Newspaper Page Text
I Htdistfi
AUGPfTA, GA.
IVSD«Eh»AV MOR*if«G. APRIL 11
THE PRESIDENT'S PROCLAMATION.
The b .rtof . <>-ry worthy citizen of the
f-i.it. • in:. v.,j will thrill with satisfaction at
the manly aWo ran - contained in the Peace
tr • am-: .1 the President, which we pub
lisb ti.i ■: ts/.ug. We copy it, at we found it
in iii .At v n prowl, somewhat obscured in its
transmi.-Mon by teh graph; but it is sufficienly
clear to t • sc cause tor genuine congratulation,
and to show that the President is preceding
with coiiHcicntiou fidelity and fearless
bow in tho development of his plan ol
restoration. It will be hailed as an
omen of deliverance from the irksome ra
f.tmii Is which have parahzed the arms of in
dustry and v/eil-nub broken the spirits of a
p - jj.l, -‘Ay to resume in good faith all the
re, poriribiiitiei; and functions of citizenship in
a common country,
in th iangm . ;of a contemporary, the Pres
ident has again struck the bell in the watch
t v, r ■ liberty, and its tones are resounding
through the lar.d, gladdening the hearts of
r, 1 tA tru . admirers of Constitutional Gov
ernment. We trust it may bo also the death
ku • 1 ot that fell spirit of radicalism which is
ahke deaf to the dictates of reason or justice.
INFLUENCE OF THE WAR IN SOUTH AMERICA
The conflict between the Paraguayans and
the all; s is regarded as likely to exert an irn
p .rtar.t iallu! a o in cementing and strengtheu
i>- , .< publican interests ia South America. The
1 a.v. I'lyans 1. e accepted the arbitrament of
the sword, end in the lab: battle on the Parana
river., ei .1 a victory oi. oma importance.—
I', i.i <i.\ mod probable that the neighboring
si.;': will lona an alliance with the Paraguay
ans ngu -t what they regard aa imperial dic
tation, which may change the political rela
tin' :■ of the whole i luntry. The popular
mind in South America, ns elsewhere, is evi
dently ia , ip .fiiy with republicanism, and
v •:io it is u liki ,y that the imperial dynasty
in lii'.z'd bo overthrown during the life of
th :: . i:t cm!". i'or> it is not improbablo that
when lie p ... .os away the Government will fall
Into .. e w.lh the R l , übiLoan tendencies of the
ago.
Tl ■; giant t 'rides of our Government, under
the form of a republican system, are like leav
en to the plastic political institutions of conti
guous States—and if we succeed in per
petuating the spirit ol liberty, while we con
tinue to press along in the grand march of
material progress which has marked our na
tional e i". r, it appears not unlikely that the
ijl io; : g v. oats that have partially resisted
the march of liberal Ideas will give way to
republicanism, ~Tfio war in South Ameri
ca certainly suggests to the most casual obser
ver a io-awakening of republican power and
icllueuce cn this continent. Eventho friends
of liberal ideas are not without hope that
Msxir —‘the sick man”—may yet be able to
throw off the yoke of foreign imperialism, and
establish a liberal government. The spark
that hi> been kindled in Paraguay may yet
grow into a liame that will illumine the whole
continent. Lot us hope that it may not become
a consuming lire, to blight and destroy th*
vestiges of liberty which gleam, under the
Southern Cross.
SUPREME COURT.
The Legislature, ftt the last session, made
pom very striking changes iu tho Judiciary
system of the State. These changes are in
totuled partly to remedy defects existing, and
partly to meet tho altered condition of society.
Among others, aro those which relate to the
Supreme Court. "Mils Court has been estab
lished at the Capiiol. This, at once, gives it
distinction, r.nd imparts dignity, by impress
ing lipr n the public mind that it is permanent
—th< tjreai Hmrt of the. Mate — the final arbiter
of light. As before constituted, circling iu a
proscribed orbit, it won the appearance of an
Imyp .ition up. n the trials oi the lower Courts,
instead ot a High Court of Appeals, where
gi.Y,t piincipl-M Vi'rvi to be calmly discussed,
carefully we.ghed and analysed, and finally
settled. It was tbu custom, in referring to it,
to style it, o’ esicuUy, “Peripatetic Justice."
Bu; It always iu spile of tho high character
and aee mptishmeuts of tho gentlemen who
filled ih * seats • -appeared to us to wear the
ttspn-l ol 1 'ddling Justice, and suggested the
inquiry of “N toothache, uo corns" (in a legal
wav, you know) in this community ?
A v ; it: portent feature has been engrafted
upon t tie prac' . of this Court. A special act
or li Itor to file, with
the hia written (or printed) argu
ment ; and makes it tho duty of the Court to
read it, or cause the same to be done. If this
practi e is generally adopted, (for it is not
com uilsory,) It will place the whole cause
fully, fairly, and dispassionately upon the
rye ;d ; l :.ve the effect of removing, as far as
p a!i personal Influence ; make the de
e's nos the can; e more dependant upon logic,
lee Amity and principle; afford public
opinion a fair opportunity to scrutinize plea,
an ament and decision, and tho Legislature to
apply a u iiugiy, the remedy of a spe
cif < a , r.t on a decision based upon
“mere authority save the client the expense
nr 're li. - Alt' secy's attendance upon
t!,. v ns of the Court; and above all. we
h]> 1.-v.. •t . v tho policy of politics from
•t in, by making the practitioner
o . ■.l ;.■ h-.-.-.t upc a h .at attainments than
popular influence.
NORTHERN IMMIGRANTS,
A . .wi'.ir iy arrived in Savannah
wit'! i- - v -”' •% all save live of whom
wcio K'Ttht- u men with their families, who
wer>’ on their waj to Brunswick and ether
locallt: 08 to cr. cg-» in the imnber trade. A pas- |
eccuer v :o e-'.mo out v--Uu them informs the
the Editor of tre Columbus Sun that they
wore s mew hat anxious as to the manner in
which they would be received. They were
assured that Gee. l- 'c' l nnswtr before the
Reconstruction Committee would apply to ad
s-ch fears that i: Northern man or woman
vr old bo molested as long as they obeyed the
U „ and observed the customs of good society.
The canards of radical emissaries and cor
respondents have impressed the masses of the
Korth with u very etroneous and mischievous
idea of the ,tc of public sentiment at the
South. No Northern man will l a insulted or
iu \ iu Georgia, so long as he comes hero
in the pur-uit of ..n honorable business and
behaves like * -- cti.nio .. Those odious scions
of rftdiccl'.sm who come here to misrepresent
us, to in uh • in insulting taunts, and to
clamor for vrr- ; canoe cn all who syepathised
wiih a cause that is 1 st an t abandoned, are
not vrdvm , uUu ought not to attempt to li\e j
in the South.
FRENCH INDEBTEDNESS—A NEW FINANCIAL
SENSATION.
M Chf. do Saint Ncvant has just published
at Brussels, a pamphlet which the New York
Journal translates, announcing the some
what startling fact that the Government of
t lance ia entitled to recover from that of
Great Britain, the snug little sum of about
SI3O,CGO,OuQ, as money rules at this mo
ment.
“By virtue of the treaties of peace and con
ventions of 1814, 1615, and 1818,” says the
discoverer, “signed and guaranteed by all the
Great Powers of Europe, France, condemned
by the fortunes of war to every imaginable
kind of expense and indemnity, had to inscribe
in her great book of the public debt, au annu
al rent capital of 130,000,000
francs, to indemnify British subjects damaged
by the acts of tha Republic and the Empire ;
but, it was formally stipulated that “when
all the payments due to the creditors had been
completed, the surplus not assigned with the
proportion of interest accnmulated thereon,
should be given over to the disposal of the
French Government. The clause was a pru
dent one, for there remained in the hands of
the British Government, a surplus of 64,776,-
112 francs and 71 centimes. But this guaran
teed sacred deposit instead of being handed
over to us, was applied by the Lord3 of the
Treasury, to a variety of uses, some of which
are known, although they are, in all, too many
to enumerate. Wo shall content ourselves
with stating, for the satisfaction of the public,
that 3,250,000 francs of our money, were ap
plied to the coronation fetes of George IV ,
6,250,000 francs to the construction of Buck
inham Palace ; 1,250,000 to relieve distress in
manufacturing districts, &c.’’
In brief, the Lords of the Treasury retained
the deposit, and it *s the original capital which,
with the compound and accumulated interest,
to-day, forms the total of 611,700,000 francs.
The French journals very reasonably ask
with some surprise, how it happens that France,
which has passed through some trying mo
ments since 1815, when a few millions would
have helped her immensely, has never thought
of claiming this remainder credited in favor of
the French Government, while it has been ly
ing idle in the British Exchequer. The great
difficulty, it seems, was to prove the genuiness
of the claims and the facts therewith connected.
In 1817, a memorial signed with the names of
some of the ablest and most eminent jurists
of Frauce, bore testimony to the correctness of
this claim. Among the eminent signers,
were Messrs. Marie, Rerryer, Chaix d’Est Ange,
Dupin Gditon, Barrot, Gremeiux and Duverger,
But in England also, some of the most cele
brated legal authorities, such as the Grand
Chancellors, Lord Truro and Lord Lyndhurst,
have solemly recogn’zad the propriety and jus
tice of the French claims, and even went so far
as to Hligmatize the conduct of the Government
in reference to this matter, in the severest
terms. Lord Lyndhurst used the following
language in the House of Lords, when speak
ing on the subject:
“It is a stain upon tho nation ! It is a stain
upon every individual that composes it! I
would rather sell my last garment, than sub
mit to such an imputation—the charge of hav
ing abused a sacred trust ”
The Patne of Paris, states that some recent
information has been obtained concerning the
matter. At an interview obtained upon re
quest by a member of the House of Lords, an
official communication was made to M Belmotet
by an agent of the British Government, askffig
for explicit information to enable Parliament
to discuss the question thoroughly. This being
given, the agent declared that both Houses of
Parliament would treat it in a manner worthy
of a subject that so deeply interests the honor
of Great Britain. There is also a proposition
to refer the entire business to a sworn mixed
Commission, to consist of two French and two
English Commissioners.
This is, assuredly, a nice little nut for finan
ceers on both sides of tho channel to crack,
and the method of its picking may give rise to
moro than one political tooth ache, in France
aa well aa in England. The Entente Cordiale
has withstood many attacks from wind and
wave, but the sum of one hundred aud thirty
millions or so, is no trifle in the present condi
ion of either tho French or English Exche
quer. Among the many curious historical
revelations that the overhauling of the subject
u two great National Legislatures, and by a
joint Commission, will elicit, none probably
will bo more amusing than the various uses
aud applications to which the funds have been
put from time to time in periods of difficulty
by the hands in which the original was de
posited.
THE CABINET.
The New York Herald claims that the policy
which has been reiterated by President John
son in his second veto has forced a Cabinet cri
sis, whioh must speedily bo terminated. It
is well kuown that the President is sustained
by ali his Cabinet with the exception of Mr.
Stanton, the Seoretary of War, Mr. Harlan, the
Secretary of tho Interior, and Mr. Speed, the
Attorney-General. These gentlemen adhere to
the radical wing of the Union party in the
issue between the President and Congress, and
consequently must soon be brought into direct
antagonism with him.
The union of the Cabinet is a matter of ab
solute necessity to the administration. No
leading pxilicy can bo carried out, and no har
mony ot action can be expected unless the Ex
ecutive counsels are harmonious. The differ
ences which now exist between Congress and
the President, are so wide as to preclude all
hope of reconciliation. The prospect is rather
that it will become more open and bitter, than
otherwise.
Under these circumstances a proper respect
for themselves and the President would seem
to diet e the propriety of these opposition ele
ments tendering their resignation, and thus
leave the President free to reorganize his Exe
eutivo household In accordance with his de*
dared policy. In au other civilized countries,
such a ministerial antagonism would at once
bring about a change of ministry, and we can
see no reason why the proprieties of political
life should not be equally observed with us.
. .t» mm-
PRESIDENT BAEZ GOVERNMENT.
St. Domingo advices state that the Govern
ment. of President Baez had hardly been isau
unrated before an effort was made to over
throw and destroy it.
A revolt had taken place in the province of
San Crietocal, and various towns, headed by
General Cabrot.
Congress, which was in session, prompt'y
voted men and means to suppress the revolt,
and by a few vigorous blows, Baez had defeat
ed and routed the rebels aud obtained the
mastery in the revolted districts. The rebel
leader, General Cabrot, who had been pro
minent in placing Baez in the Presidential
chair, had asked permission to leave the conn
try.
THE DEMANDS OF THE HOUR.
The recent proclamation of President Johnson
is an cffieiai announcement to the world, that
tho war between the United States and the so
called insurgent States, has terminated. Wei
como peace ! We should have preferred inde
pendence first and peace afterwards. But
since it has seemed right in the eye of the
Great Disposer ol all human events, to order
othorwiae.we acquiesce, and still cry. welcome,
peace. Henceforth our duty, our policy, (for
heie at least the two are most manifestly coin
cident,) require uj to cultivate such relations
of amity towards our fellow-citizens, in a com
mon country, as are intimately connected with
domestic tranquility and the general weal.
Ibis it is conceded, is no easy enterprise.—
From our point of observation, there never
was a war more unjust in its inception, and
more unscrupulous in its prosecution than the
one now offic ally closed. To our optics, the
case stands thus: Certain States which entered
into a political league with their equals in
1788, becoming aggrieved and fearing that the
compact would be used for tbe’r oppression,
withdrew from the association by means of the
very same agencies, which they had originally
used in becoming members of tha fraternity.
They meditated no damage to their iato broth
ers. They demanded no division of the com
mon assets. They proposed merely to retire,
and to seek in a separate nationality the repose
and the development which were denied them
n the administration ol ’ the original union.
We begged for peace. The answer came in
the discharge upon our fair land of those vials
of wrath, which are poured out when war stirs
up the fierce and merciless passions of angry
men. To ignore the past, to forget the blood,
and death, and mourning, and dtsolution
which of late oovered the land, and whoso ter
rible mementoes are still spread ali around
us, and to reach out the hand in fraternal em
brace towards thoso so recently mot in deadly
strife, demands a sacrifice of no common mag
nitude. But difficult as may be the work, it
cannot be doubted that the requisitions of
Christianity as well a3 our own interest, call us
to its performance.
The only condition on which any man is au
thorized to hope, that his cry lor mercy will
reach the hearer of prayer is, that ho extends
to offenders against himself the same clemency
which ho seeks for his own delinquencies. He
can only ask that his trespasses may be for,
given, aa he forgives those who have trespassed
against him. To pray with hatred and ven
geance in our hearts, towards our feliow meu,
is in effect to ask that the Divine Being would
blast us with all those calamities which, were
it in our power, we wculd inflict upon the
objects of our indignation. Whatever the pro
vocation, Christianity demands a forgiving
heart, on the part of all those who worship
at its shrine. Let it serve to raodily the stern
ness of this demand, by bearing ia mind that
the Divine founder of our religion has most
powerfully illustrated tho spirit which Ho
prescribes for Ais followers. 'When we find it
hard to forgive those at whose hands we have
suffered so many injuries, let us consider the
Man, who amidst tho insults, and derisions
and scoffings of the dying hour, freely for
gave the offenders, and in addition prayed to
his Father to forgive them ! With our atten
tion fixed upon such an example, it cannot be
so difficult to cultivate that spirit of charity
whioh the gospel enjoins as our duty towards
men, and especially towards, the fellow resi
dents of the same country.
In this respect it has been said that policy
is found in the same line with duty. Our per
sonal happiness demands the repression of
those disturbing anticipations which are pro
duced and nursed by strife. We cannot—such
is the moral constitution with which we have
been endowed—hate another, without suffer
ing, in our own persons, a painful recoil of
the temper which is indulged. To yield to the
temptation, (powerful as we concede it to be,)
to cherish emotions of malice and revenge to ■
wards our late civil enemies, is to suffer the
inoursion of a passion which must fret and
chafe our own bosoms, whilst it cannot be of
the slightest damage to those against whom it
is directed. Rage, like the viper which bites
the file, often wounds itself, whilst its object
is even unconscious of the assault. As we
would liberate ourselves from thoso disquiet
udes of which we have been the prey during
the bloody days of strife, and secure for our
selves that internal quiet, without which the
cessation cf outward hostilities avails but little,
we must, in fact as well as in name, seek to
carry out the inspired precept which calls us,
“as much as lieth in us, to iive peaceably with
all men.”
It cannot be denied that there are public as
well as private considerations that recom
mond the conduct which is now suggested.—
We ore now, politically, one people. Our in
terests are interlinked. And just as sound
policy dictates the cultivation of friendly
feeling between those who, of necessity, are
members of the same household—an amicable
understanding of all the members of which is
the true wisdom of those who live under the
same laws. Should the South now say, the
Northern States desire cotton—it is absolutely
essential to their prosperity—but w’e will do
nothing which can, in any way, contribute to
their wealth ; not one pound of cotton shall be
raised on our land ; who does not see that she
would Impoverish and distress herself, whilst
aiming a blow at the prosperity of the North ?
No less true is it that, in declining the exercise
of that confidence and regard which the differ
ent sections of the same country should extend
to each other, we may, to some extent, dam
age those whom we seek to injure, but it will
be at a cost to ourselves quite as serious as
that which may be inflicted upon others.—
Should it be said that multitudes at the North
still hold us as enemies, and that, even at this
moment, an unscrupulous Congress at Wash
ington contemplates our degradation, it would
still be our policy to be forbearing and chari
table. In a eontest between meanness and
honor—corruption and honesty, poitroonery
and manliness, tortuousness aud cacao-, false
hood and truth—the latter is inevitably the
winner. Let us pity the violent men who can
see nothing in our profeesions or our conduct
but that which illustrates what they are pleased
to term the “barbarism of slavery," and let us
silence their constantly repeated denunciations
by the exhibition of those virtues which are
inculcated alike by true manliness and genu
ine religion.
Circular ro Custom Otficsrs —The Secre
tary of the Treasury, has issued a circular to
custom officers, in which he states that as a
large amount of spiritous liquor is imported
into the United States puporting to bo medi
cine, but in reality being but slightly tinc
tured with essences ; they must exercise un
usual vigilance iu the detection and preven
tion of snch frauds on the ..revenue in every
instance where such merchandise is entered,
and there must be a thorough inspection to
satisfy themselves that the liquors thus tino
tured are intended for medical use.
INSIDE VIEW OF POLITICS AT WASHINGTON.
A Po'iticM Cr si* at hand—Ga h rin* cf tlie Political Forces
The Kalieil Leader*—Thvd. S evens and h a Club Fo.t—
A P« n Sketch of the GreU Rtuiica’—liifamous Measures of
tbe M;tJ rities ii Congresj—Tj ePr spect—lhe President
and L s “Orgau”—Tht Connecticut Election, &e , &C., &c.
[FROM our OWS CO URL? PON dent,]
Washington, D. C., March 31.
Politically, the fate of the country is trem
bling in the balance. The President’s last veto
has clearly and sharply defined the dividing
lines of party, which were previously a little
doubtful; and the various elements of party
strength as represented here, are rapidly
ranging themselves, on one side or tho other,
for the struggle which all feel to be at hand
The contest will not be an unequal one. The
Contervatives, under the leadership of the
President, and supported by the powerful and
all-pervading influence of Executive patron
age. include in their ranks the entire strength
of the Democratic organization, with a very
considerable proportion of the more moderate
Republicans, and, in fact, tho whole body of
the sincere and earnest “Onion men,” properly
so-called, all over tho North. They are, more
over, fortified by the conviction that the honest
maeses of the people are rallying to their sup
port, and by the consciousness of a latent
power, iD the strength of an undivided South,
ready to back them the moment its fetters are
unbound. Their opponents, on the ether
hand, with less real strength, have the advan
tage cf a party organization far more perfect
and compact; they have also an overwhelming
majority in both branches of Congress, if not
two-thirds of those bodies ; in nearly all the
Northern States they have the prestige of suc
cess daring ail tho elections of the last tew
years, and the control of the present Stats
governments; and last, but not least, they
are ruled by a cabal of desperate politicians of
the revolutionary stamp—men who are un
principled and unscrupulous to the last degree,
but withal gifted with remarkable enoTgy and
shrewdness, and who care so little to disguise
their real aims, that they openly, and on all
occasions, glory in the name of “Radicals”
Tho arch-plotter of these leaders is Thad
deus Stevens, of Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Although this hoary demagogue has filled a
seat in Congress for nearly a quarter of a cen
tury, never until recently has he risen to any
prominence. But in these, as in all previous
times of turbulence, the scum rises to the sur
face of the political cauldron, and the cunning
and vigor with which this bad, wilful old man
rules his followers, gives the Radical element
in Congress a cohesive strength in which the
Democratic minority is sadly lacking.
Stevens is nearly seventy years of age; but
his bald head is cover ed with a flowing dark
brown wig, and but for the evident tremor in
his motions, you would not suppose him to be
over fifty. His features are large and harsh
in outline, and his delivery measured and dis
tinct, though he generally epeaka in a low
tone. His tall stature gives him a rather com
manding presence, a3 he stands and addresses
the House from his desk; but the moment he
moves into one of the aisles or lobbies, he be
comes sadly disfigured by his club-foot, which
renders his movements slow and ungainly. It
is a common saying on the floor of the House,
whenever he rises to oppose any proposed
measure that “old Thad is about to put his
club-foot on it!” Stevens has never been
married, and there are hard stories afloat
about the doings of his younger days; the
democratic papers of Pennsylvania assert that
he has always been and to this day remains a
practical amalgamstionist. Probably the best
instance of the boldness and effrontery, which
has uniformly marked bis public course of late
may be found in his rejoinder to the Presi
dent’s 22nd of February speech. He refused,
for a long time to answer the speech at all;
and, when he did, he simply denounced it as
a copperhead hoax, and broadly declared that
no such speech had ever been delivered and
that he was that anybody should,
for a moment, have supposed the President
capable of any utterance stigmatizing him
(Stevens) as a traitor and disunionist. Here
in Washington, where the authenticity of the
Presidents remarks were altogether beyond
question, of course Steven’s reply was palmed
off as a delicate bit of sarcasm and political
pleasantry; but amongst the benighted deni
zens of the interior of Pennsylvania, it has
been circulated in vast numbers, and I am
credibly informed that the people there are
fully persuaded that President Johnson’s on
slaught on Sumner and Sievens was, in fact,
a copperhead invention and nothing more.
But the last veto has put an end to all doubt
or equivocation as to the President’s true posi
tion, and the Destructives will make a desper
ate effort this week to pass the infamous “civil
rights bill” over the veto. I fear that their
ability to do this in the House of Representa
tives is but too clear; while, ia the Senate, the
struggle will be close indeed, and bitter. To
gain the requisito two-thirds, tho Radical ma
jorities are using fair means and foul; and
woe to any conservative Senator or Representa
tive, no matter how indisputably legal his
election may have been, if his seat happen to
be claimed by a Radical contestant. You
have already learned by telegraph of the
shameful ousting of Senator Stockton, by a
strictly party vote, although the Committee
appointed to investigate the circumstances of
his election had reported strongly in his favor.
This infamous measure, however, has partly
failed in its effect; for the .Democrats in the
Ne v Jersey Legislature, by good management,
and with the aid of a few conscientious Re
publicans have so arranged matters, that
either no Senator will be returned in Stockton’s
place this session, or Stockton himself will be
sent back and a fitting rebuke thus be admin
istered to the insolent action of the majority in
the Senate. The House of Representatives,
following the lead of the Senate, is about to
expel Hon. James Brooks of the New York
Express, and admit the contestant, Dodge, al
though Brooks’ majority over Dodge was fully
six thousand. It is by such iniquitous pro
ceedings as these that Congress is bracing
itself for the forthcoming struggle with the
Executive. If the Radicals should prevail,
you may look for revolutionary measures in
quick succession. The first step will be the
adoption of a Constitutional amendment to
enable Congress to lay a tremendous export
duty on cotton ; the next, universal negro suf
frage.
Meantime the President exhibits a pluck, in
tegrity and firmness that render him worthy to
rank amongst the ablest of his predecessors.
You may generally rely upon his views being
accurately set forth in the Editorials of the
National Intelligencer. That paper is now
generally conceded to be his “organ,” and I
know tbat its condnetors hold the most in
i Umate personal relations with the President.
The Frecdnen’s Bureau of the District of
Columbia has just announced that the Govern
ment rations heretofore issued to the thou
sands of negroes now idle here are to be stop
ped. This is a terrible blow to cuffee, who
likes to eat Uncle Sam’s bacon and to sit aV 1
day in the cushioned galleries of Congrtsi,
listening to the debates.
The approaching Connecticut election is all
the talk here, just now. If the Conservatives
cau carry the State, tho death-knell of Radi
calism will have sounded ; and even if they
should fail, the fight here still affords good
grounds for hope. %*
WHO ARE QUALIFIED VOTERS 1
This is a question which is exciting consider
able interest in cur ccmmuuity at this time>
in view of the approaching city election.
Mmy persons of foreign birth, who havo never
been naturalized under the Constitution and
Laws of the United States, but who have ex
ercised the elective franchise under State and
Confederate laws claim that, under those laws,
they are still entitled to exercise the privilege.
It is asserted that those who have, during the
existence of the Confederate Government, be
come naturalized, according to law, and have
voted, unchallenged, for delegates to the late
State Convention, are still clothed with this
high privilege. In yesterday’s issue of one of
our city papers, in answer to “Inquirer," the
following opinion is given:
“In reply to ‘lnquirer, 1 we would state that
our impression is, that such foreigners natural
ized under Confederate administration as voted,
unchallenged, for delegates to the State Cdu
veation ol Georgia have an equal right of suf
frage now.”
Now, we believe such is not the Law. No
person who is not a citizen of the United
States at the time of voting is authorizsd to vote
in our Charter Election. By the first section of
the fifth article of the amended Constitution of
this State it is declared that:
“The electors of members of the General
Assembly shall be free white male citizens of
this State, and shall have attuined the ago of
twenty-one years, and shall have paid all taxes
which may havo been required of them, and
which they have had an opportunity of paying,
agreeably to law, for tho year preceding the
election, shall be citizens of the United States,"
&c.
The recent Legislature, by act passed Feb
ruary 9th, 1866, prescribed the oath to be
administered to voters for members of the
General Assembly, Governor of this State, and
members to Congres--, which oath Is as follows:
“I swear that I have attained the age of
twenty one years —that I am a citizen of the
United States," it, c.
Thus it appears that one of the necessary
qualifications of voters now for effioers of the
State Government, is that they be citizens of
the United States. It is perfectly immaterial
whether they wero “naturalized under Con
federate administration,” or “voted, unchal
lenged, for delegates to the State Convention
of Georoia;” they must be citizens of tha Unit
ed States now.
It is only necessary for us to inquire further
whether tho qualifications required of voters in
our charter elections are differ ent from those for
members of the General Assembly and other
State officers, and if different, to noto that dif
ference. By reference to the 25 th section of
the act of the General Assembly of this State,
passed oil the 15th day of February, 1856, it
will be seen that there is no material difference
in the qualifications required. The section
above referred to, is as follows :
“ Sec. 25. And be it further enacted, That
all persons who are citizens of the United
States, havo resided within the State of Georgia
for twelve months immediately preceding, aud
for the last six of theso in the city of Augusta,
and who are twenty-one years of age, and
have paid all city taxes and assessments, who
have made all returns required by the city
ordinances, and whose names have been regie
tered according to the provisions of this act, and
none other, shall be entitled to vote at any
election for Mayor and Members of Council in
said city.”
No provision is made in favor of those who
were “ naturalized under Confederate admin
istration” and “ voted unchallenged for dele
gates to the State Convention of Georgia.”
Hence, we do not believe that such are entitled
to vote at our city elections now. Gur view
of the law is strengthened by reference to
section 32 of the act last referred to, which
prescribes the oath to be administered to chal
lenged voters at the charter elections, and
which is in the words following :
“ You do solemnly swear that you are a
citizen of the United States, that you are twenty
one years of age, that you have resided in
this State for the last twelve months, in this
city for the last six months,” &c.
We hesitate not to say, that no one is enti
tled to vote in the city elections who is not a citizen
of the United States,- and we believe that
upon this question there is no conflict of
opinion amongst the legal minds of the
country. However much we may regret that
those gallant men who perilled life and pro
perty for the Southern cause in the late
terrible war, are excluded from tho rights of
citizenship, and the consequent loss of the
elective franchise, the law is imperative, and
must be enforced. It is not necessary for us,
who witnessed their feats of daring upon many
bloody fields, to say that, if we could, the laws
should be altered and their rights restored.
In tho meantime, let us all submit with as
much of patience as we can to the laws of the
land.
EDUCATION OF YOUNG MEN FOR THE
MINISTRY.
The last session of the Florida Conference
adopted a man for the education of young
men who feel that they aie called to preach.
The Committee on Education were authorized
to receive and act upon applications, to placo
those whom they judged suitable in proper
schools, and to furnish such pecuniary assist
ance as they may deem adyisabie in each case-
The object of this eerarauffication is to call
public attention to this subject. Ministers and
Churches are earnestly requested to loak
around for young men who are pious, endow
ed with good nutural gifts, and feel called to
the work of the work of the Ministry, and to
.recommend them to the Committee. Those
who are too poor to obtain an education with
out assistance, will be aided as far as may be
necessary. The Committee are prepared to
receive applications. In every case rocom
mendatioas will be required, and references
as to character, &c. Addr»s3 the undersigned
at Tfcomasviile, Ga 1
JOSEPHUS ANDERSON.
Charman Committee on Education.
lallahassee Horidan.
New Portrait of the Empkbor cr
>lons. Alexander Dumas gives this portrait
of the Emperor of Austria : “He is a man some
thirty-six or thirty seven years old. He is tali,
thin, bat evidently possesses great bodily
vigor ; his fixed eye, weil aiched eyebrow,
straight nose, and well marked chin, give him
the appearance of a man of determined will, to
which his thick whiskers and long moustache
contribute additional evidence.
His complexion is brown, but this dark
coating must have been spread on his face by
the san and wind. He is fond of field sports,
and to pursue them he disregards the worst
weather. He is, with all this, handsome, but
with tht t masculine beauty in which strength
is more prominent than graca. Women may
discuss his beauty ; men cannot. He rises at
five o’clock A. M. ; reads all ths letters, de
mands and petitions addreasect to him, and
makes notes on them.
His wonted residence in Schoenbrun, where
bo occupies the apartment occupied by the
Emperor Napoleon in 1805 and 1809. This
double legend of Napo'eon's visits and the
dc3ib of the Duke do Reiehstadt, fills the whole
of this palace, which has nothing remarkable
about it- The young Emperor of Austria lives
amid this double souvenir, having, it is said,
real admiration for Napoleon and a pious
pity for the I)oke de Reiehstadt.”
SIR JOQN HERBCHEL ON THE FRENCH
AND ENGLISH STANDARDS OF MEAS
UREMENT.
The following is the substance of a letter
communeated during the past year to the
London Times by Sir Johu Hetscbel, in refer
ence to the proposed introduction of the
French metrical system into Great Britain iu
place of the present English standard of meas
ure.
After stating that he considers the change
on purely scientific grounds to be a retrograde
rather than au advance movement, he proceeds
to give the following as his reasons:
“ Whatever be tho histoiicai origin of our
staudard of weight, capacity and length, as a
matter of fact, our British system reters itself
with quite as much arithmetical simplicity,
through the medium of the inch, to the length
of the Earth’s polar axis (a unit common to
all nations) as tne French does through tiiat ot
the Metre to the elliptic quadrant of a meridian
passing through Paris (a unit peculiar to
France) It does so as regards our actual
legal standards of weight and capacity with
much more precision than the French system,
and as regards that of leugth (with a correc
tion which, it legalized, would be absolutely
imperceptible, from the smallness of its
amount, iu any transaction of life, and which
can be applied, currente calamo, almost without
calculation to any statement of lengths,) with
even still gieater, and indeed with ail bat
mathematical exactness.
If the Earth’s polar axis be conceived divi.
ded into five hundred million inches, and a foot
to be taken to consist of twelve such inches,
then one hundred of our actual legal imperial
half-pints by measure, or cue thousand of our
actual imperial ounces by weight, of distilled
water at our actual standaid temperature of
62 deg. Fahr., will fill a hollow cube having
one such foot us Its side. The amount of error
in either case is only one part in eight thou
sand.
The theoretical French metre is one ten
millionth part of the elliptic quadrant above
mentioned; the theoret.cal litre is one thou
sandth of a cubic metre; and the theoretical
gramme, one-iniliionth part of a cubic metre
of distilled water at 32 deg. Fahr. The actual
error of the French legal, or standard or litre
or gramme, or the deviation of there standards
as they actually exist, from their true theoret
ical value, is one part in 2730, and ia conse
quently relatively nearly three times a3 great
as the error in our standards of capacity and
weight when referred to the Earth’s polar axis
as their theoretical origin in the manner above
stated.
Our actual Imperial measures of length de
viate, it. is true, by more than this amount
from their theoretical values so defined ; that
is to say, by one part in one thousand ; bo
that a correction of one exact thousandth part
subtracted from the stated amount of any
length in Imperial measures suffices to reduce
it to its equivalent in such unilß as correspond
to similar aliquots of the polar axis : a correc
tion pertormed, if needed, as already remarked,
instanler aud currente calamo requiring no tables
and aimost no calculation. So corrected, the
outstanding error is only one part of 64,000.
The actual legal metre, in use iu France, is,
however, not immaculate In this respect, its
amount of erior being one partia 6 400, which
is ten times that which our British measures so
corrected would exhibit.
If it were worth while to lsgaliza so trifling
an alteration (and an act passed, rendering
permissive the decimilizition of our own sys
tem, it would be necessary to do so aa a means
of bringing the natural units of length, weight,
and capacity into exact decimal correspon
dence), no mortal would be aware, practically
speaking, that auy change bad been made
in our rniie, yard, foot, or in’ph.
I have in common use, two foot-rules, bought
at respectable shops, neither the worse for
wear, which differ by more than the amount of
change required.
In addition to North America, which em
ploys the British system ot weights and mea
sures, British commerce extends to Russia,
British India, aud Australia, all of them su
perior in area, aud the last two at least, ot
equal importance, commercially speaking,
with the totality of the. metricized nations.
The Russian sagene is an exact multiple of the
English foot (imperial). The Hath (the legal
measure of length in British India) is 18 im
perial inches. Tho Australian svtem is identi
cal with our own!
Taking into consideration this immense pre
ponderance, both in area, in population, and
in commerc \ we are not only justified in tak
ing out stand against this innovation, but en
titled to enquire, if uniformity be insisted on,
why, with an equally good theoretical ’oasis
(to say tho least), the majority is called upon
to give way to the minority
ENGLISH POLITICIANS.
If office has its cares and anxieties, its never
ceasing labor, its disappointments, its baffled
aspirations, its subdued jealousies, its mortifi
cations and bitternesses, it also has its enjoy
ments, which, to a man of active and ambi
tious mind, are perhaps greater than are to be
found in any of life. Judging
from the politicians of our time, one might say
that high office in a free country like this is a
kind ot success which less than any other
experiences the vanity of attained wishes and
the course of granted prayers. Routine does
not seem to disgust, Parliamentary work does
not soem to exhaust, or the attacks of op*
ponents to sour the thoroughly trained English
statesmen. Our higher class of politicians
seem always to be in good case, to be satisfied
with themselves, their neighbours, their col
leagues, even their rivals, to be perfectly
cheerful about the state of the country, ever
ready to point out a patch of blue sky in the
most lowering heaven, and, if that is impossi
ble, to pursuade us that clouds and tempests
are more healthy than uninterrupted sunshine.
Ihe gay optimism of our Parliamentary
leaders, and the absence of all Irritability
from their speeches, lorm a striking contrast
to the tone in which men of other callings ad
dress the world. A Bishop’s charge, for in
stance, generally assures us that these are
most perilous times, and that Satan has of late
been fearfully successful in all his schemes.
The world is falling off in spirituality, in
truthfulness, in forgetfulness of self, and other
episcopal viitues; husbands, wives, parents,
children, are not what they were; clergymen
are less inteileetual, and sceptics are morecon-
fident and aggressive than at any previous
time. Then, look at what are called literary
men. They are generally as touchy as a set
of old maids, and come maundering to' the
public weekly or monthly about the unfair
criticisms on their works *or the unhandsome
behavior of this person or that person. A
Cabinet Minister, on the other hand, who has
all a nation’s difficulties to deal with, who
sees as much of men and tiie'r motives as any
body, and is accustomed to bo assaulted with
every misfile of rhetoric two or three times a
week for six months in the year, loses neither
his courage, his good opinion of his fellows,
nor his courtesy in fulfilling public duties
This excellent moral discipline of which our
statesmen give evidence, and their general
evenness of temper, are, no doubt, the result
of tne system of popular government. A
British Minister is not merely a functionary,
the living appendage to a bureau, nor is he,
on the other hand, merely a political sophist,
discussing questions which he will never be
called upon to solve practically. He ha*
enough routine work to make him a man of
business and to sober his brain when it has
been excited by oratorical canfl'cts; and he
has enough sharp employment of his wits to
take the pedantry and priggighnesa out of his
character. Add to this the soothing influence
on his mind of (he social esteem in which ho
is held, and you have a reason why a politi
cian of the higher class generally appears be
lore the world not only as au able, but also as
a contented, sanguine, and rather amiable
personage.—isndon llniea.
From Canada. —The Herald’s Toronto spe
cial says : The order disbanding the volunteers
has been rescinded, and troops arc still being
sent to the frontier. There is a great deal of
mystery in this matter. The Government pro
fesses to intend to muster men out, yet un
der cover of night, they sent new companies to
the frontier. Many believe that the Govern
ment is endeavoring to make Americans believe
that they are disbanding the troop?, while
secretly calling oat more.
An attempt was made to burn the City Hall
at Ottawa, a few nights since. i
THE PRESIDENT’S LEVEE
A Washington disp itch of the 26;h Murth
says:
The Presidential levee of to-n ; ght differed
somewhat from tho previous receptions at the
White House, and, notwithstanding the chilly
and forbidding aspect ot the weather, was
largely attended by officials and fashionables
of the city. Passion week seemed to have
been foigotton in tne genera! desire to be pro.
sent, ami throngs of ladies and gentlemen in
full dress were arriving and departing contin
ually from an eariy hour in the evening until
the time for closing tire doors of the main
entrance. The marine band were present as
usual, and its leader more than ordinarily feli
citous in selecting airs for tho occasion, and
securing their faultless execution. The East
Room and adjacent passages wero crowded
by young and old to listen to the delight
ful strains, where misses and matrons of every
degree promenade to measured cadences.—
Aristocracy and democracy were alike re
presented, and titled dam sand republican
wives and mothers were scarcely distinguisha
ble in the crowded rooms of the Presidential
mansion. The ladies displayed a large variety
ot toilets, from the plain parlor to the extreme
evening, or party dress. There were velvets,
satins, pearl, lavender, crimson, garnet and
black silks in profusion, as well as tu les and
tarletans. These, adorned with diamonds and
other ornaments, with their neatly arranged
coiffures, presented an attracting and fascina
ing scene.
The President, as usual, stood near the en
trance in the Blue Room. Tho guests were
introduced by Marshal Gooding Mr. John
son was dressed in plain black, with straw col
ored gloves. His daughters, Mrs. Patterson
and Mrs. Stover, assisted in receiving tho
guests. They stood at the right and rear of
the President. The former was attired la
black velvet low neck and short sleeves, with
illusion bodies, hair ornamented with flowers
and back curls. Mrs. Stover wore a rich black
silk trimmed with lace, iow neck with hair
tastefully arranged and back curls. Many of
the guests loitered around tho Blue Room, but
the larger portion immediately found their
way into the East Room. Among those who
remained in the Biue Room were Secretaries
Walies, Denison and McCulloch. Promi
nent among the promenaders were Mr. and
Mis. Gen. Banks, tha latter attired in a rich
salmon silk, with pink flowers, low neck and
trail, and coral necklace. Governor Sharkey
and lady were also quite conspicuous. Mrs.
Sharkey was dressed in a rich pearl c ored
silk, long trail, with velvet border and trim
mings, with steel edging, with an elabo
rate coiffure. Sir Frederick Bruce and
Lady Thurlow were iu the East Room
most of the evening. Ho was dressed in
tho plain republican st>io, without any
decorations, while Lady Thurlow’s attire
was of the same simple style. She
wore a dark watered silk. Se’nor Romero, the
Mexican Minister, escorted the lady of Presi
dent Juarez. She was attired in a rich laven
der silk, richly trimmed, and long trail, with
diamonds, Hon. L. D. Campbell also had a
Mexican lady on his arm. She was attired in
a blue si’ik, long trail and fluted trimmings
around the bottom, with diamond pin. Mr.
Labantree, of the State Department, also es
corted a Mexican lady, who attracted consider
able attention. The brunette countenances
and well forme ) features of these Montezuma
ladies furnished a contrast with the American
ladies, and made them the centre of attraction.
It is useless to attempt to dorcribe all the
lad : es’ toilets. A few cf the most conspicu
ous must suffice. Ther# wore, however, many
others equally as brilliant and attractive as
those narrated above.
The army was well represented. Generals
Howard, Fry, Bryce, Dyer, Rickefts, Robinson
and many others were present, with and with
out their ladies. Among the Senators and Con
gressmen present were Steward, of Nevada ;
Davisand McKee, of Kentucky; Saulsbury and
Riddle, of Delaware; Darling, Tyler, Brooks,
Humphrey and many more from New York.
Tee evening wore away pleasantly to al), and
by eleven o’clock, the crowd was rapidly de
parting.
SENATOR STOCK I ON’S CASE.
If anything could have deepened the dis
grace with which the present Congress had al
ready covered itself, it would have been the
action of the Senate in depriving Mr. Stockton,
of New Jersey, of his seal, after its own Judi
ciary Committee (composed of a large ma
jority of his political opponents, and embracing
Us best legal talent) had felt constrained to re
port wish only a minority of one, that he wa3
justly entitled to it. To accomplish the shame
ful deed, advantage was taken of the absence
aud sickness of several members; aad another
(Mr. Morrill, of Maine) was persuaded to vio
late his own plighted word to secure a party
triumph. The coureo of this Senator deserves
and must receive the condemnation of every
honorable man, and, in tho former aud belter
days of that once pure and dignified body,
would have subjected him to immediate ex
pulsion from his own seat. He had paired iff
with Senator Wiight, of New Jersey, who, iu
reliance on his honor, was absent on a visit to
his family. On tho resolution to reject Mr.
Stockton, he abstained from voting-a confes
sion that he was obliged to do so by personal
good faith to his absent colleague; but o®»ho
motion to admit the Senator from New Jersey,
he was dragooned into voting against it by Mr.
Sumner, thus making a tie. It took even tho
Senate by surprise, and he felt obliged to make
some kind of excuse for thus abjuring the ob
ligation of honor. It was the poor one that
“such a lenght of time had elap.-ed since he
paired with Mr. Wiight that bo did not feel
himself bound by it;” and that he had told Mr.
Stockton, not Mr. Wright, that “he would teal
constrained to vote on this question.” Mr.
Stockton stated to the Fenate, and Mr. Morriii,
did not deny it, that the intention of the latter
to vote was not communicated to him until it
was too late for Mr. Wright to arrive and vote.
Under such circumstances—to prevent the con
summation of a gro-s wrong to hi3 State—
Senator Stockton without hesitation, and with
high moral eourage, deserving all praise,
determined to vote for himself, and thu3 secur
ed his seat for the time. The brave act took
the Radicals by surprise, and Mr. Sumner,
among others, was heard in the galleries to say
very excitedly. “It is a part of tha law of
nations that a man shall not voto in his own
oase.” They consequently succeeded in their
nefarious purpose, and Mr. Stockton, with
much dignity, immediately retired from the
Senate as a piivate citizen—a far higher post
of honor thau the station occupied by those he
left behind, Mr. Sumner hopes by such means
to subordinate the Executive to tbo Cor /res
sional majority, by.necuring the necessary _vvo
thirds of the Senate, when he and his party
will reign supreme. We shall see.
FROM MEXICO AND CENTRAL AMERICA.
By arrival of the steamer Vera Cruz at New
York, from Vera Crnz, March 22nd and Ha
vana 28, news from the city of Mexico to ihe
19th ult., is received.
General Ogason had proclaimed himself
President of the Mexican Republic, by viriue
of the Constitution of 1857, in the of town Cu
tiacon.
The assassins of the Belgian Envoy were
being vigorously pursuod by tho French police,
under the direction of Mr 1 Maury.
The Imperialists, under the command of
General Mandaz have sustained a severe
reverse in the Plains of Urahon, where it is
stated 209 prisoners weie shot in retaliation for
the execution of Liberals.
Under the recent decree of Maximilian, a
secret agreement had been entered into be
tween Maximilian and the children of Iturbhie,
by which the latter have been sold into
exile.
We are also informed (hat French troops
have been recently seat from France to Mexi
co.
Advices from Caraccas. Venezuela, to March
13th, had arrived there. Both Houses of the
Venezuela Congress assemble lon the 2d. The
President announced in his message that
measures were in progress for the adjustment
of the Spanish claims.
Several shocks cf an earthquake, soma of
them violent, had occurred in various parts of
the owntry,
Advices from Aniiqua, West Indies, March
12!h, repo: t the Rugar and cotton crops com
ing on plentifully.
A bam was burned onThe 3d, near Chica
go. A man, his daughter, and six horses
were, with the building consumed,