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"im WEEKLY .CONSTITUTION. ‘ ATLANTA CA-, ' TUESDAY. MAY 18 1886'
TIE WEEKLY G0NSTIT0TI0H
jCnicred *t u» Aiumu PottOfflo* u noood-cUua
auu matter, Norember li. 1I7A
Weekly ConaUtntlon, *1.13 p»r annum.
Club, of Ore,SLOO.-MCki Club* or too ILOO took
tod « copy to futicr-up of Club.
A WORD WITH YOU.
If ran or* not a inlxerlbor to Tko Oourtl-
totloDi till* copy U rant you u * aainpl*.
with * r,qn«*t th*t you examine and decide
whether or oot yoo want to tako It. Too
wood a good paper for IIH. Wo think Tha
Oonatltutlon la Ui* belt paper yon can (oA
PleaHoiamlneJt earofullr. Read It. com
pare It with other pa pare, and aend ua your
nbaorlptlon. It will be the beat Inroatnaa*
yea ewr made.
Try It on* year and yon will naree quit It.
ATLANTA, OA., TUESDAY, MAY 1«, USA
The report* from nil port* ot the state in*
tlleate serious (Inmate to the out and wheat
t rope. The long drouth now prevalent liu
proven disastrous. Fruit, however, while
not a* heavy ns last year, promises to lie
plentiful. '
The Gubernatorial Campaign.
This morn ing closes the first week of Gen*
ersl < erdon's enndidsry. He and hi* friends
urr satisfied with the remit.
Major Huron 1ms secured a half dozen
voles by n lourso without precedent or jnsti.
Coition, A month in advance of the meeting
ol' the slate committee, which has not met
j 11 .even befote the slate convention is called
—his friends in a few uonnties called hasty
meting! in the court lions* and appointed
delegates by the old cut-aud-dried method*
that have linen again and again condemned
—that have brought disrepute to the party
ami have never given strength to any candi
date in whose interest they were used. Gen
eral lioiilon caught one of tbeso counties in
the to t last Friday, and with' be help of the
people reversed tlio pretrri 4 , c d verdict.
The same thing will hell 1 .here of the
counties that have octcd i tly. Instill
others the dclegates'ara not, 0 lid for llaeon.
In one both delegate* are for Gordon.
Tlio neck bus demonstrated beyond doubt
that the masses of the peoplo ore for Gordon.
Take os one of a thousand strews the vote in
the Jefferson county grand jury. Here is a
county to which General Gordon has nut
written a letter and from which he has not
received one. It 1* a remote county and on#
in which his friends hod no right to thiok be
wu strong. The vote of the grand jury—a
high averego hotly—was Gordon t!0, itacon
3. This is certainly significant. A vote in
Hainbridge showed Gordon 62, Ilaoon 11.
Three conld be supplemented by fifty like
instances.
General Gordon has his old time magnet
ism Mid eloquence on Hie stump. That is
shown from the revolution he created in the
five connlit* ha has spoken In, It was
proven in the reversal of things in Leo
county. There, after a joint "discussion, a
county that had only two Guidon men in it
went for Gordon by nearly two to one,in tho
biggest vote avfir eaat in Uw county. Us is
in fine trim fbr the fight—aa gallon' and
knightly as when be led the soldier Lay* in
the valley* of Virginia
General Gordon i* tlio candidate of no
dlqne or Action. He baa in larger measure
than was thought passible united tho rank
and file of the two wings into which tho
party ha* for several years been divided. In
a singular degree the leaders In the Colqnltt
and Norwood campaign have come together
in his support. The old differences are for
gotten in tha enthusiasm hit leadership
evokes.
In abort, the campaign looks well. Better
really than we would care to say. The peo
ple of middle Georgia will hear General
Gordon dnringthe coming week and the in
dication* are that the enthtulamn all along
the line will be nomcthing nnnanai. The
friends of General Gordon may re*t assured
he will hear himself gallantly, aa he basal*
way* done.
Kiperlment* In Prohibition.
The Kbode Island legislature A engaged
in devising method* of enforcing the newly
adopted oonilitntionil prohibition amend
ment, and there is a diversity of opinion
over the kind of law* that are odered for
that purpose. Home think the enforcement
•f the amendment would be aecnred by
harsh law* and heavy penalties, while
ethers favor a .'moderate system. One bill
leoka to a special slate constabulary, whose
duties should not esteud beyond the en
forcement ol prohibition. Other* think
the eherifih should appoint special ileputiw
for the work. Other* think tho present
executive machinery of the elate sufficient.
The truth is, *U are at sea, with no mariner
to lead them up to safety and an enforce
ment of the new law.
Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Kan-
ms and Iowa hare prohibition, and their
experience A not tall of encouragement to the
friendsofprohibitien. In Vermont prohi
bition is, in the absence of largo towns, be
coming the rule, and every year harsher
measures an adopted.. Special proeecutore
are now employed in the Vermont courts,
and everybody ie invited to turn informer.
A port of every fine goes to the informer.
A few aaloons are kept open, bnt they are
subjected to frequent and heavy tinea. In
the conn* of e year one man in Rutland has
paid over $3,000 in fines, and several others
have each pciid nearly as much. No doubt
prohibition comes nearer prohibiting the
sale of Uqnore in Vermont than in any
ether state.
The beet kind of legislation in such a east
is not yet agreed upon; bnt alx states—
Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Rhode
blend, Kansas and low.t—end scores of lo
ve! option counties are applyiug the crociol
test ot practice, and we will doubtless soon
know whether harsh or wtl penalties are
the mere effective in preventing the sale of
intoxicating liqnore. This etato is very
largely interested in the experiment*.
General Gordon and Hie Candidacy.
A review of the argument* made against
the candidacy of General Gordon by the pa
pers that oppose him, may be sommarixnl as
fcllosrt:
1. That General Gordon shontd nota'plro
to the office be*ao»e it belongs to Majoe Bo-
con. It is new
Gnrgia that tb*
their vote*, given it to him. Still more will
they be surprised to leam that tha right to
this office has been acquired by successive
defeats and hy a canvass extending over
nearly an entire decade. The pretense is
absurd. Major Baaon lias no right to the
office nntil the people give, it to him. Until
then the hnmblest citizen of the state has
frill and unequivocal and indisputable right
to contest with him for it before the people.
Major Baeon is nn honorable and estimable
gentleman. If the people want him to be
governor they will say so, and that will end
it. It they do not want him, they cannot
be bulldozed into taking him on the gronnd
that no one elso has Uto right to ssk for it.
2. That Major Bacon should bare It bo-
cottse he was cheated out of it. Mqjor
Bacon was defeated for the nomination by a
regularly called democratic convention, tin*
der a perfectly parliamentary proceeding,
before an honorable committee. It may
have been unjust to him—grant it. Bat
General Gordon lias been "cheated ont of it,"
slstf— not by democrat,, in democratic con
venlion assembled, though open and regnlar
and unassailable procedure, Imtby republicans
hoi ked by bayonets, and in the most shame
less end indefensible manner. He lost it not
tillei n mild and pleasant still-lmnt among
democrats, bnt it woe stolen from him after
n campaign in whicli every speech woe made
under menace—in whicli every act was one
of heroism,and which stands still nncqunlied
in courage and brilliancy in tho political un-
ntls of Ibe state. ■ If one wrong has been
committed, ns claimed by Major Bacon’s
friends, certainly two have been. Will any
democrat hesitate as to which was the most
flagrant, anil whicli was looght for more gal
lantly, and which needs redress most ur
gently.
3. That General Gordon is the candidate
of what certnin persons are pleased to call
"Ihc Atlanta ring." The lint two argu
ments are foolish. Tho third is false. As
the campaign develops this will be abund
antly proven. It will appear that the very
men who have fonght the so called “Atlanta
ring" most bitterly anti moat oonsplcuonsly,
are the moot earnest supportsra ot General
Gordon. Name after nnrno ot those who
hare led tho assaults against tho alleged
"ling" from first to last will bo foond fore
most in tho ranks of* General Gonlon’s sup
porters. Indeed the earliest calls upon him,
and the most persistent, were made by those
who have been praised as the stontest oppo
nents of the alleged "ring.” All of which
will duly nppear.
It will bo remembered that tha so-cnllod
“ring" is at list the people. The candi
dates supported hy what is called the "ring"
have received unprecedented major!tio>. If
there wu a “ring" the people were in it.
Those who were charged with being tlio
"ring" havo always demanded the fullest
and freest expression* oi the popular will.
Tliry have steadfastly opposed caucuses,
small moss meetings ud little country town
cliques. They have persistently demanded
primary elections through which the peo
ple could speak directly, beyond the possi
bility of misrepresentation. That position
lo token hy General Gordon and his rapport-
on, and find* its only opposition in une of
Mgjor Bacon’s leading rapporter*. The
ehargo that General Gordon is supported hy
s conspiracy Alio to tho ground when ho
and his supporters demand n direct appeal
to the ballot-box. They declare against the
eancus and for the people. Does that smack
of “conspiracy?"
The arguments against General Gordon
■re untenable. In view of the fact that
they could nut possibly last through the
campaign, It is fortunate that General Gor*
den will himself present some issue* that
will take their place. These imue* will be
live, pertinent and will touch the interests
of the people. When they are Airly sprang,
the present puerile twaddle will bo swept
away. General Gordon never has, in peace
or war, fonght n halting campaign, and he
dots nut propose to do it now.
The Ulster ltebelllon. -
Tho lories and disaffected liberals are
nsing Ulster to bulldose the homo-rale bill;
nntl at a distance the noise they mek* may
fccm very threatening. Bnt the troth is,
Ulster Is not the home exclusively of Protest
ants and Saxons. The majority ot the poo*
pie in Ulster are, in Act, Catholics and
Celt*, and moot of the member* of parlia
ment from that province are devoted follow-
ets of Mr. Parnell. A rebellion in Ulster
conltl lie crashed by the friends of Irish
autonomy in that province alone. The whole
Ulster story to rapped by tho otatemont that
the hero of the Soudan will lead a howling
mob of Orangemen! If the Ulster Protest
ant* went n leader they will he npt to look
for a heller man than the little braggart who
was glad to fold hi* tents and silently steal
away from the Arabs of the Xilo.
The Netv York Mail and Kxpress recently
procured the views of the moat distinguished
ex-resident of Ulster in this country. Wo
refer to Dr. McCosh, president of Princeton
college. He understand* Ulster thoroughly,
and in tho course oi a letter he reviews all
the point! of the case; and in conclusion be
adviare aa acceptance of Mr. Gladstone’s
plan to n continuance of the Irish troubles.
Dr. John Hall rapports the view* ol Dr.
hUCoah, and so do many other leading Pres
byterian divine*. Dr. Hall to an Ulster man.
•inch men areas apt to look at tho qatetlon
with impartiality, sound judgment and
brcadlhofview as the anthoreof the Ulster
appeal. Tha Utter are affected by the beat
of the conflict. They stand too near to in
clearly. _
Major Bacon and Mr. Stephens.
The Macon Telegraph, alluding to Major
Baron’s nee*, says: "Major Bacon hss nev
er been before but two gubernatorial conven
tion*. In ono he was withdrawn to nukt
way for Mr. Stephens.”
Withdrawn to make way for Mr. Ste
phens" is rich! The pnblie remember* vary
distinctly with what rancor and bltterneee
the campaign In Major Bacon’s Interest woe
waged against Mr. Stephens. Tb* old man
was assaulted with ferocity. Hto very age
and decrepitude wo* wade the subject of a
venomous criticism. Hto mental soundness
was even questioned, and it was charged that
be w oe a wreck, lie was called an imbecile,
and os usual wu* charged with being in tb*
“Attoate nag," and brought out “to defeat
Major Bacon."
The campaign went on. Tha old man,
grand even in hto Ailing year*, met hi* aa-
ed for tbeir suffrages. All tbie time he was
denounced as the creature of "the Atlanta
ring," brought ont "to beat Major Bacon.
When the people had spoken it we* found
that in spite of hto feeble health and failing
strength he had fonght to good pnrpove, and
secured n clear and nndtopated majority.
Even then be was not left in peace. The
friend* of Major Bacon attempted to pat the
two-thirds rale on the convention in order
that the old commoner might be pnt in a
corner and badgered nniil he was exhausted
and the prize fell elsewhere. The pnblie
well remembers this fight for the two-third*
rale. The attempt to pnt it on th* conven
tion wo* defeated.
Thto settled the matter. With a loosing
majority of the delegate*, and the two-thirds
rale beaten, Mr. Stephens’* nomination was
simply a question of enUlng the rolL
Then-end not till then—Major Bacon
"was withdrawn to make way for Mr. Ste
phens.” Then—and not till then—did he
suspend hto fight for the governorship, to be
pnldicly taken ap again when the old com
moner woe lying in state in the capital, and
the people, with bowed heads, were mourn
ing Uto death.
Gordon’! Victory In Lee.
The lesson of yesterday’a election in Lee
to a simple one, and will not he misunder
stood.
Lee was one of the ronntles that was fixed
for Bacon. It was a part of the little conrt-
honse crop that was to be pulled before it
was ripe and chances taken on its spoiling.
Gordon bad not been heard of as a candidate
and it really did look like a dead thing for
the Bacon manager*.
But the old general happened tohearabont
it and he dropped in to see the boy* He felt
lonesome on hto way down there. Senator
Long sny* there were bnt two Gordon men
in the county. Major Baeon went with
him. The major realized that the little court
house crop has to be handled mighty carc-
frilly, eejwcially when it to palled ont of
season. So he went along to see what Gen
eral Gordon was going to do to It
There was a joint discussion. The Baeon
paper* said Mqjor Bacon demolished General
Gordon. Thto mny be. But before the
general wits demolished he managed to tip
root Major Bacon’s little court houie crop.
The two Gordon men had grown to forty
time* us many. The Bacon ranks were
broken and the Bacon programme smashed
hy a vote of 84 to 67. Thto was bettor than
General Gordon or hto friends hoped for.
They expected to rally enough good men to
rail a halt in the cut-aud-dried programme.
Bnt no more.
Leo county hss done nobly in rebnking
this attempted trick on the people. Other
counties will emphasize what she has done.
Let the people speak and their voice will lie
heard. Before the campaign to much older,
the wrong that has been committed in some
counties will be righted.
salients with indomitable oourage. Like
Richelieu, he gathered himself superbly for
dectrioe to the people of I the death straggle, sad shaking off with
highest office In their gift I equal disdain ridicule and abuse, went
betona. to “J Btefibt ®PUI they hove, by J amosig hi* people in hi* roller choir sod *«k-
Tho Trunk Murder Cose.
Ons of the greatest mnrder trials of tho
age to now in progress at St. Louis.
More than a year ago, the body ol Preller,
a young Englishman, was found cat np and
packed in a trank. Circumstantial Evi
dence strongly pointed to hto friend and
companion, Maxwell, at the murderer.
Then occurred an exciting race between
jostles and the murderer. Steam was on
tho lido of tho criminal; it carried him to
theotherendoftho world. Electricity was
on the side of the law; it headed off the ftigi
tire in New Zealand.
Maxwell wni brought buck to 6L Louis,
and for a year hss languished in jail. Dar
ing hto lung confinement, tho murderer bus
battled cariosity. Brazen and flippant, and
yet effeminate and dndtoh, he strikes every
body as the very tost man in tbs world to be
guilty of the brntal butchery with which he
to charged. Yet the paints against him will
be hard to get over. He woe with Preller a
longtime. He hod no money, and Preltor
had plenty. After the murder, Maxwell
woe flush. He fled under a false name.
Freller’s clothing and other efforts were
found in Maxwell' < tranks.
They bare had < msidcrablo difficulty in
getting a jury, and os it mast be composed
of men who have formed no opinion, tha
probability to that it will consist of doll,
ignorant men who will he easily influenced
by appeals to acquit on the score ot "reason-
able doubt” The case excites greet inter
est in England as well es in thto country.
How Do You Iilka This?
The following chute paragraph appeals
in the editorial columns ol the Montezuma
Record:
IVc had rather be a bob-tolled “jailer" dog than
to be iloneral Ferdinand-Word-Urant Gordon dur-
In* the comte* racket. Lardy) won't he catch It!
IVc are very much mistaken in the people
of Msron county if they indorse thto sort of
talk shout General Gonlon. Wo era very
sure the people of Georgia will pnt their ear
nest and emphatic rebuke on it.
General Gordon and HU Reoord.
American history records the names of tha
very fewest more singularly successful men
then General John B. Gordon.
As a soldier, General Gordon entered the
army u captain of the Coonskin Ranger*,
lie fought bis way ap, stop by step
until at Appomattox he was Lee’s
trusted and belov*d lieutenant gen
eral. He led the tost assault of the con
federate forces against the federal*, snd was
chosen by Lee to make the tost offensive
movement against Grant. Uto war record
read* like a romance. Without military ed
ucation or prestige, the on known country
captain became Amou* as » soldier wherever
the English language to spoken, and stands
in history as “the light arm of Lea."
A* a statesman, he was pnt in the United
Stales senate without a day of parliamentary
training. He maintained himself grandly
among the ablest debaters of the age, and
was ens of th* unquestioned leader* of that
foremost of the legislative assemblies of th*
world. In practical statesmanship— in tho
actual work of striking off the fetter* of the
sonthern stats*, be U coo tewed to have been
without an equal. So brilliant and satisfac
tory was hto record that he was re-elected to
the irnate without a dissenting vote. The
■naivel of thto to that be had guns into the
senate without s day of previous political
experience except what be had gained in the
masterly campaign for governor that re
deemed the state from its apathy under mil-
ittry rale. Did any man ever make a more
hrilltoot political record *
As a business man, 1st us so* how he stands.
Having given twenty years of bis liA almost
without interruption to tha ssevies of hto
peep's, in peace and wart his poverty when
he resigned his seat in the senate was snob
as to be intolerable to a proad and self-re
specting man. His proverbial generosity
had swept away all that ho had save the
home for hto wife and children. He went to
work undismayed, however, nud in an in
credibly short time organised and perfected
a company for building the Georgia Pacific
rood. Through thto company $5,000,000
capital was bronght to Georgia, and the price
of every ton of coal burned in Georgia re
duced fully one-half. His colleagues made
large fortunes out of thto enterprise, which
he failed to realise for himself, by reason of
his devotion to the enterprise. Since then
he has organised another company for build
lug a road through Florida, the snece* ol
which to sfsured, and ont ol which ha has
made a comfortable fortune. All thto—and
it to enough to satisfy the whole life of most
men—be has done in a few years, without
‘money or credit, commercial training or
financial hacking, in a time of great depres
sion and distruat. YYhat one of hto critics
can show a better business record?
In Ibe three departments of onr public
life—aa soldier, statesman and financier—bis
success has been remarkable. Many men
have succeeded in one, or even two of these—
what other man has succeeded so exception
ally in nil ? General Gordon to a great man.
He to a good man. ne will make a great
historic governor. Georgia will honor her
self in honoring him. And hto name and
fume will lie precious to Georgia when those
who denounce him have been forgotten and
forgotten.
Exposing An Absurdity.
At a meeting of friends of General Gordon
in tills city on yesterday, to perfect organiza
tion in hto interest, over half those preseut,
by actual count, were prominent supporters
of Norwood in the Colqnitt-Norwood cam
paign. The chairman was Dr. R. D. Spal
ding, one of the ablest of (he anti-Colquitt
leaders— the occretary, Mr. Smith, one of
the most active of Norwood men. The first
speaker was ex-Governor Smith, the leader
of Bacon’s forces in the last convention, and
for years the bead and front of the anti-Col-
qnitt movement. The next wss Mr. Walter
Brown, the chairman of the Norwood cam
paign committee. And soon through the
list of the most notable anti-Colquitt men of
the past six years.
A short time ago these gentlemen were
praised as tho pure and incorruptible ele
ment of state politics. They were the salt
that was to leaven the whole lamp. No
praise was too strong for them. Now they
are abused as "the Atlanta ring" that to cor
rupting the politics ol the state and patting
shame on the commonwealth. A few short
months ago the Bacon organs avouched them
ns high-minded patriots—now, they are de
nounced as ringsters. Whoever to not for
Bacon belongs to "tho ring.” Notwith
standing the fact that hto leading opponents
have fonght the alleged "Atlanta ring” with
firmness and ability, the moment they op
pose Bacon they, themselves, are "the At
lanta ring.”
The truth to, the people are for Gordon.
Thto is why yon find the old Colquttt-Nor-
wood lines wiped ont whenever yon strike a
Gordon meeting. The snperb character of
Gordon attracts all cliques and factions, and
to gathering a support that comes nearer
uniting nil elements of the party in this state
than has been seen since Governor Smith left
ibe governor’s choir. That to why he and
hto friends ask for primary elections, so that
the roico of the people may bo heard. And
that to why the friends of Major Bacon op
pose primaries and are stroiniag every nerve
to lrarry up tbeir little coarthonie meetings
before Gordon ran get before the people.
The Primary ve. the Canons.
The Athena Banner,one of the most earnest
supporter* ol M*jor Baeon, will not advance
that gentleman’* claims by denouncing the
system of primary elections. In a late issue
it says: “It (the primary) to ono of ths most
•nccrssfril forces ever put on the political
stage."
U anything is settled in our political his
tory, it to that the little "coartboaso meet
ing" doc* not satisfy the people, and that
the primary election does satisfy them. The
one to the device of the politicians; the
other to the method of the people. The one
incites revolt in the party rank*; the other
infallibly qnieto party disaffection.
Will the Banner say that the meeting of
forty-one people that assembled in Clarke
county courthouse, the other day, was as
safe and os Air an expression of the wilt of
the peoplo aa will be, foe instance, the
primary which to ordered to be held in
Houston county next month? In on* par
ticular alone the primary will always pre
vail over the canens: It prevents snap-
judgment. IU decision must be deliberate
end open. Its issues mutt be discussed and
all tbe people participate in its verdict.
With tbe courthouse meeting it is different.
It can he called hurriedly, its proceedings
cut and dried, end indulged in only by n
few. Take, for instance, the meeting in the
Benner’s own county. It was called without a
simile reason, so for os the pnblie can see, ex
cept to get quick judgment and advance the
claims of a certain candidate. It was called
before even the state committee had met to
call the convention to which Us delegates
were appointed. Only forty-one people, os
tbe vote shows, fook-ptit in its p oceodlngs,
and twenty delegates were chosen. The
committee of five sent ont to select delegatee
selected font of it* own number and the
chairman who appointed them. Dost the
Banner maintain that this sort of thing
compere* to the primary election tor fairness
and freedom and accuracy in expressing the
popular will?
The state committee should order prima
ries in every county. It should do thto re-
gordlcss of whose candidacy it effects, be
cause it is right and lair, and to tbe only way
to get at the true wtoheo of the party.
The Public Lunds.
A land Amine can be averted daring many
years to come if congress can ire induced to
stand firmly up to the good work of the pub
lic lands committee of the house. Thomas
R. Cobb, of Indiana, to the chairman of this
committee, end hto associates are men whom
the syndicate cannot corrupt. The value of
their work in the committee room caonot be
over-estimated. They are try ing to reeorer
ler tbe people many millions ol acres, and to
pus laws that will prevent frauds hereafter.
In the first place, they ask congress lo re
peal the pre-emption, timber-culture and
desert-land acta. Under th* shelter of these
law* most of the toad-grabbing of the mo
nopolies and syndicate* to done. All of them
have been found in practice to encourage
aad protect systematic spoliation of the pub
lic domain to so vast an extent that at this
moment only about fifty millions of acres of
arable lauds remain for homesteads for the
people; though, fortunately, if this congress
does itsdnty, not less than ons handred and
fifty million* more will be recovered.
The committee has also reported a number
of land-grant forfeiture bills by which a vast
arcs of public lands will be justly recovered
for the benefit of the people, and held, if
had laws are repealed, for actual settlement
on such,terms as will rigorously guard them
against land-grabbing.
One of the forfeiture bills has already
passed tho house and to in the hands of the
senate public lands committee, where it hoe
Iain for several months. Thto bill declares
the forfeiture of 8,000,000 acres of land in
the heart of the sonthern states. These
lends were granted thirty years ago, in
1860. Not one of the roods for which the
land was granted has ever been built. On
not one ol them has even a mile of track
ever been laid. On only one of them—
the Gnlf and Ship Island—has a spade ever
been struck into the-ground, and that was
for mere speculative purposes, two or three
years ago, In an endeavor to keep a grant
alive which hid long ago justly lapsed. Yet
these eight millions of fertile acres in the
heart of the sonthern states have been held
since 1860, for thirty years, through war
nud peace, sacred against tho occupation oi
farmers and for tho beaefit of extinct or
speculative corporations. .Surely it is high
time to restore these millions of acres to tire
public domain and to the use and occupation
of the people.
Taking Snap Judgment on tbe People.
A correspondent bos sent ns the follow
ing suggestive article:
I.xG*xxr.r, o*., Mar 11. IMS.—Editors Comtitn-
tion: The democracy of Georgia ought to protsat
In tbe most emphatic manner against the tote
meeting In Clarke county.
That meeting wu without the shadow or «•
cure or Justification except to foreclose the Issue
against General Gordon before he had a hearing.
Called three weeks even before the state commit
tee hod met to call the convention, Ita only pur-
peae must have been to secure the delegates for
Bacon before any other candidate had * chance
to be heard. Wax this fair or democratic? If the
county meeting can properly be called before tbe
state committee bu met *nd called tbo conven
tion, w hy wu It not called last year? Bacon was
a candidate then. If this principle I* admitted,
why may we not expect little county meetings to
be held In tb* next campaign alx months before
the itate committee meets.' Where I* the limit to
bo act, if not with the meeting of the *ttte com
mittee?
If »ny democrat ol Clarke eunnty can show any
reason iwby pony discipline should be Ignored
and this meeting called now instead of two
months later—except to "run in” the Bacon dele
gates before the campaign had opened and lta
Issue* dlxcnttcd—thousands or democrats will be
glad to hear them? As it now stands, it looks like
a snap Judgment that should neither bo permitted
orlndoned. While I write this In the Interest of
democratic unity and lucceia, I algn myself in
frankness, A Stxoxq Gordon Max.
Our correspondent to right If the right
of n county to select delegates three weeks
before the state committee has met, to ad
mitted, there to no reason why they should
not select delegates twelve months before
the state committee has met If 41 men had
the right to meet lut Friday, and pledge the
delegatee of that county to a convention not
jet called, to Mqjor Bacon, they hod the
snruc right to have met last September and
have done tbe earn* thing. Aeqnieeeence in
thto practice may lead to very ugly result*
in the ftitnre. Some of Mqjor Bacon’* support
ers have spoken out against this matter. In
two of tho counties prematurely polled for
Major Bacon, the result of the "meetings”
will be reversed hy a popular movement
General Gordon and hto friends ask for
primaries in every county. They reeognixe
the people as supreme. They wont nothing
that the people will not give through tho
ballot-box. If Major Baeon and hi* friend*
will join them in thto respect, the people
will have the chance to control the election,
otherwise the politicians will control. Re
member, General Gordon and hto friends ask
for primaries. Mqjor Bacon’s friends oppose
them. Thto toenc cannot be obscured.
General Gordon Want* Primaries.
The charge that General Gonlon to th*
candidate of a ring or clique, to utterly dit-
proven by the Act that General Gordon and
hto friends ask for open primaries of the peo
ple.
Conspirator* and wire-pullers do not seek
the ballot-box. They avoid the ballot-box.
Their hope* *ro based on little oonrthouae
meeting* and hack room caucuses.
General Gordon aeka for primary elections.
Major Bacon’* friend* denounce primary
election* aa forces. Mqjor Baeon declines to
join General Gordon in requesting the itate
committee to recommend primaries in every
county, Major Bacon says the time has
come when campaigns should be ran in the
interest* of the people, rather than of certain
men. That to precisely why we want pri
mary elections. The primary cannot be
controlled, or Joggled, or throttled. It to
the people themselves epeaking through the
ballot-box. Little Aurthouse meetings may
misrepresent the people, and take snap judg
ment. They often do. The primary cannot,
and never does.
The impreeeion prevails that Mqjor Bacon
to stronger with a few politician* in each
county than he it with the people. Hto op
ponent* claim that if hto little coterie of per
sonal friend* in each county are not permit
ted to fix "little courthouse meeting*,” he
will be beaten. It to also charged that Gen
enl Gordon to the candidate of local rings,
and that bis election depends on wire pall
ing. Bnt General Gordon and hto friends
aik for primary elections in every ooonty.
Mqjor Bacon’s friends denounce primaries,
snd praise little courthouse meetings. Where
does the “ring and wire palling” appear
lobe?
Tub Constitution hoe always Avored
primary elections. They afford the fairest
and clearest method of finding the popular
will—the most certain and decisive way of
exprtsaing it Tha email courthouse meet
ing, manipulated by n few aklllAil hands,
are the curse of tbe party: In many cose*
they have overthrown the party. In nil caeca
they produce dtomttofoctton. Tbe primary
election clean the at mosphere, sattoffc. all far-
tione, and makes the i«riy decision authori
tative. General Gordon and hto friends de
clare for primary elect tons. Major Bacon's
friends oppose them. Itet the people decide
which side relies nn a ring and which side
relies on the people.
Wild Wind* at Work.
It seems that May of tbe present yearji*
destined to correspond with the same month
in the cyclonic year of 'seventy-fire.
Great ctoruu have not only vixited various
paste of this country daring the past few
weeks, but they hive swooped dowa upon
W .SfWK*.,.** 8co«l*nfcj3**N*w
York Herald thus summarizes tbe scientific
theory bearing upon tbe present aspect oi
the weather problem:
Tbe proverbltl mIdM.y disturbances, which in
probably now developing around the whole tern,
terete zone, con be more limply explained. This
is thcpezlod when the barometer la foiling ner.
mancmly for the reason in this soas, both &>:u.
rope and America, while there to no eocraspondlne
decrease of premtre ever the circumpolar « rc »
The conaeqnene* to that tbe srctlo sir currents tra
drawn down upon our northern oontloonto, which
thus become the battlclteldffbrtheeoafUctbetwann
the equatorial snd polar wtodi Old u thtoeir
plans' Ion to. It to rounder than any modern ttmon
of great continental tornadoes. Observation shows
abnormal and gen err 1 rise of the thermometer,
even when the barometer remains almost steadr
seldom oectm without toraadlc or at Wast violent
whirlwinds.
We like this old theory .better than nine
of the fanciful explanation* given by recent
writer*. Ai leaat it is reasonable. No
weather prophet Is able to predict the ont-
look for the remainder of tbe season. The
coming Bummer may be exceptionally se
vere, bnt it is plain that for some weeks tho
Atmospheric conditions all over the world
have been regular storm breeders. It wiU
not help ns mnch to speculate upon the fu
ture movements of the Storm King. We
cannot head him off. We mast take what
comes.
COVERED BY A REVOLVER.
A Farts Banker Brought to Time by a Desper
ate Forcer*
Paris, May 10.—Baron Soubeyran, tho well-
known financier, Is the hero of a dramatic
adventure. As he was coming down the stair
case of the Banquo d'Escompte building, an
ex-employe, named Pillot, who had fled from
justico after committing forgery, stopped him
and appealed for charity. Touched by the
man's miserable appearance, Baron Sonbeyran,
who Is a director of the Fonciere, told him tj
come up stairs and took him in tho bank
board room, where he sat down and
waited to hear his story. The doors
and walla of the room are exception
ally thick, of which Tillot seemed well
aware, for hardly had they eutered when Pit*
lot drew a revolver and pointed ic at the baron,
exclaiming:—'Three fifty thousand frano
drafts on Geneva to my order at once, or I'll
blow vour brains ont!" Ho looked so deter
mined that the financier, afters vain attempt
to dharm his assatlaut, saw no help for it, and
complied. Having examined the drafts and
seen that they were all in order, Pillot pat
them in his pocket and backed toward the
door, keeping his weapon pointed flill at tho
laion. Before the clerks could come to the
rescue ho bolted down stairs nnd escaped. In
formation was immediately given, and polico
detectives and telegrams were sent out in all
directions. Billot took the express for Oen-
eva, and on arrival at the station there was at
once arrested by the Swiss police. He now
lies in a jail ponding tbe fulfilment of extra
dition formalities,
DURING THE WEEK.
Tuesday, May 11.—Turkey and Greece are
hurrying troops to tho front; several European
papers are of the opinion that Russia will secretly
support Greece Tho gravet of both confederate
sod union soldiers were decorated in Danville,
Va., by the citizens of that place ...The Greek
ministry has resigned Property to tbo value of
about §75,000 wu destroyed by fire in Gainesville,
Fla.
Is* Tnr. Citv —James Anderson broke his left leg
below the knee by falling from tho bridge over the
East Tennessee, Virginia and Georgia railroad..,..
Lieutenant Brackett, of tbe Governor’s Horse
Guard, has tendered his rerfguation to tho gover
nor The dog wagou has commenced its summer
work W. A. Norcd lost a huger In tho machinery
of Finley’siurniturc factory while he waa working,
Wednesday, Mat 1-.—Austria.Hungary Xua*
raised the duties on half refined American petro
leum 15 per cent and made the tariff on wholly
refined petroleum prohibitory......Cholera con
tinues to spread In ltaly...~.A monument has been
erected In Glasnonla, Ireland, In memory of O'Don
nell, who killed James Carey, tbe Informer In the
trial of the Fhccnlx park murderers Tho steam
ship Acadia, of Baltimore, Is reported lost at sea.
Vicksburg, Miss., Is in the midst of a military
tournameut Genital ghalcr, who has been tried
twice lor bribery, has betn requested to resign his
olllce by tho governor of New York Dr. J, C.
Beard has resigned the dr mucrstlcfnwaloatloa for
congress In tho second district of Louisians.
In tiij: City*—Tbe Firxt MethodUt church, on
Peachtree street, Is being repaiuted and otherwlao
Improved.... G. &G.Hardlck,acarpenter, chopped
off one of his fingers while carelessly handling a
hatebetre^.. Jim Lawshe, who served a term In tbe
national penitentiary for counterfeiting money,
was found guilty of burglary In the superior eonrt.
Thursday, May 13.—N. D. Wallace, president
of tbe produce exchange of New Orlrans, has been
nominated by tbe democrats for oongress in the
placo of J. C. Beard, declined....The esses of
Manuel Morel and General DeGardo, alleged lead
ers of Soto’s filibustering expedition agalust Hon
duras, wero called In the'United States circuit
court in New York Ou tbe sveond of June next
the South Carolina free trade awoclatlon will meet
In Columbia.
In the city.—Barkeepers and whisky dcalewi
generally are preparing to leave Atlanta, at on
July 1st the town goes “dry.” There wero throa
small tires In the city yesterday The great coun
cil of the Improved Order of Red Men is in session
In Atlanta, and delegatee from all OTcr the stato
are present.
Friday, May 14.—The Comte doMomy, French
minister to Greece, has sailed for France from
Athens Sir Frederick Roberts, commander of
tbe Indian army, will be recalled from India to
take chief command of tho army In Ireland,....*
Arthur J. Grover, who murdered Granville Q,
Loomis In Wood county, Ohio, was hanged Tho
iury for the trial of Alderman Jaehne was com
pleted In New York The firm of Tyson Jt Bro.,
Baltimore, assigned.... a panel of throe hundred
special Jurors, who have been summoned In St*
Louis to try tbe Maxwell murder case, hat been
exhausted without making a Jury Three peraooa
were Instantly killed In a smashup on the Indian
apolis, Bloomington and Western railroad of In-
'lana.
In the CiTY.-Govcrnor McDaniel has offered a
reward of one hundred dollars for the arrest of
William Wright, who shot and killed Rebecca L.
Bailey In this county In March last .The con
federate veterans’ executive committee met last
night and transacted boilne* of Importance to
that organization .The Grant park Is becoming
more popular every day Artesian water piped
are being sunk In Whitehall street.
Saturday, May 15.—A slight shock of earth
quake waa felt In Scotland Fourteen passenger*
were injured by tbe train being thrown down tbo
embankment on tbe Baltimore and Ohio railroad
atDcshlcr, Ohio .Stephans, the Englishman who
la engaged in making a tour onableyde around
the world, has been arrested while doming tbo
frontier of Afghanistan.
In the CiTY.-Jamea Waters, a young negro man,'
bad a leg broken while working with a mule^M*
Tbe Knights Templars of this city are preparing
to go to Augusta to attend tbe grand eoauaaadery,
which meets on Tuesday next .....There Is talk of
organizing another military company In Atlanta.
Mr. Elam Johnson, one of Atlanta’s beat and
moat progressive citizens, died yesterday.
Sunday, May HL—Twelve oouvlcts underwent
the punishment of tbe pillory *ud whipping post
at Newcastle, Delaware, ten being negroes and
two whiter Tbe Ohio senate adopted • resolu
tion requeuing the United Htstes senate to prose
cute ti e Inquiry relative to the scat of .-Senate*
Fayne....Bartley Campbell, the celebrated play-
writer snd actor, bs> been adjudged Insane,, and
will be sect to aa asylum..... Richard Biggins and
Thomas Barrett were draw ned at TuscuabU, Mo,,
while frying to stretch a caLlt wire across the
river..... The British yacht Galatea, which la to
compete in the races in American waters for the
America’s cup, left London for New York.
In tub City — It b more than probable that tha
leading huzineas houn-a of Atlanta will close their
- — - m x o'clock .to allow th*tr darks
r»#». Wfttla Cook, a l
who figured fu the fight between revenue
‘ noonthineij at Red Oak. about alx yean ago.
who left fbr the we-t returned to his old
home a few days ago. and Deputy Marshal Me-
DonaJd.'beering of hfc retire, went to arrest him.
' said he wu ready to give up aad face