Newspaper Page Text
OLD SERIES, VOL. LXXVI.
tfhvonictc & Sentinel
A I«. IISTA, A :
fIWUBAT MOK.MMi JBlfi H,
Crops in Columhla County.—A friend,
writing us from Columbia, says that the
crops arc looking dismal, but have started
to grow hinco Summer weather has set in.
The Powder Mills in Operation.—
It may not be generally known that the
large powder works belonginj t> the
United States Government, ami situated
near this city, have been in busy operation
for the past two or three weeks. Are we
to have a war with Kngland fi>r Canada or
with Spain for Cuba?
Brown’s Guide Book.—Wc are in
debted to the publishers, Messrs. H. A.
Brown ,t ft' importers and publishers of
illustrate f books, 3 Sclure street, Boston,
Mass., for a copy of “Brown’s Guide
Book for the City and Vicinity of Boston,
Price ten cents.” It contains a
fund of information, very useful to parties
contemplating a visit to Boston during the
approaching Musical Festival, or Peace
Jubilee.
The Crops in Burke County.—We
have just returned from a brief jaunt to
Burse county, where wc lound the planters
very busy at work, and much encouraged
by the favorable change in the seasons.
Cotton is very backward, owing to the
prevalence cl’ continued cold winds, but
the warm weather ol the past f w days is
bringing it forward rapidly, an l at oric
plantation near 1) meries’ Ferry, we saw
some plants nearly the height of a man’s
knee. 'I he high w nds of Saturday before
last did some damage to the young plants,
and some re-phenting was rendered neces
sary in consequence. Corn is doing well,
and the grain crops generally are satis
factory. The drought has been tatlier
long continued, but at the time we left
there were strong indications of rain. With
continued good seasons very fair crops
may be reasonably anticipated.
Salek of Stock* and Bonds in Savan
nah. —The following stocks and bonds
were soi l in Savannah at auction on last
Tuesday :
Several shares Southwestern ltailroad
sto k sold for slOl 50.
Forty live shares Central Railroad stock,
ex-dividend, $125 to $l2O.
Ten shares Southwestern Hiilroad stock
SIOO 50.
Seven per cent. Atlantic <f; Gulf Rail
road guaraniecd scrip, $Ol.
Twenty shares Atlantic Gulf Rail
road stock, $37 per share.
Two shares Savannah, Seaboard &
Skidaway Railroad at $lO2 per share.
SI,OOO City of Savannah b mds at
$Bl 50.
10 shares Central Railroad stock sl3l
per share.
The Augusta and Hartwell Rail
wav.—'We arc informed in a note from Dr.
11. R. Casey,President of tho Augusta and
Hartwell Railway, that many of the friends
of this road are desirous of reading the
ofticial proceedings of the Cmvcnlion re
cently held in this city. In order to gratify
this desire wo take pleasure in publishing
the following official copy:
MORNING SESSION.
A meeting of the corporators of the Au
gusta and Hartwell Railroad was held this
dviy in pursuance of public notice.
On motion Hon. E Lockhart, of Lin
coln county, was called to the chair and
James A. Gray, Esq., requested to act as
Secretary.
Dr. 11. R. Casey, of Columbia, present- j
ed and read aou Mlicd copy of the Charter I
as pastel by the .legislature of the State j
of Georgia, ' .m was accepted.
On motion lion. H. F. Russell, Robt.
H. May, James T. Gardiuor and James A.
Gray, of Augusta, were added to the lisl
of corporators.
On motion Robt. Campbell, Sr., Garnet ;
McMillcn and John N. Newton, of llaber
sham county, and George Netherlands and
George Scruggs, of Rabun county, were
appointed Commissioners and agents to as
certain the feasibility of extending the
road to Clayton, in Rabun county.
Dr. Jno. L. W iiks, of Lincoln county,
was added to the list of corporators.
On motion a Committee, consisting of J
Dr. 11. R Casey, J lines A. Gray and J.
P. Williams, was appointed to draft By-
Laws for tho government of the body.
On motion tho meeting adjourned until \
1 o’clock p. m.
afternoon session.
The Corporators m -t pursuant to ad- i
journmont, Hon. K Lickhart in the Chair.
Dr. Casey, from tho Committee ap- j
pointed to draft by-laws, submitted a re- j
port which, on motion, was adopted and
ordered to be engrossed on the minutes.
Dr. J . 1. T timer, of Hart county, was,
on motion, added to tho list of corporators.
The meeting proceeded to organize
themselves into- a Provisional Board of !
Directors, to serve until the annual elac- I
tion as provided by the charter.
On motion Dr. 11. R. Casey was unani
mously elected President of the Company.
Hon. H. F. Bussell, Vice President.
.) auies A- Gray, Secretary and Treasurer.
The President, Dr. FI. It Casey, having
taken tho Chair, announced the Board or
ganized for the transaction of business.
I'he following resolution was submitted
and adopted :
Resolved, That the President and Secre
tary and Treasurer be instructed to pre
pare subscription books for the use of the. j
Directors in each county t > obtain sub
scriptions to the capital stock of the Com
pany. which subscription shall be condi
tioned and read as follows:
“We whose names heroin under sub
scribed and written, do hereby agree to
take and pay for shares of stock in
tho Augusta and Hartwell Railroad Com
pany upon condition that the payment
therefor shall he by installments of net
more than ten per cent, and called tot not
oltener than every three months.
On in turn the Board then adjourned to
meet in Augusta on tho third Tuesday iu
July nut.
11. R. Casey, President.
James A. Gray, secretary.
A Negro Killed in Lexington.—
We learn from the Athens Watchman
that a negro named Warren Hays was
killed last week near Lexington, while rc
sistiug an arrest by the civil authorities.
It seems that a negro who had been exer
cising a pernicious iufluenee upon the
negro population for some time past, had
been warned by unknown persons to leave
the community, aud that, after making
threats of what he would do, a cousidera
ble number of negroes armed themselves
last Wednesday night, organized into a
Ku Klux Kian, aud threatened vinlv.ee
against some three or four wh to men.
No overt act was commuted, however;
as the whites had got wind of the affair
and were pi qared to protect them>elves.
Ii was thought advisable afterward to ar
rest the ringleaders, aud warrant t we-e
issued against them. They ad quietly
6ubaiittui t) au arrest, except the negro
Warren, who was armed with a gun and
swore he \- ..-,’d not bo arrested. It is
said that at. desperata follow.
iMMiuiivu .s Sh-ikiv.—The lin oigra- :
tion Society met oa Monday evening, at
eight o'clock, in th« City Hall—Henry
Myers, President, in the Chair, and Mr.
William It. Sohirmer ueiiug ** Secretary.
On motion of Mr. Mulheriu, a oommit
tee of five was appoint ;d to ascertain the
number cf Irish families in the city, how
many people are in the families, and how
ong they have been here.
The following named gentlemen were
appointed as this committee: From the
First Ward, Patrick Blount, J- 1). Kava
naugh, Michael Gallaher; from the Second
Ward, Wm. Koeder, James Costello, Jno.
Cleary ; from the third Ward, E. O'Don
nel, Daniel Galvan, Phillip Malone; from
the fourth Ward. .James Gargan, Wm.
Mulherin, John Vaughan.
Mr. Davidson, from the committee ap
pointed to nominate a Board of Directors,
asked further time to make Lis report
Granted.
On motion of Mr. King, the meeting
adjourned.
Tht* Treasurer’* Policy.
We admire Mr. Barnwell's pluck if w£
cannot admire his wisdom or sagacity. He
is due the merit of a settled and determin
ed policy, however the result may be. He
Opens the policy of the administration un
der the authority of an act of Congress,
long since passed, which most of the peo
ple of the North h id forgotten, and which
wc ol the South know nothing about, and
establishes a sinking fund composed of the
bonds of the Government, the gold inter
est of which is to strengthen his gold re
j serves, and the bonds held as a reserve
I subject to the demands of the Government.
| In other words this surplus of the Treas
| ury reduces the bonded debt of the Gov
‘ ernment so long as held by the Treasurer,
but the same evidences of debt are to be
put upon the market whenever the neces
sities demand their sale. At the same
i lime the Hen. Treasurer, possessing an
accumulated surplus of one hundred mil
lions, sells a portion of his gold to bear
down the gold premiums and make green
backs approximate the gold standard to
the extent ol the Treasury sales.
At the outset of the enforcement
of this financial policy, the Hon
ors be Secretary commenced by sell
ing one million per week of the gold re
ceived by the Government f-orn customs
and revenue. Juipuiteis of foreign mer
chandize took advantage of this liberty,
which was repressing the value of gold in
the place of an expected advance conse
quent upon the exhaustion of the surplus
productions of the country destined for
export. The price of gold declined. The
amount ol duties for bonded goods
doubled The speculators ia Wall street,
confidently expecting to use the idle capi
tal employed in carrying forward the sur
plus production of the country, raised a.
clamor at the prospect of being despoiled
of tho Sumner gains, ibis clamor, so far
from deterring or discouraging the honora
ble Secretary of the Treasury, excites his
pluck, and he sells two millions of gold per
week wh re previously he sold one.
Now we admire the pluck of Mr. Bout
well. Southerners always admire pluck.
But candidly, wc do not see either the
wisdom or sagacity of his policy. To us,
the operations of the Government bear a
close analogy to the operations of the in
dividual. If a cotton farmer produces one
hundred bales of cotton, and owes the
amount which sixty bales will bring
for current expenses, he has only the
proceeds of forty bales, to apply
to previous debts. Just in this manner do
we consider the speculations of tire Gov
ernment. The aggregate of the former’s
surpdus—for after all this is what we send
abroad to pay tho foreign indebtedness of
the North, South, East and West-.is that
which we send abroad to pay for our im
ports ot silks, calicoes and perfumeries.
If this falls shot t of tho requisite amount
(as in the ease of the former), the balance
is paid in speoie or provided for by new
obliga ions. The limit of surplus in ex
ports is therefore the limit of the ability to
pay for prior incurred debts or obligations,
and whatever balance remains is to be pro
vided for by cash or credit. This is the
way wo unreconstructed, outside, unrepre
sented Southerners look at the financial
operations of the Government.
The Treasurer thinks however, that he
is equal to tho equestrian feats of Dan
Castillo —able to ride and keep in line, a
Shell tnl pony, a Flanders mare, and a
Kentucky mule—able to control cash,
1 credit and calico. We know little of the
■ Jlon. Secretary’s ability, as perhaps
| he may bo the coming man of prog
j less who can accomplish the feat
j Confess idly, cash is a short horse—a
Shetland pony whose strength and wind
is solely derived from abroad in tho form
of a taxon foreign importations. When the
importations of foreign goods diminish,
the powers and strength of tho short
horse diminishes also; and, vice a versa, as
these increase, endurance is augmented.
So long as credit stands equal to tho de
mand just so long will the slow but solid
bonded movements of the Inlander's mai'e
continue to supplement shortcomings.
As to calico, nobody can foresee what a
Kentucky mule will do. Silks and dry
goods, checks and palm leaf prints will be
ordered and consumed in excess just so
; long as Mr. Sumner continues to talk
about war with England and the possibility
of a ruptuie in our foreign relations, which
promises the blockade of ports and the in
terruption of ocean transit.
Candidly, we do not see how Mr. Bout
well can make equal an irredeemable
paper currency and the recognized cur
rency of the world —Gold ; how he is to
bring to par a bonded debt due
some years hence, and a paper
currency daily dishonored by a
discount, albeit ingeniously covered up by
a gold premium- is more than appears by
the light of Southern sun. Nevertheless,
we do see that Mr. Boutwell favors the
bondholders at the expense of the bill
holders. In days of New England aris
tocracy there were gentlemen and yeomen.
In our days of Republican liberty we are
all gentlemen or all yeomen. There should
bo no distinction as to caste or color —as to
bondholders or billholdeis. We are cu
rious to sec how the Hon. Secretary is to
achieve a steady, uniform movement of
speoie and bonds, bringing both to the
same plane; leaving greenbacks to their
fato, outside of Treasury operations, to be
taken by tax-payers and tariff-payers at
their current market value. But we will
suppose that if Mr. Boutwell so far accom
plished this design as to bring United
States bouds to par, would not the simple
act of the Bank of England raising the
rate of interest to six percent —the current
rate of U. S. bonds —cheek foreign invest-
ments, and not only check further invest
ments but cause the foreign bondholder to
realize upon his speculations for a profit of
front twenty-five to thirty-three and one
third per cent? and would not Mr. Bout
well have more bonds sent back from Eu
rope than he could pay for, and the im
ports of the United States be bonds in
stead of calicoes, and the gold revenue
diminished thereby?
We ol the South have but a small in
terest in the solution of Mr. Boutwell’s
problem—but clearly and indisputably the
acknowledged policy of the Grant adminis
tration is to effect the repeal of a bad law,
by rigid enforcement. With the enforce
ment of Mr. Boutwell’s policy, somebody
has to suffer —either the Government, con
tracting it - bonded debt, for the benefit of
the bond-holders, bringing them to gold
par as they now bear gold interest—with
i out the slightest relief to the overbur
thened tax payers, or tkeimpoiter*.
Let the Southern people keep out of
debt. Somebody is g >i;ig to suffer, either
the Government or the perishing people;
and we are Quite sure that Northern manu
factures aud Northern business generally
will further decline and stagnate, and
biiug loss upon the continuance of a policy
which constrains trade to flow in the
channels which is prescribed by the broker,
and -the banker, and the bond holder.
Blow your horn, Mr. Bout well; we are
all gentlemen or all yeoman, there can be
no distinction between the billholder and
the bondholder. Currency will seek its
level.
Explanation.
We have received a letter from Mr.
Adam Jones, Jr., of Warren county,
in which he denies a statement made in
this paper in rclatioa to his refusal to hold
an inQuest over the body of Joseph Ad
kins. Mr. Jones says that he did not hold
the inquest beetuse, in his judgment, his
duty did not require it. Ho ha* not since
been ordered by the military or by any
other au'hority to hold such inquest. And
he etnph*uo«l.y denies being a Bullock
appointee, scalawag, or anything else but
' a n hottest man.
Augusta as a Railroad Centre.
r The successful termination of the trian
gular (we had almost said quadrangular)
coutest between the city of Augusta, the
South Carolina Railroad and the Charlotte
and Augusta Road (for t’l; Charlotte &
South Carolina and the Columbia & Au
gusta Railroads arc now virtually consoli
dated), is destined to exert no small bene
ficial influence upon the prosperity of our
city.
It must be confessed that our citizens—
jealous of monopolies, and particularly of
! Railioad monopolies possess ng the power
and, we regret to say c-xcrting it, in some
measure, to the detriment of our local in
terests, both east anl west ot the Savan
nah river—have hitherto not kept step to
the march of events. They have been too
thoroughly indoctrinated in the theory of
protection, and looked to present and im
mediate injuries rather than to ultimate re
sult!. That Augusta interests wou'd suffer
immediately all fore.aw; that it has suffered
no one will deny. But the remedy for loss
was not in the obstruction of advancing
ideas of freedom in trade; nor in legal re
strictions against powerful corporations,
that proverbially have no souls, but meas
ure their policy by power and their own
benefit. It was, perhaps, wall enough, at
leapt so long as the restraining influences of
competition was limited, to guard against
the exercise or use es such powers, partic
ularly as no spirit ruled which looked to
corresponding and reciprocal benefits were
manifested, or even complied with under
express stipulation. Now, however, both
circumstances and views have altered.
Energy and enterprise rule events, and
our position as a competing point and
Railroad centre will check exactions and
repress unjust discriminations.
Our City Cjuneil, filled with the spirit
characteristic of the age, and thoroughly
appreciating the advanced doctrines of po
litical economy, Lave thrown open wide
the doors. Every railroad, come from what
quarter it may,or worked in what interest it
shall be, is free as to ingress or egress. There
are no municipal restrictions. The utmost
latitude is allowed. There is no municipal
check or hindrance, imposing tax, or
vexatious delay either a3 to freights or pas
sengers. All are free to come, or to go,
or ta stay, as inclination or interest
prompts or eutices. AH is free, open to
competition for |ll the world. ;Pro
duce seeking a market at Selma, or Mem
phis or Nashville over our grand trunk
—the Georgia Railroad—commands the en
ergy and sagacity of our own enterprising
merchants, or without the cost of a mill,
may be carried forward through Savannah
by riveror rail, or through Charleston, Wil
mington or Norfolk ; and we hope to add,
at no distant day, through Port Royal and
Brunswick. It has almost the freedom
of the sea, and the shipper almost the
choice of “Cowes ami a market.” To the
sagacious merchant, this freedom possesses
incalculable advantages, aud in the specific
article of grain, Toheat, corn, oats and
barley—the products of oar mountain re
gion and the far West—our position
affords the especial advantage of being the
farthest point on the Southern Atlantic
coast free from the evils of heat and insects,
which make breadstuff's so hazardous in
tropical latitudes.
To the interior merchant each of those
several ports are at his choice and calcu
lation. Does he wish to ship upon induce
ment by Norfolk, Wilmington and Charles
ton, or by Savannah by river or rail (and
we believe with the next five years at
least, the magnificent ports of Port Royaj
and Brunswick will be added to the list),
taking advantage of cargo-seeking ves
sels in ballast or for return freights, all
of these ports arc at hij command at the
railroad centre of Augusta.
Nor is this all. The rich trade of the
Antilles and South America will soon
be free and unobstructed to American
enterprise ; and with this comes the
supply not only to St. Louis and the
most western points of the valley of the
Mississippi, but through the Rabun Gap
Railroad, the supply of the rich valleys
of East Tennessee and Southwest Virginia
and Kentucky, and courriag along with
the power and speed of the Irou Horse
with the great stream for Louisville, and
Cincinnati and Chicago.
Rut again: we have said nothing of our
great staple. Aside from the command
of the great area within the control of our
grand trunk, the Georgia Rail, of that
region which is destined to be the farm
ers’ homo of the South,.intersected by bold
streams with unsurpassed water-power,
the Macon and Augusta Railioad opens to
our command through friendly interests
and connections, the rich cotton belt of
Central and Southwestern Georgia, and
enables us to reach, as by air line, the
Gulf of Mexico, sweeping through on the
shortest line between the great meti-opoli
tan points, New York on the North, New
Orleans on tho South, and with full com
maud of Mobile and Pensacola-
We look, therefore, for anew era in the
prosperity of Augusta. It is the com
manding position between the Gulf and
the Atlantic, reaching from Norfolk to
New O leans, from Northeast to South
west, and the central point through which
the productions of Cuba and the great
tropical region of the equator, with its
reciprocal trade from the Northwest will
flow : and the centre of the great South
ern farm region—that region which is free
from malaria, open for cu’tivation, and
accessible by easy and speedy transporta
tion ; which will be developed three-fold
by immigration in the next decade.
Re-union of the New School and Old
School Presbyterian Churches North.
After a separation of more than thirty
; years the two above-named branches of the
Presbyterian Church are about to become
rc-united. Ignoring the causes which pro
duced the division, the plan devised by a
I committee of conference from each body
and submitted in a report, so far as it
touches doctrine and ecclesiastical polity, is
to effect re union “on the doctrinal and
ecclesiastical basis ot our common stand
ards ; the Scriptures of the 011 and New
Testaments shall be acknowledged to be
the inspired word of God, and the only in
fallible rule of faith and practice; the Con
fession of Faith shall continue to be sin
cerely received and adopted as containing
the system of doctrine taught in the Holy
Scriptures; and the Government and Dis
cipline of the Presbyterian Church in the
United States shall be approved as con
taining the principles and rules of our
polity.”
This plan is to be submitted to the seve
ral Presbyteries for ratification before the
Ist day of next November and the state
ment of each vote to be submitted to an
adjourned meeting of these ecclesiastical
bodies to be held at Petersburg on the 3d
of that month.
In the Old School Assembly the report
of the committee embracing this plan was
ratified by a majority of 259 against S—
the negatives being J. G. D. Campbell,
Stephen Yerkes, Miller, Laurie, Belknap
Brice, Blackford and the Rev.
William Laurie, of Trenton. New Jersey,
taking open eround against the orthodoxy
of the New School Church.
In the New School Assembly the report of
the committee of conference was ratified
unanimously. Dr. Howard Crosby seemed
to give expression to the sentiments of that
body in saying that “when the Conservators
of liberty and the Conservators of orthodoxy
came together they would have an ortho
dox liberty and a liberal orthodox such as
the world had never seen before.”
Heavy Travel. —A dispatch to Mr.
H. M. Cottingham, General Passenger
Agent of the New York and Charleston
Steamship line, says that one hundred and
forty (HO) cabin passengers left Charles
ton for New York on the steamship Man
hattan, of the Morgan line, last Saturday.
NORTHERN PRESBTf fCKI AX GENERAL
ASSEMBLY.
INTERESTING DEBATE CONCERNING RE
UNION WITH THE SOUTHERN CHURCH.
-In the General Assembly of the Presby
terian Church North, now in session in
New York, the following debate
took p ace last Saturday. We copy from
the Tribune :
An overture was reported from the
Presbytery of Philadelphia requesting the
Assembly t> take measures to open a
correspondence with the General Assembly
of the Presbyterian Church in the South.
Another was presented from the Presby
tery of Louisville, suggesting that steps be
taken to harmonize and unite with the
Southern Church. The Presbytery of Po
tomac also overtured the Assembly to in
stitute measures promotive of union with
the Southern Church. The Committee on
Bills and Overtures, who had considered
these papers, recommended the Assembly
to institute measures preparatory to a cor
respondence with that Assembly.
A commissioner asked whether the
Southern Assembly had asked for any ac
tion of this kind, or intimated that it would
be acceptable to them ? If they had not,
this Assembly might damage itself by any
proceedings in that direction.
The Rev. Mr. Canon, of North Caro
lina, said that the churches he represented
in the South were not prepared for this
measure.
The Kev. William 0 Johnston, of Phila
delphia, said that he had conferred with
many of the Southern brethren, and lie re
joiced that the subject had been introduced
and that the first movement hub bean
made in the Presbytery of Philadelphia,
and be felt sure that many in the South
would rejoice if this action should be taken.
The Southern Church agreed with this in
its orthodoxy. In this respoet it had al
ways stood on high vantage ground. The
speaker hoped that no feeling or prejudice
would be allowed to interfere with the
right action on this subject. We must de
fer somewhat to the feelings of the South
ern brethren respecting the deliverances of
this Assembly during and since the war.
We may review them: They were uttered
in haste, and under some pressure of popu
lar sentiment. A wide field of usefulness
for this Church is opeued in the South,
but it can only be made available by | ro
pitiating the Church there, and, to do the
good that should be done, the Churches
should be one. A wide misapprehension
exists at the South as to the extent to
which the pulpits of the North had been
us;d against them during the war. Politi
cal preaching was not so general as they
imagined. Were the real extent of this
explained tj the Southern brethren it
would remove much miteonception, and
smooth the way for reconciliation and
union. The speaker hoped the recom
mendation of the committee would be
adopted, and a kindly correspondence
opened.
The Rev. A. A. E. Taylor, of George
town, D. C., a member of the Potomac
Presbytery, was strongly in favor of a cor
respondence by letter. He had met with
many Southern ministers who would re
joice in a union of the divided bodies
But there were serious obstacles to this
end, and we -hould proceed carefully. The
proposed union with the New School
Church would be a serious, if not insupe
rable, obstacle. That Church had been
more outspoken than this; had rushed to
the front in its opposition to the South, ami
had aroused a grave feeling against it
among that people. If the desire to unite
with the New School was entertained, this
should bo completed before any steps were
taken to secure a formal union with the
Church South. The one project will inter
fere with the other, and the Assembly
must choose which they prefer. Another
serious obstacle grows out of the aliena
tion produced by the action ot this Assem
bly in past years, especially that at Pitts
burg in 1807. Were the Southern Assembly
approached on this subject, he presumed
they would answer that certain actions of
this Assembly must be set right before
they could ontertain propositions for cor
respondence and uuion. This course will
be necessary to promote good feeling, and
without this there can be no union.
The Rev. Dr. Blackwood thought aud
hoped that this consummation was nearer
at hand than many supposed. He testified
to the Christian courtesy aud bearing of the
ministers in the South. He had attended
their last General Assembly at Baltimore,
and throughout their whole sittings, which
he had carefully noted, not a word of bit
terness bad dropped from their lips. He
had attended raiany a-semblies in this coun
try', in Scotland, and in Canada, but never
saw one marked by greater decorum and
piety.
The Moderator stated there had been a
private correspondence between the stated
clerk of the As erably and that of the
Southern one, and that the stated clerk of
the latter had said that the agitation of
this question now by the Assembly would
complicate tho peace of the Southern
churches.
The Rev. Mr. Merkland stated a3 the
result of numerous interviews with South
ern brethren his convictions that unless
the Assembly rubs out its past adverse ac
tion you need send no communications.
Tlie subject was referred to a special
committee, to bo appointed l>y the Mode-'
rator.
Proposed Sale op West Florida to
Alabama. —For some time pa3t the State
of Alabama has cast wistful eyes on that
portion of the neighboring State of Flor
ida which cuts off most of its Southern
territory from the salt water —a narrow
strip,of land to the west of tho threads of
the Chattahoochee and Apalaehicolarivers,
and between Alabama and tho Gulf of
Mexico, known as Western Florida. A
board of three commissioners was appoint
ed by each State go vern inent last Winter to
arrange the terms of the proposed trans
fer, and the commissioners met at Mont
gomery recently, and, after a little negotia
ting, drew up an agreement, the terms of
which are substantially as follows:
Tho State of Florida cedes to the
State of Alabama that portion of Florid a
lying west of the threads ot the Chattahoo-
ehee and Apalachicola rivers, and west of
a line running due South from the thread
of the mouth of the Apalachicola, bending
west so as to pass between the islands of
St, George and St. Vincent, anl all the
lands lying in that portion of the State of
Florida, belonging to the State and the
United States; and Alabama is to be in
demnified for any loss which she may sus
tain growing out of any adverse claims
which may be set up theret o. That imme
diately after the ratification of this agree
ment by Congress the Governors of Florida
and Alabama shall issue a proclamation
naming a day within sixty dayS after
the ratification by Congress, in
which the jurisdiction of the former
State over the acquired territory
shall cease and the government of the
same be turned over to Alabama; all local
and judicial officers, however, in West
Florida shall retain their positions during
the full term for which they were elected,
subject to the laws of the State purchas
ing. All the county officers in West
Florida shall fi 1 corresponding offices in
j the State of Alabama to the end of the
i terms for which they were elected or ap
| pointed. Alabama shall pay to Florida for
the territory acquired, within ninety days
j oi the consummation of the.annexation. the
| sum of one million dollars in bonds of the
! State, bearing interest at the rate of 8 per
! cent, per annum, payable at the Treasury
; in thirty years from date, and the interest
: to bo payable semi annually in the State
jof New York. Each of the counties in
1 the ceded country shall be allowed to re
l tain the State taxes assessed and collected
, for the first year after the cession under
the Revenue Laws of Alabama, and the
amounts thus retained to be appropriated
to the improvement and erection of court
houses and other public buildings in the
; counties. The counties of West Florida
i shall be entitled to the same representa
tion in the Legislature of Alabama that
they aje now entitled to in the Legislature
|of Florida. Alabama is to endorse bonds
to the extent of sixteen thousand dollars
per mile for the construction of a railroad
from the point of junction with the Pen
sacola and Georgia Railroad on the Apala
chicola river, in the direction of Quincy,
to the waters of Escambia Bay, or to a
junction with the Pensacola and Louisville
Railroad or the Alabama and Florida Rail
road, and to the Pensacola and Louisville
Railroad, and to no other railroads, for the
period of three years from the date of the
consummation of this agreement and the
AUGUSTA, GA., WEDNESDAY MORNING, JUNE 11, 1869.
charter of the f ensacola and Georgia Rail
road shall be of force in West Florida. The
Company shall be entitled to construct their
road, and shall be entitled to all the benefits
of the endorsement laws of Alabama, the
same as if their charter had been granted
by the State of Alabama. The agreement
is not to be binding until it shall have
been ratiSed by Florida, Alabama and the
Congress of the United States. One of
the Commissioners was not in favor of the
agreement, but signed it in order to bring
the matter before the people of Florida, by
whom he thinks it will bs rejected.
The Century Plant, or Agave Ameri
cana, is a native of the tropical part of the
American continent, and grows on moun
tains many hunlred feet above the level of
thesea. The starythat it blooms only
| once in a hundred years is a fable. It cer-
J taiuly doe3 not b’ooal often, however. The
on-; in blossom in Rochester is exciting
great attention. Visitors are being attract
ledby it from far-distant places. In their
natural soii and climate these plants de
velop immense fl owers and grow to a
size, but the North Americans regard
them with no special wonder, and without
much admiration.
First Shipment op New Flour.
Messrs. Joi,n M. Clarke & Cos , of the
Augusta Mdls, made the first shipment of
new flour from this city to the North
Monday.
Richmond County Agricultural So-
C ETY. — llon-David \V. .f
the State Agricultural Society, has con
sented to deliver an address before the
members of the llicuiotd County Society,
next Saturday week at the French Gar
den, on the Sand Hills. We learn that a
barbecue will be seived on the occasion,
and that a large number ofour citizens are
expected to b; in attendance. Oar people
should take a lively iiu.ere.-t iu ail organi
zations or movements Laving in view the
development ol our agricultural resources.
Ellis Lyons. —The following appears
in the Washington Chronicle of a few
days since :
AFFAIRS IN GEORGIA.
On the sth ilist., Ellis Lyons, a staunch
Republican, received au appointment
from the Treasury Department as assistant
assessor for division No. 5, of the3d collec
tion district of the State of Georgia, through
the rocoinmeudation of Edwin Belcher,
the assessor of said district. Mr. Lyons,
although inheriting a tingeof negro blood,
was a member of the Georgia Legislature,
but was allowed to retain his seat from the
fact that he was soveral shades lighter
than his expelled fellow-members. Since
liis appointment as assistant assessor, how
ever, the cry of “uegio rule” has been
raised, and Mr. Lj-ons tinds himself forced
to decline the office rendered for the
reasons set forth in his letter of resigna
tion, of which the following is a copy:
Augusta, Ga., May. 14, 1869.
Edwin Belcher, Esq., Assistant Assessor,
tiic.:
Sir : I herewith tender you my thanks
for the appointment of Assistant Assessor,
but in division Xo. 5, embracing the coun
ties of Warren, Jefferson, and Glasscock,
to which you have assigned me, I find,
upon diligent iniquity, that I would not
bo able to obtain board with a respectable
family, nor have au office in Warreuton,
the county seat of Warren. The recent
mtytler of Hon. Joseph Adkins, a Repub
lican Senator of Warren, by the Ku-klux,
the killing of Dr. Darden by a mob ; the
shooting and subsequent exile of Mr. Nor
ris, the Republican sheriff of said county,
and the threats made against Republicans
in general make it unsafe for me to ven
ture there. As I have taken an active part
in politics, ray life would not be safe in
said counties twenty-four hours. Not
withstanding the reluctance with which I
decline a position that would afford me a
living, lain compelled, under the circum
stances, to offer you my resignation.
Yours, respectfully,
Ellis Lyons.
The above we think will be news to the
citizens of Augusta, in which place the
“negro member of the Legislature” re
sides. The preface of the Chronicle is a
tissue of misrepresentations. Lyons never
was, and never will be, a member oi the
Georgia Legislature, and consequently was
not effected by the expulsion of the ne
groes ; on the contrary lie is a dirty little
four foot five scalawag, who has been a
tool of Blodgett’s for the past three years,
and has been rewarded for bis services by
receiviug a Notary’s commission from
Bullock. When be was appointed Asses
sor no “cry of negro rule” was raised ; for
scarcely any one knew or cared anything
about the matter. As to his “inheriting
a tinge of negro blood” we can say noth
ing. The statement of the Washington
Chronicle with regard to his negro blood
seems to have been based on data furnished
that paper by Lyons himself, and as he
claims to be a negro, of course we have
no right to doubt the truth of the asser
tion. Wo would state, however, that
the people of tbis place have hereto
fore considered him as being a wlii.c
person—that is, he has a light skin.—
The reasons that he gives for resigning
tho office of assistant Assessor are simply
falsehoods. Darden was killed and Nor
ris wounded months before ho received
his appointment, and Adkins was killed
after he had declared that he intended to
resign. The truth of the matter is, that
after Lyons was appointed he called on a
waggish Democrat in this city, and asked
for his advice in the matter. The latter,
in order to spare the people of Warren,
Glasscock and Jefferson the disgrace of
having such a creature among them in an
official capacity, counseled him not to ac
cept the office, on the ground that one of
Lyons’ incendiary harangues to the ne
groes here had been taken down in short
hand, and a copy of it furnished to every
Ku-klux in the District, together with a
description of the orator, and that if he
was ever caught outside the city they
would’ kill and fricasee him immediately.
Lyons at this became alarmed, accepted
tho advice and handed in his resignation.
This, we think, is the true history of the
whole transaction.
[communicated]
Warrenton, May 26, 1569.
Messrs. Editors : Your papers of late
have contained reports from this section
which arc very absurd, but which may ob
tain credence. I write to correct some of
them. They are mischievous in tendency
and tend to inflict damage on us.
The first is, that .Mrs. Adkins has been
arrested by the civil authorities for the
killing of her husband; that the military
have been sent to her house, and that the
oolored man who was with him is in this
place within the military camp. There is
not the shadow of a foundation for these
reports- -not one is true. Mrs. Adkins is
quietly at home and has not been molested
by any authority, and the colored naan is
attending to hi3 business, a live “ nigger ,”
without any one to molest or make afraid.
I beg the privilege of cautioning you and
your readers against any and all reports
unless they are well authenticated by un
! doubted authority. H.
Note by Editor: The reports alluded
to by oar esteemed correspondent were
given as mere reports, and were never en
dorsed by the Chronicle & Sentinel.
On the contrary, we authoritatively denied
more than one of them, and have been al
ways more than willing that our columns
should be freely used by our Warren
friends to explain or contradict all
the lying rumors set afloat by BuUock’s
sedition mongers. As public journalists it
becomes our duty to note passing events,
and our obligations to truth require us to
denounce malicious slanders. This we
have done to the best of our ability.
We believe our correspondent is mis
taken in regard t a one of the rumors which
he thinks was published in this paper.
But in no instance have we endorsed any
of the foul calumnies which have been
heaped upon the people of old WarreD.
The Outrage Committee.— We deeply
regret to learn that the “Outrage Commit
tee has adjourned by the advice of our
friend, Gov Bmlock! It would se.na from
this move, that his Excellency is disposed
to wink at the Georgia assassinations and
to let the offenders against law and order
go unpunished. We have demanded, and
still demand, a lull investigation of the re
cent murders, and we are sorry to know
that the Governor has taken it upon him
self to advise the adjournment of this im
portant committee till the 2d of July. How
, long is Georgia to be kept in political ex
citement and turmoil?
W ill bis Excellency b i good enough to
inform us ? We ask in the name of hu
manity.—Atlanta Era.
The Grand Trunk kallroad from the
Great West to the South.
A practical demonstration of the desire
of Cincinnati and the great State of Ohio
for direct friendly connections and imme
diate intercourse with the South has
aroused the people of the South from
Norfolk to New Orleans. The Legis ature
of Ohio authorizes, in the face of constitu
tional checks, the construction of railways
by certain municipal co-operations. The
citizens of Cincinnati.uader this authority,
come boldly and earnestly forward with
the proposition to furnish ten millions of
dollars, to construct a grand Trunk Rail
road to the South, to be located, it is true,
under natuial conditions of local interest,
but with the great objects of fostering re
ciprocal interests and promoting and
cherishing direct friendly intercourse.
This movement of Cincinnati touches at
once demands of Southern sympathy in an
essential fur Southern recuperation as well
as the continuance of Western prosper
ity. Delegations from the prominent
interests from the vast Southern water
shed of the Allegbanies, promptly offer
to join hands, an and Uineinnati wisely asks
and receives from each of these representa
tive interest', representations relating to
the merits of the objective points proposed
as termini, practicability as to alignment
in reaching those points and probable prof
its, both immediate and prospective,
arising from conditions of soil anil climate
and further connections friendly by in
terest. This is all proper enough—is just
what every prudent man would inquire in
his business—and just what every prudent
community and wise corporation should
inquire, as t) such enterprises, designed
for the promotion of trade and traffic.
The representations to the Beard of
Trade and Committee of Councilmen of
Cincinnati, suggest throe lines and three
only and three objective points, to-wit :
Knoxville and Chattanooga,Tennessee; and
Decatur, Alabama. The competing lines,
as to distanoe, are as follows :
DISTANCE FROM KNOXVILLE FROM CIN
CINNATI:
Miles.
Cincinnati to Paris, road completed.. 80
Paris to Winchester 16
Richmond to Winchester 20
Richmond to Loudon 48
Loudon to State Line via Williams
burg 45
State Line to Knox. & K. R. R.
via Elk Gap 19
K. & K. 11 11. to Coal Creek,
grading finished 15
Coal Creek to Knoxville, road com
pleted 31
274
This line leaves only 148 miles of road to
be built; and all of the roads built are
necessarily tributary by location.
The second line is via Chitwood to Chat
tonooga, as follows :
Miles.
Cincinnati to Nicholasville, road
completed 112
Nicholasville to Kentucky river,road
graded 10
Kentucky river to South Danville... 18
South Danville to Cumberland
river 48
Cumberland river to State Line,
near Chitwood 37
Chitwood to Emory Gap, near
Kingston 59
Emory Gap to Chattanooga 74
358
of which 112 miles are completed and ten
graded ready for iron, leaving 236 miles of
road to be built.
The line from Cincinnati to Decatur,
Alabama, via Tullahoma, Tennessee, is
confessedly longer than either of the fore
going, but whatever trunk line be adopted
its importance is such as to command
necessarily a branch line, as crossing North
ern Alabama to Meridian, Mississippi, and
leading to New Orleans.
It appears, then, that Knoxville mirks
one end and Decatur, Ala., the other of the
triangular section sought to be tapped, of
which Chattanooga is the intermediate,
and a point in the valley of the Cumber
land river common to all points.
Let the reader cast his eye upon a rail
road map and he will not fail to observe
that North of the Potomac the general
lines of the great trunk railroads run East
and West, all pointing to New York as the
great centre. These lines have been
built, under some slight modifications to
overcome the disadvantages of topo
graphical features cf the country, to de
velop the West in the rivalry of Boston,
New York, Philadelphia and Baltimore. In
the whole system of railroads North of the
Potomac there is not a great feature in
the system, with the single exception of
the Illinois Central, but what has its origiu
with.this design. The general convergence,
however, has been to New York. This has
been controlled, not more by foreign inter
course and capital, in the first instance
determined, by a cheap canal system of
transportation, than by the operations of
the General Government. The largest
accumulations of Government funds are
in New. York. The largest expenditures
for Government wants, for material de
fences, contracts for supplies, and for every
other matter embraced in the catalogue
for Government, expenditures have been at
New York. The subsidies for steamers,
the disbursement of the Treasury, the
equipment of fleets and armies, and every
other matter involving Government ex
penditures is, and h?3 been, at the port
of New York, draw hither chiefly because
our local trade and tiajflc depended almost
entirely upon our foreign trade. Scanning
the Southern system of intercommunica
tion the direction is changed, but the laws
which have governed remain the same.
The railway lines now run Southwest to
Northwest,hut still converge to New York, i
These Southern lines have been mainly
built by Southern capital, and have been
determined by the demands of a section
producing a great agricultural surplus,
which sought exchange for foreign mer
chandize,and follows the national conform
ation of the country as the easiest and
least costly in construction. Fromtheßal
timore & Ohio Railroad on the North to the i
Mississippi on the South, there is no chan
nel of communication between the great j
grain growing West and the great cotton
producing South, except the single incom- i
plete line with its doubtful and restricted j
connections at Chattanooga and Nashville, j
built by the State of Georgia, which, gov
erned by the same laws of restricted capital
j as the Northeast and Southwest lines, j
l points toward St. Louis. Western sup- j
i plies and Western manufactures are to be
I reached and intercourse between the sections j
I is maintained through New Orleans and
the Mississippi river on the South, or
through Baltimore and New York on the
North. This area covers the tobacco region
of Virginia, the turpentine region of North
Carolina, and the rice and cotton area of
South Carolina, Georgia, Florida and Ala
bama, which consumes of Western pro
duce more than any equal area in the
United States. The interests of this vast
area are reciprocal with that of the great
Northwest The agricultural productions
of the one section do not conflict, but
complement that of the other We want
the corn and flour and bacon and rope and
horses of the Northwest, and the West
needs our tobacco, cotton, rice and sugar.
But the mountainous barriers (fortunately
permitting a few accessible gaps) represses,
, or at lean does not encourage, develop
ment. The South seeks, at New Or-
I leans or Baltimore, seven or eight hundred
miles distant from the common centre,
Western produce, with all the addition of
additiooal transportation and the commis
' sions of shrewd intermediates ; and the
| West, if it gets Southern products at all,
gets them in the same manner—and sends
to New Y'ork far Cuba sugar and Bermuda
potatoes and tomatoes of the early Spring
or the late fall. There have been efforts,
on the part of this area,to reach the Great
West—Norfolk and Portsmouth reach out
through spurs of the Blue Ridge to Knox
ville—Noith Carolina steadily pushes for
ward to the same point by two great cen
tral lines, South Carolina and Northeast
Georgia struggle for the same point, hav
ing expended more than half of the amount
that Cincinnati, and Ohio proposes to ex
pend in the contemplated project of a
great Southern Railroad line.
F'ortunately we at Augusta are so situa
ted that whatever Cincinnati may decide—
whether Knoxville or Decatur, or Chatta
nooga and Decatur may be decreed the
termini—we hold the position to reach them.
Our Grand Trunk, the Georgia Railroad,
possesses, by alignment, that location
which will catch, as by a funnel, the new
current which reciprocal interests demands
and which will be shortly inaugurated.
Its long arm reaches out through Atlanta,
the gate to the Mississippi valley, leaving
but a short gap |to complete the route to the
most Wester Grmini. The State Road
falls upon it atural outlet,bisecting its
due West connections. Its shorter arm
has but casv stens of sixtv milno „
tratc by Rabun Gun. nature’s gate to the
easternmost named terminus, Knoxville.
Its base Augusta , commands Savannah
and Brunswick by navigation, and Sa
vannah, Port Hoyal[notcompleted) Charles
ton and Wilmington, by railways, and
is the farthest point South on the Atlantic
coast of the United States which permits
storage without the hazards of the tropics,of
Western produce : and is destined to be
the great distributing point of such sup
plies, destined for Cuba and the West In
dia islands and South America ; and its
railroad connections by the shortest routes
and easy grades from the Gulf to the At
lantic from Pensacola ti Wilmington, in
cluding the tropical peninsular of Florida.
It remains to be seen, whether Cincin
nati, in establishing the Grand Trunk, will
look to competing for old trade wi h New
Orleans and New l r ork following tho
course of primitive parallel lines,or bisect
ing all and tapping all, reach out for the
mastery by throwing off the present incu
bus of distant intermediates who now con
trol that trade,and iu seeking the new trade
which certainly will come with the not
distant acquisition of Cuba.
Correspondence Between Auditor Clarke
and Gen. Beauregard.
A spicy correspondence has taken place
between Third Auditor R. W. Clarke, of
the Treasury Department, and ex Con
federate General Beauregard. Soon after
assuming the duties of his office Mr. Clarke
discovered that tho General was on his
books as indebted to the Government in
the sum of $lO 30. Mr. Clarke there
upon notified General Beauregard of his
discovery and received the following in
reply :
Office of the New Orleans, ]
Jackson & G. N. Railroad Company, >
New Orleans, May 20, 1869. ]
Sir —Your letter of the Ist inst. has
been received, inlorming me that I am
charged on the books of your office (Third
Auditor’s) $lO 30 on account of the Quar
termaster’s Department, and that I am re
quested to pay over said sum to the nearest
disbursing quartermaster and transmit his
receipt for the same to your office. Ab
sence from the city has prevented me from
acknowledging sooner your letter. In an
swer to this claim I beg leave to enclose
you herewith the duplicates of my account,
amounting to $165 50, for transoortation
from West Point, N. Y., to New Orleans,
La., in January and February, 1861, in
obedience to War Department Order No.
19, a copy of which is herewith enclosed,
marked “A,” relieving me from duty as
Superintendent of the United States Mili
tary Academy and sending me back to my
former post at New Orleans. My account
for transportation was presented for pay
ment to Colonel D. D. Tompkins, Assist
ant Quartermaster General in New York,
the Quartermaster’s Department here
being out of funds at the time, on the 23d
of February, 1861; but it was not paid by
him, as per copy of his letter, herewith
enclosed, marked “B,” to the Quarter
master General at Washington. It has
never yet been settled. You will, there
fore, deduct therefrom the amount ($lO 30)
claimed by you in your letter of the Ist
inst. and remit to me the balance of the
$165 20 at your earliest convenience. 1
will remark here for the information of
your department, that my resignation from
tho military service of the United States
war accepted, to take effect on the 20th of
February, 1861.
I remain, very respectfully,
Your obedient servant,
G. T. Beauregard,
President N. 0., J & G. N. R. R. Cos.
Mr. R. W. Clarlte, Third Auditor’s Office,
Treasury Department, Washington, D. 0.
The Third Auditor has written to Second
Comptroller Broadhcad on the subject,
calling attention to the joint resolution of
1867 forbidding payment to parties who
were not loyal to the Government on any
claims accruing before April 13, 1861.
Os course this honest debt will be re
pudiated. There is no pretence that it is
improper or fraudulent—that it is not hon
estly due. But because General Beaure
gard has acted, since the debt became
due, in such a manner as to displease “the
best Government on the planet,” he is
coolly and impudently robbed of his legal
rights.
Let us hear no more now about the
sanctity of the public debt— of honor
of Government—of the duly of the people
to sustain the Government in excessive
taxation that it may pay the bloated bond
holders. Hero is an honest debt —a small
one, it is true—which, for political evute,
the Government refuses t a pay.
Magnanimous and most just Govern
ment! How honest citizens must laud
and love thee ! !
Miscegenation in Morgan County.
—On Monday evening we received the
particulars of a miscegenation affair in
Morgan county and a shooting scrape
which resulted irom it. in rtuiieage a
small village of Morgan county, situated
on the Georgia Railroad, above Madison,
there has lived for many years a man by
the name of William Lawson and his fami
ly. Mrs. Lawson has for a long time been
in charge of an eating-house at Rutledge, at
which passengers on the Georgia Railroad
stop for meals. About three weeks ago
Lawson, who is said to be an idle,drunken
fellow, had a quarrel with his wife and
separated from her. After leaving the
house, which was the property of his wife,
Lawson went to live with a negro woman
and her daughter, whose house was with
in but a short distance of his former resi
dence and co-habited with tho latter. This
disgusting miscegenation was carried on in
the most open and unblushing manner, al
most under the eyes of Mrs. Lawson, and
excited great indignation among the peo
ple of the village. On two or three
occasions, as if in way of bravado,
he paraded the streets with his negro
mistress on his arm, and carried her
with him to a negro Church. Naturally
incensed at this conduct and desirous of
ridding the community of so demoralizing
a spectacle, a party of men went to the
house of these women on last Monday
night for the purpose, it is supposed, of
warning the parties against a continuance
of their present manner of living. Arriv
ing there the men found no one in the
house except the women, loawson having
gone into the village. The women became
alarmed when they saw their visitors and
commenced screaming at the top of their
voices. The noise was heard by Lawson,
who was drinking in a bar room at the
time, and he rushed to the place to rescue
his mistress. Lawson makiDg an attack on
the party as he reached the house, a ren
eral melee ensued, during which Law»on
was wounded by a pistol shot through the
body, the old negress also wounded and
her daughter badly beaten. After this
had been done the parties left the premises
and no further violenee w&s offered. The
people of Rutledge evidently do not believe
in miscegenation.
NEW SERIES, VOL. XXVIII. NO. 23
1 OUR NEW ORLEANS CORRESPONDENCE.
SPECIAL OORUESPOSPEXCg CHRONICLE A SENTINEL.
Memphis Convention—New Orleans Con
vention-Good feeling—South and
West join hands.
New Orleans, May 26th, 1869.
Editors Chronicle & Sentinel :
It would have pleased mo to have sent
; you more than one letter from the late
I Commercial Convention in Memphis, but
the exuberant hospitality of that gay city
was too much for human virtue to bear
unmoved. What with the extreme civil
ities of tho press, a large amount of other
business, and the all-absorbing fascination
of fair ones that prove by their loveliness
the undimmed lustre of old Tennessee for
womanly beauty, and our correspondent
had nothing to do for it but to let an Au
gusta letter slide. However, the main re
sult of that Convention may bo thus
summed: Congress is to be memorialized a
follows to repeal rite act imposing a duty
on railroad iron, amounting, as was stated
in debate, to some $3,000 per mile ; to
remit the direct tax under the $20,000,000
act of 1861, which is as yet hanging over
the South, the share of Georgia being
about $350,000 ; and to aid a Southern
Pacific railroad. The Convention also
adopted a resolution in reference to
direct trade, but as in the shape
it was passed it was a mere
string of words, patched up as a compro
rnjse of opposing views, it is hardly worth
mention except for the lively debate upon
it. It seems the Virginia delegation de
sired the Convention to endorse Norfolk as
ii.w a —vU a „„„ >AV . ; n
other words, as the proper eastern ter
minus of the proposed Southern Pacific
Railroad, and succeeded in procuring a
report from the Committee on Direct
Trade to that effect. This waked up Geor
gia and South Carolina, and a big fight
ensued. Mr. Lamb, of Virginia, made a
glowing speech in favor ot Norfolk and was
overwhelmed for a really baudsotne effort,
which shows that the ancient eloquence of
the South yot lives, by the plaudits of the
Convention and a wealth of flowers from
theladie3 in tho galleries, one bouquet
coming with the inscription on it “To
our pet lamb.’’ Mr. Gaskill made a hu
morou3 speech in favor of some Georgia
sea port as the best terminus, in
sisted tho ladies were too partial in their
lavors to old Virginia, as Georgia had
as good looking and chivalrous men as
any in the land, and wound up by
declaring it was unfair to object to Savan
nah as unhealthy, as the gentlemen in
the Convention irom that city were
as good looking and healthy a set of
men as any in the whole Georgia delega
tion, which itself yielded the palm to none.
Then General Lawton made a more solid
speech, which had a powerful effect in fa
vor of Savannah. Others participated on,
either side and finally the report was re
committed and then re reported with a gen
eral recommendation of some Southern
port. This was adopted, tho result being
rather a triumph for the Georgia view of
the case. Beyond these material results,
the Convention was a great success in
bringing together many of the leading
men of the South, so that in one sense it
was a perfect love-feast for divers of the
unreconstructed. Several times the Presi
dent of the Convention alluded to tho body
by a slip of the tongue as “the Senate,”
and I could not but think it tuns a Senate,
the first this part of the vineyard
has had for these weary four
years past. Quito a number of West
ern men were present, but tho gieat
body of tho Convention was made up ol
delegates from the South. Among them
may be mentioned Hon. A. 0. P. Nichol
son, of Tennessee, formerly colleague of
Andrew Johnson in the Senate, and a tall,
noble looking statesman, whose great abili
ties are most unhappily lost now to the
country by that infamous system which
puts good men in low places, and sets
knaves and incompetents on high. Also,
there was General Foru st, the observed of
many observers, working away at his rail
roads and building up the land. Geucral
Wheeler was there,too, a most modest, un
assuming gentleman, and Professor S.
Allen, ot General Lee’s College, and Mas
sey, of the Virginia Military Institute.
Georgia had an eminently solid and respect
able delegation, and the weight of the
good State was felt most sensibly during
the whole Convention, both in aud out—
the old married men attending to tho
business aud the young bloods bringing to
mind these lines:
“How sweet the looks that ladies baud
On whom their lavors fall.”
Some effort was made during the session
by Senator Sprague to work the Conven
tion to his own vague New Party purposes,
but the good sense of the body was opposed
to this lugging in of politics, and it cannot
be said the Rhode Island millionaire met
much success. Sympathy, and the Star-
Spangled Banner, and let us all be one
people may all be very good but it would
be a thousand times bettor to see SIOO,OOO
putin a cotton mill. That kind of sym
pathy one can “balance to a quarter of a
cent!”
But to New Orleans. The Convention
which met here on Monday last is pretty
much the Memphis Convention over again,
save that there are quite a number more of
the old Confederates who reside in this city
that are present as delegates, and the love
feast is proportionally sweet, everybody is
all right. Nobody is going to tell secrets,
but put it down that it’s all right—recon
struction, sin, oeath, defeat and the devil
to the contrary notwithstanding.
There have been no set speeches so far
save one from the temporary and one from
the permanent Chairmen on tho occasion
severally of taking their seats. Tho tem
porary Chairman was a General Vandever,
of lowa ; the permanent President is an
ex-Mayor of St. Louis, Chauneey Ftlley.
The addresses of both these delegates were
highly significant if their utterers correctly
represent Northwestern sentiment, and it
is said here on good authority that they
do. The main points in the speeches were
that the South and Northwest had a unity
of commercial interest that other consid
erations ought not to sever; that the
General Government had given but grudg
ing aid to the Valley of the Mississippi ;
but that in that Valley were the majority
of people in these United States, and
that this gross injustice done them must
cease. The animus was quite severe on
Congress, and as both speakers arc, or
were, Western Radicals, it would seem
there is some chance of commercial inter
estsconverting them altogether from the er
ror of their way. Atleastitlooks that way,
and as if the sentiment above the Presi
dent’s chair— “The South and the West
Join Hands ” —might be some day severely
felt by the East. So let us hope, for any
thing, to get out of the low-grounds of sor
row on to the mountain tops of joy. The
chief topic of the Convention wiil bo im
provement of the navigation at the mouth
of the Mississippi river, and direct grain
transactions from the Northwest down the
course of the great stream.
New Orleans presents many points of in
terest. Those who know it know how
charming it is; and most of its charms yet
rpmain aLpntrh diminished in lustre bv
terrible evidences of an increase in vice,
directly traceable to the miserable misgov
ornment exercised on the city and Biate.
It may amaze you to know that gambling
is now licensed by the bogus Legislature,
and that the nefarious practice is carried
on night and day with absolute effrontery.
All about the St. Charles the dens are
placed anil in huge buildings, floor above
floor, faro, montr , roulette, and other
devilments are practiced, week-dayg and
Sundays alike. Drinking dens are trebled
in number, and are so well patronized that
they shine respendent in every enticement
of silver, and gold, and cut-glass, and beau
t'ful flowers, and fine music that might al
lure. Vice, in one word, is legitimate
business here, and there is but one expres
sion of sentiment among the delegates and
citizens generally, and that is, that the
abominable corruption stimulated and al
lowed under its direct operation of this
scoundrel reconstruction business calls for
the avenging bolt. Negroes are on the
polite and it was a nauseous sight hut 3
few days since to behold a squad inarch
along, with while men and coal black
congoes uniformed in the tame garb and
literally and positively touching elbows in
the same rank ! The creature called Lieu
tenant-Governor is as black as a thousand
tons of charcoal, and was formerly a brick
layer in this city. The “Governor,” the
“Legislature"—but why continue? How
long \ how long I how long ! Surely there
is a Just One and when we repine most, it
miy be that just then that great right arm
is baring for the blow.
Would that all could heed that lesson,
and would that all could see and know the
cheering influences of this great convoca
tion of the Southern States. There is a
serene confidence in the very coming to
gether of so many shrewd merchants and
solid bankers, and renowned generals and
sturdy planters of the soil. There is no
loud talk, no boasting, no braggadocio; on
ly hearts grow warm by contact, eyes are
bright as they fall on old friends and
it is all right! Tyrone Powers.
The Commercial Convention—The topics
Considered— The South and Meat The
Attractions of the City Ihe 1 rtss, etc.
New Orleans, May 29, 1869.
Editors Chronicle & Sentinel:
Tho principal topics considered at tno
New Orleans Commercial Convention,
which adjourned here yesterday after a
session of four days, were as follows : The
removal of obstructions from the Missis
sippi river and tributaries, the repairing
anu extension of the levees, foreign com
merce and postal subsidies, immigration
and Western trade. On the subject of
Western trade the Convention resolved
that even barges and steamboats ought to
be built to transport W T estern produce
down the Mississippi; that the tonnage
monopoly at New Orleans should be broken
up; that a railroad should be built from
New Orleans to Chattanooga, Louisville,
and Cincinnati, and from New Orleans to
Houston, Texas ; that burdens on trade in
the shape of tariffs, tolls, commissions, or
otherwise should be made light or entirely
removed; that the Mississippi Valley
Navigation Company of the South and
West is an enterprise worthy ot support;
and that a committee of three be appointed
to consider in extenso the various topics
bearing on Western trade, especially iron
and grain barges, and report the result ol
their labors to the meeting at Louisville,
Kentucky, appointed for the 12th of
October next. This committee is Edwin
Harrison, of Missouri; A. J. Kcllar, editor
of the Memphis Appeal, of Tennessee; and
John Robson, of Minnesota.
On the removal of obstructions in the
Mississippi river aud tributaries, the Con
vention resolved that the Federal Govern
ment should remove the same by such
means as the engineer department of the
United States might deem best, and that a
special committee of three at once memo
rialize the President and Engineer Depart
*"'»■*< tr, .piJp •> nnrtnin nnrtinn. understood
to be $50,000, of the general river improve
ment appropriation to the improvement of
i the Mississippi by the removal of the bar
at its mouth.
On the subject of levees, the Convention
resolved that it approved the bill now be
fnre Congress to guarantee the levee bonds
of the States of Louisiana, Mississippi,
and Arkansas, and desired the extension of
that bill to Tennessee and Missouri.
On immigration, the Convention resolved
that immigrants were invited from all other
] sections of the Union, and also from all
- the civilized nations of the earth; also,
j that the various State authorities of the
South establish bu- eaus of immigration,
publish accounts of the advantages of this
section, and send ageDts abroad to explain
the same, and invite settlers. Also, that
the cheap lands of the South should be
brought iu competition with the public
lauds of the Northwest, and offered to im
migrants either in colonies or as individ
uals.
On foreign commerce, the Convention
resolved that the navigation of the Missis
sippi and tributaries ought to be improved
by the Government; that the Government
tolls at the falls of the Ohio should be re
mitted, and all State tolls reduced; that
the restrictive character of the existing
regulations on the import trade via the
Mississippi, should he ameliorated: that
more interior ports of entry should bo
created; that a canal ought to be construct
ed across the penibsula of Florida, and an
other across the isthmus of Darien; and
that Congress should provide for a uniform
ocean rate of postage not higher than
three cents.
On the subject of a Southern Pacific
Railroad, the Convention, after a heated
delate, resolved thus :
liesolved, That the Convention memo
rial ze Congress to grant the right of way,
aud such subsidies as may ha just, to
•i Southern Pacific Railroad from San
Diego, California, via the junction of the
Rivers Colorado and Gila, along the valley
of the Gila south of the same to El Paso
on the Rio Grande, and thence to a con
venient point near the thirty-second
parallel of north latitude east of the
Brazos, at or near that river in the State
of Texas, to which main trunk feeder
roads may be built from St. Louis, Cairo,
Memphis, Vicksburg, New Orleans anil
Galveston, on the east, aud to Guaymas,
Mazatlan and San Francisco on the West,
and such other roads on the east or the
west as may be desired, with equal right
of connection for all.
liesolved, That the officers of the Con
veniion are hereby directed to forward
copies of the above resolution to the Presi
dent and Vice President of the United
Slates, and to the Speaker of the House
of Representatives, for submission to
Congress.
There have been some inaccuracies in
the current reports of this action, aud I,
therefore, send it to you in lull as furnish
ed me by the mover, W. H. Fitch, Jr., of
Memphis, Tenn.
Further than all this, the Convention
resolved that “the organized railroad com
panies in the States of California, Texas,
Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Kentucky,
Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina,
Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee,
Kansas, and railroads in other States that
favor the construction of the Southern
Pacific Railroad “meet by delegates at
Louisville, Ky., on the 12th October,
18C9,” for the purpose of adopting a defi
nite policy to secure the immediate action
of the National Government in the eon
struetion ot the Southern Pacific Rail
road.”
It was also resolved that a Convention
he held at Davenport, lowa, on or about
the first of August, 1860 to consider the
subject of commerce and trade on the Mis
sissippi River.
Such is the main action of the New Or
leans Commercial Convention. Those de
siring the proceedings in full will obtain
the same as soon as published, which will
not be long, by addressing Mr. D. C.
Seymour, No. 112, Poydras street, New
Orleans. Mr Seymour was Secretary of
the Convention, is a native of Southwest
ern Georgia, and, from his civil demeanor
and fidelity to his official duties, merits a
highly favorable mention.
Os course, the Convention did not fail to
properly acknowledge the courteous hospi
tality which did so much to render
its session agreeable. 1o the New
Orleans Chamber of Commerce, in par
ticular, special credit is due. That
body certainly played the urbane host
to perfection, as one slight instance
whereof i f presented at noon every day
durmg the session a handsome repast,
where substantial viands found a fit ac
companiment in most excellent claret,
sherry, cogniac and so on.
As to the city of New Orleans itself,
that pleasant Crescent city, where our
every day American life is tipped with
French grace and Spanish romance, it is
beyond description, especially at the close
of a dry business letter all about sand bars,
trade, grain in hulk, ocean postage, rail
ways aud the like. And yet it is as the an
cient hath it — Dulcis est (lesipere in loco.
Where is it more dulcis than in that gay
town we shall so soon leave l Among good
things to eat, there to be alone found in
perfection, are crab gumbo, and trout ala
tartar, and shrimp salad. Go to \ ictor’s,
good friend, the next time thou visitest
New Orleans, eat of these things and when
thou hast eaten, thank me for giving thee
such excellent good advice. Atd then tie
cha miDg pretty women i hat one sees —par-
don the putting such exquisite Inventions
r,f Hoi,,• uttor chrimps and crabs—hut the
sweets always come in atier the solids,
yo.A know, and are not these angels the
very dessert of life ?—the ladies, then,
the charming, beauteous iadies of the
Crescent City, who can approach them in
fascinations or what equal their beauty
save it be that goodness of soul which
makes them the incentive to pure thoughts
and the living mentors of a better life !
And now a word on the New Orleans
press. There are four daily papers, the
Times, Picayune, Bee and Commercial
Bulletin. On the editorial staff of the
limes is Mr. Ed. G. Did, a gentleman
wli -se varied abilities have contributed im
mensely to that superior position his paper
occupies. Ho is a friend of aul/l lang
sij.te, the days ereconquest and reconstruc
tion were permitted to be-devil us, and
yet, T write not from a feeling of old com
rade,hip, but in simple justness of criticism
when saying that he is destined to unsur
passed prominence in that perhaps most
diffiiultof the professions, journalism. Mr.
Hi my, the leader-writer, Mr. Meek, a shrewd
and biting pen, and Mr. Bartlett.of the re
nortorial corps, are also oi the Times. Mr.
I, me of the Pic was the only editor of that
| paper it was my fortune to meet. Mr.
Jewell, who had the honor of being ex
pelled the mongrel Legislature, is of the
Bulletin. The Bee is a famous oid New
Orleans paper, edited daily in french and
English and deservedly a favorite. Mr.
Charles Dimitry, another old time friend,
is now on the English side of the Bee and
wields that same pen which, by likening
the late lamented Lmcoln to a ginning
hob-nailed clown, brought down the wrath
of the military upon linn in Btehmond m
1860. Mr. Dimitry is the author of i/t.
Housc in Balfour Street, the story of an
innocent but fatal love, and. will yet do
much in literature, for
Albert Hidny . n m crip
the so'extensively
name-
Wanted two lines to fill out this column
I a nd here they are.