The Hartwell sun. (Hartwell, GA.) 1879-current, November 26, 1879, Image 1
HON. W. H. FELTON'S LETTER.
lie Cemlnmi'a Ite Itntlrv I’ullr; of the
IK-mocrutlp I’nrly.
WASTnsr.ToT, November It—Rep
resentative Felton, of Georgia, who id
an independent democrat, and was elect*
ed to the forty-fifth and forty-sixth Con
gresses against the regular democratic
Candidate, lias written the following let
ter to a Friend in this city :
Cartersville, Ga., November 4tli,
1870 .—Dear Sir: I received your letter
requesting for publication my views on
the situation and future outlook for the
democratic,the extent aud prob
able future of the independent move
ment in this slate; if the South would
he satisfied with the nomination of Mr.
Tilden ; also, what effect w ill the spirit of
repudiation iu several of the southern
states have on the commercial relations
of the south? Each of these questions
would require a long article to answer
them satisfactorily; but I must content
myself with a brief reply to your entire
letter.
First —The present and future of the
democratic party. I am a democrat,
and sincerely believe that the principles
of democracy as enunciated by Jeffer
son and illustrated in the pa.-t by the
teachings and example of distinguished
statesmen are essential to the perpetuity
of our form of government. To establish
and preserve those principles should
command the untiring attention and la
bor of every citizen, whether in public
or private life. In doing this we must
carefully separate the true from the false.
We must remember that men and or
ganizations may grow corrupt, and that
sometimes by a blind allegiance to both,
ye may sacrifice the very principles we
cherish. We must remember that after
the late civil war the democratic party
was placed by its opponents in the atti
tude of defending the south against the
stalwart element of the republican par
ty ; or, more plainly, the democratic
party was unjustly represented as antag
onizing the union sentiments of the
north. We have lost the confidence of
the north and we can never regain con
trol of the government until we convince
the citizens of the United States that we
are more conservative,, more observant
of the constitution and the laws, more
honest and economical, more cnpable
and better fitted to guard the integrity
of the union and the rights of the citizen
than the republican party, We must
recover the confidence of the people be
fore we can recover political power. Da
rina: the extra session of the forty-sixth
Congress, I privately aud publicly ex
pressed the opinion that the proceedings
of that session would result in the defeat
of the democratic party- It was mani
fest to me that the passions and preju
dices of partisanship, rather than reason
aud wise statesmanship, were guiding
the councils of democratic leaders; that
they were making capital for their op
ponents, instead of strengthening their
own party, and that they were
ingthe north against an already solid
south.
I need not recapitulate tbc mistakes
and criminal blunders of that session—
our threat to withhold the appropriations
until certain repeal measures were ap
proved by the President; our indirect
announcement to the world that we in
tend to ignore the executive branch of
the government and to make Congress
with its factious turbulence the absolute
dictator of this country ; our unsuccess
ful effort to repeal the election laws, not
upon the ground of inexpediency, but
upon the ground of their unconstitu
tioualitv, and vehemently pressing that
in the face of the following section of
the constitution : “ The time, places and :
manner of holding elections for senators |
and representatives shall he prescribed j
in each state by the legislature thereof,
but the congress may at any time, by '
law, make or alter such regulations, ex
cept as to the places of choosing sena
tors.” The discussion upon these vari
ous questions made the impression upon
the northern mind, that democracy was
nothing but state rights run mad ; that
that we would sweep from the statute
book the last war measure if we, as a
party, were in power ; thatsecession and
rebellion would again follow as neces
sary sequences of the extreme view of
state rights. Thus that most wholesome
axiom, “ Support the state governments
in all their rights as the most competent
administration of our domestic concerns,
and the surest bulwarks against auti-re
republican tendencies,” was perverted
by the impolitic speeches of our unwise
leaders into the rock upon which our
party weut to pieces. Then we had the
wild effort to create exeitenieut about
the use of the artny at the polls. Had
there been an army at the polls there
would have been some sense in this the*
The Hartwell Sm.
By BENSON & McGILL.
VOL. IV—NO. 13.
ntrical display, this rehearsal of provid
ing an imaginary foe. There should be
no army at the polls, and our country
men, while they enjoy their liberties,
will never again permit an armed soldier
at the ballot-box. His presence there is
a symbol of despotism, but one of the
first nets of President Hayes after his
inauguration was to withdraw the army
from evety southern stnte where they
had been stationed in violation of law,
aud during the entire war of politicians
there was not a single soldier interfering
with the ballot-box in any of the states,
and we had the direct assurance of this
patriotic president that during his term
of office no soldier should approach the
ballot-box to interfere with the freedom
of elections. Yet we received his pro
testations with ribald jest aud biting sar
casm, and “ his frauduleucy ” was
the mildest epithet we applied to
the president, who for this patriotic
work, should receive the respect and
gratitude of every southern nmn. I
need not continue these recitals, these
demonstrations of incapacity, of blind
passion. Suffice it to say that our dem
ocratic congress has alarmed the north
ern people. They arc afraid to intrust
the administration of the government to
the hands of violent men. They would
rather risk the perils of centralization
than again endure the horrors of rev
olution. They would as soon see the
government “shot to death ” as to have
it “starved to death.” All this has
been the work of our self-constituted
leaders.
The great mass of the democratic
party arc conservative in their opinion,
and as true to the constitution and the
union. Yet tlie toiling millions, partic
ularly in the south, are unjustly held re
sponsible for thg vaporing follies of
these hot-heads. In addition to these
blunders of the extra session, there have
been iu some southern localities outrages
upon law and the freedom of the ballot
box, which, though they may riot exceed
in violence similar outrages in the north,
yet they have served to influence the
northern mind against the southern peo
ple, who, as a whole, condemn such out
rages as heartily as any man iu tlie north
—the Dixon murder, the Chisolm mur
der, the frequent acts of intimidation,
and tlie efforts of the advocates of
“caucus dictation ” to drive, nolens vo
lens, all men into the support of their
nominees. I repeat, these acts of vio
lence and attempted violence, while not
confined to the south, and many of them
greatly exaggerated, have 'contribuled
largely to tiie present and pro-pective
defeat of the democratic party, and if
we fail next year in electing a democrat
ic president, which now seems inevita
ble, I can only say : “ Democracy has
been slaughtered in the house of its
friends.”
You ask me to what extent the inde
pendent movement is spreading in this
state. I answer, it promises to sweep
the state from the mountains to the sea
board next year. I believe our next j
governor and a majority of our next
congress and our state legislature will be
elected as independents. The honest
and intelligent citizens of this state have
determined to throttle and overthrow j
that organized bourbonisin, which has
well nigh destroyed the very bulwarks
of genuine democracy, that never learns
and never forgets ; that stands as a bar
rier to our material progress, narrow,
selfish, and liberal, in its only bond of
union a struggle of spoils, its only hope
of success the tricks of the caucus and
the lash of the party. Its fruit has
turned to ashes iu the hands of our
countrymen, and Georgia democrats
are resolved to rescue the demo
cratic party from its destructive grasp.
ludependeutism does not rely upon par
ty machinery; confides in principles;
enthrones country; and trusts the peo
ple rather than party leaders.
You ask if Tildeu’s nomination would
be satisfactory to the people of this
state, and if the south would give him
a solid and cordial support. The people
of Georgia would not be satisfied with
Mr. Tildeu’s nomination. He might,
and I think he would carry the state,
but it would be by the “ skin of his
teeth.” The people of Georgia are con
vinced that he loves his money more
than the democratic party. They be
| Hove that had Mr. Tildcn never been
HARTWELL, GA., WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 26.‘ 1870.
heard of, democracy would to-day he
triumphant iu the union. They are
tired of his grievance, and hundreds of
the best democrats in the state w ill not
vote if he is nominated. There is no
use in talking about Mr. Tilden. I im
agine that to-day’s work 1n Now York
will quietly lay him away among the
other relics of antiquated bourbonism,
and hereafter men will study Idm as a
rich specimen of Hie “ ways that are
dark and the tricks that are vain.” I
believe there is but one man in the
United States who, as a democrat, can
win tlie presidency next year. That
man is David Davis, of Illinois. Mr.
Bayard is an honest, incorruptible man ;
but lira position on the driver bill at the
last session of congress, and his financial
view generally, will array tlnj whole
greenback party against him. And
here let me say, that party is not dead
nor does it sleep. The people believe
that if Mr. Bayard's views on finance
are correct, then General Grant and
Secretary Sherman and other republi
cans are entitled to all the credit of
their establishment, and should enjoy all
the honors which may accrue from their
successful advocacy. In addition to
this objection, his candidacy would fail
to quiet the north. The scarecrows that
republican leaders, sided aud abetted by
bourbou fanatics, have erected umong
the people, would not down at Mr. Bay
ard's bidding. David Davis would bo
acceptable to conservative meu in all
sections—to green backers, to working
men, to capitalists, to democrats and to
thousands of republicans. Ilis candi
dacy would reassure the north. It
would give assurance that tho democrat
ic party would be conservative, and
that the party would not starve or shoot
the government. But he will not be
nominated. He is not the sort of man
who is popular with the manipulators of
state and national conventions.
Yonr last question is: What effect
will the spirit of repudiation have on
the commercial relations of the south?
Let me say that I do not believe the
spirit of repudiation exists to any con
siderable extent in the south, certainly
uot in Georgia. We favor the payment
of every dollar of the public indebted
ness, state and federal. In the midst of
our poverty we are willing to labor and
to be taxed for the preservation of the
honor and credit of the government. I
am sorry if there are any states or indi
viduals who advocate repudiation as a
remedy for the financial ills we are suf
fering. The remedy would increase our
poverty a hundred fold. We also insist
on paying this indebtedness in good
money, jnst such money as our farmers,
merchants and mechanics are compelled
to receive every day—silver and green
backs. Business is reviving. Thestim
ulant of a large influx of gold into the
country from Europe, good crops here
and bad crops there, has brought it about,
because the volume of money has been
increased by a favorable balance of trade.
This revival of business is now blessing
the country ; but when the gold takes
the hack track, as it is liable to do at
any time, then comes the crash. Let
us have free and unlimited coinage of
silver; let us increase our greenback
circulation pro rata witli the increase of
silver and gold, and thus by keeping
up the volume of money, make the
present “ business boom ” permanent.
Then, my word for it, repudiation, and
the very spirit of repudiation, would
perish in the land.
In conclusion, whatever party shall
be in power, may the different sections
of the union reap the benefits of a wise
and liberal policy, growing in wealth
and population, in virture and intelli
gence. May the liberties of our coun
trymen be perpetual. Very respect
fully, W. H. Felton.
A learned German doctor lias dis
covered a means of dyeing the eyes of
animals in general and of men in par
ticular any color he pleases. He is ac
companied on his travels of propaga
tion by a dog with a rose-colored eye,
a cat with an orange-red eye, and a
monkey with a chrome-yellow eye. But
the most curious specimen of his art
are a negro with one black eye and the
other silver-white. The doctor says
the process of ocular transformation,
far from injuring the sight, strengthens
and improves it.
Devoted to Hart County.
T HE I‘AK.tIH)XICAIi PARADOX. EH.
1 Only three short y'ears 'since we
furnished this parlor together,” stud
Mrs. Paradox, “ tVrid now—”
“ Yes, now !” echoed Mr. Paradox,
resolutely thrusting his hands deep
down into his pockets. “ Things are
altered rtow, Abby Jane 1”
“ Only three years,” said Mrs. Para
dox, sorrowfully.
•‘Three years of cat-and-dog quar
reling,” commented her Husband,
grirtily.
“ You said the pink damask window
curtains were just the color of tfiv
cheeks!” faltered Mrs. Paradox.
“ And even then, if you’ll be good
enough to recall the fact to your mem
ory, Mrs. P.,” remarked her husband,
“ we couldn’t agree as to the pattern of
the carpet, nor whether the walls should
be Ualsooiiued or papered !”
•• We never have agreed,” assented
Mrs. Paradox, with pufsed-np lips.
,4 .Ad never shall!” said Mr. Para
dox.
“ Perhaps it’s better, on the whole,
that wc are to separate,” said the lady.
“ Oh, altogether,” acquiesced the
gentleman, rattling the money indiffer
ently iu his pocket.
•• Wc never were suited to one an
other,” sighed Mrs. Paradox.
“Couldn't, have been worse matched
if we had tried for it,” remarked the
husband.
“ It’s a pity we hadn’t found it out
before we were married,” said Mrs.
Paradox.
“ Better late than never,” said Mr.
Paradox.
“ You said you loved me,” said Mrs.
Paradox.
“ Well, I tliought I did.”
“ I might have known that ‘ men
were deceivers ever,’ ”, quoted the wife.
“ Oh, come now, Abby Jp.ne, that
isn't fair," said Mr. Paradox. “Our
first quarrel was when you turned Ro
ver out of the parlor—the old New
foundland that had saved my life.”
“No, it wasn’t,” said Abby, witli
spirit; “it was when you called my
aunt Anastasia ‘ an old bore,’ and said
you wouldn’t take her to the Wednes
day evening prayer meeting! My
aunt Anastasia, with property, and a
temper like an angel’s !”
“ That’s all very well,” said Mr.
Paradox, “ but you seem to have for
gotten that you treated my friend Dick
ens as if he had been a housebreaker,
when I brought him unexpectedly to
dinner.”
“ You refused to take me to the sea
side when Dr. Dobkins said that the
waters were essential to my health,”
Hashed out the lady.
4 “ Y'ou wouldn’t consent to have my
mother come and live with ns,” retort
ed Mr. Paradox, twitching his mustache.
“If your mother's temper was half
as had as yours—” began Mrs. Para
dox, flushing up to the very roots of
her hair.
“ There you go again,” said Mr.
Paradox, beginning to pace savagely
lip and down the room. “ Who on
earth could be expected to put up witli
this sort of thing ?”
“ You’ll not have to put up with it
much longer,” said Mrs. Paradox,
drawing herself up.
“ Thank goodness, no,” said Mr.
Paradox.
“ The lawyers will arrange all that,”
enunciated the lady.
“ The sooner the better,” said her
husband.
“Of course it will make a dreadful
scandal, me going home to mamma,
and all!” faltered Mrs. Paradox.
“ Not at all,” said Mr. Paradox;
“ separations are common things now
adays.”
“ And I dare say,” cried out the wife,
" that as soon as you get to the horrid
place that you’re going to, you’ll be
making love to some other woman.”
“ Not I,” said Mr. Paradox, quite
enough ot that sort of thing, thank
you.”
“Here’s the lawyer, coining to draw
up the papers,” said Mrs. Paradox
looking out from between the rose col
ored damask curtains, "and I'm glad
of it.”
“So am I,” said Mr. Paradox, with
flinty-hearted callousness.
“ You’re a brute !” cried the wife.
81.50 Per Annum.
;a kf >Hn'i nnt .ii t *
WHOLE NO. fe
“So ybn have often bfcfbre,'’
said (he husband, biting off the end of
a dgnr.
“ That’s no reason you should insult
me by smoking in my presence.”
“ I)o not he afraid, niadum—you
i have already taken quite sufficient op
portunity to inform me of your aver
sion to my habits,”
And only the entrance of the law
yer sufficed to arrest impending hostil
ities.
Ittras quite true.
Mr. and Mrs. Paradox, after a union
of three years, had agreed that they
couldn’t agree, and were to sign a legal
separation,
It was altogether the best thing—in
fact, the only one, they mutually de
cided.
Tt had been scold, scold, carp, carp,
fret, fret, ever since they had walked
out of thfc church poroli.
Domestic peace hlul long ago foldejl
her wings and floated ortt of the win
dow ; love and tender sympathy had
shrunk, startled, away.
And at the end of these three years
friends had been called in council, a
solemn session of relatives hail been
held, and Mr. and Mrs. Paradox were
going to separate.
“ You're sure you don’t care for her,
Louis ?” Paradox’s dearest friend and
college chum had said to him.
“ Oh, that’s quite a thing of the
past,” said Paradox with a shrug of the
shoulders.
“You have ceased to love him, dear?”
Mrs. Paradox’s mother questioned her
child.
“ Oh, mamma, long ago J” declared
poor little Abb}', with streaming eyes.
So the papers were signed, and Mr.
and Mrs. Paradox separated in good
earnest. n
Abby Jane went back to the mater
nal home, and Mr. Paradox took up
his quarters in a hotel, until he could
arrange for his final departure.
But the night before ho was to sail
the waiter came up to his room and an
nounced, “ A lady.”
“ It’s my mother,” thought Mr. Par
adox, who was sitting staring into the
red coals of the grate as if they were
a riddle that he was trying to read.
But it was not his mother.
It was his wife !
“ It’s only me, Louis,” said Abby,
trembling all over. “I—l wanted to
speak just a word or two to you before
you went away—forever !”
“ Are you not satisfied with the al
lowance ?” said Mr. Paradox, gloomily.
“ Oh, quite, it’s more than generous,”
said Abby, hurriedly. “Only, I could
not help telling yon one or two tilings
before we part. I was wrong about
Rover. He was a noble dog. I should
have let him stay, only—only I was a
little out of temper that day. And I’ve
asked your mother's pardon for refus
ing to let her live with us. 1 think,
now, that she would have been a great
help and comfort to me. And I think,
Louis, that I should feel better if you
would say you forgave me for scolding
so much about your cigars ! And—”
“Stop!” said Mr. Paradox. “It
isn’t right, Abby, that all the apologies
should be on your side. I’ve been
wrong myself!”
“Oh, no, I/mis, no!” cried out the
little wife, bursting into tears.
“ Yes, I was—about your aunt,” de
clared Paradox.
“ She was a dreadfull y trying old
creature,” owned Abby. “ and I knew
it all the time.”
“But I should have treated her civ
illy !” persisted Mr. Paradox. “And
I shall always regret, Abby, that I did
not give you that season at the seaside.”
“ Dear Louis, don't talk so ! All I
ask of you is to forget and forgive ray
horrid temper,” besought Mrs. Paradox,
“If there is any forgiveness,” said
the husband, with softening eyes, “it
is I that need it. I have acted like a
fool.”
“ We have both been foolish,” tim
idly suggested the wife.
“ But because we have been idiots, it
don’t follow that we need be for the
future,” said Mr. Paradox, holding out
both his hands. “Abby, shall 1 go, or
shall I stay ? Speak quickly ; it is for
you to decide.”
“Stay,” whispered Mrs. Paradox.
He folded her close to lii* breast.
“ Little wife,” he said, * let us go
dowa to old Parchment's office and tear
up those papers of 'Wparatlon.”
“ l don't care bow soon j’ou do it,”
saM Mrs. Paradox, laughing and cry
in the same breath.
” And then ?”
“ And then,” Mrs. Paradox,
twisting the second button of ber bus
hand's coat round and round, “wo will
begin life over again— on an altogether
new platform." ~ u , t
And that was the cud uC the legal
separation. —* •
Of coursotbflrfl was a general 1 gust
of gossip about itpeople said that
“it was very str&ugc that the Para
duxes didn't know their own minds.”
Hut Mr. and Mrs. Paradox were
suited, and, after all, that was the main
thing. i
Strange Experiments
A writer in Blsrlrwood’s Magazine,
thus describes strange physical experi
ments which he witnessed at Damascus :
After the usual preliminary politeness
of pipe*, sherbet, and coffee, the sldek
went into an inner room and reappear
ed with a bundle of iron skewers, very
much resembling those used by cooks
for trussing meat. Beckoning to a wild*
looking dervish stripped t* tlie waist,
whose wandering ejre bad an evil look
in it which the rest of his countenance
did not bolie—ln fact it was only re
deemed from being villainous by a sort
of glare of insanity—he made lun
open bis mouth, and proceed’ed with
the utmost coolness to pass a skewer
from the inside through each check, so
that tlie points could be seen plainly
protruding, lit then performed a like
operation on a remarkably Immlsom®
youth of about 10, whom I afterwards
found was his son, and whose large,
clear lmzel eye was calmly fixed on
mine while his cheeks were being
pierced, nor did a line of his counten
ance indicate that he was conscious of
the slightest pain. Not a drop of
blood flowed in either ease. The two
victims stood before us witli their
mouths pressed back, and the projecting
skewers showing the points through
their checks witli as much apparent
comfort as if it was the normal condi
tion of their being. Leaving them in
this attitude the sheik again disappear
ed into his room. This time he return
ed with a small square box, drawing
back the sliding lid of which lie ex
tracted a scorpion of unusual size, its
vicious tail curling and striking its own
back as it writhed between bis fingers.
This lie banded to another dervish,
clothed and looking more in his right
mind than his skewers comrade, who
instantly dropped the lively reptile into
his mouth and crunched it with great
apparent gusto. As he was as large as
an ordinary land-crab, it was a big
mouthful, and seemed to whip up into
a sort of lather as he chewed it. Ilis
countenance as lie went on munching
was so impassive that 1 could not judge
whether live scorpion is nice or not,
probably it is an acquired taste. An
other dervish joined in the repast, and
disposed of a smaller one with equal
equanimity.
He Wanted “ He ’Lowance.”
The Columbus (Mis*.) Index, says a
colored man who had contracted a debt
some years ago with one of our mer
chants came to town yesterday and
called on his old creditor.
“ Didn't you 'splain to me dat if I
settled up dat account you would give
me a 'lowance ? said the darkey to the
merchant.
“ Yes, I did say so, Sam,” said the
merchant. “If you are ready to settle
your bill now I will make a good allow
ance,” and the merchant waited for the
colored individual to pull out his poc
ket-book.
“ Well, sir, I hasen’t got de money
jes’ now, but I thought I’d come in and
get de 'lowance; my wife wants a
shawl.”
Athens Chronicle : A young lady on
emerging from one of our churches a
few nights ago, cast a look at the
gathered around the door, and
elairned: “I wonder where my beau
is ? I guess I’ll have to put a bell on
him, so that I can hereafter be better
able to distinguish him from the crowd
of calves in front of a church.”
The New York Express says that
the Okolona idiot and Bob Toombs
would make an excellent couple for
some vigilance committee.
Says the New York Mail: “Keep
the young men at home.” Oh, fudge,
J give the girls a chance. Keep the old
! men at home, brother, that’s more to
purpose.