Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

GOVERNOR ALFRED H.COfJjt' ITT Ilia Innnitnral A(Wr'*t. II?*, fore- ile liencral Aaaambly * rllaj . January 12ti>. 1577. Q em fi,m<>n of the Senate and House of i J Jtepresentatiues; a Ip accordance with tho a '*H laws of the State, I appear before you to take the oath of office *s Goferuor of Georgia fo tho next four year*. No edict of an autocrat convenes us in this hall to day ; no coercion—whether it comes from alnastor, or the oi a factum, or , the peril of tho State— bn* to**® to *■ (4emme for this ceremony. Hut, self-mar shalled. we are here to witness the peace ful change of. public administration j the dutiful lid dignified,■surrender of power by one nuhlip servant and the assumption ot official responsibility b£ amitlvar. w The custom of my predecessors, as well as my deep sense ot gratitude to the people, deaifird from. me a lew wyrds ,exprgssjvt; of that erltitmfe aiM indicating, m general terms, the policy which the tunes seem to uemunn. . The unprecedented majority which called me here overwhelms me with thankfulness, rLanguage fails mo in the attempt to give it adequate expression. It shall bo my ellort to prove the depth of my gratitude by a complete devotion to tive public interests committed to me, and by an unremitting cage that neither the honor nor the welfare or this beloved Commonwealth shall suffer by the confidence you have reposed in me asithe servant of the State?. 'lnc Kxeciitive Goverimieut of a free, great and prosper ous Commonwealth like Georgia, with its million and a-unarter of intelligent inhabi tants, tlxo exercise />f pairjbtic statesmanship a sphere of honorable pub lic! servjte as e f \aTfe<l and comprehensive as the ambition of any man could desire. Diffident of my ability, and distrusting |iu y own capacity for this high and holy service ? whilst 1 solicit your counsels and Cooperation, I shall reverently invoke the aid of Divine Providence to enable me to fulfill the solemn obligations which 1 am now to assume. ■’he allusion to the large majority by which I was elected—the largest ever before gif on in the State on a similar occasion— has been made, not in any vain spirit of personal triumph, but to deduce from the magnitude of that majority two important public lessons. It exhibited the. iutense ami universal interest felt by the masses of our people in this State, in securing at the ballot box the victory of those who are (Intending for the liberty ami rights of the iti/.en and the limitations of the Constitu tion. Never before in Georgia has there been a more profound conception of the true principles of Constitutional Govern ment, a more wide-spread sensibility to the dangers threatening our fr.ee institutions, ora more ardent and conscientious sympa thy with the friends of the Constitutional Union. This noble devotion of our people to a true Republic of liberty and law, has Servaded all sections of uV'**ate ainl aui latfcd all classes of our population. It Ims given such an expressiou of sincere confidence in the legitimate methods of lawful election, a® leaves no doubt of our fidelity to our constitutional convictions and the constitutional modes of giving them utterance and effect. In the grand popular majority of the recent Gubernatorial election, is to be read the overwhelming interest that Georgians feel-in tiie great issues now convulsing the country, and their determined purpose to keep in alignment with the patriotic millions of our Northern friends who are seeking the peaceful instrumentality of lawful suffrage to re-establish good government under the undisputed supremacy of the Constitution. 1 but speak my own deep-felt sentiment and echo the public voice of Georgia, when I kay that in all the complications of Na tional politics, now so replete with fevered interest, we stand in immovable sympathy with the elected exponent of constitutional liberty", retrenchment and reform. We will adhere to him and his co-laborers with the fidelity due to the champion of a right eous cause, in every patriotic endeavor they may make to secure the honest and unmistakable will of a large majority of the American people, constitutionally ex pressed at the pulls. J I refer with especial pleasure to the second lesson of our gratifying and unprecedented majority in the Gubernatorial contest, re peated no less decisively" in the Presidential election in our State. As the benefits of local self-government have been experienced, and- the baleful influence of malicious interference has been withdrawn, the colored people have recog , nized that our home-folks are their true friends, and hence they have fraternized alia acted with us politically. Large" num bers voted with us and swelled the Guber natorial and Presidential majorities beyond all precedent. They have witnessed in all their material interests the effects of a good home government, administered by people wedded with them to the same soil, and whose interests are all interwoven with their own. Of no right lias the humblest of them been deprived. The advancement of the race in knowledge and in civilization has been, and shall continue to be, a special trust and solemn duty. Hence, cordial relations, so natural and so necessary botli to them and to the whites, are being rap idly and permanently established, and quiet and peace and sympathy between the races pervade the entire State. The people of this entire country have but to look, and they cannot fail to see how the more powerful race, when left to its own sense of right and policy, will treat ' the colored citizen; and now, when thus free to act, the races feel for each other a mutual interest, pursue a common course, and enjoy a reciprocal prosperity. How wise were the fathers when they rested the Constitution upon the solid fnllafs of local self-goverment in the States ! Georgia, gentlemen, is the home of all Georgians, of every race, color and condi tion ; her local government is the goiem inent of us all; her future for weal or woe awaits us aad our families, and the nobler 11.50 A YEAR. feeling of our nature, ax well ns the hard common souse of the self-interest of all. demand the united political notion of nil. Hut to pass to other matters of domestic policy wherein all Georgians have n com mon and vital intbrest. Not only were constitutional and political liberty talis manic words of power in the late great contest, hut retrenchment and reform shorn* conspicuously on the banners that heralded the victory of the friends ot con stitutional liberty at the polls. The eyes of all Americans look with confidence to the great reformer just elected President, to reform the National Administration. Let us, gentlemen, look at home, and whilst ntv own immediate predecessor and your individual predecessors, have not been unmindful of their duty, let us remember that times have changed, and values oi all kinds have sunk and are sinking. N\ e must further retrench—we must reform yet more. It is our imperative duty to lighten the public burdens. Twenty" years ago the taxable property m Georgia was over five hundred millions of dollars. To day it is only two hundred and fifty mil lions. Then the taxation was only half a million—to-day it isa million and nqtrarter. With less than half the property, we have nearly three times the taxation. W ith property thus depreciated and continuing to depreciate as it has done for the last two or three years, it is clear that our revenues will diminish in the same proportion, and our income will not meet our obligations. These obligations, gentlemen, are saved. The interest on our debt, now about eleven millions, must and will be paid, and our credit at any and every sacrifice must be maintained. 'The current expenses of the State government must he promptly met. Our charitable institutions must be kept up. In this exigency, we are driven to the alternatives—retrenchment or increaMl taxation. The latter must be avoided, if possible. I invite your earnest attention to the former, and now engage , that in all methods which your experience and wis dom may devise for saving the people from increased burdens, I will most cordially co operate with you. Let us not wait for grand occasions or for prodigious waste in which to begin our reforming economy. If we cannot save large sums, let us s>ee t<> it that the smallest leaks, which are wasting the public treasure, if there are such, shall be* . in iqjcia ao andy.i'iancinl pres Si re as we are now expe ! riencing, a system embracing small ccono ; mies. is not to be despised or neglected. ! Rigidly honest expenditure in the public ! administration, State policy demands. Hut. besides this, a moral effort will be secured | by it which will be of incalculable benefit. 'While we give the whole financial world the fullest guarantee of our solvency by such a policy, we at the same time, place before every household in the State an ex ample worthy of all imitation. We rebuke, by this example a wasteful and ostenta tious expenditure among our people, which as surely wrecks the substance and pros perity of the home as it destroys the’ more imposing structure called the public credit. The counties and municipalities of the j State will catch the inspiration, and we I will again see the day when official probity will be the universal rule, and taxation never draw another dollar from the produ cer's pocket to be wasted or misappro priated. Our work is before us, gentlemen, and a | grand achievment is within onr grasp. I That work is the restoration of a vast, heri- I tagW which a sad fortune has sorely wasted and damaged, ft is to evoke a thousand splendid resources now unutilized. It is to maintain the proudest and noblest tra ditions —an honor unsullied—the status of as worthy and respectable constituency as exists, and its position by the side of the most advanced of Commonwealths. This labor, vast as it is, exacts no impossible thing at our hands. With the blessing of heaven and the agencies of clear heads and pure hearts, it may be accomplished. Again solemnly invoking the Divine aid upon our efforts to save our beloved Statu, I now take the oath of office. A Pair of Texas Traces. A Texan, visiting this point, says the I Greencastle (Indiana) Star, gathered around him some of our citizens Monday, and en tertained them with some of his experi ences in the Lone Star State. One incident told by him is worthy a place in our col umns, and is as follows : “You’d hardly believe now what I"m going to tell. In Texas we use rawhide straps or thongs, for traces, and in wet weather they do stretch most amazingly. Why, often in damp weather at home I’ve hitched up two horses and drove down the hill from my house into the creek bottom for a sled load of wood. I have loaded the wood and many times driven back home and unhitched the horses, and the sled would not be in sight.” “ How did you get your wood home then asked an inquisitive bystander. “Oh, 1 just tied the ends of the traces together and threw them over a post, went knocking about my work, and waited till the sun shined out. Sometimes it would be more than two hours before that sled load of wood would get home, but } T ou’d see her crawling up the hill at last, gradu ally approaching as the rawhide traces shrunk up into their proper lengths. Yes, Texas is a great country, you bet 1” The crowd concluded that their enter tainer was posted, but that he was laboring under a stretch of the imagination. HARTWELL, GA., WEDNESDAY]UANTAUY t*+, 1877. The Power of Mtnic. From the I’hilliuUlj‘hi* Ilmictiii. Chubb has not much of an qar for music, hilt ho spent a considerable in having his daughter taught how to hnatmer a piano, and he is proud of her accomplishments. He was talking with us over Su fence the other day, when a series of dMadfirl sounds came from his piano through Ilie open par lor window. Presently Chun remarked : *• D'you hear tliat? .Jufct ifyen to that, will you? That's what I callnm-ir !" There were a few additionnibangs on the instrument, n flourish or tisk and then more discordant thumping. j| “Splendid, isn't it !" said lAihb, “ Mary Jane's bustin' the music righiiiiit of that machine, you observe. Theirfs, the Strauss waltzes, 1 believe, she's rsisliti’ with now. dust listen." We remarked that from tlfg energy dis played, Mary -Jane, at least, ■femed to be really in earnest. Hut whefter she was treating Mr, Strauss exactly wight was an open question. “ l don't know nothin' nbfcuit music.’' observed Chubb, “ but 1 kin.tell the real thing when L hear it, and &it and hear Mary dane play waltzes and file Maiden's Prayer until it makes me cry like a child." We asserted that if she played those compositions as she was doinjriiow it would make anybody cry. -V dcalfcnuto would shed tears. “Listen to that now. win you?’’ ex claimed Chubb, as a wild tunfhlt of sound came from the parlor. “ IsnSt that splen did ! If 1 didn't know it wa# Mary Jane a-tearin* round among thcinfwaltzcN. I'd think it was one of the felleratwho play at the concerts. Let's go over a£d hear her." We entered the house. Mj Jane was nowhere to he seen. but. to Dte infinite dis gust of Chubb, there was J red-haired man. with a fist as big as a lfltaf of bread, tuning the piano. Chubb nskisd us not to toll anybody, and we won't. It is related here in confidence, and it must go no farther. A Very Sharp Son. Some weeks ago a scape-goat in tjiis city, says the Virginia (Nevada) Cyanide, wfio hud left his parental roof in New York, under a cloud, in 1805, concluded to put up ■Am UIL raise. lie accordingly telegraphed to his father in New York : "Mlt. : Your son Walter was killed in the Con. Virginia this morning by a falling cage. What shall we do with the remains? M. L. Hahkkk.” Almost immediately a telegraphic order came for $l5O, and the laconic reply : “ Hury them.” The fictitious M. L. Uarker froze to the $l5O and went on a royal spree, and a few weeks afterward wrote his father over his real name as follows : " Dear Father : I have just learned that an infamous scoudrel named Barker sent you a fictitious account of my death, and swindled you out of $l5O. lie also borrowed SBS from me and left the country. ! write to inform 3"ou that 1 am yet alive, and long to see the parental roof again. J am in somewhat reduced circumstances, the accumulation of the last five years having been lost—a disastrous stock oper ation —and if you would spare S2OO I will be ever thankful for your favor. Give my love to all. Your affectionate son. Walter.” A few days later the young man received the following : “My Dear Son: T have buried you once, and that’s an end of it. I decline having aii} r more transactions with a corpse. Yours in the fiesh. Father.” The old man evidently knew whereof he spoke. A Good Boy. lie was standing at the corner of Cam pau and Jefferson avenues, observes the Detroit Free I’rcxs, when a policeman came along, and, pointing to a box at his feet, this good boy said : “ The farmer who lost that off his sleigh will feel awful bad. I s'pose you'll take it to the station, won’t you?” “ You are an honest boy,” replied the officer. “ Some boys would have lugged that box off home. Yes, I'll take it to the station.” It was a stout box, weighing over eighty pounds, and when the officer sat it down in the station house all his bones ached. Some said it was butter, some said cheese, and so it was opened. The contents were cobble stones. The officer ran all the way back, and he spent hours looking for the good boy. but without any luck. The g. b. knew his business. A Ghastly Souvenir. From the ImiianapiAw Jlerald. A gentleman of this city, formerly con nected with the regular array, has in his possession a pair of gloves made from the tanned hide of an Indian whom he killed in a desperate hand-to-hand encounter in the Black Hills country. The leather has a fine grain, and is soil and pliable, but the gloves will not compare with Alexandre’s or Jouvin’s having been rudely made by a trapper. The leather was tanned by the Indian process. The gentleman is a little ashamed of his trophy, but excuses himself on the ground that he had no hand in the ' skinning or tanning of the redskin, but that the entire job was done by the trap per who accompanied him on the expeui tion. had he knew nothing about it until the gloves were ready fbr delivery. r Table Etiquette, 1. Do not keep others waiting for von. Rush in and get a seat at the table ahead of everybody in the house. 2. hi si piling the soup be particular and do not swatlmv the spoon. J. Keen vonr plate clean. No matter how much may be heaped upon it, clean it. 4. In passing your plate to lie re heaped, put the Knife and fork in your pocket. .1. Look around carefully while th inking water to see that nobody puts brandy in it. U. Do not eat with your knife. Let your knife eat before or after you—ue\eg eat with it. 7. Hreak your bread into small pieces, even though you have to take a sledge hammer to the table to do it. 8. If you find auytiling unpleasant in your food, call thy attention of the table to it, furnishing diagrams and specifications, if necessary. 9. Whistle some lively tune while chew ing—any tune you chews. 10. Do not touch the head while at the table—not even the head waiter. 11. Do not rest the elbow on the table, rest it on your neighbor. 12. He thoughtful ami attentive to the wants of those around you. If flu* party next to P6u wnnts choking off, attend to him. 'i 1 In Love With His Sister. St. ./.suit (ituhe Dtwurrat. Down iii Bloomfield, Davis county, lives a widow Hagan, who mourns the loss of two husbands. Hv one she bore a son whose name is Charles Abbott, by the other she bore a daughter named Klla lla gan. She is an inestimable woman, and with motherly teuderiierfs she raised her children. Together they lived, and were w armly attached—indeed, uncommonly so. Charles seemingly worshiping his Klla. and finally resolved she would he his wile. She, like a true-hearted girl, scorned the propo sition. lie then became jealous of he rand would allow uo young men to visit her. tli*.branle dissolute and depraved, which added more sorrow and trouble to his sis ter. Du Tuesday last, bearing that his sister was to he married to -Sir. J., N. Paine, he at once became frantic and rush ed into the house, revolver m hand, declar ing he would shoot them. He attempted to break into Paine's room but was frus trated. lie then attempted to enter his sister's room by the transom over the door. When he came in a policeman was sent for, who arrived while Abbott was crawling through the transom, revolver in hand. Abbott in some w ay escaped, and that was the last heard of him. Who are the Blessed? Blessed is the man who minds his own business. Blessed is tho woman who never says to her husband, " J told you so/’ Blessed is the man who can sew on his buttous when the baby is crying. Blessed is the mother-in-law who never reminds you that you married above your station. Blessed is the ricli relation who never looks down on you. Blessed is the poor relation who never looks up to you—for money. Blessed are the married people that don't eternally growl. Blessed is the woman that don't scold when the stove-pipe falls down on the din ner-table—and blessed is the man who can fix it up without swearing. Blessed is the man who can be dignified without being a bloated fool. Blessed is the neighbor who is so busy w ith his own affairs that he has no time to pry into yours. Sharpening Tools by a Bath. A razor recovers its edge if left for half an hour in water which contains sulphuric or muriatic acid in the proportion of one part by weight of acid to nineteen of water. The razor is carefully wiped on being taken out of the acidulated bath, and passed over an oil-stone. The add bath is said not to hurt the blade ; on the contrary, the qual ity of the metal in some cases improves by the immersion. So with scythes and sickles. The time lost in the harvest-field in the early morning in sharpening scythes would be spared by laying the blades for half an hour in a bath prepared as above described. As soon as taken out of the bath they should be wiped, and a soft sandstone hone passed along would leave a good and uniform edge behind it. Removing Freckles. When “ freckle-time ” comes again, re member that some horse-radish grated into a cup of sour milk—let it stand twelve hours, then strain and apply two or three times a day—will remove frecklqs from hands or face in a short time. Or one ounce lemon juice mixed with a quarter of a drachm pulverized borax awl half a drachm of sugar, will also remove freckles, j Keep the lotion in a glass bottle corked tightly a few days before using, and apply to the freckles occasionally, and it will i soon remove thorn- EX-GOVERNOR JAM If M. 'SJJtTH. Interestimu Kttrnrin Iruiii Ills .Hessage to tile (General Assembly. We give hehnv the closing of Gowrqoi* Smith's last Message, which will be found to be interesting reading : CONDITIO* OK TilK STATE. '* The public credit, ns indicated by lUa daily quotations at the centres of trade ami commerce, is equal to that of any Statu iu the Union. Our public securities, rated at the time 1 entered the Kxccutivo office at thirty per cent, discount, are now above par. 1 found a recognized floating debt of more than one and a quarter millions of dollars. The whole of this, amounting in exact figures to $1,277,788.23, or to an aver age sum of over $2.30,000 per annum, has been entirely paid. The State has beeiqro lieVed of a fraudulently contracted debt of $(>,300,000, while there has been no addition to the amount of the bonded debt of tho State contracted on her own account. Any apparent increase of our public debt is tho resultof liabilities created by railroad liuot ters granted under former admmistratioiui. These results have been accomplished w ith-, out material addition to the public burdens. Throughout file State the stream of jus tice has moved with a smooth and steady How. The law has been impartially admin-* istered. and not a breath of suspicion has soiled the ermine. Life, liberty and prop erty have b‘cn faithfully guarded, and not a single human being, of any color of con dition, can justly complain of oppression. The great and manifest improvement of our condition—social, educational anti industri al—is due to tho home-bred common sense, the desire for progress and love of justice, which characterize the people of Georgia. I allude to it in no spirit of personal boast ing. and claim no greater credit than should he accorded to the humblest citizen wfaf> discharges his duty in his appropriate voca tion. I gratefully acknoweuge that the re forms referred to iu this communication, could not have been effected without the active <snpport of patriotic citizens and the cordial suport of the representatives of tho people. NUMBER M. FEDKRAI. RELATION'S. llofore closing this, my last annual com munication to the General Assembly, I cannot forbear a brief reference to the grave circumstances which now surround us, anti seem to threaten the existence of the liber ties of the people. On a given day, over eight millions of freemen, representing nearly forty-five iutV* lions of people, came forth from their abid ing nlaees and quietly proceeded to the haibit-box, lor the purpose of choosing their ruler.* for the next four years. This prate proceeding was characterized by the utmost good order, notwithstanding the presence, in many places of the military forces of the government, sent thither to overawe tho weak and ignorant, and to secure the elec tion of particular candidates. The law pointed out the mode of selecting the Pres ident and Vice-President of the Tinted States. The question as to who shotdd fill those high offices hail heon referred to the ballot-box. The true result of that refer ence bo candid mind can doubt. The elec tion was held in pursuance of tlw laws of the United States and of the several States. It was peaceable ami orderly, and free from intimidation and violence. And yet. inirne diately after the election, we find a few ad venturers, acting under the direction of ambitions leaders at the Federal capital, and backed by tho military forces of tho government, attempting, by fraud and chi cane, to set aside the eminent statesmen chosen by the people, after a fair trial, had refused to elect. ' ~ The question arises here: Shall the can didates faMy and legally elected by the people be placed in office, or shall persons rejected at tlu* ballot-box be elevated to power? Shall law and order prevail, br shall fraud and violence have the mastery? Shall the people of the In i tod States choose their own rulers, or shall political cheats and swindlers he permitted to perform that vital office for them ? We baye appealed to the ballot-box; shall the result of this appeal stand, or shall it he set Aside by force and fraud? If the latter, then onr frep institutions are already at an end, and constitutional liberty on the American con tinent has received its final blow. The right of the people to choose their own rulers is the corner-stone of a free Democratic republic; and when they volun tarily abdicate this invaluable privilege, or allow it to be wrenched from them, they have already obtained their own consent to become slaves. No more sacred cause can engage the patriotic efforts of a nation, than the firm maintenance of the fundamental right in all free governments to say who shall rule over it. This right the people of Georgia, and, 1 trust, of every other State in our Federal I’nion. will never willingly abandon. No division of the dirty spoils of office, no promise of personal advancement, no engagement to withhold the iron-hand of power, can ever compensate the people for the surrender of a right at once so dear to themselves, and so vital to the very ex istence of constitutional liberty. The people of the United .States are thua brought face to face with a most momentous responsibility. What shall be done? What shall we do? The motto of our noble State furnishes the safe guide for our own action in this solemn emergency : “ Wisdom, Jus tice, Moderation.” It is not for us to lead, or even to suggest, but to follow. It is the plain duty of Congress, by adhering to law and established precedent, to give effect to the clearly and legally expressed will of people. But if Congress should, unhappi ly, fail to do this, then it is believed that the proper determination of the grave ques tions now confronting us can, in the last re sort, be safely hft to the sober judgment of the right-minded people of the Northern States. If it cannot, then we are powerlestl, awl they, as well as ourselves, will have lost the inestimable right of freemen—the right of self-government. When they shall have decided what is proper to be done for the preservation of this right, it is assuir'ng but little to say that the people of Georgia will be found ready to co-operate with them, and to do their whole duty, under anv and all circumstances.