Newspaper Page Text
SOUTHERN ENTERPRISE.
LUCIUS C. BRYAN, Editor and Proprietor, t
Terms, 84.00 a year in Advance. j
Law and Medical Cards,
BRYAN & HARRIS,
ATTOR\ EI'S AT LAW,
TIIOUVtVIM.e, 6A,
OFFICE first iloor in second story of
Shirk’s Confectionary
L. C. BRYAN. R H. HARRIS.
Mar 14 II ts
S. B. SPENCER,
ATTORNEY AT JAW,
Thomanville, Gforgia,
Will attend “row “Hr to all civil business en
trusted to bu care in the Southern Circuit,
i ‘ u> h aii l Ware ot the Brunswick Circuit.
Jan 31 5 ly*
C. P. HANSELL,
ATTORNEY AT LAW,
Thoiiia*rillr, (Georgia
Jan 31 5-ly
ROBERT G. MITCHELL,
ATTORNEY AT LA W,
TIIOMASVILLE, GA.
jfcgr* Ifficc over McLase’s Store.
Jan 24 412 m
J. K. Reid, .VI. U. W. F. I>e\ itt, VI. U
Urs ItEID X UeWITT,
OFFER their services to the citizens of
Thomasville and vicinity.
IW*OFFICE at Dr. DeWitt’sJDrug Store
Feb 21 8 ts
Or. T. S. HOPKINS,
OFF ICB!
IN SAVIK LOT will. REMIDEVGE.
L. O. ARNOLD,
RESIDENT DENTIST
THOMASVILLE, GA.
’IAT'ILL be fouml at the old .n “‘"""V.
T V stand occupied by him for
the last ten years
Aug 23-12 tn
Dr. W- P CLOWER
II AYING permanently located in Thoinas
.X ville, otters his ProfcNitiuaal Stervi
e to the public.
■ at the Drug Store of W. I’.
Clovrer A Cos.
C —the house formerly oc
<?upied by Dr. Brandon. mar 14 ly
Dri 11. W. ASTON
Having permanently located in Thomas',
ville, respectfully offers his services to the
citizens of the Town and Surrounding
Country, in the practice of Medicine, Surs
gery and Midwifery. Will also pay spe
cial attention to the treatment of Diseases
of Women. Office R. R. Evans’ old Store
Upstairs. j*nl7s3m
E . G. FI KG fS O \ ,
■ [Graduate of Queen’ s College.)
PHYSIC AN, SURGEON, Ac.,
Boston, Georgia.
May be consulted at Mr. Murphy’s near
Railroad Station.
APOTHECARY
TTAT.T,.
W. P. CLOWER & CO.,
DRUGGISTS.
Have renovated and refitted the Store next
to Young's Hotel, for the purpose of es
tablishing a
First Class Drug Store.
The new firm ask for a shltre of patron
age. and invite the attention of the citi
zens to their well selected stock of
Ulcdicines,
Fancy and Toilet Articles,
Soaps and Perfumery.
Fine Green and lllack Teats,
Kerosine Lamps and Oil,
DA E STI FFS,
Together with every other article usually
kept in a well appointed Drug Store.
gigs” Physicians’ Prescriptions carefully
prepared. 4-ts
Jan 24
DRUGS
AND
ammra.
fTthe undersigned having purchased the
| elegant Drug Store of Dr. Little, take
pleasure in announcing to the people of
Thomasville, and the country generally,
chat they have just received & full supply
of fresh Drugs and Medicines, Paints,
Oils, Perfumery. Stationery, et., etc. Call
and examine for yourselves.
By strict attention to business, courte*
ous and honorable dealing with our cus
tomers we hope to merit and receive a libe
ral share of patronage.
WINN & CASSELS.
James N. Wiss,
Samuel J. Cassels.
jan l“tf
FRESH DRUGS
“rvR. T. S. BOWER has just received a
U large stock of fresh Drugs, purchased
at the best manufactories in the United
States, and embracing every article in the
Medical Department. It is Drugs were
purchased with the view of supplying the
market with the very
Best Quality of Medicines
manufactured, and the prices were not
therefore consulted. lie will nevertheless
sell upon easy terms, and feels sure that
he can give satisfaction.
Thankful for the liberal patronage ex.
tended to him heretofore by the people of
Thomas County, he hopes to merit a eontin
uation of their favors. He may be found
at his old Stand opposite Remington & Son.
Jan 4, ts P. S. BOWTB.
“empire”iair resiorerT
A N elegant Pressing,
A An infallible restorer of Color,
And a wonderful Incigorator of the HAIR.
Prepared bv
W. P. CLOWER At CO.,
Jan 31 5-ts Apothecaries Hall.
TWO Jlonthti from date, applica
tion will b made to LonndesCourt of Or
dinary, for leave to sell the Real Estate of
Archibald Mclntyre, late of said Conntv. dec’d.
ISAAC JESSUP.
Mar 21 2m Adm'r.
Commission Merchants.
GEO. T. PATTEN,
COMMISSION MERCHANT,
TII OVI AM VI I, f,E. GA.
%\’’II.I. purchase andaell Cotton. Raton,
Tv Magnr, Syrup, Wool, Ac., Ac.. on
Commission, forward Cotton and other Pro
duoe to Savannah, and Goods from Depot to
other points.
Orders and Consignments solicited.
Feb 14 7-3m*
GEORGE PATTEN,
IT* o r w ar ding
AND
COMMISSION MERCHANT,
’
HA VAN.N AH, GEORfIIA.
rvvENDERS bis services to the Merchants of
1 Thomasville. and the Planters of Thomas
County, for the forwarding of Goods, the sale
of Pro Gee and purchase of Supplies, and re
spectfully solicits their patronage.
Feb 14 7-3m*
J. R. S. DAVIS 8c COT,
Auction & Commission
MERCHANTS,
Next door loB.& L. Goldberry’t* Store.
SOLICIT consignments of goods of all de
scriptions. Particular attention paid to
telling real and personal property.
Auction sales on \V ednesdaysand Satur
days—day and night.
J. R. S. DAVIS,
G. A. JEFFERS.
Feb 14 7-3tn*
_H. BRYAN, A. L. HARTRIDGE, E.W.S. NEFF.
Late of J. Savannah Ga., Cincinnati, O.
Bryan & Son
Savan h, Ga.
Bryan, Hartridge & Cos.,
COMMISSION MERCHANTS
BROKERS,
No. 163 liny street, SAVANNAH, CSa.
Strict attention given to Consignments
and Collections. apr 11 Cm
F. W. SIMS,) { J. F. WHEATON,
I.ate of the > ] Late of the firm of
Republican. ) ( Wilder, Wheaton & Cos.
F. W. SIMS & Cos.,
SAVANNAH, CSA.,
FACTORS AND GENERAL
COMMISSI MERCHANTS.
DEALERS IN
Vferoliamlise, Produce, Tim
ber, Lumber anti Collon.
Consignments and orders respectfully solicit
ed, and whether bv wagon, river, railroad or
sea, will receive the strictest attention.
The Forwarding Business carefullv and
promptly done. mar 7 10-6 m
Miller, Thomas & Cos.,
GENERAXi
COMMISSION & GROCERY
MERCHANTS,
SAVANNAH, . . . . , GEORGIA.
A. J. MILLER. SAMUEL B. THOMAS.
D. 0. LIVINGSTON.
Jan 24 4-6m*
J. L. YILLALONCrA, ~
COTTON FACTOR
FORfARDIIS Hi COMMiSSIOI
Mcrdiant
No- 94 Bay Street,
jan l-3m 5.4 VANN AH, GA.
A. J. BRADY, W.M. SMITH, E.J. MOSES
Atlanta. Lexington. Columbus.
Brady, Smith & CO.,
COTTON
coMMissios m mmum
MERCHANTS,
Savannah, : : : : : Georgia
Will make liberal advances on Produce con
signed to ns or our friends, in New York,
Boston, Philadelphia or Liverpool.
Agents for FAIRBANKS .V CO., R. HOE
& CO., STEARNS & MARVIN, and other
Northern Manufactories.
Refer to all the leading Merchants of the
City. Nov. 8 3m
W. Carvel Hall. Jas. E. Myers.
J. Hanson Thomas, Jr.
Hall, Myers & Thomas
GENERAL
COMMISSION
Mcl’cliants,
No. 3, Commerce St., Baltimore,
References s
J. Hanson Thomas, Prest Farmers’ and Mer
chants’ National Bank,Tison A: Gordon. Sav’h
Kirkland, Chase & Cos., Jno. Williams &Son,
Williams, Bee & Cos.. N. Y., Brien & Car
rere. N. Y.. C. Morton Stewart, H. L.
Whitridge, D. H. Gordon. Va.,
Edward S. Myers. .T. P. Plea
sants & Son. Thos. J.
Carson & Cos.
Wm. H. MacFarland, Pre’t Farmers’ Bank. Va.
Mar 14 11-6 m
GREAT
BARGAINS!!
AT
DAVIS & JEFFERS’
3XT IE3 W
AUCTIOI & COMMISSION HOUSE.
Next to (Soldberry's Store.
THE attention of the public is called to the
large and varied assortment of Goods of
all descriptions consigned to us for sale
AT AUCTION,
or at private sale, at Le than Cost.
Ladies are particularly invited to call and
examine our fine Goods and Prices.
It is our intention to make this the Cheap
Store of Thomasville.
ry Auction sales on Wednesdays and Satur
days—dav and night.
} ‘ J. R. S. DAVIS,
G- A JEFFERS,
Feb ll 7-3m’
THE CIVIC Kit.H I M Kil l.
The Bi!l as it Passed Both Houses of
Congress and R-passed the Senate
over the President’s Veto.
Section 1. That all persons born in
the United States and not subject to j
any foreign power, excluding Indians
not taxed, are hereby declared to be
citizens of the United States; and such
citizens, of every race or color, without
regard to any previous condition of sla
very or involuntary service, except as a
punishment for crime whereof the par
ty shall have been duly convicted, shall
have the same right in every State and
Territory to make and enforce contracts,
to sue, to be sued, be parties and give
evidence, to inherit, purchase, lease,
sell, hold and convey real and personal
r.TGT A rtv. and to full and eoual benefit
rFJ J i
of all laws and proceedings fortheseC!!’ ‘
rity of person and property as are enjoy
ed by white citizens; and shall be sub
ject to like punishment, pains and pen
alties, and to none other, any law, stat
ute ordinance, regulation or custom to
the contrary notwithstanding.
Sec. 2. And that any person who,
under color of any law, statute, ordi
nance, regulation or custom, shall sub
ject orcausetobesubjected, any inhab
itant of any State or Territory to the
deprivation of any right secured or pro
tected by this act, or to punishment,
pains and penalties on account of such
persons having at any time been held
in a condition of slavery or involuntary
servitude, exeept for the punishment
of crime whereof the party shall have
been duly convicted, or by the reason
of his color or race, than is prescribed
for the punishment of white persons,
shall be deemed guilty of a misdemean
or, and on conviction shall be punished
by a fine not exceeding one thousand
dollars, or imprisonment not exceeding
one year, 01 both, in the discretion of.
the court.
Sec. 3. That the district courts of
the United States, within their respec
tive districts, shall have, exclusively
of the courts of the several States, cog
nizance of all crimes and offences com- j
mitted against the provisions of this
act, and also concurrently with the cir
cuit courts of all causes civil and crim
mal, affecting persons who are. denied
or cannot enforce in the courts or ju
dicial tribunal of the State or locality
where they may be, and of the rights
secured to them by the first section of j
the act; and if any suit or prosecution, j
civil or criminal, has been or shall be ;
commenced, in any State court against i
any such persons for cause whatsoever,
civil or criminal, or any other person,
any arrest or imprisonment, trespasses
or wrong done or committed by virtue
or under color of authority derived
from this act or the act establishing a
bureau for the relief of freedmen and
refugees, and all acts amendatory there-,
of, or for refusing to do any act upon
the ground that it would be inconsistent
with this act, such defendent shall
have the right to remove such cause
for trial to the proper district or cir
cuit court in the manner prescribed
by the act relating to habeas corpus
and regulating judicial proceedings in
certain cases, approved Mar. 3, 1803,
and all acts amendatory thereof. The
jurisdiction in civil or criminal matters
hereby conferred on the district and
circuit courts of the United States,
shall be exercised and enforced in con
formity with the laws of the U. States,
so far as such laws are suitable to carry
the same into effect; but in all cases
where such laws are not adapted to
the object or are deficient in the pro
visions necessary to furnish common
law as modified and changed by the
constitution and statutes or the State
wherein the court having jurisdiction
of the cause, civil or criminal, is held,
so far as the United States, shall be
extended, and govern the said court in
the trial’and disposition of such cause,
and, if of a criminal nature, in the in
fliction of punishment on the party
found guilty.
[The above three sections constitute
the gist of the bill, and although we
omit much of it, the remainder refers
principally to the execution.] — Editor.
PRENTICE ON BBOWNLOW
Taking oil the Hide an well as Ike
Cuticle,
[From the Louisville Journal.]
Parson Brownlow, the Irreverend
Governor of Tennessee, has published
one of hischaracteristically low and dir
ty articles about us in the Knoxville
Whig. In that article, he has not sta
ted a single truth, or anything approx
imating to a truth. When he sits
down to abuse anybody, lies cluster
around his pen like blue-bottle flies
around a horse'sears in July or August.
He lies with his pen, lies with his
tongue, lies with his gestures, lies
through every pore of his yellow and
’ shrivelled hide. Lies issue from his
mouth like the horned locusts from
the throat of that other great beast de
scribed in the Apocalypse. He is pro
bably the “father” of as many lies as
the horned and tailed master he serves.
The Parson is now a fierce abolition
ist. He goes as far in radicalism as
the lowest and the worst radical in the
nation. He would gladly bathe his
hands and feet and wash his face in the
blood of any man who is not a radical.
In May, 1860, when the fire-eaters,
among whom he claimed to be a leader,
Tkomasville, Georgia, Wednesday, May 2, 1866.
broke up the Democratic party by for
cing two Democratic candidates upon
it with the settled purpose of getting
Mr. Lincion elected, and then using
his election as a pretext to destroy the
Union, he was probably more ferocious
against the radicals, more vengeful
and revengeful toward them, than any
other editor in the country. The fol
lowing from a letter of h:s, dated May,
1860, to the Rev. Mr. Pryne, a North
ern man, whom he hated with a fiend
ish hate for having defeated him
overwhelmingly in a public controver
sy at Philadelphia, will show what sort
of position he occupied at that t'nie:
“But, sir, the South can in two
months enter into an alliance with ei
ther England or France, commercial
and political, offensive and defensive,
and in either case it will be utter ruin
to the Northern States of this Confed
eracy. England ai.d France want our
Rice, Tobacco, and Cotton, but they
don't want the Manufactures of New
England. An alliance between Eng
land and these Southern States will
break the existing tariff system, dis
criminating in favor of New England
manufactories, as a rope of sand, and
scatter all your hopes to the winds, and
coming at once in collision with your
ancient competitor, and her low wages,
without that protection which has built
up all your cities and towns, you must
be destroyed. Whenever such an al
liance shall be formed, and our cot
ton and other products are landed at
either Liverpool or Havre, and pur
chased again at high rates, New Eng
land will see the handwriting on the
wall.- ‘
“I, sir, would favor an alliance with
France as a means of more efiectually
punishing and starving out the Abo
litionists ol the North. The far
seeing monarch of the French would .
unite with us on our. own terms, as it
would afford him an opportunity to
crush the commerce and manufactures
of Old England, and make her feel
that she is dependant upon her ancient
enemy, as well as atone for villainous
treatment of his illustrious uncle, Na
poleon Bonaparte. Dissolve this
Union, you infamous villains, and we
shall make this proposition at once to
Louis Napoleon, a most sagacious mon
arch, and he would quarter at New Or
leans 200,000 Frenchmen, & at Chesa
peake 200,000 more; we would then
command the Mississippi Valley, whip
the Northwestern States into our South
ern Confederacy, and we would then
turn upon New England States, and
cause the hurricane of civil war to rage
and sweep from Mason and Dixon’s
line to the cod-fisheries of Maine, until
we would extinginsh the last abolition
foothold on the continent of America;
face to face, knife to knife, steel to
steel, and pike to pike, we would meet
you, and as we would cause you to
bleed at every pore, we would make you
regret in the hitter agonies of death,
that you had ever felt any concern
for the African race !
“Sir, if the fanatical, wicked, and
infernal course pursued by you and
your unprincipled associates is contin
ued, the result will be as I have said,
and you or your children will live to
see it. PJe faced poverty and dismay
are staring some of your manufactories
and operatives in the face. We are
sending our orders to England and
France for goods, and driving your
hell-deserving freedom-sbriekers into
the holding of Union meetings and
makiug these against their wills, curse
all agitators of the slavery question,
and resolve that John Brown and his
murderous associates got only justice
when hung at Charlestown ! Carry on
your war if you choose, death rather
than life, and we will stain every swamp
in the South with yours and our own
blood, and with the vengeance of an in
furiated foe we will be upon you in the
North, at the hour of midnight, and
as long as a lucifer match can be found
we will burn up your substance.”
Brownlow was for having all these
horrors perpetrated if the fanatics of
the North should keep up their warfare
upon slavery, that is, if they should do
exactly what he himself afterwards,
and very soon afterwards did —did be
fore slavery was abolished by the war.
He was for a battle ot sections if the
Northern fanatics should continue their
clamor; he was for an alliance offen
sive and defeusive, in that event, be’
tween the Southern States and France
or England; he was for having France
place 200,000 men at New Orleans,
and 200,000 men at Chesapeake; he
was for taking possession of the whole
Mississippi valley from the Balize to
the Falls of St. Anthony, whipping
the Northwestern States into his South
ern Confederacy, and then turning up
on New England and causing the hur
ricane of civil war to rage from Mason’s
and Dixon’s line to the cod-fisheries
of the North, and burning the Northern
cities and towns with the midnight
torch. And these were not his views
and resolves as a hot-headed boy, or a
person in the prime of life ; they were
the malignant declarations of a white
haired, gray-bearded old man, upwards
of fifty, it not full sixty years of age.
They were the utterances of a preach
er, of a pretended dispenserof the Gos
pel of Christ, of one calling himself a
man of God. No traitors in all the
South have ever exhibited more of the
hellish spirit of treason than he. He
published the infernal language that
we have cited when perhaps no other
man in all the world would have defiled 1
his mouth or paper with it to save his
neck from the hangman’s halter. He j
showed himself a walking volcano, with j
snow upon his peak and all hell in his
bosom. It is most extraordinary and
most disgraceful that any portion of <
the people of Tennessee, knowing this
man as they all did, voted to make him <
Governor of that State. Their only
excuse must be, that they were uuder
military rule, and so not really free
agents in his election. No other State
was ever afflicted and disgraced and
cursed with such an unmitigated and
unmitigable, such an unredeemed and
unredeemable, blackguard as her Chief
Magistrate He is a parody, a carica
ture, a broad burlesque on all possible
Governors. He is a monstrosity. He
is a thing as much out of nature as
Barn urn's woolly horse, or his giants
and dwarfs, or his calf with two heads
and eight” legs—four of the legs
pointing towards the z?nith. His
bio id is hellbroth, which Satan will
one day sup with a long spoon. —
They say there is fire in him, but
it is hell-fire, every particle ol it.
Though he is but a single swine, there
are as many devils in him as there
were in the whole herd that “ran vio
lently down a steep place into the sea.’
His heart is nothing but a hissing knot
of vipers, rattlesnakes, cobras, and cot
ton-mouths. He never argued a ques
tion in his life, approaching ho subject
but with fierce, bitter, coarse, low, and
vulgar objurgations. His tongue
should be bored through and through
with his own steel-pen, heated red hot.
This man, as wo have said, calls him
self a clergyman He holds forth in
pulpits. lie preaches,, prays and ex
horts, draws down his face, drops the
corners of his mouth, and undertakes
to look sanctimonious. And yet he
seems always trying in his pulpit dis
courses to seo under how thin a dis
guise he can venture to curse and
swear and blaspheme. lie can’t offer
up a prayer in the house of God with
out telling the Lord what an infernal
scoundrel, damned th es or cursed va
gabond this, that or the other neighbor
is. From his youth up to his old age,
he has had no personal controversies
without attacking the wives, fathers,
mothers, brothers, sisters, children, un
cles, aunts, and nephews of his oppo
nents. He has sought to strew his
whole path df life with the dark wrecks
of wantonly ruined reputations. He
has never had an hour’s happiness ex
eept in the unhappiness of others. He
has ever said to Evil “be thou my
good !’’ He has always carefully dot
ted down all that he heard unfavor
able to gentlemen while professing to
be their friend, so as to be ready for
the day of alienation. He howls ven
om, talks venom, breathes venom,
belches venom, coughs venom, sneezes
venom, spits venom, drools venom,
sweats venom, stinks venom, and dis
tils venom from his nose. Not the
fuliginous exhalations from the bot
tomless pit, not the fire-and-brimstone
fumes from the sooty throat of the de
vil, were ever more blighting and blas
ting than his accursed serpent-breath.
He never had a friend on earth out
side of his own family. No doubt there
are those who fear him for his fiendish
ferocity, but no human being not of his
own household ever loved or respeted
him. He will yet have his reward.
Sowing in wrath, he will reap in ago
ny. Furv and hate may stifle in his
heart the feeling of remorse for a time,
but Nemesis, with her horrid whip, will
yet scourge him around the whole orb
of being. All the hairs upon his head
will seem to him to be snakes liko the
hissing and forked-tongued leeks of
Eumenides. When he shall retire, as
soon he must, from the noisy and tu
multous strifes that have ever engag
ed and still engage all his thoughts,
he will not have a solitary pleasant and
serene memory of the past. On the
contrary, a store of bitter and desolate
and torturing recollections will corrode
and eat up his very heart, until, cut
off from all human sympathies, exiled
from the pale of all the beautiful ge
nialities of life, having no friends or
companions around him to soothe him
in his moral and physical solitude, de
serted by mankind, whose enemy he
has been, and loathed by God whose
holy temples he has sacreligiously de
secrated by his horrid mockeries of re
ligion, festering from head to foot with
the polluted and poisonous puddle-wa
ter in his veins, standing as an outcast
and paria on the lone desert of despair,
shrinking from the past, agonized by
the present, and not daring to gaze in
to the future, beholding in fancy upon
the door of his own soul the words.
“Hope comes not here that comes to
all,” shut up by murkiest clouds from
every stir that to others lights the
path to the tomb, and writhing under
myriad curses and execrations piled like
a mountain of living coals upon his
head, he shall long at last to make his
escape from earth—scarcely asking to
what more dreadful destiny.
“ I say, Mr. aint you Owen Smith ?”
Yes, I am owin’ Jones, and owin’
Brown, and owin’ everybody.”
A dog lying on the hearth-rug with
his nose in his tail is the emblem of
Economy. He makes both ends meet.
♦ ♦ ♦ ►
This world would be much happier
if people would mind their own affairs.
HON. A. 11. STEPHEN** BIT’OIIE
the reconstruction t on-
JIITTEE.
His View* on Negro Suffrage.
We find in our Northern exchang
es a full report of the evidence of
Hon. A. 11. Stephens before the Re
construction Committee, from which
we lake the following, not included
in the telegraphic synopsis published
in the News and Herald of Saturday.
Mr. Stephens’ views in regard to negro
suffrage and the constitutional rights
of the States will be readjwith universal
interest and approval by the people of
Georgia. .
Q —What is the public sentiment of
Georgia with regard to the extension
of the right of voting to the negroes ?
A. —The general opinion in the State
is very much averse to it.
Q.—ls a prop sit ion were made to
amend the constitution so as to have
representation in Congress based up
on voters substantially, would Georgia
ratify such a proposed amendment if
it were made a condition precedent to
the restoration of the State to political
power in the Government ?
A. —I do not think they would. The
people of Georgia, in my judgment,
as far as I can reflect or represent
their opinions, feel that they are en
titled, under the constitution, of the
United States, to representation with
out any further condition precedent.
They would not object to entertain,
discuss and exchange views in the
common councils of the country, with
the other States, upon such a proposi
tion, or any proposition to amend the
Constitution or change it in- any of its
features, and they would abide by any
change, if made as the Constitution
provides; but they feel that they are
constitutionally entitled to be heard,
by their Senators and members in the
Houses of Congress, upon this or any
other proposed amendment. Ido not,
therefore, think that they would ratify
that amendment suggested as a cond -
tion precedent to her being admitted
to representation in Congress. Such,
at least is my opinion.
Q. —It is, then, yonr opinion, that,
at present, the- people of Georgia
would neither be willing to extend
suffrage to the negroes, nor consent
to the ex elusion of the negroes from
the basis of representation ?
A. —The people of Georgia, in my
judgment, are perfectly willing to
leave suffrage, aud the basin of repre
sentation where the Constitution leaves
it. They look upon the question of
suffrage as one belonging exclusively
to the States, one over which, and un
der the Constitution of the United
States, Congress has no jurisdiction,
power or control, except in proposing
amendments to the States and not in
exacting them from them; and I do
not . think, therefore, that the people
of Georgia, wliiie they are disposed,
as I believe earnestly, to deal fairly,
justly and generously with the freed
men, would be willing to consent to a
change in the Constitution that would
give Congress jurisdiction over the
question of suffrage; and especially
would they be very much averse to
Congress exercising any such juris
diction without their representatives
in the Senate and House being heard
in the public councils upon the ques
tion that so vitally concerns their in
ternal policy, as well as all the inter
nal policy of all the States.
Q. —If the proposition were to be
submitted to Georgia, as one of the
eleven States lately in rebellion, that
she might be restored to political pow
er in the Government of the country
upon the condition precedent that she
should, on the one hand extend suf
frage to the negro, or on the other
consent to their exclusion from the
basis of representation, would she ac
cept either proposition and take her
place in the Government of the coun
try ?
A.— I can only give my opinion.
I do not think she wouid accept'eith
er as a condition precedent presented
by Congress; for they do not believe
that Congress has the rightful power,
under the Constitution to prescribe
such a condition. If Georgia is a
State in the Union her people feel that
she is entitled to representation with
out conditions imposed by Congress;
and if she is not a State in the Union
then she could not he admitted as an
equal with the others, if her admission
were trammeled with conditions that
do not apply to all the rest alike. —
General, universal suffrage among the
colored people as they are now, would,
by our people, be regarded as about
as great a political evil as could befall
them.
Q.—ls the proposition were to ex
tend the right of suffrage to those who
could read and those who had served
in the Union armies, would that mod
ification affect the action of the State;
A.—l think the people of the State
would be unwilling to do more than
they did for restoration; restricted or
limited suffrage would not be so ob
jectionable as general or universal,
but it is a matter that belongs to the
State to regulate. The question of
suffrage, whether universal or restric
, ted, is one of State policy exclusively,
as they believe. Individually, I should
not be opposed to a proper system of
restricted or limited suffrage to this
class of our population; but in my
judgment it is a matter that belongs
YOL. VI.—Xo. 18.
of constitutional right to the States
to regulate exclusively, each for itself.
Bat the people of that State, as I have
said, would not willingly, I think, do
more than they have done for resto
ration. The only view, in their opin
ion, that could possibly justify tho
war which was carried on by tho Fed
eral Government against them was
tho idea of the Indissolubleness of tho
Union, that those who held the admin
istration for the time were hound to
enforce the execution of the laws, and
tho maintenance of the integrity of
the Union under the Constitution j
and since that was accomplished, since
those who had assumed the contrary
principle, the right of secession, and
the reserved sovereighty of the States,
had abandoned their cause, and tho
administration here was successful in
maintaining the idea upon which it was
proclaimed and waged, and the only
view in.which they supposed it could
be justified at all, and when that was
accomplished I say the people of Geor
gia supposed their State was immedi
ately entitled to all her rights under’
the Constitution. That is my opin
ion of the sentiment of the people of
Georgia, and I do not think they
would be willing to. do anything fur- •
tlior as a condition precedent to their
being permitted to enjoy the full meas
ure of their constitutional righis. I only .
give my opinion of the sentiment of
the people, at tho time they expected,
that as soon as the Confederate cause
was abandoned that immediately the
States would be brought back into
their practical relations with the Gov
ernment as previously constituted. — 1
That is what they looked to. They
expected that the State would imme
diately have its Representatives in tho
House, and they expected in good
faith, as loyal men, as the term is fre
quently used, (I mean by it, loyal to
law and order, and to the Constitu
tion,) to support the Government un
der the Constitution. That was their
policy! They did what they did, be
lieving it was best for the protection
of constitutional liberty. Toward tho
Constitution of the United States, as
they construed it, the great mass of
our people were always as much devo
ted in their feelings as any people to
any cause. This is my opinion, as I
remarked, before they reported to se
cession, with a view of maintaining
mere securely these principles, and
when they found they were not sue
ccaeful in their ohjort / in perfect grood
faith, as far as I can judge from meet
ing with them and conversing with
tnem, looking to future developments
of their country in its material, re
sources, as well as its moral and intel
lectual progress, their earnest desire
and expectation was to allow the past
struggle, lamentable as it was in its
results, to pass by, and to co-operate
with the trnc friends of the Constitu
tion —those of all sections who earnest
ly strive for the preservation of consti
tutional liberty and the perpetuation
of the Government in its purity. —
They have been a little disappointed
in this, and are so now. They are pa
tiently waiting, however, and believ
ing that when the passions of the hour
have passed away this delay in resto
ration will cease. They think they
have done everything that was essen
tial and proper, and my judgment is
that they would not be willing to do
anything further as a condition pre
cedent. They would simply remain
quiet and passive.
Q.—Does your own judgment ap
prove the view you have given as tho
opinion of the people of the State?
A. —My own judgment is very de
cided that the question of suffrage be
longs under the Constitution, and wise
ly too, to the States respectivly and ex
clusively.
Q.— Is it your opinion that neither
of the alternatives suggested in the
question ought to be accepted by the
people of Georgia?
A. —My own opinion is, that these
terms ought not to be offered as con
ditions precedent. In other words,
my opinion is that it would be best for
the peace, harmony and prosperity of
the whole country that there should
be an immediate restoration, and im
mediate bringing back of the States
into their original relations, and let all
these questions then be discussed in
common'council. Then the represen
tatives of the South could be heard,
and you and all could judge much bet
ter of the tone and temper of the peo
ple thanjyou could of the opinions given
by any individuals. You may take
my opinion or the opinion of any indi
vidual, but they will not enable you to
judge of the condition of the people of
the State so well as for her own rep
resentatives to be heard in your public
councils, in her own behalf. My judg
ment, therefore, is very decided that
it would have been better, as soon as
the lamentable conflict was over, when
the people of the South abandoned
their cause and agreed to accept the
issue, desiring as they do to resume
their places for the future in the
Union, and to look to the halls of Con
gress, and the Courts for the protec
tion of their rights in the Union —it
would have been better to allow that
result to follow under the policy adopt
ed by the Administration than to de
ny it or hinder it by propositions to
amend the Constitution in respect to
guffrage or any other new matter. T
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