Weekly chronicle & sentinel. (Augusta, Ga.) 1866-1877, July 11, 1866, Image 1
OLD SERIES, VOL. LXXV.
Chvonitlc & f rntincl.
WEDNESDAY MORNING, JULY 11.
THE NATIONAL UNION CONVENTION.
Opinions of the Press.
The National Intrlligencerof the 30th ult.
says: The Democratic members of Congress
held a caucus last night, in which the re
cent call for a National Union Convention
was fully discussed. An address to the
Democratic voters of the country was
agreed upon, approving and endorsing the
will thus made. The address has been
submitted to the Democratic .Senators and
Representatives for their signatures, and
will be ready for publication on Monday.
This is a movement in the right direction.
Some of the Democrats in Congress hesi
tated to make this endorsement, because'
they apprehended that it would lie virtu
ally an abandonment of their*|>arty organ
ization ; but better counsels prevailed in
the caucus. The endorsement of this call
for a convention does not in any way im
pair party obligations. It simply affords
an opportunity for men of all shades of
politics, who approve of the propositions
enunciated in the call, to unite their efforts
for the common good.
inhere is no party question involved in
the movement. The objects of thcconven*
tion are greatly superior to any party pur
pose. The maintenance of the Union, the
restorat ion of its integrity, the defence of
the Constitution, and the promotion of the
welfare-of the whole Republic from the as
saults of a rabid fanaticism are the issues
presented. Hitherto the Democrats, in
and out of Congress, have nobly and mag
nanimously sustained the propositions which
are made the basis of this convention. They
cannot now, and the action of their Sena
tors and Representatives in Congress shows
that they will hot, prefer party to patriot
ism, or the maintenance of party organiza
tion to the assurance of the safety of the
Union and the Constitution. It is time
now for all true Union men to cotnc for
ward and lay mere party associations and
obligations upon the common altar of their
country. The origin of the call for the con
vention is of no consequence. It stands
upon the merits of the propositions sub
mitted. No patriot will stand aloof from
the endorsement of these propositions, be
cause they do not emanate from recognized
party authorities.
TUB BOSTON POST.
This sterling old Journal is in favor of
the proposed Convention. It says the
proposition to hold a, National Convention
of natioqpl men at Philadelphia in August
next, wherein delegates from every State
shall appear to confer together upon meas
ures concerning the general welfare, is a
recommendation which will command gen
oral attention, and, we hope, a cordial re
sponse from every Congressional district in
the country. The people are tired of par
tisan jugglery and ask for statesmanship :
they are disgusted with the counterfeit loy
alty and patriotism the Radicals present as
genuine, and demand that honest devotion
to the country manifested in endeavors to
reshire peace and harmony between the
North and South, and a Union of the
States founded upon the Constitution. A
convention of sincere, honest, capable men
—seeking the elevation of.the nation —dis-
daining the tricks of mere partisans, and
trusting to the purity and wisdom of their
motives and acts for the peoples’s appro
bation, would receive blessings from their
countrymen and a firm "support of their ef
forts to relievethe Government of the Rad
cal incubus which u, : unmet
domiuaticy of a why.-'. V "
every principle o ■■■ r j unsm in
their grasp at perjH wer
THE VOICE FROM VIRGINIA.
The Richmond Dispatch remarks that
tho Convention “will be the most impor
tant event of our time, and will look more
like Union than anything that has happen
ed since the war.” The Richmond En
quirer considers the call “liberal in its
terms.” The Richmond Examiner asserts
that the “South is the party most im
mediately and vitally interested in the suc
cess of the movement,” and that no South
ern State should “hang back” from it.
The Lynchburg Virginian affirms that the
terms submitted as the basis of the Con
vention are “broad enough for every pa
triotic man in the country to staud upon,”
mid —more significant than all —that the
Democratic party of the North must give
up its present organization, and merge in-'
to another, if it would help the South.
THE ALBANY ARCHJS.
The call for a National Convention by
Messrs. Doolittle and Randall of AViseon
nin, Browning of Illinois, and Cowan of
Pennsylyania, with the endorsement of
Senator Dixon of Connecticut, Hendricks
of Indiana. Norton of Minnesota, and
Nesmith of Oregon, is an event likely to
attract unusual attention in the political
world. It gives evidence that the men in
the Republican party who seek peace in
stead of discord have come to the conclu
sion that the leaders of that organization
have no sincere desire for the restoration
of the Union. Congress has been in ses
sion several months, and yet no practical
measures tending toward the pacification
of the country have been adopted by that
body. At the commencement of the ses
sion, the President’s annual message was
hailed by the whole country as indicating a
course that would soon bring our national
troubles to an end. There was but one
opinion among the people as to the wis
dom of the policy *>f the President Rut
soon the malcontents in Congress be
gan to develop their plans, and a Central
Directory was organized; and thus, by sharp
management, the whole question was re
ferred to a committee, with Thad Stevens
for chairman and leader. A struggle, cur
ried through a long session, lias resulted
in the exclusion of the representatives of
the Southern States from any participation
in the affairs of Government. Nothing has
been gained, but much valuable time has
been lost, and uew apprehensions of coming
evil have been engendered. The work
of restoration remains where the President
•left it when Congress convened. The peo
ple, with one accord, professedly endorsed
the President’s policy then, and why should
they not do so now?
The Radicals have resorted to the mean
est pretexts to find excuses for refusing ad
mission to the loyal representatives of the
South. Smelling committees, paid cor
respondents, and Freedmen’s Bureau
agents, have searched in vain to find evi
dence that the South arc still rebels against
the Government. Everything possible has
been distorted in order to give color to
such an idea, but to no purpose. The
whole question was finally narrowed down
to the idea that party supremacy demand
ed the exclusion of the South. The good
of the country or justice to a fallen foe was
of no consideration —the existence of the
Republican party was alone to be taken
into account!
The country will rejoice that prominent
and talented Senators, and able leaders in
the Republican party, have broken loose
from the Central Directory, and have as
sumed a position of independence in view
of this condition of public affairs. They
have assumed a patriotic position, and one
that will secure to them the sympathies of
all national men.
Immigration In Virginia.
The people of Virginia arc looking to
foreign immigration for the development
of the agricultural and mineral resources
of that commonwealth. To this end, the
late Legislature chartered “ TJie Virgi
nia Immigration Society,” and about
$70,000 have already been subscribed to
the capital stock of the Association, in real
estate, which is assessed at about one half
its value before the war. The plan of the
association is, to receive subscriptions
either in land or money. If in land, its
value is fixed by referees —each subscriber
receiving for his land a certificate of stock
equal to the appraised value of the land.
Money subscribers receive a certificate of
stock, on the payment of their subscrip
tions, which makes them joint owners of
the lands owned by the society; the pros
pective value of all the stock being depen
dent upon the appreciation of the present
value of the lands, resulting from their set
tlement and improvement by colonists to
he secured by the society. An agent is
about to sail for Europe, and negotiations
have already been made with a number of
Scotch families, who have sailed from that
country to take possession of some of the
land which has been placed under the con
trol of the Society. The theory of tho So
ciety is that with proper management, and
by holding out sufficient inducements to
immigrants to settle on the lands in ques
tion, their market value will be doubled in
the course of a few years. For undertaking
these operations in behalf of the landown
ers, the Society charges such fees as it is
believed would make the investment remu
nerative if there were no other source of
profit in the enhanced value of the land, in
which the Society also shares, and which
constitutes its capital stock.
It is claimed that the stock subscriptions
in money will constitute one of the saftest
and most judicious modes of buying lands
in Virginia, and it is the intention of the
Society not to allow the amount of money
subscriptions to exceed the sum absolutely
required for carrying outthc objects in view.
The capital stock of the Society, as au
thorized by its charter, is three hundred
thousand dollars, but it has the further
privilege of holding, in addition to this,
five thousand acres of land, and as this
rill be retained at points suitable for vill
ages and factories, it is assumed that the
ctual authorized capital of the Society is
about half a million of dollars. Already
two villages have been laid off, one on the
line of the Orange and Alexandria Rail
road, and another adjacent to tho James
River Canal.
We have thus presented the plan of this
Virginia Association, not for the purpose
of endorsing its details—though they ap
pear to be feasible and safe —but to urge
upon our Georgia readers the importance
of some well defined policy in reference to
immigration. We are constantly receiving
letters from parties who complain of their
disgust with planting under the new sys
tem, and express their desire to sell out,
but money is so scarce in this country that
it is evident that they must look to the
North or to Europe for buyers.
Northern and European buyers do not
generally want large tracts of land, nor are
they properly advised of the real condition
of things at the South, and of the advan
tages of this section over the great West, to
which tho tide of immigration has so long
tended. We know of no proper effort be
ing made to secure buyers or tenants from
abroad. A few immigrants have beeu
brought here, to work as laborers, but we
have no faith in such a system. We must
give up the old gang system, and lease or
sell small tracts to those who will become
permanent settlers. Hundreds of our farm
ers are willing to divide up their farms,
but they do not' know how to
the tenants or purchasers. This musw
bo done by some such means as that adop
ted in Virginia. Louisiana has adopted
a similar plan, and we believe an agent is
now on his way to Europe. The igno
rance and prejudice which exist, concerning
the climate and society and soil of the
South will prevent for years such access
sions to our population as are requisite for
the successful cultivation and developeiuent
of the country. Men of intelligence must
bo sent abroad —European residents among
us should accompany them —with definite
offers from land-holders, either as individu
als or societies, with maps of districts in
which lands are located, and all the facts
necessary to a full negotiation. In this
way good settlers may be obtained—a very
different class from the paupers and prison
I birds who are sent to us in emigrant ships.
We urge this subject upon the attention
!of our planting friends. The expense to
j be incurred will usually render association
i of means necessary, though we believe that
I any man owning one or two thousand acres
I of land, who will divide it into alternate
I sections of twenty-five and fift> acres each,
and spend two thousand dollars in visit
! injr or sending to Europe to negotiate sales
i or leases, will find, in the increased value
of the reserved sections, a better invest
ment. at the end of two years, than he ever
made in growing cotton. (
National Union Convention.
We present for the consideration of our
readers the following call for a “National
Union Convention” to assemble in Phila
delphia on the 14th proximo. The object
of the Convention, as we understand the
call, is to organize a great Constitutional
Union Party for the preservation of the
Constitution from the rude assaults which
are being made upon it by destructionists
of the North, and the enforcements of the
rights of the people in all sections of the
country.
In this view of it we approve the move
ment, and gladly herald ,it as a significant
indication, from the conservatives of the
North, of their determination to uphold
and support the President in his patriotic
purpose to restore the union of the States
and the rights of the South under the
Constitution and Laws.
A National Union Convention of at least
two delegates from each Congressional dis
trict of all the States, two from each Terri
tory, two from the district of Columbia, and
four delegates at large from each State, will
be held at the city of Philadelphia, on the
14tli of August next. Such delegates will
be chosen by the electors of the several
.States who sustain the administration in
maintaining unbroken the union ot the
States under the constitution which our fa
thers established, and who agree in the fol
lowing propositions, viz :
The union of the States is in every case
indissoluble and is perpetual, and the con
stitution of the United States and the laws
passed by Congress in pursuance thereof
are supreme, constant and universal in
their obligation. The rights, the dignity
and the equality of the States in the Union,
including the right of representation in
Congress, are solemnly guaranteed by that
constitution, to save which from overthrow
ho much blood and treasure were expended
in the late civil war: There is no right
anywhere to dissolve the Union or to sep
arate States from the Union either by vol
untary withdrawal, by force of arms or by
Congressional action, neither by secession
of States nor by the exclusion of their loyal
ail'd qualified representatives, nor by the
national government in any other iorm.
Slavery is abolished and neither can nor
ought to be re-established in any State or
Territory within our jurisdiction.
Each State has the undoubted right to
prescribe the qualifications of its own elect
ors; and no external power rightfully can
or ought to dictate, control, or influence the
free and voluntary action of the .States in
the exercise of that right.
The maintenance inviolate of the rights
of the States, and especially of the rights of
each Stato to order and control its own do
mestic concerns according to its own judg
ment exclusively, subject only to the con
stitution of the United States, is essential
to that balance of power on which the per
fection and endurance of our political fab
ric depends, and the overthrow of that sys
tem, by usurpation in centralization of
power in Congress, would be a revolution,
dangerous to a republican government and
destructive of liberty. Each House of
Congress is made, by the constitution, the
solo judge of its election returns and qual
ifications of its members, but the exclusion
of loyal Senators and Representatives
properly ehoson and qualified under the
constitution and laws, is unjust and revo
lutionary. Every patriot should frown
upon all these acts and proceedings every
where, which can serve no other purpose
than to rekindle the animosities of war,
and the offeets of which upon our moral,
social and material interests at home, and
upon our standing abroad, differing only
in a degree, is injurious like war itself.
The purpose of war having been to pre
serve the Union and the Constitution by
putting down tho rebellion, and the rebel
lion having been suppressed, all resistance
to the authority of the general government
being at an end and the war having ceased,
war measures should also cease and should
hi- followed by measures of peaceful admin
istration, so that union, harmony and con
cord may be encouraged, and industry,
commerce and the artsofpeaco revived and
promoted; and the early restoration of all
the Btatos to the exercise of their constitu
tional powers in the national government
is indispensably necessary to the strength
and the defence' of the republic and to the
maintenance of tho public credit.
All such electors in the thirty-six States
and nine Territories of the United States,
and in the District of Columbia, who, in a
spirit of patriotism and love for the Union,
can rise above personal and sectio: lal .con
siderations, gnu who desire to see a truly
National Union Convention which shall
represent all the States and territories of
the Union, assemble as friolids and broth
ers under the national (lag to hold counsel
together upon the stato of the Union and
to take measures to avert possible dangers
from the same, are specially requested to
take part in the choice of such delegates.
But no delegate will take a seat in such
convention who does not loyally accept the
national situat ion and cordially endorse the
principle above set forth, and who is not
attached in true allegiance to the constitu
tion, the Union and the government of the
United States.
A. W. Randall, President.
J. R. Doolittle,
O. H. Browning,
Edgar Cowan,
Chas. Knap,
Sam’l Fowler,
Executive Committee National Union Club.
Washington, June 25, 1860.
We recommend the holding of.the above
convention, and endorse the call thereof.
James Dixon,
T. A. Hendricks,
Dan’l S. Norton,
J. W. Nesmith.
COMMENTS OF THE NEW YORK PRESS.
Journal of Commerce.
The curse of this nation is. now, as it has
long heretofore been, the existence of po
litical parties. If, with a sweep of the
hand, we could annihilate both the Re
publican and the Democratic parties, leav
ing every man free from the shackles which
a party alliance imposes-, we should have
reason to place confidence in the American
people, and look to their decision of any
great question as the decision of an intelli
gent mind, judging for itself with refer
ence to its own best intetests. But there
are hundreds of thousands of men in this
country who decline to take the trouble of
examination and independent thought, who
perhaps shrink from the exposure to
which independent voting subjects them.
For the tyranny of party has been
more absolute during the last few years
than ever before, and it was hard for a
MSfein to leave the line in which he had
SSrcn marching. In many parts of the
country party had divided society. The
newspapers of one party abused the mem
bers of the other party without stint, and
public meetings wore held, and resolutions
adopted declaring that it was wrong to
deal with tradesmen of the opposing party,
and wrong to hold social intercourse with
the families of those who were on the
other side. This led to great social divis
ions, and also led to increased difficulty in
the mind of any man, on either ride, who
might begin to tliink his party wrong. It
was no easy matter to leave a party when
leaving it implied a change of social habits,
acquaintances, and friends, and when it
would inevitably subject the deserter,
however conscientious, to the most viru
lent personal abuse. It is plain enough
that party spirit, leading to such a state of
things as this, could not hut become a
curse. It changed the verdict of the peo
ple to the verdict of a party, and virtually
plaeell in the hands of a "few men the
ability to wield the whole power express
ed in more than a million votes. The re
sult is even now abundantly visible in the
position of any party which holds power.
It is visible in Democratic results in this
city of New York, where the people ex
peet to see daily exhibitions of fraud
and corruption ; it is visible in Republi
, can results in Congress, where unlimited
AUGUSTA, GA., WEDNESDAY MORNING, JULY 11, 1866.
power has led to an unparrelliled condition
of affairs. The better class of men, the
thoughtful, patriotic, earnest men what
ever their party names, are beginning to
open their eyes and hearts. What might
have been saved to the nation, if such men
had but taken a firm stand on independent
ground, three, two years, one year ago! If
the wise and experienced financial men in
this city alone had but exhibited indepen
dent courage, and resisted the propositions
which they believed wrong, but which ob
tained party indorsement at Washington,
how much would have been saved to them
selves and to the whole country by the
ounce of prevention they could have ad
ministered. instead of the pounds of cure
they now vainly seek to make efficacious!
Why did they not act as responsible men,
having a duty to perform ? Because, they
argued, ‘‘it is best, on the whole, to let the
party go on and manage affairs, rather
than interfere to produce discord. ” And
this same general style of argument has
led to an immense amount of public injury,
under Democratic arid Republican rule, in
times past. Party has nearly ruined coun
try.
But party exists, and it is utterly im
possible to ignore the fact. We hear con
stantly asserted, now on one, now on the.
other side. —“the Democratic party is
dead.” All these assertions arc folly.
Both parties live and are strong. He who
leaves this truth out of his calculations
will make a fearful error as to the future.
I The Democratic party has existed through
the last six years, and has polled just about
one half of the entire vote of the country.
It has been welded together more firmly
and compactly than ever before in all its
history. If any one doubts this, let him
study the facts and look at the remarkable
spectacle presented from year to year by
this party, marching steadily to the polls
in solid phalanx, met by every sort of op
position ; under a tempest of* obloquy,
threatened with the direst punishments,
but unflinching for all that, earning fairly
'its old name “unterrified,” and voting
steadily the half of all the votes in the
country, within a small fraction, This is a
fact to be taken into account in these days.
On the other hand, the Republican party
has survived tlje worst of all trials —the
possession of unlimited power, and re
mains strong, and up to this moment uni
ted. It is not half so strange that the
Democratic party has survived defeat and
persecution, as it is that the Republician
party has remained united and survived
overwhelming success. Up to the present
time there has been no practical division
in its ranks. . In the House of Represen-
where we may look for the fair
exposition of its probable course, we have
seen a small minority voting against the
majority on minor points, but coming up
fair and square to the party demands on
every great question, so that the entire
Republican representation is a practical
unit in the party organization.
Our _ object is only to present a fair and
impartial view of the state of the great po
litical parties. It may he taken for grant
ed that the Democratic party exists in
strength and vigor on the one side, and
that the Republican party exists in prac
tical unity and force on the other. The
utmost that can he looked for by anew or
ganization now is to hold the balance of
Eower, and to exert it in conliielling one or
oth of the great opposing parties to he
conservative, or to be beaten.
[From the New York Times.}
To those who would convert the Union
Party into a. sectional organization, the call
for a National Convention, as printed yes
terday, will not be particularly acceptable.
From their point of view ; nothing could
be more unseasonable or improper. Ob
jecting to a restoration of the Union, except
upon conditions that, would emasculate it
and destroy all vital resemblance to the
scheme of government for nationalizing the
Union Party upon the basis of friendliness
and justice to both sections. Such a move
ment may frustrate their plans, by trans
fering their consideration from a sectional
arena to an arena representing- the Union
sentiment of the country, may upset many
calculations, and knock down many idols,
and play havoc with many hobbies, by sub
jecting the decrees of local caucuses and
cliques to the calm judgment of the whole
party.
On the other hand, the friends of a mod
erate, conciliatory, constitutional policy,
will probably see in the assembling of a
National Convention the fairest and the
readiest method of testing the capacity of
the Union Party to meet the existing re
quirements of the country. As the party
charged with the conduct of the war, it
may appeal to the results of the war as
evidence of its past success. It undertook
the suppression of the rebellion, and the
assertion of the supremacy of the General
Government, and in both respects it tri
umphed. .Up to this point the-party has
justified its existence and its management.
Rut with new circumstances come new re
sponsibilities. . With peace arises a neces
sity for a policy adapted to peace. AVith
the unity of the nation restored by force of
arms, springs up a demand for measures
needed to infuse into it the animating spirit
without which the suppression of the re
bellion will have been in vain. The soldier
must give place to the statesmen. . And
the Union Party must demonstrate its fit
ness for control —its willingness and ability
to solve the problems growing out of war
—not as this or that State Convention or
this or that Committee would have them
solved, but as they should be solved to give
back to the Union its original harmony and
force. This is exactly the point which the
Union Party is now required to meet. —
Shall it be the governing party of the fu
ture. or shall it struggle and linger, like
the Whig Party, with glorious traditions
indeed, but lacking power to resist more
useful competitors t
The essential condition precedent is, that
the Convention purporting to represent the
Union of the whole country shall stand
upon ground to which the Union Party as
it is cannot authoritatively object. The
propositions submitted as those to which
the delegates will be required to subscribe
are scarcely open to controversy within the
party. - They affirm the perpetuity of the
Union of States—the equality _ot all the
States in respect of representation in Con
gress, and other rignts—the absence of
right anywhere to separate States from the
Union, whether by the States themselves
or by Congressional action—the inviolate
right of each State to control its own do
mestic concerns. And "the purpose of
the war having been to preserve the Union
and Constitution by putting down the re
bellion, and the rebellion having been sup
pressed." it is declared that‘'war meas
ures should be followed by measures of
peaceful administration, so tliat union,
harmony and concord may be encouraged,
and industry, commerce, and the arts of
peace revived and promoted. The basis
thus presented is sufficiently broad to meet
the expectations of L nion-loving men eve
rywhere. North and South may_ meet
without surrender of right or dignity on
either side, and with eminent advantage to
both. And though thy delegates who ral
ly around these propositions will unques
tionably be selected from the ranks of those
“who sustain the Administration in main
taining unbroken the Union of the States
under the Constitution, there is nothing
in them to which the ! nion Party, as a
party, has not at one time or another dis
tinctly committed itself ..
[From the New York Tribune.]
The X. Y. Times discredits itself more
than H deceives its readers by .seeking to
create the impression that the convention
called by Messrs. Randall, Doolittle. Hen
dricks & Cos., is to be a convention of that
Union party which elected Lincoln. John
son. Fenton. Morton, Bullock. Oglesby,
Fletcher, Ac., in 1864. Messrs. Randall A
Cos. have no right to call a National Con
vention of that party —as the Editor of the
Times ought especially to be aware —and
they do not pretend to have any. Messrs.
Hendricks and Nesmith would not sub
scribe their names to a call addressed to that
party. The call is expressly addressed to
"all such electors" as condemn the action
of the present Congress :r. 5 insist that
nothing shall be done by (he loyal States
to secure the Right of Suffrage to the blacks
of the ex-rebel States. All voters who ap
prove geuerally.theattion 0 f o ur present
agrees in j^eulpueut.
with tTieGovernors anaLegSmmreffOT the
steadfastly loyal States without a known
exception, are pointedly excepted from the
Bolters’ invitation ; and, should they un
dertake to send delegates to the Philadel
phia gathering, these delegates will be
shown the outside of the door.
Such being the manifest fact, what is to
be gained by juggling with it ?
Messrs. Randall A Cos. have not the slen
derest expectation of taking with them the
great body of the Union party of 1864.
They purpose to act henceforth against
that party—to decry its principles and op
pose its candidates. They hope, we will
presume, to make the Democratic party
take up Mr. Johnson and run him for next
President; hut that party will see him and
them in heaven first. It has not the least
notion of running a man for President who
is recently from our ranks—it will no more
run Andrew Johnson in ’6B than it would
run John Tyler in ’44. There is no use in
mincing matters; Messrs. Randall A Cos.
are going over to the Democratic party ;
they are already glibly mouthing its catch
words ; they are making good speed to the
loving embrace of Belmont, Clymer, G. H.
Pendleton, Vallandigham A Co.—but the
Copperheads are not coming to them. Lin
less the law of gravitation is reversed, they
must shorten the distance between them a
mile to every inch traversed by the Cop
perheads in reaching their point of fusion.
The Tunes . is for the Randall call this
week; it will probably oppose it next week;
hut that is his own affair exclusively.
We shall watch its nimble somersaults
with some curiosity but no deep interest.
All that we ask,'and rather more than we
expect of it is, that it shall call things by
their right names i so that its readers may
understand that the Randall party will be
exactly such a Union party as that which
John Van Buren, Montgomery Blair, Gen.
Slocum, Judge Edmonds A Cos., ran into
the ground in our State last Fall. It is
identical with that in principles and in pur
poses. as well as in the materials which
compose it, and it will speedily achieve a
similar fate. It may somewhat damage
the party wherewith Randall, Doolittle A
Cos., have of late seemed to act; yet it will
not, if the people be not deceived. And
we mean that they shall not be.
The Cost of Wan.
From the calculations of Herr Haussncr,
a somewhat celebrated German Statisti
cian, we compile the following interesting
facts illustrative qJ‘ the fearful price that
nations pay for the pomp and pageantry of
glorious war. Their perusal can hardly
fail to be instructive: Says our distinguish
ed authority. “The European wars from
1815 to 1864, have absorbed 2,762,000 men,
of whom 2,148,000 were Europeans, and
614,000 combatants outside of Europe.
Thisisequal toabout 43,800 men peranmim,
and yet the calculation does not include
persons who died of epidemics engendered
by war.
The most sanguinary conflicts of the
period indicated, were" as follows: The
Crimean war which cost the lives of 511,-
000 men thus subdivided: dead on the field
of battle, or in consequence of their wounds,
177,000; and of epidemics and maladies of
all kinds, 331,500. These were according
to nationality, Russians, 98,000
Turks, 107,000 French, 45,000 English
and 2,600 Italians. The war of Caucasus,
prolonged from 1859 to 186.0, consumed
330,000 men. The Indian Rebellion in
1857-59, cost 196,000 men; the Russo
Turkish war in 1828-29, 193,000; the
Polish insurrection in 1831, 190,000; the
Spanish insurrections between 1833 and
1840, 172,000; the liberation of Greece in
1821-29, 146,000; the Hungarian insur
rection, 142,000; and the Italian war 129,-
874 men. The last item may be sub
divided into 96,874 dead on the field of bat
tle or in consequence of their wounds, and
33,000 by diseases arising from the war.
Their nationality was, 59.664 Austrians,
30,220 French, 23,510 Italians, 14,010
Neapolitans, and 2,370 soldiers of the
Pope.
JThe total loss of Europe in die wars from
1792 to 1815, was 5,350,000 men, or an
average of 240,000 men per annum for 23
years.
_ The seven years war in 1756-63, cost the
lives of 642,000 men, or 91,700 per year. —
Frederick the Great gives a still higher cal
culation in his “History of My Time,” and
thus classifies them:
Russians, 180,000
Citizens massacred by the Rus»sian
. jtroops, 33,000
Allies of Prussia, 16,000
Total on the Prussian side, 373,000
The same great military authority also
fixes the losses of his adversaries:
Austrians, 140,000
Russians, 128,000
French, 200,000
Swedes, 45,000
Total, 513,000
Grand total, 886,000
It is next to impossible to calculate in
money the cost of war since 1815, but an
example will convey some idea of its fright
ful extent. The Crimean war for instance,
entailed, in two years and a half, the fol
lowing expense:
Francs. Or nearly
On Russia, 2,328,000,000 $465,600,000
On France, 1,348,000,000 200,600,000
On England, 1,320,0U0,000 264.000,000
On Turkey, 1,060,000.000 252,000,000
On Austria for
armaments, 471,000,000 94,000,000
Total, 6,526,000,000 1,305,200,000
This was equal to “2.610,400,000f. or
$522, 080,000 per annum.
The Italian war cost the Powers involv
ed, $1,485,000,000f. or $207,000,000 in two
months and a half.
But it must he remembered that in the
above calculations, the wars in North
America, in China, in South America and
Australia, the Spanishcampaign in Moroc
co, the rebellions and conflicts in the AVest
Indies, tjie universal insurrections of 1848,
and the war in the Schleswig Holstein Duch
ies are not included. Embracing all. and
contemplating the monstrous outlay and
loss of Great Britain during the Napoleon
ic Campaigns and of the United States, on
both sides, in the recent struggle, there is
little doubt that the reckoning for one sin
gle century, the latest in fact, and the most
enlightened in theory will show an absorp
tion of 10.000.000 human lives and $25.-
000,000,000.
AVhat an appalling holocaust to the De
mon of war! Let us only endeavor to con
ceive what would have resulted from the
application of this tremendous amount of
talent, energy- and wealth to the arts of
peace and international good offices, and
the intellect as well as the heart would shrink
in dismay from the contest. The impend
ing conflict iii Europe threatens to involve
all the Continental Powers. Should it do
so, there will be with France, Russia, Tur
key, Holland. Belgium and Switzerland in
the field as well as Austria, Prussia, the
minor German States and Italy, a total of
5,000,000 ferocious fighters armed with the
most destructive implements known to
modern science, let loose at each other’s
throats, not to mention iron-clad fleets of
enormous effective force. The slaughter
must be by hundreds of thousands, the cost
in mere money, thousands of millions, and
the detriment to crops, lands, habitations
and monuments of civilization utterly incal
culable. Well may this nation humble it
self before the Almighty in contemplating
the destruction it has escaped, and gaze
with awe uptm the tertj,6e judg»«aAa, Ibat.
seem to await the prmcipahtres anenwefe ’
of Europe.— Exchange.
Thomas 11. R. CObb.
Born among the ‘ ‘old clay-hills of Geor
gia,” in the beautiful town of Athens,
where nature seems to slumber, resting her
head upon the gentle slopes, and bathing
her feet iu the gently flowing Oconee,
that glides softly at their base, the subject
of this sketch seemed to have imbibed in
spiration from the scenery around, with
the first breath of life.
He was the second son of Col. John Addi
son Cobb, an early settler of that portion
of Georgia, who immigrated thence from
North Carolina, bringing with him his
bride, whom he had ‘wooed and won, in
Fredericksburg Virginia, the beautiful and
accomplished Miss. Sallie Roots, who still
survives, and who in old age yet displays
the charms that time could only mellow
and steal away, like the softened rays of
the setting sun. Col. Cobb died in 1855,
at an advanced age, leaving six children
surviving him. The fruit of a long and
happy life—Hon Howell Cobb, being the
oldest of the family.
Thomas R. R. Cobb is represented to
have boen precocious in childhood, and un
like the majority of such instances,lie pre
served the early prestige, and matured into
a remarkable man, intellectually and mor
ally. He entered college—the Georgia Uni
versity—in his native town, and graduated
comparatively young, taking the highest
honor of his class. He engaged in the
study of law, acquiring the profession with
the same facility that he had mastered the
best books gt school and college. Soon
after his admission to the Bar, lie married
Miss Marion Lumpkin, daughter of the
Hon. Joseph 11. Lumpkin,* Chief Justice
of the Supreme Court of Georgia, ever
since the organization of that court. The
issue of this marriage were five children—•
one, their only son, they buried in infancy.
Their oldest daughter, the universally be
loved Lucy Cobb, d.ied when just entering
her fifteenth year. She was the town idol
—an Angel on Earth. So gentle, so con
scious, and so pure. The beautiful Female
Seminary building was just being completed
at the time of her death, and the trustees
by acclamation called it ‘The Lucy Cobb
Institute. ’ A monument to her memory and
worth, and a delieate compliment, at the
same time, to her honored father. If there
was ever a man a community,
it was Tom Cobb, by the people of Athens,
and surrounding country. He was no
demagogue, and yet he was every
body’s friend. The old and the young,
the rich and the poor, the bond and
free, alike sought him on all occasions re
quiring advice, aid, council or comfort.
He had a smile and a kind word for every
one, and time enough to listen to every
once’s story, and to give the needed advice,
or to soften the trouble, and cheer the heart
—and all went away happier for having
sought and seen Tom Cobb. How he
found time to accomplish all he did, I nev
er could understand. He was engaged iu
the heaviest practice of any member of
his profession in Upper Georgia, and never
neglected his business. He never went in
to a court room unprepared. He was the
able reporter of the Supreme Court for a
number of years, and only resigned when
his duties, in connection with Ins practice,
became onerous. Judge Cone, himself an
able jurist, pointing to T. R. R. Cobb, said
of him, ‘there goes the best lawyer in the
State. ’ ’ Mr. Cobb is the author of the Di
gest of the laws of Georgia, which bears
his name. He also assisted in codifying
the laws, being one of a committee of tnreo
selected by the Governor for that purpose,
under an act of the Legislature. He also
prepared the work known as ‘Cobb on
Slavery’—the first volume of which was is
sued from the press in 1858, and shows
great and accurate research. A second
volume was very nearly ready for publica
tion when its appearance was interrupted
by the stirring events that resulted in se
cession and war.
Mr Cobb was possessed of great powers
of endurance, mental and physical. He
could labor almost incessantly and yet give
no evidence of fatigue or languor. He pre
pared innumerable addresses on literary,
scientific and religious subjects —while pros
ecuting his profession, and lecturing daily
in the law schools, which was established
by himself, Judge Lumpkin and Hon. AV.
11. Hull—and visiting constantly alone, the
“Lucy Cobb Institute,” to which he seem
ed to have transferred the ardent affection
he had for his daughter, which it repre
sented—and exerting himself efficiently and
untiringly for the University, of which he
was also a Trustee —as well as being en
gaged actively in every enterprise for the
development and benefit of that communi
ty and section of country. He was one of
the most devoted husbands, and fathers
that I ever knew. Mrs. Cobb being of del
icate constitution, lie relieved her of all do
mestic cares possible.
AA r ith all this, he was never morose, nor
wore the air of an over-worked man, but
was cheerful, ready for a romp or race with
the boys and girls, who adored him. He
always got up pic-nics and all sorts of in
nocent amusements for the young people
and joined them, and enjoyed the fun with
as great zest as the youngest—his f happi
ness seemed to lie to see them happy. He
was exceedingly liberal and generous. I
have known him to spend a- hundred dol
lars omnibus fare, out of his own pocket,
for the young ladies of the L. C. Institute,
during the series of discourses delivered by
the Rev. Joseph Stiles D. D., which he
desired them to attend. He was very re
ligious, being an elder of the Presbyterian
Church—where he always officiated in the
absence of the pastor. He possessed no
acetidsin, no bigotry, no narrow, contracted
spirit. He was a Christian, cheerful and
catholic. He was loved by all denomina
tions, and aided actively in all the auxil
iary meetings and revivals in all the
churches. He seemed to know no differ
ence. He wielded an unbounded moral
influence in his section of country. AVhile
on the circuit himself and his cousin,
Honorable James Jackson, the . Judge
presiding, the one. a Presbyterian, the
other a Methodist, would get up most in
teresting religious meetings together, and
accomplish an amount of good that
Eternity will only reveal. He attended as
a delegate, the Presbyterian General Con
vention held in New Orleans, some time
in 1858 or 1859. lie appeared as a stran
ger. but left his impress on that body and
community, by his masterly argument in
reply to the Rev. Robert Breckinridge, of
Kentucky, on the subject of the . union ot
the old and new school Presbyterians. His
speech was the only one delivered during
the session published in extenso by the
New Orleans papers. He was appointed
a delegate from the Presbyterian Church
NEW SERIES, VOL. XXV. NO. 29.
1 of Amelia to' that of Scotland, but the seces
sion agitation prevented his going. He
' never engaged in to politics, although lie
might have attained any position to which
the suffrages of the people, or the appoint
ment of the Legislature, or Governor could
have elevated him, and to which he might
have desired to have aspired. His ambi
tion was in another direction —to be a good
and useful man in the more quiet and
practically, and permanently, Doneficial
departments of life, and to have no supe
rior in his profession iu the land.
But the speck of war ‘no bigger than a
man’s hand' appeared in the horizon, and
he discerned it, and invoked his position
and his talents to avert it. He wrote un
der the signature of ‘Georgia,’ a series of
letters to the New York Journal o£ Com
mit ieism was driving the country, and ap-
pealing to them to desist, and wamiug them
of the catastrophe that must ensue should
they persist. They did persist , and when he
saw the time had oome for every man to act,
ho threw hhuselfhea rt and soul into the seces
sion movement. Ho advocated it with his
matchless eloquence and towering intellect.
He carried the whole up-country with him.
Ho was sent to the State Convention ns a
delegate, by an overwhelming vote. He
there was made Chairman of the Commit
tee on the Constitution —and the new Con
stitution that was presented to the people,
and ratified by them was the work of his
brain and pen. The Convention selected
him as one of the the delegates to the Pro
visional C.ongross, along with such men as
Howell Cobb, Robert Toombs, A. 11. Ste
phens, Francis S. Bartow, Ben. H. Hill
and others. He sustained himself as the
peer of the oldest, ablest, and most expe
rienced Legislators of that body.
When his intimate friend and college
mate, Francis S. Bartow, fell gloriously at
Manassas, Tom Cobb pronounced an eulogy
that brought the tear to every eye. For
touching patliOH, for life-like portraiture,
for sweetly expressed affection, it stands
unrivalled in the English language. Ho
there disclosed the presentiment that Bar
tow had entertained, and confided to him,
that he felt that he would be killed in the
first battle in which he would be engaged—
and he then announced that he conceived
it his duty to take his friend’s place. He
returned to Georgia and raised the ‘Oobb
Legion,' and hastened to the field of strife.
He devoted himself to his new profession,
and became a proficient in the art of war,
as he had done in everything he had ever
undertaken. He possessed great versatili
ty of talent. He was engaged with his le
gion, in most of the battles in Virginia, and
received the encomiums of Gens. Magruder
and Lee. He was promoted to a Brigadier
Generalship, and occupied the post of hon
or and of danger at the first battle of Fred
ericksburg. Ho commanded the slope be
hind the stone fence where the most perti
nacious assaults were made by the Federals,
and as often repulsed. It was there that
Meagher’s Irish Brigade was so terribly
cut to pieces, and almost annihilated —
The battle was oyer, the victory was won.
The sun was declining. Cobb had retired
a short distance to the river, and had
sought shelter under a tree, near to a small
house, surrounded by his staff, and had
just remarked to his Adjutant, (his
nephew) ‘‘Thank God, Johnny, the Tight
is over, and we are safe, when a shell burst
near him and a fragment struck his thigh,
and severed the femoral artery. Hem
orrhage ensued, but with his usual pres
ence of mind, he used his handkerchief as
a tourniquet, no surgeon' being at hand.
Before surgioal aid could reach him, his
life had ebbed out. Thus died the patriot,
orator, statesman, scholar, jurist and
Christian. For in him was blended all of
these. He visited his mother’s birth
place, for the first time in his life, to de
fend it, and to die ! His remains were
taken home 40 Athens for interment, and
although that county had been denuded
of the anns-bearing portion of the popula
tion, yet the old iucn and women and
children flocked from the surrounding
counties, and added volume to the gath
ering mourners of his own county, until
the funeral cortege that accompanied
all that was mortal of Thomas R. R.
Cobb, to the grave, extended for miles.
Thus was he loved and thus was he
mourned. Mr. Cobb, could not have been
over 42 years of age when he met his un
timely end. He was strikingly handsome,
having been considerable above tho me
dium height, and of full proportions, witli
a round, beardless face, large hazel eyes,
and long, brown, wavy hair, which fell in
thick masses on his shoulders. The ex
pression of his countenance was kindly
and amiable. So great was the universal
confidence in his judgment sagacity, and
integrity, when living, that if his name
was associated with any enterprise, it was
a guarantee of success. Every one who
knew him was willing to go into it. His
was enviable reputation. His loss to Geor
gia and humanity is irreparable. His ex
ample remains for imitation,
We are too proud by far to weep,
Wo are 100 proud by stir to weep,
Tho’ Earth had nought so dear
As were the soldier youths who sleep
Upon thoir honored bier.
It wore a stain upon their fame,
Would do their laurel-crowns a shamo
To shed one single tear—
It was a blessed lot to die
In battle and for liberty.
Florida Sentinel. C. P. C.
THE FREEDMKJCS BUREAU.
Generals Steedman’s and Fullerton’s In
vestigations of Its Management in Mis
sissippi.
From the New York Herald.
Jackson, Miss., June 26, 1860. —Gen-
erals Steedman and Fullerton’s investiga
tions in Mississippi disclose abundant
evidence of dishonesty in thejmanagement
on the part of Bureau agents, most of
whom, however, have been recently re
moved. , , . .
Under Colonel Thomas s administration
great irregularities prevailed at Columbus.
According to the statements of citizens,
fees were taken for the approval of con
tracts and lor procuring labor. Bribes
were received,, and the two first agents ap
pointed returned enriched. At Grenada,
Chaplain Livermore, a reverend Bureau
agent there, displayed remarkable specu
lative propensities'. lie. charged fees
ranging from a quarter of a dollar up
wards for every conceivable'thing—fees
for marrying freedmen and fees for permits
to many. No fish was too small that came
into his net. One darkey owed him a dol
lar and a half, and had only a dollar to
meet the claim. Livermore took his wal
let and Jack knife for the balance, lie
sold pork, potatoes, and captured mules to
citizens. lie made arrests, und convicted
or acquitted according to the pecuniary
argument employed. When his real
practice swerc exposed he offered fifty dol
lars to any one who would use sufficient
influence to keep him in his position.—
This man declares his intention of ifcturn
ing to Illinois with ten thousand dollars in
his rocket. He was removed in February
last by Colonel Thomas, and placed under
arrest for a short time, but nothing further
was done with him. Like General Saxton,
he took his record with him.
The Bureau duties in this State arc now
discharged most satisfactorily exclusively
by the military' officers of the department
In a window of a shop in an obscure part
of London is this announcement; ‘ ‘Goods
removed, messages taken, carpets beaten,
and poetry composed on any subject.
Uorrest’s Own Account of the Pursuit
and Capture of Straight.
Late one afternoon, long after this, at
the moment when the entire Confederacy
was ringing with his pursuit and capture
of Col. Straight, Forrest came into the
editorial room of the Rebel at Chattanoo
ga, where three or four of his old friends
were collected, and gave us a minute nar
rative of the rocent campaign. Ilis de
scriptive powers are naturally very good
and on this occasion he was* full of his
story, and spoke with the euthusiasm auj
simplicity of a child. He had pursued
Straight s column, fighting every day, for
nearly a fortnight, over an almost barren
country for oyer several hundred miles and
with an inferior force, him ah
it was like a game of poker, I called him
on a single ‘pair’ to his ‘full,’ trusting to
luck. He seemed, at first, to have very
little confidence in my hand; hut I said :
‘I give vou five minutes. I’ve followed
you and fought you for two weeks, and novf.
I’ve got you just where 1 want you. I’m
tired of sacrificing lives, and offer you a
chance to stop it. If you don’t I warn you.
I won’t be answerable for the conse-
quences. ’ ’
Straight was “fairly bluffed.” He was
in a strange country. His adversary was
known to be a desperate man. His com
mand was jaded. What could he do? If
he stood out any longer and was mistaken,
he might be sacrificed. lie surrendered,
and in a few minutes himself and his men
were disarmed prisoners under- the escort
of one-fourth of their number. “Where
is the rest of your command General?”
asked Col. Straight. Forrest smiled grimly,
and made no reply. Presently when they
arrived in the village of Rome, the mystery
was removed, and the gallant but outwitod
Indianian saw his blunder.
It was _ during the pursuit of Straight,
that an incident occurred which Forrest
reported with great satisfaction. The
chase was becoming excited and the Con
federates were beginning to be eager for
its conclusion, when they reached a stream
over which tho enemy had crossed in safety,
but. which had in the meantime risen so
rapidly as to he impassible. Forrest rode
along the banks baffled and angry, while
the bullets from the other side spun
through the trees and whistled about
his ears. After vainly seeking for half
an hour, he came to a cabin which stood
alone in the wilderness near the water’s
edge. Here, as a last resort he inquired
for a ford. A young girl ran out and said,
“I can show you one if you take me up
behind you. ’ ’ The mother was very much
shocked, but the girl continued, “I’m
not afraid. You’re General Forrest, and
will take care of me. ” “Hop up, then,”
said Forrest, riding close to the fence. —
The girl bounded upon the horse, clung
tightly to the General’s sabre sash, and
away they rode, down the stream and
through the bush-wood, to the rattle of
sharp shooting and the whizzing of min
nies, “What's that ?” said the girl in
nocontly, as one of these came very near.
“That, 1 said Forrest, “is a skeere dbird.”
They reached the ford in safety, the com
mand passed oyer, and the General turned
to his gallant.little Q nrl wW
he could do for he” She replied that
her brother had been captured by Colonel
Straight and was a prisoner in his hands j
all sne desired was his release. “Very
well,” said Forrest, taking a note of the
name, “you shall have him by twelve
o’clock to-morrow.”
It was turned of eleven the next day
when tSreight surrendered. Immediate
ly General Forrest called for John
Sansom, who promptly appeared, glad
enough to be relieved, and wondering
what could be wanted with him by
his own General. “I promised your sister
aimma,” said Forrest, when the young
man appeared, “to sendyou to her at twelve
o’clock to-day. Time’s nearly up.
Jake the best horse you can find and pul
out. Double-quick now —march!” As
related by Forrest himself, with the earn
est delight of his nature and in that quiet
little editorial room at the close of a sum
mer day, with all its freeness about it, tho
story was thrilling, andwoat.once resolved
to make a ho-ioine out of tho little rustic,
Emma Sansom. Subsequently she re
ceived a grant of land and a vote of thanks
from the General Assembly of Alabama :
but the reineinberance of that ride behind
the most daring cavalry leader of lhe
American continent should bo worth more
to her than all the grants and resolutions
which Legislatures have power to give. 1
know that Forrest looks hack upon it with
a pride that exceeds the sense of tho victo
ry which it secured, and never alludes to
it without a touch of the old firo and a
quick returning of the old flash. — Corres
pondence of the Nashville Banner.
A Grand Scamp.
A Florida correspondent ofthe Columbus
Sun & Times, writing from Tallahassee,
thus shows up an abominable villian :
Dr. E. Toland, who came to this State
from South Carolina in 1863, and was sub?
sequently appointed on the Medical Examin
ing Board, and stationed in the little town
of Quincy, was recently arrested in this
city on a charge of bigamy, and is now con
fined in the jail at Quincy, awaiting his
trial at the fall term of the Circuit Court
of Gadsden county. He passed liiuiself off
as a widower, with three children, and suc
ceeded in marrying, in the spring of last
year, a beautiful and accomplished young
lady, the daughter of one of the most
respected and worthy gentlemen in Quincy.
It is strange, but nevertheless true, that
he lived with his new wife more than
twelve months —up to the time of his ar
rest —enioyed the confidence and respect of
the whole community —who patronized him
in the practice of his profsssion—and was
never suspicioned of being guilty of an act
of such diabolical meanness. I say strange,
because he corresponded with his South
Carolina wife regularly, and instructed the
postmaster at Quincy not to deliver his let
ters to any one except himself. The cause,
finally, or the unfortunate young lady’s
suspicions was grounded on the fact that
while Toland was recently on a visit to his
home in South Carolina, ostensibly for the
purpose of seeing his children, she received
letters from him enclosed in envelopes
directed to her father. . Bhe, of course,
suspicioned that something was not right,
and after his return, while he was in the
city oil a short visit, she took the liberty of
opening a letter which had been received
for him in the meantime, which proved to
be from —his other wife:
It has been ascertained since, that this
consummate scoundrel had a negro boy
(whom lie brought out here with him during
the war,) bound to scoresy in regard to*ho
matter, with threats of instant death if he
divulged, and that he lias all this time
made his legitimate wife in South Carolina
believe that he had purchased a large plan
tation in Florida, and was building a fine
house and making other preparations to
bring her put here, which was his excusp
for not-going home after the surrender to
live.
Why did John Huss die a more noreca
ble death than Charles 1 ? Because a hot
steak is bitter than a cold chap.
Someone called Richard Steele the “ril
est of mankind.” He retortedwith proud
humility. “It would be a glorious world
if I were.”