Newspaper Page Text
01,1) SERIES, VOL. LXXVI.
(Chronicle & Sentinel.
AIIGEBTA, GA s
u npnwpiit miriw. jw» »
Columbia & AuousrA Railroad
From tlic Charleston Courier we learn that
the Columbia & Augusta Railroad Com
pany and the Charlotte Railroad Company,
it is now ascertained, will consolidate their
lines at an early day, running through
trying between Charlotte and Augusta, one
hundred and ninety miles. The stock and
bond account for the united road will foot
up about $4,400,006; which at 7 percent.,
call for over $300,000 net income per an
num. It is ( xpcctcd that the gross earn
ings wi.l b; between $500,000 and $600,000
a year.
Practical Arithmetic.— We are in
debted to .Messrs. J. W. Burke & Cos. for
a copy of “Caldwell's Practical Arithme
tic This work scorns to bo an original
and comprehensive method of calculation
and is a credit to its author. Professors
of schools ,-hould examine its merits and,
ii possibb , introduce it into Southern
academics. A home institution of this
kind should not be neglected.
Negro Browned in Burke County.
—On last Sunday morning, a negro man
about (criy years of age, was drowned in
Mclntosh creek in Burke county, a short
distance front Waynesboro. The creek
flowed through a culvert under the Savan
nah A Augusta Railroad, and near the
railroad the bed of the stream bad washed
nut a good deal, and it was very deep at
that point. On Surday about noon, the
m gro alluded to above, in company with
one or two others, went to this creek for
the purpose of bathing. Arriving there,
the negro jumped from the bank into the
deep water at the edge of the culvert, und
disappearing beneath the water, rose no
more. It is supposed that the suction of
the water drew his body under the culvert
and caused him to be drowned. His body
bad not been recovered at last accounts.
A Freight Depot at tiie Canal
Basin, luiho CmiONr.LK & Sentinel
of last Sunday morning there appeared an
article recommending to the City Council
the propriety of converting the work
house at the Canal Basin into a Freight
Depot, where the goods of shippers by the
(.'anal might be stored to await the pleas
ure of the consignor or consignee. In that
article wo expressed the belief that this
plan, if adopted, would cause a large
amount of goods to be shipped over the
canal, both by tho n ercliauts of Augusta
and the farmers of the counties in South
Carolina and Georgia situated on the
banks of tho Savannah river, over the
quantity now transported in that manner,
and that tho expense incurred in opening
and keeping up the depot would be easily
paid by charging a small rate of storage
from shippers. On yesterdoy everting we
wero informed by a member of Council
that, though nothing had been said abotlt
it before, the Canal Committee had been
investigating the matter alluded to in Sun
day's Chronicle & Sentinel, and had at
last decided tnadoptthis very scheme as ono
which would be beneficial to both farme rs
and merchants and tho canal. But very little
cither of work or of money will bo required
to convert tho work-house into the desired
depot—enlarging the present doors, a few
loot in width, being all the repairs neces
sary. On the first of next October, when
the coUon season commences this building
will he put under tl c charge of a reliable
man as keoper, and will he opened for the
reception of freight. Tho Canal Commit
tee,in fixing the rates of storage, has deemed
it the better policy not to charge ,to much
on each articlo or so much on each hundred
pounds weight, hut have determined in
stead and this we believe is tho desire of
the Savannah River boatmen—to charge
five dollars for each boat load of freight
brought down the Canal. It is thought
that this plan will boa great convenience
to planters and merchants aud will furnish
a handsome revenue to the City Treasury.
Radical Nominating Conventions in
Philadelphia. —The Age of’ Thursday
says ;
Yesterday Iho Republican Nominating
Conventions, for oily and county officers,
were held. Beyond all contradistinction,
they wore the most disgraceful political as
semblages that have over met in our city.
This is no exaggerated statement of the
ease. 'The scenes that wore unacted in the
Convention for county officers were com
mented on during the romaindorof theday.
Republicans themselves stated with vehe
mence, that they were ashamed of tho dis
grace and contumely that the political
leaders and wire-pullers had heaped upon
the party by this one day’s action ; es
pecially in the conventions for nominating
a Recorder of Deeds and Clerk of the
Quarter Sessions was this disorder most
prevalent. In the former body, an ad
journment was necessary, in two instances,
in order that the terrible coufusion and
fury of the politic il combat ants might be
subdued. There were men so drunk, on
the floors as delegates, that when their
turn of votingoarae they were unable to
give the name of their candidates.
Tiie Recognition of the Cuban Pro
visional Government by Peru.—The
following is a translation of the deoreo of
President Ralta declaring the Cuban in
surgents to be belligerents :
‘‘Jose Italia, Constitutional President of
(he Republic ot Peru, Ac., cousideriog :
"I hat the insurreotiou of Cuba has for
its dtbjoet to briug about the independence
ot Island, and all political connection
being severed between the faction fighting
fir the said object and the Government of
tho Peninsula, thoro exists two independ
ent parts carrying on war for a political
purpose, that should he regarded by other
nations in conformity with the principles
of International law.
" That the peoples and the Government
of Peru sympathize with the noble cause
proclaimed by tho Cubans.
That the Captain General ofthe Cuban
Liberating Army has requested that the
political party whereof he is the chief, be
recognired as a belligerent power.
That over and above the interest Peru
takes in and the sympathy she feels for the
cause of Cuban Independence, she must
first of all define the political condition of
the insurgent party so as not to consider
it as a subject to a Government at war
with Peru. I decree ;
Art I. The P eruvian Government rec
ognise ns belligerents the poliCea! party
fighting for tho independence of Cuba.
Art 11. The citizens, ships aud all
Other Cuban properties contributing to the
cause of independence are viewed with
friendship by Peru.
The Minister for Foreign Affairs is
charged with the fulfillment of this Decree,
and to cause the same to be published and
circulated.
Lima 14th May. 1569.
1 Signed, Jose Ralta.
I Countersigned] J. A. Barrenichea.
The Macon Factory.— The Macon
Journal n i l Messenger says: Since Mon
day last this establishment has been run
ning only three days in the week —Thurs-
day, Friday aid Saturday. The employees
are fed by the company the other three
days.
The Charleston Courier has the follow
ing: ‘“Ondit, 1 that the track of the
Savannah and Charleston Railroad will be
laid to G rahamville, ten miles beyond the
present terminus, by the 25th, thence to
Savannah River is only twelve or fifteen
miles.”
Wheat Harvest.—Wheat harvest has
commenced in all the counties along the
line of the Macon A Western Railroad.
A farmer from Clayton told us yesterday
that the wheat crop in his county this year
will be worth more than both the wheat
and corn crops of last year.
Augusta Factory & Granitevill*
Manufacturing Company Goods have
been advanced in price. We now quote,
4-4 sheeting 15f cents, 7-8 shirting 14
£ents, 3-4 shirting 11* cents, and drill 16
The Chinese as Voters.
While Mr. Burlingame, the Chinese
Ambassador furnished by New England,
j for a salary of fifty thousand a year in
gold, introduced the Celestial Pigtails to
the Court of the United States and to the
j Courts of Europe, General Grant gives
sambo office. Mr. Burlingame likes yellow
faces. General Grant and his Cabinet likes
black ones ; Mr. Burlingame likes pigtails,
Mr. Creswell likes kinky heads. Doubt
less if Mr. Burlingame was President ot
the United States, instead of Genera*
Grant, encouragement would he given to
the Celestial yellow faces in the way of good
fat public offices. As General Grant is
President of the United States and But
ler directeur-in-chief due encouragement
lis given to African aspirations. But this
j is not the whole of the story. The sub
i ject whites of California, or, perhaps, in
j the New England parlance of Northern
j Radical', “the low, mean whites” of the
Pacific, not having a New England fear of
I God before their eyes, nor a New England
I love of equality in their hearts, the labor
ing men of the land of gold, finding them
selves jostled and crowded and underbid
in their avocations, by Chinese competitors,
show their teeth. Tuey complain, openly
and loudly, that they are not considered as
good as yellow-faced Celestials—that unfor
tunately they were born white and, in con
sequence thereof, have to struggle against
all the world with no protection Irom the
Government, and have resolved to protect
themselves. They have organised them
selves into au “Union League,” and make
war upon not only the Chinese and Japan
ese immigrants, but upon those who give
them employment.
On the other hand, Mr. Charles Francis j
discussed the matter as belonging to social
science, aud disp'ays uumistakable oppo
sition uot only to the present negro policy i
of'the.Goverument, but also to the Chinese j
policy fbrshadowed so long as the so-called |
Constitutional Amendments are held to be
offorce. He regards Chinese immigration
as a sort of deluge of Asiatic barbarism,;
and is afraid, under the present encour- j
agemeut of the “National Government,”
that all L.boria will re-migrate to the Land .
of American Liberty and Equality, and !
thinks that some system should be adopted '
to render the admission of these immi
grants to citizenship gradual and safe.
Long before General Grant's African
policy, or Mr. Burlingame’s diplomatic
feats, oi Mr. Adams' scientific discussions
shall have reached their legitimate con
clusion, the question will ha e adjusted
itself, outside of Congress, outside of
Constitutional amendments, and outside of
Radical legislation. Tho scenes at the late
municipal election in Washington city j
indicates very clearly how the question is
to be solved.. There will be no delay— j
no social scientific discussion—no diplo
matic s ratagems. It is simply a question
of power, and such a quest iou as will ad- j
mit of no compromises. Washington city
is now Africanized in its municipal in
fluence ; and Washington city will soon
he Africanized, or Japanizcd as to its na
tional character. This is to be our next
reconstruction, and it will not be confined
to tho South alone, but will apply to the
whole country—North, East, South and
West, to tho Atlantic and to tho Pacific.
The CoUon Trade.
The Financial Chronicle compiling tele
graphic reports, gives the aggregate
American cotton receipts from September
Ist, 1868 to June 11, 18C9, at 2,285,616
against 2,321,416 hales, during the same
period last year, and the stock at all the
ports at 113,988 bales against 129,081 last
year. The decrease of receipts this year is
35,846 bales, and in stock 15,093 bale'.
The receipts at the po t of New York
since ;Sept. Ist, 1868, are stated
at 597,000
Stock on hand September Ist 23,000
Total 620,000
Os which there has been
exported 307,000
Taken by American
tiers 242,000 549,000
Leaving tor estimated stock 71,000
But the stock by official count is... 41,500
Not accounted for 30,500
Tho following statement exhibits the
stocks in London and Liverpool, and afloat
for those ports on May 29th, as compared
with last year :
1868. 1869.
lu Liverpool bates 020,250 422,080
In London “ ... 30,720 75,217
American Cotton afloat
(bales) 131,000 149,000
Indian 445,120 535.350
Total 1,233,076 1,185,527
Os the present stock of cotton in Liver
pool 54} per cent, is American, against
58} per cent, last year : Os India cotton
tho 13} per cent., against 8} percent.
The sales in New York for future de
livery for tho week, ending Friday,
June 11th, were as follows: on Saturday,
200 hales, to be delivered in December
at 24}c, and 100 at same time, at 25c. On
Tuesday, 100, to be delivered in July at
29}0 and 100 in September at 29c. On
W ednesday, 100 for September on private
terms, and 100 for December at 24}c. On
Thursday, 100 for June on private terms,
and 100 for November. Oa Friday, 11th
inst., the sales were 900 bales, 150 to be
delivered in June at 30}e, 300 for July on
private tarrn?, 100 for November at 250,
100 for November at 25, 100 for November
at 24}c, 50 for December at 24c, and 200
for November on private terms. The
sales for immediate delivery during the
same week foot up 17,619 bales, ol which
there were 1,988 bales to arrive.-
Breadstuff’s.
The comparative receipts of breadstuff’s
for the last three years at the Like ports
of Chicago, Milwaukie, Toledo, Detroit
and Cleveland from Jaouary Ist to June
5, are shown in the following table :
1869. 186$. 18*57.
Flour, bbla... 2,317,012 1,408,574 1,193,451
Wheat,bush. 10.591.679 0.405.079 3.903.395
Corn. bush... 10,005,030 12,352,793 9,783,459
Oats, bush.. . 4,305,050 3,848,251 2,021,811
Barley, bush. 300,780 378,082 513,729
Rye, bush..... 401,393 156.728 432,638
XT gr’u, b 27,054.876 23.264,533 17,236,002
The stocks of Wheat in store at Chicago
and Milwaukee in 1867, 1868 and 1869
were near upon the fallowing figures at a
late date:
8167. 1868. 1809.
Chicago, bush 148,200 553,200 491,505
Milwaukee, bu5h..238,000 611,000 318,000
Total 386,200 1,164,200
In store in New York warehouses:
1869. IS6S. 1867.
Wheat, bush... 637,577* 507,699 578,279
Corn, liush 485,781 1,326,721 217,700
Oats, bush 555,993 527,304 379,805
Barley, busli... 388 575 - 09,403
Hve, bush 107,546 57,460 117,250
Peas, bush 41,392 43,400 25,041
Malt, bush 109,746 11,565 16,311
T 1 gr’u. buah.,1,888,223 2,534,484 1,404,102
•Mostly California.
Macon & Brunswick Railroad.—
The Macon Iclegraph says twenty-five
miles of additional track of the Macon &
Brunswick Road will be laid during the
month of Jane. The work is going ahead
with something like the Pacific Railroad
energy. Six construction trains are now
busy—all now employed at as many points
on the track, with a heavy force at each
place. We have heretofore stated that
the iron and all the materials for the super
structure of the entire road arc at hand.
Unless something unexpected and extra
ordinary intervenes, the iron way to the
sea will be all laid on or before the Ist of
November, and we can snuff sea breezes
n eight hours from this spot.
Ji dg* of the Chattauoocuke Cir
cuit. —Bu’lock has issued an order ap
pointing Hon. James Johnson, of Colum
bus, formerly Provisional Governor of
Georgia under Andrew Jyhnson’s “poli
cy,” Judge of the Chattahoochee Circuit
vice Judge Worrill.
It is Done.
In accordance with the behests of their
catty, Brown and McCay have decided
that negroes are eligible to hold office un
der the Constitution and laws of this
State. It will be seen that McCay goes
1 squarely up to the line dictated by Butler
and Sumner. He takes the bull by the
i horns and holds, as did Judge Orr in
' South Carohni last week, that there was
no civil Government in Georgia prior to
; the adoption of the present Constitution.
Os course the conclusion which he reaches
from these premises is logical and consist
ent.
Brown goes back oq his Marietta speech
and upon the record of his whole life up
to hi-affiliation with the mongrel par y.
He adroitly seeks to break the force of his
Marietta speech by lasing his present
decision upon the provisions of the Code
of the State as affected by the 14th
Amendment of the Constitution of the
United States. Os course it was to be
expected that so profound an adept in the
art of dissimulation, and so reckless of
principle and consistency, would find little
difficulty in giving roasons for his treach
ery which would be quite satisfactory to
himself and those whom he n ow so abjectly
serves.
Judge Warner, the jurist, statesman,
patriot and honest, upright man, unawed
by power aud unseduced by hope of re
ward, has again vindicated in his person
the true character of an upright, incor
ruptible Judge. The people of Georgia,
in full confidence of his rectitude and
ability, relied with undoubting certainty
upon his decision, and they have not been
disappointed.
The deed is done. Georgia is dragged
down to the lowest depths in the slime
and filth of Radicalism—at least so far as
the exercise of the high places of the State
by unlettered negroes is concerned. For a
season we must submit to our fate. Our
people must summon to their support all
the patience and forbearance they can ex
ercise, and wait, not as one without hope,
for the better day which is coming when
mongrels and scalawags and charlatans
and traitors shall be driven from power and
the true children of the State shall be re
stored to the patrimony secured to them by
the blood and treasure of the sages and
patriots who formed the Government.
This decision will drive together and
cement more closely all the conservative
elements in the State. It will convince
moderate Republicans that Radicalism is to
be feared and hated and driven from
power if they would prescive any portion
of their liberties. In this view Brown and
MeCay’s decision may become a blessing
in disguise. Let all true men wait and
watch and work for the speedy approach of
that good day when the children’s patri
mony, now fed upon by dogs, will be re
turned to the true owners and the govern
ment of the State restored to its rightful
proprietors.
Cotton Crop or 1868 and 1869.
The following figures and speculations,
from the Boston Journal, are given for
what they are worth. Our readers can
draw their own conclusions :
Some estimate may now be formed of
the probable size of the crop of 1868, now
reaching market, for enough has come to
hand to give a good idea of the quantity
yet to be received. The receipts at the
ports for the past lour weeks have been in
excess of those for the same period of
1868, and although our interior stock'
have been very much reduced, they are
still nearly twice as large as at the same
time last year, while there is every reason
to believe that there is still a considerable
quantity of cotton held on the plantations;
and it is now safe to estimate the crop of
last year at about 2,500,U00 bales.
It is yet too early to form any estimate
of the probable cotton crop of this Sum
mi r, and all opinions on the subject must
be considered as mere guess work ; but we
can look at its position and judge of its
present promise, provided the course is
smooth throughout the season. There can
he no doubt at all that more land was
planted in cotton during last Spring than
that of 1868. In Texas the increase in
area is estimated at one-third, in Georgia
at 13 per ent, while the increase in the
other States is also large. We will be
quite safe in estimating the average in
crease over last year at 9 per cent, for the
entire South. Now the Bureau of Agri
culture estimated that in 1868 there were
6,000,000 acres in the South planted in
cotton, therefore an increase of 9 per cent,
will give 6,540,000 aeres as the extent of
land under cultivation in the staple during
this year. By reference to the Report of
Agriculture for 1867 it will be seen that
the average production of cotton through
out the South is 190 p unds per acre, but
in order to bo within a limit, only 180
pounds per acre will be assumed.
The fact is indisputable that there has
been a larger importation of fertilizers into
the South during last Winter than ever
before. It is estimated that Georgia alone
has consumed 17,000 tons, and all of the
other Slates have taken proportionate
quantities. This increased use of fertil
izers will give au increased productive
power to the lands, which increase can be
safely estimated at about seventeen per
cent , raising the average production of
the South from 180 pounds to 210 pounds
per acre; in addition to which the lands
have been more thoroughly cultivated, and
the freedmen have worked better and more
steadily than last year, and give every
promise of continuing to do so.
There can be no doubt that the youDg
cotton has been injured by the cool Spring,
but the injury has been greatest in South
Carolina, Tennessee, Arkansas and the
Northern ports of Mississippi, while the
real cotton regions of the North and South,
Georgia, Florida, Texas, Louisiana, and
the Southern parts of Mississippi and Ala
bama, have not suffered so severely ; but
the injury to the entire crop will probably
amount to about 10 per ccut. During the
past two weeks there have been successive
hot days and nights, with lino rains odcs
or twice, which is the best kind of weather
for cotton, aud under its influence, as we
learn from all sections, the crop is shooting
up aud growing finely. Under the fore
going consideration, the crop of this year
may be estimated as follows : Number of
acres under cotton, 6,540,000; at 210
pounds per acre, 420 pounds per bale,
3,270,000 bales ; probable crop of 1860,
2,943,000 bales, provided no other casual
ties occur to further reduce the yield.
The Cincinnati & Chattanooga
Railroad. —A few days since a gentle
man of this city addressed a letter to a gen
tleman of Atlanta, who occupies a position
that makes him high authority on that
subject, for information with regard to the
great Southern railroad to be built from
Cincinnati, Ohio, to Chattanooga, Tenn..
and to the completion of which the city of
Cincinnati has subscribed ten millions of
dollars. On yesterday a reply to tie letter
was received. This has been shown to us,
and we publish the substance of it below,
convinced that it wi:l be found interesting
to our readers.
The writer states that the line of the
road from Cincinnati to Chattanooga has
Dot yet been definitely located, but that
the surveys, as made up to this time, con
clusively indicate the pro; er and most di
rect route to be as follows : Starting at Cin
cinnati it will go from that city to Paris,
in the State ol Kentucky : thence by way
of Lexington, Nieholasville, Danville and
Somerset to Chitwood, a small town situat
ed on the boundary line between Kentucky
and Tennessee. From Chitwood the route
will run via Montgomery to Emery River
Gap ; thenee along the foot of Walden's
Ridge, to a point near Post Oak Springs
and Smith's Cross Roads to its terminus,
Chattanooga.
The first seventy-four miles of the route
in a Northern direction from Chattanooga
passes up the valley of the Tennessee
river with exceedingly easy grades. The
mountainous division presents a remarka
bly favorable route for a mountainous
section of country. There will be but
three small tunnels to be constructed along
the entire distance, and there will be bo
grade encountered exceeding eighty feet to
the mile, and probably none excesding
sixty feet The route, as a whole, is consid
ered by railroad engineers to be a very
AUGUSTA, GA., WEDNESDAY MORNING, JUNE 23, 1569
favorable one. One bundled miles of the
route will run through large iron beds, and
two hundred miles through coal fields of
remarkable richness.
The writer says that the people of Cin
cinnati are fully alive to th t importance of
this great enterprise to then interest and
are determined to build it in the shortest
time possible. He thinks that the import
ance of this work to the State of Georgia,
through the Western and Atlantic Rail
road and its Georgia, South Carolina and
Alabama conncctions.can scarcely be over
rated. It miy also be a matter of interest
to the citizens of Augusta to know that
the people of Cincinnati construct this
railway for the purpose of getting direct
communication with a South Atlantic sea
port, and that when the Fort Royal Rail
road is finished, Fort Royal will be the
nearest poit to Chattanooga, the terminus
of the Cincinnati line—nearer than
Charleston, nearer than Savannah, nearer
than Brunswick.
New York Stock Gambling.
The American Metropolis is the great
gambling theatre of the Western World.
In times past Havana served to point a
moral in the tales of a traveller, or of
travelling correspondent “To gamblo like
a Cuban,” was an expression universally
in use to signify the extreme of devotion
to games of chance, comparable only to
the devotion displayed in Europe, at
Baden Baden. But the Cuban vices rarely,
if ever, excited the virtuous indignation of
righteous critics. The details were always
given as curiously interesting, and the
moral, always brief, was faintly uttered in
justification of the narrator’scharacter, and
always implied a Pharisee’s thanksgiving
prayer for not being a Cuban. But
the Cubans now have a little game of war
on hand, and for the nonce have for
saken their favorite pastime.
In the days of Slavocraey, as our Radi
cal brethren, with a keen eyo to political
profit, and with virtuous indignation,
affectionately characterized us, the Faro
BanksofNew Orleans,and the Lao Tables of
thesteamboats ofthe Mississippi and Vicks
burg under the hill,furnished tho requisite
materials to adorn a tale to be spread be
fore the people of the North, invoking the
condemnation ofthe pre-eminent good,and
Vicksburg and New Orleans as depicted,
were adjudged types of Southern society,
against which our Northern brethren did
lift their hands in holy horror. In the days
of the slavocraey it was believed South
erners did nothing else than watch the
shuffling cards or rolling dice, while our
“colored brethren of later date,” made the
cotton and sugar, and the rice, and tobac
co, which our pious judges manufactured
or sagaciously manipulated in trade for
their own benefit. But the days of the
“slavocraey” are numbered with the dead
past, and the diminished cottoo, sugar,
rice and tobacco crops, attest pointedly
that if there was gambling in Vicksburg
and New Orleans, and on Mississippi
steamboats, neither cards nor dice absorbed
tho time and attention of the Southern
masses.
But this is the day of progress. Every
thing is becoming national virtue and vice
in politics and in religion. In our Ameri
can progression, we refine always and
everywhere except in Washington city.
Our great metropolis takes the lead.
Gambling is made respectable. “Gambling
hells,” it is true, are admitted to exist at
the North, but their existence is only ad
mitted in New York or Chicago or some
such lawless places of foreign growth. But
the .cosmopolitan of New York or Chicago,
ignoring the vulgar vice, presents the gen
teel game of stock gambling, in which all
can take a hand, the Puritan and the
Black-leg, the sinner and the saint. The
game is a simple one. The player is free
to choose, let it be gold or Government
bonds, or a fancy railroad stock. The stock
for example being selected, the player we
will suppose to be the owner of five thou
sand dollars. This sum he deposits with
the banker, and gives a written order for
the purchase of the selected stock accord
ing to the terms, usually one hundred
thousand dollars in amount if the stock is at
all reputable for such a bonus. The
bank orders the purchase through
brokers (or faro dealers with his coat
on). When the purchase is made the
banker receives and holds the scrip
as collateral security. If the stock ad
vances ia price the player,either in person
or by telegraph (for a great point of the
game is that it can bo played as well by
the player being in St. Louis or Boston or
San Francisco, as on the spot), the player
says, “sell,” and the stock is sold ; and
he pockets the profii, ready for another
game. If the stock goes down so :hat the
price of the stock, with the bonus of five
thousand dollars in, will just cover the
banker’s charges, the banker says “sell,”
and the player is “sold,” and poc/cets his
loti of five thousand dollars. Sometimes
the game is varied and the player is allow
ed, by agreement, twenty or thirty or sixty
days, or is permitted to renew his “blind ’
of five thousand.
Prima facie, the game is the very sim- |
pie operation of buying and selling stocks; i
really, it is a bet that the selected
stock will advance in pries. These \
fluctuations in prices sometimes from un
forseen causes, and sometimes by manage
ment and artifice, afford ample scope for
the exercise of skill and judgment of the
coolest gambler and create an excitement
as intense as the greatest devotee to games
es chance coaid desire. The following table
of the decline that has taken place in the
prices in the first ten days of this month,
the heavy decline indicated having been
premeditated by “calling in the loans aud
dropping the market” for Mariposa, of
which large amounts had been hypothe
cated,below the margins advanced,and weak
parties bemg unable to respond to further
calls, that is, ante another blind, were
forced to sell at best market rates, causing
a decline in this particular stock, of thirty
oue per cent, in a single day and affecting
thereby all on the stock list of stock ex
change :
J are 1. June 10. De’ne.
New York Central 192} 182} 11}
: Hudson Kiver 160 153} 6}
Heading 100} 96} 4}
Michigan Southern 118} 102} 18}
. Illinois Central 145} 142 3}
| Cleveland * Pittsburg..lo7} 91} 15}
Chicago and Norih west
ern 92} 86} 6}
1 Chicago it Northwest
i ern, Pref 104} 97} 7}
; Rock Island 126} 117} 8}
Pitts., Ft. Wayne & Chi
cago 156} 155} 1}
Ohio and Mississippi
certificates 35} 32} 31
St. Paul 79} 73} 6}
St. Paul preferred 91} 83} 7}
Western Union Tele
graph 43} 40 3}
Pacific Mail 81} S3}
Adams' Express 60 58} 1}
American Express 39} 39} }
U. S. Express 66} 68 }
Merchants’ Union Ex
press 15 14 1
Good for the Southern Cotton
Planter. —The New York Times say3:
Despite all the efforts of the Eaglish and
other nations to foster the growth of cot
ton in India, Egypt, etc., the place of
America has never been really filled, and
returning industry at tho South will find a
plentiful demand for its productions. The
latest returns of the British Board of
Trade show that there are now 50,000
people less earning their living in cotton
manufactures than there were before the
rebellion: whereas if the English cotton
factories had increased during the seven
years since 1861 at the same rate they did
the five years preceding, the cotton manu
facturing population of England would be
170,000 more than it is now. So enormous
is the loss which the stoppage of Ameri
can cotton inflicted upon British industry.
The cost of anew war would be something
frightful to both parties.
TROUBLE IN SPARTI.
One Man Killed, another Mortally Wound
ed—The Negro Representative Impli
cated— Ihe Sheriff Pursuing the Parties
—Citizens Aid in the Pursuit.
On Wtduesday morning an alarming re
port was circulated on the streets of this
| city to the effect that there had been a
serious difficulty between the citizens of
Spaita, Hancock county, and the negroes,
on Tuesday evening; tLat a conflict be
tween the races had ensued, caused by a
| negro incendiary inciting an armed body of
! his race to burn the town; that in the fight
j fire negroes and one white man had been
! killed; that upon the Sheriff of the county
| endeavoring to arrest a party of the white
; men, who had been engaged in the affair,
! the latter had seized the cotton factory in
j Sparta and, conveiting it into a fort,had set
the Sheriff and his posse comitatus at de
fiance; and that a thousand other terrible
I things had happened besides. The
news created a good deal of excite
ment and anxiety in this city ; because it
was believed that if the report proved to
be true, it would be seized upon by the
scalawags as fit material out of which to
manufacture political capital and assist
them in their scheme to remand Georgia to a
m litary despotism. Fortunately,however,
we have been enabled to obtain a true ac
count ofthe whole affair,and the story of the
morning proves to be a ridiculous canard,
circulated by members of Arnes’ New Or
leans Circus troupe, who were iu Sparta
at the time the di: trrbruee occurred ; but
who immediately left the town for this city
as soon as the shootirg took place, un
willing to become involved in any difficulty,
and who were either misinformed as to
the true history of tho transaction, or
exaggerated it very much —unintention-
ally, we suppose—in the telling.
Anxious to present to the many
readers of the Chronicle k Senti
nel a correct statement of all the
facts connected with this affair, we had an
iaterview with a well known gentleman of
this city, who came down on the Georgia
Railroad Wednesday evening,and from him
obtained full particulars of the occurrence-
The gentleman referred to was in the
ttwn of Sparta when the affray took place,
and may be considered tho very best au
thority on the subject. From our in
formant’s statement it will be seen that
politics had nothing whatever to do with
the matter, and if the Bullock News
Agency in Atlanta will telegraph tho facts
is they occurred we think that it will baffle
even the Washington Chronicle or the
Tribune to torture them into a political
bearing.
It appears that on last Tuesday after
noon, Ames’ Circus was performing near
the depot of the Macon & Augusta Rail
road, in the town ofSparta, and, of course,
a large crowd of negroes had come in from
the country to witness the exhibition.
Among others who were attracted to the
place, was a negro man named Washing
ton Pierson, a notorious scoundrel and
desperado, who has for some time past
been known as tho ringleader in nearly
every act of rascality committed in
Hancock countj, and another negro named
Eli Barnes, thecolored Representative in
the Legislature from that county, who was
expelled last year, who is also reported to
be a bold, (urbulant incendiary, and a con
stant stirrer-up ts strife between tho white
and colored races. The circus exhibition
opened at two o’clock in the afternoon,
and the canvas vas soon filled with a large
crowd of both white people and negroes.
Two hours late 1 , at four o’clock in the
afternoon, a crowd of negroes, in which
wore both Barnes and Pierson, assembled
outside of the cantas, when the latter got
into an altcrcatiot with two white men
standing near. 80110 words passed between
the parties when Person pronounced one of
the white men to beta G—d d—d liar. At
this the man drew 15s pistol aud fired, the
ball penetrating thflheart of Pierson, kill
ing him instantly. Upon seeing the fall of
their leader the negioes fired a volley into
the two whites but did no execution. A
ball, however, fron one of their pistols
struck a negro namd Marshall, who hap
pened to be in the tray, in the abdomen,
inflicting a mortal wrtind. The ball which
s:ruck Marshall was supposed to nave
come from a pistol told in the hands of
Eli Barnes, the expelled negro Represent
ative. The white men, as soon as Pierson
fell, fled from Sparti into the country,
pursued by the negroes. The pursuit had
not been conducted a very great distance
when, it is said, the wlite men rallied and
fired a volley into tke pursuers, which,
though no one was injured, caused the
negroes, in turn, to take to their heels.
Soon after the negroes were killed, Mr.
Roger?, the Sheriff of the county, sum
moned a posse comitatis of the citizens
and went out to ariest the supposed guilty
parties. Thisposse wasstil! out when our
informant left Sparta yesterday morning.
Our informant also states that “Rev.”
Win. Henry Harrison, another expelled
negro member of the Legislature from
Hancock county, left Sparta yesterday for
Atlanta. Ofcourse, he was the bearer oi
dispatches to Bullock, and we may look out
for another dispatch tc the Radical jour
nals North and West.
The Legislature to be Assembled.
The Atlanta Constitution tays it was re
potted in Atlanta on last Monday that if
the Supreme Court deciled negroes eligible
to office in Georgia, Bulock would call the
Legislature together in thirty days. By
our dispatches Tuesday night it will be
seen that the Supremo Court has decided
the negroes to bo eligibly so we may look
out for the Governor’s “call.”
Suicide. —We learn tiat a most shock
ing suicide occurred at Bonesville, in
Columbia county, yesterday morning. It
appears that a gentleman by the name of
Walker, had a little quarrel with his wife
at breakfast time on yesterday, during the
course of which the husband got up and
left the house, saying to his wife that he
would go down to the mill and remain un
till she recovered her temper. He walked
down to the mill, which was but a short
distance off, but had not been there long
when one of his children came running
from the house and told him that her
mother had killed herself. Returning to
his home Mr. Walker found his wife lying
on the floor in a pool of blood, dead. She
had efit her throat from ear to ear with a
razor.
The Rutledge Affair. —Not desiring
to do injustice to any man, we publish the j
following version of the affair at Rutledge,
in which Mr. Lawson is vindicated :
Rutledge, June 7,1869.
Editors Chronicle & Sentinel:
Gentlemen —An article in your paper
of the 3iinst., headed “Miscegenation in
Morgan County,” does great iajustiee to j
Mr. lawioo, to our villageand to a 1 parties
interested. In the first place it is nearly
all false, though, of course, not intention
ally on your part, and 1 am requested to
ask you to correct it. In the second place,
Mr. Lawson and his wife have been separ- ,
ated tor seven years or more. In the third ;
place, Mr. Lawson has been living in the
house he now occupies ever since 1860. He
built the house and also the one on an ad
joining lot, which Mrs. Lawson occupies,
and he gave it to her when they separated
by mutual consent many years ago, and I
understand they have not spoken to each
other since they parted. In the fourth
place, the negro woman spoken of a3 his
“mistress” was his property befere free
dom, and she remained with him ever
sinee as housekeeper, and the old negress
was only there on a visit to see her daugh
ter; and the parties who attacked the house
on Monday night last were disguised and
unknown to the negroes. Mr. Lawson had
gone in the country a mile and returned
just as the parties had left the house and he
never saw any of them nor spoke to them,
but when in a few steps of his gate one of
the negroes hollowed to him aLd told him
that some men had carried off the other
one, or was beating her at the back of (he
lot; and just at the time his name, was
called by the old negress a double-barreled
gun was discharged at Mr. L , one barrel
alter the other in quick succession, a
portionof both taking effect, putting sixty
large shot in his legs. This all happened
in the street, and Mr. L. never did speak
to any of the party, nor saw any one of
them. It was dark, and he only saw the
flash of the guu up the street several
yards fiotn him., And in the last place,
the good people of Rutledge do not coun
tenance such proceedings, and they do not
believe in mob law.
Mr. Lawson keeps a bar-room in Rut
ledge, and always attends to his own
business, and is not considered an “idle,
drunken fellow.”
Messrs. Editors, in justice to all parties,
and especially to Mr. Lawson, >ou should
publish this statement, or at least correct
your article of the 31.
Yours, &c., Justice.
Excentire Pardon and Political Disa
bling.
The accompanying correspondence needs
no comment:
Winchester, Va., May 29tb, 1869.
Major General E. li. S. Canhy , U. S.
Army, Commanding Ist Military Dis
trict, Richmond, Va.:
General —lu September, 1865, I re
ceived the lull pardon of the President of
the Uoited States for my participation in
the “late rebellion.”
1 became thus, in law, in logic, and in
the recognized rule of all civilized Govern
ments, anew map; fully rehabilitated
with all the 1 unctions, rights, privileges
and immunities of a citizen of the United
States, under the Constitution theieof.
And, accordingly, I was allowed to vote,
and did cast my vote, at the election held
in this State October 7th, 1865.
I was thus, iu full exercise and enjoy
ment of every right aud function ol my
citizenship, long before the passage of th*
Fourteenth amendment, aud before the re
peal of the special act of Congress authoriz
ing the President of the United States to
grant pardons and remove the political
disabilities of participants in the late re
bellion against the Government of the
United States.
lam not now a registered voter iu Vir
ginia ; having been refused the right to
register, and, of course, to vote.
1 invoke your decision, now, in time to
enable me to register and to vote, as 10 my
right to do so.
Long before the passage of the Four
teenth Amendment, and before the passage
ofthe “Reconstruction acts of Congress,”
1 hid had my political disabilities removed
and my liabilities remitted by an act of
Congress expressly authorizing the Presi
dent of the Doited States to grant his par
don, and these enactments of law aud Con
stitution found me, when they came into
existence, in the exact legal, - political and
social status of any other one citizen of tho
United States who had not participated in
the rebellion, and upon whom the policy,
intendment and operation of those enact
ments could have no effect.
I could not, by these acts, be romanded
to the liabilities or the disabilities from
which I had been restored by the pardon
of the Government, any more than you, or
any other citizen of the United States,
could now be legislated out of the pale
and protection of the Conititution ofthe
United States, which forbids th* passage
of any ex post facto law, or tho imposition
of any retroactive penalties.
Respectfully submitted.
T. T. Fauntleroy, Jr.
Headq’rs First Military Distbict, ]
State op Virginia, V
Richmond, Va., June 5, 1869. J
Mr.T. T. Fauntleyroy, Winchester, Va.:
Sir —In reply to your letter of the S9th
ultimo, stating that you have received a
pardon from the President of the United
States for participating in the late rebellion,
and inquiring if you have the right to
register and vote, lam instructed by the
Commanding General to say that Execu
tive pardon does not remove political dis
abilities.
Very respectfully, your ob’t.serv’t,
Louis V. CAziarc,
A. D. C., A. A. A.G.
Another Brutal Murder.
A WHITE MAN STABBED TO DEATH BY A
NEGRO.
CORBBIPOfDENCE Os THE CHBU3ICLK A BKKTIJfKL.
Waynesboro, Ga., June 16, 1869.
Editors Chronicle & Sentinel:
Adkin D. Lewis, a good and useful oiti
zen, residing about seven miles south of this
place, was murdered in his field about 8
o’clock a. m. to-day. The murderer is a
negro named “Ben,” about 40years old, a
round, plump fellow, weighing about ono
hundred and fifty pounds. He used a
knife to accomplish his hellish purpose,
with which he inflicted four or five stabs
on the body and breast of the dead man.
He fled and no arrest so far. As far as
can be judged it is a case of premeditated
murder, Ben having disclosed his plans
aitd purposes to a friend last night. A
caild of Ben’s was hired to Mr. Lewis as a
house servant, aud, it is supposed that a
correction of the child some days ago by
deceased, caused Ben to commit the hor
rid deed. A little son of Mr. Lewis, about
10 years old, was present at the killing.
Now and Then.
(JAN A NEGRO HOLD OFFICE IN GEORGIA?
Decision and Opinions of the Justices of
the Supreme Court of the State.
Fhonographicnlly Reported for the Atlanta Intelligence.
The cage of liichard W. White, plaintiff
in error, against the State of Georgia on
the relation of Wm. J. Clements, defend
ant in error, comes before this Court on
the following state of facts :
Wm. J. Clements applied to the Judge
of the Superior Court of Chatham county,
alleging that at an election which had been
held in that county for a Clerk of the Su
perior Court, he and Richard W. White
were the sole candidates. That Richard
W. White had got a majority of the votes,
but that he, Clements, had also got a good
many votes aud that no other persons were
running. The petition further stated that
Richard W. White had been declared
elected, and had been commissioned and
was in the actual performance of the duties
of the office, and that Richard W. White
was a penon of color, having one-eighth
or more of African blood in his veins. That
therefore under the laws of Georgia ho was
ineligible to office, and further that under
the laws.of Georgia as YY hite, the person
having the majority of votes, was ineligible,
he, Clements, having received the next
highest number of votes, was entitled to
the position. He prayed the Court for j
leave to file an information for a quo war- j
ranto. To that petition, of which White i
was notified, he (White) filed a demurrer.
Subsequently, however, he withdrew the
demurrer to that petition, and the infor
mation issued in the name of the State of
; Georgia. The Court passed an order di
recting the Solicitor General for that Cir
cuit to make out an information in the
name of the State, reciting in effect the
facts which had been recited in Clements'
petition, and calling upon White to show
cause why a mandamus absolute should not
issue against him, depriving him of the
office aod putting Clements in. White, at
the proper time fixed by the information
! for answering, filed a demurrer to the in
| formation and at the same time filed an
answer denying that he was a person of
color, or that he had one-eighth or more
' of African blond in bis veins.
Oq this the court summoned a jury for
| the purpose of trying the issue. When
the jury had been sworn, the defendant
I below—the plaintiff here—called up his
demurret to the information. It is stated
in the record that the plaintiff in the in
formation made no objection to taking up
the demurrer at that time, but consented ;
and the court heard the motion as an in
dependent motion before the case was sub
mitted to the jury. The court decided that
in the argument upon the motion —that
demurreT —Clements, the movant in the
general proceeding, was entitled to open
and conclude the argument —that the mat
ter being before the jury the general rule
which gives to the party moving in a de
murrer the right to open and conclude did
not apply.
The court heard the argument on the
demurrer and overruled the demurrer.
The case then went to the jury on the is
sue of fact whether or not White had oae
eighth or more of African blood in his
veins. On the trial there were various
questions made as to the testimony. One
witness testified that the defendant, White,
was reputed in the neighborhood to be a
colored person. Another witness testified
that he (the witness), was a registrar of
voters: that when White registered he,
the registrar, had affixed opposite White’s
name the letter “C,” to denote that he
was a person of color; that he subsequent
ly posted the lists in a public place, and
that they had remained there two or three
weeks without any application having been
made to him to have that letter “U”
erased or changed. It did not appear,
however, that there was any notice to
White that this letter “C” had been
placed opposite to his name, nor did it ap
pear that it was the law or the practice
that if he had applied to have it corrected,
that they would have corrected it; in other
words that it was the part or the duty of
the officer at all to make the entry. At
'least it has not so been made to appear to
us.
This evidence was objected to by the
defence but admitted by the Court. The
Court also admitted as evidence the state
ment by a physician, au examining physi
cian of an Insurance Company, that at a
previous time he had examined White and
had pronounced him a mulatto. Thero was
no testimony by the physician of what his
opinion was at the time ofthe trial. The
testimony was that at some previous time
he had examined him and was at that pre
vious time, of opinion .that he was a
mulatto.
In the further progress of the trial they
proposed to produce a copy of an applica
tion for a Life Insurance on the life of
White in favor ol his wife, which applica
tion .purported to be signed by White.
The application does not seem to have a
word in it as to whether White was a
white man or black man, it gave no indica
tion as to his color, but on the back of it
there was an entry by a person who pur
ported to he an examining physioian, that
White was a mulatto. The witness swore
at first that he thought White signed the
paper, but swore afterward that he didn’t
know whether White had signed it or
whether his wife had signed it for him.
Objection was made to this paper on three
grounds, one, that it was a copy-paper,
though it was proven that the original was
in New York ; the other that there was no
proof that the original had been executed;
an i third that in any event the paper
amounted to nothing.
Another witness, also a physician, swore
that he was a practicing physician, and
that he had studied tho science of ethnolo
gy ; that that science taught men the rules
by which the race of a man was ascertain
ed, and this witness gave his opinion upon
the point. The Couit admitted his opin
ion, that Whit* was a person of color, as
being the opinion of an expert. The case
went to the jury on this testimony. There
were some objections to the charge of the
Couit which we however have not noticed,
because we didn't think th 1 point very
material. The jury found for the plaintiff
in the information. Thereupon the Court
passed judgment, deposing White from his
position as Clerk of the Superior Court,
and declaring that Clements was entitled
to hold that office.
This case has been argued before us with
a great deal of learning and ability.
This Court has agreed upon the judg
ment whioh it will deliver in this case, but
not upon *he reasons upon which this
judgment is founded. The Court all agree
that the judgment in the court below
ought to be reversed; thij court being
unanimously of opinion that the court be
low erred in various of its rulings on tho
trial and on the question of the argument
on the demurrer.
A majority of the court, the Chief
Justice, and myself, agree iu the judg
ment that the court below erred in over
ruling the demurrer, it being our opinion
that under the Code of Georgia a person
of color is eligible to office in Georgia My
brother Brown, however, and myself do
not exactly agree upon the grounds upon
which we base that judgment. Tho stat
utes of the State of Georgia require that the
court shall agree in the decision which it
makes—the principle upon which it puts
tho case which it decides, and as my
brother Warner —whilst he agrees to the
general judgment—puts his opinion upon
one set of grounds, and my brother, the
Chief Justice puts his upon another, while
I put mine upon a third, we are unable to
agree upon a statement of the general
principles upon which we put our judg
ment. Hence, under tho statute, we shall
each give a statement of the ground upon
which we assent to the judgment of this
court.
I will, therefore, now read the grounds
upon which the whole Court bases its de
cision ; the ground upon which the ma
jority of the Court bases its decision, and I
shall also announce the principles upon
which I, myself, hold that the Court be
low t rred.
As this is a case of a good deal of public
importance, involving not only the rights
Os the defendant, and this plaintiff in er
ror, but of a very large portion of tho peo
ple of this State, and one in which there is
a great deal of interest taken, I have re
duced to writing, in detail, my opinion;
and I will preface the reading of the judg
ment of the whole Court and of the ma
jority of tho Court, with some written re
marks- preferring to do that rather than
make a parole introduction.
Whatever may have been under the
Constitution of the United States, the
abstract truth a 1 - to the political condition
and status of the people of Georgia at the
close of the late war, from the stand-point
of a mere observer, it seems to be perfectly
oonc usive that the several branches of the
present State Government are shut up to
tho doctrine that the Constitution and
frame of civil Government in existence in
this State on the Ist of January, 1861,
with ail its disabilities and restrictions,
was totally submerged in the great revolu
tion which from 1801 to 1865 swept over
the State. Early in June, 1865, the Gov
ernor of 1860 was in prison at Washington,
and there was not, iu tho whole State, a
single civil officer in the exercise of the
functions of his office.
The whole body lately acting had been
chosen under the laws of the Confederate
States, and the incumbents of 1860 had all
either died or resigned or renounced their
positions as officers under the Constitution
of the United States, by swearing fealty to
the Confederacy and repudiating the gov
ernment of the Union.
The people of the State were, in the
langusge of the President, without civil
government of any kind—iu anarchy The
State, as a State of the Federal Union,
stid existed, but without any frame of civil
government regulating, restraining and
directing the exercise of its functions.
From that time until the present S ate
Government went into operation, the gov
ernment of the State was with more or
Uss completeness in the hands of the
military authorities of the United States,
and the entire ancient civil policy of the
State was totally ignored. Directly in the
teeth of the old Constitution, the people
of color were recognized as freedmen, and
as entitled to equal, legal, and political
rights, with the whites. Tho Convention
of 1867 met under the laws of the United
States, and was elected and composed in
t#tal disregard of all the provisions and
presumptions, qualifications, disqualifica
tions, and distinctions of the old organiza
tion.
The black people participated in its elec
tion, and iu itsUomposiiion, oq equal terms,
in theory at least, with the white, and
nothing can to my mind be plainer than
that by the whole theory then acted upon,
they were recognized as forming an integral
part of the sovereign people, then assem
bled in convention to form for their common
benefit a constitution and frame of civil
government.
Such being the facts of the case, it ap
pears to me that this court, deriving its
whole authority from the constitution then
framed, and sworn to support it, is, from
the very nature of the case, absolutely pro
hibited from recognizing as then or now,
in force, either the Constitution of 1860 or
1865, or any of the legal or political disa
bilities or distinctions among the people,
dependent upon them or either of them.
The convention met under the laws of
the United States, to form a constitution
for a people without civil government.
It had nothing to repeal, nothing to
modify, nothing to grant. None of the
Constitutions of the State, were at the
time in operation—the Convention met
under entirely new ideas and new presump
tion*. It represented anew people—a
people among whom slavery had ceased,
and among whom black people as well as
white were recognized as forming part of
the political society, and entitled to equal
participation in its rights, privileges and
immunities.
It is not necessary for the purposes of
this argument, that this theory shall be
proven to have baen a legal one under the
Constitution of the United States. It is
sufficient to state, that it is true as a fact,
and that the present State Government, is
based upon it.
If, when the Convention met in Decem
ber, 1867, the ancient Constitution of the
State, or any of its legal or political disa
bilities or disqualifying distinctions up
on persons of color were of force, then the
Convention was itself illegal, the present
State Government is illegal, this Court is
illegal? His Honor, the Chief Justice,
has his proper place in the Execu
tive Chair, my respected associate and my
self are private citizens, the plaintiff in er
ror a slave, and the whole political history
of the State since the imprisonment of
Governor Brown in June, 1865, a gigantic
illegality.
1 am aware that a very large class of our
most intelligent people, so, at this moment,
honestly believe : to them this argument
is not directed : but it seems to me, that
to a Jndge holding his office under the
present State government, forming an
essential part of its machinery, these views
NEW SERIES, YOL. XXVIII. NO. 25
must be of overwhelming force. If he as
sumes the power to decide at all, he must,
it seems to me, base his judgment upon
principles which do not, if adopted in his
own case, utterly subvert his own au
thority.
I make these remarks with the greatest
deference to the integrity and to the sound
legal accumen of my associates. Honest
men see things in different lights, and it is
aspresumtuous as it is uncharitable, for
one man to set up his convictions as the
nece-sary guide of the conscience of an
other. These are my convictions, and as
a matter of course, I must act upon them,
and accordingly, under the rules prescribed
by the Statute, I announce,|as the gen
eral principles, controling my judgment in
this case, the following :
By the whole Court.
First. The statement of a registrar of
voters that he had marked a registered
person’s name with a “C” to denote that
he was colored and had posted his lists for
some time in a public place, und that no
application had been made to have the said
“so” erased is no evidence that the person
is a colored person, it not being shown
that the person knew of the entry, and
that it was the subject of correction.
Second. Although a copy of a paper
proven to be beyond the jurisdiction ol
the court is good secondary evidence of it'
contents, yet it must bo shown that the
original was duly executed.
Third. An application for a life insur
ance, though signed by the applicant,
upon the back of which was an entry by
the examining physician that the appli
cant was a mulatto, is no evidence unless it
be proven that the person signed the
paper after the entry on it was made by
the physician aud with intent to adopt it,
or that he used the paper after the entry
was made with a knowledge that such
entry was there.
4th. The statement by an examining
physician, that he had at a certaiu time
examined a person and had then been ol
the opinion that the person was a mulatto,
is not evidence. If the physician is an ex
pert he must give his present opinion, and
if not he must state the facts upon which
he bases his opinion. Whether or not one
is a person of color, that is, has African
blood in his veins, is matter of opinion,
aud a witness may give his opinion if In
states the facts upon whioh it is based
But whether the fact that he has one
eighth or more of such blood, 1 e matter of
opinion or not —Query ?
sth. One who testifies that he has
studied the science ot ethnology may give
his opinion as an expert on the question ol
race. Its weight is for the jury.
Pedigree, relationship and raco may be
proven by evidence of reputation among
those who know the person whose pedigree
or race is in question.
The whole Court agree upon these prop
ositions.
The majority of the Court agree upon
this proposition. Where a quo warranto
was issued charging that a person holding
an office was ineligible, when chosen, be
cause of his having in his veins one-eighth
or moro of African blood, and there was a
demurrer to the information as well as an
answer denying the fact, upon which do
nial there was an issue and a trial before
the jury : held that by the Code of Geor
gia, a person having one-eighth or more of
African blood in his veins is not ioeligible
to offico in this State, and it was error in
the Court to overrule the demurrer and to
charge the jury that if the plaint ff proved
the defendant to have one-eighth or more
of African blood he was ineligible to office
in this State.
DECISION or COURT AS RENDERED ISY JUS
TICE MCCAY.
Whilst I agree that the Code of Georgia
—the law of Georgia, as separate from the
Constitution —does make persons of color
eligible to office, my opinion is that eligi
bility is guaranteed by the Constitution of
the State, and I announce these proposi
tions as the general principles upon which
my opinion is based.
Ist. The Constitution of Georgia known
as tho Constitution of 1868 is anew Consti
tution, made by, and formed for, a people
who at the time were, by the facts of the
case, and by the laws of the United Slates,
without any legal civil government: and as
tho people of Georgia, without regard to
past political distinctions, and without re
gard te distinctions of color, participated
on equal terms in the election for the
Convention, and in its compositition and
deliberations, as well as in the final ratifica
tion of tha Constitution it framed—in the
construction of that Constitution, and in
the investigation of what rights its guar
antees, or denies, such distinctions are
equally to be ignored.
2d. The rights ;of the peoplo of this
State, white or black, are not granted to
them by the Constitution thereof. The
object and effect of that instrument is not
to give, but to restrain,deny, regulate, and
guarantee rights ; and all persons recog
nized by that Constitution as citizens of the
State have equal legal and political rights,
except as otherwise expressly declared.
3d. It is the settled and uniform sense
of the word “citizen,” when used in refer
ence to the citizens of the separate States
of the United States, and to their rights
as such citizens, that it describes a per
son entitled to every right, legal and polit
ical, enjoyed by any person in that State,
unlest there be some express exception,
made by positive law, covering the par
ticular person, or class of persons, whose
rights are in question.
6th. Words used in a statute, or Con
stitution, have their ordinary signification,
unless they be words of art, when they
have the sense placed upon them by those
skilled in the art, or unless their meaning
be defined and fixed by law —in whieh
latter case the legal meaning must prevail.
sth. By tho 1648th and 1649th Sections
of Irwin’s Revised Code, it is expressly
declared that among the rights of citizens
is the right to hold office, and that all citi
zens are entitled to exercise all their rights
as such,unless expressly prohibited by law;
and as the Constitution of 1868 expressly
adopted said Code as the law of the State,
when that Constitution uses the word
“citizen,” it uses it in the sense put upon
it by the express definition of the Code it
adopted.
6th. Article Ist and section 2d of the
Constitution of 1868, expressly declares
that all persons born in the United States,
or naturalized therein, resident in this
State, are citizens of this State, and as
the code adopted by the Convention, in
express terms declares that among the
rights of citizens is the right to hold office,
a colored person born in the United States
and resident in this State, is by that sec
tion of the Constitution guaranteed eligi
bility to office, except when otherwise
prohibited.
7th. Nor would the repeal of those sec
tions of the code, or their alteration, de
prive a colored person of the right thus
guaranteed. Since it is a settled rule that
it is not in the power of the Legislature to |
divest a right or chango a constitutional
guarantee by altering the legal moaning ui i
the word by which that guarantee was
made. .
Bth. The right to vote involves the right
to be voted for, unless otherwise expressly
provided, since it is not be presumed with
out an express enactment that the princi
pal is of less dignity or rights than the j
agent.
9th. There being in the Constitution of
1868 various special disqualifications ol
electors for particular offices, and four
separate sections detailing qualifications for
any office, and a black skin not being men
tioned as one of these qualifications, under
the rule that the expression, &c., of one
thing is the exclusion of others, persons of
color, electors, are not disqualified from
holding office.
19th. There never has been inthisState,
at any period of its history, any denial in
the terms of the right to vote or to hold
office, to colored persons as such. By the
old law, they were either slaves or free per
sons of color, and these rights were denied
them by declaring that they were not, and
could not be citizens of the State, and
when Article 1, Section 2 of the Constitu- ;
tion of 1868, recognized them as citizens,
the right to vote and hold office, except as
otherwise provided by the Constitution,
was ex vi termini, also guaranteed to them.
11th. Ineligibility to office involves not
j only the denial to the person claiming the
: place the right to be chosen, but, what is
! of far greater moment, the right of the
i selecting power to choose ;. and to make
out a case of ineligibility there must be
such a state of affairs as established not
only the want of power to be choseD, but a
denial of power in the selecting party
to choose.
12th- The people of a State, in their
collective capacity, have every right a po
litical society can have, except such as they
have conferred upon the United States, or
on some department of the Mate Govern
ment, or have expressly denied to them
selves by their Constitution ; and as the
right to select a public officer is a political
right, the people or that branch of the
Government clothed by the Constitution,
with the power to choose, may select
whomsoever it will, unless the right to
choose a particular person or class of per
sons, is expressly taken away by the Con
stitution.
OPINION OF CHIEF JUSTICE BROWN.
The view which 1 take of the rights of
the parties litigant in this case, under the
Code of Georgia, renders it necessary for
I me to enter into an investigation of tho
; question, whetherthe Fourteenth Amend
| ment of the Constitution of the United
j States, or the Second Section of the First
! Article of the Constitution of Georgia,
which in substance is identical with the
14th Amendment, confers upon colored
citizens the right to hold office. If the
respondent in this case acquires the right
by grant found in either of the said Con
stitutions, or in the Code of this State, it
is sufficient for all the purposes of the ease
at bar, and entitles him to a reversal of
the judgmentof the Court below, which
was adverse to his right.
The third paragraph of the ninth article
of the Constitution of this State adopts, iu
subordination to the Constitution of the
United States, and tho laws and treaties
made in pursuance thereof; and in sub
ordination to the said Constitution of this
State; the “body of laws known as the
Code of Georgia, and the acts amendatory
thereof, which said Code and acts arc em
bodied in the printed book known as
Irwin’s Code,” “except so much of the
said several statutes, Code, and laws, as
may be inconsistent with the Supremeilaw
herein recognized.”
The Code, Section 1646, classifies nr aval
persons into four classes : Ist citizens, 2d.
residents, 3d. alieus, 4th persons of color.
Section 46 of the Code declares that,
All white persons born in this State, or in
any other State of the Union, who are or
may become residents of this State, with
the intention of remaining herein ; all
white persons naturalized under the laws
ol the United States, aud who are, or may
become, residents of this State with the in
tention of remaining herein ; all persons
who have obtained a right to citizenship
under former laws, and all children where
ever born, whose father was a citizen of this
State at the time of the birth of such chil
dren; or in case of posthumous children at
the time of his death, are held and deem
ed as citizens of this State.
By the Code the distinction is therefore
clearly drawn between citizens who are
white persons and persons of color.
In other words, none are citizens under
the “printed book knownas Irwin’s Code”
but white persons. Having specified the
class of persous who are citizens, the Code
proceeds, in Section 1648, to de'ine some
of the rights of citizens, as follows :
"Among the rights are the enjoyment
of personal security, of personal liberty,
private property and the disposition there
of. the elective franchise, the right to hold
ojjice, to appeal to the Courts, to testify as
a witness, to perform any civil function,
and to keep and bear arms.”
Section 1649 declares that, “All citizens
are entitled to exercise all their rights as
such unless specially prohibited by law.”
Section 1650 prohibits females from ex
ercising the elective franchise, or holding
civil office.
See. ion 1651 prohibits minors from the
exercise of civil functions till they are of
legal age.
Sections 1652 and 1653 prohibit certain
criminals and persons non compos mentis ,
from exercising certain rights of citizens.
Article 3, chapter 1, title 1, part 2, of
the code defines the rights of the 4th class
of natural persons, designated as persons
of color; giving them the right to mako
contracts; sue and be sued, give evidence,
inherit, purchase and sell property; and to
have martial rights, security of person,
estate, etc., embracing the usual civil
rights of citizens, but does not confer cit
izenship. Thus the code stood prior to its
adoption by the new constitution.
As already shown, it was adopted, in
subordination to the constitution, and must
yield to the fundamental law, whenever in
conflict with it. In so far as the code had
conferred rights on the colored race there
is no conflict and no repeal. The constitu
tion took away no right then possessed by
them under the code, but it enlarged their
rights as defined in the code, by conferring
upon them the right of citizenship. It
transferred them from the 4th class of
natural persons, under tho above classifica
tion, who were denied citizenship by the
code, to the Ist class, as citizens.
The 46th Section of the code limited
citizenship to white persons. The Consti
tution struck out the word “white,” and
made all persons born or naturalized in the
United States, and resident in this State,
citizens without regard to race or color. It
so amended Section 46 of the code, as
greatlv to enlarge the class of citizens.
But it repealed no part of 1648, which de
fines the rights of citizens.
It did not undertake to define the rights
of a citizen. It left that to the Legisla
ture, subject to such guarantees as arc
contained in the Constitution itself, which
the Legislature cannot take away. It de
clares expressly, that no lawshall be made,
or enforced, which shall “abridge the
privileges or immunities of citizens of the
United States, or of this Slate.” It is
not necessary to the decision of this case
to inquire, what are the “privileges aud
immunities” ofa citizen ? which arc guar
anteed by the 14th Amendment to the
Constitution of the United States, and by
the Constitution of this State. Whatever
they may be, they are protected against
all abridgment by legislation. This is tho
full extent of the Constitutional guaran
tee. All rights of the citizen, not em
braced within these terms, if they do not
embrace all, arc subject to tho control of
the Legislature.
Whether the “privileges and immuni
ties” of the citizens embrace political
rights, including the right to hold office, I
need not now inquire. If '.hey do, that
right is guaranteed alike by the Constitu
tion of the United States, and the Con
stitution of Georgia ; and is beyond tho
control of legislation. If not, that right is
subject to the control of the legislature as
tbe popular voice may dictate ; and in
tliut case the legislature would have power
to grantor restrict it at pleasure, in case
of white persons, as well as of persons of
color. The Constitution of Georgia has
gone as far as the fourteenth Amendment
has gone, but no further. An authorita
tve construction of the 14th amendment
by the Supreme Court of tho United
States upon this point, would be equally
binding as a construction of the Constilu
tion of the State of Georgia, which is in
the same words.
Georgia has complied fully with the
terms dictated by Congress in the forma
tion of her Constitution. She baa stop
ped nothing short, and gone nothing be
yund. The highest judicial tribunal of the
Union, will no doubt finally settle the
meaning of tho terms “privileges and im
munities” of the citizens, whieh legislation
cannot abridge ; and the people of Geor
gia, as well as those of all the other States,
must conform to, and in good faith made
by, and carry out the decision. All the
rights, of all the citizens, of every State,
which are included in the phrase “privi
leges and immunities,” are protected
against legislative abridgement by tbe fun
dainental law of the Union. Those not so
embraced, unless included within some
other constitutional guaranty are subject
to legislative action. The same rights
which the Fourteenth Amendment to the
Constitution of the United States confers
upon, and guarantees to, a colored citizen
of Ohio,are conferred upon and guaranteed
to every colored citizen of Georgia, by the
same amendment, and by the Constitution
of this State, mado in conformity to the
Reconstruction Acts of Congress.
Whatever may or may not be the priv
ileges and ‘immunities guaranteed to the
colored race, by the Constitution of the
United States, and of this State; it cannot
be questioned that both Constitutions
make them citizens. And I think it very
clear that the code of Georgia upon which
alone I base this opinion, which is binding
upon ail her inhabitants while of force,
confers upon all her citizens the right to
hold office, unless the*' are prohibited bv
some provisions found in the code itself. I
find no such prohibition in tbe code, affect
ing tbe rights of this respondent. I am,
u erefore, oftheopinion that the judgment
ol the court below is erroneous,and I concur
in the judgment of reversal.
BaINURIDGE, CITHBERT AND CoLUM
j m s Railroad,— We take pleasure in
| informing our reader* that the surveying
party , under the direction of Colonel C. B.
llarki®, will rendezvous in Bainbridge to
d >y, and begin at once the several surveys
of the route preparatory to its final loca
tion.
Every arrangement has been made for
the speedy completion of the work, and it
is thought this point will be reached by
the 21st inst.
Colonel Crews will take the field with
the party, and aid in the negotiations for
right of way, etc., etc. He will bo able to
render very valuable assistance to the ex
ploring party.
Everything looks favorable to the eariy
commencement and rapid completion of
this new road. Tho energetic President
and Board of Directors will never allow
the grass to grow under their feet, and
action, action, action will be their only
watchword until the last spike (we won t
say a silver one) shall be driven home.
Cutlibert Appeal, KifA
From Kuiopo.
London, June 16, p. '“.--The Chinese
Government baa apologised for an insult
tn Count Roehechonart, the French .Secre
tary of Legation, whose lace a Mandatin
June 10, p >»—ln the Cortes
Odeva favored Don Carlos. Senor Begerra
replied that the prospects of Don Carlos
were extinct, and.could nevei bore\i\ed.