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 (June 30, 1869)
THE WEEKLY CONBTITUTIOIALIST WEDNESDAY MORNING. JUNE3O, 1860 Club Rates for the Weekly ConUttution *ll*l. That every one may be enabled to sub scribe, and receive the benefits of a live jour nal, wc offer the following liberal terms to Clubs: 1 Copy per yeas - -.- * $8 00 3 Copies per year - - - - 750 5 Copies per year - - - - 12 : 00 10 Copies per year - - 1 - - 20 00 We trust that every subscriber to the paper will aid us in adding to our list. OBOPS AND OUBRENr NEWS. Our subscribers and Mends in the coun try will confer a favor on us and our nu merous readers by sending us Items as to eftp prospects and general news in their different sections. Wc trust that each subscriber will consider himself a special correspondent for the Constitu tionalist, and thereby add to the Interest of the paper. THE LEGISLATURE AS A COURT. In discussing the subject of negro eligi bility as affected by the recent opinion of the Supreme Court of Georgia, we endea vored to show that this opinion did not hold good, so far as the expelled negro mem bers of Assembly were concerned, because the Legislature as a Court competent to decide their cases had decided, and, whether right or wrong, the decision must stand. We fortified our position with such authorities as were before us and never dreamed that our brother of the Macon Telegraph would accuse the Constitu tionalist of making discoveries In juris prudence and manufacturing"hide-bound” courts to suit the occasion. To our mind the proposition was a very plain one and „ wc strove to make it as plain to such as chose to heed us. We happened to be the first to take this position, and, though wc could not present It so learnedly as some of our contemporaries, they promptly, and of course without any necessity of receiving Instruction from our humble selves, took up the argument and illustrated It in many ways which did uot occur to us at the time. Hut the Macon Telegraph demurred with a vigorous negation, and the New Era was not behind the Telegraph iu its scorn and derision of tlic views advanced 1))' the Con stitutionalist. The New Era, indeed, brings in some characteristic sarcasm and seeks to overwhelm us with a litlloanecdote, If not with an array of authority. We quote from It: « Some of the Democratic papers are en lightening their readers on the subject of the Stuto judiciary. According to these expounders of political philosophy, we have at least two Courts more than the law has made provision for. One Is the Seuatc, the other is the House of our State Assembly. These courts have power to settle, without review or repeal, all Judicial questions wherein one of their owri number may be Involved ns litigant. They have exclusive jurisdiction of questions Involving the con stitutionality of their own acts , and so very exclusive Is the prerogative, that they cannot themselves reconsider or review their own acts, resolutions, or decisions ! “ This Is about the substance of the argu ment of tlic Constitutionalist, of Augusta, and we have been no little amused at the avidity with which these discoveries in our political system have been endorsed or np nropriated by other Journals of the extreme Democratic order. “We once heard a spphoinore (who hail just broken ground in Hedge's Logie), un dertaking to convince his grandfather, by the skillful use of syllogisms, that a chest nut burr was a horse. But somehow the old man ‘ couldn’t see itand the proba bility Is, that he never learned to appre ciate the forensic skill and learning of his hopeful scion. The Constitutionalist ami its echoes. Will pardon us. If \yc express the fear that an unappreciative and unlettered public will likewise fall to comprehend the depth oflts learning, or appreciate Its skill In the use or the mhictio ad ahsurdum /" Os course, all this Is very gratuitous, and, no doubt, very witty; but, at the expense of making further discoveries In political philosophy ami startling the “unlettered public,” we shall sttf maiutaln the truth of our proposition as originally advocated. Wc repeat, then, that each House of the Genefhl Assembly iu deciding upon the qualifications and fitness of its memliers is a court. By the Constitution they are made the Judge upon these questions; this constitutes them a Court. In coming to a conclusion, they weigh testimony and de termine the law of the case under the facts, as other Courts. In this part of their ‘duties, they act in a judicial character; and as they are a Court of exclusive juris diction, their decision or judgment when rendered in any case is final and conclusive In the premises. There can lie nq appeal from it. Even when the judgment is wrong, and they beeome satisfied of it afterwant, they cannot again open the case and reverse that judgment any more than the Supreme Court ©an In any case over which they have Jurisdiction. That Court, in this and other States, not infre quently overrule* former decisions, but this applies only to the case then before them ; U does not go back ujmn, or offset in any wage the rights of the jmrties in the ease where the error this committed. When the 7'rlegraph raves at the “ mon strous aud mischievous " principle of mak e'll legislative bodies the exclusive Judge of the law as well os the facts touching the quallfleatlons of their own memlier*, It simply raves at a prlueiple which has come down u, «s, right or wrong, from onr an etstors, mul is. Wt . twltotr*. the universal *w h all rupreaettutltr* government* The power iuay Is- ahum,). luy lt j l|t< ) RH>n the “ best government the world ever saw ” —but it exists, nevertheless, in spite of the invective of the Telegraph and the little anecdote of the New Era. We do liot, and i did not, argue, the abuse; we simply elim-1 in&ted a theory from an undeniable prlnci-1 pie. If such a principle Is wicked or ab-1 surd, the remedy is not in assuming to rid icule or laugh it out of existence. The only remedy we know of is at the ballot box. And, alas, the ballot box is almost as great an abuse as this Legislative power. * A great error seems to prevail in the minds of not only our dissenting brethren of the press, but in \he public mind gen erally, as to the functions of the Judiciary in the State governments as well as in the United States Government. This error con sists in supposing that the Supreme Court can decide upon the constitutionality of law's generally. They can only decide upon the rights of parties under the Constitution in cases which constitutionally -come be fore them, and as they arise before them. They have no power to pronounce general ly upon the constitutionality of any law and then annul lt. On the contrary, they may, in one case, to-day, decide a law to be unconstitutional; and, to-morrow, they may, after more mature consideration, hold It to be constitutional, in another case- But the rights of the parties ns settled and adjudicated in the first case are not affected in the last ease by the change of opinion in the. second. They stand as decided in the first judgment rendered on them. The Legislature then being a Court of exclusive jurisdiction In the matter of its own membership, Is'not affected by a spe cific judgment of the Supreme Court, ren dered after the Legislature, as a Court, had pronounced Its opinion. This opinion of the Legislature is likewise binding upon the members already decided upon as un qualified, and the opinion Is final and must stand. Members who hold the seats of the expelled negroes may surrender them if they sec fit, in a spasm of qualmish policy, but we protest against their doing so un der any pretended compulsion of law. THE TWO PARTIES. The Missouri ReptibUcan, a Democratic paper, lately contained an article on Impe rialism, taking Its text principally from Mr. Stephens' letter to Judge Nicholas, a genuine copy of which wo produce in this morning’s Constitutionalist. Wc should judge, from the tone of the Republican's leader, that It represents the opinion of Gen. Blair and that class of Democrats. The of the article Is, we think, to show that, though the country is drifting frightfully to tiie leeward of correct prlnclples of gov ernment, there Is no Instant danger 1 of Em pire. It treats Mr, Stephens and those who coincide with him as pessimists —men who Invariably take gloomy views, ami, wanting the sanguine tempenumeut, are prone to behold the blackness of dark ness, in spite of many glimmerings of light which the optimist finds no difflculty.in dis- cerning. Now, the fact is, Gen. Blair and the war Democrats, men who thought to hold the Union together by force of arms, and who now 9ee the dismal result of their effort, are exceedingly slow to come to an acknowledgment of their egregious error. They fairly flounder in It, and t -of course, become victims of repeated fail ures. It would be a terrible thing for them to confess that they hud’ ixjen duped Into the commission of a grave blunder when they played Into the hnnds.of the Republi can leaders of 1860-1, and so, they strive to form a party based upon a profession of constitutional liberty coupled with a vin dication of the rlghtfulness of the war agalust the South. This can never be done. The elements will not mix. There have been, from the beginning, but two grand parties in this country. The one leads to centralism and monarchy; the other to n maintenance of the Federal Re public. There is no half-way house, no middle ground between these two antago nisms. Such warnings and utterances as Mr. Stephens may Vie, and no irouhtTire, unseemly.and distasteful to the war Democrats; but this is the necessary sequence of a want of candor, or a rigid deference to human pride, which urges Gen. Blair and many of his cfass to stand out against the acknowledgment that they were deceived, and, being deceived, com mitted a blunder which is well nigh if not absolutely Irretrievable. Every hour al most Is proof of this mistake ; every ad vance in despotic power by the Govern ment Is equal to a demonstration. But still they essay that vain and barren thing of attempting to consecrate the results of the civil war, which but for their co-operation j would have never been. There is no reme -Idj for a disease until fts cause Is under-, j stood, and it is treated accordingly. We are firmly impressed with the Idea that Mr. : Stephens has ascertained the cause and ! suggested .the proper remedy. That Ills | enunciation of the cause will occasion i disquiet, even to the War Democracy, can not be denied : that his remedy is the only ! one that promises health we doom equally 'indisputable. For our part, we think his . latior will beav but little fruit in this per | verse generation, and it Is made all the ' more vaiu by the unintentional, but still | efficient, co-operation of War Democrats ! with the consolidation party. • * ' Though Mr. Stephens’ utterances may not have their Just Influence now, or even in the remote future, they .will at least clothe him with Immortal honor as one who was among the last of the Intellectual giants who clung, almost with despair, to the glorious possibilities of a dylug Repub lic. Tali. Cotton.— We have before us a cotton stalk grown oil the plantation of Mr. A. II Jackson, of this it'larke) county, and pulled up on Monday, while thinning his crop, which measures 21 inches iu length This «111 do pretty well, consider ing tin* backwardin'** of the season, tin* “ hardness of the times, and scarcity of money Athens Walkman, 'IM nut JUDGE 'NICHOLAS REPLIES. In a late number of the National Intelii- ' ytneer, Judge Nicholas publishes what he . calls a brief reply to .Mr. Stephens. The document is tok-rabiy 'brief, as the Judge says, but it can hardly be called a “reply’’ t<»: Mr. Stephens’ letter, although the Judge i may labor under that delusive impression. Iu the first place, after apologizing for un intentional misstatements of Mr. Ste phens’ position, he proceeds to further i misquotations, which argue cither weak ! nes#or negligence amounting to condem ; nation or defeat. For instance. Judge | Nicholas makes Mr. Stephens bluntly I say that “ secession was the only remedy,” ! etc. Here are Mr. Stephens’ own words : “If the facts of our history be as set forth in the volume referred to, (and the world is challenged to disprove them), then the conclusions to which they lead are in evitable, even though they lead to a com plete justification of the sovereign right of secession as the only sufc check and bur ner against the usurpation of undelegated power on the part of the General Govern ment.” We fear Mr. Stephens is engaged in a useless task when he tries to pin down a Democrat like Judge Nicholas to a fair discussion of the facts bearing on the rights of States. The trouble with Judge Nicholas is the same trouble that, disconcerts Frank Bi.air and all other war Democrats. They attempt, as we said the other day, to reconcile an impossible thing. They want to convince themselves and the world that their armed invasion of the South was justifiable and that con stitutional liberty was not impaired but rather aided thereby. You cannot do this, Messieurs Nicholas, Blair & Cos. It will be a hard matter for you to cry pecceiei aud still harder to confess yourselves the real, though not deliberate, abettors of our great calamity. But you are, nevertheless, placed iu this disagreeable position, and, unless you can muster up moral courage enough to make a clean breast of it, dupes will you remain to the end of the chapter, even though empire stare you in the face as an alternative. Judge Nicholas indeed, shows his true colors when he goes out of the way to take n fling at the Southern Generals iu the New York Convention. This is unjust and ungenerous. He thinks their presence at New York was a great blunder, especially as they were “ un par doned.” We think* Judge Nicholas will find it difficult to name the “ uupardoned” Gen erals at tlic convention. And then, where did he get the license to pronounce censure U|w»n true Democrats ? When does his De mocracy date? Judge Nicholas is evi dently one of those Southern men Who went for the war, and when he sees the result is affrighted at it, and wants to correct the evil as Andrew JonNsoN wished,by build ing up a faction between the States and the Radical party. Johnson failed aud Nicholas will also fail. So, Judge, you might ns well cease the vain effort of at tempting to reconcile the late war with constitutional Jiberty. Lord Dundreauy never stumbled over the pronunciation of a word of three syllables as you are stumb ling over an illogical essay. OFFICIAL DIGNITY. It is stated that at the late Boston Peace Jubilgc, a questipn of horrid import came up In the City Council as to whether the municipal ordinance against smoking in the Bosting streets should be relaxed in favor of President Grant. On the one side It was argued that if he were not al lowed to smoke those good cigars Ills wor shippers bestow upon him he would not attend (he Jubilee; and on the other, some of the Council, who do not seem to have had quite all the soul enslaved out of them, stood up for a rigiAmainteuAlice of the law as well against Grant as anybody else. — The majority of the learned body being of the cringe order, the decision finally was that the police should he instructed not to ■ see Mr. Grant when he might smoke, aud on this foil determination no doubt the four thousand clergy that opened the Jubilee with prayer, delivered special sermons of gratitude and joy. This, to be sure, is not quite authentic, but certain it is, as runs the story, the Hubbites smashed their pet law against smoking iu favor of Grant. Now in itself this may lie no great thing, but it brings forcibly to mind the utterly lawless character of the present Chief Mag istrate of the United States, and that de spicable and slavish lack of soul in the majority of the Northern people which per mits such lawlessness. We remember the first instance in which these traits cropped out. It was shortly after the war and when Mr. Gr ant was driving a fast trotter through the streets of some Northern city, Washington, we believe, at a greater rate of speed than the law allows. A police man, as in duty bound, sought to check the military Jehu, aud now commenced a pretty scene. Grant lashing up his animal and tearing away down the street like mad and ! the watchman tugging on close behind, | just as peace officers raise the hue aud cry ;at the tail of a thief. Beautiful picture ! j Noble omen ! Sublime spectacle ! Let us : have Peace facing over decrepit old ladies ! and toddling little ones and a coustable trying to nab him and put him iu the | watch-house ! And yet over this picture, we remember uo special word of condemnation in the Northern press, It is true that the war was just over and, perhaps, the immolator of so many t housands of Northern soldiery scented in his dashing full speed through the streets of a crowded city liardly cen surable and even, It may tie, In the per formance of a merely indifferent and praise worthy act, but then from that day to the day of the Bosting Jubilee, how consist ently have the same traits of arrogajit law lessness on tlu*one sldetnd shameful truck ling on the other been evidenced. . It Is proposed to open the Mills House, In ('harhsfrm »u a grand scale In November HON. R. M. T. HUNTERS LETTER. Our Virginia brethren are soon to have an election on the reconstructed Constitu tion and for officers under It. That they will be cheated i$ quite a matter of course, but still the effort is to s»ve something out of the wreck, aud in this view Mr. Hunter seems to write. His letter is too long to republish but the main points appear to be, first, that no reliance can be placed on the good faith of Congress in this matter of re construction ; and second, that nothing the people of the State may do in the matter is binding upon them, being in reality done under duress and not of free-will. Taking such to be Mr. Hunter’s view, we do not know of any endorsement that is tooliearty for us to give. From the very inception of this scoundrelly reconstruction scheme, there has been no one single point or moment of time when the collective affidavit of Con gress in the matter has been more trust worthy or respectable than an harlot’s oath. That body has in plain terms lied to the people of the South. We put it offen sively because the thing is an offensive thing, rank and noisome with the most de testable and repeated unverities. As to the obligation which is imposed on the people of the South by virtue of anything done by them under the recon struction scheme, where is there any such obligation ? This very day, if the free will of tlic South \sere restored there is not the ten-millionth part of any moral obligation o restrain her from tumbling the whole accursed fabric from its topmost pinnacle | to its lowest vault in one common ruin.— Reconstruction has no obligat ion but force, and when force goes, away goes the obliga tion. This, then, is the whole gospel of recon struction, that Congress is in nowise to be trusted, and that nothing the people of the South may do or say or swear in the matter binds them for one single moment. “ OEILOUVERT.” We have frequently wondered at the long dumbness maintained by our esteemed, contributor, “ Oeilouvert.” He has at last broken the spell of silence, and sends us one of his characteristic letters! By reference to his missive, it will be seen that he makes a direct attack upon those of the editorial fraternity who are urging the Southern planters to make grain and meat crops their principal reliance, and put King Cotton in a secondary position. We have not moved on the “ King’s ” works for some time, but he used to be a special target of ours when planters seemed to run mad about him. That the cotton side may have full justice, we not only print the de fense made by its champion, bat direct es pecial attention to it. i— 111 Our New York Correspondence. New York, June 21. The death of Mr. Raymond, the editor in charge of the Daily Times, of this city, marked an era in journalism in the Empire City. It is one step towards divesting the management of the newspaper press of this city of that personal character which has for many years characterized its efforts and marred its influence. The contests be tween the Herald and the 7'imes, and be tween the Tribune and the 7'imes, have been less conflicts of principles, and their application to public policy, than the per sonal rivalries of Henry J. Raymond and Horace Greeley, and of Henry J. Raymond and James Gordon Bennett. The influence of widely circulated and influential jour nals, has, in these contests, been frittered away and brought to nought. Mr. Ray mond’s place on the 1 imes, difficult as it may be to filkin the simplest relations to journalism, must always remain vacant, so far as the personal strifes, jealousies and weaknesses, which are incident to the in dustrial relations of all men, are concerned. Mr. Raymond fell a victim to that cease less-effort, without which no man can at tain eminence in this great city. The labor which he performed between the ages of 20 and 40, would, if summed up in the style of an inventory, be deemed incredi ble. It was not enough that he should per form the duties pertaining to the editor ship of a great, daily newspaper, but he must needs conduct correspondence as sume the responsibilities of a political leader, and perform important work in book making aud magazine writing. lie tints became a prematurely old man, to which his somewhat irregulty habits of late years contributed. Mr. Raymond’s funeral to-day was an imposing demonstra tion of the respect which the press of Ncav York city entertains for one of its most distinguished members. I have never seen so many of the leading journalists Together since the funeral, nearly a year ago, of the amiable wife of Mr. Man ton Marble,editor in-chief of the New \ <*rk World. That class of our people - who will insist upon maintaining the old style appear ances of public decency, have beetl greatly scandalized the past week by the at tendance of President Grant at one of our blackguard theatres, where the Can-Can was performed for his edification. This dance, imported from the Mabille of Paris, lias previously been referred to in this cor respondence. Its gross indecency can hard ly lie depicted, without the use of language not suitable to your columns. But Gen. Grant and his friends did not hesitate to commit the great public wrong of witness ing its performance. The Censhs Commissioners are in a great pother iu making up their schedule for 1870. Hoav they shall succeed under the thirteenth amendment to the Constitution, without depriving Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and perhaps other New England States, of a portion of their representation in the Lower House of Congress, aud give an increased voice therein to “ rebel ” Ken tucky, Georgia. Maryland, and other South ern States, is a poser to them. They may, perhaps, concoct some scheme by which Congress, through some euactment and some strained construction, may relieve them of their embarrassment. Os this, we shall kuow more when Congress meets. But the present aspects of the case afford another example of the diligence with which Radicalism lias been engaged in defeating its own ends. It may lie safely' left to it self. The cotton speculation has come to an cud. It has been found lni|Hisslble to ad vance cotton goods to correspond with the price of the raw material. We have, in place of cotton, an immense movement in wheat, for export, upon which a constdera me ■qieciiiullou I* ba**ed, lint it seems to me that tin* supply Is excessive-more than four times as large a* last June, and at the dose to-day the market was dull. An interesting branch of business, which, though quite familiar to the Parisians, is somewhat novel to the citizens of New York, is that of enameling. The belle, whether* man-ied or single, who has de-1 cided to-adopt this method of renewing the freslin®>s of her waning charms, undergoes, as a preliminary, the somewhat trying or deal of a microscropic inspection, and while submitted to a scrutiny so severe, the smallest cheek or bast, such as any rough hairs or furzy, are removed by the application of linament plaster, or medicated soap. Thus pre pared, the face and neck of the fair one, or the one desirous of becoming fair, which ever you may please to term it, is covered with'a coating of enamel, composed of arsenic, white lead, etc., which is made into a semi-paste and agreeably perfumed. This application will endure, ordinarily, no longer than a day or two, but as it is desirable that the improvement should be lasting, the process is generally renewed every few days for the space of some weeks, and in this process, the trimming and pen cilling of the eyebrows is not uufrequeutly included. Sometimes the fair subject of these operations, or, as we said above, the subject about to become fair, wishes only to be specially captivating upon some special occasion, or, her funds possibly, may tie in a low condition, in which case she is enameled only pro tem., and pays according ly ; in such instances, the charge being only from ten to twenty dollars. In other cases, where the lady wishes always, and upon all occasions to charm to the utmost her attendant admirers, she makes a more per manent business of it, and is rendered fault less, so far as complexion goes, for the space of six months or more, at a cost which varies from two to six hundred dol lars. The women, it seems, will not be quiet, and scarce a week . passes bat .what they make themselves heard of in some way, and most generally t hrough the agency of some one of their chief captains, such as Susan Anthony and others. The lady just named lias, it appears, a serious objection to tax paying, the ground she puts it on being the same as that formerly taken by our fore fathers, of the Revolution, namely, no repre sentation, no taxation. Susan, however, does not go into a tight upon the subject, nor, on the other hand, seeing herself com pelled to yield, does she do so gracefully, but enters a protest on giving up her mo ney, which, after all, is scarce worth making a fuss about, as the sum total is only sl4 10. Nor does the gentle Susan lose any opportunity of assailing the men, as in the letter in which she encloses the disput ed sum to the Deputy Collector, she con soles herself by levelling against him some bitter accusations of cruelty, exaction and oppression. Perhaps, though, the matter becomes more serious in her eyes, and the eyes of those who aid and abet her, when the fact is known that the tax in question was levied upon their newly fledged bantling 1 , the Revolution. One of the largest, If not the largest., organs in the country is one lately built by Messrs. Hall, Labagh & Cos., of this city, and which hasbeen recently placed in the Jewish Temple Emanuel, on sth Avenue. The Temple was filled a few days since with amateurs, professors of music, and many of tiie elite of the city on the occasion of an exhibition given by well known performers on the organ. The Instrument is a very large one, extending completely across the gallery, and presents an imposing ap pearance. Anew material for full dress, and which, from its thickness, is especially adapted for the seaside, is the white French pongee, which is of fine quality and beautifully glossy. Usually, it is trimmed or bound with black velvet, or velvet of some other dark color which gives character to it.— Pongee of a delicate fawn color, with velvet trimmings of the same shade, is both fash ionable and handsome; and the same may be said of cream colored ponge faced with brown. Another very beautiful material is muslin de vote, which is, In fact, only another name for a very fine grenadine. In this, large rosebuds, exquisite in color and pattern, are designed upon a white green, rose pink, or China blue ground. The price is $2 per yard. Warm weather having now fairly set itr, cooler suits of wash materials have in a great measure superseded those of silk and woollen, and of these, some simple aud pretty ones, for morning wear, are of Scotch ginghams in narroav stripes, and which are suitable for either indoor or outdoor wear. Many very pretty percale suits are also seen, these being without ruffles, as ruffles are at present made on the bias, which Avould not be suitable for a material so heavy. For long journeys, plain suits of gray de bege may be bought ready made for $lO. For full dress receptions, the long court train and short petticoat is considered very elegant. An important part of the Summer toil ette for ladies are the chemises russe, or muslin blouse waists, “id witli White or colored skirts; they are pretty, with the addition of a sash, and in the street, are much cooler beneath a wrapping than the waists of dresses would be. It is most de sirable not to confine them to a belt, but to put drawing strings in the back, cutting the waist to extend beneath the dress belt. Blouses in various designs are sold at prices which vary from $4 to $25, although those at $4 are very simple. For boys’ wear, the coolest and most ser viceable materials for Summer are white duck, and the same also in buff, browu and pea greeu. For boys from fivc-and-a-half to seven, the short Bismarck blouse is still in favor, the belt being set in on the front, and the back loosely belted, and Avith this it is optional whether thepautaloous be open or gathered at the knee. Something new in Bis marck suits is white s:mn jean, with hair stripes of blue or purple, and a simple white binding round the shirt sleeves.belt and col lar, is the only trimming requisite. A heavy brown linen, which may be procured for 75 cents a yard, is also excellent for boys, and can lie woru either with trowsers of the same or with white duck. For the sea side, twilled gray or blue flannel is prefer able to linen, and suits of this material are frequently made with the blouse- just described and a broad sailor collar, trim med with Avhite braid. A flat sailor hat, of white straw, with blue ribbon and streamer, is also worn. Larger boys wear the regular sack jacket, which just covers the hips, ahd is buttoned down the front, with long, close-fitting pantaloons. Suits of French batiste are also desirable, and for full dress, .white check jackets and pan taloons. Willoughby. Destructive Hail Storm.—On Tuesday afternoon a terrible hail storm passed round east of Albany, damaging crops seriously, and ih some places destroying them. Mrs. Ran Towns had about 125 acres of cotton destroyed. Mr. Walker suffered to the same exteut iu cotton, aud a like number of acres of corn. The Willinghams, Mrs. Baker aud tuauy others were more or less injured. • [,4R«iny News. A man who lately died In Germany con fessed on hi* death-bed to having poisoned sixteen members of his own family In order to tuherlt their property. (For the Constitutionalist. Notes from Putnam County. “ Epur si mwte,” exclaimed the Italian philosopher, more thqn two hundred years ago. Even what some people choose to consider the ancient and almost effete little village of Eatonton illustrates, in some de gree, the fact that the world does move.— The totvn has advauced a little, even since the war. In certain articles, as plantation and family supplies, groceries, &c., the trade is heavier than ever before. A part of this trade speaks badly for the country, but the tradesmen like it none the less on that account* It is a reproach to the farm ers of a section capable of producing almost everv article of necessity, and even of lux urv,'that human want, ivhim or taste can demand, should, year after yea>, pay out so princely an income for articles that ought to be produced at home. Understand me, though, Mr. Editor, I do not go to the length that most writing farmers do these days. I do not say we ought to grow every thing here that it is possible for the climate and soil to give us, regardless of cost of production. On the contrary, I am old fogy enough to believe that each section of coun try has Its specialties—products that the God of Nature has adapted to it—and that these pay, while others do not. Then let every latitude and soil yield the articles best adapted to them, and let all exchange their surplus products for those of others ‘with which they communicate. What is this but commerce ? And Avhat is it that enables the small, sea-girt, comparatively liarrpn and little favored British Isles, pro ducing not nearly enough food for their population, to take such high rank among the wealthy nations on the globe, but this same commerce f Yet let me, if possible, reconcile my first paragraph with my second- I say still it is a shame for the planters of this section to pay out so much for articles that can and should be produced at home. But if lam to believe ivhat practical farmers here say, they can make money faster and more easi ly, and develop the resources of the coun try better, by making cotton the main crop and others the incidents —at least in the vicinity of railroads, tvhere corn, meat, syrup, &c., can be delivered within easy hauling distance of the plantation. Just the contrary is the idea of most editors. They say let food for man and beast be the first object in all localities, whether near to or distant from railroads, and after that is secured,’ let as much cotton as possible be raised. It is singular that comparative ly few of the actual producers believe in this theory, while the office men, scribblers, etc.—in fine, the consumers—consider it divine truth. Let us, for once, be candid enough or just or generous, just as you like, to pub lish some of the arguments used by plant ers against this theory. They contend that so surely as they take the advice of these paper farmers, just so surely will the some thing like monopoly of cotton production now enjoyed by the South, pass from her grasp, leaving her poorer than she was even at the close of the war. The gigantic con test waged for four years, and the blockade attending it, did impair the actual monopo ly once possessed by this section, enabling, as it did, other countries to take advantage of tiie lack of competition, and push the production of the indispensable staple to an extent never reached before. Fortuuately for us, the struggle did not last long enough for England and the rest to consummate their plans—though there is no kind of doubt that “ per fide. Albion ” sought to pro long the Avar, not through kindness to us, but for the purpose of weakening her pow erful rival, the United States, and more especially to cripple tiie cotton States—the very section that she pretended to favor till she could perfect the production of cot ton in East India. But here is the most straightforward, most easily understood argument used by planters. They say that, independent of the fact that the cotton does actually pay them better than any other crop, consider ing merely the quantity, price, &c., it is less subject to the depredations of thieves than corn, wheat, or, abtfve all, beef, mut ton or bacon. They can preserve cotton Avith considerable certainty, but it is next to impossible, now, to keep anythiiig that a human being can cat. The- consequence is, that people generally prefer living from hand to fhouth—buying provisions in small quantities, rather than undertaking to keep much on hand, either of their own raising or of that purchased from abroad. So far as the assertion that planters not raising a sufficiency of provisions for their oAvn consumption can make no money is concerned, the people of Putnam county tell me that those of their acquaintance who have accumulated most since the war, have bought provisions every year, and that they ncA-er think of anything else. They say, moreover, that in 1866, but for the cotton crop, they would have come near starving, the drouth being so excess ive that some of their freshest and best lands made not more than a peck per acre; but their cotton,'which it is well known will make Avith much less rain than corn can, brought a good price, and saved them from a famine. ' I started to write you something about Eatonton, but was seduced from ray pur pose in the outset, and now have not left myself sufficient space. Journeying over the State as I do, it is pleasant, occasional ly, to date from some particular place, though I generally write from NoAvliere. I leave here to-morrow, so I shall probably not address you again from this locality, though 1 may still, by the help of my mem orandum book, give you some notes con cerning this quiet, agreeable little town and the adjacent country. Oeilouvert. Penalties for Non-Payment of Taxes. —The folloAving letter has been sent from Washington: Treasury Department, 1 Office of Internal Revenue. > Washington, June 4,1869. ) Sir ; I reply to yours of the 24th ultimo, that no authority is contained in the Inter nal Revenue Law by which the Collector can remit the penalty of 5 per cent, and 1 per cent, mouthly interest. The law says that the penalty shall be collected, and the Collector should collect the same according to the provision of Section 28. Act of June 30,1864, as amend ed. Yours, respectfully, • J. W. Douglass, . Deputy Commissioner. TnE Health of Jefferson Davis.—The Netv Orleans Times says that a dispatch re ceded at Montreal on June 12th, by Mr. HoAvell, from Pans, announced the health of Hon. Jefferson Davis as extremely pre carious. At oye time, recently, his life Avas despaired of. It is the purpose of Mr. DaA-is, if he lh-es, to revisit Canada during the Summer, aud to. spend the following Winter among his old friends in the State of Mississippi. We trust that a long life is yet iu store for him. * • A contemporary says that transcendental ism Is the spiritual cognoscence of psycho logical lrrelragibillty, connected with con cultant ademption of oncolumulcnt spirit uality and otherlull«e<r contention of sub* sultory concretion. Certainly It Is.
