The Georgia mirror. (Florence, Ga.) 1838-1839, November 17, 1838, Image 2

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feud Four School Euudx. The large suius ap propriated tor the erection ol public buildings, improving the navigation of rivers, and tor the survey und construction ot the Ab extern and At lantic Rail-road, require that this subject should receive the early attention of the Legislature. Upon consulting with distinguished physicians iu every part of the State, it was determined, un der the limited discretion given in the selection of its location t;* place the Lunatic Assyhitn »« f h p neighborhood of Milledgcville. Doctors 1* ort and White were appointed, both to direct the construction of the building, and to collect in formation in regard to the proper regulations and management of the institution : ami will make their report direHiv to the Legislature. The large Dumber of lunatics which are found throughout every part of the country: the great aggregate nmrttint of suffering whichthey bring u; on families and neighborhoods; the expense and trouble of guarding, and medical attention, when they are under ‘the care of individuals; the assurances given by experience, that in well managed Asy luUta’the care of the insane is more certain, and •tfcvir suffering much less than under any private ‘treatment whatever—make it one of the most im portant duties of the State, to provide such an in stitution for this unforunate class of its citizens. It must he such an institution too as w ill secure the public confidence, or the sympathy which is felt for the insane by their friends, will confine its use to the most hopeless cases, or those in whose restoration society has the least interest. I w ould therefore earnestly recommend, that the Asvlutn which is now erecting shall be made to conform to the best models, without any fear that the cost will exceed the benefit which it will con fer upon the people. The appropriation made at your last session will be thrown away, unless it is greatly increased. Several acts and resolutions passed at your last session, which I considered violative of constitu tional or important legislative principles, were pre sented to ine for revision so immediately precce ding vour adjournment that they could not be re turned. Thev are now transmitted to the Sen ate, where they originated, with my reasons for not approving them. Elections for county and militia officers, are frequently contested before this Department, and the executive has constantly assumed the author ity of determining upon their validity. It is due to the rights of the people that the exercise of this power should be regulated by law. Some embarrassment has occasionally bpen met with inducting county officers into office, on ac count of the different forms required for different officers. I would recommend that the law he so altered, that all the county officers may be induc ted into office under the same dedimus potestatum. A set of Standard Weights, prepared for the use of the State, in persuance of a resolution of Congress, have been received from the Secretary of tiie Treasury, and are now in the Executive office. The Legislature will have to prescribe bv law the mode by which the weights now in use iu the cities and counties of the State, shall be made to conform to this of Standard Weights. In 1834, the Legislature appropriated $3,000 for the support and education of the indigent deaf and dumb of the State, at the Asylum in Hart ford. State of Connecticut, and directed the Ex ecutive to appoint a commissioner to select and take charge of the deaf ar.d dumb who might be found willing to accept of its bounty. Os this sum, $933 865 were expended during that year. At the session of 1835, the Legislature appro priated for the same purpose $4,450, in addition to the unexpended balance of the appropriation of the proceeding year, making the sum of $6,- 516 135, and the sum of $750 to pay the commis sioner for his services. During that year, $845 were expended by the commissioner. At the ses sion of 183 G, the Legislature determined that no additional appropriation was then required for the benefit of the deaf and dumb, and passed a res olution directing that S4OO should be paid to the commissioner, which sum, not having been inser ted in the art of appropriation, was paid by the Governor out of the contingent fund. At the ses sion cf 1837, the House of Representatives pas sed a resolution that the sum of s‘>,7so should lie approwiated for the education and support of the deaf and dumb, in addition, to the unexpended balance of previous appropriations in tlie hands of the commissioner; and that the commisioner should receive, S6OO for the service during tlie year. This resolution was not definitely passed upon by the Sen ire, and no appropriation was made Ly the Legislature for the benefit of the deaf and dumb, or for the payment of the commissioner. The commissioner has been paid S6OO out of the contingent fund ; this statement is made for the pur \) >se of cal iug the attention oft le Legis ature to t! • propriety of fixing the commissioner’s salary by law, providing for its payment, and of carrying on the benevolent purposes of the Legislature in the education and support ot the indigent deaf and dumb of the State, by some certain legislative provision. The Legislature required of the Executive De partment. by an act passed at its last session, to cause the banistering and railing which formerly divided the lobby from the Senate Chamber, to be replaced, and the Gallery of the Senate Cham ber to be enlarged, so as to corrsepond iu size and form with the Gallery of the House of Represen tatives, and appropriated one thousand dollars for the accomplishment of these objects. That sum has been found entirely insufficient for the pur pose. The building and repairs of the public arsenals, tlie keeping repairing, distribution, and collect ion of the public arms, and the appointment and salaries of the military store-keepers, require to be regulated by law. Most of what has been done upon these subjects has been either without au thority, or in pursuance of occasional resolutions of the Legislature, varying in their provisions 4‘rom each other. The reports of the military store-keepers in Mdledgeville and Savannah, are laid before you. There have been received from the United States, under the act of Congress of 1808, during the past year, 7SB muskets, and 74:2 rifles and 2 brass 6 pounders, with the proper accoutrements. The two brass six pounders were received as a part of the State’s quota of public arms, at the reqest of the City Council of Augusta, and have been pla ced in the possession of the volunteer company ol'that city, known as the Augusta Artillery Guards An effort, attended with some success, has been made to collect into the Arsenals the public arms which had been scattered over the country during the Seminole, Creek, and Cherokee campaigns of 18.16, & those which been in the possession of volunteer companies become extinct, and were either becoming appropriated as private property, or destroyed from the want of the care necessary fur their preservation. There arc some military itor-tarid detCCfive arms iu the Arsenals and clse ? * where, which can never be of any further use, and ought to be sold. 1 would recommend that you authorize this to be doue. I transmit to you a list of executive warrants, which have issued during the past political year, ] and of appointments which Lave been made dur ing the same time. Resolutions of the Legislatures of Alabama, O hio. Kentucky, Maine, Arkansas, and Connecticut, upon various subjects of supposed common inter est to tli* States, are, by their request laid before you for your coni deration. 1 transmit to the House of Representatives the returns of the Census of the State, which have been received from the clerks ol the Superior Courts of the several counties. Maj. Gen. Sam el Armstrong Daily, Brigadier Gen. Tully Vinson have resigned tlieir respective commands The Rev. Charles Wallace Howard, lias been sent to London for the purpose of procuring cop ies of such of the Colonial records as relate to the history and settlement of this State. The resolution passed at your last session di recting the publication ol the annual report ot Dr. Cottrug’s Geological Survey, was not presented for approval until after the time had expired within which, bv the Constitution, the Gov. is authori zed to sign resolutions. This circumstance, to gether with some difficulties which occurred be tween Dr. Cutting and the State Printer, as to the time and manner of printing, has prevented the publication of the report. This is, perhaps, not to be regretted, as it appears to be the intention of the Legislature to publish a full report when the entire survey shall be completed. The Legislature is referred to the correspon dence with tho State Geologist and State Printer, for further explanation upon this subject. The accompanying report of Dr. Cutting shows what have been his operations during the past year. The affairs of the Penitentiary have been con ducted during the past year, very successfuliyun der the superintendence of the present vigilant Principal Keeper, aad Hoard of Inspectors. The police laws of the institution require some reform, especially for preventing the intercourse which is now permitted among the convicts. The buildings, also, require some improvement. For information upon these and other subjects con nected with the Penitentiary, you are respectful ly referred to the reports of the Board of Inspec tors and Principal Keeper. At no time has public opinion been more alive to the vabie of education, in producing individ ual excellence, the security of public rights, and the general prosperity of society. The Presbyterian, Baptist, and Methodist de nominations of Christians, have, by the liberal zeal with which they have endowed and are sup porting the Oglethrope University. Mercer Uni versity, Emory College, and the Georgia Female College, given the full weight of their highly im portant influence in favor of the benefits to be de rived from intellectual cultivation and the diffu sion of knowledge. The flourishing state of these sectarian literary institutions, has not at all im peded the increasing prosperity of Franklin Col lege, its last graduating class having been its lar gest. The interest of the College is, however, suffering trom the, difficulty of forming a board of trustees for the management of its affairs. It is necessary either to lesson the number of trustees, or the number which is required to form a quorum for doing business. The law passed at your last session, to estab lish a general system of education by common schools, was delayed in going into operation, for the purpose of enabling the people to express their opinions, through their representatives, in relation to its expediency. You are therefore, no doubt prepared to act in such manner upon this subject, as your constituents may have determ ined to be for their interest. A true bill of indictment was found at the last January term of the .Superior Court of Chatham County, against Philbrook and Kelleran, for the same ofl’ence with which they had been charged w hen demanded as fugitives from the justice of this State, by my predecessor. The demand tor their arrest and delivery up to the Agent of this State, as fugitives from its justice, was renewed upon the Governor of the State of Maine, and by him again refused. Copies of the report and res olutions adopted by your body at your last ses sion, upon this subject were in consequence of this conduct oftlie Governor of Maine, andin com pliance with vour request,transmitted to the Gover nors to be laid bv them before the Legislatures of the so- oral State* • to the members of Congress from this State, lobe submitted to the Senate and House of Representatives, and one to the President of the United States. As the Legislature of Maine does not meet un til January, 1839, its procedingsin answer toy ur resolutions, cannot be reported to you during vour present session. There can be but little doubt, however, that those procedings, when they do take place, will sustain the course which lias been pursued by the Executive authority of that State. On tho 20th of March last, the Legislature of Maine passed a law upon the subject of fugitives from the justice of other States, by which it au thorizes the Governor to satisfy himself by invest igation into the grounds of a demand, and wheth er it ought to be complied with. The Legis lature of Maine, in passing a law to direct the Executive of the State, in a matter which is deter mined by the Constitution and laws of the United States : and the Governor, iu justifying himself under such a law, iu refusing to do what is made imperative by the Constitution, have evidently on ly acted in obedience to the state of public opin ion in Maine, arising out of the opposition to the institution of slavery in this State. Had the pier sons who have been demanded of the State of Maine, by this State, been charged with any other crime than stealing a negro slave, there can be no doubt but that they would have been del ivered up without difficulty. If the people of Maine. will thus prevent their Authorities from delivering in to the authorities of Georgia, for trial, those who entice away from citizens of Georgia, their slaves, and escape from punishment into the State of Maine, the people of this State must take means to secure their rights of property from the danger to which it will be thus exposed. The State of Georgia has the power to protect its own institutions, and it will be i;s duty to exert it, if necessity should re quire. Nothing but necessity, however, should induce the State to adopt any course which may disturb the harmony of the Union. Having refered to the consideration cf the Legislature ot Maine, the conduct of the Executive of that State, in ri tus itig to deliver up to this State, the fugitives fiom its justice, Philbrook and Kelleran, by your res olutions, it will be proper to take no measure, up on this subject uutil it shall have been acted upon by Maine. Copies of the correspondence of this Depart ment, and all the papers relating to the last d’- in mid made upon the Governor of Maine, ol Philbrook and Kelleran, are laid before you. 1 transmit to the Legislature copies of the last semi-annual reports of the Banks of this State. Forming, as the issues of the Banks do, the al most exclusive medium through which all busi ness is transacted and the value of property estim ated; it is one ot the most important duties of the Legislature to examine into their state, to com pel them to t ulfil the conditions of their charters, and to strengthen their capacity for usefulness. The ruinous effects produced in many parts of Our country by the late extraordinary commercial pressure and demand for specie, have been, com pantivelv, but slightly felt in tins State. The general soundness of the condition of our Banks enabled them, during their suspension of specie payments, to retain the confidence ofthe country, and at the same time, to give the usual facilities to business through the use of their credit.— Their reports show that all the banks which had suspended, have resumed specie payments, ex cept the Farmers Bank of Chattahoochee.— Whilst the course ot the Banks in suspending spe cie payments should be excused on account ofthe force of the circumstances under which they act ed, the Legislature should take care that it is not agaiu pursued but from the like necessity. In deed the general convertibility of Bank notes in to specie, without difficulty or delay, is so impor tant for settling balances when trade lias been a gainst us, and keeping the rate of exchange at its proper premium, that it may be advisable for the Legislature to secure this objeet by additional en actments. Banks, when established upon proper princi ples, and compelled to act up to their design, should be sustained by the Slate as exceedingly valuable instruments for adding to the wealth and prosperity ofthe community, by the profitable em ployment which they give to industry and talents through the use of their credit and capitalthe great advantages whichthey afford for carrying on trade; the means which they furnish lor de veloping the natural resources of the country, and constructing important works of internal im provement ; the stimulus which they give to en terprise ; their tendency to enlarge the quantity of active capital, and render its distribution conven ient to the people, fix the rate of interest, and les sen the exactions of usury. Banks should he strictly prohibited from engag ing in any speculation whatever. I would res pectfully recommend that the privilege of hanking shall not hereafter be conferred upon companies chartered for other purposes. 1 am also of the opinion that it will add to the public security, for the proper conduct of Banks hereafter to be ere ated, if tlieir charters shall require, that the stock shall be destributed among numerous persons and the amount to be held by individuals limited, so that no one, nor even a few, will be enabled to ob tain the entire control or management of any Bank; experience having proved that private Banks are too apt to run into speculation, and that the temp tation to fraudulent combinations, aud excessive credit to individuals, is too great to be usually resisted, when Banks are in the hands of a few. Intimately connected with the subject of Banks is the policy proposed by the Administraion of the General Goverment, of co lecting the public dues exclusively in goid and silver, an entrusting their safekeeping, until required for expenditure, to individuals, instead ot Banks. The effect of these measures, if they had been adopted by Congress, would have been to have added to the cost of all goods, upoi which duties are paid ; increased the difficulty of purchasing public lands to every cit izen, except large capitalists and office holders: endangered th* currency, by constantly withdraw ing from the Banks the basis of tlieir circulation ; lessened the safety of the keeping ofthe revenue ; added to the uncertainty and expense of trans fering the public money from the places of collect ion to the places of expenditure : and to have lock ed up the public money, from the time of collect ion until wanted tor 'he purposes of the Govern ment, instead of permitting it to add to the circu lating wealth of the country, through the means of general deposites in the Banks. Nor would the country have been compensated for these in jurious consequences from the proposed meas ures, by any corresponding advantages. The di vorce of the government from the Banks could on ly have resulted in tunning a more intimate con nection between its beneficiaries and the people's money ; and increasing the dependant e ofthe of ficers of the Government and j üblio contractors upon the President, by enhu iug the profits of the spoils to be divided among them. Blessed as our country is, with the most happilv constituted form of Government, it belongs to those who are entrusted with its administration, so to direct public affairs, as to afford to the peo ple the fullest enjoyment of all its advantages.— That we may he enabled suceesfully to discharge that portion of this dt ty which is imposed upon us, is the earnest desire of. Your Fellow Citizen, GEORGE Li. GILMER. OFFICIAL. We understand, (says the Washington Globe,) that the Texian Minister, on the occasion of ex changing the ratifications of the boundary con vention lately published, deliveied to the acting Secretary of State, a note, in which, after stating in friendly terms that although, since the note of Mr. Forsyth, declining the proposition submitted by Texas for her admission into the Union, the question of annexation had been considered by the United States Government as finally disposed of, yet, inasmuch as the impression appeared still to remain upon the public mind in both countries that the proposition was still pending, he had been instructed bv his Government to communi cate to that of the United States its formal and absolute withdrawal of that proposition. Warning'— The steamboat Pilot, at Mobile, has been fined'ssooo, and the Win. Wallace seiz ed for breaches of the late law of Cougress rela tive to steamboats. A meeting of steamboat owners, officers, &c. was lately held at Cincinnati, which gravely re solved that the law of Congress regulating steam boats pinches owners and officers rather severely, and is, in almost every particular, any thing but what it ought to be; that Cougress has exhibited in the law an utter ignorance of the subject of steam navigation; and that that section of the law which requires “iron, rods or chains,” as a means to steer by, is supremely ridiculous: wherefore, the use of such rods or chains (in despite of Con gress and courts) will nut he permitted on tlieir men boats, or countenanced on those of others. iitsa cm s&SL'itxxiHS: From the st of the S.ords and • on,mors." LAUGHABLE SCLNF. iU THE HOUSE OF COMMONS. In my first series of tills work, I gave an amus ing anecdote respecting Mr. Marlin. A still btt ter remains to lie told My only regret is, thot n i w .r-is c m convey the idea ot the thing itselj liquid been speaking of the bad feelings, f re _ q ending in duels, which was often engen dered iti the minds of honorable members in con sequence of a misconception, not merely of what was meant, but often of what was said by another honorable gentlemen. “And, Mr. Spaker,” s ,j<] Mr. Martin, with all that rich Irish brogue which he retained till the last in as great perfection as if he had never heard an Englishman open his mouth, “And, Mr. Spaker, with vour permission 1 will give yours.-ls and the Houseaea.se in point’ That case, Mr. Spaker, occurred to meself. Y'ou know, sir, and the House knows, that I wasopp os . ed at the last election for Galway by Dennis O’- Sweeney. Now, Mr. Spaker, I said on the hustings about Dennis, and, by my Dennis said something about me. [Loud laugh ter.] Well, Mr. Spaker, I bate Dennis—as the fact ot my having the honor of addressing you sir, and honorable gintletnan around me proves—- at the poll, and w as, sure enough, declared duly elected for Galway. Well, sir, after the election was over, we met in a hotel, and Dennis comes up to me,and says, says he, “Dick Martin, [roars of laughter,] you was after saying something j £) your spaaefa, on the hnstins about me, w hich was inconsistent with the character of a gintjeman.” “•Faith, and it’s yourself, Denuis, my boy, is quite mistaken in that same.” “ ‘l’m no such thing,’ said he. “‘lndeed, Dennis, you are though: you was never more mistaken in ;*!1 your blessed life,’ said I. “ ‘Don’t you th nk to humbug imp out of try be lief, by any of your nonsense, Dick !’ [Renew ed iaught r, in which the Speaker could not >e frain from joining.] •‘ ‘Then what was it T did s; y ?’ says I. “ ‘You know that as well as 1 do,’ sav-. he. “By G— 1 don’t,’ said Mr. Martin, in his own unspeakable ludicrous manner “Order, order, Mr. Martin,” shouted the sner.' - er, as tlie other thundered out an oath, amidst t'.r roars of laughter from all parts of the house. “I beg your pardon, Mr. Spaker, and the par don of this honorable House, if I said ar y thing improper.” ‘“By G— you do though, Dick !’ said Dennis. “Order, order, Mr. Martin, order, order;’ a gain sung out the Speaker, his voice being almost drowned amidst th** peals of laughter which re sounded throughout the house. “Mr. Spaker .” said Mr. Martin, w ith great sim plicity, mingled with a wonderful shrewdness of manner, “Mr. Spaker. it was not meself that gave that oath, it was Dennis O’Sweeney I” Again was the house convulsed with laughter, and to such an extent were tin* risib’e faculties ot the Speaker affected, that h< was obliged to cover his mouth w ith the folds of his gown, while the sides of his ample wig hteially danced about his neck and shoulders, in the a nation of his head, caused by his xcessive laughter. Mr. Martin resumed —“Upon my honor as a gintleman, I don’t know what you mane,’ said I. “‘Well, then ’ says he. ‘did’nt you say I was ——’ 1 need not tell you, Mr. Spaker, what I said he was,” observed Mr Martin, suddenly checking himself. Here again the House was convulsed with laughter. “ ‘.Dick!” says he, you must retract.’ “I’ll be if 1 do,’ says 1 Mr. Spaker.” Another burst til' laugh**i pealed through the house and to such an extent was the Speaker in fected with the universal ri bilitv, that he was actually unable t * caM Mr. Maiiin to order. The /olds of his gown were again in requisition, with the view, if possible, of suppressing, by ‘heir ap plication to his mouth, what is called a loud laugh. No man was ever more ready, at all times and in all circumstances, to uphold the dignity of the house by enforcing a uniform decorousness in the proceedings, than Mr. Manners Sutton, now Lord Canterbury ; but the drolit ry * Mr. Mar tin’s manner, in conjunction wi ; be. oddity of his matter, would have been tci much for tiie gravest and most dignified men. The thing was altogether irresistible. Mr. Martin, as soon as order w is in some meas ure restored, resumed \ m w ict, Dick,’ says Dennis.’’ “ *No, by—” “Order, order, Mr. Martin, cried the Speak er, before Mr. Martin had utter* c what the right honorable gentleman conceived to be another oath, and which he therefore washed to strangle in the birth. “1 beg your pardon, Mr. Spaker,” observed Mr. M-rtin, “but ycm honor was mistaken this time, and h. ve put yourself to u hirer ess try trou ble for i was not oi .: B ve,.! any move, i was • iiy going to sa . ‘No, by the powers 1 wont Iri rather you’d make a riddle of my body first.’ ” Rears of laughter, which lasted for a consid erable time, again resounded through the house. When they had subsided, Mr. Martin continued his story . “ ‘Then,’ said he, ‘expect the satisfaction which is due to a gintleman ;’ and with that Mr. Spa ker, he was iu the very act of laving the room.— ‘Dennis’ says I. “ *Wliat ?’ says he. “ ‘Don’t let us misunderstand each other,’ says I. “ ‘lt’s quite plain,’ says he. “ ‘May be it’s not so plain as you think, Denis, said 1. “ ‘Do you or do you not retract, and no more blarney ?’ says he, “ ‘ No, 1 don’t,’ says I, but if you’ll call on me to-morrow morning at breakfast time, we’ll both explain, and then I’ll break an agg or crack a flint with y ou—whichever you plase, Dennis.’ [Loud laughter.] “ ‘Well, I will Dick,’ said he.” “And faith, sure enough, Mr. Spaker, Dennis O’Sweeny did kape his word, and he explained and 1 explained, and we both explained, and lie left tny room quite satisfied, and bowing to me as politely as the Masters in Chancery do to you* Mr. Spakeg v when they retire from your houo* • table.” And so saying, Mr. Martin resumed his seat, amidst deafening roars of laughter, which lasted tor two or three minutes. The allusion to the Masters in Chancery * aS exceedingly felicitous; for when they have oe livered any message from the Lords to the Com mons, they retire from the tablo- walking back-