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10
' THE SOUTH AS IT IS.
The Constitution’s Correspond
ents Begin Their Tour
OFTHESOUTH, WITH ALABAMA FIRST.
Montgomery, Ala., October 29.—[Staff Cor
ceipondence of The Constitution.]— Standing
’on the capitol terrace in the shadow of the old
/Confederate capitol, looking out and around on
mH sides, it is hard to realize that the busy,
i prosperous city and scene before you is the
>aanio place that ten years before seemed so un
’ progressive.
And when yon step inside the old statehouse,
end look through the volumes there that mark
the progress of Alabama from year to year, it
is still more difficult to comprehend that a peo
rde who, from time immemorial, have been
blessed with a princely inheritago, should have
allowed it to remain neglected and almost
wasted for .so many years.
The Alabama of today, in all its physical
resources, is the same as the Alabama of twen
ty years ago, and yet the state, by reason of
development, has so far outgrown the size ami
lineaments of its youth as to bo almost un
recognizable.
“You Georgians,” said a prominent official,
arrogate to your state the name of
•empire state of the south,'and y< t, do you
know that the state of Alabama has contribu
ted more to the reputation of the south abroad,
for the glory of its soil, climate, resources—
everything, rather than Georgia? You have
the honor now, but we put you on notice, that
as quickly as public sentiment can be enlight
ened, the glory and all that’s in the name will
be ours!”
There was a kind of prophetic ring in the
jnan“s tone that 1 did not like, but suppose wo
Iseo if tli» n» is anything in what he says.
Ten years ago the value of taxable prop
erty in Alabama was ,535,792, and thepeo
ndo were paying a rate of mills upon that
[amount. In other words, the state tax-rate in
i Alabama ten years ago was over double what
it is today in Georg.a, the value of taxable
being less than one-half as much.
/Ton yhara is but a short while,
and development must 1h) mar
vellously swift when sis short a period
! produces the wonderful change Alabama pro
rents today, w hen its taxable property is \ alm d
at $215,(MX),000. The tax.rate today is < mills,
,or two mills less than in I<6. th:> is a high
rate, but when iterance is known it should
Hand as a mark of the honesty and integrity of (
this people.
When the democrat* iegained the state in
1874, thej found it burdened with a debt some
thing like thirty millions of dollars. They
went to work to lift that debt. The <»nly way I
to rid tie* slate of it w.is to pay it, or by ‘ legal
compromi ■t« W-.bi-• il.- •.u ;y interest by
lower inb rest bearing bonds. Over 7 ;
mills was found necessary to meet the interest i
on the public debt, and though the sum was
unusually large, the people have each year
ipiiid it without a murmur. By judicious, eco
nomical man.i_'« ment it has !>••-n reduced now
to 5J mills, and next year w ill bo only 5 mills.
The thirty million of bonded debt has been
lowered to something over ten millions, an
amount the state can < asily carry, as is attes
ted by the excellent rating it., bonds have in
V allstreet.
WONDERFUL GROWTH IN COUNTIES.
There arc (iG counties in Alabama, and
the last returns to the state auditor from these
counties show this remarkable fact-every
county in the state, without exception, shows
an incr< ae. Jefferson county, in which the
magiQi it y of Birmingham, with its ever rising
value*, i - situated, the richest county in the
Rtato, shows an increase over last year in value
of taxable property of $20,524,598.00—0ne
connlv in th<* state. wln»s<» annual increase ex
cel <is th** sum total of the aggregate increase
of the one hundred and thirty-seven counties
ot i ieorghi!
Is it j ossible that the officeholder w ill, after
nil, have his prophecies confirmed ?
And not only Jefferson county, but Winston
county, the poorest, ho far as values are con
cerned in tlu* state, shows an increase of over
uoo. It is true, that the combined in
crease of values over last year is only
$41,1»91,7(G.’M) of which Jefferson county repie-
Brntso\er ".'6,000,001 > but every counts in the
stale without exception contributes in some [
degree to the measure of general prosperiK.
What could be a b< tt< r test of the prosperily
of thepi-ople.
The state is essentially an agricultural Com
munity. In tlm ye. r- to come il may he just
as truly a manufacturing people. But upon
Ihe prosperity of the tanning class depends,
alter all, ih<- real prosperity of the state. Al
abama retains nio'c plantations today than
any utlmi southern stale, perhaps. The‘owners
of land have not divide d up their inheritance,
t elling a piece here ami a piece there, but as a
idle the houndiirius of iff*’ plantation before
the war mark the limit <d possession now. in
only rare instances are th owners able to farm
jtheir plantations. T<» properly run a place of
two or three thousand acres requires rousid
/tuable mone\ and that commodity is scarce
M ilh the plantm \\ : J do they do?
I Three s\ stems arc omphn rd. Wages. Shares, '
KRentiiig. I’hr nisi is good < n 'i'gh,but its prac
|tice depends upon 11 e p. sse • u n of mono) .and j
'that system is not in gem ral vogue here. she ;
past two arc the usual methods by which the |
jam! is farmed The difference bid ween
’the two is hard to tell, both are bad
enough, for both ,-vr to tin negro al> du to
control over the < ullivati >n o! the crop. If he
gi\ es the land ow m r a part of the crop for the
land, that part will dcp< nd entirely upon the
’energy with which the negro works. The 1
t owner has to advance him provisions. The
<»ml of the year 'omes ami the negro’s part is
■Just about enough to pay for the advone s re
icoived It is a never ending strangle be
tween life :nd death. between sutti. iem and I
Jliungei on the pait of the Clipper, ami all the
while the land is .steadily going down.
This is equally true of the rent system, the
rentci never io king toward improvement,
but nlwayH itriv.ui tor immediate
gain With such system in vogue, with e-dton
the main crop and that crop for the lust three
v ao- ..In. <a i lam. ie. toe i-omlti< nos the \ ■ i
bnma fariner is nut «•. br ht in it ought to be. :
Am! yet he is no worse off than his brethren of
Other
) lie may lw> said to have the advantage in
Borne respect.s. Thu cost of guano, that is so
fs-.umb tothv G-oig.a cotton planter, .b .
Hot enter into tb< uxp Use ;u count of il a
farmer here. The ri h, I ... k .of the pra'u io
land will produce, if pr. | rh worked and vv ith
good sc awn n, a bale to the acre . and even
with unfavorable adjuncts it rarely falls below
half a bale.
In some of the sandy counties of the state,
gvvay from the bhu k b< it. I< it-hzers are used,
and a mill that is in ont ration heie in Mo il
gomery, has about all it can do in supplying
the demand. The use of fertili <i• is not gen
eral in the state, am! there is no r< ason why
the farmer-. Jiould not well, if they into!
hgently w. rk their lan I. Ami there aru s-mo
wno arc doing well. They know their busi
ness. and ea« h y. ar they add to their wealth.
( BIVX'K RAISING IX Al \n\M\.
No better section ex ism anywhere for stack
i using purnosi s than in some parts of \la
bama A large number ot agrieuUnr sts are
flow in the bus no'--., iml you can tell their
farms the x erv instant you strike them by the
ivir of pro pm it v ami general go »d nppeai ance.
1" Blount, ( !.< •. k- I I.ilr, C.. t . S a, Hem v.
l.inv-t.. u . Madison. Manon, ami Talleduga,
bto, \] . . ng hiw bv. ome a regular industry.
A bmt i and tai<, r iand for the purj»o>e
!
; i. S \
pi"
V .hicMwlth energy and intelligent wotk.
U;,; ’ i: " ■■ ■ nlj >t<" y. ir»sit .■ . the m nim
ht(» vastly disci rmbb'. and the onm
clom •; < i - ” , ■" ‘
»
i
Hot. sos 11.1
in the vaulu of iht • »n m • h int ’
the bankers, b . v. •, . ’
Jur the purple of : . . ... , J
THE WEEKLY CONSTITUTION, ATLANTA. GA.. TUESDAY. NOVEMBER 1. 1887.
proceeds of a good sale of cattle or a largo lot
of hay.
GRASS AND CATTLE LEAD TO TROSTBRITY.
“Our people will never bo prosperous until
l they loam a lesson from these men,” said a
Montgomery merchant, “they raise cotton to
some extent, but it is theirsurplnscrop. When
they gather it they do not rush to market
with it to meet a note, but they put it under
a shed and wait for a propitious time to sell
it.”
Talking with an extensive and prominent
planter yesterday, t he question was asked why
' ilon‘l yon raise more corn and meat and less
cotton? His answer was significant. Said he,
“£ou cannot change in a day the entire sys
tem of labor in the state; the negroes would
not be content to work any other crop but cot
ton, unh ss you hired them for wages, and wo
have not the money to do that. '1 lie truth of
' the whole question is, our poverty drives us
back to cotton every year, and the poorer wo
got the more urgent the necessity to raise cot
ton.”
There was a touch of sadness in his strong
voice and a look of pain across his swarthy
face, as he uttered what is after all the real
truth of the story.
It is their poverty that keeps them poor.
THE TAX ON CISTOLS AND J'LOUGHH.
A few years ago the Alabama legislature irn
fiosed a tax upon owners of pistols, dirks,
lovvie knives, etc. Property of this sort is now
i regularly returned for taxation, and the audi
tor’s report for last year shows that the value
I of taxaldc property of this sort as given in,
was sl2! 1.193.04, the cities of Selma, Montgom
ery, and Birmingham being responsible for a
good deal of it. The same year the value of
farming implements was $H7,5<'.7. What a
contrast! Almost five times the amount of
money invested in fanning implements locked
up in deadly weapons! And the people of
Alabama are not always "spilin' for a fight,
either.”
THE FAULT IN THE TAX ASSESSING.
The state groans loudly under the abuses of
its tax collecting system. And other states,
including Georgia, add music to the melan
choly melody. For instance, Alabama has
32,065,ii00 acres of land within its borders, and
yet only 24,97ti,<>17 are returned for taxation.
True there are largo tracts of government land
here, but no estimate places it higher than 3J
million acres, which leaves 4,500,900 acres un
taxed and unaccounted for. This is an abuse
that seems impossible to get at. Nearlv one
sixth of the state paying no taxes! This is
anotin r cause of the high tax rate.
In iss iGeorgi i had money and solvent debts
amounting to S.'M,OOO,<XX), while in the same
year Alabama only returned $7,000,000, and
the proportion is as great now, perhaps more
striking. It is estimated that there is in sight
in Alabama fully as much as ninety millions of
property not taxed, because it is not returned,
and it seems inijMissible to reach it. If there
is any consolation in the thought that she has
company in her misery, let Alabama take
heart, if she be downcast, for her sister state of
Georgia will doubtless show a similar dis
crepancy.
A curious fact was presented today while
compiling some statistics. There are 93,210
horses, \ alued at $5,597,797, in tho state, while
there are only 91,ti1l mules, but they-aggregate
in value 5b,9,2,593. If there is any significance
in the statement, it would seem to be that over
hero a mule is more valuable than a horse.
Tho amount of western meat, hay, grain and
live stock imported into Alabama, is enormous,
and there is no reason why the people should
not raise everything they consume. All that is
needed is an intelligent application of work to
the proper industry. Over in the mineral region
they are establishing pipe works, that require
large quantities of hay in molding. A gentle
man told me yesterday that he had a contract to
furnish 1,5<i0 tons of hay to one company, and
that on that one sale he would make more
money Ilian Ids entire crop of cotton usually
netted him. And the cost of hay to him was
virtually nothing.
The tear hors of tho people are recognizing
the fact that a check must be placed upon cot
ton production, and the people are being per
suaded every day. In all her other industries
the state is wonderfully active and prosperous,
and tho moment the cotton crop is made the
surplus crop, that moment will mark the free
dom of the farmer.
That it may come quickly is tho earnest
wish of those who are closbly watching the
progress of the south in every industry.
U. H. P.
ALIVIXG MASTODON.
Indians Who Aver That They Have Seen a
Wonderful Animal.
From the Junciin, Alaska, Free I*ress.
In conversation with 1). IF. Summers, for
incrly oi Denvi r Colorado, who came out this fall
wllh the first party of miners from Forty Mile Creek,
we learned that the existence of living mastodons
near the headwaters of White River was not
the mere inbricnlions of the northern fur
riers, but that tlie Stick Indians
had positively told him that not later than
five years ago such an animal had been seen by i
them, one of the Indians said that while hunting
one day in that unknown section he came across an
immen u Hack, sunk to a dtq h ul s?\cral inchts in
tie moss, and from the description as the Indian
marked il out to him in the sand, It much resembled
an elephant's track, and was larger around than a '
banct Vpou striking it the Indian followed |
up the curious trail, which, to all appear- ■
a nee, was wry fie*h. and tracking from
une rum- use strid ■ to the other for a. distance of
some miles lie e.irnv in full view of his game And
w t game! The hunter gave one look,then turned
ami tied as though pursued by the evil one. These
Indians as a class are the bravest of hunters, and
with no other weapon than the spear, will attack
and slay the St. Elias grizzly. But the immense
propur* i< ns of this new kind of game both startled
and i.ll--I the buuter, brave ns 10 was, with
fear, uud lie imagined his only safety lay in swift
and immo liatc flight, lie described it as being
larger than Harper's, the post trader’s, store, with
great shining yellouish tusks and a mouth large
enough to swallow him at a single gulp. He said
the nirmul was undoubtedly the same as were the
huge bones scattered over that section. If such an
an.mul is mnv in existence, and Mr. Summerlins
n > ivastm to doubt the veracity of the Indian, as
other Indians, mid also Mr. Harper, had confirmed
it. they inhabit n ss non of very high altitude, and
one but rarely visited by l.uman beiu s, and these
only Indian*. We also have no reason to doubt the
Indian s tale, tor nt no wryrve. n periodthe Yuki n
country was inhabited by these Indians, and hun
da is of their massive skeletons found strewn along
the ereck> me the sliert but truthful nli
ne- s On i’orty Mile creek Itones can be 'ound
i-i e-ting partly from tho sutds and among Hie I
d tvo >1 alum, ihe stream. i»n a crook below this
these skelctoi s m\‘quite numerous, due ivory tusk
’ i -• h iii’ che o v.i a a d bank, and is larger
around than t. man's body. A ■ ingle tooth would l»c
n g » >1 load for n man to carry. This certainly
m. i -l ben rent i eld for the scientist, for, to all ap
-1 • <-.!.nice, ii is rich in nature's vurhisities.
Am »n -, the fur an m i’s may be mentioned tho
I-. it. th- beaver, otter, mink, martin, black, silver
i gi ay mid other fo.ws, H e Siberian black wolf and
• th r animals of V ss note Among the food animals
:ue ilic reindeer, which are the nuvt abundant, an I
:u i m herds fiuin a dozen up to five hundred. Then
ihr iuoonc, carrtbou, sheep, squirrels, grouse mid
; qua 1 Ti e musk ox is also found, but rare, and it
! -,s mo el..mi likely that a few mastodons or mega
| tbc- urn, yet exist. Salmon mid other food tislies
ar? abuiuimil in tho streams.
1 ong Distance Rides Make Men Fatter.
i From ti e Court Journal.
A curious fact is brought to light by Cap.
| tain lhan !' t( s valuable record of “Lung I‘ismine
Rides.. It is that the men who were engaged in
i this ere work seem to gain weight instead of
losing it. This is especially noticeable in the case
of lieutenant Broadwood's ride from Bangalore to
M\so e. and the care and thOA'Ughneas with which
1 that officer's n p »rt has been drawn up guarantee
the figures to be perfectly reliable.
Out of tw rive men w ho made tho m ireb only two
weight bj .i two wolgbod in at tne taint
w .ght as when they started, mid the remaining
e lit all gained. Now, it is well known that men
in hard training often go up in weight, but this is
’ y ae minted for on the ground that t’ c
> l l e '” '■ s t'.s>ue they get rid us is replaced by
Th '! v••ore march, however,lmT' ! only twod.iv-,
■ ;
v. ’.er an Indian sun and a camp diet and yet ’ c
1 • '■ ' lb. d Add \ ditacement. w
mi., le t.'.c marth Horn K.any tee to .hibhvd-.s ;e,
v . • i'.ctußy incioax .! by ... raud ail ‘
< ‘ g poumU.
THE FIGHT FOR LIFE.
Argument Before the United
States Supreme Court
IN THE CASE OF THE ANARCHISTS
Washington, October 27.—The anticipation
of an argument before the United States su
preme court today on petition for a writ of
error in the Chicago anarchists’ case attracted
to tho capitol crowds of eager people who
seemed as anxious to gain admission to tho
court room as if tho anarchists themselves
worn to bo present in chains and leg-fetters
and argue tlieir ow n case in person.
General 14. F. Butler asked tho court how
much time would be allowed for argument.
His brother, Mr. Tucker, represented, he said,
a majority of the petitioners. He himself rep
resented two of tliem, of whose eases were in
some res;>ect, different from those of tho oth
< rs. Ho would not speak merely for the sake
of speaking, but he would not like to be hur
rie<f.
The chief justice asked how much time ho
desired. General Butlersaid lie would like an
hour and a half for himself, and an hour and
a half lor his associate, Tucker.
The chief justice said: “Very well, we will
allow you three hours on a side.”
At a quarter past ono J. Randolph Tucker
opened the argument in support of the petition
tor a writ of error, lie said that it was not
necessary for hiiu to show, as a condition pre
cedent to the granting of the writ, that the ac
tion complained of in the court below- was
actua Uy repugnant to or in violation of the con
stitution. It was only necessary to shoxv that
a conlliet had arisen /that there was a question
w hether the action complained of was not re
pugnant to the constitution. That was enough
to give this court jurisdiction. It was the
object of the statute of ltk>7 to give free access
to this court in all cases where there was a
question of this kind. It was not necessary to
how repugnance, but only a conflict. If there
is a conflict, then this court has jurisdiction,
and if it has jurisdiction then tho petitioners
are entitled to their writ as a right.
"This court,” said Mr. Tucker, “is tho city
of refuge from the avenger of blood, and any
man who comes here and takes hold of the
horns of justice, should not be repulsed. The
policy of this court, ho said, had been to deal
liberally with iietitions for writs of error in
eix il cases. How much more should it deal
liberally with a petition for a writ of error in a
criminal case, involving the issue of life and
death, in a case where life was about to be
taken way in violation of the constitution.”
Mr. Tucker quoted the 14th amendment and
discussed the meaning of the words, "due pro
cess of law.” and said that, although it had
been held by this court that a trial without in
dictment by a grand jury might be "due pro
cess of law” and might be perfectly constitu
tional, it had never been held nurintimated
that a trial by a petit jury could be dispensed
with. It seemed, ho said, to bo everywhere
conceded that tho “duo process of law” re
quired trial by a jury of one’s peers. After
quoting copiously from authorities and ad judged
ca -es in support of this position, Mr. Tucker
said:
Now. If I have succeeded in showing that "due
processor law" meansn trial by jmy, the question
htises what kind of a jury, for it is of essence of a
Ji ry trial that it shall not be before a packed jury—
thata juror shall not have made up hia mind be
fore the ease is heard that I ought to be banged.
SI,OOO
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It is essential that a jury should be unbiased, un
prejudiced and iiuj artlal, and th it it should not be
a <■ ass jury.
Mr. Tucker then assorted that the jury law ,
of the state of Illinois was unconstitutional
in that it provided that the forming of an
opinion from reports or from newspaper ac
counts of a certain transaction should not nec
essarily disqualify a person having such an
opinion from sitting in judgment on that
transaction as a juror. Even although a law
might seem to be fair and just, if by construc
tion and administration it were made to deny
to the prisoners the right of trial by a fair and
impartial jury, then such construction and ad
ministration constituted law and made
it unconstitutional. Turning to an
other question raised which, he
said, wa> a new one in this court, he quoted
the second clause of the 14th amendment to
the effect that
No state shill make or enforce any law which
sha!'. abridge the privileges or immunities of citi
zens of the United Stat s.
Among the privileges and immunities thus
guaranteed by the 14th amendment, were, he
contended, those set forth in the first ten
amendments to the federal constitution, such
as “the rights of citizens to secure their per
sons. houses, papers and effects against un
reasonable searches and seizures, (fourth
amendment) and the immunity designated in
a clause of the fifth amendment which provides
that no person shall be compelled in any crim
inal case to boa witness against himself.”
It was his belief that unless the privi
leges and immunities set forth in the first ten
amendments were specifically said in terms to
be merely limitations of federal powers, they
wore privileges and immunities which came
within purview of the fourteenth amendment
and were guaranteed by it.
Justice Field-Then you would bring all
t » this court. 1 cannot conceive of
any question which cannot be brought here if
the fourteenth amendment makes the “privi
lege and immunities" to w hieh it refers include
all those of the first ten amendments.
Mr. Tucker said he would admit that it was
a new question, but that he should like to ar
gue it.
Turning to the action and rulings of the trial
court. Mr. Tucker said that the defense were
driven to peremptory challenges in order toex
elude jurors who should have been rejected for
cause, and that thereby there was a limitation
of right of peremptory chalk ngejw hieh this
court has heal to be one of the highest privi
leges of the prisoner.
••rhe last four jurors,’’said Tucker, “were
put upon us after our peremptory challenges
had been exhausted. In one case we objected
distinctly upon the ground that the ruling of
the court was in \ io’atien of the constitution.”
In conclusion Mr. Tucker said:
!| i\< il i ..ht, in my ju lament, to the writ to
bo 1 ard on the . uesiini w ’other the constitution
! has bo n violated in order to compass tl.e convic
ts ■ . It i* true thev are Mid to be an-
fft me whither 1 baie any
s\i qaih\ with them, l have only to sav that the
co.tr! kt.ows !i e (>o well losr.ppOM? that 1 Lave sym-
v. with >'a *<'mi'appy and misguided men.
Hut thc\ and the. are entitled to the same
1 > t n al I roe. the same constitute n covers
U' al 1 ;i'k tie i ant to interpose its shield
I rt e i t v e men. b, cause I may need it
m ■ !\-iew n • muirchx abroa i in tin* bind
' t’- ',\r- • a* , e.r ic need fear, except an
n vh\ iu th- mnf iustiec. 1 fear that
' i .. oi Rustic ■ . n 1 ad
i.. > ’• ■iw ri v. 'it on ot the suptxm l.iw
• • h< i-••!. . or . pr,s n i s p'.nt can be
•
:<n i" mmmion tfere vr I and hearing. Strike
. to ' ’ iu-.ir. b; ;J. n‘t o.rik before you ii) ;r. I
Iriv i tJa c ■ irt w i’.;, them* re, award this writ,
a
w. ’ ’ce -rd v .. 1. will demand a te\ ctsal of jud
mem.
Atwinn Ce-eral Hunt, arguing in opposi
t u to tko moti m for a writ of error, said
l ,t to wan.. • th* v-wki’ of the writ it
nno'poaFl. m i’. v J first, that there
is a federal st ion involved, and second.
U -h a»• >t.* a was ra icd and decided
,in th? > atc court He was not as
well informed as he would like to bo with
regard to the exact points upon which counsel
for the petitioners relied. In the first of his
argument, Mr. Tucker planted himself
squarely upon the rights which belonged to his
clients under tho fourteenth amendment, but
in the latter part lie changed ground slightly
and insisted that the first ten amendments
were declarations of individual rights, ami
that they were all comprised in provisions of
the fourteenth amendment. The attorney gen
eral opposed thisviewand insisted that the pro
hibitions contained in the first ten amendments
tot lie constitution are limitations on the powers
of tho federal government and not upon t!io
states. The fourteenth amendment declares:
No state shall make or enforce any law which
shall abridge tl e privi egc or immunities of citizens
of the United Stntes. nor shall any state deprive any
person of lile, liberty or ,pro|>erly without due pro
cess of law: nor deny to any person within its juris
diction the equal protection of laws.
The record will show- that the complaint is
not that the. state has made or tis inforcing a
law which deprives the petitioners of any of
the privileges or immunities guaranteed by
that section, but that they arc deprived of
rights by an erroneous construction of the
law, placed upon it by a trial court of the state.
Due process of law means the “law of the
land.” In tho case of Presser vs. the
state of Illinois, November, 1885. tho federal
question raised was as to the right to bear
arms, and it was contended that the Illinois
statute was a limitation of his rights as a
citizen of the United States under the 14th
amendment. This court held that the right
to bear arms was no right guaranteed by the
•constitution of the United States, though the
i federal government was only prevented by the
I second amendment from infringing that
J right. Dealing with such a right was a mat
, ter for state discretion, and that as a police
measure a state could treat it as it chose. It
was held, furthermore, that bearing arms was
not a privilege or “immunity” of citizenship
of the United States contemplated by
the
The attorney-general then called attention
forcibly to the fact that recent changes in the
jury laws of the state all had for their purpose
and object the procurement of a better class of
men as jurors. Is it possible, asked tho attor
ney-general . that states are to be so bound by
the federal constitution that they can
not change their jury laws in accordance
with the changing conditions of their
social and political life? Is it possible that
whenever law is enacted in any state which
recognize the changed condition of affairs—a
law which is intended to adapt tiie jury system
to such a changed condition—that the federal
question is raised? Then the conviction of any
man in a state court raises a federal question,
and under tire unlimited provisions of the four
teenth amendment that question can be
brought to this court for review.
“Mr. Tucker asks,” said the attorney
general, "if I do not suppose that the
fourteenth amendment guarantees trial
by jury. I suppose that it does, but
we hold that it was not intended to interfere
v.iththe power of thosjtate to regulate jury trials
within its limits, provided it does not deprive
any one of equal protection of the laws.”
As to the alleged “unreasonable search and
seizure,” it is said that after the prisoners had
been arrested their desks were broken open by
the police, and papers and bombs, etc. were
taken w ithout warrant. The attorney-general
said he would like to know how a criminal’s
instruments of crime could legally be taken
from him. He knew of no process by which
it could be done if they were his ow-n. The
question for the court, however, was not “how
was the possession of these things obtained ?”
but rather “what do they prove?’
Attorney General Hunt then took up the
case of Prisoners Fielden and Spies, and said
that he understood it would bo urged by coun
sel on the other side that they being foreigners
—Fielden an Englishman and Spies a German
—were protected by treaties between tho
United States and their respective govern
ments; that they should have immunity be
cause tho treaties approved that citizens of
England and Germany living in the United
States should have all the rights and privileges
guaranteed by law to citizens of tho United
States at the time the treaties were ratified.
“I understand,” ho said, “that this will be the
contention.”
The Chief Justice —In what respect is it said
that this violates the citizenship of Great Brit
ain?
General Butler— They wore to have all the
privileges of Americans at the date of the
treaties and among these privileges we contend
was the trial by jury, under tho laws then in
force. No laws could be passed to change
their condition under organized laxv—tho high
est law.
Attorney General Hunt replied that if this
were so, then the prisoners, without being cit
izens were privileged persons, above the laws
of the state, which they set at defiance.
Mr. Hunt said that as ho had almost finished
his argument when the hour for adjournment
arrived, ho would not speak today, but would
give plaeo to his associate, State’s Attorney
Grinnell.
Mr. Grinnell, addressing the court, said that
it had not been his intention to take part in
the oral argument, and tjyat he camo here pri
marily for tho purpose of assisting Mr. Hunt
by means of his familiarity with tho record in
this case.
Speaking of the jury as a whole, Mr. Grinnell
said:
I wish, and am constrained to pay, one tribute to
thatjurv. It exemplified American citizenship in
till- country more than any jury that was ever
looked up>n. It embraced all the walls of lile.
Three of them earned their living by manual work.
They came from all parts of the country, and one of
them was bom of foreign soil. They were not a
‘ class jury.” Thev wore honest citizens with the
solemn duty devolving upon them of determining
what should be done with those min. No judge
could look In the faces of that jury w ithout saying
“thev are intelligent; they represent American citi
zenship; they are tit to Ie trusted with the rights of
freemen under our constitution.” There was not a
capitalist on that jure. ’They were all commonplace
small dealers and Intelligent uicu.
Proceeding to the question of “unreasonable
search and seizure,” m Spies’s office, he said it
did not strike him as being any part of this case.
He was not hero to offer any apologies for his
own conduct. He then recited, at some length,
the circumstances of tho bomb-throwing in
Haymarket, search of the Arbeiter-Zeitung
office, the prying open of Spies’s desk, finding
of dynamite and letters there; tire breaking
open of Ijiugg’s domicile and finding in Ins
trunk dynamite bombs precisely like the one
thrown. Mr. Grinnell, seizure was
nothing which this court could
regulate. It hadfaaid in the Ker kidnapping case
that it was not for the court to determine how
he (tire prisoner) got there. Ihe court simply
said, "Yon are here.” The things seized m
search of these prisoner’s premises, "were
there." and it was not for the court to de
termine whether they were legally there.
The onlv question was. "are those things tes
timonv’.'” and that was nut an inquiry for
this e«'urt. Forgery, murder, and other crimes
had to Ire proved, Mr- Grinnell said, by such
“The pistol found in tin' hand of the assas
sin Guiteau was forcibly taken from him. and
his papers, if 1 remember rightly, were over
hauled. They were’there,’(that is in court)
and it Ml- nobody’s business how thy got
there. T hat the search mid seizure in this
, .use were an unrca- nat'le se reh and seizure
from lire point of view of defendants, 1 have
no doubt.”
In mu. lusion, Mr. Gntinel.-aid .
ft Krtkes me, fkom our stan Ipolnt. that the Dun-
dntion of the constitution Is less likely to be Impair
ed by refusing to grant this writ than by granting it.
At conclusion of Mr. Grinnell’s argument,
which had occupied less than half the time to
which he was entitled. General Butler arose
and said that the introduction of all this now
matter (reset ring to Mr. Grinhel’s recital of
circumstances and the results of tho searches
ami seizures) w hich was not in the brief of
counsel, and which be had not seen anywhere
in print, would compel him to ask for more
time than had been allotted to him; that this
extraneous matter must be popular with the
court or its introduction would not be per
mitted.
The chief justice remarked that tho court
could not know whether these matters were in
the record, or not, but as they were stated by
the state’s attorney, the court must assume
that they were.
General Butler said he had not examined
the whole 8,000 pages, but he knew and could
demonstrate that some portion of this extra
neous matter was very different from what ap
peared in tho record, and ho must ask for
more time to speak with reference to matters
of which lie had not before heard.
General Butler said that, he would state the
points of contention, and if ho stated them
wrongly he wanted to bo corrected by any gen
tleman who did not advocate the right to steal
men and to steal their papers.
After describing what happened previous to
the Haymarket meeting, lie said:
"At that meeting a bomb was thrown by
somebody for some purpose, and there is not
one word in these 8,000 pages of evidence to
siiow that any one of these men had anything
to do with the throwing of that bomb. There
were but two of these men within miles of
that meeting, and one had his wife and two
little children in the very place, almost where
that bomb was lighted. Its explosion
killed a single policemen, and within a few
days all of these men were arrested without
warrant, committed to jail and held there
without examination and w ithout process until
they were indicted by the grand jury, and to
describe the simple crime, if crime it was. the
state’s attorney had to draw an indictment of
sixty-nine counts. During the trial the judge
allowed questions to be asked with regard to
conspiracy, although in all sixty-nine counts
of the indictment there was no conspiracy al
leged. He said that he was ready to pledge
himself that there was not a single man of the
jury selected xvho had not said that he had a
firm—and some of them an enthusiastic —con-
viction, opinion and prejudice against the de
fendants.
After a great deal of rambling talk about the
composition of the jury, dissatisfaction with
the record, lack of time for preparation, the
sentencing of prisoners in their absence, and
that of their counsel, the injustice done them
by “unreasonable search and seizure,” etc.,
General Butler said that if all these things
could be done, “the question was to be de
bated whether this government would not be
a little better if it were overturned into an an
archy than if it were to be carried on in this
fashion.”
"I had no fear,- ’ he said, ‘ ‘of being misunderstood
upon this question. I have the individuality ofbeiiig
the CL-ly man in the United States that condemned
and executed men for undertaking to overturn the
law. There w ere thousands of them. And for that
act, please your honor, a price was set on my head
as though 1 were a wolf, and 5J5.000 was of’ered to
any man xvho could capture me to murder me. by
Jellerson Davis and his associates, and xvho, if they
were here at your bar, trying to ascertain whether
they should have an honest and fair trial for their
great crimes and they called upon me—their lives in
danger—l should hold it to be my duty to stand
here and do all that 1 might to defend them. That
is the chivalry of law. if I understand it, and if I
don’t, it is not of much consequence, for I am quite
easily and quick passing away.
General Butler proceeded to the considera
tion of the special and peculiar questions rais
ed by the cases of Fielden and Spies, who are
foreigners. He contended that treaties were
the supreme law of the land, and that these
prisoners were entitled, by virtue of the
treaties with Germany and Great Britain, to
all the rights and privileges of American
citizens at the time such treaties were
made. A state had no power to
try these men by one of its own laws which
was not a law of the land at the time the
treaties were ratified. Ho did not mean, he
said, that a foreigner could come into a state
and break its laws with impunity and that the
state could not touch him. But he did mean
that a state could only try him in accordance
with tho law of the land—the whole land—at
the time the treat j- with his government was
made. This, he said, was an important ques
tion to every American citizen because in re
turn for the concessions made by this govern
ment in the treaty with Great Britain, the
government of that country had made similar
concessions to us. Suppose that a citizen of
the United States should go to Ireland and
should make some remarks about the advan
tages of a republican form of government and
should be arrested and tried by the
crimes act in violation of the treaty.
Would we not stand up and say that this man
must be tried by a fair and impartial jury?
He must be tried as an Englishman w ould
have been tried at the time the treaty was
made, and that he cannot be dealt with in a
more summary way under the latter law. After
desultory remarks about the record and the
necessity of having it before the court, and
another reference to breaking open safes and
desks, General Butler said:
“There is no doubt that the prisoners were entitle 1
to trial by an impartial jury—a stupid jury, if you
please—because I don’t think a man who reads
newspapers is any more competent to try a case;
rather worse, if he pays any attention to tlieir lies.”
As enunciated by the chief justices of the
supreme court, an impartial juror, he said, is
one who “stands in freedom of mind without
bias<» prejudice, and is indifferent.” Peti,
' tioners w ere not tried by such a jury and are
entitled to protection under the federal consti
tution. “If,” ho said, “tho court is to give me
jurors as prejudiced as some of those in this
case, I had better go to the land of Hottentots,
for they would not allow me to be stolen and
taken back to Illinois. [General Butler’s allu
sion is to the kidnapping of Ker. referred to by
counsel on the other side in defending tlieir
search and seizure.] Gen. Butler then returned
again to “the unreasonable searches and seiz
ures” complained of by the petitioners, and
said his associate, Mr. Tucker, had character
ized the proceeding as “subpoena duces tecum,”
executed by a locksmith. “Why,your honors,”
he exclaimed, “they searched under burglary,
headed by the state’s attorney, on his own
admission. No miserable policeman or half
witted constable, but the state prosecuting at
torney does burglary—steals papers—and says
you can’t help that. He puts it with a sort of
triumph and we are told that our immunities
and privileges arc not involved and that our
remedy is to sue for trespass. What
a beautiful remedy! Sue the states’
attorney and be tried by such a jury as the laws
of Illinois would give. Better be in a place not
to be named for comfort.”
As a final reason why the writ should be
granted, Geneial Butler urged that tho prison
ers had been sentenced to death in their absence
and without being asked whether they had any
reason to give why the sentence of death should
not be pronounced upon them. The record, he
said, did not show that they were absent when
sentenced, but they could prove it. The record
showed that they wore present, but they could
prove by half of Chicago this was a mistake.
In conclusion General Butler said:
“May I, iu closing, make one observation. If
ten lives can be taken in this way, as you have
seen exhibited here today, better anarchy—
better be without laxv than with any such
law.”
Not for Iler.
From the Detroit Free Press.
“Madame,” he began as the door opened, “I
cm selling a new book on ‘Etiquette aud Deport
ment.’ ”
“O, you are”’ she responded. “Go down there on
the grass aud clean the mud off your feet.”
“Yes’m. As I was saying, ma’am. lam sell—”
“1 ake oft'your hat! Never address a strange lady
at her door without removing your hut-"
“Yes’m. Now, then, as I was saying—”
“Take your nands out of your potkets! No gen
tleman ever carries his hands there.”
"Yes’m. Now, ma’am, this work on Eti "
"Throw out your cud. If a gentleman u«es to
la ' Ire is careful not to disgust others by the
habit.”
”Y< sm. Now, ma’am, in calling your attention
I to this valuable ”
"Wait Put that dirty handkerchief out of sight ,
I and use 1 st grease on your hair. Now you look I
: half way decent. ¥■ u have a book on Etiquette i
I and D-ihrtmeut.’ Very well. 1 don’t want it. 1 I
i am ot.lv the hired girl. You <an come in, however, 1
I aud talk with the lady of the house. Site called me j
i a l :.r this morning, atid Itlriuk she needs, eomething ,
Horae of a Different Color.
; Fr ■»th the New York Snn.
“Do you know, Mi’W Smith,” ho saitl, “that
‘ when I >ee you 1 always look about lor a white i
i •imhp *u y ii-lu. Mr. Brown.” nhereplied, “and
. >’. ■ y . k . .v the color of the hon>e that 1 look for uu ,
A RAKING CRITICISM.
A Historian Reviews General
Sherman’s Memoirs,
AND HE GIVES A CANDID OPINION,
The following criticism of General Sherman
is made by H. If. Bancroft in his Popular Tri
bunals. “At the request of Justice Field, of
tho United States supreme court, General
Sherman wrote from St. Louis, the 25th of
February, 18U8, a letter detailing his California
experience of 185 G, which was published in tha
Overland Monthly of February, 1874, and re
produced in substance in his Memoirs. Thia
document abounds in incongruities and mis
statements, a few of which I will point outt
Among other things, ho asserted that without
a standing army the American people would
become a mob, which language many of his
best friends would dissent from. Surely il
General Sherman had considered for a moment
he never would have placed a free people in
the anomalous position of holding over them
selves a guard of hired soldiers to keep them
selves from insurrection 1 Least of all do tha
American people require so to keep them
selves. Was it a mob General Sherman led
through Georgia? Do the transactions of tha
vigilance committee of 1856, as recorded in
these pages, read like the doings of a mob?
“He states further that James King, of Wil
liain, ‘turned against his old associates’ when
ho exposed the rascality of J. C. Woods, and
Adams and company, ‘and against Woods es
pecially, whoby publiq clamor became alarmed
for his personal safety and escaped the coun
try.’ Now, no one knew better than Sherman
that King was a single-minded man and Wood*
a trickster. If circumstances should throw
the general unwittingly among thieves, would
he call it turning against his old associates
when he exposed them? Besides, who over
heard of an honest man in America becoming
alarmed for his personal safety and escaping a
country to get away from a newspaper? Again,
he affirms ‘a war grew up between these two
evening papers aud their editors, King and
Casey.’ This is not true. There never
was war between the papers. King
exposed Casey for stuffing the ballot-box which
made him supervisor. He never cared a fig
for Casey or his paper. Three lines after,
Sherman says: “King sent to New Yorkana
prepared the record of a case in which Casey
had been convicted of robbing the room of his
mistress. King did nothing of the kind. A
member of Casey’s own party, with whom he
had quarrelled and exchanged pistol shots at a
primary election, procured the evidence against
Casey as wo have seen. Sherman goes on to
say that “King treated him rudely,” as if that
excused Casey for killing him. If it did not,
it being “no unusual thing at that time” for
one man to shoot another, surely would excul
pate him. “Casey then told him he would
shoot him on sight.” Casey told him nothing
of the kind; there were two listeners to tho
conversation in the adjoining room, and we
know what King said. King “started for his
dwelling on Stockton street,” continues this
veracious writer. Mr. King lived on the cor
ner of Mason and Pacific streets. Next are
three misstatements in a single short sentence:
“Several people who happened to be near ran
up, caught and carried him.” He was
not carried—‘into the office of Wells, Fargo &
Co.’ —it was the Pacific Express company—
‘and laid him on the counter.’ Mr. King was
never put upon the counter at all. The news
paper press, he says, all but the Herald, ‘be
came in the highest degree inflammatory, and
drowned all reason and argument.’ That is to
say, all reason and argument of the Sherman
order. All the people, all the newspapers were
fools; only Sherman was wise. ‘King died the
next day, Friday, I think, and his funeral was
fixed for the Sunday following.’ Mr. King
died on Tuesday and was buried on
Thursday. He makes the execution of
Casey and Cora take place on the
day of their seizure, within the
hour, almost, that they were taken from the
jail, when there was an interval of four days.
Everybody supposed that when this funeral
was over the matter was at an end; but to our
surprise the vigilance committee maintained
its organization.’ ‘Everybody’ was Sherman,
Johnson and Garrison. ‘While the better ele
ments Os society were at work intent on their
own personal affairs,’ the general goes on to
say, ‘the idler and vagabond sought the power
in existence for an easy support, and through
the vigilance committee they became what our
ward politicians are at all times. Even Sydney
convicts became judges and constables, and sent
around San Francisbo their absurd writs,
with a big, all-seeing eye impressed thereon as
tlieir great seal.’ That is a falsehood; and I
cannot see, even though uttered by a general
of the United States army, hoxv it can be other
wise than wilful and malicious. ‘This went on
from month to month, and none of us knew
who was our king, whether tho pack of fel
lows who sat at midnight on Front street,’etc.
It was not Front street, but Sacramento street;
and as if this xvere not bungling the locality
enough, in his memoirs he calls it Clay street.
Now, is General Sherman true, manly honest?
Does he mean what he says when he stig
matizes the committee thus. The fact
was never questioned that they wore
San Francisco’s best men. Sherman, as a
banker, knew them to be, as a class, infinitely
better men than those of his party. Is it hon
orable, is it gentlemanly, is it decent for him
to employ such terms in speaking of such men?
‘ln a day or two after this’ —it was the same
day—‘Judge Ferry, of the supreme court,
made the writ commanding the sheriff to
bring before him tho body of Moloney.’ Bill
Mulligan was the man. ‘This writ xvas put
into tho hands of a deputy, who tried to enter
the rooms of the vigilance committee on Front
street (Sacramento street), but was kicked out.’
He was courteously invited to enter, and did
enter, and was not kicked out. Besides, how
should a man be kicked out of a place which
he tried to enter and could not ?
“Thus the letter goes on to the end. The
misstatements may, some of them, appear
trivial, but in this connection they are not so.
Sherman has made statements impeaching the
integrity of California’s purest aud best citi
zens, statements which are either true or false,
and which were made either wittingly or un
wittingly. To say the least, the assertions of
one so lax in language should be taken with
allowance. Tho general is popular in Califor
nia as in other states, and his friends are dis
posed to pass his random remarks charitably,
as tho harmless off-hand way ot the soldier.
But although I entertain personally none but
the most kindly sentiments toward him, and
have great respect for his military success, I
can speak of him in this connection only as ha
is, and that according to my best judgment.
So judging, General Sherman in this letter is
either prejudiced, ignorant or false, in cither
of which event writing is no credit to him.”
•
The Pride of the Soutliern Planter and the
Blue Ribbon.
The great Piedmont exposition is over, and the
many thousands that were there wimessed tha
grandest show ever gotten up in the south in so
short a time. In Machinery hall was seen truly the
pride of the southern planter, which have become
the leading farm implements in ti e cotton states;
well know u iu the south as the Johnson Combina
tion Plows, manufactured by B. A. Johnson W Co.,
Atlanta, Ga. Os course, t icse plows, as they have
always done, carried off the first premium, and, as
the jii Igos remarked, “tie several blue ribbons in
different places on these plows." We know w liat
thev will do. These plows may well be termed the
pride of the southern planter, since t! ey n duee his
expense of buying a: d keeping up implements to
less than half, saves him labor, sav •< time, an 1 are
the cheapest, best and most economical pl >ws ever
used on the farm. It Is true that for the past few
years the manufaetuiera have not been able to -up
ply the large demand. I’ut the merch nts who
waits too late in sending in tlieir or ’era for them
are to blame for not getting tin tn while they can
be had in the early s anon. The planter who ap
preciates success and economy on the farm should
follow the example of the shrexvedest and most suc
cessful cotton growers and use no other but the
Johnson wings and the common seootor or I'Ull-
Img, which makes every p,ow n”; de 1 uu the iarm
* Call on your merchant for these plows. Neer let
him put off Ins oi l style a’ .l s >■■’; on vo l. It i his
duly to keep up with the deuiatols ,-f his c ■ -tomers
‘ atul you are certainly entitled to the cheapest and
best implements to th.-k ■ firming a success.
He Took the Advice.
! From the New York Sun.
Prohibitionist (to a saloonkeeper)—l wish
1 could c nivuiee you, my friend, that liquor Inflicts
j untold misers upon countless thousands: that
1 water, pure.’cold water, is what v all should
drink, that Saloon cepcr ■' n i tcvU—You
i are right, sir; w ater in a good thine. (To barten ler)
i— Kcllry. j- ur Lh.'tit four : gallons of Motet
imo that barrnl of whisky.