and multifarious private practice;
second, Langdon Cheves, clarum et venerabile
nomen, a giant among giants with the very
largest private practice ever known in this
State; third, John S.Richardson,eminently
eloquent and successful as a barrister, for
very many years a Judge in our highest
Court; fourth, Robert Y. Hayne, who,
between the age of twenty-one and
thirty, began and finished a brilliant pro
fessional career, which gave him lor
tune enough to enable him to de
vote twelve years to politics; fifth,
James L. Petigru ; his very name a syno
nym for learning, eloquence and force as a
lawyer ; sixth, Hugh Swinton Legare, a
“ polished corner of tlie temple,” as pro
found as he was brilliant, and equally the
scholar and the lawyer; seventh, R. Barn
well Rhett, who, after a very brief term of
office, was translated to the halls of Con
gress, and who has run a career since which
has made his name familiar from Canada
to the Gulf; eighth, Homy Bailey, who, as
a lawyer, was a lit compeer of his distin
guished predecessors. For myself, 1 will
only say that, when elected Attorney Gen
eral, I had been sixteen years a practicing
lawyer, and have since been elected by five
different legislatures to this high office. So
ends the toll of the Aitorneti Generals of
old South Carolina.
How begins the new? Who is Mr
Chamberlain ? It may be that he is gen
tleman, a scholar, and, for aught I know
learned in the law. But is he a citizen of
the State? and if so, how long? Is he
a member of her bar ? Is he a member of
any bar at all ? I low long has he prac
ticed the profession of the law?
1 mean nothing personal towards Mr.
Chambcrlaim But so far as is known to
tlir voters of South Carolina, he is a citizen
of Massachusetts, who has come into South
Carolina since the war, and settled down
as a Planter on Wadinalaw Island.
Whether he is a lawyer at all, or not is
i not known to the voters.
But to tliis too, we must submit as a
subjugated people, and, so far as the Bar
is conct rned, it is not the least of our hu
miliations, in the passage of power from
the white man to the negro.
Isaac W. Hayne,
Attorney General of South Carolina.
April 13th, 1868. •
I lie most infiunous frauds were perpetrated
in many counties at the Arkansas election. At
Clarksville, for instance, ninety-nine volts
were returned against the constitution—since
then the affidavits of one hundred and ei-hty
have been taken of those who voted agains’t it.
One of the registers is known to have voted
twice, and was seen to tear up Conservative
tickets from the military ballot box. Negroes
were permitted to vote two or three times, and
even negro women appeared, dressed in men’s
clothes, and deposited votes.
English Politics. •
THE NEW MINISTERIAL CRISIS—GLADSTONE’S
ONSLAUGHT ON THE GOVERNMENT DIS
RAELI 3 PASSIONATE REPLY—A WONDERFUL
EFFORT.
The London correspondent of the New York
Tribune, writing under date of March 18ti
gives the following interesting and well written
account of the first scene in the recent struggb
in Parliament over the question of reforms so
Ireland, the culmination of which has since
reached us by cable telegrams:
The whole aspect of politics has changed
the h might Bay In a da y’ since i-
the Irish debate on Monday whirl
wrought the transformation. Last week Xerv
thing was doubt and uncertainty. The Liberals
w C Whl y r^ ne \ th , eir , Own raiD ' lß O n Ireland nor
Unalr e p**ey had a ieader. The Tories had a
P ° ,C - y ’ In the arme d truce be
tween the two parties, each hesitated to begin
?fmpd h ? Btlllt L e8 ’ K The step has been she
a r H ce br °ken into flagrant war, and
a pitched battle is to be foughtnrobablv
Thfldsh H d i eC j ded before thißcan reach yon.
J?, e t J rls k debate > which ended apparently in
Mr h wL b { tbe Wlthdra wal of the resolution ot
of whieh sprung, has con-
Gadston d A> t ?l L H ber t l - party ’ and confirmed Mr.
SeStoX J ea^ er l hlp ’ Not Binee Lord Pal
“eitßtJ?na death have the Liberals been so
“h*. 1 d ’ B ?J lear ? f Purpose,and so confident in
as to ' day ’ They propose to move
immediately upon the enemy’s works. That
bas tO paß3 Y hich at the beginning of the
session it was universally agreed would not
come to pass. The Liberals have found them
selves stronger and their patience weaker than
they supposed, and thp government policy
proves incredibly timid. Disraeli is too much
for Liberal patience to bear, and they will turn
him out if they can, and then deal with tb<-
Parliament WUh ° Ut Waiting for tbe new
A resolution declaring the Irish policy of tb.
government unsatisfactory, and announcing th.'
Liberal programme, including the abolition oi
n ♦ J-“ sb Chur , cb > WIU be moved within ten days
If this is carried, the government must dis
solve Parliament or must resign—at any rate,
anybody but Mr. Disraeli would feel bound to
What course he will take is beyond conjecture,
though a dissolution is still regarded on both
sides as most improbable, and will be resists
by Mr. Disraeli’s followers if he attempts it.-
let can it be supposed he will renounce anv
means of inaiutaing his hold upon the office
which has been the ambition of his life, and to
obtain which he has sacrificed everything that
to most men is dearer than office ?
It is only a fortnight since Mr. Bouverie, ir.
replying to the opening speech of the Premier,
described the Liberal party as a rabble without
a leader. When the Irish debate opened, the;
retained a party organization, but on the three
leading Irish questions there was no coherence
in the Liberal policy. There was, in fact, no
one of those questions on whieh you could be
sure that the party would succeed in closing its
ranks. At the most, they agreed in regarding
the ministerial policy as miserably insufficient
for the crisis. As the debate went on, the at
mosphere cleared up. It was found that the
proposition for a Roman Catholic University,
pure and simple, met with universal derision
on both sides of the House. On the land ques
tion, while there was a wide variety in the sug
gestions of different speakers, there was a gen
eral unanimity in condemning the government
scheme as illusory and inadequate. But on the
church all went further, and both Conservative
Liberals and the Radicals, who agreed in noth
ing else, agreed in this, that the church must be
got rid of. Mr. Lowe was as emphatic as Mr.
Hill, and Mr. Fortescue as ready to strike a
blow as Mr. Bright. It was this convergence
of ideas on this point which led to the project,
spoken of in my last letter as being contem
plated, though not resolved on, of forcing a di
vision on Mr. Maguire’s original resolution.
That resolution was found to be so general in
its terms as to be unsuitable for uniting the
Liberal vote, and it was known when the debate
began on Monday night that it would be with
drawn. But it was not generally known what
line Mr. Gladstone had resolved to take. It is
on church questions especially that the Liberal
leader has advanced with the greatest circum
spection. There was truth in Mr. Disraeli’s
sarcasm, that his efforts for Irish Reform had
consisted largely in making speeches for the
perpetuation of the Irish Church.
When, therefore, Mr. Gladstone rose at ten
o’clock on Monday night, the cheers with which
he was greeted were a demonstration of encour
agement as welf as of the enthusiasm of his
supporters. The house was crowded to excess.
No doubt Mr. Gladstone’s intimate friends
knew what he had resolved on, but the bulk of
his supporters did not know whether he stood
ready to head an immediate movement for the
overthrow oi the Irish Church. The exordium
gave them hope, for almost the opening sentence
declared that a crisis in the history of Ireland
had been reached, the gravity of which the gov
ernment had failed to comprehend. During the
first hour of bis speech he went with great min
uteness over the smaller Irish questions. Mr.
Disraeli’s Catholic University was demolished.
Then the land was discussed, but discussed
with caution, and dropped without the dis
tinct enunciation of anything that could be
called a policy based on a tangible measure of
relief. Even this caution and abstinence were
in accordance with the general result ot tbe
previous three nights’ debate. Finally eame
tbe church, with regard to which, said Mr.
Gladstone, he had witnessed with a satisfaction
almost equalled by his surprise, the extraordi
nary progress of opinion that had taken place
both within and without the House. Nowhere,
he might have added, more extraordinary than
in his own case. A few sentences removed all
doubt of bls final decision, and the enthusiasm
of the House broke out every moment in
cheers, which reached their climax when their
long hesitating champion declared that the
Irish Church as a Stale Church must cease to
exist. From that moment dates the reorgani
zation, or rather the regeneration, of the Libe
ral party. But Mr. Gladstone having made up
his mind, was far from proposing to stop with
a mere announcement of his opinion, or with a
theoretical dissent from the do-nothing policy
of the Ministry. His recommendation to Mr.
Maguire to withdraw his resolution was fol
lowed by the formal declaration that the state
ments of the government were to the Liberal
side wholly unsatisfactory, and that unless its
head had something new to offer, the Opposi
tion would make a proposal, and ask the opin
ion of the House upon the Irish Church ques
tion. There could not be more distinct chal
lenge, and there could not be a heartier wel
come than tbe oppsition benches gave to this
clarion note from their leader. The days of
great parliamentary contests seemed to have
come back.
Mr. Disraeli’s reply was insolent beyond con
ception. The words of it you can read for
yourself in the printed report. The manner ot
it is scarcely to be described. In no other
man would the House have tolerated it, and it
went tar beyond the license in which even
Disraeli is usually indulged. There was no
paragraph that was not edged with a sarcasm
against Mr. Gladstone —few sentences that did
not overflow with contemptuous bitterness to
ward the mi tubers of either partv who could
la: suspected ot convictions. In its way
nothing could lie more brilliant • I nt what a
speech to he delivered in Parti nncnt ! 1 have
heard Disraeli often ; I never heard him np
his performance of Monday. It was a
surprise to men who have listened to him
for lb.it ty y ars. I asked a Liberal im niher
of great eminence whether the House
liked such exhibitions. “Liked them’” he
exclaimed; “it 1 had made such a speech 1
should h've been blown out of the House,
and deservedly too.” There was no lack ot
readiness in Mr. Disraeli to meet the issue so
urn xpeetedly presented to him. No l ick of
courage either, and no lack of that unscrupu
lous ingenuity which makes him the most
formidable tactician in England. With sava<>e
sarcasms falling every minute from his lips he
presented himself to the House as the sole
remaining champion of the church. The at
tack upon the Irish Church he declared to be a
covert attack upon the English Church.
The principle ot endowments was at stake
and with this cry he rallied the Tory squires to
his support. It, is certainly true that the de
molition of the Church of Ireland will weaken
the Church of England, but it is far from being
true that the Liberals have any such purpose
of belief. But Mr. Disraeli is ioo shrewd to be
drawn into a defense of the Irish Church. It can
not be defended, and he knows it. It may be
upheld, and its existence prolonged a few
years by persuading the country party and the
High Church party that tbe Liberals have be
gun a crusade against the English establish
ment. Yet, even in that view, the invective of
Mr Disraeli’s speech was pushed further than
policy would have suggested, and its rancor,
its furious animosity against Mr. Gladstone,
were partly due to a cause which seldom stim
ulates into extravagance this cold-blooded an
tagonist. Repose of manner was gone. The
gloomy face was lighted by an artificial excite
ment and decorum was thrown to the winds.—
Even the cries from the Opposition benches,
the satirical “ Hear, hear,” were caught up by
the unbalanced voice of the swaying orator
and repeated with a sneer of affected or very
like genuine contempt. And yet neither pas
sion nor any artificial cause had clouded the
splendor of this wonderful intellect, however
much they may have upset its judgment. As a
specimen of gladiatorial oratory, this speech
has seldom been surpassed.
I will not try to predict the result of the Lib
eral assault on the Government. It is enough
to say that the Liberals themselves are confi
dent and in the highest spirits. They do not
expect defeat, but they can afford it. They be
lieve. this Ministry can be driven from office
within a month. Whether that comes true or
not, there is henceforth a brighter future for the
Liberal party, and therefore for England.
General Meade’s Press Order.
The Selma Messenger publishes General
Meade’s order, and says:
Since the termination of the war five
white men have been foully assassinated
within a few miles of this city. The assas
sins have not yet been arrested. The vic
tims were all honest men. Their fate led
to no military inquiry, elicited no general
orders, provoked no censorship of the
press.
The assassination of “Hon. G. W. Ash
burn,” in another State, has reminded the
District Commander that under the Re
construction Act it is his duty to give pro
tection to person and property, and moved
him to the publication of this order.
If he has the power to give security to
life, it is to be regretted that it was not
long since exercised. Ashburn might then
have been spared to sow discord and stir
up sedition in the community iu which he
lived, and Love, Harrison and Williams
might have been spared as examples of in
dustry and application and integrity among
whom they moved.
******
We sincerely hope that now he (General
Meade) has turned his attention to au evil
that has so long afflicted this unhappy sec
tion, he will not withdraw his hand, while
a single “Loyal League” remains to array
race against race and engender collisions
and lead to violence and bloodshed. We
know of the existence of no other secret
political society than this in the South;
it is this society more than any other one
thing that has literally “ inaugurated hell”
in these States; it is through the machine
ry of this society that such men as Ash
burn have stirred up strife in quiet and
law-abiding communities; it was this so
ciety that drove thousands of unwilling
voters to the polls at the late election in
Alabama; it was under the auspices of
this society that a banner was borne in
public procession through the streets of
Macon, only the other day, denouncing
death to every man who should refuse or
fail to vote the Radical ticket. This is the
only secret political society of which we
have any knowledge iu the South. We
believe it is the only one in the South.—
Crush it, General Meade!
[From the New York Hera’d.
Gen. Meade’s Proclamation Against Incen
diarism.
“ How sharper than a serpent’s tooth ” it
must be to the Radical managers that they
cannot get a general to take charge of any
military district who knows exactly when
he ought to be blind and when he ought to
see. Now, here is General Meade—a most
provoking person. He did gratifying things
at first, and Radicalism was loud in its ap
plause. Scarcely, however, had the Radi
cals committed themselves to positive lau
dations of the General’s honest course than
lie made a report in relation to the election
on the constitution, and plainly told his
sponsors iu Was hington that the trouble
was a little too much nigger, and that if
they had been content to require no more
in the constitution than was required in
the reconstruction acts, all would have
been well. That was under the fifth rib.—
But there is a worse place than the fifth rib.
It is what the French philosophers call the
vital knot; and General Meade has just put
forth a proclamation that lays violent
hands on this delicate thing. He says:
“AU public writers and speakers are en
joined to relrain from inflammatory appeals
to the passions and prejudices of the peo
ple.” Now, this will absolutely 7 shut up
every orator that the Republican party has
in its pay in General Meade’s district.—
General Meade also practically orders the
suppression of an organization whose ob
ject is to “ affect the results of pending elec
tions in this district.” This means the
Loyal League clubs. It has been stated
that this order was aimed at the Ku Klux
Klan; but this is evidently wrong, as it so
distinctly describes the evil courses of Rad
ical agitation. General Meade is too intel
ligent a man not to have known what he
was proclaiming.
Official Figures.—The following pay
ments were made at the Treasury during
the month of March, and are worthy of
particular notice at this time :
Civil, miscellaneous and foreign
intercourse $3,715,000
Interest on public debt 6,462,000
War 13,960,000
Navy 2,365,000
Interior (Pensions and Indians).... 5,508,000
$32,010,000
It is thus seen that four millions of dol
lars were required to pay the appropria
tions made by a Radical Congress for one
month's expenses of the regular army, or at
the rate of $168,000,000 for the year ! This
is the way in which the people’s money is
squandered in the maintenance of a vast
standing army in time of peace, for what
there is not a particle of necessity, and the
only object of which is to pamper in idle
ness and luxury thousands of favorite par
tisan officers, and to reward plundering
(H>iilfactors who are assessed tor carryinu
on Radical elections. A single month’s
subsistence of the army alone cost the
countiy two millions more now than did
all the departments of t he Government dur
ing an < utire year under the administration
of John (Jtiincy Adnms, who ivas accused
of extravagance.— National Intelligencer.
Suppression of the Teutii. —Two days ago
the Tribune asked fcr a case in which white
men had been murdered at the South, its ob
ject bcintx to persuade its readers that the hor
rible “ Ku-Klux” were roaming from the Po
tomac to the Gulf imbruing their hands in the
blood of “ trooly loil ” Unionists, and quaffing
wlii.-ky from the skulls of slaughtered Africans.
Yesterday the telegraph related tbe murder
of “John P. Howard, a one-armed ex-Uonfed
erate soldier, shot from his horse and instantly
killed, about four miles from Selma, Ala.” It
was added, “ this is the fifth white man mur
dered in this immediate vicinity since the war,
and no one has yet been arrested.” This piece
of news the Tribune stuck away in an obscure
corner!—N. F. World.
Headquarters Third Military District, >
(Department Georgia, Ala. and Florida,) >
Atlanta, Ga., April 11, 1868. )
General Orders, No 58.
I. The uncertainty which seems to exist in
regard to holding municipal elections on the
20th instant, and the freqnent inquiries address
ed to these headquarters, renders it necessary
for the Commanding General to announce that
said elections are not authorized by any orders
from these headquarters. Managers of elec
tions are hereby prohibited from receiving any
votes for any offices except such State and
county offices as are provided for in the consti
tution to be submitted for ratification—the
voting for which officers is authorized by Gen
eral Orders Nos. 50 and 52.
11. Complaints having been made to these
headquarters, by planters and others, that im
proper means are being used to compel labor
ers to leave their work to attend political meet
ings, and threats being made that, in case of
refusal, penalties will be attached to said re
fusal, the Major General Commanding an
nounces that all such attempts to control the
movements of laborers and interfere with the
rights of employers, is strictly forbidden, and
will be considered, and on conviction will be
punished, the same as any attempts to dis
suade and prevent voters from going to polls,
as referred to in paragraph IL General Orders
No. 57.
HI. The Major General Commanding also
makes known that, whilst he acknowledges
and will require to be respected the rights of
laborers to peaceably assemble at night to dis
cuss political questions, yet he discountenances
and forbids the assembling of armed bodies ;
and requires that all such assemblages shall
notify either the military or civil authorities of
these proposed meetings, and said military and
civil authorities are enjoined to see that the
rignt of electors to peaceably assemble for
legitimate purposes is not disturbed.
IV. The wearing or carrying of arms, either
concealed or otherwise, by persons not con
nected with the military service of the Govern
ment or such civil officers whose duty under
tbe laws and orders it is to preserve the public
peace, at, or in the vicinity of the polling
places, on the days set apart for holding the
election in the State of Georgia, is positively
forbidden. Civil and military officers will see
that this order, as well as all others relating to
the preservation of the peace and quiet of the
counties iu which they are acting, is strictly
observed.
V. The commanding officers of sub-districts
of Georgia and Florida will take prompt meas
ures to give publicity to this order through the
Superintendents of Registration and the offi
cers of the Freedmen’s Bureau, and will enjoin
on the latter to instruct and advise the freed
men in their rights and duties.
By order of Major General Meade.
R. C. Drum,
Acting Assistant Adjutant General.
From the Columbus Sun, 11th inst.
The Military Prisoners Released.
Yesterday, about one o’clock in the after
noon, Captain Mills signfied to the prisoners
in the Court House that they would be released
if they would give bond. Advice was at once
sought of eminent legal counsel, who advised
the acceptance of the proposition. About
three o’clock the bond was made out, and left
at the banking boase of Ben May & Co., for
signatures of securities. In three hours some
seven hundred names were appended. There
was a perfect rush for this purpose. The
honor and integrity of the young men were
unquestioned, and every one felt a pleasure in
doing something to effect their freedom from a
causeless and arbitrary confinement.
Among those who desired to sign the bond
were a number of freedmen. About thirty or
forty of their names were affixed to the paper.
The bond is made out for $30,000. Twenty
five hundred dollars was required for each per
son. The bond recites no cause for the arrest,
or gives the slightest clue therefor. It simply
requires the parties to appear when summoned
by the military authorities, and a failure to do
so will cause a forfeiture of $2,500 for each.—
Many more citizens and colored men would
have liked to sign the bond, but time was to®
short to allow them the opportunity. The
bond-signers represent hundreds of thousands
of dollars. Only one man refused his signa
ture.
The bond was accepted by the military au
thorities, and at 7, p. m., all the prisoners, nine
white men and three negroes, were released.
When they came out, a large number of color
ed men who were present with the whites, lus
tily cheered them.
Before being released, the young men re
turned thanks to Capt. Mills and command for
the generous treatment extended them during
confinement; but requested that the next time
he had orders to arrest them, he would send
with his officer a soldier and not a scalawag.
Captain Mills was equally cordial, and hoped
the occasion lor a second arrest would never
aiise.
In to-morrow’s paper will appear the bond
and the numerous signatures. It was almost
impossible to get it up last night.
Thus ends an outrage upon men who were
charged with nothing. Indications just de
veloped point to other sources than the milita
ry as the cause of it. We congratulate our
friends upon their release. They were impris
oned last Monday afternoon.
Names of the accused : Wm. R. Bedell, Jas.
W. Barber, Christopher C. Bedell, Alva C.
Roper, Wm. D. Cash, Wm. D. Chipley, Rob’t
a. Ennis, Elisha J. Kirkscey, Thos. W. Grimes,
Wade H. Stephens, John Wells (col’d), John
Stapler (col’d), and James McHenry (col’d).
A Cotton Manufacturer’s Convention is to
be held in New York, at the St. Nicholas Hotel,
on April 29th, to consult on the general inter
ests of their business. The call for the con
vention is issued by six of the leading cotton
manufacturers of Massachusetts, and the object
of it is said to be “to observe legislation with
constant care, and with all proper influence to
guard against enactments hurtful or erroneous,
and promote those which shall be right and
beneficial; to collate, digest and disseminate
among the members all the attainable informa
tion and statistics that shall be accurate and
trustworthy; to promote cotton cultivation in
our country, and a recognition of the identity
of interest between the cotton grower and.
manufacturer, and generally, to accomplish by
associated efforts whatever may be found right
and expedient for the common good and within
the sphere of the association.”
The Valuable Testimony of the Witness
Blodgett.— The witness Foster Blodgett, who
was examined yesterday in the impeachment
trial, and who testified that he was suspended
by the President from his office of postmaster
in Georgia, and that the notice of suspension
was not given to the Senate, did not give the
details of his suspension. It appears from the
records in the Post Office Department that this
witness was indicted by a grand jury in the
United States District Court, in Georgia, for
perjury, the charge being that he had taken the
test oath substantially, when the fact was that
he had been an officer in the Confederate army.
Thq Postmaster, George Randall, received offi
cial notice of these facts, and upon his own
responsibility removed Blodgett as postmaster
at Augusta, Ga., and placed the office in charge
of an agent of the department. The whole
proceeding was under the direction of Gov
ernor Randall, .and without the knowledge of
the President, who had nothing whatever to do
with the transaction, and had no information
of the facts until some time after the occur
rence.—lFasA. Cor. New York IVbrM.
—i <
It- is reported that a distinguished military
i commahder once said : “ Bury me, and put on
my humble monument the simple inscription,
‘ Here lies one who saved the lives of his sol
diers at Fort Fisher.' ”
A Southern contemporary gives still another
phrasing: . , .
“ Don’t you know me ?” said a soldier to his
former commander.
“ No, my friend, I don’t.”
“ Why you once saved my life.”
“ Ahl how was that?” .
“ Why, my dear sir, I served under you at
the battle of , and when you ran away in
the beginning of the fight I rau after you, else
t might have been killed. God bless you, my
preserver, my benefactor! God bless you. 4