Newspaper Page Text
OLI) SERIES, VOL. LXXVIII.
Cbronick & Sentinel.
j
TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION.
DAILY.
One month \ 1 0°
Three month** 2 50
One year 10 00
Tltl-WEEKLY.
One year $ 0 00
Hix month* -3 50
Three months - 2 00
WEEKLY.
Three months ? 1 00
Hix months 1 50
One year 3.00
Wnittm MOh'lNo, MAKCII S.
The Lease nt the State Hoad—
lion it nai Accomplished.
We have reason to believe that the
scheme for stealing the State Road was
concocted hy Bullock k Cos. more than a
year ago. When the subject was first
under formal consideration between these
worthies and their associates, the plan
proposed was to purchase the road absc
lutc-ly. To accomplish this purpose it was
deemed necessary that Hulbert, who was
then managing the road with considerable
success, aDd whose industry and energy in
its administration gave strong hopes of
large monthly nett profits to the State,
should bo removed and his place filled by
someone whoso incompeteocy and capacity
for embezzlement would bring the road
into disrepute with the people, and in
duce the public to agree to Its sale.
Halbert had, in September, 1869, in
vited the press of the State to pass over
and examine the condition of the road
and its equipments. The press very
generally accepted his invitation and
gave the road as fair an examination as
the time permitted would allow. The
reports cade by these members of the
press were quite unanimous in the opinion
that the road-bed an I fixtures were in
exocilent condition, and the rolling stock 1
ample and very fine. The conspirators |
felt convinced that the people of the State |
would not bo willing to part with this j
splendcd property which promised, at an
early day, to pay into The State Treasusy,
from its nett earnings, a sum sufficient to
pay the ordinary expenses of the State
Government, As long as Hulbert re
inained in charge, it would bo impossible,
even for Blodgett, who was then Treas
urer of the road, to squander the nett
earnings of the road to any very consider
able extent. It was necessary to produce
tho impression upon the public mind that
the road was in bad condition, and that
instead of its being a source of large
inoomcj it wou'd prove a heavy expense to
the State. ■/
It was, therefore, determined to remove
Hulbert at once, and put in liis place
Foster Blodgett, a man of no fitness for
tho position, and whose dishonesty ar.d
shameless corruption would bo required
to tquaDticr the earnings of tho road and
run down the rolling stock and road-bed.
It was concluded by the conspirators that
if this infamous work could not he accom
plished by Blodgett, it would bo useless
to seek clsewnero for a fitting tool. Blod
gett took possession of tho road at the
close of tho year 1869. It was turned
over to him in fine condition admirably
and fully equipped for the performance of
all the business which might offer.
Soon after Blodgett assumed control of
tho road, complaiuts bogau to bo made,
in many instances instigated by the con
spirators themselves, of tho bad condition
of tho road-bed and rolling stock. Under
instructions from Blodgett, who was only
carrying out tho plans of Bullock & Go.,
accidents wero R*f frequent occurrence,
many of tbtm involving the State in seri
ous loss. Mismanagement showed itself
in every department of tho road. Facili
ties for moving of the freights, which
wero offered at Chaltanooga, were with
held, though ample applianocs wero at the
disposal of tho road to move this freight.
Hardly a day passed without the destruc
tion or the detention of a train. Large
sums were expended for additional motive
power, and larger sums demanded for the
same purpose. Tho people began to
think that the road was really in a bad
condition, or Bullock, Blodgett & Cos. de
sired them to believe it was. Month after
month passe 1 and no payments were made
into the Treasury. Scarcely a week now
passed that announcements wore not made
through Bullock’s organs of the very bad
condition of tho road, and tho groat ne
cessity for tho appropriation of a large
sum to ropair tho road-bed and renew
and increase the rolling stock. The peo
ple wero astounded at these developments.
They could hardly believe that the road
could have so seriously deteriorated in the
short space of a few months.
Inquiry became active anil pregnant
about tbe management of the road. From
all quarters came the reports, instigated
and prepared by Bullock, Blodgett &
Company, that tlio road was really dan- ■
gerous to life and property. It became
whispered about by the conspirators that
travel on the road was extremely hazard
ous; that travelers in going over it had to
take their lives in their hands ; that the
whole coueern was broken down and ex
ceedingly dangerous. Facilities for the
transportation ot freight were intentional
ly withheld, that plausibility might be
given to tho complaints which were being
daily made by shippers and merchants.
The public mind w as excited and arpused.
Instead of paying into tbe Treasury forty
or tifty thousand dollars per month, as the
people were led to expect from Hnlburt’s
management of the road, there was a daily
cry for large appropriations to pay in
debtedness incurred in running the road,
and to purchase new supplies and outfit
for it- Honest men throughout the State
began to ask “how can this be true? Why
is it that the road fails to pay expenses ?”
And now we approach the first overt
act of the conspirators in their fraudulent
designs. E. W. Cole, who, we believe, is
President ot the Saslirille & Chattanooga
Railroad, and a man who has, since 1867,
teen in full accord with Bullock, writes a
letter to Blodgett in the summer of 1870,
while the Legislature was ; n session,
calling attention to the fact that the State
Road had tailed to remove promptly,
freight offering at Chattanooga during the
past season, and urging Blodgett to be
prepared for the fall business. He very
significantly reminds Blodgett that the
road is in a very bad condition, and urges
him to proceed without delay to make
the necessary improvements. This was a
long and a very friendly letter ot Cole's
to his friend Blodgett, and of course whol
ly disinterested. This drew from Blodgett
a reply, as it was intended it should.
Blodgett, with great reluctance, admits
that the road is in a wretched condition,
but declares his inability to put it in
thorough repair unless he shall be able to
get a large appropriation from the Legis
latnre for that purpose. He thinks half
a million might do to begin with.
The Legislature, or at least tho few—
very few—honest men in it were appalled
at these statements. Very few persons
not in the secret believed that it was neces
sary to make this large appropriation.
The road ban done a very large business
if reports were true. It was known, from
an official disclosure made by the Treasurer
of the road, that the gtoss earnings had
amounted to as much as one hundred and
thirty or forty thousand dollars a month.
No moneys, it is true, had been paid into
the Treasury, but no one expected that
there would be so long as Bullock was at
the head of the concern.
Very soon Bullock sends a communion
troo to the Legislature upon tbebadeendi
j tion of the road, and recommending an
| appropriation by that body to put the
road in order. This was a part < f the
* scheme to steal the road. Bullock's coc
j spiratorp, in and out of the Legislature,
1 were actively engaged in preparing public
sentiment for a tale of the read. A bill
i was introduced in accordance with the
plans of the conspirators, providing for a
! large appropriation for the road. Railroad
talk was all the rage in Atlanta. The con
| spirators had their agents and pimps on
! every street corner and at eyery hotel,
j talking down the road, and showing its
I desperate condition. A virtuous idea
I seemed now to have given tho leaders
j some trouble. They wanted to get the
road out of politics. This was the last
lodge cf Bullock and his ring. The road,
so long as it remained the property and
under tho control of the State, would be
used as a political machine. The virtuous
Bullock and his conspirators were greatly
opposed to this. They wished the road
withdrawn from the arena of politics. It
corrupted the people while managed by
the State, and the incorruptable patriots
of the Bullook-Blodgett conspiracy were
shocked at the bare thought of such pos
sible corruption.
The Legislature was uow besieged by
I incorruptable patriots from different sec
: tions of the State, set on by Bullock and
his conspirators, and urged the sale of
road to save the State. Gloomy pic
tures were drawn of the future embarrass
ments of the people if this great incubus
upon their prosperity was not removed.-
Paid agents of the conspirators button'
holed members in the streets, dogged
them to their boarding houses, besieged
them in the restaurants and bar-rooms,
urging a sale of the road to save the State.
Where arguments and patriotic appeals
failed to produce the desired effect, more
valuable inducements wero freely offered.
It seemed as if almost every other man
one met iD the street bad a bill for a
j sale of tho road. Members of tho press
I carried these bills in their pockets. Liw
j yers and lobbyists displayed them on the
streets and in public places. The whole
air in and about Atlanta wa3 filled with
the cries of the conspirators and their
agents for a sale of the road to save tbe
State.
Under this immense pressure, a plan
wes prepared by the few honest mec
in the Legislature, by which they thought
tbe sale of the road could be prevented,
and that valuable property saved from
the clutches of the Bullock conspirators.
This plan was a proposed lease of the
road for a short time. This proposition,
it was believed, would secure tbe support
of those who honestly opposed the sale
of the road, but thought it necessary un
der the then circumstances. It was be
lieved that a sufficient number of votes
could be drawn to the proposition for a
lease to defeat the bills providing for a
sale of the road. It was soon discovered
that the advocates of a lease were very
strong in number and influence, and tie
bill for the salo of the road was defeated
by a large majority.
Bullock and his conspirators having
boon defeated iu the proposition to sell the
road, at once rallied their forces in sup
port of tho lease. It became now of the
first importance to them that they should,
through some of their members, have the
preparation or revision of tho bill provid
ing for the lease. They knew that they
could, by skilful provisions woven in the
lease, secure *ll t hey hoped to obtain by a
sale of the road. Tho members of this
conspiracy were not all residents of At
lanta. They had their adherents and
members iu other sections of tho State.
They began then at once to get possession
of the bill providing for a lease, so that
they could shapo end fashion it to suit
their own purposes. Thoir agents and
spies were sent to the gentlemen iu the
Legislature who had charge of the leasing
bill, who pretended great solicitude for the
fato of the bill. They suggested that all
restrictions and limitations necessary to
protect the interest of the State should be
carefully inserts*!. There were but few
men in the State, said these agODts of the
oonspiratois, who aro capable from expe
rience of drafting a suitable bilk A
gentleman here, and one there, was
suggested as the best person to fix tbe
provisions of the bill. Asa matter of
course, these gentlemen thu3 recommend-
od wero either in tho conspiracy or were
to bo at the proper time. In this way
tho bill for the lease of the road was
drawn and perfected by the very parties
who were to take tho road under the
lease. Hence we are able to explain tho
reasons for many of the provisions of the
lease, which otherwise would be unexplain
able. The bill as passed was entirely dif
ferent from what it was when first pro
posed. All tho changes made were
against the interests of the State and in
favor of the lessees.
When this bill was finally passed, we
find among the lessees the names of Col.
Cole, Richard Peters, John P. King, 11.
I. Kimball and Joe Brown. We do not
find tho names of Bullock and Blodgett,
but they are, nevertheless, in the company
under different names.
Will tho people submit to this pre
meditated and high-handed robbery of
their property ? Will they permit these
oonspirators to reap the benefits of this
stupendous fraud? Will they not de
mand of the next Legislature a thorough
investigation cf this worse than Yazoo
fraud ?
PRUSSIA AND FttAXCK.
The telegraph informs our readers that
a treaty of peace has been sigGcd between
Prussia and Frinoe —that Franca accepts
tbe terms imposed by King William. Af
ter a sangninary and devastating war of
some eight months duration, the French
people find themselves despoiled of their
wealth, their territory divided, the flower
of their manhood swept away by the re-
lentiess band of war, and their country
laid under tribute to the conqueror. The ,
terms exacted are humiliating, but France
has acted wisely in accepting them, be- :
causa iurther resistance could but lead to !
the prolongation ct a struggle which was !
doomed before it commenced. The “second '
man of destiny” passed for a wise ruler 1
until he had proved himself an ass, Na- j
poleon 111 is the author of the present
woes of France. The incompetency of a
ruler was never more clearly establish
ed than in his case. He declared war
against Prussia—the first military power
in Europe—when his army was in no con
dition to take the field. The plea that
he was mistaken as to tbe condition of
his forces is no justification. The fact of
his being ignorant of the strength, organi
zation and efficiency of the Prussian army,
but makes his conduct in declaring war
the more reprehensible and criminal.
The reign of this maa has been productive
of some good, but the bad that it has
done has spread mourning and weeping
all over a land which but a little while ago
basked in the sunshine of individual pros
perity and national splendor. It the cup
could but pass from France to the lips of
her unwise, impotent and vain Emperor,
’twould be well; but the fates have or
dered it otherwise, and he who is respon
sible escapes while the innocent are made
to suffer.
True, Prussia has gained a magnificent
victory. Her victorious legions have over
run France and marched in triumph
through the streets of her capital. The
French people have been humbled—hu
miliated. Jena and Auerstadt have been
| avenged. Bnt what benefit to civilization,
jtp tbe advancement of humanity, of
Christianity, is the expenditure of all
this precious blooa and almost countless
treasure? The war has dotted France
with graves which are filled with the dead
of both nations. France and Germany are
filled with mourning and lamentation for
the dead that can never return to the
thousands of widows and orphans who
are bereft of their natural protectors. The
Emperor Napoleon is dethroned ! King
William of Prussia becomes the Emperor
of Germany!! Cut lonj ? The people of
France will Ire impoverished for the next
score of years or more with a huge na
tional war d.bt. Will tbe people of the
German Empire be more happy under an
Emperor than a King ?
TWO WHOPPERS.
The old Radical Tycoon, Ben Wade,
who has been sent by Grant to look after
his land speculations in St. Domingo, made
a speech the other day to a little knot of
Baez’s adherents, who gave Ben and his
fellow-commissioners a characteristic Do
mingo serenade, in whiish he stated to the
semi-savages of that God-forsaken island
that “nobody under our flag complains
“of the Government, because it harms
“nobody. Our flag is the guardian angel
“of the citizen.”
It is very certain that the commissioner is
mistaken or that his parly in Congress are
great liars. Be says nobody complains of
the Government. Ihey declare that the
whole white population of the South not
only complain of the Government, but are
now actually iu a state of quasi war
against it. A bill has just passed one
House of Congress, known as tbe Ku-Klux
bill, which provides for the inauguration
of actual war against the Southern States;
because, it is alleged, tbe people of the
South do complain of tho Government —
its illegal exactions, its usurpations and its
unrestrained tyranny.
Tho statement that the present Govern
ment of the United States “ harms no
body,” sounds strangely to us of the
South, when, for the last five years of pre
tended peace, untold and hitherto unheard
of, wrongs and injuries, both to person and
property, have been ruthlessly inflicted
upon our people. The Government “harms
nobody” when, through its agents and
petty military despots, it introduces “ tho
sweat-box,” and consigns innocent citizens
to its horrible punishment 1 Nobody is
“harmed” when peaceable citizens are ar
rested without legal warrant and kept con
fined during the heat of an intense sum
mer in loathsome cells and military dun
geons ! Nobody is “harmed” when the
people of the South are arrested in their
beds in the dead cf night, hurried est for
moro than two hundred miles, confined in
the damp, unhealthy casemates of a South
ern fort, pinioned to a bench, and placed
before a loaded cannon’s mouth, with the
fuse lit ready to discharge the contents
upon the heart of the victim, in order to
extract a lie to enable tho Government to
take the lives of other citizens against
whom- no testimony could be found! Is
no one “harmed” when citizens are ar
rested, hand-cuffed, loaded with chains, and
eimpelled to inarch to Atlanta because
they refused to permit the spies of the
Federal Government to pass over a toll
bridge without first paying the usual
charge ? Is no “ harm” done when lead
ing citizens are arrested, taken to Macon,
and tried before one of the lowest and
dirtiest villains that ever disgraced any
country, because that citizen had merely
attempted to have vindicated and enforced
the laws of the State? Is “nobody harm
ed” when tho property and lives and char
acter of tho mass of the people is consigned
to the tender mercies of ignorant, brutal
negroes, jail-birds, scalawags and carpet
baggers—when the Stato governments are
turned over to such creatures as Bullock,
and Holden, and (Jiayton, and Smith, and
Warmouth? Surely the “head devil” of
Raa : calism knew that he was grossly mis
representitig tho condition of affairs in the
United States when he gave utterance to
the above sentiments.
But the Tycoon did not stop here in his
misrepresentation of the American situa
tion. He added, “freedom is complete—
every man stands on the same platform
and has tho same rights.” The old repro
brate who said this was one of the lead
ing spirits in the faction which placed the
experience, the intelligence and the pa
triotism of the Southern States beneath
the heel of tho iguorant African. The
dirtiest, and most debauched, and ignorant
negroes are made competent to hold office
in the South ; have been even made Lieu
tenant—Governors, Senators, Representa
tives in Congress, and members of the
State Legislatures, and of the Judiciary,
where such men as Stephens, and John
son, and Jenkins, and Breckenridge; Ma
son and Hunter, and Stuart; Hampton and
Butler, and Kershaw; Watts and Shorter,
and Forsyth, have been denied the
privilege of exercising the functions of a
Justice of the Peace or County Con
stable. And this is the country in which
the Hon. Ben Wade Grant’s special com
mission loathe negro Baez declares that
every man stands on the same platform
anil has the same rights. This is Radical
honesty and truthfulness 1
Cotton Tax and the Supreme
Court-
From the telegraphic dispatches as to
the decision of the Supreme Court in the
ease of Farrington vs. Sanford, involving
the constitutionality of the cotton tax
law, the opinion seems to have extensive
ly obtained that the Court decided in
favor of its constitutionality. Such is
not the case. The Court were equally
divided on the question, and, therefore,
really made no decision. That division,
by operation of law, left the decision of
the Court below to stand. In a word, it
it was a drawn battle, and the door of re
dress by Congress is left open to the
} Southern cotton tax payers, and we hope
they will promptly send forward their
| claims to Herschel V. Johnson & Cos.
! There is every reason to hope for justice
| at the hands of Congress.
State Rights.— One of the foremost
cries of the Democratic party is against
Federal interference in tbe States. We
hear it in every form of clap-trap, in ail
gatherings,from the smallest to the largest
of the Democracy.— Gourant.
It should be the “foremost cry-”' Usur
pation, always dangerous, is peculiarly so
to free government when the central power
goes directly among the homes of the peo
ple, breaking down their laws, setting up
others hateful and injurious to the interests
of the community. In the States and their
local laws, or in self-government, are the
liberties of the people- These have been
trampled down by the Republican party,
and the States and their rights are puffed
off as “clap-trap.’’ Os course, “one of
the foremost cries of the Democracy is
against this Federal interference in the
States.” —Hartford Times.
Congressman Pokteb, of Virginia, de
nies that he ever wore a ball and chain.
For our part, we never said that he did
wear one. • We merely observ, -d, inciden
tally, that if he ever did, tho inventor of
the ball and chain must have wept to see
to what base uses his invention had come.
— Courier-Journal.
It is Suggested that Sickles, Cole and
McFarland should set up an office for the
interpretation of the law of insanity, as
well as tbe moral ideas of Radicalisms-
AUGUSTA, GA., ’WEDNESDAY MORNING, 31 ARCH S, 1871.
SPEECH
OF
Hon. LI*TO:i STEPHENS,
DELIVERED AT THE CITY HAIL. AUGUSTA,
GEORGIA, FEB. 18, 1871.
SPECIALLY REPORTED FOR THE CHRONICLE
& SENTINEL, AND REVISED
BY JUDGE STEPHENS.
Fellow-Citizens : It was one of the
wisest sayings of a very wise man that
the price of Liberty is eternal vigilance.
This maxim of wisdom is peculiarly ap
plicable to the present time. Tea States
of this Union are to-night under revolu
tionary governments, originated and im
posed upon them bj-aa external power
and supported only by the bayonet.
These revolutionary governments dis
place, repress, and, for the time, suppress
the regular Republican, Constitutional
governments which have existed here
all the while with an unbroken succes
sion. These revolutionary governments
are in the bands of carpet-baggers and
scalawags, who treat the laws of their
own origination with disregardful con
tempt, and under the forms of official
authority, heap upon our people injuries
and insults which never before were
borne by men bom and bred and edu
cated in the principles of Liberty.
Shameless plunder, malignant slander,
corrupt favoritism, impunity for crimes
when committed by partisans of the gov
ernment, gigantic extension of tbe credit
of the States to penniless adventurers
who come amongst us uuder the false
and fraudulent plea of “developing our
resources,” robbery of the very negroes
who are sought to be used as the chief in
strument of upholding this gigantic sys
tem of revolutionary fraud and force—
these are the fruits of these revolutionary
governments. These are the products
of Reconstruction. This is the “situa
tion”! ! And yet there are those who
say “let us accept the situation.” In
the last Presidential campaign we heard
the potent words, “Let us have peace!”
They bad their effect. They carried
the Presidential election. Yet wise men
then knew, as all men now know, that
they wore a delusion and a snare. “Let
us have peace!” It meant that freemen,
with their necks under the heel of des
potism, should remain submissive and
quiet. Such a peace, Turkey has! Such
a peace, Po'and has ! Such a peace, thank
God, Ireland refuses to have 1 No peo
ple traiaed in the principles of Liberty
will ever accept of any peace that is not
founded on Liberty. Tyrants and des
pots may reconstruct; and re-reconstruct,
and re-re-reconstruct ad infinitum-, but
they will never have “peace” from
American born freemen, until they give
them their rights.
What is really expected by these peo
ple who cry “peace,” and “accept the
situation V’ Are they silly enough to
suppose that there can be any pau*e or
limit to the career of usurpation ? Does
anybody need to be told that usurpation
is insatiable ? When did it ever cry—
enough ? As soon shall we hear that
cry from “the parched earth or from a
barren woman.” Concede it an inch,
and it will always take an ell. The
only way for earnest men to deal with
usurpation is to make it disgorge all its
ill-gotten acquisitions’ These “peace”
men call themselves “Conservatives.”—
To conserve means to preserve what we
have. If what we have now is to be
preserved it will prove the sure instru
ment of destroying everything that is
worth preservation. The present status,
if it is to be “accepted,” is enough to
overthrow, and will certainly overthrow,
the whole system of Constitutional gov
ernment. It is just the fulcrum which Ar
chimedes wanted to move the world.—
Let tho usurpationists retain what they
have already usurped, and their whole
design will inevitably be accomplished.
The wrongs of usurpation have been
borne by us with a patience which has
only encouraged, not checked its career.
How can men expect it to pause when it
is now daily going on with new and
Titanic strides ? Tho same revolutiona
ry violence which brought forth tbe
14th and 15th so-called Amendments of
the Constitution is daily hatching and
spawning new usurpations and despotisms.
One of these is the late Enforcement
Act of Congress which professes to be
based on these revolutionary Amend
ments for its authority. It has but little
relation to tbe 14th, being chiefly occu
pied with its professed intention to carry
out tho 15th.
If this loth Amendment were granted
to be valid, as it is not, and never should
be, yet a consideration of its terms will
show how immense is the usurpation of
the Enforcement Act in the professed
object of carrying it out.
The 15th Amendment is simply a pro
hibition on the United States and the
several States. It relates to nobody else,
touches nobody else. It prohibits the
United States and the several States (in
regulating’ suffrage in cases where they
respectively! have the right to regulate it)
from denying it or abridging it on account
of any one of three reasons—race,
color, previous condition of servitude;
leaving them perfectly free to abridge it
or deny it qn account of an indefinite
number of other reasons. It is simply
a prohibition upon the character of
laivs which may be passed by the United
States or the several States. If Acts
are passed against the prohibition
(granting tbe prohibition itself to be
valid) they would be void; and the
remedy —tbe only appropriate or ad
missible remedy—would be to appeal to
the Courts, and have them pronounced
void. It is exactly analogous to the
prohibitions on the States in the original
Constitution—that “no State shall coin
money; emit Bills of Credit; make any
thing but gold and silver Coin, Tender
in payment of debts; pass any Bill of
Attainder, ex-post facto Law, or Law im
pariDg the Obligation of Contracts, or
grant any Title of Nobility.” Whoever
dreamed that these prohibitions on the
States gave Congress the power to con
trol tbe whole subject of money, and
seize all the money of tha country into
its own hands ; to take control of the
subject of credit, and regulate it in all
its ramifications ; to take charge of the
whole subject of debts ; and the whole
subject of Bills of Attainder, and of
ex-post facto Laws ; and the whole sub
ject of Contracts , and the whole subject
of Titles of Nobility ? Who ever
dreamed that Congress could enforce
these prohibitions on States by heavy
penal Statutes against private citizens ?
Who ever dreamed that Congress could
enforce the prohibition against State
laws impairing tbe Obligation sos Con
tracts by making it a felony for any
citizens to seek the benefit of Relief
Acts passed by the States ! Nay,
more ; is this prohibition against deny
ing or abridging the right of suffrage
on account of race, color, or previous
condition of servitude any more ob
ligatory or does it confer upon Congress
any more power than the provision in
the original Constitution defining who
shall be entitled to vote for President,
Vice-President and Members of Con
gress, making them the same in each
State as electors for the most numerous
branch of the Legislature in that State ?
And yet, who ever dreamed this positive
provision of the Constitution gave Con
gress power over the whole subject of
electors and elections in the State ; lest,
peradventure, some States might pass a
law violating that provision ? The at
tempt on the part of Congress to ex
ercise any such powers as these un
der the prohibitions on the States
would have been regarded at any
time before the late war as a usur
pation aud an utter nullity, and any
party that might have supported the
criminal and traitorous attempt would
have been swept into swift annihilation.
And yet under this mere negative provis
ion of the Fifteenth so-oailed Amendment,
Congress, by this Enforcement Act, has
taken into its own charge the elections in
ail the States and pietcribed who shall
and who shall not vote: I see by the p»-
pera of tc-day that they are not content
with this act, enormous as it is in its
usur>ations, but that one House of Con
gress has passed an act grtatly enlarging
the usurpation, providing for a United
State* officer to supervise the elections in
each State, with large judicial powers, and
with >ower to use the bayonet at his own
discretion. This is pausing in the career
of usurpation 1 I
As t very appropriate accompaniment
of thii eniarg?d Enforcement Act, Mr.
Attorney General Akerman recommends
the establishment of United States peni
tentiaries and jails in all the States. All
our Presidents, from Washington down to
the time of the recent war, found ample
accommodation for all their prisoners
in tbe prisms of the States, under
State visitatOn, inspection and control.
Ibis dynasty needs bastiles of its own, to
to be filled vith the political prisoners
who may be expected to come in large
numbers as tie product of the new and
ever-increasim; despotic usurpations, and
to be subject to no visitation or interfer-
ence but that if the imperial guard. Po
litical prosecu ions aro not confined to me
nor to this Stge. A ory comes up against
them from Teinessee also, and from other
States. They are intended to become an
institution , and the bastiles form an indis
pensitiie part of the institution. And yet
all this is done while rhe right of suffrage
is neither deniednor abridged on account
either of race, oobr, or previous condition
ot servitude by the United States, or by
any State, or anywhere in the Union.
Let us look at a little more of the paus
ing ! I see a b'll has been introduced
iDto Congress to aopoint a Ku-Klux Com
missioner for every county in the South
ern States, he, also, to be armed with
large judicial powers and with the bayonet
to administer the laws over the people of
tho States in relation to assaults and
batteries, murders, trespasses, and all
crimes, real and pretended, which can be
gathered under the hundred-headed hydra
of “outrages.” Tais, I suppose, is a part
of the new outrage programme which has
been so brilliantly inaugurated under the
auspices of an outrage message and a
Congressional Outrage Committee. Out
rages, they are indeed! A Congressional
Committee, to investigate the condition of
States; and, determine forsooth whether
their constituencies are “worthy” to be
represented in Congress 1 This is the
question which General Butler has sprung
as to the constituency of this very Con
gressional District whether they are
worthy to be represented. True, our
Representative was received under the
prima facie case made by his certificate of
election; but the great fundamental ques
tion as to the worthiness of our constitu
ency was reserved for future decision.
What that decision may be who can tell ?
This question, together with divers other
important matters, is to be investigated iu
the meantime by the Congressional Out
rage Committee. Such a committee, for
such a purpose before the war, would
have raised a howl of derision and indig
nation throughout the land. They would
raise it now if their investigation were to
be applied to any Northern State of this
Union. Yet, when they shall come to us
(if they shall choose to make us a visita
tion) bearing the badges of our degradation,
we shall be accounted as very disloyal, re
bellious and outrageous if we do not bow
and smile and beg them to do ns the
honor of entering into the bosoms of our
families.
I have something further to say about
these outrages which form tho ohief capi
tal of those who habitually seek to in
flame the minds of the North against their
Southern brethren to support them. in
re-re-reccnstructions, which are to be used
as the instrument of overthrowing the
Constitution, abolishing the States and
tho ballot, and consolidating a grand cen
tra! military despotism.
Tbe situation of these Southern States
under reconstruction has been so extraor
dinary that it would be wonderful indeed
if disorders and violations of law had not
been unusually multiplied. They are the
necessary product of the system. The
citizens generally have striven to keep
them down, while the revolutionary govern
ments, not only upturning the political
status, but also almost inverting the social,
have been the most potent influence in
producing tlicEu disorders under these
governments. Administered by carpet-
Daggeis, scalawags and negroes, the par
doning power has been made the shame
less instrument of recruiting their party,
and of making the, people dispair of an
impartial administration of the laws. 1
will mention a striking instance, out of a
multitude which are notorious.
Fourteen negroes in Hancock county
were convicted of an assault with intent
to murder. The proof was a confession in
every case, corroborated by other most
satisfactory evidence. This proof showed
that the crowd went to a man’s house
between midnight and day, yelling like
savages, and swearing they would kill
him. They broke down his door and
shot into his house, wonnding himself,
and lodging a load of shot in the bed
stead, just over the head of his wife,
ne saved his life only by making his
escape through the floor. This was all
done, without provocation. They suspect
ed that this man. Marchman, was concern
ed in the killing of a negro, who had been
killed some time before by some person or
persons unknown. The proof on the trial
showed that their suspicion was utterly
groundless, and that when the negro was
killed, Marchman was at homo and could
not possibly have known anything about
it. They acted on the mere wild suspi
cion of excited ignorance. They had a
fair trial, and were defended by very able
counsel. The verdict of conviction was
publicly approved by Judge Andrews,
whom you know to be an appointee of
Governor Bullock, and a member
of the Republican party. Yet all of
these fourteen were speedily pardoned out
of the penitentiary by Governor Bullock,
and turned loose upon an “outraged”
people. One of them was very soon put
back into the penitentiary for anew
offense in an adjoining county. This is
a specimen, and but a specimen, of the
outrages which we suffer.
The carpet-baggers and scalawags, who
do most to engender strife between the
races and produce outrages, speak only of
those which are committed on one side.
Thevare as silent as the grave about those
incited by themselves, and perpetrated by
their ignorant and brutal tools.
I have yet one other remark to make
about these outrages. I know of none
where a jury has failed te eonvict ’when
the guilty party, white or black, was shown
by satisfactory proof; and I know of no
place, North or South, where convictions
are had. or would be desirable, without
proof. There have been foul murders
committed in Boston, and nobody hurt for
them. One notorious case of the same
kiod has lately occurred in New York city.
Suppose I should say murder is done in
Boston and New York “with impunity 1
Suppose Congress should send an Outrage
Committee to investigate Boston and New
York 1 . , , ,
The truth is, the general rme there is,
that criminals are punished when they are
found out. Tbe general rule hero is, that
they are punished when they are found
out and not pardoned.
This is a truthful sketch of the situa
tion -usurpation, accelerating instead_ of
pausing, in its career; revolution, giving
us wrongs, outrages, injuries and insults,
instead of the protection, peace, prosper
ity and fraternity which we have a right
to expect from any government, and
should certainly receive from our rightful,
constitutional governments. This is the
“situation” which we are exhorted to
“ accept.” This is the prospect on whioh
we are invited to repose, with assurance
that usurpation will henceforth cease, and
a “ new departure ” will be taken in pc
’ lities under the auspices of sound princi
ple. The appeal is made to us on the
supposition that we are not men, bat
geese. The appeal is made to the country
North and South upon the supposition
that the country North and South is com
posed of geese, not men.
Why should we accept the situation?
Are not reconstruction and all its pro
ducts revolutionary, unconstitutional and
void? Are they not demonstrated to be
so? Where is the harm in calling them
so ? Where is the harm in treating them
so? It is said that the remedy proposed
would itself be revolutionary. What is
that remedy ? It is but the ballot. The
ballot used how, and for what? Peace
fully, for the election of met* who, when
elected, will treat the Constitution as the
Constitution, spurious interpolations upon
it as spurious interpolations, laws as
laws, nullities as nullities, troth as truth,
lies as lie’. The remedy is sot to perpe
trate new revolution, bat to recede from
the revolutionary measures of the usur
pers, to withdraw the bayonet, and leave
the Constitutional governmeits, which are
now displaced by the revolitionary ones,
to peacefully rise from then state of re
pression, and by the resumption of their
legitimate functions, solve the whole prob
lem of restoration in a inannsr worthy of
freemen, and distasteful only to usurpers
and despots.
The revolutionary nsurpets have an im
pudent habit of calling themselves “legiti
mists,” and Democrats “revolutionists.”
I This is but the old trick of the thief cry
; ing, stop thief! Demonstrate to them that
j their measures are revolutionary and void,
| and the reply is, renewed assertion of their
j legality and validity. Argument is met
only by iteration and reiteration of tbe
. original falsehood.
It is the case of the robber who has en
tered your house by violence, and has no
plea for remaining there except that he
has got in. No man of spirit woald tole
rate the plea for a single instant, even
though the robber should give the best
indications of future good behavior, in
stead of proceeding as rapidly hs possible
to plunder your whole house, just as he is
now actually doing.
Centralism, like the once veiled prophet
of Khorassan, is now unveiled. It stands
revealed in all its hideousness. Who so
depraved as to worship its deformity? j
Who so dastardly as not to plaut a dag
ger in its vitals? The weapons to be used
are those of truth and reason. The Tem
ple of Liberty is in possession of the money
changers, and the dove sellers. They are
desecrating its altars and laying their un
holy hands upon the very ark of the cove
nant. Nay more ; they are undermining
the very foundations of the Temple itself;
and if they are not driven out by an in
dignant people, not one stone will be left
standing upon another of the once magni
ficent structure.
Our error heretofore has been the error
of silence under wrong. I have never
counseled violence. I .do not counsel it
now. I deplore it. But I do counsel an
unremitting aDDcal to argument, truth
and justice. Using these as her sword,
and a sublime patience as her shield, the
South should never cease to agitate and
agitate and agitate, until she obtains the
righting of her wrongs, and the re-estab
lishment of the Constitution in its purity
and its beauty.
The indications are now most promising
that her people will be united in the re
solve to recognize no alliance with any
party that will not give us our rights. If
parties wish to go into scrambles for
offices and spoils, we will have no part or
lot with them. This is the seed-time of
ideas for the next Presidential election.
You may rest assured that that election
will turn upon ideas. No party can main
tain itself in this country if it cannot de
fend itself by argument. Never siuce-thc
close of the war has the time been so
auspicious as now for a candid hearing
and ready reception of the truth in the
North. Reconstruction was never ap
proved there. It was merely tolerated
and accepted as the only feasible solution
of what was regarded as the pressing
and distressing problem of restora
tion. It is now demonstrated that
reconstruction is a failure and a
crime, and that its authors are using it,
not as a means of restoration, but as a
means of alienation, and that they intend
to use it as an instrument for overthrow
ing the Constitution, and converting this
Union of States into a consolidated, des
potic centralism. Its wrong 9 have
heretofore been chiefly confined to the
South. It is now laying its audacious
hands upon the North also. There is no
longer any decent concealment of its pur
pose to control the elections everywhere
by the bayonet, and to convert our gov
ernment trom one of the ballot into one
of force. This purpose can be arrested
and defeated only by the' intelligence and
energy of public opinion. Public opinion
will be equal to the occasion. When the
Boston Port Bill was passed, Virginia
raised the cry : “The cause of Boston Is
the cause of us all,” and the cry was
caught up by all tlio States, and kindled
them all with a flame of enthusiasm.
The cry now is : “The cause of the Con
stitution is the cause of us all,” and Boston
herself will not fail to respond to it.
The spirit of liberty is not dead in the
land where the battles of the revolution
are commemorated by monument and lit
erature. Its echoes yet linger in Fanuiel
Hall, and some Otis or Adams, or Webster
will wake them with new power and new
glory.
It is also now determined that the sup
posed difficult problem of restoration finds
its natural and happy solution in receding
from revolution and returning to the Con
stitution.
lhe party that gives this platform to
the country in the next Presidential cam
paign, and puts candidates upon it, earn
estly devoted to its success, will be irresist
able in position and in argument; and
therefore, will carry the country.
It will, at all events, have the undying
gratitude of the South. She at least can
stand nowhere else. Any other position
for her is forbidden alike by selfrrespcct
and self-preservation. And what is now
her position must very soon inevitably be
the position of all tbe States.
THE FIFTH DISTRICT.
FANNIN VERBUS DUBOSF.
Augusta, Ga., February 4, 1871.
Silt—You are hereby notified that it is
my intention to contest vour right to a
seat as a member of the House of Repre
sentatives of the Forty-second Congress
of the United States from the Fifth Die
triot of the State of Georgia, upon the
following grounds particularly speoified,
to-wit:
Ist- That at the general election held in
the counties of Richmond, Washington,
Jefferson, Burke, Columbia, WarreD,
Glasscock, Hancock, Taliaferro, Ogle
thorpe, E'bert, Lincoln, Wifkes and Mc-
Duffie, on the 20th, 21st and 22d days of
December, 1870, intimidation, violence
and a reign of terror existed to such an
extent that Republican voters, in -such
numbers as to determine the result of the
election, were compelled to vote against
their will for you for the Forty-second
Congress, or were prevented from voting
for any one, when it was their desire and
intentios to vote for me for the Forty-
Second Congpess.
2d. That previous to the election in the
counties aforesaid, Republican voters who
intended to vote for me were threatened
with personal injury with a loss of em
ployment, were shot, beat and otherwise
maltreated, with a view of intimidating
them so that they would not vote for me
at the election aforesaid, and they wore
thus prevented from voting for me as
they intended to do ; that organized
bands of desperadoes were known to exist
in said oounties, acting in the inteiest of
the Democratic party, and against the Re
publican party; that colored men and
Union men, on account of the threats and
acts of violence of these desperate men,
were afraid to vote for me, and did not
vote at the election aforesaid, .as they
deeired and intended to do, and that in
each and all of the counties aforesaid.frand
was practiced and intimidation used by
Democrats toward Republicans, so as tn
destroy the freedom of the ballot box, and
prevent many tbou«and Republicans, who
desired and intended to vote for me, from
doing so, and that the number of voters
so prevented from voting were enough to
determine the result of the election.
3d. That in all of the counties aforesaid,
Republican voters who desired and in
tended to vote for me, were, contrary to
law, prevented from doing so, by being
arrested, because they hsd not paid the
poll tax assessed against them ; by threats
of arrest if they did vote without paying
said tax, and by other illegal means,-al
though said tax bad been remitted by the
Legislature of the State.
4tb. That in the county of Hancock
aforesaid, the managers of election were
wrongfully and illegally arrested and con
fined in jail with a view of preventing Re
publican voters, who desired and intended
to vote for me, from doing so, and that
the election in said county was held by
persons who had no legal right to act as
managers of election ; and that on account
of the arrest of said managers, and the ar
rest and threatened arrest of voters for
voting without having paid said poll tax,
two thousand voters were prevented from
voting, who intended to vote for me.
sth. That a few days prior to the elec
tion aforesaid, when the cars arrived at
Washington, in thecounty of Wilkes, upon
which Republican speakers were expected
to arrive, who were.to address a Republi
can" meeting in my interest and in the in
terest of the Republican party, a band of
armed men entered the cars with the
avowed purpose of murdering said speak
ers, and, not finding them, Ais band did
shoot at three of the leaning Republicans
of the county, friends of mine, killing one,
mortally wounding another and seriously
wounding a third; that on account of
this shooting, which occurred but a few
days prior to the election, two thousand
voters were intimidated, and thus pre
vented from voting for me as they intend
ed to do.
6tb. That in Burke and all of said coun
ties the ballot box was opened and votes
cast for me abstracted, and ballots with
your name upon them put in place of
them, and that, a change of two thousand
votes was thus made in your favor and
against me.
7th. That the illegality of your election
is further shown by the fact that at the
election held in the soring of 1868, for
Governor and other State officers, and
members of Congress, the Republican
candidates received seventeen thousand
| four hundred and forty-seven (17,447)
vqtPs, while the Democratic candidates re
ceived but nice thousand and six hundred
(9,600) votes, although at tbe late elec
tion above mentioned you and other Demo
cratic candidates received fifteen thousand
seven hundred and fifty-nine (15,759)
votes, while I and other Republican can
didates received nine thousand four hun
dred and eigbty-two (9,482) votes, and
that this change was effected by the ille
gal and revolutionary means above men
tioned.
Btb. That the election in said counties
was null and void, and the votes east
should be thrown out; that in a fair elec
tion I should have a large majority of the
votes cast in said counties, and, therefore,
you are not by law, or right, entitled to a
seat in the Forty-second Congress, that in
fact I did receive a majority of the legal
votes freely cast in said District, in coun
ties where the election was not controlled
by unlawful influences.
9tb. That in the counties of Warren,
Oglethorpe and the other counties in the
District, voters whose taxes by the Legis
lature had been remitted, were arrested
after having voted, and in some instances
marched through the crowd of Voters un
der arrest, and imprisoned in other in
stances, as a means of preventing others
from voting by intimidation. Speeches
were made by eminent lawyers, stating that
all parties not having paid their taxes,
although they had been remitted by the
Legislature, would be prosecuted aad
punished for attempting to vote, and that
articles wero written and published by
distinguished men of the District with
the view of intimidating voters, advising
the people to arrest parties who had not
paid their taxes, and to disregard the
laws of the Legislature of the State in re
mitting certain taxes and by suoh means
intimidating voters from- casting their
votes, through fear of arrest and voxatious
prosecution, contrary to the laws of Con
gress, and of the Stato Legislature, and by
which means several thousand Republi
can voters were, through fear, deterred
from’voting for me as they intended, al
though if the parties desired to pay the
tax they could not have done so, it having
been remitted, and the executive or legal
authorities of the State having ordered
the several collectors not to receive and
collect the same. I. S. Fannin.
To Dudley M. Dußose, Esq.
Washington, Ga., Feb. 25, 1871.
To I. jS'. Fannin, Esq. :
Sir —To your communication of the
4th instant, givine me notice of your in
tention to contest my right to a seat in the
House of Representatives the United
States, as a member of the Forty-second
Congress from the Fifth Congressional
District of the State of Georgia, the fol
lowing is my auswer :
Your nino specified grounds of contest
are for the most part not only unfounded
in tact, but, in several instances, have the
extraordinary feature of reversing the facts,
and charging upon my party the very
thingi which were perpetrated by your
own.
Ist. Your second ground of contest is
but an elaboration of the first; and the
substance of the two is that the election
was carried in my favor by a “reign of
terror,” produced, not by anything done
at the time of the election, but by previous
threats and mal-treatment, more particu
larly threats and acts of “organized bands
of desperadoes known to exist in said
counties, acting in the interest of the
Democratic party, and against the Repub
lican party.”
This is untrue, and must have been
known by you to be untrue when you
made this statement. If you fail to make
it good by satisfactory proof, you will be
regarded by all right-thinking men as
the slanderer of the people whom you are
seeking to represent. That there may
have been individual instances of illegal
influence exerted over voters, I am not
prepared to deny. If this election were
free from all such influences it is the only
one of its kind on record.
The material point of your statement
on tins smhjoot io, tliat thes* influences
vrere used in my favor to such an extent
as to annul my majority of six thousand
two hundred and seventy-seven (6,277).
This Ido deny most emphatically. On
the contrary, I affirm that there was a far
greater influence exerted in favor of your
party than there was in favor of mine by
“intimidation.”
The colored men who voted the Demo
cratic ticket, as large numbers of them
did, voted it in very many instances with
apprehension of personal injuries, which
might be inflicted by Radicals of their
own race, under the incitement of white
carpet baggers and scalawags. But for
this “reign of terror,” the Democraric
ticket would have been voted by still
larger numbers of the colored men.
As to “organized bands” I deny that
any such were acting in the interest of the
Democratic party, either at tha time of
the election or any previous time, unless
this designation of "organized bands” is
to be applied to the Democratic Clubs,
which acted openly, and -used only the
weapons of fact and argument.
On the other hand, it is notoriously
true that there were “organized hands,”
known as “Loyal Leagues,” acting in the
interest of your party, operating by means
of threats and secret oaths, and inculca
ting the false and pernioious idea that col
ored people as a race have an interest an
tagonistic to the interest of the white peo
ple with whom their lit is cast, thus
engendering strife between the two races,
and, to some extent, producing, on both
sides, "outrages” of which you complain
only when committed on one side.
This strife and these “outrages” have
been constantly and earnestly discouraged
by the best class of white people through
out tho District (as indeed throughout the
State), not only by preoept, but by bring
ing offenders of both races to trial and
punishment, whenever they could be dis
covered. While Governor Bullock, the
official head oi your party in the State, by
his shameless abuse ot the pardoning
power, ha3 held up to the cplored people
the prospect of impunity in their crimes,
and done all he could to inflame the white
people by making them despair of obtain
ing justice by appealing to the laws and
rulers who have been put over them with
out their consent.
The responsibility of strife and "out
rages” belongs far more to the government
as administered by your party than it does
to the Democratic party. One of the chief
arguments used by Democrats in preserv
ing law and order, and in carrying the
recent election, was that white and blacks,
having common occupations, had common
interests, which would be best guarded
and promoted by committing them to
home men ol known intelligence and char
acter.
2d- As in your first two grounds you
have reversed the faots, so, in your third,
you have given anew specimen of your
recklessness of statement by alledging, as a
fact, what is simply incredible on the faoe
of the statement. You say “that in all
the counties aforesaid (thirteen of the dis
trict) Republican voters, who desired and
intended to vote for you, were, contrary
to law, prevented from doing so by being
arrested because they had not paid the
poll tax assessed against them.” New it
is true that in several couDtie3 arrests
were made for vstiDg without having paid
the roll tax ; but nowhere was anybody so
foolish as to have an arrest made ‘or non
payment ot the tax without voting ; and
not one single person in the whole district
viz.* presented from voting by being ar
rested for hot having paid his poll tax.
This statement of yours is simply im
possible of belief; an lisa fair specimen
of the recklessness of assertion which
characterizes your remarkable communi
cation.
The remainder of your third ground is
that persons were prevented from voting
for you by threats of arrest if they should
vote without paying said tax, “although,”
you say, “said tax had been, remitted by
the Legislature of the State.”
The answer to this is twofold. First.
It is not true that the “tax h#a been to
mitted by the Legislature of the State.”
The Legislature had only suspended its
oollection by directing “that tax collectors
be instructed to desist from collecting the
same” and be relieved from such part of
it as appeared unpa’d on their digests- By
the terms of the act itself, the instruction
to the tax collectors to desist from the col
lection, was to be given, not because the
tax was repealed or omitted, but because it
is declared to be “illegal and not warranted
by the Constitution of this State; and
this declaration is founded on an assigned
reasoD, which is so silly and so clearly in
the teeth of the Constitution itself, that
you have not had the hardihood to endorse
it or the false declaration founded on it.
The declaratory act invoked by you does
not serve your purpose as it stands on the
statute book; and, therefore, you represent
it as a remission of the tax. Second. But
even if it had been remitted, as it was
not, that would not have satisfied the Con
stitution. The Constitution requires pay
ment and nothing else will do
3d. Your fourth ground is based wholly
upon this same idea that the deeiaratory
act aforesaid had done away with the
Constitutional provision which requires
all taxes to be paid as a pre-requisite to
NEW SERIES, VOL. XXIV. NO. 10.
voting. I have already disposed of this
idea in my answer to your third ground ;
and this idea is the solo ba is of your alle
gation that the election in Hancock county
was illegal.
On the contrary, I affirm that the elec
tion in that county was in striot conformi
ty with law. The first managers were
legally arested uoder a warrant from a
oourt of competent jurisdfttion, charging
them with felony as principals in the
second degree, being present aiding and
abetting the crime of illegal and felonious
voting, to wit: The voting of those wfrp
had not paid their taxes as required by
Constitution. They were dearly
guilty ; but whether they were so or not,
they ware adjudged to be so by a court of
competent jurisdiction. To have resisted
the judgment of that oouit, would have
been indeed insurrection and lawlessness
and “outrage.” In obedience to that
judgment the managers (three out of the
original five), not offering bail went to jail,
and the other two declined to aot farther.
There being nobody designated by law
then on hand to hold the eleotion, anew
board was organized to hold it, and did
hold it, under tho oode of this State pro
viding for tno case where the persons
designated by law are not present to hold
tho oleotioa. Tho Akerman election act,
uudec which tho arrested managers were
appointed, did not provide for the contin
gency of their failing to aot; out the code
did. Nor did the Akerman act repeal
the oode, but on the oontrary oonfirmed
all previous election laws not inconsistent
with itself.
As to the number wlio, you say, were
prevented from voting for you in Han
cock county—2,ooo,—l reply that ac
cording to the best evidence, this was
about the whole number of votes in the
entire county ; and it is certain from the
election which was actually held, that
more than eight (800) hundred of these
voted the Democratic ticket, and that
quite a number more ot both whites and
blacks, did not come to the election at all;
and it is further oertain that not one per
son entitled to vote, was prevented from
voting for you, either by intimidation or
by the arrest of the managers, or by any
other cause whatever. On the contrary,
the second board of managers, as well as
several Democratic citizens, took special
care to announce, in the most public man
ner, that all legal voters were free to vote
on either side, without any sort of moles
tation or objection; and that no illegal
voter would be allowed to vote on either
side. It is also true, that some who had
not paid their poll tax were rejected, al
though offering to vote an open Demo
cratic ticket; and lam reliably informed,
and affirm the fact to be, that the second
board of managers did not receive a sin
gle illegal vote, nor reject a single legal one
oneitherside. Itistrnethatquiteanumber
of colored voters who were on the election
gronnd or in town during the election,
dill not vote. The chief explanation of
this fact is, that the colored candidate for
the Legislature, Wm. Harrison, for some
sapient reason of his own, advised the
colored people not to vote. The fact is
further explained by, the general indiffer
ence of the colored people on the whole
subject of voting, many of them openly
declaring that they did not know which
side was right, and did not know how to
vote, and did not wish to vote.
The managers were arrested, not, as
you say, with a view of preventing Re
publican voter* from voting for you, but
for the solb purpose of having the election
held according to tho laws, of which the
Constitution is the highest.
4th. As to the affair in Wilke3 county,
set forth as your fifth ground of contest, I
have this to answer. In the first place,
yout statement that it ocourred “ a few
days prior to the election ” needs this cor
rection—it did actually occur eleven (11)
days before the election. But in the sec
ond and main placs, your statement is a
total perversion of the facts. It is uttorly
untrno that “ a band of' armed men enter
ed the cars ”at ail; and it is also untrue
that any “ band of armed men,” or that
any body “ avowed,” or had any inten
tion to mnrder tho Republican speakers
who were expected on tho occasion alluded
to; and it ia also untrue that the difficulty
was commenced either by aot or word on
the part of Democrat*. On the contrary’,
it was commenced by colored Republicans,
perhaps under a mistake ; but whether
under a mistake or not, it was Commenced
by them, and they alone are responsible
for its natural and legitimate consequences.
This statement will be amply justified and
dearly made manifest by the proof.
sth. Your sixth grouad, alleging that
the ballot boxes in all of said counties
(thirteen in number), were robbed of votes
for you, and stuffed with votes for me, is
false —and its falsehood is moat slanderous
and injurious to gentlemen of tho highest
character, who were charged with the cus
tody of the ballot boxes. Did you expeot
anybody to believe this acousation, when
in every oouncy the ballot box was in tho
custody of five men, of whom three were
appointees of Governor Bullock and the
other two were approved by a Senate io
which your party had the majority ?
6th. Perhaps the most remarkable of
all your grounds is the seventh, alleging
that the difference between the result of
the recent election, and that of the spring
of 1868, wherein Governor Bullock and
the Reconstruction Constitution received
a decided majority in the Fifth District, is
evidence of fraud and illegality in the re
cent election. You utterly ignore the in
tervening election for President of the
United States in the fall of 1868, wherein
there was a decided majority for the
Democratic party. Your complaint in this
ground seems to go upon the idea that the
colored voters belong to your party ; and
that it, in the exercise of their rights as
freemen, they ever choose to vote for the
Democratic party, it is a clear case of
treachery and fraud somewhere, although
the sole inducement to their vote may be
tact and argument. It is a notorious fact
that large numbers of the colored men
voted for the Demccratio party in the re
cent election, under the influence of the
general argument used by the Democrats,
as set forth in my answer to your firtt and
second grounds ; and numbers of them
were especially influenced by the fact that
the Legislature, consisting oi a controlling
majority of your party friends in both
branches, had defrauded the colored peo
ple of the school fund arising from the
poll tax, and had actually applied that
part of it which had been collected to the
paymont of their own per diem. The sim
ple explanation of your unfathomable
mystery is, that your party broke down
under the weight of its own crimes, com
mitted against both white and black.
7tfc. Your eighth ground is simply
your conclusion that in all the counties of
the District, except the two which voted
lor you, the eleotion was null and void on
account of the stupendous fabrication* put
forth by you in the preoceding ground.
Os coarse, the conclusion falls with the
fall of the fabrications,
Bth. As to your ninth ground, it is un
doubtedly true that illegal voters were
arrested in some of the counties, and were
very probably carried to prison in full
view ol the public, as there was no possi
ble mode of oondoetiDg them to jail private
ly. Whatever effect this exhibition may
have had in deterring other persons who
meditated the same crime, was certainly
justifiable and wholesome, and can form a
ground of complaint only on tho part of
those who complain that they canuot be
elected by a people whom they have
habitually injured and insulted, £nd m
spite oflaws imposed by their own party.
I shall not trouble myself to deny that
eminent speakers od the day of tho elec
tion, and eminent men, by addresses pre
vious to the election, did inform tho public
that existing laws would be enforced, and
that illegal voters would be prosecuted
under existing laws. This influence was
not iileeal, but was in the interest of law
ard order.
It the overwhelming majority in my
favor can be set aside by such pretences a*
those set forth in your DOtice of contest,
it will but afford an illustration of how
disregardful your party arc of decisions
pronounced by the very constituencies
created by themselves, and of what a vain
and illusory thing popular elections have
now become.
Dudley M. Dußose.
Going to Burkb County.— The Sheriff
of Burke county was written to yesterday
to come to this city and carry down to
Waynesboro two prisoners—Joe Johnston
and wife —arrested here last Saturday for
robbing Mr. B. M. Blocker, of that coun
ty- It appears that during last April,
nearly a year ago, Mr. Blocker,, who lived
near Griffin’s Landing, on the Savannah
river, was robbed of five hundred dollars
and several valuable papers—his house be
ing entered in the night by burglars.
Suspicion fell upon Johnston and his wife
aDd another negro, who were employed
upon the place, and who ran away the
morning after the robbery. Nothing wae
seen of thens until lasc Saturday, when
the two above named were recognized in
i the Market and arrested*
The “Wild L\nds" Advertisement.
—The Atlanta New Era admits that it
did actually receive three thousand five
hundred and thirty-five dollars ! tor pub
lishing Bullock’s advertisement (not quite
five oolumns and for but two months) of
the “wild lands.” When we turn to the
advertising rates of tho Era, we there find
that the published price for a column in
that paper, for two months, is only $100!
This would make five oolumns, for the
same length of time, just SSOO- The Era
also informs us that the Intelligencer made
out its bill for $4,000 or more for the
same amount of publishing, but that it
was not allowed, but paid the same
amount received by the Era. The amount
paid to two papers in Atlanta for that
work will foot up $7,070.
Now subtract, say SI,OOO, from the
above aggregate amount SSOO for each
paper, which is all cithor could reasonably
and honestlv charge for the work, and wa
have left $6,070, ol over pay to only two
newspapers.
We do not seo how Maj. Madison Bell,
the Oou.pu u u. r fteDcral, who io pat ;■>
his office to audit aud pass upon these
aooounts and all others, and to protect the
State’s interests—we say we do not see
upon what grounds he allowed such ex
traordinary oharges for that work. If he
was ignorant of the character of these
bills, he owes it to himself and to tha
State, to givo some reason why such ex
orbitant bills for printing were allowed.
We say it is an outrage upon the people
of the State and Maj. Bell has permitted
it. —La Grange Reporter.
[covmdnicated.l
Editors Chronicle & Sentinel :
In extending the communication' pub
lished in your paper of the 19th instant, I
beg to state .further, in reference to the
great developer of Southern resources,
George D. Chapman, while your corre
spondent was quite well posted in the af
fairs of this miscreant, ho was not explicit
enough in his communication to be thor
oughly understood ; therefore, if you will
allow me space in your oolumns, I will
give you a short history of this enterprising
individual, with his several paths through
life, as related by himself. George D.
Chapman was born in or near Salem, Mas
sachusetts. At an early age he went to
sea before tha mast, followed this so tub
time, and eventnaliy landed in Australia,
where he went into partnership with other
Americans ir. the stage business and drove
one of the stages, which, by-the-by, he did
well, being more competent to handle tho
reins of horses than those of a railroad.
From Australia ho went to San Francisco,
where he embarked in another business,
i. e •, stealing water lots fronting on the bay
and selling them, “it being necessary to have
piles for this purpose, so as to drive down,
thereby securing the property,” he went
to Oregon and brought down a vessel load
ed with piles. On his return he found a
law feud beep passed during his absence
making it a criminal offense to take water
lots. He then had his piles sawed into
firewood and sold, which broke him. As
San Francisoo became very hot about this
time for this class of business men, he re
embarked, and we next find him in New
York ; od Broad street, in the brokeago
business. He did not exist here long, as
he broke all who bad anything to do vitli
him, then broke himself. We next find
him in the petroleum business, which he
flourished in for a short time, but net
haviDg an opportunity of developing tbo
resources of Pennsylvania, nor naving
struck ilo, ho broke iu tills. We HCXt
find him in the manufacture and sale of
the Mica reflector, with Mr. Randall and
Mr. Thoip. After there was some SIO,OOO
lost in this by Mr. Thorp, he failed in
this. We next find him building a horse
railroad, with Mr. Randall, from Newark
to Bloomfield, New Jersey, in which he
also failed. Wo next find him as the con
tractor of the New Haven & Derby
Railroad, “nine miles long.” In a short
time the affairs of this road, and his
own, were in such a mess the work
was stopped, he having tailed in this.
We next find him the contractor of the
Port Royal Railroad, living in Augusta in
grand style, driving fine horses and carri
ages with an opera singer, and alter carry
ing on this project for about eight months,
his affairs were in tbe same mess as here
tofore, and he failed in this, leaving in
numerable creditors, the largest portion of
whom, really suffering for the necessaries
of life and why is all this suffering ? Tho
money sont him to pay from time to time
the liabilities of the Port Royal contract,
ho had spent in horses, oarriages, women,
and opera singers. George D. Chapman,
by his own words, has only succeeded in
two enterprises in his life, and those were
driving stage in Australia, and stealing
water lots in San Francisco. “ What a
cruel thing law is!" While the work on
the Port Royal Railroad was going on, he
inveigled himself in the Board of Di
rectors of the Barnwoll Railroad, and the
Augusta and Hartwell Railroad- Now this
m iscreant is the President of these two com
panies. Can it be possible that the Direct
ors of the Augusta and Hartwell Railroad
and the citizens of this State, will be any
longer misled and deceived by this fellow.
We want the road, but as long as this ad
venturer has anything to do with it we
will not see it built. It- is sinoerely hoped
that the Board of Directors of the Au
gusta and Hartwell Railroad Company
will take acti.o measures at its next meet
ing to shelve this mao, so that tho people
here aDd along the lino will subscribe to
the stock, and have the road built at an
early day.
More anon. Who Knows One.
Augusta, Feb. 20th, 1871-
The Printer.—The following beautiful
tribute to the followers of the "stick and
rule,” is from the pen of Benj. F. Taylor,
formerly of the Chicago Journal:
“ Tbe printer is the adjutant of thought,
and this explains tho mystery of the won
derful word that can Kindle a hope as no
song can; that word 'we’ with a hand
in-hand warmth in it—for the author and
printer are engineers together. Engineers
indeed 1 When the Corsican bombarded
Cadiz, at a distance of five miles, it was
deemed the very triumph of engineering.
But what is the range of this, whereby
they bombard the ages to be ?
“ There at the ‘case’ he stands, and
marshals into line the forces aimed with
truth, clothed with immortality and J3ng
lish. And what oan be nobler than tbe
equipage of thought in sterling Saxon—
-Baxan with n spear or shield therein and
that commissioned, when we are dead, to
move grandly on to ‘the latter syllable of
record time.’ This is to win a victory
from death, for this has no dying in it.
“The printer is called a laborer, and the
office he performs is toil. Oh ! it is not
work, but a sublime life he is performing,
when he thus cites the engine that is to
fling a worded truth in grander curve
than missile e’er before described; fling
it into the bosom of age. He throws off
his coat, indeed, but we wonder the rath
er he does not put his shoes from off his
feet, for the place whereon he stands is
holy ground.
"A little song was uttered somewhere
long ago; it wandered through the
twilight feebler than a star; it died upon
the ear. Bat the printer takes it where
it was lying there in silence, like a wound
ed bird, he sends it forth from the ark
that had preserved it, and flies on into
the future with the olive branch of peace,
and around the world with melody, like
the dawning of aspring morning.”
Morning, Noon and Night. —This is
the title of the handsome medical Annual
and Almanac for 1871-’72, just issued by
the enterprising firm of Messrs. P. H.
Drake & Cos., the proprietors of that
widely known and celebrated tonic, Planta
tion Bitters. The Annual is gotten up in
elegant style and contains ac amount of
practical and useful information, on all
subjects, rarely found in any one work.
It also gives a complete history of the
mode of preparing the Bitters, and tho
manner in which the immense business is
conducted. About six million copies of the
Annual for tho present year have been
printed—certainly an enormous quantity—
and a fact which speaks volumes for tho
enterprise and success of the firm whioh
has, in a few years, built up a business of
each vast proportions. The indications
now are that the sale of the Plantation
Bitters for the next year will exceed seven
millions of bottles. .