Weekly chronicle & sentinel. (Augusta, Ga.) 1866-1877, June 13, 1866, Image 1

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OLD SERIES, VOL. LXXV. if ljroiiirii' k ?Piitiufl- HENRY MOORE, A. R. WRIGHT, Lniauripallan —English Opinion of It- He. till-. The people of the .South were not responsible for the introduction and establishment of Af rican Slavery in their midst. They protested iu the most earnest manner against it. Early in our colonial history we find Virginia and South Carolina placing restrictions upon the slave trade, which they hoped would protect them against what was then thought to be a monstrous crime. 'J he mother country Ib* sisted upou the traffic, became it put money in the pockets ol her merchants and ship-owners, and increased her wraith and power. Th ere<j julalionx oi Virginia and South Carolina were neutralized and tendered nugatory by the de crees of the home government. We believe that hut lor the extraoidlnury and persistent ef forts of the British Government, African Slave ry would never have been established on this Continent. Early in tiie last century, the col onists appealed to the mother couut-y for a discontinuance ot the Slave Trade. They sent remonstrance alter rrinouetiancp against the traffic, and in the most earnest and suppliant manner, begged that their country should not he made a reeepticle for the barbarous Afri cans widch weio then beiug poured into it by the uctiviiy, stimulated by the uvarice, ot lirit hd) and Yankee ship owners. Jn our own State Lite noble hearted Oglethorpe was compelled to relax his determination, that here at least there should be neither slavery nor slave trude. Tho trade was opened and protected by tho liritish Government. It pros pered in despite ol the opposition of Oglethorpe and his foiiowers, up to the commencement of hostilities between the colonists and the gov ernment. This trafre was protected and stimu lated by all the influence and power which the King and his advisers could afford. Tho colo nists cried aloud ugaiu-t what they called the infernal trade. They depicted in strong and glowing colors the cruelty to the blacks, not only in their being forcibly torn from home, kindred and country, and the horrors encountered in the passage, hut the effects of such a stream of black heathens beiDg poured into anew and thinly populated country, was dwelt upon with peculiar force and energy, Tho war came, and, with it, American inde pendence was uu fait accompli. Soon after the treaty of peace between tho two Governments wus concluded, the material and continued prosperity ol this country, under the benign system of laws adopted by the sagacious states, men of the time, became apparent to the Brit ish Government. In the organization of tho Government of the Uuited States, it was deemed prudent, und best to leave tho Africans, then in our midst, upou the same footing and in the same couditiou in which they wore louud at the breaking out of hostilities. Restrictions were placed upon fbo slave trade, and n definite time fixed ut which tho traific should bo abdished. It it cnriou*, just here, to observe that those * J, .et«e which then possessed the-largcst number ol td»vw were most utrohnoue in their efforts to abolish tho trade, —tho Now England States opposing the shorts to stop • the trade, while Viiginiaand South Carolina and Uuorgia in sisted that the interests ot their suction de manded its discontinuance. la the beginning of tho present contury, the rapid development ot the cotton trade of this country alarmed English merchants and Eng lish manufacturers. The production of cotton by slave labor became a mecesslul and most lucrative business. These American cottons brought to our shores a stream of Gold from the cutlers of Great lirltuin, which, in a few years, gave tlie United States a rank and posi tion amougst the nations of the earth, which nstouished alike the people ol tho Old and New World. England became alarmed at our rapid strides to eminence in all the industrial pursuits which make a nation Htroug and influential. Trade, commerce, ship-building, and the mechanic arls fell the influence of those gold streams brought by Southern slave labor cotton, front across the Atlantic, and flourished, improved and developed with a rapidity hitherto un known in the annals of the world. Great Itritaiu looked with envious and jealous eyes upou these evidences ot our national prosperi ty. She had long boasted of being the mistress of the seas. Under the magical influence of slave cotton, tho broad sails of Now England ship owners began to whiteu every sea, and in every port of tho civilised world the American Eagle shook his talons over the shaggy neck of the Kritish Lion. Cotton— American, cotton, became then, at onco, the great enemy of British power, and tho means by which her commercial and man ufacturing interests bid fair to be overthrown aud destroyed. To stop the production of cot ton here was felt to be impossible, unless the cheap labor which the Southern States con trolled in its cultivation could be impaired or destroyed. Here then is to be found the key note to English sympathy and English efforts for the emancipation of American slaves. It was from no teeliugs of kindness to the slaves themselves. It was from no conviction that the condition ot these poor blacks would be improved by emancipation. It was from no teeliugs of abhorrence for their condition as slaves, for they had, contrary to our wishes imposed this condition upon them It was from no earmst philanthropic desire to elevate them In the scale of humanity, aud enlarge their capacity for moral aud religious training and instruction, for they had time and again in their controversies with the colonies insisted that to remove them from the wilds of African barbarism, and establish them as slaves to Anglo-Saxon masters was but carrying out tho divine injunction to christianise the heathen. The key note of British opposition to Ameri can slavery being once sounded by the astute statesmen of that country, it required bnt lit • tie effort to secure the influence and support of rffek old Dukes and Dncheses who would draw along in tln-ir trains the unthinking rabble, and secute by their position and money the subservient pens of their peuniless lUerattms. England sent her Thompsons, her Trollopes, ht-r Russels, her Mortimers, and her Arrow smiths to «xamiueour institutions, investigate our system, and expose our inhumanity’. They came, as the hissiug serpent in the garden of Ellen approached mother Eve, with lies upon their ops aud gall in their hearts, they »ou ;hi l y cunning, and shameless insincerity to gain aud in many instances did succeed in gain ing, admission to our homesteads aud a place around our hearthstones. By this system of cunning and duplicity they obtained jnst enough of the true life of the Southern planter to ena ble them, by its careful and studied intermix ture with the most horrid tales and exaggerated statements of occasional irregularities 0 f the system, to palm the whole disgusting and«na U i sealing libel, upon the public mind of England \an “o’er true tale.” Nothing conld relieve | this cruelly opprersed race but emancipation. : That would make them contented, happy and prosperous. It was the galling curse of slavery that chilled their proud natures and frozo np the fountains of morality and virtue. With emancipation, would come virtue, intelligence, religion and prosperity. The Africans, under the inspiration of freedom, would at once spring upwards in tho scale of civilization and provo themselves worthy of the association and community with the white race. They were to compete successfully with the whites in the trades, commerce, navigation and the learned prolessions. Emancipation would expand their intellects, enlarge their brains, subdue their passions, stimulate their energies, and restrain their vices. The people of the South, who, from having been brought up in the constant observation of and contact with the n-gro, had better means for forming a correct estimate of Lis capacity for self control and independent action, knew that British philanthropists would never be able, even with the aid of the wild fanatics of New England, to make the African a successful competitor of the Anglo-Saxon in tho race of civilization and the contests of actual life. Emancipation followed the close oi our late civil war, more thau a year ago. The slaves, without anv action on their part, and against the wishes of their ownerlS, were suddenly set free. They have had more than a year of free - dom. They have been supported by Govern ment and protected by armed force in a'l the rights of freemen. They have been encour aged to acts of manhood and virtue by swarms of sympathising friends from New England They liavo had opened to them schools for the enlightenment of their minds, Churches for their religious instructions, and hospitals for their sick. They have been taught that they were the rquals socially and politically of their late white owners. They have been urged bj ail the persuasive arts which could he employed by an intelligent, though, as we believe, misguided majority of tho Northern people, to establish for themselves a character lor sobriety, industry and morality. From the beginning, wo have never had the least doubt of the final result. Conceived, as emancipa tion was, for the purpose of destroying the in fluence of the South, and ruining her labor system, we knew that it would result in the utter and hopeless destitution of the blacks, and lead in the end, to their utter extinction. We knew that they needed the fostering care, wise restraint, and humane control of the whites to enable them, so low they were in the scale of intellectual endowment, to meet suc cessfully the buffets, trials and hardships en countered in the rough paths of human life. Well, the experiment has been triod Free dom with her radiant wings and roseate plu. mage has hovered over the poor slaves for twelve loug months, exciting only iu his un tutored bmast hopes of worldly pleasure which reach their climax in nothing to do and a plenty to eat. His daily m usings and his nightly dreams have been of rest, cDjoyment aud oase. He is incapable ot higher aspira tions, of nobler aims.* Without immunity from toll and labor, freedom is a mockery, and a vain delusion. Ho basks in the warm Southern sun'forgetful alike of life, its responsibilities aud requirements. The claims of wile aud children aro ignored or neglected. The de mamls ot nature aro barely able to arouse in him efforts sufficient to procure a scauty sub sistence, and this he frequently prefers to ob tain by pilfering and marauding. The enlightened nations of tho world have been uo indifferent spectators of tho grand ex periment whtoh has been made here, iu the hope ol regenerating the blacks. They have been told by tho philanthropists of Great Britain and the puritanical fanatics of New Englund, that once the shackle's were torn from the bleeding limbs of the poor African, he would spring with joy and alacrily into the arena of life, and carve out a future for him self rich in tho spoils of trade, agriculture and the fine arts. And now, when the world is looking for a realization of the hopes it en tertained through the representations of Eng - lish aud American so called philanthropists of African regeneration and civilization, the thundorer of the British press cooly an nounces that aftor all that has been said, and all that has beendone, after a'l the blood that has been made to flow, all the lives sacrificed-- widows aud orphans made, aud fortunes lost and misery endured, to make this fearful ex periment of negro equality aud African capa city, for freedom, that their efforts have come to uuught. In a late number of the Times a loug article on the negro and his condition and destiny, is closed in the following words : “Their place, there is no denving it, is ser' vice aud submission. A law of nature wo cannot alter, and -the best thing their friends can do for them is to find out the position and occupation that fit their quality the best, and advise them to accept them cheerfully ’’ Yts, service and submission is the destiny of the race fixed by the immutable decree of the Almighty Maker of all things, and neither English hyprocracy nor Yankee cunning will ever succeed iu revoking this wise decree. Having so successfully accomplished her scheme of emancipation in tho new, we would suggest the propriety of making similar efforts iu tho old world. The down trodden people of Ireland have been groaning for many years under the tyrannical rule of England. They are entitled to freedom. If the English people desire to see the application of the Jeffersonian sophism mape general and universal, doubtless they will receive from America substantial aid and support in its application, at least, to Ire* land. Shall we assist them in emancipating the Irish ? We pause for reply. Senator Anthony has had engrafted on a West Point bin the principle of competitive examination, which passed the Senate last year, but was defeated iu the House. The present proposition will enable each Representative to nomiuate five candidates for each vacancy at his disposition, from whom one is to bo select ed. Tu& Strikers. —The ship carpenters, now on a strike in New York, have adopted a resolu tion to the effect that they are ready to adjust their disagreemxnt with their late employers on any honorable basis. They express an emphatic determination to hold out until the eight hour system shall be granted, which they declare is the sole question at issue. Medical Statistics. —The Secretary of War, in compliance with a resolution of the Senate calling for a compendium of the medical sta tistic* collected daring the war, states on the authority cf the Surgeon Gensral that the records of many of the hospitals have not been received, and that the tabulation of those at hand is not complete : so that any compendium of the medical statistics of the war at this lime must necessarily lie based upon partial data, and beuce be unreliable and valueless. A WEEK FROII HOSE. j Crops—Middle Georgia for Emigrant}— Cheap and Good Land —Mlanta— Her Her Fieas— Nestor of j Auctioneers—More about Crops, &c, Atlanta & West Point Railroad, | June 4, 1866. J Dear Chronicle : A night ride from Madison left me no opportunity to continue observa tions on the way. Indeed, observations from the railroad affords a very poor idea of the condition of crops in Middle Georgia, since the road runs through a barren belt which pro duces little in the best crop season. 1 have, however, taken much pains to got correct in- • formation from residents of the various conn.' ties, and I find prospects less gloomy than I had been led to expect.' The great difficulty is from grass, of which thero is general complaint. This results not so much from unreliable labor aB from the excessive rains—it is pouring down as i write—which prevent work—and from the start the grass made in replanting to get stands, together with the unusual amount of grass which baa taken root under the corn cul ture.of the last few years. The general report is that in Middle and Western Georgia the freedmen are doing better than was expected, and this is especially true iu districts away from railroads, where they have not been de moralized by imported school murrns, preach ers and negro soldiers. The planters feel anx ious to secure the good will of the negro, and will meet him more than half way in overy ef fort to improve his condition. The emissaries of mischief above referred to, impart false and absurd notions of equality, and prejudice the negro against the whites, while they do abso lutely nothing toward his real advancement. lam pleased to observe that many of the larger farmers of Middle Georgia are at last waking up to the importance of encouraging immigration. Thousands of negroes have left this part ot the State for the West ; thousands have died under the surfeit of liberty thrust upon them, and thero is a great deficiency of labor. Iu this connection I may name Messrs. Meriwether, Jordan and Glover, of Jasper county, who own several thousand acres of ex cellent laud located fifteen to twentj miles from the railroad, who will sail cheap, either in large or small tracts, though they prefer to sell to small farmers, and thereby secure a fixed and thrifty population. The lands of that region are very productive, and adapted to cotton, corn, wheat and other grains, and to all the fruits of the temperate latitude. The water is delicious, and climate mild and salu brious. There is no part of the continent bet ter adapted to successful farming. A railroad has been Projected from Covington to Griffin, running through this region, aud it will no doubt be built before many years to connect with a line to Memphis. A good move, by the way, for Augusta. The water-power afforded by the Ocmulgee river is unsurpassed, and within a scopo of a few miles is, I am assured, ample to run the spindles of two or three Lowells. Now is the time to bring this de lightful region into notice. There are thou sands of families constituting the middle classes in Germany who are anxious to escape the reign of terror which threatens them at home, and it is said that 15Q, 000 are novy registered for passage to this country. They have, usual- ' ly, some means, and are infinitely preferable to the paupers and criminals who have crowded the emigrant ships for years. A little timely enter prise in setting forth the advantages this healthy section with society settled aud roads opened over tho pioneer life on the cheap lands ot the West, whose ague-haunted plains are without roads, timber and good water—will turn the tide ot emigration to this section. If we re main here idle, grumbling over our misfor tunes, tho land agent and emigrant aid socie ties, and pofitical demagogues of the West, will secure the emigrants to which I hav i referred — the-bed that have ever come to America. Now is tho time to start the ball. A few large land holders should send an agent to Germany, with a map of the country, and definite offers for the sale or lease of specified tracts, and the assurance of domicils for their families until homes can be built or purchased. Sensible men are slow to take their families to anew country without some assurance of welcomo. Castle Garden is thronged with agencies and influences to turn these people from our bor ders. Let us not be outwitted and outdone until it is too late. Immediate action is neces sary to secure labor for the next year. Hun dreds of planters in middle Georgia aro as anxious as the gentlemen named, to dispose of a portion of their lands ; bnt, like them, are slow to take the proper steps to secure pur chasers. A few wealthy men from the North are buying farms, and trying the experiment of cotton culture with freedmen. Some of them will no doubt succeed, and they‘are wel corned and icell received by the people, but the great need is an increase of small farmers, for which wa must look mainly to Europe. My brief stay in Atlanta only affords me time to endorse atl that your correspondent, “Warren,” has said of the astonishing progress of the place during the last few months. Much is still doing, and to be done, to re store the city to its former position. Progress is stamped on every feature of the city. Some twenty buildings are now going up, and many more under contract. Trade just now is dull, but all look forward with hopeful confidence •to tho fall. A sea of new faces swell the thor oughfares, among whom I caught a glimpse of a few that were familiar. Adair, Cox, Leyden Eddlemau, Robson. Bell, and others still here, with tho Verdoreys, Zinimermin, Purse, and some others from our city, all confident that Atlanta is and must be the “hub” of the State. The last time I was here, just before Sherman commenced shelling out his favors, the shrill voice of uncle Billy Hill—the Nestor of auc tioneers—was singing out from Kile’s corner, It was “going,” “going,” and the next day he was “gone," and Kile's corner aud all the bain acce of the corners went soon alter. Passing along the street to-day, what should I hear bnt the same clear voice of nncle Billy, at the same old Kiie corner, in a bran new building, • goifig,” “going," as before. He is 78 years old—as bale and vigorous as a man of 45- working, us he says, to feed the widowed and orphaned children and grandchildren which the war has brought to the paternal roof, and be works with a will and cheerful good humor, worthy of imitation by the yonng and old croakers who crowd our towns and villages. May this kind old patriarch be spared to wield bis hammer for years, before it shall be said that he is "gone.” In no respect is the spirit of enterprise more marked and creditable than iD the press of the city. The Intelligencer and New Era, are models of typographical taste, and are credit able daily journals in all respects. TheLadie’s Home is a handsome new weekly by Dr. Pow ell, the first number of which appeared last week. It is designed as an organ for the fe male talent of the South, and the proceeds are to be devoted to the erection of a home for in valid ladies—a scheme long cherished by the AUGUSTA, GA., WEDNESDAY MORNING. JUNE 13. 1866. philanthropic projector of this journal, and which we sincerely hope he will be able to accomplish. Mrs. L. Virginia French, a lady of national repute, is the editress of the Home, and the price is five dollars a year. Every lady in the South may make good use of her “pin money,” by dispensing with some little gew-gaw,and subscribing for the Home.”— Jas. N. Ells of your city, is the general agent. Scott’s monthly is a creditable periodical, pub lished here, and there is nowhere id the coun try a religious paper superior to the Christian Index and Southwestern Baptist, of which that eminent scholar Rev. Dr. H. H. Tucker, is the editor. There is a very annoying gap in the mail schedule for the West, by which the mail reaching here in the evening at 7 o’clock from Augusta, lays over until the next morning at six before leaving for Montgomery. This has been caused by the suspension of the night train on the West Point road. One train a day has been found . ample to accommodate the Wet w> r-mely light. The Fenians are said to be organizing a company here to join the Canada movement, and a meeting is to be held to-night at O'Hal loran’s, who is the Head Centre for the Cle burn Circle here. O’Halloran cannot be spared from the home commissariat, and we hope he will suppress that high old Irish pa triotism of his for the present. If he should go soldiering, he has. Bill Wiley to help to run the machine in his absence. “George” is at borne in a hotel, and does much to make his guests so. But O'Halloian must not go sky larking with the Fenians. It is gratifying to find our railroads so thoroughly reconstructed. The cars are clean and comfortable, and the track all the way to West Point so smooth as to enable me to write this scrawl, such as it is, while the cars are in motion. Accounts of the crops tell fearfully of grass. Wheat, all along from Atlanta, is reported good, and stands of coin and cotton are good— the latter secured usually by re-planting, but the continued rain is leaving both to be choked cut by the grass. I observe far more fields of corn along the road than of cotton or wheat. It is small, but of good color and promising. Aristides . The Sev York Tribune and the South. The Southrons and the blacks are better adapted to each other, and at bottom like each other better, than either do our sharp, hard, angular Yankees —Tribune Then why don’t you keep your ‘‘sharp, hard, angular” friends at home, and let the South alone. You say the Southern people like the blacks better than your “sharp” Yankees like them. Yet you are constantly harping upon the injustice to tho blacks of leaving them to the care of their Southern friends. Why do you insist upon Freedmen’s Bureau bills, and Civil Rights bills, if at most yon bslieve that the Southrons and the blacks like each other better than they like Yankees ? Will you force upon the untutored negro scores of such heartless aud debased wretches as Fritz, Bryant, Rosekrans, Glovu and Wickersham, to minis ttheir wants, protect their interests, and in their efforts to rise higher Imthe •.ft : .Te of true manhood ? Let the South alone, Leave iu t'vjgWr >of her noble, warm hearted and gener^/people, the sable sons of Africa and they will do for them what your Yankee freedonn shriekers have nevor yet done. They will compensate them for their labor, provide for thv>m comfortable homes, feed and clothe their old and decrepidand young, and minister to their want3 in sickness. They will do all this, and more, if you will keep from our midst those sharp, hard, angular conspirators against the peace of our country and the security of our lives, who are being sent amongst ns by your Northern friends to stir up discord and engender strife between the two races. Relieve us from the influences of this vile herd, and the two races can and will live harmoniously to gether. Ihe A’pw Reconstruction Scheme. The Herald regards the new reconstruction plan, now being concocted by the Senate, as excessively absurd. The first section unneces sarily re-enacts the Civil Rightß bill. The second section, in regard to the apportionment of representation, can very easily be evaded by the Southern States, and will be most un popular at the North and West. The amend ment proposed for the third section disqualifies the rebel officials daring the pleasure of Con gress ; but all that these officials have to do is to make out naturalization papers, and they can vote or hold office in five years, Congress to the contrary notwithstanding. The fourth section, which insists upon the payment of the national debt, is very silly, for nobody wants to repudiate that debt. This is what Webster called re-enactin' tho laws of nature. The fifth section, which prohibits the payment of the rebel debt, is equally silly, for nobody wants to pay that debt. Congress might just as well enact a law forbidding ug to pay the debt incurred by Great Britain in the war ot 1812, Thus the whole plan, section by sec tion, is ghown to be foolish and impracticable* If Congress desires to adopt a radical scheme, let that of Mr. Toad. Stevens be taken up,— But the bast way is to admit at once that Pres ident Johnson’s policy is the only reasonable one before the country. Why should Congress persist in quarrelling, not only with the Presi dent, but with the American people, who have already endorsed the President’s policy in every possible way ? A Home for the Orphan? ol Georgia. Gov. JeDkins, under the provisions of the act, approved March 17,1866, “to establish at some suitable place in the State, an institution for the support and education of orphan chil dren, to be styled the ‘Georgia State Orphan Home,’ which shall be the property of the State,” has made the following appointments : Wm. B Johnson, of Macon; Richard Peters, of Atlanta, and Henry Hull, of Athens, consti tute the Building Committee, whose duty it is also to locate the Home. Rev. H. Tucker, of Atlanta; Rev. Wm. H.- Potter, of Augusta; Rev. Wm. Flynn, of Mil ledgeville; Rev. Wm. C. Williams, of Rome; Messrs. Warren Akiu, of Bartow county; Jas, Gardner, of Richmond county; Jas. M. Cham bers, of Muscogee county ; John W. Anderson, of Savannah, and Junius Wingfield, of Eaton ton, constitute the Board of Trustees. In the admission of orphans, preference is to be given the children of deceased Confederate soldiers. The Legislature having made no appropriation for the establishment or support of the Home, it will be some time before it goes into operation. Such an institution is much needed in our State, just at this time, and it is to be hoped that nothing will bo left undone that will hasten to a'successful development so notable a charity. Gautemala has declined to join Chili and Pern against Spain, as have also Salvador and Costa Rica. They are in no condition to Ight. The Truth well Spokea even by the “Tunes.” We are gladl to see that a few of our North ern friends are beginning to find some merit in the patriarchal relation which existed in the South between the whites and blacks when the latter were slaves. Ts the misguided fanatics of New England could have seen the sjeteni as it existed, and not as it was depicted by heartless demagogues, and crazy humanitari ans, they would never have lent themselves to swell the ranks of the crusaders against this humane and divinely appointed institution. No clear-headed, right-minded man, from Old or New England, ever came amongst us to examine with care and candor our system, who did not return to bis home satisfied, not only that the South had been vilely slandered, but that the institution as managed and con trolled here was a real blessing to the blacks. The men and women at the North who gave birth to the anti-slavery excitement, and those who nourished and supported it through all its jAgpga until 'Succeeded in severing the Union and plunged the cotin'ry into a cTvTiancr destructive war, never had any practical knowledge of the working of the system. They had never come amoDgst us and met us at our firesides with our faithful slaves around us ; never had seen the contented and cheerful laborer driving the plough and push ing the hoe in our cotton fields ; had never heard in the calm twilight of our soft summer evenings the sweet neiody which rang out upon forest and field to tne lively strains of “Carry me back to old V.rginia’s Shore,” or swelled upon the air in the sweetly plaintive and touch ing refrain, “OleMassa’s in the Cold, Cold Ground.’.’ This {art of the planters’life they could not understand or appreciate ; first—be cause their purpote was so to manipulate the defects of the sys.em as to secure to them and their party political influence, and *econtlly— because they were themselves actually igno rant of those reieeming characteristics of the institution which commended it to the foster ing care of Chrbtian Philanthropists. The followirg extract from a letter in the New York Tim s, written from Albany, in this State, shows the striking difference, even now, between the lTnkee style of “rigid discipline,” order, and regilarity of work, and that which taking the patriarchal as tho true system, ap proaches it as nearly as may be, in the present changed relations of the two races : I have visied two very large plantations between Amoricus and this place, on each of which over i hundred hands are busily and faithfully employed in the cultivation of com and cotton. Ono of these places is worked by the original cwner, and all his bands are his former slave;; and the other is one jointly owned and worked by Northern capitalists and Southern mtu skilled in planting, and the management of negroes, Un the latter, all the hands were ‘picked np” and brought to gether for tie first time, when they were set to work. On the former tho owner does not re side, but leaves entire control to his manager, (Olim, overseer;) and on the latter the South ern shareholders are continually present, hav ing no subordinate managers, but foremen, (generally ictelligent negroes,) to whom some especial branch ot the dally work is confided by the commander in-chief. P had thus a very good opportunity of judg ing of the two systems, or rather of the two species of ~ ‘ame system. On the first place the npgioH??’’ 5 .ked ot home, and home associa. tions, aftd (*4 maasa, and told of the exploits of young rhhssa, “who died in the war,” and they exp; eased the wish to live and die where their fathers and mothers lived and died be fore them. They seemed perfectly contented and settled, and thought their contract was a liberal one—food and medical attendance and one-lourth of all they make. They were pleased with the manager, said he was a “mighty good, kind man,” who “never giv’ a nigger a hard word ’less u'serv’s it.” They said they thought they worked about as hard as “’fore freedom;” but when pressed were compelled to admit that the “womenfolks” were not as industrious as iu old times. An old darkey who seemed to be a self-constituted Justice of the Peace and general umpire in all matters among the negroes, who seemed to have known every one in the neighborhood, white and black, since they “was so high,” indicating the height by spreading out his hand about a foot from the ground, seemed to feel great indignation at “de foolishness of some niggers,” who want to play the lady and gentleman, and abstain from work. He seemed to understand the whole question thoroughly, and if Mr. Stevens would only follow Old Ben’s advice, be would have but little use for that penitentiary of hell, of which he speaks with such prophetic experience. Ben thinks that if the negroes can make a living and clothe themselves decently, have their property protected aud their liberty secured, they ought to be well satisfied; that “no nigger aiat fit to vote—’cause why, he don’t know nothing ’bout dem things;” that they must “behave and learn, and show ’der ,selves fit for it,” and then they will be helped along by the white men; and that “aem as wont work” must steal, and bring a bad name on all the darkies, and they ought to be pun • ished or driven away. At this stage of the conversation he remaiked to me in confidence, but with great emphasis, “Dere’a a heap of no account niggers, massa, as sure as you’re a foot high.” He introduced several freedmen, wo men and children to me, with great politeness and dignity, and seemed quite a master of ceremonies amoDg his fellows. When I took my leave, after sharing my tobacco bag with him and thanking him for his politeness, he remarked, with great pride, that he was “old massa’s confidential servant,” and that “massa didn’t keep none but well raised servants about him.” Everything on the place bore the mark of ease, contentment, and plenty; but there were also signs of waste, neglect, untidiness, and that want of system which has always charac terized plantation management, and which philanthropists attributed to the horrors of Slavery, but which was really attributable to the absence of Ihe owners and the listless Im providence of the negro. The crops were backward though healthy, and the manager thought he would make about two-thirds of a crop of cotton, with corn, &c., enough to keep the place. He seemed satis fied with the hands, but said they did not do more than two thirds work. He thought his employer would have better consulted his own interest had he employed strange hands and let his own go, because they took liberties and presumed on the kindness and affection which the owner and his family felt for their old de pendents. Os the entire negro population in the place a little more than half were work ing hands but all are fed by the owner, lodged and provided with fuel, aud vegetables of their own raising, and the workers receive a fourth of everything As I sat in the porch of the managers’ house, (who, by the way, entertained me most hand somely,) smoking my pipe of scarfaletti, about two hours after sunset, the moon just begin ning to peer through the tree tops, and as I heard the shouts of laughter, the songs and banjo performances proceeding from thefreed jnen’s houses about a quarter of a mile distant, I wished for once to have Mr. Wendell Philipps sitting beside me in order that he might cease abusiDg Mr. Stevens, of Pennsylvania, for not being sufficiently radical in his schemes for the elevation of the negro. On the other place to which 1 have referred —that owned by Northern capitalists and Southern agriculturists, and worked by the latter—l found much more rigid discipline, more order and regularity of work, but none of those home attachments and fixity of abode, none of that this-is-my-home feeling which marked the negroes on the other plantation. The end of the year, when the crop is gather ed, seems the end of the freedmen’s life of la bor on this farm. They were well fed and healthy-looking, bnt they were neither cheer ful nor settled, and I heard many fears express ed that when the days get warmer and the work more toilsome many will desert. The la borers here are paid monthly wages, the em ployers always reserving in hdnd one month’s wages as security against destruction or loss I of property and agiinst desertion without no tice, it being stipulated in the contract that a hand leaving before the end of the year forfeits ail wages due to the date oi his departure. The crops on this place were very fine aud promising. The laud is among the finest in Georgia, and cost the present owners (the stock and implements included) a hundred thousand dollars in cash. On a comparison of the labor system on the two places I unhesitatingly prefer that where the hands feel they are at home, and consider themselves identified with their employer. It may be that they may not appear to work as hard, or be as cereful, as where everything is weighed by the scale and every hour is counted, and idleness involves.pecuniary fines; but in the loug run the cheerful, contented, take-it-easy negroes will do more than those who feel that they are mero passers by, and who, knowing that they can do as they p|pase, avail themselves of the privilege whenever they are rebuked or they desire to “knock off.” JOTTISGS FROH THE CJIfITAL. [FROM OUR OWN' CORRESPONDENT.] Washington, Saturday June 2. TUe Tegisfafion "ofColfgfess dftflfig the week which closes to-day has been exceedingly satisfactory to a large, and I may say influ ential, class of worthies, who may invarinbly be found haunting the hails and corridors of the Capitol, button-holing the Senators and members,- confabulating anxiously with the shrewdest of the reporters, and watchiDg the result of every important vote with an interest much resembling that with which the gambler awaits the turn of the card upon which he has staked his “pile.” These are THE OBN’TLEMEN OF THE LOBBY. Nobody can tell exactly how they manage to live. They dress well, board at the most ex pensive hotels, drink wine every day at dinner, ride about in hacks and, many of them, lead fast lives ; yet they are known to be poor—de void alike of property, credit and cash. The stock in trade of these fine gentlemen is their acquaintance with the ruling spirits of both Houses of Congress, and, indeed, with the members generally. To cnltivate their inti macy with those who hold the power of voting away the public money, they spare no pains or expense. Mr. Ticlde-em of the lobby will en tertain tho bachelor Representatives with the most elegant and expensive suppers ; and the pledges of fidelity and good' fellowship which the Hon. Mr. Guzzle and Senator Snooks make to-night over brimming cups of champagne frappe, they are expected to redeem to-morrow by voting and perhaps speaking in favor of the “little bill” in which their hospitable friend Tickle-em may happen to be “interested.” Good suppers form but one of the thousand polite and varied attentions in which the “lobb member” is versed and which be is ever ready to lavish upon the large majority of Congress, who have neither the brains to under stand now tho manhood to resist such influ ences. THE OBJECTS AIMED AT BT THE LOBBY are almost as various as the measures that are brought up for the consideration of Congress, Whoever hopes to secure the passage of any bill involving the disbursement oi the public funds or a grant of Government lands, loses no time in gaining the good will and kind offices of the all powerful lobby. If the bill passes, of course tbe gentlemen whose influence ac complished so auspicious a result, demand a thick slice of the appropriation; if it hdls nothing daunted (hey uudertako to eng through some other measure, with the fruits of which they will repay themselves for the time lost upon the last. Such is the work of the Lobby.; and wo to the hopes of the silly wight who strives to carry any bill through the two Houses solely ou its own merits and without the aid of these influential gentry. While he is willing to assist (for a considera tion) in the enactment of laws of any charac ter, it is from the wealthy railroad corpora., tions that the lobbyist derives his most con stant employment and his richest harvest. And it is in this connection that I have said that the week now closing has been a great week for the lobby. THE CHAIN OF RAILROAD! leading from this oity to the North and North west are, and for years have been, giant mo nopolies, earning enormous incomes, and growing every day more exacting and insolent in their demands. Several associations of wealthy capitalists, covetous of the vast and ever-incroaaing prolits of these companies, have organized rival companies and only lack the authority of Congress to commence and complete with celerity certain great through line3, which will absorb almost the whole of the through freight and travel now enjoyed by the existing monopolies. To gain the speedy consent of Congress to the construction of the new railroads, the influence of the entire lobby was of course invoked; and for months it has been actively, though quietly at work. This week brings us tbe result. The House of Rep resentatives has decided, by a vote nearly two to one, in favor ofj the principle that Congress has the right, for postal and military purposes, to give authority for the construction of rail roads in States. This was but the entering wedge for the numerous schemes that are to fol low. The first of these has already been passed by the House. It contemplates a more direct railroad line from Washington to the North west than now exists. But the most important of the projects in view (and which wifi un doubtedly pass in a few days) is the “GREAT AIR LINE RAILROAD” as it is called in New York. The capital stock will be ten millions of dollars, and will consist of ob 6 hundred thousand shares of one hundred dollars each, upon which a cash payment of ten per cent, must be paid down. The route is to be surveyed and designated by a compe tent engineer, whose appointment shall be approved by the Secretary of the Interior, com mencing at some point in the city of Washing ton, in the District of Columbia, and running thence, through the States of Maryland. Penn sylvania, and New Jersey, to the Hudson river, with a single or double track, and to cross the Hudson river by ferry, from such point in the State of New J irsey into the city of New York. When constructed, all through South ern travel will come through Washington, and reach New York (after tbo building of the road from Fredericksburg to Alexandria) sev eral hours quicker than it now does. Mails, expresses, and troops must go by it as the swiftest and cheapest channel of transit. NO RESPECT FOR STATE EIGHTS. In the hurly-burly.of such legislation as this, • all regard for State rights seems to be lost.— The last act passed by the House, previous to its adjournment on Thursday, authoriz e rail, road? to form combinations for through tran sits of passengers and produce without re spect to State legislation. It looks to mono polies like that of the Camden and Amboy road. Butternut. Washington, June 3, 1866. Mesirs, Editors .'—Prominent Railroad men from Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi and Virginia were present at the Railroad Conven tion, which was organized at the Metropalitan Hotel to-day. As soon as .the organization NEW SERIES, VOL. XXV NO. 25. was effected, they adjourned to have a session this evening, when they expected to adjourn sine die. In my next I will endeavor to give tho most prominent part of the proceedings.— The debate to-day in the Senate upon the first amendment to the reconstruction resolutions, elicited statements that go in a great measure to assert that the Civil Rights Bill is unconsti tutional. The tenor of the speeches to day appeared ns characterized by Mr. Conness, of California, to boa shifting from the “eternal nigger,” to that of Chinese Indians and gyp sies. Quite a spirited debate on the amend ments as proposed by Mr. Howard, took place. Messrs. Doolittle, Cowan, Howard, Conness, Trumbull and Johnson participating ; it was finally agreed to, A message from the Presi dent was received, announcing the death of Lt. Gen. Winfield Scott. Mr. Wilson offered a resolution that the Military Committee of both Houses, act as a joint committee to see what measures would be necessary in relation to the character and record of the late Lieutenant iim In the House, Stevens, of parinsylvftnfa, or “the old man turbulent,” as ho is familiarly called, has had his bill of restoration policy past power until Monday. It is full of the love of the negro aud hate of the white man. It places the latter cias3 in the condition of foreigners, prevents them from holding offioe, &c , &c., while it elevates the former to the highest position. It will probably bring to light the true test of law, for his despotism will be obeyed by that body. The President has ordered the Departments to be closed on Friday, the day for the burial of General Scotland the heads of the Depart' meats of War and Navy have issued the cus tomary orders. Business is at a 6tand still. Gold is still go ing np and consequently goods of almost every discription has advanced. I notice on the street to-day a man, the first one, out under the auspices oi tho Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Mes senger Corps. The Corps is composed of dis abled men of the above branches of the ser vioe, to be stationed at the hotels and most public places in the city, to transmit letters, messages, parcels, r&c., &c , to any part of the city. The terms, I believe, aro as follows ; Messages for ten squares or under, 10 cents. For a greater distance 25 cents. Packages of ten pounds for ten squares 15 cents, aud for an excess iu weight or distance 50 cents. For messages or parcols beyond the limits of the city, no charge is established, but loft to be contracted for by tho parties desiring so to send another messenger, ’l'is a good institu tion, and if properly patronized will be the means of enabling many disabled men to earn a whereby they can be supported. Season. Thad, Stevens. —The Boston Post fears Thad. Stevens will soon be in a straight jacket. His intellect is unsettled; his anger has dislo cated his roason; he raves and foams, and sputters, and threatens and gnashes his teeth as though his hoart craved revenge—that nothing short of the annihilation of his op ponents could appease. But the old politician finds no relief. His malignant imprecations only indicate tho fury of the passions which rend his bosom and will soon reduce him, in body and mind, to the condition of an impo tent driveller. It is painfnl to see a man whose,period of life shoffid exhibit snsaftthiiu: of the soothing influences of Christianity, pos sessed of spirits that torment and debase him, u nil a mouth with curses that should utter piayers. The fire unquenchably he invokes for those he hates, regardless of the warning that the judgement he metes Bhali be meted unto him. Tho Chaplain of the House should labor with the ireful Pennsylvanian. A Strange Funeual.— Thos. B. Leighton, a man of wealth, who died at the Isle of Shoals,, near Portsmouth. N. H-, a few days ago, desired to have no religious rites perform ed at. his funeral, and was buried, accord ing to request, cn Appledove Island, between two granite rocks, on one of which be wanted his initials out. Ha was formerly a piominent Democratic politician in New Hampshire, but had lived for many years on a small island in the Shoals group, refusing to even visit the main land, lest the boat migfft sink in the pas sage. Too Soon to Purchase. Rumor hath it, that a lady and gentleman called at a store a few days ago to make some purchases. The lady was very talkative, and purchased one or two articles. When the twain were about to depart, tho accommodat ing salesman asked the. lady, who had done all the talking and paid the bill, if she would not purchase one or more of his tasteful hats for boys. Assuming the dignity of a quren, the lady said: No! I have been married only about twenty minutes 1 I have no boys, or girls either. A Use for Cast Off Crinoline. —The New buryport Herald says : “In passing the garden of our friend Harden, of the Amesbury stage, a few days since, we noticed a dozen sets— more or ltss—of hoops, reversed from their original position, the small ends down and the large ones supported on stakes, while inside tomatoes are being trained to run up the sides and fall over the outdde, which will shortly give a’very beautiful appearance.” “Horace,’’ or as A. Ward would say famil iarly, I ‘Horns,’ ’ wanis the religious bodies of the North to send a “minister extraordinary to South Carolina, charged with the one duty only of converting the heathen soul” of W. Gilmore Sim3, jr., “to politeness and Christian ity.’’ Charleston ought to return the comply mcnt and make an effort for the conversion of Greeley, who has become a vile sinner. “H. G.’’ on Soda Ash. —The N. Y. Tribune has broken out on the subject ot Soda-Ash. It wants a high tariff on the imported article to build up home manufactories. In the event of a war with Great Britain, it exclaima, “soda-ash would go up to two dollars a pound,” Os course ; and if the sky should fall we might catch lark3. The Commissioner of Agriculture has received from Hon. T. G. Bergen, of Jamaica, Long Island, New York, a bunch of asparagus com posed of twelve stocks, each about four inches in circumference, thirteen inches in height, and the whole weighing five pounds. It is under stood to he the intention of preserving this rare specimen of the agricultural world. Postmaster). —lnstructions will shortly be sent from the Paymaster General's office to the Government Postmasters who are stationed at places where there are no assistant treasuries or special depositories, but where National Banks may be available, directing them not to make transfers from one depository to an other, without special authority from tho Sec retary of War. The Treasury Department has issued a circu lar and sent to every Postmaster receiving over $6,000 from his office, requiring him to show that he has paid his income tax. Praiseworthy Efforts. * We hardly deem it necessary to ndd any thing to the following appeal irom the noble women of Richmond in behalf of thp Confeder ate dead in and near that city. There is not a household in this broad sunny clime whose blood has not moistenod the soil of the great old mother State, and hardly a family which does not mourn some fallen hero whose bones repose in the bosom of the old Commonwealth. We know that our people are poor. They, cannot do all they desire to have done, in com memoration of these fallen braves ; yet they can spare a little of their scant revenue in so good a cause. We hope that some of our pub lic spirited matrons and maidens will take the matter in hand, and call upon our citizens for such contributions as they may bo willing to make: To the People of the South: “The L idies’ Memorial Association for Con federate Dead of Oakwood,” near Richmond, Virginia, was organized pormauently on the 19th April, 1866. for the purpose of rescuing from obHVfrm the names tmd graves of the gallant Confederate dead who sleep at Oak- 1 wood Cemetery. This Cemetery, situated one mile east of the city, contains sixteen thousand Confederate soldiers’ graves, a larger number than any other in the South, including representative dead from every Southern State. The graves are iu a neglected condition, tho names of the occupants marked only by rude pieces of board carelessly and slightly put in the earth. The grounds are desolate and un, enclosed. The Common Council of the city of Rich mond has undertaken the work of enclosing the Cemetery, and has made the requisite appropriation for that purpose. The work of love, gratitude, and duty which this Association proposes for itself is simply this: First, To turf each grave and mark it with a neat wooden head board, upon which is to bo inscribed tbe name of the occupant, his State, regiment, and company, and other information in regard to him. Secondly. To lay out and dejorate tbe grounds, and to redeem them from their pres ent condition of utter cheerlessness and deso lation. And Thirdly. At some future day, when the fi nances ot the Association shall permit it, to replace tbe wooden head boards with endur ing marble, and to erect a handsomj monu ment for each State of the South, commemorat ing its dead. To effect these purposes it is necessary to ap peal to the people of the South for peouniary assistance. The Association is poor, the peo ple of Richmond are poor, and the work to be done is for the honor and credit ot the entire South. It would be an indelible shame aud an ever present disgrace if, having tbe power to honor our dead, to perpetuate their names and memories, and to preserve and protect their graves, our people should suffer them to lie neglected and forgotten until the trail records of their names, death and burial places are to tally destroyed by decay, and the task render ed impossible. How many families through out the South have representatives sleeping at Oakwood Cemetery ? How many mothers, and sisters, and fathers, and brothers, and friends, wculd be soothed and gratified to know that their brave doad were honored, and their graves cared for and tended to ? Who would not be shocked and pained to witness the present lamentable condition of these graves, and to see how rapidly the hand of Time is obliterating all traces* and memorials of the gallant dead who died for ub ? Could the people of the South look upon thf lonely, desolate and neglected graves, no ap peal would be necessary. The silent rebuke of tnese rorgutten neroes would reacn tne Hearts and consciences of every Christian man and womanof the South. This Associatiau is not for a day or a year ; it is not the passing fancy of an hour, or the ephemetral creature of a momentary impulse ; it is permanently organized, with two hundred and fifty active members. It will know no rest until its purposes are successfully and ful ly achieved. It will not fail, it cannot fail, it should not fail, until the manhood of tbe South has iost its chivalry, and until its women have ceased to mourn tor their children be cause “they are not.” In this work of piety and care tho Associa tion solemnly pledges its honor to the people of the South to apply faithfully and economi cally the funds which may be contributed. Editors friendly to tho purpose of this As sociation will confer a favor by copying into their papers this appeal. Contributions are urgently solicited. They may be sent to the Rev. John E. Ed wards, Rev. A. E. Dickinson, Rev. William Norwood, Rev. P. B Price, Richmond, Virginia or to Mrs. E. S. Tarpin, Treasurer of Oakwood Memorial Association, Richmond, Virginia. ' Mbs. M. H. Smith. President. Mas. A. R. Courtney, Secretary. Tbe Crops. The Editor of the La Grange Reporter, who has recently returned lrom a tour West saye: Having been absent tor several weeks in tho States of Alabama. Louisiana and Mississippi, and having made inquiry in reference to the planting prospects, in those States, it is our firm conviction that there will not be half a crop ot cotton made the present year, as com pared with the year 1860. Leaving the labor questions out entirely, the paucity of laborers engaged in the cultivation of cotton —there are several causes why a good crop may not be expected. Tbe failure of seed to germinate and produce a bealtby plant, in many instances, after coming up, will ren er it certain that no more than a two-third crop will ba produced on the lands in cultivation. In many portions of the country, especially in that part of Mis sissippi lying on the river botweeu Vicksburg and Natchez where good “stands” have come up, the rains have been so incessant as to pre vent planters from keeping down the grass, and thinning out- We saw instances where the stand was good, but so over-grown with grass as to obscure the cotton from sight. In passing from New Orleans to Natchez, tho eye is met with one continued scene of desola tion. In that whole distance it does not seem there are 5,000 acres of land under cultivation. In the main, the whole country is either over flowed or left uncultivated—no indications of thrift or industry is discerned as far as the eye can penetrate. We saw enough from the river, in ascending and descending, to fill our heart with gloom ; but to see the overflowed coun try in its true condition, we are informed, one must leave the river, and visit those parishes from twenty to thirty miles from its banks, where the waters have found their way by the giving away of the levees. The people, in many instances, are starving -all they had, having been destroyed. A Talbot correspondent of the Macon Tele graph, who has been traveling in Cherokee, Ba “ Crops in upper Georgia are much injured by the incessant rains—corn looking bad y. And on account of the heavy rains and defec tive seed, very few planters have over one bas a stand of cotton. I have not met, during a five weeks’ absence, a calculating planter who estimates that the present crop will exceed on and one-half million bales-and tojaake that will require timely showers, warm sunshine and a late fall.” _» Alabama -A private letter from Dallas county states that tiffs crops ofcorn cotton have been nearly all destroyed by the late protracted rains The letter says they have had more rain for the last thirty days than has occurred in the same length of time for years. , The Texas Wheat Crop.— Dr. Cox, who has recently returned from an extensive _trip, in the wheat growing regious ot lexas, us that there never was a liner prespect in the world than at this time. He says that without gome accident, three times as much will ne raised this year as was ever raised in one year before. In some county Col i in, we believe, the Dr. says 500,000 bush els of wheat will be for sale. At the mills near Dallas, he was offered flour at $2 per one hun dred pounds. This is good news for flour lov ers, as we hope that instead of it being $8 per hundred, we can eoon buy it at $->. Western 7mean.