Weekly Atlanta intelligencer. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1865-18??, February 06, 1867, Image 1

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Newspaper Page Text\ V “ERROR CEASES TO BE DANGEROUS WHEN SEASON IS LEFT FREE TO COMBAT IT."—Jefferson. — VOLUME XIX. ATLANTA, GA., WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 6,1867. - NUMBER 6. TBrehlt) ^ntfUigfnrrr ATLANTA, GEORGIA, Wednesday, February 6, I8«e^ On the Impeachment of the President. The readers of the Intelligences have from time to time been advised that many of the Re publican papers of the North have earnestly op posed the imi>cachmeut project gotten up by their Radical associates in and out of Congress. Home of these papers havc diligently and patrioti cally labored to convince their Radical brethren of the folly of their course, hut with little success w> far as Congress is concerned, if we are to judge by the reports of the proceedings of that revolu- tiouary body. None have done so with more convincing arguments than the New York Pont, Inferring recently to this impeachment policy, that pa|M.-r says: But it is now said, “ he stands in the way.”— How? lu the way of what? lie is powerless against any constitutional action of the majority o7 either this or the next Congress. In the pre sent Congress the Republican Senators number thirty-eight, and the Democrats and supporters of Mr. .Johnson fourteen, counting Senators Dix on, Norton, Cowan,•nil Doolittle among the I lemocrats. In the Senate the Republicans have therefore, tiiree more votes than the two-thirds required to pass a hill over the President's veto. In the present House of Representatives the Republicans have one hundred and forty-five votes, and the supporters of Mr. Johnson forty- seven. The Republicans have therefore seven teen votes more than are required to pass a bill over the President’s veto. in the next Congress which is to meet on the ■1ih of March, the Republicans will have in the Senate forty-three votes, and the supporters of the President only nine, ('ole takes the seat of McDougal; Ferry, that of Poster; Morton that ol Rune; Drake iluit of Brown; ConkliDg that ol Harris ; Corbet that of Nesmith, and Came ron that of Cowan. Senators are yet to be cho- sen in Kansas, Maryland, and Ohio, but those elections will not alter the figures given above, which give the Republicans even greater pre dominance in the Senate ot the next Congress than now. lu the next House, supposiug the elections yet to be held in California, Connecti cut, Rhode Island, Kentucky, and Tennessee to make no changes in the present balance of par ties, the Republicans w ill have-one hundred and forty-two voles, and the supporters ot Mr. John son forty-seven—that is to say, the Republicans will count sixteen more than a two-thirds vote. The Repuhlciaus have, therefore, during the remainder of Mr. Johusou's term in both Houses of Congress, more than enough votes to pass all bills over the veto. If they can agree upon a policy, they can adopt it ugainst the President’s opposition. Instead of taking up time with im peachment, would "they not do much more wisely to agree among themselves upon some definite and effective policy of reconstruction, and adopt tli.i'? This is what the couutry is waiting for; this is what it expects of Congress ; this is what the Unionists of the Southern Stales say they are perishing for lack ol ; lids is what is required to settle our affairs. There is, in the foregoing extract, much valua ble information, aside lrom the argument it em braces against the nefarious scheme the Post lias labored so zealously to defeat. It is more on ac count of the information it contains that w T e in vite the attention of our readers to it, than for any other purpose. Upon the question of im peachment we understand well the position of the Southern press, and how little, if any, influ ence it can exercise over the Radical Congress now run mad with the power they enjoy in the national legislature. We must be patient und enduring till sober, second, thought checks and changes the political current iu the North, and right again prevails. In the meantime, we rest content with the faith that is iu us, that, despite all appearances to the contrary, the Presiden will not be impeached, hut if lie lie, that he will triumph over his persecuting adversaries. Some idea may be formed of the “situation" when Secretary Stanton thus expresses himself, as he is reported to have done by the Washing ton City correspondent of that old, reliable jour nal, the Boston Post : Hon. John Covode called upon Secretary Stan ton yesterday, and there ensued a long and friend ly discourse on the status of the country. Mr. Stanton appeared very desirous of discussing the current events of national import, and expressed himself freely. He confessed that from the very outset the disputations ot the executive and legis lative branches of the Government had caused him the liveliest alarm, which, since the move ment toward impeachment, had increased to an apprehension of revolution and anarchy. The burden ol his remarks was in regard to certain acts of the President and Congress, and he point ed gloomily to the deleterious effect of each up on the nation. In parting with Covode, Mr. Stanton remarked: “I aided to place two million of men in the field to put down the rebellion; three hundred thousand have bitter, the dust, and an equal number are cripples throughout the land ; and yet, with all this tremendous effort and corresponding sacrifice, the country, iu my judg ment, is shadowed with the gloom of a darker hour than was incident to any crisis ot the late war.” This latter expression of Mr. Stanton’s solicitude is given me with scrupulous exactitude by gentlemen minutely acquainted with every circumstance in the premises, and who further avers that the Secretary seemed completely un manned as he uttered the last remark, and ab ruptly turned from his visitors to conceal his emotion. Not only in regard to the “ situation ” upon which the Secretary of War is reported to have expressed himself so feelingly may the country be taught a lesson, but we of the South are now au thoritatively informed ot how vast the number of men that were placed in the field to overpower it. “ Two millions of men ” did the present Secre tary of War aid “ to place in the field!" “ Three hundred thousand have bit the dust, and an equal number are cripples throughout the laud!” How terrible is war! How destructive to the human race! What misery, what destruction it entails 1 Who that realizes its horrors once, can fail to promote, in earnest efforts, peace in the land where it has prevailed, especially in the magnitude it has done in this ? The Tar HI' Bill. That measure of iniquity termed the Tariff Bill being under discussion in the United States Senate on Thursday last, oneof the North West ern Senators, Mr. Grimes of Iowa, made a speech against it, in which lie said : The man who opposes this measure, may ex pert lo be slandered. The protectionists have already poured out the vials of their wrath against any mau who opposes it. Threats of I *• >1 it i<*a1 ostrurism have been made against all \\ ho do not believe this bill to be for the best In terests ot the country. That portion of the pub lic press which has been suborned to this iuterest is rile with charges that the capital is thronged with free traders, and that British gold is being used to deleat American interests, and every man is condemned who would inquire before be w ould vote. We know what all ibis means. Ho tar as 1 have the ability, I am resol veil that the people also shall know what it means. It means' that two or three large manufacturing interests of the country, not satisfied witli the enormous profits of the last six years, are determined, at whatever costs, to put more money* in their pockets. To this cud they have persuaded some and coerced other manufacturing interests to unite in a demand for what they call protection to American labor, hut what some other people, w ith more truth, call the robbery of American labor and agriculture. It means that the men w ho are interested in the passage of this bill are bent upon taking the legislation ot the conn try into their own hands; that they arc unwilling that there should he tree inquiry iuto the sub ject , that, coi soious of the interested motives ot' their own action, they cannot conceive it pos >ihle that others should act from different mo tives. Knowing the venality of their own editors, they cannot think of such a thing as an indepen dent, manly American editor. Tills mad-dog cry of British gold and interested motives pas ses by me like the idle wind. Mr. Grimes then proceeded to examine and condemn the details of the bill. It was not. lie said, a hill to raise revenue. It would decrease the revenue and destroy the commerce of the country, ll would injure the very* interests it pretended to protect. It was unjust to the agri cultural interests of the West. It protected wool in niufuctmvrs and operated against the growers ot wool. The dominant party in Congress, especially those who advocate the Tariff hill before it, do not seem to consider the agricultural labor of the West and South as ot any other importance to live country than to be taxed for the support ot the mauufaoturing interests ot the North and East—for the siipjvort of wliat they are pleased t.i term ‘'American Labor"—that is, their cotton, and w >ol, and hullnu manufactories; their coal and iron works; these and the like constitute American Ist’-r, while that which is applied to the tilling of l lie soil, in the absence ot which ail olh. r labor is as nothing, is to be made subeervi- eut to it. How unjust, how unwise the policy! It the grv.it producing Suites ot the North and V> est can stand it, ihe Siuth must, of course.— This is a new era indeed, but oue iu w hich we see prevailing might only over right. “God save the States.” belling Alarmed. It is encouraging to see that some of the Re publican papers are becoming alarmed at the rapiti’progresa that party is making towards re volution, anarchy, and universal confusion.— Among others showing signs of trepidation at the extraordinary and alarming aspect of pub lic affairs, is the New York Times, which says: “ Few ot us are blind enough not to see that there is now impending as a coup d'etat at Wash ington. It hangs above our heads at this very moment, and if we do nokset aside all party hopes and fears, or in' fact all other party considerations, it will fall upon us as we are gazing upon it with stupid and inactive apprehension.” [After exposing the dangerous, because uncon stitutional, and therefore illegal character of the Williams and Boutwell bills, the article con cludes.] “These things are done before us; the doom of our Government is on the brink of execution; and yet we are quiet! Will nothing arouse us? Are we as sluggisli of appreheusiou now, on the one hand, as we were before the rebellion, on the other V Our Government is in peril now, as it was then ; not of disintegration, but of usurp ation—the usurpation of absolute power by tem porary representatives of the people of a part of the country. * * '* If the President is im peached and suspended from office during his trial, and the powers of the Supreme Court are defined by Congress, the impending coup d'etat will have been struck, and the majority of an im perfect Congres will be absolute master of the whole country, not only now but at any time hereafter.” Butler and Canada. The redoubtable hero, Ben. Butler, recently published a letter expressing the opinion “that the annexation or absorption of the Canadas is both necessary and inevitable for the future wel fare of the United States.” This letter has been reproduced in the Canadiau papers, and the opin ion, like all of the enunciations of that great and distinguished man, excites much attention. The Montreal News gravely discourses on the subject as follows: The opinion ot Butler on annexation and ab sorption arc of no ordinary value, and should re ceive grave consideratiou. The experience he had while in New Crlcans in annexing silver plate to his own household effects, and absorbing Southern cotton iuto his warehouses, makes him an authority upon such matters. We presume that it the annexation or absorption of the Can- ados, is consummated by force, the gallant But ler will l>e at the head ot a brigade to search the plate-closets of private houses and the vaults of bands for stray articles of value. He would be very useful to iiis employers iu such acapacity.it the precaution was taken of having him accom panied by a detective lorce to prevent any mis conception on bis part ol the relative relations of nieum and tuutn. Bast Returning to Bast. It i9 asserted by scientific writers that tlie num ber of persons who have existed on our globe since the beginning of time amounts to 36,627,- 843,273,075,266. These figures when divided by 3,005,000—the number of separate leagues on the globe—leave 11,320,689,732 square miles of land; which being divided as before, give 1,314,- 622,076 persons to each square mile. It we re duce these miles to square rods, the number will be 1,853,174,600,000 ; which, divided in like man ner, will give 1283 inhabitants to each square rod; and these being reduced to feet, will give about five persons to each square foot of terra firma. It will thus be perceived that our earth is a vast cemetery. Ou each square rod of it 1283 human beings lie buried, each rod being scarcely suf ficient for ten graves, with each grave containing one hundred and twenty-eight persons. The whole surface of our globe, therefore, has been dug over one hundred and twenty-eight times to bury its dead! llow literally true the declar ation ot the poet: “ There'* not a dn*t that float* on air But once was living man.” Missouri.—The trial of Colonel Montgomery, ot Kausas notoriety, aud a commander of negro troops during the war, and latterly in chief com mand of the militia called on by Governor Fletcher to restore order in certain counties in Missouri, alleged to be .disaffected, is now going on before the United States Court at Jefferson City, iu that Stale. A telegram from St. Louis states that all the evidence thus far corroborates the previous statements, that there has been no time, until the appearance ot the militia, when civil processes could not have been served, aud that since the arrival of the militia, there has been a constant reign of terror, which has de terred all who were disposed to do so from enter ing complaints against the violation of law. The New York papers of the 26thcontain full reports of the speeches, and other particulars,at ihe great Southern Relief Meeting held at the Cooper Institute in that city on the preceding evening. The more prominent of those in at tendance seem to have availed themselves of the occasion to get rid of a little of that bitterness of spirit towards the South which is so redun dant as to overflow upon any and every oppor tunity—even at the assemblages called ostensibly for purely benevolent purposes. The great lead ing feature at. the Cooper Institute was the sjieeeh of Henry Ward Beecher, an eminent di vine and distinguished orator, who we believe, has recently been invited to lecture in this city. We have lead the report of Mr. Beecher’s re marks as published in the New York limes,&nd in copying the strictures upon them from the World, it is projicr to state that Uiey are hard ly as severe and condemnatory as the tacts would justify, ll is also proper to state, that Horace Greeley addressed the meeting, according to the World, in a very different manner, and adminis tered h quiet but severe rebuke to tlie Rev. Beech er for perverting the occasion to one in which to indulge a spirit of bitterness and revenge. The following embraces the strictures of the World: Henry Ward Beecher was the crack speaker of the evening, and we trust we ma3* never again listen to a crack speaker on a topic which peals so touchingly to humane sympathies, have heard Mr. Beecher cn many occasions, of ten with ainuSbment, sometimes with admira tion ; but we never heard him make a speech so misplaced or so bad as that last night. It seem ed to be his aim to use this opportunity to atone to tlie Plj’mouth congregation for the Cleveland letter, which raised about his ears such a ffen zied howl, last autumn. When they read his speech in this morning’s papers, we trust they will be pacified. We could pardon his raut aud his touches of low comedy, if the spirit of his remarks had not jarred on all the proprieties of tlie occasion. He began by a sneeriDg allusion to the great “Union-saving” meeting at Castle Gardeu, some sixteen years ago, and proceeded to rake into the entrails ot the defunct fugitive slave law, and tear open and ex pose all the old political wouDds mutually given and inflicted, between the North and South, from that day to this. We noticed that Mayor Hoftman and some other gentlemen on the stage very soon left, probably not perceiving the con nection between such a harangue aud the objects of the meeting. Those who sat it through had an opportunity to discover that Mr. Beecher’s chief argument for relieving starvation in the South was, that it was a refined method of in flicting revenge! He seemed rather to rejoice, on the whole, and glorify God that lamine had overtaken the South, partly because it afforded an opportunity to practice what he was pleased to call “Christian vengeance,” and partly because famine is a necessary means, in the Providence of God, of compelling tlie lazy Southerners to learu habits of industry! He professed that he could not exactly see the reason of this wise or dinance; but some other divine mysteries, he said, are equally beyond his depth, which he ex emplified by a string of illustrations. He did not know, tor instance, why every apple-blossom does not grow to be a ripe apple; he did not know why all babies, “since they take the trouble to be born,” do not grow to be men; and he quoted, as embodying some very deep philosophy, a scrap of tomb-stone literature, to the effect that a won der-struck' lather in composing an epitaph did not see what his dead child “was begun for,” since he “was so soon done for.” But such silly buffooneries were the feast objectionable part of Mr. Beecher’s remarks. His Plymouth flock must be a cross between the wolf and the tiger, if they needed a labored argument to prove to them that it is consistent with their abolition principles to feed the starving ex-rebels. So far as Mr. Beecher’s speech was argumentative at all, this was the sole drift of his argument. Some seven or eight days ago, the telegraph announced that a number of leading politicians at Washington, who had gathered there from different sections of the country, had been closet, ed in reference to a plan which might eventuate in an adjustment of the differences between the North and the South, the Executive and Legis lative Departments of the Government, and which, if not arranged and reconciled, must ulti mately lead to the most fatal consequences.— We did not at the time attach any serious im portance to the statement, rather regarding it as a mere sensation, which would pass away and be forgotten in a day or two. Subsequently, how ever, we met with a letter in the Cincinnati In quirer, which refers to the subject in a more in telligible manner, and purports to give tlie plan proposed somewhat in detaii, and the views al leged to have been expressed by the President in regard to it. We cony tlie correspondence of the Cincinnati journal—not by any means with an intention to commend the proposed plan to favorable consideration, or because we have the remotest idea that anytKj^r definite or conclu sive will come of it, butfjLnply that our readers may be fully posted in regard to everything goin on at the Federal capita! in which their interests are more specially involved. [Special to the Cincinnati Enquirer.] Washington, Jan. 23,1867. Early in November last I informed you that the leading politicans of the North and South— Republicans, Democrats' and ex-rebels alike— had been in conference upon a plan whereby, should it be adopted, it was believed the unfor tunate differences between the North aud South, and between the Executive and Legislative branches of the Government, would be satisfac torily adjusted, and I also informed you that these gentlemen were urging the President to adopt this scheme aud recommed it to the favor able consideration of tlie South. Suffrage and amnesty formed the basis of that proposi tion. President Johnson gave to the suggestions of these patriotic gentlemen the most careful and sincere consideration, and was at once favorably impressed with them; but, inasmuch as the amendment to the Constitution was then before the people, and its adoption or rejection undeci ded, the President deeitted it impolitic, it not absolutely improper, to present the matter to tlie country, believing, as he does—and he has acted upon this belief, the assertions to the contrary We reproduce the following fetter, published last week in the New York Tribune, and headed “ from our special correspondent,” Washington, January 18th, 1867, to enlighten onr readers as to the way in which the congenial work of still fur ther fomenting strife and discord between the people of the North and the South is carried on by the leaders of the Radical press, and also as a fair specimen of the gross and malicious false hoods daily circulated -by the unknown and un scrupulous correspondents in their employ: In the early part of December, 1860, a lum bering Virginia wagon, drawn by six mules, came down C street in. Washington. Its driver was a ragged negro with a slouch hat, whip in hand, sitting astride one of the males nearest the wag on. When he became opposite to the residence of the late Dr. Bailey, the wise and humane ed itor of The National Era, he stopped his wagon, and dismounting, glided up to a person on the sidewalk, who, for some reason, he thought he could trust, and softly inquired: “ Is Massa Lin- kum come ?” He was told that “ Massa Ldnkum” had not come. But the same inquisitive blacka- notwithstanding-tliat theljputhern people should cide upon the proposed atileudment, without let or hindance from the Executive. The time has arrived when it may be safely assumed that the constitutional amendment will fail to receive the approval of any one of the Southern States; and upon this assumption President Johnson is considering the propriety of giving his approval to the main features of the scheme first above mentioned, and ol recom mending its adoption by the Southern States! in deference to the demand of the people of the North, and iu which Southern representative men, who have been heard upon the subject acquiesce. The President thiuks that the negro popula tion of the South should have such safeguards thrown around them as to secure to them the permanent enjoyment of their freedom, and of all civil rights. T The French Frees. The Paris correspondent of the Journal of Commerce, writing on the 11th, states that the impeachment conspiracy at Washington, is re ceived, there with a feeling akin to general amaze ment. The writer says: ,‘The tone ot the French press is almost uni versally rcmonstrative and alarmed on the sub ject. President Johnson has somewhat alienated the good will of the French peoplfe themselves, as he undoubtedly has that of their government by his recent bearing on the Mexjcan question. But still the voice of most of the Liberal journals is opposed to the present action of Congress, and regards it as dangerous to tlie spirit and even ex istence of American institutions. Thus the Temps reprobates, “so extreme a measure as the removal ot the first magistrate of the Republic,” and the Presse hopes that political good sense will not tail the statesmen of the Union at this Grisis. In short, the news is received with an alarm and dislavor equal to the estimation of its gravity and ill consequences. And it is quite natural that such should be the views of the French people, for all remember only too well the days when an impeachment of the President of their Republic was talked of by the Assemblies Na tional, and have all known, also, only too well that such a step in France was equivalent to the outbreak of civil war.” Western Members.—Wendell Phillips is after the Western members of Congress, in the Anti-Slavery Standard, because of their votes in regard to the admission ot Colorado and Ne braska. He cracks tlie whip over their heads and round their lower limbs in this wise: Nothing more exactly daguerrotypes Congress than its action relative to .these Territories. Prin ciple, partisanship, expediency, heedlessuess, W esteru democracy, dread of voting alone, lack of clear vision, all these buble to the surface, and lo a thoughtful mau give little hope that this Cougress will effect much. Mr. Ashley’s action is blamable in the extreme—has no one redeem- _ element. It is easily explained by the fact that no Western member (speaking generally) is ever found bold and virtuous enough to dare op pose the admission of any new State on any ground either of prudence or principle. Every Western man seems to dread, as the unpardona ble sin in politics, the record that he ever, on any occasion, put one hour’s delay iu the way ot ad mitting a new Slate. We think they ought to be excused lrom voting on such questions on the ground of moral incompeteucy. Fear, disturb the natural action of the moral and mental forces, would constitute a sufficient reason lor such delicate consideratiou to that section. A member of Congress who has moral honesty enough to refrain from robbing a hen-roost or twisting the padlock from a neighbor’s smoke house, will never be likely to reach Phillips’ standard ot political perfection. Cotton.—The Richmon Whiq says: “Cotton Gen. Grant and the President.—Leo, the correspondent of tlie Charleston Courier writes : The Radicals hope to obtain some information from General Grant which will implicate the President in a plan for resistance, by force of the illegal and unconstitutional uctsot Congress. ! s begining to be cultivated almost up to our very It is averred that General Grant lias such in for-I doors. We saw, yesterday, a wagon load of million, and the 1 resident has conferred with bales, raised on the farm of Judge Meredith, him as to the measures lobe taken iu certain | . TT „ . . contingencies, for the maintenance of the Govern- j uear ° ld Church < Hanover. Many planters not ineot or against tlie usurpation of Cougress. tar lrom Richmond have raised cotton during Tlie President lias more thau once openly de | the [vast season, and. with increasing experience, dared that while he would submit to impeach- j there is no doubt that they will be'satisfactorily incut upou auv charges that cau be preterred in , , . . , . . . . , a legal and constitutional manner, he will o]>- j Sl,cc «^fo> the future m producing an article P<»c, wuh tdl his power, arbitrary and illi^-rr“ which was ouce called King, and which, though 1 it is said to be uncrowned, is still influential in , the commercial world.” measures of Congress. Congress desires uow to put him to the test— snipping him rirsl, however, o! ail power id' re sistance. The Radicals now find that much depends upon Gen. Grant. It Graut aud Sherman stand by the President, there will be no impeachment, aud no military and negro governments estab lished over the Southern States. Negro Emigration.—The Charleston Netrs estimates the number of negroes, farm, hands, that have left South Carolina for Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Texas, and Florida, at twenty-five thousand. A Magnificent Woman.—The celebrated Madame de Stael, who unfortunately had never been in that condition in which fords who love their ladies delight to see them, in an impulse of vanity ouce ventured to ask the Emperor Na poleon whom he regarded as the greatest woman living, expecting, of course, a flattering response. The mighty genius who had flushed every stream of liis own and other lands with blood and mac adamised the road to Empire with human skulls, thinking, no doubt, of tlie material for future conquests, replied: Madame, the woman who brings most children iuto the world! The lady was mortified, if not rebuked, and tbc question was never repeated. The happy mother alluded to iu the paragraph below, copied from the Mobile Advertiser dk Reg ister, would have probably filled the mighty man’s measure of a great woman. By the way, what does the Mobile paper mean by calling it a little incident when there's four of ’em ? Four Children at a Birth.—We learn that this little incident happened one day last week to a lady of this city, and that this is the third time she itas thus augmented the number of her house hold by more than one at a time—first two, then three, and now four. Southern University.—The Chaneellor of the University of the South, Bishop Green, lias summoned a meeting of the Board of Trustees at Montgomery, Alabama, on Wednesday, 13th of February next. he negro* armed with the ballot, can as well protect himself as any other citizen As Mr. Johnson interprets the Constitution, he does not discover any power in the General Gov ernment, to legislate upon the subject of suffrage in the States, iu which rests the exclusive con trol of the matter. Some of the Northern States—Massachusetts and New York, for example—have given the ballot to the negro. In one-of them is an educa tional, in the other a property qualification, and it is asked, why may not South Carolina, for in stance, be placed upon the same footing with Massachusetts, as to those who shall hereafter be admitted to the elective franchise? and Why may not the loyal representatives of the former be admitted to Congress upon the same footing as the representatives of the latter? Working out this plan in a practical form, let the people ot the State of South Carolina so amend their constitution and laws as to extend the elective franchise so far as Massachusetts has done. As an incentive to this reform, the Presi dent intimates his readiness to issue a proclama tion of amnesty to all the people ot South Caro lina who may have approved the movement— This reform being accomplished, the people of that State elect loyal representatives to Congress —blacks voting with whites, as indicated above. It would then rest with Congress to determine whether these representatives should be admitted. I have good reason for sayiug that a plan lor adjusting the existing difficulties iu the way of reconstruction is now receiving the serious con sideration of the Administration, and has been discussed in Cabinet with a view to its adoption. It differs from Mr. Gree 1 ey’s'amnesty and suffrage scheme in this—it provides for separate State action, and.proposes qualified suffrage, aud leaves impracticable and unrepentant rebels still sub ject to the penalties tor treason. Amnesty and suffrage each befog qualified, it leaves tlie States to the exercise of their consti tutional prerogative of prescribing the qualifica tions of voters, aud extending the elective fran chise to the negro; to the Executive the dispen sation of pardou and amnesty; and to tlie Legis lative department the admission of loyal repre sentatives to the respective houses of Cougress— each branch of tlie Government thus harmoni ously moving in its appropriate sphere. Reconstruction. It is reported iruui the direction of Washing ton, that Mr. Boutwell, the honorable member who recently iulroduceil a bill to override the decisions of the Supreme Court, is to concoct a plan of reconstruction, that shall bi acceptable to a large number of tbe late “Rebels.” The New York Tribune, speaking of it, says : A simple provision that no further confisca tions shall be initiated would enable thousands of most capable and enterprising Southrons to borrow money wherewith to fence and till their lands, or to sell half ot them tor tbe means with which to cultivate the other. And why not thus provide ? If we do not propose to confiscate— aud almost everyone says we do not—let us stale this beyond cavil, so as to allow thousands now tetiered and paralyzed to return to active use- lufoess, and thus contribute to the national thrift and prosperity. If we do not mean to indict for simple treason—and every one knows that such indictment would, uuder the decisions ot ihe Supreme Court, be but a costly sham—let us say that also, and dispel the idle but uone the less painlul apprehensions of devoted wives and chil dren. We will not here use the word amnesty, since it has been so grossly and dishonestly per verted ; but we insist that Congress shall at least seem as generous as 9he really is. Revolt in Barre County, Texan. The following is among the latest current sen sations in the Radical papers. The facts set forth may be true or not—probably not, as they come through a questionable source, the special of the New York Herald: The Heralds New Orleans special says: Barre county, Texas, is in revolt. Captain’ Trimble, late of an Illinois regiment, was recently shot at and wounded, and ids life threatened. He came to New Orleans and returned with twenty cav alrymen to remove his family. He found that bis wife and child had been driven from home into Arkansas, and the negroes on his place were manacled and driven through the streets iu the presence ot the cavalry, wuo were forced to fail back before three hundred unreconstructed rebels. Mrs. Trimble died from ill treatment, and was buried here yesterday. Generals Mower, Hitch, Kirby and Maney, Union officers and members of the grand army of the republic, attended the funeral. The Captain is at the point of death from the wounds received from the chivalrv. General JcbaL A. Early.—A correspondent of the Richmond Whig nominates Jubal A. Early for Governor of Virginia, “if no constitutional barrier interpose,” and asks the ladies of the State to ‘'appeal to their husbands, fathers, broth ers and sons with one general voice to elect him to that position, and relieve him of the humilia ting condition of an exile in a land of strangers to preside over his native State.” The Whig says, in it “a note is struck which it will not sur prise us to see taken up and echoed throughout the State.” moor, as well as everybody else of an observing turn of mind who visits this town, can now see that “ Massa Lfokum ” has come. It needs no stretch of imagination to sec this inscription placed ob the walls and chiseled into the pavement; to behold it blazing on the blue above, and trailed like a banner after the drifting clouds. To the returning stranger especially, it is plain that “ Massa Linkum’s come.” His pro geny infest the ways. The Nubian is thick. He lias come through tbe Red Sea and is glad of his escape. The street cars of Washington are ex cellent and spacious. Washington of all our cities, is the only one found to have its streets laid out broad enough to accommodate this great modern convenience, and still leave room tor all other uses of travel. The stranger steps into oue and finds himself sitting down between a Nubian on one side and a Nubian on the other. He rubs his mind’5 eye aud wonders if this is secesh Washington. Here sit before him the ex act counterparts of the facts cut in the colored stone of Egypt 3,000 years ago, which are still extant. Devilish Secesh cries out, “This is a white man’s Government.” Why not a Nubian’s, an Abyssinian’s, who enjoyed thirty centuries ago a higher civilization, judging merely by the ma terial monuments left on the soil by the drift and deluge of ages, than ever devilish Secesh en joyed? They are “paupers,” said Reverdy Johnson. And are there not a million of just such white paupers on the Island of Great Bri tain to-day ? And have we not thousands and tens of thousands just such; every blear-eyed villain among them all crying out, “This is a white man’s Government!” And who made them “paupers?” Let devilish Secesh, who has robbed them of their earnings, robbed them of their morals, robbed them of their manhood, answer. No cross, no crown. We accept the sandwiching process. We take our seat within the jaws of Nubianism, and we grin inwardly a ghastly smile; nay, we exalt that “Massa Link um’s come.” The high prelates of the Roman Church go annually, iu commemoration of the lowly act of tbe Master, and wash the feet of twelve of the poor. [They are generally clean poor.] It is a humiliation which sanctifies. Devilish secesh unwilling follows the example in Washington street cars, only he is compelled to perform the process three hundred and sixty-five times pi annum iu stead of once. May he be sanctified over the priest three hundred and sixty-ffve fold. He needs it. But “Massa Linkum’s come,” not only in the cars. He’s come everywhere. You see his ivory and his ebony in the capitol. He crowds the galleries. You jostle him on the marble stair ways. You stumble over him in the passages. Members of Congress stumble over him. them stumble. It does them good. The Su preme Court on its way to the judgment seat, under the grained arches and under the dome, stumbles over him. They always did. You re member the stumble of J udge Taney over Died Scott. These two worthies will live long in con junction. The judge owes his chiefest distinc tion to that now celebrated collision. But it is Dred the hero, with the judge as assassin. It is uot a canny recollection. But whose fault is that? The venerable jurist walked in the light of a Lapland night, and disbelieved that the sun would ever rise. Younger men, on the bench and elsewhere, may be instructed by this example. Poor and despised, black and degraded, naked and forlorn, we feelingly watch this wretched heaving sea of humanity cast up by the war.— Ready for the ballot, are they ? God grant it!—• Ready to be pitted against devilish secesh in the rebel District of Columbia—that they are. The Nubian ar.d secesh, the slave and his master, with Congress to overlook and guide. It is a good match. It is more washfog of the feet of tiie poor. It is a sanctifying process. May it be blessed to the souls of the poor devils on both sides, more especially to the poor devil whites. I am informed on colored authority that there is to be “ a right smart chance ” of black voting at tlie next election. The Nubian intends to im prove bis privileges. Whoever else neglects the cardinal duty in a republic of casting the ballot on election day, it is not to be he. There will be “ a heap ” of such votes cast as were never seen since the foundation ot the Republic. Suppose we say since Noah’s ark rested on Ararat. This Will be a little more American. We are never quite content to outdo ourselves; we must outdo the rest of mankind. A laudable ambition. But the plantations remain. The rice, the cot ton, the tobacco, tbe sugar regions—what of them ? Semi-tropical, where man is made indo lent by the Southern sun. Will they be New Eugtands or Northwests, or rise to the level even of Pennsylvania Berks countyism by emancipa tion and enfranchisement? J. S. P. The Beauties of Negro Suffrage.—A meeting of negroes and white men was held in Washington Tuesday night, for the purpose of forming a ward organization, and preparing for the ensuing municipal contest in that city.— There were present about sixty negroes and fif teen w hite men. During the evening the follow ing resolutions were offered and laid over for fu ture action: Resolved, That Mayor Richard Wallach is a true representative of a majority of the white men of this city, and that the indecent baste in which he called a special and unauthorized elec tion by a portion only of the citizens of this Dis trict, to ascertain whether they were willing to record to all men the rights they claimed for themselves, evinced the ineffable meanness which tbe system of slavery had impressed upon him and his coadjutor, Resolved, That under the benign influence of the legislation of a loyal aud patriotic Congress, we look forward with hope and confidence to the day when the harpies ot this city, who have so long preyed upon the weak and defenseless, (mindful only of their own ease and agrandize- ment,) shall have a ticket-of-leave, and the places that now know them 3hall know them no more forever. A committee, consisting of five whites and two blacks, was appointed to prepare a constitu tion and by-laws. _ Texas.—The Navasota Ranger contains the following items: There is some trouble me.' with by planters iu securing labor for the year. Many bands are get ting pieces ot land so as to work for themselves. Numbers of planters are quitting their old occu pation and coming to town to try something else, where they will be tree from annoyances spring ing out of the labor system, while some of our merchants are embarking in the farming business, as they are tired of merchandise, or fearful of a smash up next spring. They may turn and change as they will, but trouble and toil is the lot ot man. How shall we Act.—The Galveston Civilian, of the 24th, says: Our readers have seen elsewhere the order of General Griffin prohibiting the procession which was expected to follow the remains of that good, brave and just man, General Albert Sydney Johnston. We counsel a mild obedience to the same. It Is humiliating, bat it cannot be helped. There will no doubt he a large number of ladies out on the streets to see the cortege as it passes. Retrain from all demonstrations. A sorrowful silence will be the most appropriate feeling to in dulge in on this occasion. Kentucky.—There is a bill before the Ken tucky Legislature appropriating one hundred and fifty thousand dollars for the benefit of the suffering poor of the South, and the papers are zealously urging its passage. We referred a short time ago to the fact that in the principal cotton-growing section of our State—Southwestern Georgia—many large, val uable plantations would not be cultivated this year, for the reason that the freedmen in that section refused to make contracts for labor with the planters, or owners of the same. In other sections of the State the same bad spirit prevails, and it is manifest that for the “ shovel and the hoe ” the freedmen have a greater aversion now than they had the first year o! their liberation from their former masters. Even in the vicinity of Savannah, where the bureau authorities have endeavored to compel them to make labor con tracts, such has been their repugnance to it, that resistance has been made when military force. was invoked tp compel it, even to the shedding of blood. We have no doubt that evil counsels have had a great deal to do with tills—that art ful and bad men, colored and white, have man aged to attain an undue influence over the igno rant and confiding freedmen in various localities, and that this, together with their natural aversion to labor, has brought about this lamentable state of affairs. This makes the question of labor one for grave consideration in our State. It should command the attention, at once, ot the wise and practical in it, and there should be no effort spared to secure it in some form, else abandoned fields will soon be numbered by thousands, and our production ot cotton and the cereals dwindle down to comparative insignificance. There are two traits in the negro race, civilized among us, that cause much of this aversion to labor stead ily on farms where they have once labored. First, change is the order of their nature, and hence they seek new homes, however kindly they may have been treated in the old ones. The con sequence is, that they can easily be tempted to abandon the latter, and seek at a distance from it the former. We witness this to a great extent from this standpoint. Daily the trains from hence to Memphis are crowded with freedmen, freedwomen, and children, taken from Georgia plantations to labor iu Mississippi and Arkansas, where they neither get better pay, nor can their condition be improved in any respect. The ex- tent of this is indeed alarming, so far as the question of labor in this State is concerned. For it there must be some remedy. The other trait iu the race is one that also affects the interests of agriculture. They have a great desire to live in towns and cities, and hence every one ot these in Georgia, our own city especially* is over crowded with idle freedmen and freedwomen, a large majority of whom do not earn their daily bread. We know, personally, fnany of the former, who were raised to farm work- healthy, stalwart fellows—who are now idle in the city; who have been offered work upon farms and good wages; but Who prefer in dulging in the pleasures of a city life, and will not leave it till, as paupers, they are forced to do so, or go to work in a chain-gang. And as for the latter—the freedwomen—there are hundreds upon whom misery has set her seal, but who still cling to the city, rather than work upon a farm. For this evil, aggravating as it becomes every day, there must be a remedy. We must Have labor in the State to till its fields, and as we have but little hope that it can be procured from the so-called freedmen, to the extent, in any degree, it is, and will be needed, no delay should arise in making arrangements to secure it in some other way. # Our attention has been directed to this subject, by an advertisement which appears in this journal, headed, “Do You Want good Laborers ?” We know the advertiser well. He is, perhaps, one of the most practical men in our State—a gentleman of high attainments, fine intellect, in whose j udgment we have every confidence. We allude to Col. R. J. Moses, of Columbus, who ha$ given to the question of labor grave conside ration. It is he who asks “ do you want good laborers ? ” and he tells the reader that he can supply as many good Scotch farmers, house-ser vants, or gardeners, who will engage to work for three years, as may be desired. Here is an avenue at once opened, to seenre labor. It the freedman will not work, and we believe he will not—that he will grow more repugnant to it eve ry day—let our fields and our gardens be tilled and cultivated, and our house-work be done by the labor which it seems can be procured from abroad. It will come to this in time, and why not begin the experiment at once? Tlie Temptations of Satan. The New York Herald is commending the Southern States to accept universal suffrage and vote the negro. With remarkable agility, it bounds to the conclusion that Governor Brown- low will vote him in Tennessee, and thus secure his re-election beyond preadventure, and says: If the negroes hold the balance of power in Tennessee, and all, under the manipulations of Parson Brownlow, vote the Radical ticket, why should not the leaders of public opinion in States where the negro element is still larger and more potentially effective than in Tennessee borrow a hint from the Parson’s tactics ? Were they re ally to “accept the situation” and, leaving their political abstractions in the limbo to which the fiat of war has consigned them, adopt the con stitutional amendment and give the negroes the suffrage, what would hinder them from making, the latter the allies of the party opposed t) North ern Radicalism? Securing thus the cr ntrol of the Southern States, why might they not gain the future balance of power iu Congress? Why Dot thus“pluck from the nettle of danger the flow er ot safety ?” As things now stand it seems that the negroes must have the suffrage, full or par tial, and that the party of the future controlling the negro element will control the balance ol power in every Southern State. ShaH the South ern politician appropriate and wield this element or permit it to fall iuto the hands of his enemies? ‘That is the question.” Steamer Burned by Freedmen.—The Sa vannah News dk Herald of the 30th contains the following account of the burning of the steamer Gen. Shepfey: We learn that on Monday night last the stea mer Gen. Sbepley was burned at a dock on Ossabaw, where she was taking ou cotton and planter’s supplie*s. She left here on Saturday morning to take away cotton and material belonging to Capt. Flv, a Northern man, planting there. While off from the landing, she was set on fire aft and completely burned. Capt. lipase, commander of the steamer, and lady and Capt. Fly and lady, with the ship’s crew, barely es caped, being rescued by the steamer II. M. Cool. The boat was, we understand, not insured. She was consigned to C. L. Colby & Co., who, we are informed, were partial owuers. The incendiarism, we are assured, is attributed to freedmen, who, misguided by fanatics, had been led to believe that the steamer was designed for kidnapping purposes, with a Cuban or similar destinatiou. The Military Gone.—The Thomasville Enterprise says: Thomasville is once more evacuated by the United States forces, and the town is now restored to its usual quiet. About a dozen soldiers, at tached to the Freedmeu’8 Bureau, drinking and caroosing, carsing and swearing, in the Court House, where they made their head-quarters, Lave kept the town in an uproar for several months, and required all the vigilance of the au thorities to keep them in subordination. At last they received orders, and left on the train Wednesday morafog. It it should ever be found necessary to send more soldiers here, we sincere ly hope a better class will be selected. But there never will be any necessity for soldiers to keep this community quiet as long as the civil author ities are untrammeled, and not even then, if the citizens are left to themselves. Was held at Jonesboro’, Clayton county, Georgia, on the 28th of January, 1867, to take into consideration the destitution of the citizeus of Fayette, Henry and Clayton counties. On motion, the Rev. Joseph T. Smith was called to the Chair, and James L. H. Waldrop requested to act as Secretary. On motion, the Hon. James F. Johnson was called upon to explain the object of the meeting, which he did in a brief and appropriate manner. The Rev. Wesley Wright, ot Kentucky, being present, was called upon and responded in a few remarks, giving his views, and assuring the meet ing that the suffering poor«nd destitute could get assistance from his State when they were satisfied ot the wants and necessities. The following resolutions were then introduced by the Rev. A. E. Cloud, read and adopted : Whereas, The counties ef Fayette, Clayton and Henry, of the State of Georgia, have thought it proper to organize a Relief Society in each of said counties; and, Whereas, The destitution of these counties are as great, or perhaps greater, thau others; aud, Whereas, The donations of the liberal-hearted people of Kentucky and other States have uot relieved the actual suffering of the poor in our midst; 1. Resolved, That tbe Rev. Wesley Wright., a citizen of the State of Kentucky, be appointed a general agent of the three counties, to travel where he may think best, to procure donations for the poor of said counties, and he be instruct ed to have all voluntary contributions he may ob tain shipped to R. R. Holliday, at Jonesboro, Georgia. 2. Resolved, We pledge ourselves lo be vigi lant in seeing that the donations be issued to none but the actual suffering destitute. 3. Resolved, That we tender our thanks to all those who will remember us iu this our time of distress. On motion a committee of three wa3 appoint ed to act as a Vigilance Committee, composed of the following gentlemen: Rev. A. E. Cloud of Clayton county, Hon. B. F. Harper of Henry county, and Judge William Glass of Fayette county. On motion, the following gentleman were ap pointed as a committee to receive and distribute all donations for the county of Clayton, to-wit: Hon. Elijah Glass, Andrew L. Huie, Esq., Ab ner Camp, William Gunter, and J. H. Chapman. On motion, the proceedings «f this meetiug be published in the Kentucky Baptist and the city papers of Atlanta. On motion, the meeting adjourned. Joseph T. Smith, Chairman. J. L. H. Waldrop, Secretary. Tbe Destruction of Landmarks. The Nation, one of the ablest weekly jour nals now in course of publication, is throughly Radical cn the slavery question and the question of “races,” but its feet are still planted on the earth—it has not been lifted by tbe swelling stream of party feeling entirely from the founda tion, so as to be swept along at the mercy of the current on which the “majority” party are now riding. In an article upon the suspension of the habeas corpus it makes these remarks, viz: The Supreme Coart re-asser& solemnly the jurisdiction of Congress over personal liberty, and denies the right of the Executive to touch it arbitrarily, and forthwith some of the very men who were most frantic last summer in ex alting the Legislature and denouncing the Pres ident’s usurpation begin to talk of “impeaching” the Judges for doing what they were bound "to do, before God and man, come what might. We have commented elsewhere on the conduct of the Court in embarking in a discussion on points which came in no way before it. But we hope this whole matter, grave and important as i, will open the eyes of the public to the great danger there is that the breaches of law and of propriety into which over-zeai on behalf ot the right now carries us may be one day used against us iu defense of the wrong. It is not very long since there was a majority in the United States on the side of wickedness, and we may all live to see it again; if we should, we may have sore need for our own protection of all the forms and traditions of the law aud the Constitution. Alexander H. Stephen*. Col. John Lewis Payton has just published in England a work on “ The American Crisis.”— We select the following passage from the quota tions given in a review of it by the Cosmopolitan : “ As I passed out of the office of the Secretary of the Navy, expressing a hope that he might enjoy his repast and digest it satisfactorily, which I doubted, from the character of the pro visions then in the Richmond market, I encoun tered in the hall, a lean, yellow, care-worn man, his back bent forward almost into a hump v liis chest bowed inward, one shoulder higher than the other, small wasted legs, hands and fingers long and bony, dress loose and wrinkled, and shabby, gray-looking, damp and mouldy. His face was bony and emaciated, withered and twitching; his scanty hair fell on his shoulders in disorder. His chin was smooth and beardless, his breatli short, while his restless eyes blazed with excitement. His voice, as he addresse 1 such acquaintances as he met, was sharp, shrill and squeaking, and his whole appearance faded, anxious, disappointed, extraordinary—so much so lhathc passed no one who did not turn and take a second gaze. I thought I had never seen so singular an object, and inquired of my near est neighbor what apparition it was. Imagine my surprise when I was informed tnat it was Mr. Alexander H. Stephens, the eloquent Georgian orator, the Conservative stateman, and energetic Vice President of the Confederate States.” The DMBcnltle* on the Plantations Re* mewed. According to late advices, the difficulties on the plantations are being renewed. The Sa vannah Republican of tbe 29th, says: It would seem that this dangerous fellow is still engaged in sowing the seeds of what may yet prove to be a serious disturbance. Captain Brandt yesterday afternoon telegraph ed General Scott that by the renewed advice of the notorious Bradley, the colored people who agreed to leave the Delta and other plantations, and did depart therefrom last week, returned in large numbers yesterday and took possession of the islands, crossing the river in flats, laden with furniture and other effects. The planters, who find themselves dispossessed of their lands, re quests the promised aid ot General Scott, and a large number of them arrived in our city last eve ning to consult and take advice as to the best plan to be adopted to secure the control of their plantations. The freedmen have returned to Captain Mani- gault’s plantation, and have occupied the quar ters, driving the people ont who were entitled to remain. Captain Brandt informs us that Bradley’s mis representations to the colored people have com plete disarranged the labor system iu his district, and created a feeling of distrust and uneasiness the majority of the lreedmen still believing that Bradley's famous one dollar petitions will have the promised effect of procuring for each poor negro, who was foolish enough to donate one tiol- . lar of his hard-earned money to the private purse ot the truly philanthropic and purely disinterest ed Bradley, the possessory titles to these fine sea islands. A Shocking Sight.—Tbe Cairo Democrat says: “ A most shocking sight was presented iu the river in front of our city yesterday. The dead body of a man had become frozen fast iu the floating ice, and when it passed here there had gathered an immense flock ot sea-gulls around the corpse, and they were feeding oft it. The sight was enough to curdle the warm blood in the veins of the beholders. Some were perch ed upon the body, gorging themselves as they tore the frozen flesh lrom the bones; others flap ped around in the cold air, and still others were hopping about on the floating fields of ice, await ing their turn at the repast. The awful specta cle floated by with the current of the river, anti undisturbed passed from view.”

Georgia Historic Newspapers

Weekly Atlanta intelligencer. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1865-18??, February 06, 1867, Image 1