Newspaper Page Text
OLD SERIES—VOL. LXXVJII.
TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION.
daily.
One month —•■•s 100
Three months 2 60
One year *» 10 00
tbi-weekly.
One year - $ ® 00
Six inoritbH -~ 3 SO
Three month - 2 00
WEEKLY.
Three months •*•s 1 *lO
Six months 1 SO
One year - 8 00
WKDNZMUV M0841N6, JILT 26.
A THKKK FOOT ttAI(«K RAILWAY IS
GKORttIA.
The contract for grading, bridging, lay
ing the track and completing the first
twenty miles on the North and Sooth
Railroad was yesterday awe.rded, says
the Columbus Sun, to A. J. Lane
Laoe A Cos. and John T- Grart & Cos. on
a joint bid ma le by the two firms. Theirs
was the lowest of the thirty-five put in.
The specifications require work to be com
menced within twenty days. A gauge of
three foot was adopted.
The stock ($500,000) required by the
charter before Directors can be elected
has been secured by the Columbus, Harris,
Heard, Rome and LaGrange subscriptions,
and it is said that the stockholders will
meet in forty days to elect officers. The
road has been poshed to its present favor
able condition by the corporators, who are
clothed under the charter with all the
powers of Directors until the regular
organization. Large subscriptions are yet
to be obtained of Polk, llarralson, Car
roll, Muscogee, and Floyd counties.
This, we believe, is the beginning of nar
row gauge railway systems in Georgia,
which will bo carried to such an extent
as will modify greatly the policy of man
agement of our existing broad gauge sys
tem. The present policy is extremely low
rates for what are technically known as
through freights, and “full rates for local
freightfor example, a traveller from
New Orleans to New York is required to
pay only one cent per mile for transporta
tion, while tlio Georgian is made to pay
five coots per mile for his transportation
between points within the State. Again,
the Columbus people, we arc told, found it
cheaper last winter to ship cotton to Selma,
Alabama, for reshipment to New York,
than to ship directly from Columbus to
Savannah or New York. Tnia is one
feature in railroad policy that is directing
public opinion to the narrow guage system,
to avoid the evils of discrimination in tariff
rates by cheaper rates for local freight and
transportation- Another feature, which
makes tbo narrow guage system almost
imperative, is the necessity .for a system
that will oost less in construotion than our
present expensive broad guage system, to
bring into use the many thousand aures of
unoocupicd land throughout the State.
These lands are now of little value either
to tbo State or the Owners.-. Our people
bavo not tho means to build broad guage
roads. But narrow guago roads are no
longer an experiment under British expe
rience, and they oome wiihin the means of
any community within thb State.
Columbus leads the way in this new
railroad departure in the State.
SATAN BKPBOVINU SIN—AN KITUA
<i It 111 \a K V LETTKB FROM THE EX
PBKSS AGENT.
To tho exclusion of much more valuable
matter, wc lay beforo our readers to day a
letter from tho Express Agent, now dis
gracing tbo Gunernatori&l chair of tho
State, through tho frauds of the recon
struction acts and the false returns of
sharp aod quick Hulburt, to the Congres
sional Ku-Klux Committee in session in
Washington.
The cool impudenoe of this political
charlatan, displayed in his pretended de
fense of St&to rights, is really refreshing.
Tboao not familiar wit’u the oondnot of
this man for tho last six years would be
led to suppose that he was. a Jeffersonian
State rights man of the strictest scot.
His horror of Federal interference with
tho local affairs of the several States is
well assumed, and, if sincere, would miti
gate, in some degree, his previous clamor
for Congressional intervention. The peo
ple of this State know full well that
throughout our whole limits no man has
been more clamorous for and active in
procuring, time and again, since the re
construction deviltry began, the interfer
ence of tho Federal Government with our
local concern?. This man Bullock, who
dow Pharisaically expresses such horror
,of Federal intervention, has been instru
mental in procuring: not only Federal In
tervention, but that of the worst kind
military despotism. He ha3 invited the
rule of the bayonet—he has urged tlio in
terposition of Federal power here to ena
ble him and his corrupt Blodgett clique to
obtain possession of the State Govern
ment—he has subsequently solicited and
procured Federal bayonet interposition to
strengthen and secure his corrupt rule.
Through his machinations peaceful citizens
of the State have been deprived of their
liberty and their property by Federal
power, and oven now he is clamoring fer a
strict enforcement of the illegal and revolu
tionary Ku-Klux bill of the last Congress,
while ho hypocritically professes patriotic
indignation against a resolution merely re
questing information in regard to the
management of our State debt and our
system of internal taxation.
This virtuous robber and charlatan
patriot views not only with indifference,but
actual gratification and delight, the arrest
aud imprisonment of quiet and orderly
citizens by Federal power for alleged of
fenses oommitted against our State laws,
while his pure soul is moved with horror
at the idea that his acts as Exeeutive of
the State should be inquired into by the
same power. Placed in a position where
by law he is required to afford protection
to the people, he actually smiles at their
oppression, and throws his aid and influ
ence in support of the Federal interven
tion which drags innocent freemen from
their homes and families, and thrusts them
into loathsome Federal bastiles. When a
half sooro of wealthy citizens of Washing
ton county but a few days since were ille-
gally arrested and carried from their
homes to a distant city to be tried before
Federal officers for offenses which, if com
mitted at all, were committed against the
laws of this State and were amenable to
our State tribunals, this newly fledged
Jeffersonian State rights stickler uttered
not a word or gave a single sign of disap
proval. Now he would have the people
of Georgia believe that he is » faithful
guardian of their rights and liberties, and
that Federal authority will be promptly
denounced whenever it attempts to inter
fere with the local affairs of our State.
His statement, that there is a political
clique in opposition to his administration
supported by the Treasurer and a power
ful railroad corporation, is simply false.
Tho whole body of the people denounce
him as a public robber and his adminis
tration as utterly corrupt. More than
one-half of the little squad of white men
who belong to his party,'in this State, de
nounce his administration in the most un
measured terms. The leading men of the
Republican party—those who gave it what
title of respectability it ever possessed—
those who have intelligence and social po
sition—are open mouthed in their opposi
tion to his administration. He shows art
tulness in attempting to connect the Cen
tral Railroad—for this is evidently the
corporation referred to—with this opposi
tion. Knowing the popular prejudiee
against corporations, he endeavors to con
nect with the opposition to his corrupt
j rule a leading ad powerful railroad com
-1 pany, hoping thereby to tnrn the popular
prejudice in hia favor. We have been a
careful observer of public affairs in this
j State since the close of the war, and un
hesitatingly declare that, in our opinion,
;no person, either natural or artifi
cial, has so carefully acd consistently ab
stained from interference with the Btate
Government, and with the administration
of the laws, as the Central Railroad and
Banking Company. That Company has
I tried to attend to its own business—and
their returns show how well they have
succeeded —and have declined to be made
I parties to Radical rings and thieving jobs
jia the Legislature. It has, perhaps, de
clined to flatter and pander to the person
j who writes himself Governor of Georgia,
and for this, perhaps, incurred his displea
sure. The Central Railroad, whatever
may be said of its grasping ambition in
regard to other railroads, is certainly free
from any imputation of attempting to con
trol State or local legislation by improper
or even questionable means and agencies.
But really the most impudent point in
the “Agent’s” long letter is his attempt
to show that under Governor Jenkins’
administration the expense of the State
government was two million nice hundred
and sixty thousand live hundred and nine
dollars, and that for the same period of
time during his administration the ex
penses have been sixty thousand dollars a
year less ; and this, be says, "with double
the number oj citizens entitled to the cart
and attention of the State, its courts, etc."
If ho means to say that our population
has doubled since Governor Jenkins’ ad
[ ministration, the statement is simply false.
If he pretends that the negroes having
become free are now entitled to the care
and protection of the State, whereas in
slavery they were not, the statement is
equally false.
The Express Agent carefully conceals
from the committee to whom his letter is
ostensibly addressed tbo fact that when Mr.
Jenkins was called to tho Gubernatorial
Chair large indebtedness had been in
curred during the reign of the Provisional
State Government—that tbo State Road
had been thoroughly destroyed by the
contending armies in the late war—that
portions of the public debt, principal and
interest, had fallen due, and was remain
ing unpaid—and that, to meet this extra
ordinary condition of affairs, heavy ex
penditures had to be male. The
rebuilding and equipment of tbo State
Road oost an enormous sum—perhapt one
half or more than the entire expenditures
—and the expenso necessarily inoideot to
bringing order and system out of the
chaotic condition of affairs then existing
required the disbursement of large sums
which, under other circumstances, would
have been unnecessary. The truth is,
the administration of Mr. -Jenkins,
as the figures will show, was the
most economical that we have had
for years. It is true, that extraordi
nary demands were made upon the Treas
ury, and met as they should have been;
but, as we have shown, these grew out of
the disorders occasioned by the war, and
for which Mr. Jenkins was no more re
sponsible than any other citizen of the
State.
But admitting that the amount charged
to Mr. Jenkins’ administration is correct,
and that they were th a ordinary expenses
of government, a glance at the figures
will show that tfie expenses of the “ Ex
press Agent’s” administration have been
more than double that of the former. We
might here give the several figures, show
ing this statement correct, but we forbear.
First, because the attempt to soandalize
Gov. Jenkins’ administration, by compar
ing it with that of Bullock’s, has already
been exposed and rebuked by the press of
the State; and, second, because no cne
will believe the charge of Bullock, even
though made under oath.
We beg pardon of our readers for occu
pying so much space with this contempt
able subject. Yet, we wished to let the
people know what the Executive robber
is saying and doing to bring disrepute
upon the State anil tho good character of
her citizens.
THE COTTON STATES FAIR ASSOCIATION
AND ITS EXHIBITION NEXT OCTOBER.
The perusal ol tho Premium List —
which has just been placed in our hands —
for the oomiog exhibition, whioh opens in
our city on the 31st of next Ootober, sug
gests some ideas to our mind whioh our
poople would do well to consider ; and in
order to convince our citizens that our
views arc entitled to consideration, we
will remind them of this sact —that, at
an expense of some seventy thousand dol
lars, subscribed by tho people of Augusta
and our neighbors in South Carolina, we
are provided within our city limits with a
Fair Grounds which, in point of con
venience, adaptability for display of pro
ducts, agricultural industry, machinciy,
stock, cto., is second to none in the Cotton
States —and all this in a eity that claims
to be the present, if Dot the future,
oentre of tho great manufacturing
and agricultural interests of this sec
tion of tho South. Tho object that
induced this outlay of capital, was the be
lief that we needed some means of display
ing to the world the truth of wbat has al
ways been our boast—that our resources for
manufacturing and for producing are inex
haustible. This is an undeniable fact that
every visitor to our city has Seen con
vinced of. But of wbat use are our lights
if they are all the time bidden under a
bushel ? We must expose them to the
world, and indusc the world to come and
see for itself; and this is the object—a 6
well as that of developing our home in
dustries, as wc regard the subject—that
gave rise and impetus to our Fair Asso
ciation. The premium list before us bears
evidence of having been prepared with
these purposes in view, and none that we
have seen combines more thoroughly and
yet judioiously the encouragement of in
dustries both at home and abroad. North
ern manufacturers will not be slow to
take advantage of the inducements there
in offered to bring their wares to the no
tice of our consumers. To cutside manu
tacturers and p'odueere, nothing need be
said by us ; but our people here at home
must not allow it to be said that persons
from abroad have carried off honors and
eciat that nothing but apathy and indif
ference prevents being awarded to our
selves. It is the duty of all of us at homo
to foster, enoourage and contribute to the
grand success of an enterprise that we
have invested so much of our money in,
and that brings us so much benefit.
A brilliant and successful exhibition next
Ootober is assured far beyond last year's—
satisfactory as that was, but we do not
desire to see oar home people outdone in
any possible particular, by skill and in
genuity from abroad.
In every instance, however, exhibitors
are assured that fair play shall be certain,
and that the best shall surely win. In
one important branch of oar industries
we can observe a notable improvement
every year—wc allude to machinery and
farm implements. We would like to see
manifested a like improvement in stock.
To the ladies, whose exhibition last year
was so much admired, we need say noth
ing. The premiums on all are admirably
adjusted and most liberal.
Boss Johnson, a free American citizen
of color, killed Andrew Jaokson, of the
elaybank variety, in Pieroe county, last
Saturday. Too much whisky and a long
knife did the work. ,
Sou (hern Crop Prospects.
Editors Chronicle & Sentinel:
It may interest your readers to learn
the condition of the crops, and as a recent
visit to each county in Middle and South
Georgia, and also to Macon, Barbour,
Russell and Montgomery counties, Ala
bama, enables the writer to speak of wbac
he saw and of his own conclusions there
upon. He is willing to subject himself to
the remarks of any who may differ from
opinions thus farmed, and, therefore,
places this letter at your disposal.
The conclusion —7 hat not more than
one-half the quantity of cotton made in
1870 will be gathered in 1871—may star
tle some of your readers. But it will not
be questioned by those who have seen the
growing crop, and have had experience
as planters.
It was gratifying to observe the in
creased area .devoted to oats, wheat and
corn. Our planters seem at last to have
prolkted by their past severe lessons, and
given heed to the warning so repeatedly
uttered by the Chronicle & Sentinel.
To me it seemed as if you wrote several of
your articles, calling upon the agricul
turists of the South to plaDt more grain
aod less cotton, in anger at their suici
dal policy and despair of their eyes ever
being opened.
An abundant yield of all the grain crops
has been the reward of your warning; and
though Georgia will make sufficient corn
for her people this season, you should con
tinue to "ding dong” at them until their
cribs are filled with gra ; n “of last year.”
Then our State will surely proper, and not
until then ; for no planter can succeed who
purchases his grain, and whero the plant
ers do not prosper there is but little pros
perity. AH depends upon the tiller of the
greund—ho is the atlas whose shoulders
upholds tho prosperity of every country.
Let, theD, your columns urge the necessity
of fall plowing, for corn land, to extend
the area for graiD. Bye-the-bye, it is now
the season to prepare for turnips, olover
and rye. The latter can be sown in the
cotton field, and a sweep run through the
rows at the last plowing will cover the
seed.
The circulation of your paper is very
extended, and much attention by the
planters is given to your editorials and ar
ticles. The Confederate monumental lot
tery, endorsed by your paper, with its no
ble list of commissioners, has been
cordially received all over the State, and
its agents will have no trouble in selling
tickets during the coming fall, should cot
ton continue at its present price, of which
no one who is familiar with the condition
of the crop can doubt. The area planted
is certainly one-third les? than last year.
This reduced area was planted with Jess
care than usual, because the price of the
staple was not remunerative, and would
not warrant any outlay not actually neces
sary. It is true, that the best land was
not planted in cotton, and ’tis fortunate
for the planter that grain and corn monop
olized the good land, and tie latter crop
was ont of the way of grass before the
rains commenced. That quality of land,
planted in cotton, became very soon over
run by grass and weeds, and the planter,
being unable to use either the hoe or
plow, and the price still being unremunera
tive, he devoted his energies to other
portions of his crop.
The bottoms, the flats and the lower
part of every bill side was also thrown out.
Much of the gray land fared the same
fate. Wherever the planter had put in a
full crop he was unable to tend the whole,
and threw away the cottOD. You can
safely estimate the part turned out at one
fourth. *
When the corn crop was ready to “lay
byo,” and the price of cotton began to
climb up, the planter turned more of his
.attention to the young and grass-over-run
ootton plant. But cotton declined, and
with it the hopes of the farmer. Agam
a rise took plaoe, aod now every energy
was devoted to the fight with General
Green. Late and early, big and little, old
and young, went at it with a vim. The
grass was knocked about, turned over,
hung upon stumps and bushes : but the
rains continued daily to fall to keep it
fresh and green. The cotton commenced
to grow, and grew rapidly. Very soon tho
alearcd portion will be tolerably clean of
grass, but is tender and full of sap. The
dry, hot days of the last of July and
August will cause every form, bloom and
boll to drop.
But if the rain continues, and no boll
worm or caterpilhr oomes forth, and if we
have a late frost, tho crop will reach one
half of that made last year ; under the
mo-t favorable circumstanoe?, not more.
This picture is not overdrawn, and the
facts are as the writer saw diem. There
was a comparatively small quantity of
commercial fertilizers used, and this chief
ly was made on the plantation, the mate
rials having been purchased from the
apothecary, according to a formula that
had been tested by some of the planters.
Almost every neighborhood had its own
favorite formula.
The increased number of hogs and cat
tle is noticeable, and tho good crop of
grain made this year will enable the plan
ter to increase and improve his stock.
The negroes are working very well and
pleasant relations exist between them and
the planters.
The scallawags and carpet-baggers are
rapidly disappearing. Those that remain
are generally office holders, who are
striving to make the people believe they
are and have always been siinon pure
State Rights Democrats.
Much of the labor heretofore devoted to
the production of cotton has been absorbed
by the State aid railroads.
Truly yours, P. W.
Letter from His Excellency Gov
ernor Bullock, of Georgia.,
In Reply to the Honorable John Scott,
United States Senator, Chai;-man of
Joint Select Committee to Inquire into
the Condition of the Late Insurrection
ary States.
Room of the Joint Select Committee to 1
Inquire into the Condition of [
The Late Insurrectionary States, j
Washington, D. C., May 24, 1871. J
Sir —The sub-committee of the Joint
Select Committee of Congress, appointed
to inquire into tho condition of the late
insurrectionary States, has adopted the
following resolution:
On motion of Mr. Blair—
Resolved, That the chairman be re
quested to address letters to the Execu
tive, or other proper officers of the States
comprehended in the resolution author
izing the appointment of the Joint Select
Committee, asking statements of the debts
and of the rates and amounts of taxation
of said States, respectively, at the preseot
time, and to furnish copies of the law cre
ating said debts, and fixing said rates of
taxation; also, requesting copies of the
election laws now in force, and those which
ha/e been in force in said States, respect
ively, since the adoption of the present
constitution of said States, with such other
official documents as the ohairman shall
deem essential to this investigation.
In pursuance of the duty devo’ved upon
me by this resolution, I respectfully re
quest that, so far as relates to the State of
Georgia, the statements and copies of
laws therein mentioned be furnished as
soon as they can conveniently be prepared
and forwarded.
Under the last clause of the resolution,
I am requested to also procure, if it can
be furnished, a statement of the amount j
of the debts of the several States at the j
time their respective ordinances of se- .
cession were passed. In this connection j
(if it can be furnished), I would be pleased
to receive from you a statement, giving the
amount, rates, and subjects of taxation in
the State of Georgia prior to the passage
of the ordinance of secession by said
State (stating, in cases in which slaves
were the subject of taxation, the valua
tion.) fund the subjects of taxation now, as
well as the rates and amounts.
Respectfully, John Soott,
Chairman of Joint Select Committee.
and of Sub-Committee, tec.
His Excellency. R. a. Bullock,
Governor of Georgia, Atlanta, Georgia.
Executive Department, State of Ga., (
Atlanta, July 5, 1871. i
Hon. John Scott, Chairman Joint Select
Committee to Inquire into the Condition
of the late Insurrectionary States. Unit
ed States Senate, Washington, D. C. :
t pon my return to the Capitol,
after an absence from the State. I find a
printed circular bearing date from the
room of your committee, May 24, 1871,
addressed to myself. In this printed cir
cular yon incorporate a copy ot a resolu
tion adopted by your committee on mo
tion of Gen. Frank Blair, which reads as
follows :
On motion of Mr. Blair—
“ Resolved, That the chairman bejreqnest
ed to address letters to the Executive, or
other proper officers of the States oompre-
AUGUSTA, GA„ WEDNESDAY MORNING, JULY 26, 1871.
i
i headed in the resolution authorizing the
appointment of the Joint Select Commit
tee, asking statements of the debts and of
the rates and amounts of taxation of said
State?, respectively, at the present time,
1 and to furnish copies of the laws creating
■ said debts aod fixing said rates of taxa
! eion ; also requesting copies of the election
i laws now in force, and those which have
been in force in said States, respectively,
since the adoption of the present Constitu
tions of said States, with such other offi
cial documents as the chairman shall deem
essential to this investigation.”
In pursuance of the foregoing_ resolu
tion, you request that so far as relates to
the State of Georgia, the statements and
copies of laws therein mentioned be fur
nished as soon as they can conveniently be
prepared and forwarded. You also re
quest, under the last clause of the resolu
tion, a statement of the amounts of the
debts of the several States at the time
their respective ordinances of secession
were passed, also a statement of the
amount, rates, and subjects of taxation in
the State of Georgia prior to the passage
of the ordinance of secession, etc-
In responding to the request of the
Congressional Committee, as presented in
the circular referred to, I cannot consent
to establish a precedent for the future by
recognizing the right of Congress to, in
this manner, interfere with or inquire iDto
matters which are solely within the con
trol and subject to the supervision of the
representatives of the people of tbi3 State
in General Assembly met ; nor can I
forego this opportunity of respectfully
suggesting to the mover of tbe resolution
under which the circular is issued, and to
your honorable committee, that the State
of Georgia, after much tribulation, has
complied with all the requirements which
were prescribed by Congress as prelimi
nary to her readmission into tho UnioD.
The fact of her readmission has been made
known to our people, not only through the
declaratory statutes enacted by Congress,
but also in the reception of our Senators
and representatives into that body. The
State of Georgia, therefore, stands in the
Union the peer of every other State, and
information touching her needs, ter re
quirements, or her oondition, will be made
known and presented to Congress by her
representatives in that body. I cannot
admit that at this day there is anything in
the fact of her “late insurrectionary con
dition” which would authorize the repre
sentatives of the people of other States in
Congress to order proceedings towards her
which would not equally apply to the
people of the several States represented by
themselves.
While I would not permit partisan po
litical feeling to influence my official action,
I can but feel gratified to krow that in the
position which I have indicated as to the
rights of this State in her relations to the
other States, I am but repeating the views
which have been continuously set forth by
the Republican party in its several gen
eral conventions from tbe time of its or
ganization until the present day, and am
sustaining the position taken by the Re
publican party in Ibis State in tho conven
tions which have been held in the course
of tbeir efforts to secure her restoration to
the Union. A resolution, adopted at a
convention of' the Republican party of
Georgia, held in this city in March, 1869,
during the trials of reconstruction, reads
as follows:
“11. That when the Reconstruction
Acts of Congress shall have been fully
complied with, and Georgia shall have
been recognized as a State in the Union,
we will demand for her every right now
guaranteed to other States in the Union,
and would deprecate any act of Congress
looking to the control of the affairs of any
one State, that would not equally apply to
all the States.”
I am aware that by an ingenious legal
construction it is assumed that the late
amendments to the Constitution of the
United States have so extended the powers
of Congress that a majority of its mem
bers, acting in harmony with the Execu
tive, have absolute control over all the
functions heretofore universally conceded
to be such as purely appertain to the local
organization of the States. But, as the
Executive of one of tho States, I most
positively dissent from this construction,
and, as a Republican, decline to accept
such an interpretation as being approved
by tbe Republican party organization
throughout the oountry. Whatever may
be the fine-spun theories of legal gentle
men»upon the question of the powers del
egated by the late amendments, we may
be fully assured that the great mass of the
American people regard them as simply
such measures as were necessary to guar
antee abolition of slavery and prohibit
further attempts to destroy tho Union; to
secure the payment es the debt of the
United States, ar.d to prevent the denial
of civil and political privileges to citizens
on account of their raoe, oolor, or previous
condition of servitude. Any attempt to
go beyond this reasonable and well-estab
lished opinion of the people for the pur
pose and in the hope of obtaining political
power, no matter how well devised maybe
the pretext, will meet with a swift rebuke
from an overwhelming majority of Ameri
can citizens. Any political parly that
would dare to resurrect and vitalize the
issues that were crushed into graves at
Appomattox and Greensboro, would meet
with like treatment from a largo majority
of the people South as well as North. No
one in the South would now accept the
restoration of slavery; no one seeks the
repudiation of the United States debt.
Tho State of Georgia does not deny or
abridge the right es any citizen of the
United States to vote on account of race,
color, cr previous condition of servitude;
nor does this State deny to any person
within its jurisdiction the equal protection
of tho laws.
How, in the face of these facts, can we
justify action towards her that if attempt
ed against New York or Massachusetts
would be spurned by an indigDant people?
Let us rather adhere to the original and
lasting foundation of repubublicanism, so
concisely and so ably presented by Jeffer
son when he says:
“ Equal and exact justice to all men, of
whatever state or persuasion, religious or
political; peace, commerce and honest
friendship with all nations—entangling
alliances with none ; THE SUPPORT OF
THE STATE GOVEKNMENTS IN ALL
THEIR RIGHTS AS THE MOST COM
PETENT ADMINISTRATIONS FOR
OUR DOMESTIC CONCERNS AND
THE SUREST BULWARKS AGAINST
ANTI-REPUBLICAN TENDENCIES;
the preservation of the General Govern
ment in its whole constitutional vigor as
the sheet anchor of our peace at home
and safety abroad ; a jealous care of the
right of election by the people—a mild
and safe corrective of abuses, which are
lopped by the sword of revolution where
peaceable remedies are unprovided ; ab
solute acquiescence in the decision of
the majority—the vital principle of Re
publics, from which there is no appeal but
to force, the vital principle and imme
diate parent of despotism ; a well dis
ciplined militia—our best reliance in peace
and for the first moments of war, till regu
lars may relieve them ; the supremacy
of the civil over the military authority ;
economy in the public expense, that labor
may be lightly burdened ; the honest pay
ment of our debts and sacred preservation
of the public faith ; encouragement of
agriculture, and ot commerce as its hand
maid ; the diffusion of information, and
the arraignment of all abuses at the bar
of public reason ; freedom of religion ;
freedom of the press ; freedom of person
under the protection of the habeas corpus ;
and trial by juries impartially selected—
these principles form the bright constella
tion which has gone before us, and guided
our steps through an age of revolution
and reformation. The wisdom of our
I sages and the blood of our heroes have
j been devoted to their attainment. They
| should be the creed of our political faith
i —the text of civil instruction—the touch
stone by which to try the services of
those we trust ; and should we wander
from them in moments of error or alarm,
let us hasten to retrace oar steps and to
regain the road which alone leads to
peace, liberty, and safety.”
I have ventured to say this much that
my official action, as the chief Exeeutive
of one ot the States in the American Union,
might not be misunderstood, and my com
pliance with the request of your committee
be used in the future as a precedent against
the State; and also, that as far as any act
of mine might go, the Union Republican
party should not be held as endorsing the
extreme construction which is sought to
be given to the late amendments to the
Constitution.
By the active exertions of a small po
litical dique, in opposition to the present
administration, aided and supported by
the State Treasurer, and a powerful rail
road corporation, which seeks to strangle
or absorb every other railroad enterprise
in the State, willful, malicious, unfounded,
and unfair statements hare been scattered
broadcast through the press, for the pur
pose of injuring, to as great an extent as
passible, the credit of the State, and there
by prevent the marketing of such of her
securities as I have been authorized and
instructed to issae, and to render less val
uable the State’s endorsement on bonds of
railroad companies. For peeson&l reasons,
therefore, I am gratified that an opportu
nity is giveD me, by this request, to make
knowD, semi-officially, tho exact financial
condition of this State.
lam advised that the Hon. Madison
Bell, Comptroller-General of this State,
has, in response to a similar circular,
given to your committee, in bulk, the
statistical information called for; and I
shall therefore only recapitulate the com
parative figures, to exhibit the points ot
; information which I understand your com
mittee require?.
| It is proper to state that under onr
statutes the Comptroller General is the
official check upon all other departments
of the State, and that his office, together
with that of the Secretary of State, con
trols the records, the official proceedings,
and the transaction of the State’s affairs.
The office of Treasurer is only clerical,
that official being simply the custodian and
disburser of such money as may be placed
in his hands by tke Governoror from
taxes collected through the Comptroller
General.
The public debt of the State as shown
by the Comptroller General’s report for
1861, was $3,638,750, The public debt of
the State on the Ist day ot July, 1868, a
few weeks before the present administra
tion came into office, was $6.256,635;
showing an increase of debt between the
close of the war and the adoption of the
present Constitution (the State govern
ment, during that time, being under the
able administration of Governor Jenkins,
founded upon President Johnson’s “proc
lamation ”) of $2,507,885.
The expenses of that State government,
as shown by the report of the Comptroller
General, are as follows:
Oct. 16, '66, to Oct. 16,1867 $2,689,363 85
Oct. 16, ’67, to Aug. 10, 1868 271,145 66
Making a total expenditure for the
twenty-two months of Governor Jenkins’
administration of two million nine hundred
and sixty thousand five hundred and Bine
dollars and forty-one cents.
The expenditures of the
present administration
from August 11, 1868, to
the first day of January,
1869, were $ 430,957 77
Same from January Ist,
1869, to January Ist, 1870 1,857,825 9S
Same from January Ist,
1870, to January 1, 1871.. 1,470,021 02
Making a total, up to the
first day of January, 1871,
a period of twenty-Dine
months, under the present
administration, of. $3,758,804 77
Thus showing that, with double the
voting population, and double the num
ber of citizens entitled to the care and at
tention of the State, its courts, etc., and
for a period of time covering great excite
ment and disorder, the expenses of my
administration have been an average of
nearly five thousand dollars per month less
than those of my predecessor, and this,
too, notwithstanding the heavy expenses
necessarily incurred by the numerous, and
in fact almost continuous meetings of the
General Assembly, made necessary by the
hesitancy of Congress in acting upon the
question of tho readmiasion of our
State into the Union.
The total valuation of property, as re
turned by the people of this Stato for
taxation in the year 1860, wts—
Land $161,764,955
Slaves 302,694,855
City and town property 35,139,415
Money and solvent debts 107,336,258
Merchandise , 15,577,193
Shipping and tonnage 943,940
fctocks manufactures, etc 4,034,252
Household and kitchen furni
ture 2.374,284
Other property not men
tioned....... ' 42,427,295
Making a total of $672,292,447
Upon which the rate of taxation was 61
cents on one hundred dollars.
Taking from thisrfotal valua
tion, amounting to ..$672,292,447
The value of slaves 302,694’855
And we have, as the total
valuation ot the taxable
property of the State of
Georgia in 1860, exclusive
of the estimated value of
slaves, the amount of. ,$369,597,592
Tho return of the value of taxable prop
erty in this State for the year 1870, being
tbe last made, is—
Aggregate value of lafid $95,600,674
City and town property...... 47,922,544
National bank shares !. 985.900
Money and solvent debts 26 646,995
Merchandise 12,884,118
Shipping..’. 214,775
Stocks and bonds 5.482,765
Cotton manufactories 2,975,498
Iron works, &e 658,026
Mining 33,140
Value of household and kitch
furniture 1,519,857
Plantation and mechanical
tools 162,859
Value of all other property... 30,933,568
Making a total value of all
property of $226,119,529
Upon which the rate of tax is four-tenths
of one per cent. (4-10 of lc.)
It will be observed that the total return
of taxable property (exclusive of slaves)
immediately after the war is $143,478,003
less than the return for 1860, just pre
vious to the war, but when we consider
that the whole domestic and agricultural
labor system was annihilated; that our
people were dismayed, discouraged and
paralyzed, it is not strange that this result
should appear. In fact it is remarkable
that the falling off in values was not
greater. Under our statutes, the value of
property as returned for taxation is fixed
by the owner. We have no arbitrary
assessments, except in cases of default.
Under these circumstances the fact that
there lias been a steady increase in the
value of property returned for 1868, 1869,
and 1870 is very gratifying. The return
for 1869 exceeds that for 1868 by thirteen
million two hundred and fifty-six thousand
one hundred arid eighty six dollars , and
the return for 1870 exceeds that for 1869
by twenty-one million seven hundred and
seventy-eight thousand nine hundred and
sixty-four dollars. The special tax on
professions, polls, shows, liquors, etc., re
sults in an average revenue of nearly
$500,000 per annum. The receipts from
the State Railroad, as provided by lease
for twenty years, net three hundred thou
sand dollars per annum,
The ordinance of secession was passed
on the 19th day of January, 1861. The
debt of the State, as per Comptroller Gen
eral’s report of that vear, was $3,688,750.
The report of the Comptroller General,
after the close of the war—October 16,
1865-states the debt at that time, of
bonds issued and authorized to be issued
before the war, to be $3,645,250 ; of this
amount about one million dollars were
issued during the war. •
la the report of the Comptroller Gene
ral to the Provisional Governor appointed
by President Johnson, October 16th,
1865, he uses the following language:
“Iq response to the request of your Ex
cellency that I report also upon the public
debt now due, that was created before the
war, and the amount created since the or
dinance of secession, tLo objects for which
the same created, etc., I have the honor
farther to report that the amount of bonds
issued before the war and now unpaid, is
$2,677,750; the amount authorized to be
issued before the State seceded, and dow
remaining unpaid (including the $2,677,-
650) is $3,645 250.
“ That your Excellency may better un
derstand the matter, I will state that the
item of SIOO,OOO of 6 per cent, bonds, due
in 1881, in the table above, although not
issued until February, 1861 (after tho or
dinance of secession), yet the same was au
thorized to be issued by act approved
February 27tb, 1856, authorizing bonds
to be issued to pay the State’s subscrip
tion to the Atlantic and Golf Railroad ;
and these bonds were issued for that pur
pose. Again, the item of $25,000 and
$842,500, due in 1881, in same tables, al
though not issued, until February, 1861,
and May, 1862, yet they were authorized
to be issued by acts approved November
16th, 1860, and December 16th, 1861.
The act of November 16th, 1860, in view
of the condition of the country, appro
priated $1,000,000 as a Military Fund
‘ for the purpose of placing the State in
a condition of defense,’ and authorized
the issue of bonds of SSOO each, payable
twenty years from date, bearing six per
cent, interest, to meet the same. On the
Ist of February, 1861, said bonds, to the
amount of $867,500, were prepared and
ready for issue. The banks agreed to let
the State have the mony for $867,500 of
the same, but thought six per cent, too
low. The Governor, however, agreed to
recommend the ensuing Legislature to al
low seven per cent. Consequently, on
the 16th December, 1861, an act was ap
proved authorizing the Governor to cancel
all said bonds that were issued to the
banks, and to give them, in lieu of the
same, bonds bearing seven per sent, iar
terest, which was done on the Ist of May,
1862.”
Bonds of the State were authorized and
issued during the administration of my
predecessor—Governor Jenkins—to the
amount of four millions five hundred
thousand dollars , so that the bonded debt
of tbe State, upon my ooming into office
in 1868, was represented by $6,544,500,
and this was the amount January 1, 1871.
Under the authority granted by act of
the Legislature (pages 14 and 138 of the
laws of 1868, herewith enclosed, and pages
4 and 5 of the laws of 1870, also enclosed,
authorizing the Governor to issue bonds of
tbe State to redeem bonds and coupons
due, or when the same shall have fallen
due, until otherwise ordered by law, and
for suoh other purposes as the General
Assembly may direct, and to borrow a
sufficient amount of money, on the credit
of tbe State, on sucji terms as to him shall
seem b>st, to pay off the members and'
officeis of' he General Assembly), currency
bonds were executed and issued as collat
eral security for temporary loans. These
temporary loans have been met and pro
vided for, and the currency bonds can
celled. These currency bonds were never
intended, aod were never offered, for sale.
Under the authority of an act of the Gen
eral Assembly, authorizing tho Governor
to issue bonds to pay the interest on the
public debt, and to meet bonds that have
fallen due, and as they fall due, which
covers bonds issued before the war, that
have fallen due since the war, and will fall
due during this and the next year (page 4
of pamphlet laws, 1870, enclosed), three
millions of dollars of gold bonds have been
executed and registered, and have been,
and will be, sold from time to time, as it
has become, and may hereafter become,
necessary for the purposes authorized by
law.
The contingent liability of the State is
represented bv what is commonly known
as “State aid” to railroads, although under
the present Constitution of this State, the
policy of “State aid,” which has been
pursued in other States, is entirely pro
hibited, and the Legislature is restricted
to simply authorizing the State endorse
ment for the prompt payment of the in
terest and principal on the first mortgage
bonds of certa'm railroad companies, -after
the roads havo been constructed and arc
in operation for section of ten and twenty
miles, the endorsement not to exceed, in
any case, one-h3lf of the cost of such road..
The State has, as a protection against
such endorsement, a first lien upon the
whole property, with the right of imme
diate and unobstructed possession of the
property upon any failure on tho part of
the companies to meet their endorsed
obligations.
_ (In some of tho other States, before ard
since the war, railroads have been aided
by the States beoomiog large shareholders
and paving for their stook by the issue of
State bond?, and in this manner have
burthened their people with a debt. As
I have before stated, everything of this
kind is prohibited by our Constitution.)
This contingent liability has been in
curred, under tbe circumstances above set
forth, upon the Macon & Brunswick Rail
road, now completed and in operation be
tween Macon and Brunswick, a distance
of two hundred miles, to the extent of
$13,000 per mile. The total amount,how
ever, of the State’s endorsement upon the
bonds of this company is but. $2,550,000.
This coutiogent liability has also been in
curred upon that portion of the Alabama
& Chattanooga Railroad running through
.this State, a distance of 24 3-10 miles, to
the extent of $8 000 per mile, the total
amount of the State’s endorsement being
$194,400.
The only other roads which have organ
ized and secured the necessary amounts of
cash subscription, and have constructed
the neoessary number of miles to entitle
them to endorsement, are tho South Geor
gia and Florida, from Albany to the Flor
ida line, which is entitled to an endorse
ment of SB,OOO per mile; the Brunswick
and Albany Railroad, running from Bruns
wick to the Alabama line, which is enti
tled to $15,000 per mile endorsement upon
gold bonds; the Cherokee Railroad, run
ning from Cartersvillo to the Alabama
line, which is entitled to an endorsement
of $12,500 per mile, and the Atlanta and
Richmonder Line Railroad, from Atlan
ta to the-South Carolina line, which is enti
tled to an endorsement of $12,000 per
mile.
Tho South Georgia' & Florida
Railroad, when completed to
the Florida line, will be 73
miles in leDgth, with a total
endorsement of. $ 584,000
The Brunswick & Albany Rail
road, when completed to Eu
faula, will be 242 miles in
length, with a total endorse
ment of 3,630,000
The Cherokee Railroad, when
completed to the Alabama
line, will be 47 miles in
length, with a total endorse
ment of. 587,500
When all the railroads which have up to
this time placed themselves in a condition
to be entitled to the endorsement of the
State, shall have been oompleted, the total
contingent liability of the State will he
$7,545,900.
The status authorizing these and other
railroads to receive the State’s endorse
ment, under the restrictions that I have
explained, were passed by a large majority
of the General Assembly. This question
has never been a political one here ; the
bills were voted for by Democrats and
Republicans, and are -almost unanimously
approved by the people of the State. The
small minority in the Legislature opposed
to the policy were about equally divided
between the two political parties.
The only exceptions to the general rule
are in the case of the Brunswick & Al
bany, Macon* & Augusta, and Atlanta &
Richmond Air Line Railroads. The
Brunswick & Albany Railroad Company
was organized by Northern capital before
the war, and had constructed some sixty
miles of railway from Brunswick, west.
During the war, as is alleged, the iron
from this road was taken up by the then
State authorities and placed upon the At
lantic & Gulf Railroad, in which the State
was and is a large stockholder, and upon
the Western & Atlantic Railroad, belong
ing exclusively to the State. This com
pany, reorganized since the war, having
rebuilt over one hundred miles of their
road, proposed as a settlement of their
claims against the State, a plan which
was accepted by the Legislature, whereby
the company deposits with the State
SIO,OOO per mile of seven per cent, second
mortgage gold bonds, having twenty-five
years to run, and receives from the State
SB,OOO per mile of. seven per cent, gold
bonds ot the State from time to time as
the road is constrncted. As the Bruns
wick & Albany Railroad Company pay '(
per cent, to the State Treasury upon
SIO,OOO per mile, the interest paid by the
State on her bonds to the amount .of
SB,OOO per mile is provided for, and the
surplus forms a sinking fund which pro
vides for the redemption of the bonds at
maturity. When the Brunswick & Al
bany Railroad shall have been completed
to Eufaula, tbe total amount of State
bonds received by •it will be $ 1,880,000,
and the State debt proper will then be
increased by that amount, secured as above
stated.
The Macon & Augusta Railroad was
authorised to receive an endorsement from
the State at tho rate of ten thousand dol
lars per mile, but, after having completed
some thirty miles of their road, the com
pany found themselves able to negotiate
their bonds for a larger amount per mile
than tbe State was authorised to endorse
lor, and ha 9, therefore, never applied for
tbe State’s endorsement. That road is
now in full and successful operation be
tween Augusta and Macon.
Tbe Atlanta & Richmond Air Line
Railroad, which is entitled, as I have
before stated, to an endorsement of $12,-
000 per mile upon tbe completion of tbe
firtt twenty miles of the road, received
the endorsement ot tbe State upon its
bonds for $240,000. The work having
been thus successfully inaugurated, the
company found themselves able to nego
tiate their first mortgage securities for a
much larger amount per mile than tbe
State under the statute would endorse for,
and tbe company has, therefore, returned
to tbe State the bonds bearing her endorse
ment, and the road is now being rapidly
constructed, over sixty miles being already
in operation, without receiving the State’s
endorsement upon its bonds.
Under the restricted and conservative
system provided for by our present State
Constitution, it is not believed that any
serious burdens can be thrown upon the
State Treasury,*because of the fact that no
endorsements are given until the extent of
road endorsed for is in actual operation,
and when so given is for such a limited
amount that the property in any con
tingency would be more than sufficient to
secure the State against loss. In fact, the
practical experience, after four years’ trial,
has been such as to fully justify the wis
dom and good policy of our system. The
Macon and Brunswick Road has earned
and promptly paid its interest. The South
Georgia and Florida Road has made an
alliance with other responsible companies,
whereby (he interest on its bonds, together
with a fair rate of per cent, to its stock
holders, is secured. The Alabama and
Chattanooga Road, owing to its complica
tions in connection with its larger debts in
Alabama, has failed to meet its interest
in January and July. The State, how
ever, has promptly net its liability by pay-
ing the inteiest on the bonds endorsed by
her, and is amply scoured by the value of
that portion of the road lying within the
State upon which her endorsement rests.
Large gangs ot hands are working upon
the roads not yet completed, and it is be
lieved that they will be completed before
the first day of October next That por
tion of these roads already constructed
and in operation is reported as doing a
fair business, and eaoh company has
promptly paid its interest on bonds en
dorsed. '
I have heretofore referred, in this com
munication, to the fact that the value of
the return of taxablo property has in
creased nearly fourteen millions in 1869,
and nearly twenty two millions in 1870, as
oompared with the years previous, and,
upon analyzing this fact, we find that the
increase has been directly stimulated by
the lines of railroad which have been put
in operation by reason of the assistance
given them through the State’s endorse
ment.
It is quite natural that a practical man
should enquire what henefit railroad com
panies derive from this limited endorse
ment by the State. But that enquiry is
answered when we refleot upon tbe faot
(hat a portion of the money neoessary for
the construction of these roads must bo
obtained from tbe Northern States or
from Europe, and that neither in the
North nor in Europe would capitalists
lake the time or trouble to enquire as to
the solvency of comparatively unknown
corporations in the South, which might
present themselves offering to sell their
securities ; but when these securities carry
with them the guarantee of the Stato of
Georgia, for the prompt payment of the
interest and tbe principal of the securi
ties that are offered, the capitalist, rely
ing upon that endorsement, finds it un
necessary to make further enquiry, and
the corporations arc thus enabled to rnako
the negotiations that arc necessary for
tbeir success.
In other words, the people, having
capital sufficient to subscribe and pay
for an amount of stock necessary to pay
the cost of construction of the first section
of their proposed road, are enabled to bor
row, upon their bonds thus endorsed, the
money necessary to pay for half of the
cost of the continuation of construction.
And when, as in the case of the Atlanta
& Richmond Air Line, or the Macon &
Augusta Railroad, their work has pro
gressed to such an extent as to attract to
it public attention and confidence, they
find themselves able to obtain even a
greater credit than the State is permitted
to endorse for, and by retiring the bonds
bearing the State’s endorsement, they
are enabled to progress without the as
sistance which was really necessary in
the infancy of their enterprise.
The laws relating to elections are to be
found in the Code of Georgia, sections
1303 to 1364, inclusive, 4980, 4982, 4981,
121, 122, 346, 1312, 4940, and in pam
phlet laws, 1870, page 6, for a special
election held in December last. The rate
of tax is prescribed by sections 801 and
802 of the Code. The rate is fixed by the
Governor and Comptroller General, after
the returns of valuation are received.
The rate for last year and this will be, as
heretofore, four-tenths of one per cent, on
the valuation returned by the owners of
property. ’
Tho amount of salarios of the Stato offi
cials, judiciary, etc., are about the sathe
as that paid before tbe war, and under the
administration of Governor Jenkins, viz:
Governor, four thousand dollars per an
num ; J udges Supreme Court, three
tbousaud five hundred dollars eaoh per
anDum ; Attorney General, two thousand
dollars per annum; Judges Superior
Courts, twentydive hundred dollars per
annum eaoh; Secretary of tho State,
Comptroller General and Treasurer, eaoh
two thousand dollars per anuum; mem
bers of the General Assembly, nine dollars
per day and five dollars for each twenty
mile?.
Certain political philosophers find pe
culiar relief in assuming that, under tho
Southern Constitutions, the “wealth, Worth
and intelligence of the country is disfran
chised,” and as a consequence that these
State governments are controlled by
strangers, and by mon without charaeter ;
and that the panacea for these fancied ills
can only be found in their continued hypo
critical howls for “universal amnesty.”
So far as Georgia is concerned, the facts
do not justify tho assumption. In this
Stato a constitution was framed and
adopted in 1865, under the authority of
■President Johnson’s proclamation, whioh
disfranchised ninety-five thousand male
citizens over 21 years of age. This was
Democratic.
Under the authority of an aot of Con
gress a Constitution was framed in 1807 and
1868, by delegates elected by the peoplo,
and ratified by the votes of a majority of
the people, whereby every male citizen 21
years of ago, of sound mind and not oon
victed of crime, is authorized to vote and
hold office. There is not a word or a line
in that Constitution which dishanchises
or disqualifies any citizm of this State
from the exeroise of any politioal privi
lege.
The only restraint upon the exercise of
political privilege is that found in the Con
stitution of the United States, which pro
hibits from holding office persons who had
officially sworn to support the Constitution
of the United States, and afterwards vio
lated their oath by engaging in the rebel
lion ; but this disqualification is merely
nominal, for, so far as Georgia is concern
ed, whenever those who declared the re
construction acts “to be revolutionary, un
constitutional and void,” have defied Con
gress by electing a gallant Confederate
General as a representative in Congress,
that body Lave invariably removed the
disability and seated the member; on tho
contrary, when duly clectod and eligible
Republican members have presented them
selves, Congress has refused or declined to
receive them. In this State there is, so
far as I know, not more than a dozen men
in office (and those of an unimportant
character), either elected by the people or
appointed by mo, who were not either na
tives of the South or resident oitizens here
before the war.
The officers appointed by the Governor
are three Judges of the Supreme Court,
twenty Judges of the Superior Courts,
one Attorney General, twenty Solictor
Generals, State School Commissioner,
Superintendent, Treasurer and Auditor of
tho State. Rai'ioad, six trustees of the
public institutions, etc. In this number
there was but one gentleman who was not
either a native of the South or a citizen of
Georgia before and during the war. The
one referred to was eminently fitted for
the position to which ho was appointed,
and as a man of worth and good character,
is not surpassed by any in the State. The
gentlemen appointed who Were natives or
old oitizens are men against whom no ill
was over said previous to their “accepting
the situation,” under the reconstruction
acts, by their “departure” in 1867 ; men
who would have been universally recog
nized as leaders of the “wealth, worth,
and intelligence of the oountry,” if they
had opposed those acts. These gentle
men possess as much property and pay as
much tax as persons occupying similar
positions under tbe State government
ever did, Thero are some hundreds! of
officials of less importance appointed by
me, but the same rule will hold good in
their case ; and I trust that I will be ex
cused tne apparent egotism of sayiDg of
myself that I was a citizen and slaveholder
in Georgia long before the war, and up to
the time of my election was actively and
successfully engaged in business pursuits.
I resigned the position ot President of the
Macon & Augusta Railroad Company to
accept the office that I now hold. 1 have
no politioal aspiration or ambition beyond
a successful performance of my offioial du
ties during this term of offioe. My per
sonal comfort and pecuniary interests
would have been greatly increased had I
never consented to participate in the ef
fort to carry out the Congressional policy
of reconstruction; but believing our inter
ests as a people would be forwarded by
acquiescence in the inevitable, I have
given my best endeavera in that direction.
I hava no fault to find, or regrets to ex
press, except that gentlemen claiming
high position in the Republican party
North lack the moral courage to sustain
tbe results of their own acts.
Respectfully,
Rufus B. Bulloch,
Governor of Georgia.
ADDEND Aj
Hit Excellency Rufu* B. Bullock :
Governor— ln compliance with the re
quest of your Excellency, I have made a
thorough examination of the' records of
the Executive Department, touching the
action of the Department jpon the subject
ot pardons.
Prior to your inauguration there was no
analytical record kept of cases of this
character; and the only information that
oan he derived on the subject is the copies
of orders announciug pardons, scattered
through the Executive minutes.
From July 4, 1868, to. July 4, 1871, a
complete record has been kepf, showing
in full the application, the evidence, the
recommendation, and the Executive ac
tion in each case. From this I ascertain
the following facts;
NEW SERIES—YOL. XXIY. NO. 30.
There have been during that term of
three years pardons for—murder, 41, of
which 25 were pardoned before trial;
murder commuted, 15; voluntary man
slaughter, 24; involuntary manslaughter,
7; assault with intent to murder, 36;
burglary in tho night time, 41 ; burglary
in the day time, 11; simple larceny, 68 ;
laroeny from tho person, 1 ; larceny from
the house, 14 ; laroeny after a trust has
been delegated, 5 ; other larcenies, 24 ; as
sault r.nd battery, 14 ; assault, 8; assault
with intent to commit rape, 5 ; arson, 5 ;
robbery, 8 ; stabbing, 3; cheating, 3 ;
swindling, 4; incestuous adultery, 1 ;
bigamy, 6 ; fornification, 3 ; adultery, 6 ;
forgery, 4 ; perjury, 3 ; seduction, 2 ;
kidnapping, 1 ; bastardy, 1 ; rapo, 1 ;
bribery, 1 ; compounding felony, 2 ; mal
praotioe in office, 1 ; aiding prisoners to
escape, 2 ; road commissioner for neglect
of duty, 8 ; intermarrying within levitical
degrees of affinity, 1 ; misdemeanors, 29 ;
oot.tempt of court, 1.
Upon examination of the offioial reoord,
1 find that in many and in most all of tbo
oases for murder, where a pardon bas
been granted before trial, tbo indictments
therefor had been found before the late
war, and some of them during the war,
and that justice demanded Executive in
terposition in behalf of the as in
many instaDOCs, some of the most material
witnesses on the part of tho defense have
removed beyond the jurisdiction of tho
State, and others -havo died ; while in
several other instanoes the State, on ac
count of the absenoo of some of its most
important witnesses, has failed to prose
cute the eases after tho indictments had
been found, aod oases of that character
were in abeyance on the oriminal dockets
of the several courts for years, postponed
and oontinued Irom term to term, greatly
to tho annoyance and detriment of the
accused party or parties. In addition to the
meritorious circumstances attending suoh
eases, pardons of that character have gen
erally been most earnestly recommended
by tho Senators and Representatives of
tho districts and counties, together with
the most highly respectable citizens of the
oounty or vicinity where the orime was
alleged to havo beeo committed, and, in
some instances, by the officers of the
court in which tho indictment was
pending.
Os the 15 cases in which the sentences
imposed was oommuted from death to im
prisonment, 6 were commuted to imprison
ment for life, 4 to imprisonment for 10
years, 1 to imprisonment for 5 years, and
4 to imprisonment for 1 year.
Os the 24 cases of voluntary manslaugh
ter, for which pardons have been granted,
one of the convicts served his full term,
and was simply restored to oivil rights,
while the sentence of throe others, on ac
count ol the circumstances attending tho
commission of the offense, was commuted
to one year imprisonment eaoh —the short
est term of punishment prescribed by law.
I find, upon further examination, that
many of tbe conviots pardoned of tho of
fenses of burglary in the night time, had
served each from 4 to 5 years, in pursu
ance of their respective sentences, which
iu every instance was imprisonment for
life, and that all the pardons to that class
of convicts were granted siooe the General
Assembly,in its wisdom, had deemed prop
er to alter and amend the statuto, redu
cing the punishment for burgiar.v in the
night, from death or imprisonment for life,
to imprisopment for a less period.
In the case of the ‘person pardoned of
tho offense of incestuous adultery,' pardon
was recommended by tho Judge of tho
Superior Court before whom the conviot
was tried, on tho ground fbat ho had been
sufficiently punished, having nearly served
out his fall term.
While several of the pardons granted for
the dffense of simple larceny were for
horse stealing, yet most of them were in
such cases where, by the law, the act com
mitted is recognized as a misdemeanor
only, for which the punishment generally
imposed varied ; as, for instance, in some
cases imprisonment in jail, in others im
prisonment and a fine, and in others work
on the publio works and a fine, or, in
some cases, all of these punishments, as
the Judge presiding at the trial, in his dis
cretion, deemed proper. In many of these
cases, where the prisoner was too poor to
pay . the fine imposed, that alone was re
mitted, or reduced to a smaller amount.
In many of the cases where pardons were
granted for the offenses of assault with
intent to murder, assault and battery,
stabbing, etc., it was generally upon the
recommendation of the prosecutor in the
case, the party injured by the commission
of the offense. Among the twenty-nine
cases of misdomeanors, for which pardons
were issued, I find most of them to be for
using opprobrious words, enticing ancf de
coying servants to leave employer, riot,
vagrancy, etc.
Asa general thing, I find that nearly
every one of the persons pardoned served
some part of the term of his sentence, and
that pardons were only granted upon the
solicitation of the most well known and
respectable citizens of the counties from
which said convicts were sentenced;
while, in many instances, pardons were
granted to those only who had nearly
completed the term of confinement im
posed upon them, upon the recommenda
tions of the officers and lessees of the
penitentiary, for good behavior, or on no
count of suoh physical disability as made
them unfit to perform manual labor, and
would have, had they been kept in further
confinement, probably caused death,—
Where pardons were granted for good be
havior, they took effect one or two days
before the expiration of the term of con
finement imposed in the sentenoe of the
Court. «
Pardons have been relused in the fol
lowing oases, to-wit: •
Murder, 10; manslaughter, 5; assault
with intent to murder, 4; burglary, 4;
horse stealing, 3; simple laroeny and
other laroenics, 8; rape, 2; assaults, and
assaults and battery, 7 ; riot, I ; forgery,
1 ; cheating and swindling, 1; perjury, 1;
robbery, 2} stabbing, 2' fornication,
1; adultery, 1; bastardy, 1; rceeiving
stolen goods, I; oarrying oonoealed weap
ons, 2; playing and betting, I; and other
misdemeanors, 3.
Very respectfully,
It. H. Atkinson,
Secretary Executive Department.
The Diamond Gift Concert.—We
give below a list of tho prize numbers
drawn at the first drawing of the Diamond
Gift Concert, which took plaoo in New
York on Saturday evening, the 10th
inst,, as oertified to by tbe commissioners
selcoted by the tioket holders to superin
tend the drawing:
Prize Dumber* Drawn at the Firtt
Drawing. —l72,3Bs ; 27,860; 172,197;
71,073; 154,432; 118,460; 46,309; 115,800;
140,960; 43,294; 131,731; 7,960 ; 82,064;
91,620; 180,964; 126,595; 4,705; 86,151;
128,395 ; 48,729; 159,503; 120,794;
109,276 ; 83,003; 2,697; 128,698; 75,232;
74,291; 40,584; 120,582; 187,991; 90,743;
99,653; 72,947; 163,248; 176,664; 46,384;
108,406; 170,897; 140,090; 72,649; 969,054;
24,006; 177,205; 103,686; 163,803; 107,546;
156,104; 185,509; 61,580; 178,039; 139,602;
58,948; 1,733; 73,796; 111,991; 1,053; 864;
50,399; 71,143; 19,180; 11,922; 56,373;
79,089; 179,896; 77,478; 168,025; 135,475;
50,317; 86,763; 147,047; 73,564; 119,471;
88,408; 95,496; 123,520; 50,366; 8,727;
24,024; 6,887; 3,652; 150,487; 15,638;
124,386; 126,743; 18,611; 162,688; 87,514;
53.481; 83,436; 87,332; 120.310.
Savannah the Terminal Point for
an Ocean Cable. —We find in the New
York Journal of Commence , of the 12th,
the following interesting pieoe ot news;
Those who have suffered from the
wretched management and unscrupulous
exactions of the Atlantio Cable Company, -
will he glad to learn that the West India
and South American lines are making
preparations to run a cable direct from
Savannah to Lisbon, touching at the Ber
mudas and Azores. Concessions for this
work havo already been obtained, and it
will he finished before many months.
Those lines are now paying about $175,-
000 a year to the Atlantio Cable, aDd when
their St utherq connections ate completed
they wifi have at least $300,000 to pay for
European business. This will be leu per
ceDt. on the cost of that enterprise, and
will alone make a good business for anew
line. New York can be connected easily
with this by a short line benoo to Ber
muda, and then farewell to the existing
most oppressive monopoly.
On the 7th instant, at McLain’s mill, in
Miller couuty, a difficulty oocurred between
Dr. Guest and Mr. Stephen Spooner, in
which Dr. G. was stabbed, it is thought,
fatally—he being completely disemboweled
by Spooner. Dr. Chiton interfered to
quell the affray, and was fearfully cut in
the arm —the knife going through that
limb, terribly lacerating the leaders, and
disjointing them to the wrist. The par
ties are all prominent oitizens of Miller
county. The difficulty grew out of an old
feud,
Decisions or the 8 u prime Court of
Georgia.
Delivered at Atlanta, Tuesday, July 11,
1871. . '
[reported expressly for the consti
tution, BY N. J. HAMMOND, SUPREME
COURT REPORTER.]
John F. Cargile, administrator, vs. Abner
P. Beloher. administrator. Motion for
new trial, from Dougherty.
MoCay, J.
When a promissory Dote was given dur
ing the late war for $4,500, duo one year
after date, upon which $2,800 was paid at
maturity, in Confederate money, leaving
due S7OO, and the jury, on suit brought
for tho balanoe, found lor the plaintiff
S3B 22, and the Judge granted anew trial
on the ground that the jury had not found
acoording to the equities between the par
ties. under the facts of the oase :
_ Held, That this was no abuse of the
discretion vested, by law, in the Judge,
and this Court will not roverse the judg
ment.
Judgment affirmed.
Vason St Davis, for plaintiff in error.
Wm. E. Smith, for dofendant.
Lester & Lester vs. John M, Fowlei et. a/.
Certiorari, from Forsyth.
Warner, J.
A suit was brought in a Justice’s Court
for a note of twenty dollars mado by the
defendants, payablo to tho plaintiffs, and
on tho trial tho Justice allowed tho de
fendants to provo that tho conditions of
tho contract were “that the plaintiffs wore
to dear the defondants of tho chargo for
whioh they were iudioted, or they worO to
have nothing,” which evidence wss ob
jected to by the plaintiffs on tho ground
that it contradicted tho note, which was
the best ovidenoo of the contract between
tho parties. Tho case having been carried
up to tho Superior Court by writ ot cer
tiorari, tho Court affirmed tho ruling of
tho Justice, and dismissed the same :
Held, That tho admission of tho parol
evidence by tho Justice to contradict tho
note, and provo conditions not expressed
theroin, was error, and that tho Court lie
low arred in not sustaining tho plaintiffs’
certiorari and ordoring anew trial in the
J ustioe’s Court.
Judgment reversed.
H. B. 8011, for plaintiffs in error.
H. D. Patterson, for defendants.
Stephen Cantrell vs, Jas. M. Cobb-
Equity, from Dawson.
Warner, J.
A bill was filed to set aside an award of
arbitrators on the ground of a “legal ac
oident” without statiug iu what particular
that legal acoident occurred, and praying
for an injunction to restrain tho colleolion
of tho purchase monoy duo for a t.raot of
land sold by the dofondaut to the com
plainant, of whioh the latter was in posses
sion under a warranty deed of titlo mado
by tho .defendant, on tho ground that the
complainant has good rcasou, and docs
verily fear, that tho titles and warranty to
at least a portion of tho land will fail, bc
oause a suit has been instituted on tho
equity side of tho Court against the de
fendant and other parties in rotation to
the division of tho land, and that tho de
fendant is a non-resident of the State.
There was a demurrer to the bill for want
of equity and a motion to dissolve the
injunction on the filing of tho defendant
answer, both of which were overruled by
the Court below, and the dofendant ex
cepted.
Held, That the allegation in complain
ant’s bill that the award complained of,
which had been made the judgment of
the Superior Court, was a “ legal acoi
dent” without more, was not sufficient in
law to set aside the award.
Held further, That a Court of Equity
will not enjoin the vendor of a tract of
land from the collection of tho purchase
money due therefor by the vendeo when
the latter is in possession of the land, on
the ground of a hare fear of a failure of
tho vendor’s title, the complainant must
allege such facts in his hill as will affirm,
atieely show such a prior incumbrance, or
outstanding title as will defeat the ven
dor’s title under which the vendee bolds
possession ol the land, and that, the Court
below erred in not sustaining tho demurrer
to the complainant’s bill and iu refusing
to dissolve the injunction.
Judgment reversed.
H. 1\ Bell, for plaintiff in error.
Weir Boyd, M. L. Smith, for defoudant.
J. Wallers vs. B. R. Oroasdalo. Complaint,
from Dougherty,
Warner, J.
This was an action brought by tho plain
tiff on a promissory note for $244 83
against the defendant, who plead in de
fonso thereof that the note was given fora
eommeroial fertilizer, known in tho mar
ket as “ Croasdalc’s Suporphosphoto of
Limo,” and that tho artiolo purchased
was of no value as a fertilizer, and that tho
consideration for whioh the note was given
had failed. There was evidence on both
Bidos as to tho value of this fertilizer by
those who had used it on their land, tho
dofendant swearing that it was of no valuo
to him. Tho jury found a verdict for tho
plaintiff. Tho 4clbndant mado a motion
for anew trial on general grounds, ns set
forth in tho rcoord, whioh was overruled
by tho Court, and tho dofendant exooptod.
Held, That tho plaintiff warranted the
article sold to boa merchantable article,
and reasonably suited to tho use intended,
and that there is sufficient evidonco iu the
record to sustain the verdict of tho jury
on that poiDt in the oase. There was no
error in the Court in ruling out the copy
letter of Adelbery & Raymond to Btono,
Parmalee & Cos., under the statement of
tbo facts oontained in tho rcoord, or in ad
mitting the evidenoo of Gunn & Knott
and Zeilin, or in overruling tho motion for
a dow trial.
Judgment affirmed.
Wm. E. Smith, for plaintiff in oryor.
Hines St llobbs, for defondant.
Nelson Tift vs. D. P. Hill, Administrator.
Equity, from Doughorty.
Warner, J.
This is a bill filed by tho administrator
of Davis to set aside a Sheriff’s sale of a
oity lot in the city of Albany, on tho
ground that tho consideration ot tho debt
on which the judgmout was rendered, was
a slave or slaves. It docs cot appear on
the face of the judgmont, or tho execu
tion, that the original consideration of tho
debt on whioh the judgment was rendered
was for slaves. The judgment was ob
tained on tho 24th of November, 1864.
The lot was sokl by the Sheriff on the sth
day of January, 1869, and purchased by
the defendant, Till, for the sum of $250.
The jprayer of tho bill is, that tho Sheriff’s
sale be set aside and tho purchaser’s title
to tho lot be declared void. The defend
ants demurred to tho hill for want of
equity, whioh was overruled by tho Court,
and the defendant excepted :
lleld, That the sale made by tho Sheriff
under judgmont of a Court of competent
jurisdiction, and an execution regular
upon its fioc at tho time, and the sauio
not being a void judgment, tho purchaser
at the Sheriff's sale who paid his money
for tho lot, acquired a valid title thereto
UDder that sale, as against the defendant
in that judgment and his legal roproseuta
tives, and that the Court below erred in
overrnlling the demurrer to the complain
ant’s bill.
Judgment reversed.
Hines & Hobbs, for plaintiff In error.
Yason & Davis, for defendant.
Amerious was without a bushel of corn
last week.
“Salt” is the subject, of a sshool-hoy’s
latest composition: “Tho salt is a spico
which spoils the potatoes if you. forget to
put it on.”
“I am delighted to seo you, boys;
which is Mr. Mendelsohn ?” was a Titcs
vilian’s question to the Boston Mendels
sohn’s quartette club.
The Bainbridgo Sun has this: Wo
learn that there is a shop keeper in town
who draws molasses, keroseno oil, and
buathead whisky all from tho same bar
rel.
The hogs are dying in Brooks county.
Tho Banner says it is safe to estimate
that at least one-fourth of the hogs in
this county on tho first of March, fiavo
died.
The local of the Atlanta Georgian has
spent some time oounting the watermolons
in that plaoe, and foots up an aggregate
of seventeen thousand.
The Washington Gazette says : “ Tho
small grain crops have all turned out short
in this county, not more than an average
of one-third of a crop has been harvested.
Tho cotton is growing off pretty woll ot
present, but tho stand is very had, and
the wet, oold spring kept tho plant back,
but made tha grass grow at two-forty
speed. There will scarcoly he more than
two-thirds as much gathered, under the
most favorable oironmstauces, as was last
year. But corn ! If we can get about
one more good season, our farmers will
pay any one a good price who will oomo
and haul off the surplus out of their way.”