Newspaper Page Text
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ATLANTA, GEORGIA,
Wednesday, January 17, 1806.
The Constitution to he Orerthrewa.
Our readers will remember the telenphic item
we published a few days ago, embracing the intel
ligence of the passage of a resolution by Congress
introduced by a Pennsylvania radical member, as
serting “that the troops should not be withdrawn
from the seceded States until Congress shall have
ascertained and declared their presence there no
longer necessary.” This direct interference with
the powers conferred by the Constitution upon
the President, is thus appropriately referred to
by the Nashville Uoion A American :
“The framers of the United States Constitution
endeavored to organize such a government as
that its several and separate departments—Exe
cutive, Legislative and Judicial—should not en
croach upon, or usurp, the functions appropriate
ly belonging to each other. Among its provi
sions were definitions of the proper sphere and
duties of each. Among others, the Executive,
reprceented by the President, was charged with
the management of the armies of the Union, as
commander-in-chief of the military atm of the
govemnent. Under this provision, Andrew
Johnson is the chief director and manager of all
the armies of the United States, with power to
order or withdraw to or from any p*Ttioni*r lo
cality. This power of the President has never
been questioned by anybody anywhere, in peace
or war, since the foundation of the government,
until the day before yesterday, when a member
of the House of Representatives in Congress
from the State of Pennsylvania, Williams by
name, introduced a resolution into that body, as
serting, ns the sense of the House, “ that the
troops should not be withdrawn from the late
seceded States, until both Houses of Congress
shall have ascertained and declared their presence
there no longer necessary.” Our dispatches pub
lished yesterday state that this resolution was
adopted, without hesitation or debate, by 94
against 37.”
“It will thus be seen that, not content with ex
ercising doubtful powers, the House branch of
Congress, by the most decided majority, is deter
mined to usurp the entire administration of the
government, defying and ignoring the President,
the Judiciary and the people. This body of “so-
called” representatives thus express their purpose
and determination to be no longer guided and
controlled by the constitution; but to set up a
new government, suitable alone to their views.
Wc beg leave to ask, if these Radical fanatics
intend to subvert the well ordered and clearly
defined government established by a common
ancestry, and substitute in its stead a mobocracy,
whose head and front, and body and soul is the
Congress, without even consulting the wishes of
the thirty millions of people composing the
Union ? If such be the case and the effort is
successful, let the world bid a long and a final
farewell to republican institutions.
"A question arises, whether the President will
tamely and quietly submit to this emasculation
of his own exclusive powers, and suffer a revolu
tion and subversion of the government without
a manly effort to preserve it? And there is
another question, whether the people themselves
will agree that a corrupt aud mad coterie at Wash
ington, shall assume without authority, and in
defiance of eveiy principle of free popular gov
ernment, to orect a new power, which shall be
amenable alone to their own behests ? We feel
confident that Andrew Johnson will not submit
tamely to these usurpations; and are sure that
he will lose no opportunity to rebuke and defeat
the schemes of these disunion anarchists.—
Neither do we believe that the people, North or
South, are ready to bow the suppliant knee to
the new raised despotism of Congress.”
■o »■
The Hon: John BeU.
This gentleman who has long been before the.
public, and held in high esteem as a leading Colfax.
Southern statesman of the old Whig school,
throughout the country, has recently addressed
a letter of considerable length to a gentleman in
Kentucky, which we notice has been published
in several of our exchanges. We confess we do
not notice in this letter any suggestions or coun
sels, or any views presented, of an original char
acter, to the Southern people, in this their day of
trial. Nor is there any peculiar force in what
Mr. Bell tioic says, that it should work any more
favorable results than what is progressing, or ex
cite any more than ordinary attention. Pre
pared six months or more ago, it might and
probably would have excited more public atten
tion, and while the views presented in it would
have been received generally with favor by the
Southern public, still one portion of it at least
would not then have been received, nor does it
now commend itself to public favor with South
eru men. We allude to Mr. Bell’s views on “ne
gro suffrage." Wc confess that they took us by
surprise. He would have the South make Mas
sachusctts a model. Take from the white man
in Georgia what he has hitherto enjoyed, and
bestow upon the negro, provided he be worth so
much money, and con read and write, what has
never before been conferred npon him. The
poor and uneducated white man, must have no
voice in the elections, while the rich negro who
can read and write, will have. The time has
not come for this in the South. We are utterly
opposed to it, and are surprised that any South
ern statesman would recommend it.
This address of Mr. Bell will doubtless be well
received at the North. But for its length we
would place it before our readers. How it is re
ceived at Nashville, the place of his present resi
dence, by a portion, at least, of the press there,
the reader may judge by a perusal of the follow
ing notice taken of it by one of the leading
presses of that city, the Nashville Union. That
paper says:
‘‘We have read with some interest the letter of
this distinguished gentleman published in die
Louisville Journal. His counsel to the Southern
States in regard to the support of the President’s
policy, and conforming their legislation thereto,
is good; but it comes too late. His suggestion
that they might adopt negro suffrage to the ex
tent that it is allowed in Massachusetts, will take
them by surprise; and they may ask themselves
if it is proper to resist the Congressional test oath,
as an innovation on the Constitution and an un
safe precedent, why it is not equally proper to
refuse to exercise a constitutional prerogative at
the bidding of those who have no right to inter
fere with the regulation of their domestic con
cerns ? We believe that it would ye sound policy
to confer the right of .suffrage upon certain classes
of colored persons, and thus give the remaining
classes incentives to improvement so as to secure
for themselves also this inestimable privilege,
but we would not do it at the expense of the dis
franchisement of any portion of the white race;
especially those who have been voters. Further
more, this is & matter for each State to determine
for itself, and we would not yield to pressure from
without.”
“ Protective TirlflC
We are about to live over again the days of
'38 and '33, when the protective tariff party of
the country demanded, and, we may add, re
ceived all they demanded to promote what they
termed “American Interests.” Convulsed as the
country then was, it has since been so fearfully
so, that wc can recur to that period with com
placency, and only think of it as one of those
links in the historical chain of the nation that
contributed to bring about sectional hatred and
the cruel war from which it has suffered so much,
and especially what we must now term the South
ern section of it. Now movements are again be
ing made by the manufacturing interests of the
North and East, to make the South and West
tributary to those interests. It is urged that
“home interests" most be protected, by which is
meant the cotton, iron, and other manufacturing
interests of New England, Pennsylvania, and so
on. The combination to bring this about is for
midable—the influences great; the argument
specious. It is said to be necessary in order “to
be saved from a financial crash tenfold worse
than that of 1837.” Western members of Con
gress Vho have expressed a determination to op
pose any alteration in the tariff, likely to secure
“home industry against the efforts of foreign
competition," are threatened with defeat at the
next elections—the yeas and nays upon all ques
tions involving import and export duties, are to
be “carefully noted and spread before” tbeir
constituents. To excite the prejudices of the ag
ricultural interest of the West, it is urged that
com had better be used as fuel than to transport
it to foreign markets. One D. D. Cone, a corres
pondent of the St. Louis Democrat, who is active
in his advocacy of heavy export and import du
ties on cotton and iron, in order to promote
“home industry”—which means to give to the
cotton and iron manufacturing interests of New
England and Pennsylvania, a monopoly in man
ufacturing—urges the following as a reason why
the Western farmer should sustain the “home
industry” party. Quoting from the Galena (111.)
Gazette, he says:
“We understand that many of the people of
Warren and other towns arc using com for fuel.
We had a conversation with an intelligent gen
tleman who has been burning it, and who con
siders it much cheaper than wood. Ears of com
can be bought for ten cents per bushel, by meas
ure, and seventy bushels, worth seven dollars,
will measure a cord. A cord of wood, including
sawing, costs $9,50, which is $2,50 more than
the cost of a cord of com, besides the faet that
com produces more heat than wood. If these
statements are true (and we have no reason to
doubt them) there is no fuel more economical
than com. The crop of com this year is far be
yond the demand.”
And then adds:
“I see by the Iron Age that the importation of
foreign goods into New York alone for some
months past, has been at the rate of $370,000,000
per annum. I apprehend that if a small moiety
of these goods had been manufactured in the
United States, Illinois farmers might have done
better with their com than to bum even the
smallest part of it.”
So, as we said at the outset, the days of ’28 and
’32 are coining about again. The halls of the
national legislature will ring againwith appeals for
the protection of “home” agaiast “foreign indus
try.’’ There will be no Clays, nor Websters, nor
Calhouns,’nor McDuffies there; but we trust there
will be wisdom and patriotism enough to save
the agricultural States of the nation from the
gross injustice which must follow the enactment
of laws which would be protective of manufac
turing and of no other industrial pursuits; which
would favor one section and oppress others;
which would enrich New England and Pennsyl
vania, at the expense of the South and the
West. ^
Speaker Colfax is reported to have stated
at a recent dinner party in New Haven that im
mediately on the re-assembling of Congress, the
members of Congress from Tennessee would be
admitted, and that other States would soon fol
low.—Boston Traveler.
The foregoing, the Buffalo Express of the 6th
instant says, “we have reason to know from pri
vate conversation, is the sincere conviction of Mr.
He regards this intermission of a few
weeks as highly favorable to the cause of restora
tion, as well as to the harmonious and fraternal
action of Congress and the Executive on that
question. The States will be recognised by Con
gress as rapidly as the future welfare of the Union
will justify, and Tennessee will be subjected to
an outside position only for a brief period after
Congress shall have re-assembled. The problem
of restoration is to Ik; solved without serious dif
ficulty. We are led to this belief from the fact
that the Executive and a majority of Congress
will act in harmony, regardless of any storm that
passion or prejudice may attempt to raise. The
Government and the people are given to cool re
flection, and hence they will notba influenced by
inflamatory appeals, come from whither they
may.
Hon. Peter Cone.—A telegraphic item from
Savannah to New York, (feted the 7th instant,
announces the death on the day previous, of this
gentleman. He died at his residence in Bollock
county, which he had served in the Legislature
of our State for over thirty years.
We are pleased to notice that our fete fellow
citizen, Judge Boi.ing Baker, has been elected
Secretary of the Senate of the Florida Legislature.
The Judge has many friends in this city who will
be gratified in seeing this notice.
«n n
Hung.—For the fint time in many years an
execution took place in this vicinity yesterday.—
The negro man Isaac, found guhy of the murder
of Mr. Henry Amos, in Hancock county last
July, was hnug near the Powder Work at 19
minutes past 12 o’clock. We are informed that
on being led forth to meet his death, he asserted
his innocenc, but it is stated that on previous oc
casions he admitted his guilt—Augusta Constitu-
UonaUst.
Hon. A. H. Stephens.—We notice in the
Washington City National Intelligencer the fol
lowing extract from a letter written by Mr. Ste
phens, from his residence at Crawfordville, dated
the 25th ultimo:
“As to how I am doing, I can only say that, in
the matter of health, I have improved greatly
since my return home; but the country I find in
a worse condition—physically, morally and po
litically—than I expected. The general desire
of the people is for a speedy restoration of civil
few and harmony, aud I am engaged in doing all
I can to effect that result. I do trust that wis
dom, moderation and true patriotism will rule
the councils at Washington. * * * Mean
while, it is the duty of every one to do the best
he can. The wise and the good will always take
things as they find them, and do the best they
can with them as they present themselves.”
Hits Him Hard.—The Editor of the Nashville
Gaaette hits one of his cotemporaries of that city,
the following hard licks:
“One of our city editors says the life-blood of
the State ‘was almost sucked away by the vam
pires of rebellion.’ Yes, and he and his party
are now sucking at the dead carcase.
The same editor says, speaking of the return
of the so-called Legislators, ‘every good citizen
will extend to them a cordial welcome back.’—
May be so; bat then good citizens are ‘mighty
scarce.’
He also tells that the same ‘good citizens’ will
pray that the Legislators aforesaid may be‘guided
by the spirit of patriotic wisdom.’ It they do,
it certainly will be ‘prayer without faith.’ ”
Three persons implicated in the robbery of
the Adams Express Company, on board of the
train from New York to Boston, have been cap
tured. They were traced by Mr. Sanford, agent,
and some private detectives acting under his or
ders. Two of the parties were arrested at Nor
walk, Rhode Island, and the other in a low house
in this city. Nearly three-fourths of the money
was fonnd in letters in their possession. The
whole amount taken from the safe did not ex
ceed five hundred thousand dollars. That was a
good round sum, we think, these hard times,
even for the Adams Express Company.
The arrival nr Savannah of the Hon. W.
E Chandler, Assistant Secretary of the United
States Treasury, and the Hon. H. M. Watkhson,
a former member of the United States Congress
from Tennessee, and an old friend of President
Johnson, is announced in the Republican of that
city, of the 9th instant.
Mr. Chandler and Mr. Waterson are on an of
ficial trip investigating the affaire of the United
States Treasury Department throughout the
South.
Georgia State Bonds.—Governor Jenkins,
we notice in the advertising columns of the Ma
con Telegraph, has deposited $100,000, of Georgia
Bonds, new issue, in the First National Bank of
Macon for sale. They are semi-annual Coupon
Braids of the denominations of $500 and $1,000
each, bearing seven per cent, interest, issued in
conformity with an ordinance of the State Con
vention. ^ •
Thet condenac their copper smoke in England. {
Report or the Commissioners
Appointed to Prepare a System of Laws to tarry in
to effect the 5tk douse of the 5th section of the
2d article, and the latter part of the 3d domes of
the 2d section cf the 4th article of the Constitv.-
[ Continued from First Page.]
differently ordered by the Judge, the regulation
of sale under execution or order for sums exceed
ing fifty dollars, shall be as in the Superior
Courts, and for fifty dollars or less, as in Justices’
Courts.
§ 44. An appeal may be taken to a jury from
any decision in the daily County Court in a civil
case, by a payment of costs and of the jury fee,
as provided in § 14 of this article.
£ 45. A mw that, upon legal grounds, may be
awarded, it the Judge is satisfied that justice re
quires it Want of notice of the first trial, or
absence of the party without fault, shall be a
good ground for a new trial, or an affidavit of ille
gality.
§ 49. A certiorari may be bad upon the appli
cation of the party complaining of error to the
County Judge, with notice to the opposite party
or his attorney, stating the grounds of complaint,
and giving a brief of the material evidence, upon
which it shall be the duty of the Judge to pro
ceed as under a writ of certiorari, to certify the
proceedings of the County Court to the Judge of
the Superior Court, within ten days after such
application, and the Judge of the Superior Court
shall hear and finally determine the same at
chambers, or at the session of the Superior Court,
as may seem proper.
§ 47. Applications for appeals, new trials, or
certiorari must be made within four days after
trial, and in cases between master and servant,
and in any other cases in which the Judge shall
deem it just, compliance with the provisions of
§ 53, concerning dilatory proceedings, shall be
required.
§48. Claims to personal property under any
execution or order issued from the County Court,
or to the personal property at any sale to which
a free person of color is a party, or in which the
parties elect the County Court for trial, shall be
tried as in the Superior Court, except that no
jury shall be provided unless required under the
provisions of section 14th of this article.
§ 49. Attachments may be tried under the rules
of the Superior Court.
§ 50. The County Judge granting an appeal or
a new trial, may assign any day for the trial, in
his discretion, allowing reasonable time to the
parties and making no unnecessary delay.
FRIVOLOUS ACTIONS, DEFENSES AND DELAYS.
§ 51. In any case between master and servant
in the daily court, the Judge shall (and in other
cases he may in his discretion) award damages
to the defendant in a sum not to exceed the
costs, if the action shall be manifestly frivolous
or vexatious; and in like manner to the plain
tiff damages of not less than ten nor more than
twenty-five per cent, of the sum claimed, if the
defense be manifestly frivolous or vexatious.—
Damages to the plaintiff may amount to five dol
lars, although twenty-five per cent of the claim
would fall short of that sum.
TERMS OF DILATORY PROCEEDINGS.
§ 52. In suits between master and servant, the
defendant shall not be allowed to continue the
same, or to delay payment by any proceeding,
such as appeal, certiorari, new trial, illegality, stay
of execution, or other dilatory proceeding, except
upon the terms following, viz: that he shall
make such payment in the nature of alimony for
the present support of the plaintiff or his family,
out of any sum or property he admits to be due,
as to the Judge may seem reasonable and ju9t,
unless upon affidavit that nothing is due. The
proceeding or case delayed shall, if properly to
be tried before the County Court, be brought to
trial within ten days, unless on cause shown for
continuance.
SEMI-ANNUAL SESSIONS.
§ 53. The setni-annual County Court shall
have concurrent jurisdiction with other courts
of law, in all civil cases of which exclusive ju
risdiction is not vested in some other court, in-
cluding jurisdiction in legitimatizing persons,
changing names, and granting corporate privi
leges. The sessions shall be held at such times
as may be appointed for each county respective
ly, by the General Assembly. The court shall
proceed under rules of the Superior Court, un
less specially excepted. Appeals, as from the
Inferior Court, may be taken to the Superior
Court.
CRIMINAL JURISDICTION.
§ 54 The criminal jurisdiction of the County
Court is exercised at its daily sessions, and ex
tend to all offenses, by persons of color, of whieh
exclusive jurisdiction is not vested in some oth
er court, and excludes the jurisdiction hereto
fore vested in Justices of the Peace, as to the
trial of such persons, and the jurisdiction vested,
by virtue of section 4724th of the Code, in the
Mayor, Recorder, or Intendant of any incorpo
rated town.
§ 55. If any offense is ebarged which is with
in the jurisdiction of the County Court, upon
the trial of which it shall appear that the crime
committed is of a grade beyond its jurisdiction,
the trial thus begun shall be regarded as if be
fore a Court of Inquiry, and the court shall dis
pose of the case accordingly.
§ 56. Any white person accused of an offense
not within the exclusive jurisdiction of some
other court, may make a written demand tor
trial in the County Court, expressly waiving in
dictment and trial by jury, and upon such de
mand, it shall be the duty of the County Judge
to appoint a day within seven days thereafter,
and to give notice thereof to the accuser, if
there be one to his attorney, and if there be no
accuser, to any other person whom he may deem
it important to notify. In cases presented by a
Grand Jury, notice shall be given to the Solici
tor General of the Circuit. On the day ap
pointed, the trial shall proceed, unless continued
for cause from time to time, and the effect of ac
quittal or conviction shall be the same as npon
trial in the Superior Court, and in case of con
viction, the sentence shall be executed in the
same maimer. Sections 39tli and 40th of this
article apply to criminal as well as civil cases,
provided that in all cases the accused shall be
confronted with the witness, and the right of
cross-examination he accorded to him.
COSTS AND FEES.
§ 57. In all cases not specially excepted, the
Judge’s costs in the semi-annual Courts shall be
the same as those of the Clerk of the Superior
and Inferior Courts for like services. In cases
in the daily courts, if the sum or damages claim
ed exceed fifty dollars, then two thirds of such
costs, and if not over fifty dollars, then one-third
of such costs shall be taxed as Judge’s costs.
TheJudge’s costs in criminal cases shall be two
dollars for every case begun, and two dollars ad
ditional for every case tried or transmitted to the
Superior Court. The Judge’s costs, for cases in
which discharge or special performance is prayed,
or other like cases not claiming money, shall be
two dollars for each case, and the same for the
foreclosure of mortgages, the partition of person
alty, the removal of intruders, trespassers, or
tenants holding over, and the trial of claims;
also for the certirorai of any case. For case of
forcible entry or detainer, abatement of a nui
sance, or grant of private ways, three dollars.—
In other proceedings usually tried at Chambers,
such as possessory warrants,' Habeas Corpus cases,
and the like, three dollars. In cases in which no
fees are prescribed by law, the Ordinary, or any
three Justices of the Inferior Court, may deter
mine what shall be the Judge’s costs.
J 58. It shall be the duty of the special Bailiff,
ess the Judge shall assign the duty to the
Sheriff or his Deputy, to collect all judgments for
costs, and the officer collecting them shall be en
titled to retain ten per cent, thereof
§ 59. In cases between master and servant,
whieh shall go against the servant, the judgment
for costs, upon notice to the master, shall ope
rate as a garnishment against him, and he shall
retain a sufficient amount for the payment there
of out of any wages due to said servant, or to
become due during the period of service, and
may be cited at any time by the collecting offi
cer, to make answer thereto.
§ 60. The costs known as judges costs shall
be paid into the county Treasury, as well as all
fines, penalties, forfeitures, proceeds of labor, and
the like, and the judge shall be entitled to receive
from the county Treasurer, a sum equal to one-
half the gross amount of all the costs known as
judge’s costs, for which judgment has been given,
whether collected or not, that he may have no
interest in throwing the costs upon the party, best
able to pay them.
§ 61. The fees on a contract offered to be filed
as a court contract, whether filed or declined for
proper legal cause; shall be fifty cents, if the tram
of service or rent is six months or less, and one
dollar if over six months, or indefinite as to time.
For any other clerical work, his fees shall corres
pond with those of the Clerk of the Superior
Court.
ARTICLE HI.
HUSBAND AND WIFE.
§ 1. Persons of color now living together as
husband and wife are hereby declared to sustain
that legal relation to each other, unless a man
shall have two or more reputed wives, or a wo
man two or more reputed husbands. In such
event, the man, immediately after the adoption
of these provisions by the' Qenerai Assembly,
shall select one of his reputed wives with her
consent, or the woman one of her reputed hus
bands with his consent, and the ceremony of
marriage between these two shall be performed.
If such man, thus living with more than one wo
man, or such woman living with more than one
man, shall Ml or refuse to comply with the pro
visions of. this section, he or she shall be prosecu
ted for the offense of fornication, and punished
accordingly.
§ 2. Persons ateolor, desirous hereafter of be
coming Husband and wife, must have the con
tract duly and legally solemnized "between them,
bat co-habitation, with reputation of the partial master or a servant, whose chief badness is kus-
as man and wife, shall .at all times be evidence of
marriage, in cams civil and criminal.
§ 3. Any one who is a charge to the public
shall not be competent to contract marriage.
§4 The marriage of an apprentice, without
the consent of his iniMer, shall not be lawful.
ARTICLE IV.
PARENT AND CHILD.
§ 1. Among persons of color the parent shall
be required to matotain his or her children,
whether legitimate or illegitimate.
§ 2. Children «h»f> be Subjected to the same
obligations, in rriatieu to their parents, as those
which exist m retottete to white persons.
§ 3. Every colored'chfld heretofore bom is de
clared to be the legitimate child of its mother,
and also of its colored father, if acknowledged
by such lather. ■
ARTICLE V.
OPAKWAN AND WARD.
§ 1. The relation of guardian and ward, as it
exists among white persons in this State, shall be
subject, among persqps of color, to the jurisdic
tion of the GfOfnary, with the right of appeal,
as in other cities.
" ARTICLE VL
and servant.
§ 1. The contract—An infant may contract for
service with the consent of the parent or guar
dian, and a wife, with the consent of her bus
band. They may db the same without such
consent, when the parents of the child are both
dead, and there is no guardian; when the pa
rents, though living, are absent from the county,
and have not made sufficient provision for the
child until their return; when the wife has been
abandoned by her husband, or he has been
month absent from the county; and in such
other cases as thacounty judge may, by Special
order in such particular case, authorize and ap
prove. The same circumstances that render a
wife competent to contract for service, by herself,
shall enable her to hire ont such of her minor
children as reside with her.
Any person who can and docs make a legal
contract for service; Shall be competent to sue or
be sued in relation to the same, and the proceeds
ot such contract,jmess expressly made payable
to another, shall Alongto such person; and he
or she, though an iftfent or married woman, shall
be liable for any breach or failure of duty.
No court contract for service by an infant or
married woman, shatt be avoided by reason of
the party’9 disability to contract, unless the disa
bility was known to the master at the time of the
hiring, or unless itafes so obvious, or so notori
ous in the neighborhood, as to leave no reasona
ble excuse for ignorance.
A servant of any age or sex hired by court
contract not expired, diall be disabled from hir
ing to a different master, without a written dis
charge signed by the master, or Judge or Clerk
of the County Court.
Servants signing the same contract, except bus
bands who sign with their {wives, and parents
who sign with their minor children, shall not be
bound one for another, unless it be so expressed
but the contract shatt.be several as to each.
A minor child hired out by a parent or guar
dian under a court contract shall be subject to
the process of the court so as may he necessary
to compel such child \o perform any reasonable
labor stipulated for in the contract, or other duty
resulting from it. Bit nh onerous or unreasona
ble service imposed upon a child, either by its
own contract or that of a parent shall be en
forced.
No contract for service except in cases of ap
prenticeship shall fend any colored person to
serve for a longer period, than one year, nor for
any term which is ^commence after six months
from the date of the contract.
The term wages, when used in a contract, or
in the law touching master and servant, shall in
clude not only money, but any other compensa
tion to be made, or thing to be furnished by the
master.
The various rules of few touching master and
servant, and especially the rules and regulations
established by this system of laws, shall enter in
to and become a partof each contract for service,
unless an exception be made by express stipula
tion.
No written contractor service shall be invalid
for want of form. Tne parties may state in their
own way what their agreement is, and this, pro
vided their meaning is intelligible, shall be suffi
cient
§ 2. Domicil of Servant*.—The domicil of a ser
vant hired by other tfeaa a court contract, is reg
ulated by the general law.
A court contract fixes the domicil of the ser
vant in the county; where the services is to be per
formed, from the period at which the service is
to commence until that at which it is to termi
nate ; and in the ratiqfcn no act of ihe servant,
without a written dartmrge from his master, or
from the Judge^ or Clerk of the "County Court,
will effect a change of his domicil.
Unless it is otherwise stipulated, the county in
which a court contract is executed, is the one in
which it is to be performed; and the master has
no right to require theservaut to go to a different
county except on such journeys as are usual and
ordinary, in the class of business for waich the
servant is hired. The removal of the master has
no effect upon contracts for service except with
domestic servants; and these have their election
to remove with him to another county, or to re
scind the contract and have their wages appor
tioned. If they elect to go with him, the county
of Ills new residence becomes that in which the
remainder of the service is to be performed.
In case the service under a court contract be
so itinerant in its nature as to have no local re
lationto one county more than another, then
the master’s domicil, if within this State, shall
be that of the servant, and if the master be
non-resident, the domicil of the servant shall be
decided by the general rules of law.
§ 3. Quarters and Lodgings of Servants.—To
all domestic servants and to all farm servants
and their families, unless the contrary be stipu
iated, the master shall furnish suitable quarters
or lodgings, and the material for necessary fuel.
Such quarters shall nevertheless be deemed in
the master’s possession, and a servant, on being
discharged, or on ceasing to work, except for
providential cause, or at the expiration of his
term, shall vacate them immediately. If they
are occupied also by his family, the family, too,
shall vacate them at the end of the term; or in
cose of discharge or cessation of work, as above,
on five days’ notice. Any who remain contrary
to this provision, may be treated as intruders or
trespassers, and expelled by order of the County
Court. If two or more members of a family be
in the same master’s service, and occupying
quarters furnished by him, and one of them be
expelled by the master for a legal cause before
the expiration of the term, the others may re
scind the contract as to themselves, and have
their wages apportioned at three-fourths of the
contract rates for the time served out, and leave
the premises also; provided that this privilege
shall be confined to husband and wife, and to
parents and their children under seventeen years
of age, and provided, moreover, that it shall be
exercised, if at all, within three days after the de
parture of the expelled member.
No member of a sevant’s family after convic
tion of larceny or other offense involving moral
turpitude, shall reside or come npon the master’s
premises, without his consent.
No servant or his family occupying Quarters
on the master’s premises, shall receive as a visi
tor or sojourner at such quarters, any person
legally warned by the matter not to come there.
If after notice of such warning, the servant or
his family receive such pe»on, they may all be
ejected by order of the Comity Court.
A servant who has a lawful husband may be
visited by him at her quarters at any hour of the
day or night, and hejshallnot thereby become a
trespasser unless he has been previous warned
by the master or his agent. And if warning be
given him, the servant shall be informed of it
immediately, and she shall have her option to
leave the service in five days and have her wages
apportioned, and paid at contract rates, or re
main and serve out her term without the privilege
of receiving her husband os the premises.
A master is responsibfo to the public for the
orderly keeping of the booses occupied by ser
vants upon his premises; aad when such houses
become disorderly or ill-governed, in the terms
of the penal lavra of this Slate, he may protect
himself by causing the occupants to be ejected by
order of the County C-osrt.
§ 4. Mutual defense of master and servant.—
The relation of master and servant authorizes
and jutifies the protection of each other to the
fifilest extent For any act done by the com
mand of the master, ia defense of toe master’s
person, family, guests, agents, servants, premises
or property, the servant shah not be liable civilly
or criminally. It shall also be the master's duty
to protect the servant from violence, in his pre
sence, and he may reader him aid and assistance
in obtaining redress for injfrry to his rights of
person or property.
§ 5. Loss time, <$c.—For loss of time not caused
by' the act of the master, aad for all losses what
ever, occasioned by the nelligence or miscon
duct of the servant, inst an) &ir deductions, to
be determined by the County Judge, may be made
from the wages.
§ 6. Food and other Neeesshnes—For food and
other necessaries fornisbed \m the master while
the servant is absent from work from any eause,
like deductions may be made
§ 7. Medicine and Medical Attendance—With
out his express engagement toe master shall not
be bound to furnish the servant with medieine
or medical attendance.
§ S. Class of Servaiit*—i: Servants . of all
Work—*To these may. be . assigned any lawful
work which the master; has. to Ho, , and the ser
vant most 3o it to the best of UMkHlaiKl a’
—2. Farm Servants—To these'may be
rant which is usually performed -by either a i shall exercise .a souqd discretion in approving
ban dry—3. Domestic Servants—To these may be
assigned any household labor or domestic duty
of toe family (in the houseL yard, lot or garden,
or at any other place or places,) appropriate to
the age and sex of the servant, and which, in a
well ordered family, is usually performed by any
of its members, or by one or more servants—4.
Special Servants—To these may be assigned all
things pertaining to the special calling for which
the servant is engaged, and which is usually
done by a person whose pursuit in life is that
calling.
By special contract the sphere of a servant’s
duty may be narrowed or extended as the par-
§ 9. Regulations for all Servants—Servants
shall obey all lawful orders of the master, his
family, and agents; shall be honest truthful,
sober, civil and diligent.in business.
On Sunday the servants will generally be en
titled to leave of absence. But to take eare of
toe premises or the animals thereupon, or on
unusual occasions, or for work of daily necessity,
as many of them as are indispensable may be
kept at home a part of the day or in case of sick
ness in the master’s family, all day. Where the
number, health and capacity of the servants ren
der it practicable, they shall do Stjpday work in
turn.
§ 10. Farm Servants—On farms or in outdoor
service, the hours of labor, except on Sunday,
shall be from sunrise to sunset, with reasonable
intervals for meals. The interval for dinner,
unless otherwise agreed upon, shall be oue hour
and a half each day, from April 1st to October
1st, and three quarters of an hour each day,
during the balance of the year.
Servants shall rise at the dawn of day, feed,
water and care tor the animals on the farm, do
the usual needful work about the premises pre
pare tbeir food tor the day, if required, and begin
tbeir regular work by sunrise.
Work at night, or outdoor work in wetting
rains, sleets or snows, shall not be exacted, unless
in cases of necessity.
The servant shall be careful of all animals and
other property of bis master, and especially, of
the animals and implements used by himself.
It is his right and duty to protect these from in
jury, and he is answerable for all property lost,
destroyed, or injured, by his negligence or baa
faith.
The master or hi9 agent may give to a servant
a task, which shall be reasonable. Failure to do
a reasonable task shall be evidence of indolence;
but a single failure shall not be conclusive. In
the contract of hiring, the servant may be requi
red to rate himself as a full hand or less, decrea
sing by an eighth, a quarter, three-eighths, a half,
&c., and according to this rate shall be the task
assigned him, if any. B
In controversies with a colored servant re
specting a task, the burthen of proving it reason
able shall be on the master, and persons of color
as well as white persons shall be competent wit
nesses.
Quarters for farm.servauts and their families,
unless it is otherwise stipulated, shall be furnish
ed by the master.
§ 11. Domestic Servants.—It is the duty of this
class of servants to be especially civil and polite
to tbeir masters, that master’s family and guests.
The performance of this duty entitles them to
gentle and kind treatment, and such must be
awarded them.
Unless it be otherwise stipulated, domestic ser
vants are to be lodged by the master, and boarded
by him, subject only to the- deductions liereinbe
fore provided for.
§ 12. Special Servants.—A servant, such as a
cook, nurse, house-servant, laundress, carriage
driver, &c., hired expressly for a special avoca
tion, either singly or in combination with other
work, shall, on first hiring to the given master,
be considered as on trial for ten days; and at
the expiration of that time, either party may give
notice to the other of dissatisfaction, in which
Case the contract shall be terminated at tbe end
of five days more, wages at contract rates being
paid for the service rendered. This section shall
not operate, however, where there is an express
agreement to the contrary.
§ 13. Discharge of Servants.—The master may
discharge his servant for wilful disobedience to
the lawful orders of hiniself, his family, or his
known and recognised agent: for habitual negli
gence or indolence; for drunkenness of lewd
ness; for violating any penal law of the land;
for gross disrespect or habitual incivility to him
self, his family, guests, or agents; or for repeated
or prolonged absence from the premises without
permission.
The effect of a discharge shall vary with the
clearness and certainty of the evidence respect
ing the cause of it. If the evidence clearly show r
a legal cause, toe servant shall lose his wages;
if it clearly show the absence of a legal canse,
he shall recover the whole; and if it be doubt
ful, the wages shall be apportioned; but the bur
then of making a case of doubt shall always be
upon toe master.
Servants having their children with them on
the master’s premises, shall control such chil
dren and cause them to abstain from unpro
voked violence, insult or impudence to any of
toe master’s family, and to comply with all rea
sonable rules and regulations of the establish
ment; and any servant wilfully failing in this
duty, after being requested to perform it, may,
on five days’ notice, be discharged, and, by or
der of the County Court, sent away from the
premises-with his or her family. A servant dis
charged for this cause, shall, unless found by the
court to have encouraged the misconduct com
plained ot, be entitled to three-fourths of the
wages earned, up to the time of discharge, to be
apportioned at contract rates.. .
A servant hired by court contract, shall, at
the expiration of his term, or on being discharged
by consent of parties, be entitled to a written
discharge from tire master, and the failure of toe
master to give him such discharge within twen
ty-four hours after a request to do so, shall sub
ject the master to a forfeiture of twenty dollars,
to be recovered at the suit of the servant in the
County Court, and a discharge shall be issued
by the Judge or Clerk of said court, at the mas
ter’s costs.
If a servant hired by court contract be dis
charged without hi9 consent before the end of
the term, he may proceed before the County
Court for damages or for specific performance,
or both, and if the master be found in default,
and be ordered to take the servant back, and he
refuse to do so, he shall pay, instanter, the whole
of the wages due or to become due, or the equiv
alent thereof, and the court shall give the ser
vant a final discharge. If the servant, on the
contrary, be found in default, and to have been
discharged for legal cause, be shall forfeit his
wages and make satisfaction instanter for any
damages he may have occasioned by his breach
of contract. The court, however, if the evi
dence be not clear and satisfactory, may vary
its orders to meet the apparent equity of the
case.
§ 14. Withdrawal of Servants—A servant may
withdraw from his master’s service for an insuf
ficient supply of wholesome food, where it is the
master’s duty by law or by special contract to
furnish it; for an assault and battery by the mas
ter or his agent upon himself or any ot his fami
ly, or for violent and menacing conduct though
short of battery; for debauching his wife or
daughter by the master; or for failure to pay
wages when doe.
The effects of withdrawal, like those of dis
charge, shall vary with the clearness and cer
tainty of evidence. A legal cause clearly proven
shall deprive the servant of none of his wages;
toe abscence of a legal cause clearly proven shall
work a forfeiture of the whole; and if the cause
be doubtful under toe evidence the wages shall
be apportioned. The burthen of making a case
of doubt shall be on the servant.
Alter a withdrawal under a court contract,
either party may apply to the County Coart for
redress, if a legal cause be found to exist, the
court shall give the servant a discharge to ena
ble him to procure other employment, and shall
moreover compel the master to pay up his wages
as they become due, and all damages caused by
his breach of contract. If the servant be found
to have withdrawn without legal cause, he shall,
if the master desire it, return to toe service, pay
all damages occasioned by his withdrawal, and
be punished as for contempt if he again depart.
If the master do not move for his return, the ser
vant shall pay instanter all damage, as well as
forfeit his wages, and until he pay the damage he
shall receive no written discharge so as to procure
other employment. For doubts upon tbe evi
dence, toe court may vary toe orders in cases of
withdrawal as in cases of discharge.
§15. Character of Servant—The master of his
family, in answer to inquiries touching toe char
acter of any person who has been in bis service,
may give the information sought, and the same
unless false and malicious, shall be a privileged
communication.
Any master or any other person who shall wil
fully misrepresent a servant with regard to moral
qualities or to skill or experience, shall-be liable
to an action for damages by any person aggrieved
thereby.
ARTICLE VII.
MASTER AND APPRENTICE.
§T. Parental Contracts—Any colored child
under eighteen years of age, may, by whichever
>arent has the legal control of him or her, be
round as an apprentice to any respectable white
or colored person, until he or she shall attain the
age of twenty-one years, or for. any shorter pe
riod. ■
Paupers.—Colored paupers,, under eighteen
rears old, receiving relief from the public, may
Ire bound oftt for the like term, by the Judge of
the County Court.
■§ 3. Aprroval and Filing of Indentures.—Jl
shall not be necessary for the apprentice, in any
case, to sign the indentttres, tmt theyshaH be of
no effect until approved by tfre Jucfee of toe
any work appropriate to the age i
ti, e [ County Court, and filed in his office. The Judge ,
indentures.
§4. Duties Master.—^The masterr shall teach
the apprentice the business of husbandry, house
service, or some other useful trade or occupation,
which shall be specified in the instrument of ap
prenticeship ; shall furnish him wholesome food,
suitable clothing, and necessary medicine and
medical attendance; shall teach him habits of in
dustry, honesty and morality; shall cause him to
be taught to read English; aud shall govern him
with humanity, using only the same degree of
force to compel his obedience as a father may use
with his minor child.
§ 5. Controversies Pending the Relation.—Of all
controversies between the master and his appren
tice pending the existence of the relation, the
County Court may exercise jurisdiction, aud on
complaint of either party and notice to the other,
may cause justice to be done in a summary man
ner. If toe master be in default, he shall be
fined at toe discretion of the court; aDd if the
apprentice, the court may order such correction
as the circumstances may demand, not extending
to cruelty.
§ C. Dissolution of the Relation.—By consent of
the parties, the County Court may dissolve the
relation at any time ; and at the death of the
master, the court riiay either dissolve it, or snlt-
stitute for the deceased a member of his family;
in which event, the latter, by giving a written
acceptance, shall thenceforth have all the rights,
and be bound for all the duties of the original
master. Dissolutions by consent, or for tbe death
of the master, shall be subjected to the sound
discretion of the court, as also shall be the selec
tion of a successor to the master, from among
the members of his family; but if no successor
be designated, and his acceptance filed within
one month, the relation shall no longer exist.
The County Court may also dissolve the rela
tion at the instance of the master, for gross mis
conduct in the apprentice; or at the instance of
the apprentice, or-any friend of his, for cruelty
in the master, or for failure to furnish food, cloth
ing, medicine or medical attendance, or for jeop
ardy to the good morals of the apprentice, by
reason of the master’s depraved conduct.
§ 7. Proceeds of Labor.—Allotcance to Appren
tice.—To the master shall belong the proceeds of
the apprentice’s felSprj but at toe expiration of
his term of service, AMthful apprentice shall he
entitled to a small allowance from the master,
with which to begin life ; the amount to be left,
in the first instance, to the master’s generosity.—
If the master offer less than one hundred dollars,
the apprentice may decline it, and cite the mas
ter before a County Court; and the court, after
hearing both parties, and their witnesses, if any,
shall fix the sum to be paid, increasing or dimin
ishing the amount offered, according to the mer
its ot the apprentice, the means of the master,
and the length and fidelity of the service.
§ 8. Master's Rights against Third Persons.—
The master shall have a right of action against
any person employing his colored apprentice,
with notice of the fact, and the damages recov
ered shall not be less than twenty-five dollars.
ARTICLE VIII.
CONTRACTS.
§ 1. Contracts by Colored Persons—The general
law applicable to contracts, except where other
wise expressly provided by this system of laws,
is hereby extended to contracts made by persons
of color among ; themselves, or with white per
sons, or bodies corporate. This section shall re-
troact upon all contracts made by colored per
sons since the first day of June, 1865.
§ 2. Writings Executed by Illiterate Persons—
No writing hereafter executed in this State, shall
bind any party who signs the same by making
his mark, unless said writing, in the attestation
clause or elsewhere, specify, m the handwriting
of an attesting witness, that it was read over in
the hearing of such party. And no probate of a
writing so signed, shall be sufficient to admit it
to record, or for any other purpose, unless the
same fact be also declared in such probate.—
Provided, however, that this section shall not
apply where it is made plainly to appear by di
rect and positive evidence, that the party could
easily read ordinary writing for himself, or that
toe instrument in question, was in fact fully and
correctly read to him at the time of its execu
tion.
§3. Court Contracts—Any written agreement
for a term of service not exceeding one year, or
for toe lease, rent, or occupation of lands, or ten
ements, not exceeding a. like term, may, at toe
option of the parties, be filed in toe office of the
County Court, the patties, or either of them, re
taining a duplicate if they so desire.
An agreement thus filed shall be known as a
Court Contract, and shall have the force and ef
fect of a judgment or decree for the specific per
formance of its terms, both as to the express
stipulations and toe plain duties and obligations
resulting therefrom by implication of law.
Performance of these stipulations, duties and
obligations, may-from day to day and from time
to time, be enforced by the County Court, by or
ders entered on the minutes for that purpose;
which orders may be carred into effect by attach
ment for contempt, or any other writ, execution,
or process known to the law, and used in any
court for affording redress to parties, or for main
taining its own authority and dignity.
Damages for a breach ot such contract may be
awarded by similar orders, and payment thereof
enforced by like means; and at the election of
the part aggrieved, the contract may be declared
rescinded, and such party restored to his original
situation as nearly as possible. Any other order
requisite to the attainment of substantial justice
in the particular case, may also be passed and en
forced ; the court always keeping in view, as car
dinal points, that each party is to be compelled
to perform his contract, or to forfeit for any ma
terial default, the whole or a part of its benefits,
and in addition thereto, to make full and fair
compensation to the opposite party, tor any dam
age occasioned by a breach thereof. In constru
ing the contract, time is to be regarded as of the
same. Unless rendered impossible by the act of
God, or tire act of law, whatever is stipulated to
be done by either party, must be done at the very
time or times specified.
At the expiration of the term fixed by the
contract, the relation established thereby shall
cease, without notice to or from either party.—
The power of the County Court, by appropriate
orders, to compel payments, or to award and col
lect damages, or to place the parties in their for
mer situation,shall nevertheless continue, subject
only to the condition that any order for one or
more of these purposes, shall be applied for with
in two months alter the expiration of the time
limited in the contract for its full and final per
formance. Breaches not thus provided for,' may
be the subject of regular suit or action at any
time within the 'statutory period applicable to
similar actions on other contracts.
Every court contract shall be attended witli
the following incidents: Wages or rent stipu
lated for therein, and orders by the County
Court for damages, shall be preferred tb all
other debts or liabilities of toe party whatso
ever; the costs of the proceeding, and public
taxes excepted. In cases. of toe party’s death}
his funeral expenses and those of his last sick
ness shall also be excepted. This preference
shall date from the filing of the contract, and
prevail as to all order founded. thereon, but not
so as to restrain the bona fide sale of property,
for a valuable consideration, except from the
date of the orders thrahselves. The orders,
whether for wages, rent or damages, shall have
a lien upon all the property, real or personal, of
the paity, and no part, thereof shall be exempt
from levy and sale for their payment or satisfac
tion. The proceeds of the contract shall flot be
subject to garnishment, except for costs accruing
in the County Court,
No contract shall be filed as a court contract
without the consent of both parties, which must
be Expressed therein, or midoreed thereon snd
signed. . ; <■■■■'
If either party be a person of color, the Judge
or Clerk of the County Court shall, before filing
the contract, read it over distinctly in llie hear
ing of such party, and see that he both under
stands and assents to its terms. If npon either of
these points, the officer is not fblly satisfied, he
shall decline to put the instrument on file.
Each contract shall be numbered in its proper
order, at toe time of filing, and noted in the index.
The date of the filing shall be endorsed on the
contract, and tbe endorsement signed by toe
Judge or Clerk.
An alphabetical index of all court contracts
shall be kept, in which the names of all the par
ties to each contract shall be entered under the
appropriate initial letters, with a reference to the
number of the contract. This index shall re
main in the office of the County Court, and be
subject to inspection by the public.
If the contract relate to service, it shall be filed
in the county where the service is to be rendered,
or where the master resides; and if to the occu
pation of land, in the county where thefend.lies.
Upon a change of the master’s residence, or of
the service, from one county to another, a certi
fied copy of the contract may, .by either party,
be filed in the office of toe County Court of such
other county, and in that event, the court in the
latter county shall be the one in which, to, con
duct all subsequent proceedings.
A court contract may be set aside in the County
Court for fraud, by a direct proceeding for that
purpose; or it may be collaterally impeached for
fraud, either in -that court.or any other.
The remedy in the Coynty Court on court con
tracts, fe not exclusive, but enhralative only. •
ARticjffiik 1
WILLS, ADMINISTRATION, DISTRIBUTION OF ES
TATES, etc;
§ 1. The laws of this State' which regnlate
Wills, Executors; Administrators/ the ffistribn-
tion of estates,-anti >be.. rights *«nd remedies of
legatees and distributees, relating both to the es
tate and intestate estates, of white, .persons, shall
hereafter be applicable ttf the 7 estates of colored
persons, except that for the purpose of saving ex
pense and delay; m all cases where a colored
person may die testate, and the executor fails or
refuses to qualify, or where such person shall die,
intestate, and the whole estate, in either case, ac
cording to the best estimate which the Ordinary
Can from the report made to him, does not
exceed one hundred dollars in value, that officer
may dispense with the rules of advertisements,
and other formalities required. by the law, and
may cite all the next of kin, above tbe age of
eighteen, Of whom he can obtain information,
to"appear before him, on a day to be fixed by
him, within such number of days not exceeding
thirty, as in his judgement the circumstances
render proper, and then and there, having refer
ence, as nearly as possible, to the rules^ which
regulate the grant of administration in this State,
lie may appoint an administrator of said estate.
Such administrator shall in all respects be gov
erned by toe laws of this State, which regulate
the administration and'distribution of estates.
§ 2. If none of the next 'of kin, nor any credi
tor of an estate of a person of color, shall be found,
qualified, in the opinion of the Ordinary, proper
ly- to administer said estate, then a person not a
member of family, nor a creditor may lie ap
pointed.
ARTICLE X.
FENAL LABOR ON PUBLIC WORKS.
§ 1. From and after the passage of this act, the
following crimes, to-wit: simple larceny, if a fel
ony ; larcenv from the house, of a chattel of less
value than due hundred dollars; vagrancy; and
receiving stolen goods; and also attempts to com
mit the folloyving crimes, to-wit: robbery, bur
glar}-, larceny from toe bouse, and arson, shall
be punished by confinement at hard labor on the
public works 'or public property, instead of by
confinement in the Penitentiary. And in all
other eases where by law confinement in the Pen
itentiary is prescribed as a punishment, the court,
in its discretion, may sentence the convict to con
finement at hanl labor on the public works or
property; Provided, that notwithstanding crimes,
or attempts to commit crime, shall be classed as
felonies.
§3. The term of labor on the public works
shall conform, in all cases, to that of labor in the
Penitentiary, now prescribed in like cases.
§ 3. The Governor, in his discretion, may com-
mute the punishment of any convict sentenced
to labor in the Penitentiary to labor on the public
works, either for a part or the whole of the term
of punishment.
§ 4. It shall be lawful for the Governor, in his
discretion, to appoint, at convenient places in
the State, convict stations, to which convicts sen
tenced either to the Penitentiary or to labor on
public works may be immediately sent by the
Sheriffs of the several counties, and be there re
ceived and kept at the expense of the State in
the manner and by the officers prescribed by the
Governor, until delivered to the proper custody
for labor. Until such stations are appointed,
convicts sentenced to labor on public works shall
be kept in custody and transported to such field
of labor as the Governor or General Superintend
ent may direct, in the same manner as those
sentenced to the Penitentiary.
§ 5. A General Superintendent of convicts
shall be appointed by the Governor, subject to
removal, and shall receive a safety of dollars
He shall have power, subject to the approval of
the Governor, to appoint such Assistant Super
intendents as may The found necessary, and to fix
their compensation, and to employ such guards
and subordinate officials ns necessity may require,
-all of whom shall be subject to removal by the
General Superintendent.
§ 6. Any convict sentenced to labor on public
works, may be employed by the General Super
intendent, subject to the direction of the Gover
nor, at labor on toe Western and Atlantic Rail
road, or any other property of the State, on the
public roads and bridges, or at any othor labor
for the benefit or profit ot the State.
§ 7. The Governor and General Superinten
dent shall have the power, subject to modifica
tion or repeal by the General Assembly, to frame
such regulations for the control, management,
and employment of such convicts, as shall be ne
cessary and proper.
§ 8. Under toe supervision and subject to the
discretion of toe Governor, the General Superin
tendent may at any time, farm out the term of
labor of any convict, to any Railroad, Canal,
Turnpike, Manufacturing or other Company, or
to any private person. He shall take bond with
security for the humane treatment of the convict,
and lor his proper supply of food and clothing.
A failure to comply with these requirements
shall not only forfeit the bond of the contractor,
but shall annul his right to the continued labor of
the convict. The Governor, on receiving proof
satisfactory to himself of toe contractors default,
may immediately ordei^thc return of the convict
to the custody of the General Superintendent of
convicts, aud may order suit on said bond. He
may also, in liis discretion, direct that the con- .
tractor be persecuted for ^ violation ol the laws
of this State. If any convict so hired out* shall
refuse or neglect to do lawful work, which is not
disproportioned to his health and strength, or
otherwise violate lawful roles or orders, he slial 1
be reported to the General Superintendent, or
any of his Assistants, or the nearest County
Judge, who, if satisfied of the fact, shall order to
beinflicted on such convict, such corporeal punish
ment, not endangering life or limb, as ia usually
inflicted in the Penitentiary of Georgia.
§ 9. Whenever, by any court having criminal
jurisdiction any person shall be sentenced, under
the laws of this State, to a term of labor, and
said sentence does not specify that such labor
shall be in the Penitentiary or on the public
works and property of the State, toe County
Judge may, under rules and regulations to be
made, and modified or altered from time to time
by him,, with the concurrence of a majority of
the Justices of the Inferior Court, assign the said
convict to labor on the roads, bridges, or otber
property of toe county, or on the streets, or pro
perty of any corporate city or town therein; or
the County Judge may, under rules and regula
tions, (in like manner established,) manage, assign,
and dispose of such labor for the best interests of
the community, always having in view the ob
jects of the sentence, and the principles of justice
and humanity. A copy of the rules and regula
tions of such county, established as aforesaid*
shall be furnished to the Governor, and be sub
ject to revision by him. The said Judge and
Justices shall see that proper and sufficient food
and clothing are supplied to such convicts. If
any such convict, being able, shall refuse to do
lawful labor, or otherwise violate lawful rules
and orders, the cape shall be reported to toe
County Judge, who may, in his discretion enforce
obedience in the manner specified in the latter
part of the eight section of this article.
§ 10. The terms ‘‘hard labor” or “labor,”
when used in any penal act, without specifying
labor in the Penitentiary or on the public works,
shall signify either labor on the public works or
property, or labor under the discretion of the
County Judge, as provided in this article; and
toe court before which the case is tried, may in
its discretion, sentence the convict to either of
these tbree classes of labor.
§ 11. The offenses described in sections 4878,
4379, 4381,4384, and 4385, of the Code of Geor
gia, in relation to persons sentenced to toe Pe-
nitentiary, or guilty of offenses punishable by
imprisonment in the Penitentiary, are declared
to be offenses when committed in relation to
persons sentenced to labor on. the public works
and property, or guilty, of offenses punishable by
such labor, and persons guilty of the same shall
be punished, on conviction, by imprisonment
and labor in the Penitentiary, or by labor on the
public works* and property, at the* discretion of
tbe court, and for such terms as are provided for
tbe like offenses, in said sections of the Code.
ARTICLE XI.
OFFENSES RELATIVE TO PEftSONS OF COLOR AND
OTHER OFFENSES BY WHITE PERSONS.
§1. The Thirteenth Division, Part 4, Title 1,
of the Code of Georgia, concerning offenses rela
tive to slaves, being from Section 4487 to Section
4515 inclusive, is hereby repealed.
§ 2. Offenses committed by white persons
against the persons or property of persons of
color, except when otherwise herein provided,
shall have the same definitions, and be subject to
the same laws, as to trial and punishment, as if
committed againt white persons.
§ 3. In ail offenses which require the concur
rent action of two or. more, committed by white
persons and persons of color jointly, the offend
ers may be separately tried and punished accord
ing to the provisions of law for each class of
such offenders.
J 4. Whenever the penalty prescribed for any
use is death, it' may be cotnmntcd into im
prisonment for life in the Penitentiaiy, or hard
labor for life, on the public works or property, in
the following eases :
1st. By sentence of the presiding Judge, if the
conviction is founded solely on circumstantial
evidence, orif the jnry trying the case shall so
recommend. In the former case it is discretion
ary with the Judge, in the latter it is not.
2d. By commutation of the Governor.
3d. By act of tjie General Assembly.
S 5. Any person who sells or delivers to any
other person, not a druggist, or practising physi
cian, unless upontlte prescription of a physician,
any arsenic; strychnine, prussic acid, aconite, or
Other virulent poison, shall make or cause to be
made a written note of the fact, entering thereon
the name and residence of the person (o whom
the sale or delivery is made, the. date thereof,
and ti»e name and quantity of the drug so sold
or. delivered, and shall within Thirty days there
after file such written note in the office of the
County Judge.
Any person who fails or refuses to comply
with the provisions of this act, shall be guilty of
a misdemeanor,'and on conviction thereof, shall
be fined or imprisoned in the common jaitot
the eountyvat toe discretion of the court ; Pro
vided, That if any sncli poison be sold or deliv
ered with the intent or knowledge that such
poison is to be maliciously administered to any