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PRBSIDEKTjW. S. UNCOCK. His Aarrury. Karl) LH a<l Krrilrm. General Hancock bears a family name which long before his birth had been made celebrated in revolutionary annals. To this family belonged John Hancock, of Massachusetts, the first signer of the declaration ot independ ence. In the great struggle for human liberty and the deliverance of man from the olfl thraktpm of jking* inoie 7 that} oue ancestor of our subject, material As well as paternal, took part." That Winfield S. Hancock shouH be a lover of his country is a matter of inherit ance. That he is a man who, although a soldier by profession, holds the law and the constitution above the sword, is an honorable and patriotic feature of his character which is his own. His name shines therefore with no reflec ted lustre frouvtbe past. General Hancock was born in Mont gomery county, participated in the war of 1812, and afterwards became a law yer of prominence. The date of Gen. Hancock’s birth was February 14, 1824. Ilis early education was received in an academy in Norristown, where he spent the first years of his youth. He pos sessed, as a schoollioy, those traits which sometimes foretell future emi nence. Studious and thoughtful, he laid the foundations of a great career. Entering West Point at 16, he grad uated with credit to himself on the 30th of June, 1844. The close of the Mex ican war—in which he had distinguish ed himself at Contreras, Cherubusco, Mol ino del Hey and at the capture of the City of Mexico —found him a sec ond lieutentant of infantry. From 1848 to 1861 lie served in various ca pacities in the military. 111 1861, when the war between the United States and the Confederate States broke out, he was stationed at Los Angeles, Cal. lie offered his services first to his na tive State of Pennsylvania and then to the federal government. The latter accepted them. General Scott ordered him to Washington and President Lin coln commissioned him a brigadier general of volunteers September 23d. General Hancock's command was composed of four regiments —from Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont and Wisconsin respectively. With* these troops he repaired with the army of the Potomac to the Peninsula towards the end of March, 1862, when General Me-' Clellan began liis ineffectual campaign against Richmond (torn that .direction. His brigade too part in a number of skirmishes and partial engagements that preceded the battle of Williams burg on the sth of May. It distin- O W g guished itself on that day, General Hancock assuming personal command and leading a charge. This sharing the danger of his mpu was one o£ the features of his military career; he never was unwilling to lead on dfcca sions when his presence was deeded to encourage his troops, and both as brig adier-general and major-general he gave to his soldiers the inspiriting lesson of example and emulation. But all Gen. Hancock's courage and skill could not alter the decrees of fate. He retired with the rest of the army of the Poto mac from the long-continued, bloody and disastrous seven days’ fight, leav ing Richmond in the hands of her val iant defenders, but enjoying for him self the enviable consciousness of hav ing deserved well of his country. The testimony to his devotion was shown when, after the battle of Malvern Hill, General McClellan recommended that he be promoted to the rank of major general of volunteers ; and at the same time iiis services in this most active of campaigns were further rewarded by his obtaining the successive brevets of major, lieutenant-colonel and colonel in the regular army. The months of August and Septem ber, 1862, found General Hancock with his brigade at Centreville, serving un der Pope. He fought at South moun tain and again, on September 17tb, at Antietam. In this battle fell the gen eral commanding the first division of the second army corps. During the progress of the battle General Hancock was appointed to the command of the division, and thus began his connection with the second corps, of which, in the course of time, he became the com jnander. He was commissioned major-general of volunteers in the month of Novem ber, and at the head of his division he participated Jn the battle at Fredericks burg on December 13th; here he was slightly wounded. He shared in the defeat of Hooker at Chan cel lorsville in 1863. and his division did effectual ser vice in staying the ill-fortunesof the day by protecting the rear of the retreating The Haktwell Sun. 7T By BENSON & McGILL. VOL. IV—NO. 45. union ■tfoops. f\n Udth of Jlue of the same year he was assigned to the command of the second army corps. We next hear of Hancock at the great battle of Gettysburg which, by some northern authorities, is held to have been the pivotal conflict of the war. The retreating union forces were stayed at this point by his advice, and here it was that General Meade, who was in general gomijbndf determined make a stand mgar<Rt General Lee’s pursuing army. On the first day of the battle, July Ist., he was in imme diate command until the arrival of Meade. On the second day his corps did exceptional service and was en gaged with General Longstreet’s corps. Iffe had command of the left centre of union army and before the close of the day lie was sidbratimr of hi? services in these bat. ties congress voted him a resolution of thanks. It was not until the opening of the campaign of 1864 that his wounds al lowed him again to see active service. Up to March of that year he was on sick leave, and was engaged in recruit ing the Second army corps. With the opening of the campaign he was in the field under General Grant, and in com mand of this corps. He was present at the battle of the Wilderness, Spott sylvania courthouse. North Anna, and the second battle of Cola-llartior. He participated in the operation around Petersburg until June 19th, when he was once more compelled to retire from service for awhile, owing to his wounds breaking out anew. General Hancock’s last military com mand was an important one. He was detached from the army of the Potomac on the 26th of November and was or dered to Washington. In a short while he was placed at the head, of a corps of veteransTmmber 30,0<00. Ilis head quarters were at Winchester, Va., and his entire command, Th which was in cluded the arm}' of the Shenandoah, numbered 100,000 me a". The surrender at Appomattox, however, made further service in the field unnecessary. lie was still at Winchester when the murder of President Lincoln occurred. Summoned to Washington, which city was included in his military division, he was ordered to remain there by President Johnson until order should replace the excitement caused by the assassination of the President. It was in his capacity as military head of the division that he was compelled to look on and witness the murder of the un fortunate Mrs. Surratt by order of a military commision. But to his credit be it said that he made every effort, consistent with his position and duties, to save the life of this victim convicted under martial law. Mrs. Surratt and her companions were executed on July 8, 1865. When Mrs. Surratt’s daugh ter, at his suggestion, endeavored to reach the ear of President Johnson to intercede for her mother's life, General Hancock assisted her to the extent of his ability in carrying out her wishes. But in vain. He hoped for a pardon for Mrs. Surratt through the prayers of the unfortunate woman’s daughter, and on the day of the execution he station ed mounted soldiers on the line from the white house to the arsenal grounds, where the execution was to take place, so that if the granted even at the last moment, he should know it promptly and in time to save Mrs. Surratt from the halter. No messenger of merc3 r came, and the indelible dis grace was attached to the government of the United States of hanging a wo man innocent of crime. Later in July General Hancock was transferred to the middle department. His headquarters were at Baltimore. He remained in command of this de partment until July, 1866, when he was put in command of the department of Missouri. AJ)out the same time he was made major-general in the regular army, having already been Rreveted to the same grade for “ gallant and meri torious services at Spottsvlvania.” While in the west he conducted several campaigns against hostile Indians in the Indian Territory, Kansas and Col orado. His subsequent commands have l>een those of Louisiana and Texas, of Dakota and of the department of the HARTWELL, GA., WEDNESDAY, JULY 7, 1880. east—the last his ifresent clihlgjk wftl headquarters on Governor's island. We have shown aliovo the record that General Hancock has made for himself as a soldier, but it is not as a soldier that the Presidency of the United States will be conferred on him. The eyes of thousands of his fellow-coun trymen arc turned to him because, being a soldier himself, he has stood boldly forward in emergencies fn de fenso.of the civil law when threatened in time of peace by the military law. While in command of the *• military district of Louisiana and Texas, with headquarters in New Orleans, in No vember, 1867, lie- found himself met by difficulties arising out of the results of the war. With admirable tact and a keen sense of Justice to the laws of dim country as well as to the people of Louisiana hnd Texas, he reconciled the differences that had previously prevail ed, and which had had their origin in the abominable carpet-bag governments that since the close of the Avar had blighted those states. Instead of an oppressor, the Louisianians and Texans found in him a governor inspired by motives of the purest patriotism and of the highest justice. On assuming command, November 29, 1867, he is sued his well-known “ General Order v No. 40/’ in which lie laid dow/i Ills pro gramme as;' governor.; (k 4he This document was a revelation to an oppressed, robbed and humiliated peo ple. In it he expressed his conviction that the people of Louisiana and Texas desired peace, and he declared his pur pose to ensure it, by allowing the civil authorities to carry out the civil laws. * J % r There was everything in {his “ Oader to produce a profound sense of grati tude in the hearts of those to whom it addressed. Following it came for V Hpi ■ awhile tire blessings of peace and pros perity, aiid but facihe fact that the ad ministration at Washington removed General Hancock from his sphere of just and beneficent government the period of misrble in Louisiana and Texas would have come to an end years ago. How honestly, how impartially, and how prudently he conducted the affairs of those two states is shown in the case of his controversy with the carpet-bag so-called Governor reuse of Texas. This individual had abitrarily removed the judges and county officers whom he found in office and had ap pointed his own creatures to fill their places. General Hancock’s first act on as suming command was to redress the injustice that had been done to the peo ple of Texas, and in his “ General Or der No. 40” lie repaired the wrong that Pease had committed. He declared that “ the right of trial by jury, the habeas corpus, the liberty of the press, the freedom of speech, the natural rights of persons, and the rights of property, should be respected ” —noble sentiments that have never been for goten by the American people. Again, in a letter to Pease, he said that, “On them (the laws of Texas and Louisi ana). as on a foundation of rock, re poses almost the entire structure of so cial order in these two states. * * Power may destroy the forms but not the principles of justice; these will live in spite of the sword.” The just course of General Hancock in the south offended the carpet-baggers and their Radical friends in Congress endeavored by hostile legislation, di rected against him. either to have him retired from the military service or make his position as commander of the fifth military district irksome and em barrassing. Finally the issue of obey ing a wrong or resigning his governor ship was presented to him. He chose the latter course, and in a letter to a friend, in which he spoke of his diffi culties, he said : “Nothing can intimi date me from doing what I believe to be honest and right.” He made applica tion to be relieved from his command on February 27, 1868, a victim of Radical partisanship, whose name had become a tower of strength in the land. General Hancock was brought out in 1868 as a candidate for the Democratic nomination for the Presidency. In the national convention of that year he re ceived 144| votes. Again, in 1876, he ! received at the St. Louis convention Devoted to Hart County. votes for the same nomi nation. It will be seen, therefore, that, he has a presidential recorii which does not lack Site important element of the confidence of hundreds of thousands of his fellow-citizens in his availability as the man to lead the Democracy to victory. It may be remarked, in con clusion, that he has a large following throughout the country, and that he was the choice of Louisiana and Tex as ami of several other districts in other Southern states for President. THE DEMOCRATIC PLATFORM Ailiilili-il lit the t'lni'lia mi 11 t'oiiveiittou. Mr. Wattersou, from the committee on resolutions, reported tlio following platform which was adopted unanimous ]y: The Democrats of the United States in Convention assembled, declare— First. We pledge ourselves to the Constitutional doctrines and traditions of tin- Democratic party, as illustrated by tliii teaching and example of a long line of Democratic statesmen and patri ots, and embodied in the platform of the last national convention of the party. Second. Opposition to centrilizatiou and to that dangerous spirit of encroach ment which tends to consolidate the powers of all .the departments in one, and tluis to create, whatever 1)6 (Reform of government, a real despotism ; no sumptuary laws; separation of church and state for the good of each ; com mon schools fostered and protected. Third. Home rule, honest money, the strict maintenance of the public faith, consisting of gold and silver, and paper .cpiivcftible into *9Olll on demand ; a strict maintenance of the public faith, state and national ; and a tariff for rcv : enue only. Fourth. The subordination of the militaiy to the civil power, and a gen eral and thorough reform of the civil service. Fifth. The fight to a free ballot is the right preservative of all rights, and must and shall be maintained in every one of the United States. Sixth. The existing administration is the representative of a conspiracy only, and its claim of aright to surround the ballot-boxes with troops and deputy marshals, to intimidate and obstruct elections, and the unprecedented use of the veto to maintain its corrupt and des potic power, insults the people and im perils their institutions. Seventh. The great fraud of 1876-77, by which, upon a false count of the electoral votes of two states, the candi dates defeated at the polls was declared to be president, and for the first time in American history the will of the people svas set aside under a threat of military violence, struck a deadly blow at our system of representative government. The Democratic party, to preserve the country from civil war, submitted for the time with firm and patriotic faith, that the people would punish this crime in 1880. Tills issue proceeds and dwarfs j every other. It imposes a more sacred 1 duty upon the people of the Union than ! ever addressed the conscience of a na- I tion of freemen. Eighth. We execrate the course of this administration in making the places in the civil service a reward for politi cal crime, and demand a reform by statute, which shall make it forever im possible for a defeated candidate to bribe his way to the seat of a usurper by bil litting the villains upon the people. [This was read again in response to de mands and was received with applause.] Ninth. The resolution of Samuel J. Tilden not to be a candidate for the ex alted place to which he was elected by a majority of his countrymen, and from which he was excluded by the leaders of the Republican party, is received by the Democrats of the United States with sensibilities and they declare their con fidence in his wisdom, patriotism and in tegrity, unshaken by the assaults of a common enemy, and they further as sure him that he is followed into the re tirement which, he baa choseq for him self by the sympathies and respect of bis fellow citizens, who ragard him as one who, by elevating the standard of pub lic morality and adorning and purifying the public service, merits the lasting gratitude of his country and his party. 81.50 Per Annum. WHOLE NO. 201. Tenth. Free ships and a living chance for American commerce on the seas; on the land no discrimination in favor of transportation lines, corporations i r tnouo|H)Ue|. Eleventh. Amendment to the Bur lingnmc treaty j no more Chinese immi gration except tor travel, education and foreign commerce, and therein carefully guarded. Twelfth. I’uklic money nud public credit are for public purposes solely and public land for actual settlers. Thirteenth. The Democratic pnrty is the friend of labor and the laboring man, and pledges itself to protect him alike against lhe cormorants nud the commune. Fourtoeth. We congratulate the coun try upon the honesty and thrift of the Democratic Congress, which has reduced the public expenditure $40,000,000 a year; upon the continuation of prosper ity at homo and national honor abroad, and above all, Wpon the promise of such a change in the administration ot the government as shall insure us a genuine and lasting reform in every department of the public service. (Georgia fountles. Some pains-taking person has been ex amining the Georgia records and sub mits the following summary in the Washington Post: Counties having Courts and Judges - 45 Abolished - - - - -16 Counties without Courts - - 76 Total Counties in State - - 137 Counties having Boards of Revenue aud Board Commissioners - - 80 Counties without such Boards - - 53 Counties having only one Commis sioner 4 Total counties in State - - 137 In Georgia, the next lower division than the county is called the militia district, and over it presides the Justice of the Peace and Notary Public, who in his way, is a sort of Justice of the Peace, and unlike the simple Commer cial Notary of the North. Instead of Assessors, they have vvluit is called Tax Receivers, or what might more appro priately be termed "Tax List Receiv ers,” since no money comes into their hands. The duty of this officer is to receive the sworn statement of the good people of Georgia relating to the property own ed by them, and upon which returns their appointment of the tax is made out. All counties in common have an Ordinary, Sheriff, Tax Receiver, Tax- Collector, Surveyor and Coroner. The Ordinary’s duties,as I have before hint ed, are of the most varied character. At one time we see him tho autocrat of toe i— tin- to ve, and dis bursing the funds, making roads, con structing bridges and dispensing sweet charity to the poor. At another, lie has sunk into the insignificance of a probator of wills. My impression is, there are too many countit* in Georgia. Counties in this State are created by act of the General Assembly, in very much the same way as incorporated villages are in the other States, and the laws creating invariably prescribe the man ner and lbrm-of government. Kach county is a law unto itself. The late Dr. Guthrie, of Scotland, was a strong temper mice man. On one occasion he expressed his opinion of whisky in these words : “ Whisky is good in its place. There is nothing like whisky in this world lor preserving a man when he is dead. But it is one of the worst things in the world for preserving a man when lie is living. If you want to keep a dead man, put him in whisky; if you want to kill a living man, put whisky into him.” Hon. Alexander H. Stephens, after contemplating the events of the past weeks with his eagle eye, says: “It is the first serious mistake I have known the Republican party to make in sixteen years. It marks anew epoch in the history of the party. The Republicans have repudiated the man who saved their country and their party, and the act cannot fail to bring defeat down up on their beads.” Gen. Hancock is a twin. His twin brother, Hilary Hancock, is a lawyer at Minneapolis, Minn. LETTER FROM RICHMOND CO. M ijsmhs. Editou: Would a few notes from this part of Georgia be accepta ble to you f If so, yon may publisk. t hem with pleasure; and, as many of your reader* are fanners, I shall gfYe you some farm items. This county contains some of the poorest sandy ridges in the State, which, grow only blackjacks, and at the same time has some of the richest river bot toms. Extremes hero meet, and wliafc is termed the “ latv of compensation ” finds an illustration. Between these extremes, however, there is, especially in the southern portion of the county, much medium land, which produces surprisingly well. About tlio.first im pression a stranger receives, in coming from the up-country, where the lands are clayey, fresh ami good, is to won der how these people ever make a liv ing on these thin sandy lands; yet no class of farmers do'better than they. While there is a scarcity of corn raised on the uplands, the Savannah river bottoms yield bountifully enough to supply half the county. Many farm ers rent land in the swamp, and make their com, and on their farms at home raise everything else. They rent from four or five acres to a plantation. These bottom lands bring $5 per acre, or one fourth they produce. One farmer 1 know rents four acres, and expects to make 75 bushels of corn to the acre, which will pay him very well, as well as the owner of the land. River swamp planting is attended, however, with great risk, the dangers from fresh ets being great. Considerable cotton is here raised, by the assistance of home-made ma nures and commercial fertilizers. This is true of farming in general, as well cotton-raising: that t hose who raise most home-made manures succeed best. I have hi my mind two farmers who make a specialty of this, while at the same time they invest in commercial fertilizers, and they are thrifty and suc ceeding well. They act on the policy that it pays better in the long run to employ their hands and team in haul ing straw and making manure than to send them to town with a load of wood. Speaking of cotton, I want to say that the crop this year is as good and piomiaos as well as any year in tho past. Asa general rule, the staud D good, and the lato fains have caused ft to grow off well. Blooms and bolls are plentiful. The plan of many is 'to make a small amount Of land produce a great deal, instead of cultivating su perficially a large territory and making nothing thereon. This count}', as you arc aware, is the great watermelon-raising section of Georgia. Some of the finest in which mortal man ever stuck a tooth are here grown. Much money has been made by farmers in the past on this crop. It lias become to be a large bus iness—thousands of them being bought up and shipped to other and Northern cities. This year, however, the crop will be cut short by what is termed the “ watermelon disease,” an affection which causes the vines to die when several weeks old. Some farmers li™ lost three-fourths of their crop, and on tile r.vr.„ ~r one gentleman tlie destruc tion of vines lias been so great that he ploughed up his patches and planted them in something else. This “dis ease ” made its appearance a few years ago near Augusta, and has been spread ing, until now it lias reached about every section of the country. The first indication is*seen in the wilting of the vine, and in 24 hours it is dead. Some claim that it is a bug, which sucks the roots, while others say they see no sign either of the bug or his mark on the vine. In a few cases where tho roots of the dead vines were examined, there was a murk which indicated that some insect or worm had sucked it. This year the destruction has been greater than ever, and steps will be taken to have the matter investigated by the Commissioner of Agriculture of the State, which he has stated he will do when communicated with. One thing is certain, it is a great calamity to the farmers of this section, and if a remedy can be discovered, it will be money in their pockets. The wheat and oat crops were poor with us. One farmer planted five bushels of wheat and made four; an other made about the same. These, however, are exceptional cases. I might say a half-crop of wheat was made, while the oat crop is nothing to brag over. The fruit crop is a failure. Sly. The hand that wins—a hand with a [rooster in it [Hancock.]