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About Weekly chronicle & sentinel. (Augusta, Ga.) 1866-1877 | View Entire Issue (July 26, 1871)
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.”
