OiO SERIES VOL. LIII
NEW SERIES VOL 111*11
TERMH.
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Adi Iren* WALSH A WRIGHT,
Cnnoaici-r. A Bsyneai.- -jgipmlfc I
IVK i>\ I,SI jA V DF.CEMB i
MINOR TOPICS.
A Missouri judge ha* deoiled that railroads
must pay for killing their employees as well as
other people.
One of the candidates for postmaster at Den
ver has resigned, leaving only forty-one appli
culltm at preneut.
They have offered to make the editor of the
London Time* a baronet, but he had rather be
an humble, honent editor
A Maine JuHtice vindicated the dignity of the
law by Mending a newspaper editor to prison
for calling him a '‘muddle-headed manikin.”
The Ht. Paul Tumetr wantH the fool killer to
step off theio on his way Went and kill five
hundred idiots who are patronizing a clair
voyant.
An lowa weekly paper give« the Prettident’H i
meMwage the head of “Grants Last Hhot, or the
DiMcatdcd daughter,” and will publinh it an a
Herial, running it nine weekn.
Colonel Bristow, the new' Attorney General,
han found a biographer in Kentucky, where
everybo ly known everybody. It iw a Matiafac
tion to know that anybody known luiu.
A Buffalo compositor made the critic way
that Charlotte Cunhinau wan ‘‘a bloated ac
treHH,” iiiMiead of “a beautiful” one, and the
MUpply of free tickets didn't come round that
day.
Now we have got the old patriot where we
wanted him. An aged Kentucky woman re
inemberH all about George Wawhington, and
Hhe wayn he used to blow round about his shirt
buttons the name an any of uh.
Bochefort. according to accountri Rent from
Ht. Gatherine’H Inland, wan wick throughout the j
thirty-five days of fho convict ship's voyage to j
that place, and it wa« expected that he would j
die before arriving at New Caledonia.
Home anxiety is felt in New York for the
nafety of the United Staten war Mtoamer Kan
san. which left Now York for Santiago do Cuba
at eleven o’clock on the morning of November
14. No newH of her arrival at the Cuban port
ban yet been received, and it itt wtated that nhe i
hail not been heard of nince her departure.
The Supreme Court of Missouri has reversed I
the decision of the lower Court, which pro- I
nounced the law for the regulation of the so- I
eial evil in Ht. Tonis unconstitutional. But it
don't defend the law. The chief difficulty
with the law is that it punishes one sex for the
%uilt of both. One sauce for goose and gan
der.
How happy Mr. Colfax must he in these
days when the places he filled are occupied by !
others, and the sound of his voice is no more j
hoard in the Capitol. We are not quite ready !
to boliovo the report that he is writing his au- |
tobiography, under the title of “ Nebuchadnez- j
zar Out of Grass,” though ho is evidently qqite
cowed.
There is a formidable movement on foot to j
oust Senator Patterson, of South Carolina. The
evidence against him is said to he overwln lin
ing. and the general opinion is that he will lose
ins seat. Some of the charges against him
were made public at the time of his election,
wince which additional and more damaging
evidence h said to have been obtained.
The tetter of the Yillo Marie Bank at Mon
treal despises the way in which two Yankees ;
got $ to, 488 that bo left on the counter of liis l
establishment the oilier day. They were great I
lumber dealers on the Ottawa river, and wanted
to open an immense account with him. “Yon ;
just loo’v at that map on the wall. Mr. Teller,
which shows where we operate,” they said. He
looked and tho men escaped with the money.
Chancellor Smith is reported by the Jones
boro Herald an d Tritium* as stating from tho
Bench that during tho time he has been in
office he has had one hundred and sixty-five
petitions before him for divorce, and that ho
had granted one hundred and fifty-three of
that number, The Chancellor appeal's deter
mined to make Upper East Tennessee as fa
mous as Indiana aiul Chicago in this respoct.
Here is a specimen of the impertinence of
the New York Sun : “We are sorry to see our
upright contemporary, the New York Times , )
deprecate Congressional investigations. Does j
the Times think that John J. Patterson should
be allowed to sit in the United States without
an investigation, while Wm. M. Tweed is on
Blackwell’s Island and Ingersoll goes to Sing !
Sing.-"
Grape seeds are recommended as an excel
lent substitute for chicory, of which our coffee
is sometimes made nowadays. The grape seeds, j
when roasted and ground, are said to have au |
aroma like that of East India coffee, aud the
taste of the coffee made from them is said to i
tie . umlar. The only objection to their general
use seems to he that it would be more difficult
to got enough of them than to send to the East
lames for coffee.
11l his recently published diary Mosoheies re
oords an amusing instance of the perplexities
which slang causes to learners of English
••To-day." he writes. “I was asked at dessert
which fmit of those on the table I would pre
fer. "Some sneers." I replied, ingenuously.
The company first of all were surprised, aud
then hurst into laughter when they guessed the
process at which I had arrived at the expres
sion. I. who at that time had to construct my i
English laboriously out of dialogue hooks and
dictionaries, hail found that not to care a fig,’ |
meant to sneer at a person.' so when I wanted
to ask for tigs, fig and sneer I thought were
synonymous
Somebody has discovered a tree—the "Eiioa
iyptns glohasus"—which has the property of
dispelling malaria wherever it is planted.— ’
There will he an enormous demand for the 1
tree on Staten Island and in New Jersey, aud 1
in a rear or two we may expect to see whole
families seeking refuge in its branches from
tho dangers of chills and fever. The Jenter,
men will become arboreal in their habits, and
in the course of a few generations it is not im
iiosslhle that the habit of living in trees will
lead to the development of prehensile tails.—
The ' Eucalypti**" may abolish tho chills and
fever, but is Jersey ready to accept that bless
ing at the cost of reverting to their ancestral
simian type I
Great suffering is reported among the set
tlers in Lyon and Osceola counties, North
western lowa, and an appeal for aid is seut
out. It is said that nine-tenths of the people
have oniy twisted hay a-id grass seed for fuel,
while their food and cloth.ug are insufficient
for the necessaries of life. Many fanuhee are
leaving on foot, aud we have announcements
of several deaths from exposure to the cold.
These comities were organised and settled in
IS7I and 1572. and the increase of population
lias been very rapid. It is said that the soil is
rich, and an abundant liarvest was promised
this year, but late in the Summer the grass
hoppers swept the farms of every vestige of
vegetation The people being generally poor,
the consequence was the privation aud snffer
ng reported at this time.
The New York Tribune looks for a deficiency
tins ygyr of iiU. 500.000 in Government reve
nue*. notwithstanding the more moderate
view* Os Secretary Richardson. The Tribune
says : -We hope that Congreee will take meas
ures promptly to pm the national finmeee on a
sounder footing. The President and Secretarv
are playing a part more becoming to the Em
peror of Austria, the Sultan of Turkey, and the
Khedive of Egypt, or the ruler* of any othe
of those nations which never by any chance
make both ends meet, owing to the cowardice,
extravagance, and imbecility of their Gov, rn -
mente. For the United States in a short twelve
months to tumble headlong into a state of
chronic deficiency, after paying off their debt at
the rate of one hundred million* * year, is not
to be thought of. Nevertheless things are tend
ing that way. and it is well for the people to
know it, if their rulera do not.”
A RADICAL SLANDER.
The Radical organs have raised a
j howl of delight ever the nomination of
Fernando Wood as the Democratic can
! didate for Speaker. They affirm that
Mr. Wood was an earnest advocate of
: what ig known as the salary steal, and
that for the Democrats to select him as
their standard bearer ia significant of
| their determination to support legisla
tive frauds of every description. It
turns out, however, that the essential
element to statements of this character
—truth—is wanting. Mr. Wood was
not a salary grabber. He did not vote
for the measure. He was absent when
action gras taken, but says if he had
been present he should have voted
against the iniquity.
FREE BANKING BILL.
Senator Buckingham, of Connecticut,
has introduced a Free Banking Bill io
the Senate, which ia said to combine in
one measure the President's recommen
dations both on free banking and specie
resumption. The act of June 3, 1864, is
declared to be QTpeo^mdh^^rb&n^n^
National Banking Association
may determine for itself the amount of
money of the United States it will keep
on hand, but shall redeem on demand
its circulating notes as are now or may
hereafter be designated by law; that the
United States legal tender notes in sums
of SI,OOO shall on demand be redeemed
by the Treasurer of the United States,
either with coin or United States bonds
at par, as he shall elect; that the princi
pal of the United States bonds bearing
interest in coin at a rate not les3 than j
5 per cent, per annum, whether due or
not, shall, on demand by the holder, be :
paid by the United States Treasurer in
legal tender notes, and the accrued in- j
terest in coin.
MR. HECK’S BILL.
While ,tho Radical members of Con
gress are endeavoring to take'the wind
out of the sails of the Democracy by ad
vocating a repeal of the salary law, that
sturdy Democratic leader from Ken
tucky, Mr. Beck, has introduced a bill
which will do just as much fqr the cause
of reform as the other. The Radicals
assert that they cannot reduce General
Grant’s salary to its original proportions
because of the constitutional inhibition
against reducing the President’s com
pensation during tho term for which he
is elected. Mr. Beck, therefore, makes
tho issue by proposing to cut off all ap
propriations for the Executive Mansion
during the present term. It is not
generally kno.m what compensation the
President of tho United States really
receives. Resides tho rent of the Exe
cutive Mansion, the pay of all his secre
taries, clerks and servants, and his salary
of fifty thousand dollars, he also receives
“appropriations” to the amount of near
ly twenty five thousand dollars, swelling
the total Ap to about one hundred thou
sand dollars per annuril. If Mr. Beck
can get his measure through, a fourth of
this sum will be saved to the tax payers
of the country. But it is expecting too
much to hope that such a bill will be al
lowed to become a law. It will be
fought and retarded in every oonceiv
uble way, and when it comes up on its
passage it will receive the blackest eye
which can he given by the concentrated
vote of the Radical members.
EXTRAVAGANCE OF THE ADMIN
ISTRATION.
Tho extravagance of the present Rad
ical Government is presented briefly bnt
clearly by the Detroit Free Press. Sec
retary Boutwell, in December, 1872, es
timated the receipts for the fiscal year
ending June 20, 1874, at $320,300,000.
The receipts during the first quarter of
tho year were $81,854,492, and the esti
mated receipts for the remaining three
quarters are $187,100,000, making the
total receipts for the year $269,953,492,
or over fifty million dollars less than the
estimates made by Secretary Boutwell.
Tho expenditures for the year were
placed by Mr. Boutwell at $286,600,000,
which sum also included $29,200,000 for
the sinking fund. According to his
figures, therefore, there wonld be a sur
plus revenue at tho end of the year, ap
plicable to the reduction of the public
debt, of $33,700,000. The estimates pre
sented by the several executive depart
ments called for $308,323,256 27, and
Congress appropriated altogether $306,-
000,000. In both of those sums, how
ever, was also included the twenty-nine
millions for the Binking fund. The ex
penditure, therefore, for the fiscal year,
if kept within the Congressional appro
priations, exclusive of the sinking fund,
should be $277,000,000, and if the receipts
lmd kept up to the estimate there would
have been a net balance, including
the sinking fund, of $43,000,000. Let
us see how the expenditures compare
with the Congressional appropriations of
$277,000,000. The expenditures for the
first quarter were $88,718,578, or $7,000, -
000 more than the receipts, and for the
next three quarters they are estimated at
$200,630,000, making the total for the
year $289,348,578 —or twelve million dol
lars more than the appropriations voted
by Congress. As the estimated total
receipts for the year, with the experience
of the first quarter as a basis, are only
$2159,953,492, the net deficiency of the
year will be nearly tioenty millions of
dollars. The Secretary of the Treasury
thought a year ago that the expenses, ;
including the siuking final, could be I
kept down to $286,600,000, but without 1
that at all they are now placed at $289,- 1
348,578: and instead of the $33,700,000 I
of surplus revenue, besides, which he
anticipated, there is a deficiency of $20,-
iXX),OOO. In other words, the results of
the year will lie $29,000,000 plus $33,-
000,000 plus $20,000,000 worse than Mr.
Boutwell anticipated, or altogether $82,-
000,000.
The Administration cannot be held re- j
sponsible for the falling off in the reve-;
uue returns—at least not directly—bnt I
it can and is directly chargeable with
the increase in the expenses, which are
twelve million dollars more than the!
lavish appropriations of a prodigal Con
gress contemplated—thirty-two million
dollars more than the Secretary of the
Treasury deem- and was sufficient. The
preparation for possible war with Spain
will account for only a portion of the
increase—just what portion can readilv
be determined with considerable accu
racy. The estimates for the Navy De
partment last year, including vessels
and machinery and improvements at
uxvy yards, were $22,500,000. The first
quarter of the present year there was ex
pended for this purpose $9,792,451.
This was before any complications with
Spain arose, and the amount was there
fore only the net ordinary expenditure.
It is a little over two-fifths of the
whole appropriation, but the expendi
-1 turee for the Navy Department are always
greater during the first quarter of the
year than in any other. During the
fiscal year which ended on the 30th of
June, 1873, the expenditures for the
first quarter footed at $7,305,146 48, and
those for the remaining three-quarters
' were estimated at $13,500,000 —less than
twice as much. The expenditures dur
ing these three-quarters exceeded the
estimates by over two million five hun-
dred thousand dollars. Bat this year,
: with the expenditure the first quarter
$9,792,451, and the estimates for the
year $22,500,000, the balance for the re
maining three-quarters would be $12,-
700,000. The Secretary o? the Treasury
places the amount required at $18,000,-
000, or $5,300,000 more than it would
have been if kept within the appropria
tion. This $5,300,000 is, therefore, the
whole amount of extraordinary expense
to which the Navy Department has been
put, and to which it is anticipated it
will be put during the current fiscal
year. If we dednet this sum from the
$12,000,000 by which the expenses are
now expected to exceed the appropria
tions, there still remains $6,700,000,
which stands as a monument to the ex
travagance of the present Administra
tion.
THE PRESIDENT’S PANACEA.
The recommendations contained in
: General Grant’s message concerning the
prevention of panics are a trifle am
biguous, and pnzzle both Congress and
l the people. To the ordinary reader the
I President seems to favor a return to
I specie payments, and this can mani
ie*r. Jftotfhe President also thinks ;
well of further expansion as a meastfre !
of relief, and he makes rather en awk
ward figure in attempting to drive two
horses in opposite directions. The Lon
don Times thinks his views concerning
resumption would be much more i-atis
faetory if he would go a step farther
and explain how a return to specie pay
ments can be effected. The Graphic
says the President urges inflation and
then specie payments. Another big
drunk and then let us get sober in the
gutter. The truth of the matter is, the
President has not the ability to originate
anything which could be dignified with
the name of a financial measure, and
his awkward flounderings when discuss
ing such a subject can excite only ridi
cule and eontempt. He knows nothing
whatever of finance, and his highest
achievement in this line was a bungling
attempt to make political capital before
an election by reducing the national
debt, which was certain to be followed
by a rapid increase after the contest
was over. He has presented to Congress
nothing which that body can entertain
or act upon, and members *must origi
nate whatever financial relief the coun
try is to obtain.
“NO. 34.”
The Republican papers of the coun
try gloat over the conviction and pun
ishment of Wm. M. Tweed, who, throe
years ago, was the absolute master of
the great State of New York. Mr. Tweed
is now an inmate of the penitentiary on
Blackwell’s Island, undergoing the pun
ishment awarded to felons. Practical
ly, he is a dead man, as dead as if his
crimes had been expiated upon the gal
lows. As he, himself, somewhat pa
thetically remarked upon* the morning
of his incarceration, “ a felon has no
existence in law.” He is no longer Sen
ator Tweed, he is known by the num
ber of his cell—he is simply “ number
thirty-four.” Tweed was convicted
through the efforts of the Democratic
press and party. His prosecutor was
Samuel J. Tilden, the head of the
Democratic party in New York. Hi s
unrelenting opponents were the Demo
cratic papers of New York, under the
lead of the national organ of the Demo
cracy, the Neny York World. This is
the way in which Democrats punish
members of the party guilty of fraud
and corruption. How does the criminal
fare who happens to be a member of the
Radical party? Mr. Oakes Ames was,
by his own confession, a briber of Con
gressmen and a thief. He escaped with
a reprimand. His colleagues in crime—
Dawes, Garfield and Kelly —escaped
without even a reprimand. Harlan and
Colfax were not only thieves and liars
—they were also perjurers. They still
retain the confidence and respect of their
party—one of them holding a seat in
the Senate, while the other has retired
from publio life with testimonials to
his character, furnished by the Presi
dent of the United States. Judge Sher
man, who, while Judge of an United
States Court, demanded a fee of SIO,OOO
for influencing the votes of Members of
Congress; is allowed to escape impeach
ment by resignation. Bos3 Shepherd,
who, as President of the Board of Publio
Works in the District of Columbia, inau
gurated a system of corruption worse
than any ever dreamed of by the Tam
many Sachem, has neither been lemoved,
tried, nor imprisoned. On the contrary,
he has recently been appointed Governor
of the Territory, and he is extolled in
the highest terms by General Grant, in
an official message to Congress. Through
the exertions of Democrats, the New
York ring lias been broken and ruined.
Some of the members are in exile, while
others have been disgraced, prosecuted,
aud punished. Let the Radicals now
commence the work of purification. Let
them deal with their Credit Mobilier
scoundrels, with their corrupt Congress
men and office holders. Let them make
examples of the thieves who have for so
long a time plundered Washington City
with impunity. Let the President be
forced to withdraw his support from
criminals and be required to select his
appointees to office outside the ranks of
candidates for tho penitentiary. Let
them say that perjury, dishonesty, and
corruption shall not fit men for the high
est offices in the gift of the Government,
Will they do this ? Not a bit of it. The
Democrats punish their rascals—the
Radicals reward theirs !
A STATE CONTENTION.
The necessity for a State Convention,
to remodel the present instrument in
accordance with the genius of our peo
ple, is appreciated and acknowledged
by the purest and best men of our
State.
It is our purpose to elicit the opinions
of representative Georgians upon this
important question, so that the people
may be enabled to act with prudence
and intelligence.
Hon. John C. Reed, of Oglethorpe,
whose letter we publish this morning,
strongly favors the calling of a State
Convention. Mr. Rbkd is a gentleman
of great talent, and the arguments
which he presents are so clear and
cogent that they will commend them
selves to the attention of the public.
However urgent the necessity for the
calling of a Convention, it is the part of
prudence and wisdom to make haste
slowly. However plain the necessity
for the formation of anew Constitution,
the opinions of intelligent Georgians,
expressed with deliberation through the
columns of the Chbonicm and Sknti
nkl, will be acceptable to the people of
the State. No great question is so
well understood as to preclude the neces
sity of the discussion of it by men who
are able from their experience in public
life to throw light upon the subject.
It was generally supposed that the
people of Northern Georgia would op
pose the holding of a Convention, but
this is evidently a mistake. The first
county to take action in the matter was
Polk, and a public meeting of her citi
zens pronounced strongly “for a Con
vention. A paper published in Haber
sham oounty favors a remodeling of the
Constitution, and the Gainamlle Eagle
AUGUSTA, GA., WEDNESDAY MORNING, DECEMBER 17, 1873.
declares in favor of a Convention, if the
session of snch a body does not entail
a direct tax upon the State for the pay
ment of its expenses. Our centemporary
: need have no fears upon this score. The
Convention will not require a direct tax
for its support, and it will save money
enough to the State to pay its expenses
a thousand times over. On the first
Tuesday in the month there is always a
largo gathering of the citizens of the
county at the Court House. On that
day let meetings beheld throughout the
State, and instructions be given to mem
bers of the Legislature to vote for or
against a Convention as the people may
decide. There is one thing certain—
the question mast be met fairly and
squarely. It may be defeated, but it
shall neither be dodged nor evaded.
AN INSULT TO AKERMAN.
We have the authority of the New
York Herald for the statement that
when the news of the appointment of
of Mr. Williams to the Chief Justice
ship was received one member of the
Supreme Court, asking another what he
thought of it, was answered with, “Thank
AKRRMAN,’* Xbia cut ia
really too unkina—to be classed lower
than his successor. Certainly Mr. Axeb
man ia as pronounced a Radical, just
as much of a partisan and a good deal
better lawyer than Attorney-General
Williams.
STIFLING INVESTIGATION.
Those who have expected in the Forty
third a marked improvement over the
Forty-second Congress are evidently
doomed to disappointment. Judging
from the manner in which some of the
members have commenced operations, it
would seem that corruption and dis
honesty will be given full swing, and
that exposure is to be rendered impos
sible. Judge Poland, a trusted and
influential member of the Radical party,
has introduced a resolution which pro
vides that to a standing committee shall
be referred all motions of inquiry, and
until this committee reports postponing
any investigation whatever. The effect
of snch a resolution is apparent to the
dullest of intellects. Where a resolu
tion is proposed which has reference to
the conduct of a Government official or
a Senator or Representative, it will go to
this standing committee, the composi
tion of which is determined by the
Speaker or a Radical caucis. The
committee can delay its report by the
employment of the nsual parliamentary
artifices for an extension of time until
the object of the motion is completely
defeated. This committee will consti
tute a tomb, to which will be consigned,
without the hope of a resurrection, all
attempts to expose the thefts and cor
ruption of the dominant party. Con
sidering the fact that most of the Radi
cal conventions have called lustily for
reform, their members have commenced
in rather a strange manner to carry out
the wishes of their constituents. Per
haps, however, they recognized the fact
these cries for reform were only in
tended as buncombe, and regard them
accordingly. It is to be hoped that the
voice of every Democrat in Congress will
be heard, and the vote of every Demo
crat in Congress recorded against this
iniquitous measure which has for its
only object the concealment of fraud.
Let Judge Poland and his Radical
friends shoulder the whole burden of the
infamy.
A CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION.
Views of Hon. Augustas R. Wright,
Editors Chronicle <& Sentinel :
Yours of the 29th ult. duly received.
Having just written a letter to the edi
tors of the Atlanta Constitution, urging
the call of a Convention for the purpose
of remodeling our Constitution, it is
hardly necessary for me to say that I
am very much in favor of such Conven
tion. Georgia is not yet ruined. It is
in our power to save her. By every
consideration that can move upon the
heart of the patriot, let us rally to her
rescue. The paltry question of the re
moval of the capital, which seems to be
exercising the Atlanta papers, has noth
ing to do with it. As the Constitution
now stands, Georgia may be involved
hundreds of millions in a year or two;
owners of city property ruined by the
vote of Africans, and whites, more trif
ling than the negroes. I simply suggest
these points. Os course there are others
of importance to be attended to. I re
gard this question of a Convention as
one of the most critical and important
that has ever arisen in the State.
Very truly yours,
Augustus R. Wright.
ACONBTITUTIPNAL CONVENTION. J
Letter from Hon. John C. Reed.
Lexington, Ga., December 3, 1873.
Editors Chronicle and Sentinel:
I received a day or two ago your
circular letter asking my views upon
the question : “Shall the Legisla
ture call a Convention for the purpose
of amending the instrument known as
the Constitution of 1868.” As you re
quest an immediate reply, I will give you
briefly some of the reasons why I favor
an early call of a Constitutional Con
vention :
1. Not much good could have been ex
pected from the Convention of 1868.
Waiving the question of its legality,
that it did not represent the larger
and better portion of the people for
which it affected to make the fundamen
tal law is palpable to all. Not a native
Georgian of reputation, honesty and
ability had any influence in that body.
A people to have good laws aDd good
constitutions suited well to themselves
should be represented by their ablest
and best men. It has been urged that it
was the fault of the whites who refused
to come out and vote that the worth of
the State was excluded. Be that as it
may, it is still the truth that we are now
living under a Constitution which was
not made for us by those whom we would
choose to make a Constitution. We
should not of our own choice add in
curableness to such a fault, however
willful it may have been.
2. My space does not allow me to re
view critically the defects of the Con
stitution of 1868—but let ns glance
hastily at a few of its prominent fea
tures.
(a) The Inferior Court was abolished.
The Justices, five in number, generally
elected from the different parts of the
county, were almost unexceptionable in
the discharge of their multifarious
and uncompensated duties. The world
moves. We should always be vigi
lant not to be left behind. But
there can be mischievous retrogression
as well as beneficent progress. The
abolition of that old Court which so
jealously guarded the interest of the
oounty and which was| an excellent
school to educate our best citizens in
public affairs, was a great stride back
wards. The substitute of occasional
commissioners provided by the Con
stitution was bnt an illusion.
(b) The limifcof the poll tax to one
dollar, and the devotion of that to edu
cation exclusively was an attempt by
the paupers of the Convention to throw
all the other burdens of government off
of themselves on the property of the
State. It needs not argument 'to dem
onstrate that this oppression should
stand no longer.
(o). The large exemption has been de
cided void as to prior debts. The re
tention of such an excessive allowance is
very hurtful to the credit of the small
estateaman. The obstacles thrown by
our recent law* in the way of collecting
debts cost the planter, for the credit of
his necessary supplies, if he will but
take the trouble to hunt ont the long
circuit of advances, profit heaped upon
profit and interest on interest, an average
oftener above 75 per cent, per annum
than below. The market, which we
cannot control, coerces a tax tor every
additional risk undertaken by the lender.
whether he be factor, merchant or
banker. We cannot govern the market
and fix prices by legislation, but we can
take away the risks which make credit
so dear. The South, was robbed of
countless millions by emancipation. It
wonld astound our planters to be shown
how nearly their own robbing of them
selves in making profits and interest so
high by legislation equals in pecuniary
loss the other. Thq cash system is
just now advocated qu all sides. But
the man who believes that a whole peo
ple can be made to change their life
long habits at once is too wild to reason
with. Our people need now, above all
things, cheap credit And I believe that
few will dispute with me when I say
that the present homestead and exemp
tion laws, clogging so much of the prop
erty of our citizens, and so seriously im
pairing their credit, «|II for sweeping
and radical change. 1
3. Our country has passed throngh.au
unprecedented convulsion. Southern so
ciety has been uprooted from its founda
tion. We were long so,blinded by un
heard of measures and occurrences that
we are just now beginning, after our ex
perience of eight years duration, to clear
our eyes and see things aright. Anew
state of society requires :new laws and
new constitutions standing under new
laws. As we have at its become cool
and collected, wo are give pnr
new society the |rCQjflflAjnol~ the. new
constitution Stffetow
-1: enWaro W sendoAF
best men to a Convention, and they
better understand the times, we can have
a better Constitution.
1 have not time to hint at all that is
required. My profession has led me to
observe keenly the defects of our judi
ciary. In tho larger counties, where the
Superior Court sits only one week, the
vast increase of criminal prosecutions,
both for misdemeanors and felonies, de
fers the civil business from court to
court almost to the complete denial of
justice. The owner out of possession of
his home and his land, the orphan suo
ing for his patrimony, the laborer and
mechanic striving to enforce his lien
against the employer resisting, and the
honest defendant, too, who wishes a
discharge from the annoyances and vex
ations of long attendance on the courts—
all these are deliberately set atide in or
der that the criminals may go to the
chain gang or the penitentiary, and when
the jail is delivered, Saturday night has
come. The thief, the bully, and the
murderer are kicked out of decent so
ciety, but in our courts they have the
precedence of their betters.
Something must be devised to check
the frequent resort to the Supreme
Court. Any scheme for such a check or
the abridgment of the jurisdiction of
that Court seems to be unpopnlar. But
if the evil is manfully considered and
thoroughly canvassed, the people un
derstanding will give their delegates
either instructions or discretion to re
move.
I omitted while reviewing the defects
of the Constitution of 1868 to comment
on the abolition of imprisonment for
debt. I have sought the opinions of
many on this subject. All agree that
our law, as it stood before, was exactly
right. Under that no honest man could
be imprisoned when he delivered up his
property subject to pay his debts, but
the fraudulent and smuggling debtor
could be made, as he should be now, to
disgorge that which, iu right, belongs to
others. This abolition of imprisonment
for debt was intended only to serve the
purpose of the relief which was so im
portant a part of that Constitution. It
was the worst of the relief, atd I believe
that our people will demand the restora
tion of the old law.
Passing from the judioisry, which
meeds the careful correction and revision
of our ablest statesmen, I have only time
left to suggest that an American tend
ency now manifest in constitutional con
ventions is to impose limitations still
more stringent upon the legislative pow
er. To mention here only the subject of
the public credit, I think that every good
man desires to see it no longer in the
power of any Legislature to pledge the
aid of the State to those undertakings
which the sound sense of the world is
beginning everywhere to leave to the
competition and the vastly superior in
telligence and skill of private enterprise.
4. I may be wrong in all that I have
advocated and in all, too, that I have
reprehended. There is, however, an
other consideration which, with me, is
commanding. Our people when they
are sounded all believe that the late
Convention was without authority. I
will not stop to argue the question. It is
enough for me that the great majority of
our best citizens regard that Constitu
tion and the superincumbent State gov
ernment as only de facto. A people
should abolish even a rightful govern
ment which they cannot love and re
spect, and set up in its stead another
commanding their cheerful and willing
obedience. Self-government is the ac
tuating principle of our American sys
tem. It is tne feature which is repeat
ed in endless succession through all the
variety of State and Federal forms. The
governed make their government,
whether local or Federal. This Con
stitution of 1868 is not of onr making.
It contradicts and oppugns the very es
sence of an American government. Only
a few of our people believe it rightful—
not one can believe it made by our
selves. In America the law is revered
as it never was elsewhere, and a Consti
tution has a still greater sacredness.
Both are made by the people, and
suited by them to their own wants and
needs.. They are only loved and respect
ed because so made. I hesitate not a
moment to say that if the Constitution
of 1868 were the most perfect of instru
ments for us that we should lose no
time in having it confirmed by that only
authority which is rightful in onr eyes—
by the people who are to live under it.
You ask if a Convention should be
called ? We cannot avoid it. We should
proceed de novo. And we should not
call for the purpose of amendment. You
yourselves use a circumlocution, saying
“the instrument known as the Constitu
tion of 1868,” and will not avow its
rightfulness. And a great many of our
people believe that we cannot amend a
nullity. Let us have a Convention not
to amend, but to make anew Constitu
tion.
No one that I know meditates med
dling with our relations to the United
States or the elective franchise of the
lately emancipated slave. Our people
would neither retract his freedom nor his
suffrage. We have learned to turn his
vote to account. Onr old slaves are find
ing out every day that we are their
natural and therefore their best friends
There is no w,here any sign that ftfee
dominant whites of Georgia plan to
proscribe any class.
I say that both policy and principle
concur in demanding that a Convention
be called as soon as practicable, to make
;us anew Constitution. The expense is
I a trifling item. Good government is
| not only worth money—it is worth blood,
: and all worthy of it are ready to pay
both prices.
The time is opportune. Our people
are free from political excitement. They
will not displace a single worthy officer
nor give passion any words in the
Constitution. Georgia is emerging
from her oppression. She has recovered
much of her lost ground, and her pre
tended Governor still flies the pene
tentiary paddle which his corrupt par
don can no longer stay. Let her give
the crown to her triumph in making a
Constitution for herself which even her
enemies must applaud and her crushed
sister States hold up to themselves as
a model.
These, gentlemen, are the views which
you have done me the honor to solicit.
Yours, Ac.
John C. Reed.
A STATE CONVENTION—LETTER
FROM HON. A. C. WALKER.
Editors Chronicle & Sentinel:
Gentlemen— l cordially agree with
you in your views of the necessity of
calling, at an early day, a State Con
vention for amending the present State
Constitution. So fax as I am concerned,
I will give you the reasons which prevent
me from oomplying -with yonr request.
After the Constitution was published, I
received a copy, which, without turning a
leaf or reading a word, I threw into the
fire, and I have no knowledge of it since.
It is a fonl emanation from semi-savage
negroes and Yankee thieves, and as long
as it remains uncleansed from this taint,
it will stand as a Landmark of the then
negro dominion over the people of Geor
gia. If this were the sole objection to it,
it would be well worth the cost of re
moving the stigma.
The manner of constructing this Con
stitution I infer to have been, that the
few members who oould read or knew
the meaning of the word, copied from
previous like instruments, adding now
and then transcripts from the Constitu
tions of Maine, Massachusetts, etc.
It is not difficult to understand, without
reading it, that it requires important
amendment, aside froth that alluded to.
This is an era of laxity of principle, of
dishonesty. It pervades the whole
country, and with the same inducements
and temptations brought to bear, I
would no more trust the Legislature of
Georgia than I wonld that of New York,
and it is only in the Constitution that
checks and restraints against the min of
the impoverished people can lie made
effectual. It is there only that we may
ever look for retrenchment, that we can
compel Legislatures to meet but once in
two years—three would be better. It is
there only that you can restrict their
sessions unconditionally to a certain
number of days, their pay perpetually to
six dollars per day, and to a specific
number of hangers-on, called clerks. It
is there only that we can prevent con
tracting debts or pledging the credit of
the State for any sum or any purpose. It
is there only that yon can cut off cxcres
oences—a prominent one in my opinion is
our Supreme Court. A howl I know would
rend the skies at the bare idea of invad
ing the sanctity of this well paid refuge
of favorites and third rate lawyers— but
nevertheless there is not a common
sense farmer in the State but who, if
composition, its uselessness and ex
pensiveness, would vote for its aboli
tion. I would infinitely prefer to trust
my rights by appeal to a special jury
under a Superior Court Judge, who is
almost certain to be a better judge than
those very expensive three. I do not
care what tax book’s may show, the
solemn truth is that the great mass of
farmers are growing poorer every year.
A State Convention could not provide
against this, bnt it could save tens of
thousands annually if they choose to
do so.
There are, I presume, various other
amendments needed, the financial ques
tion being the most important. To
those who complain of the expense of
amending the Constitution, it may be
said that in November, 1865, the whole
Constitution was revised, altered,
amended and completed in about 21 days,
at four dollars per diem pay for the mem
bers. Veiy respectfully,
A. C. Walker.
‘‘THE DEAD”—A POEM BY L. E. B.
Editors Chronicle <fc Sentinel:
While the whole people of Georgia
have been thrown into profound excite
ment by the death of Milton Malone, it
remained for one of tne distinguished
lawyers of Atlanta to commemorate the
event in imperishable verse, by whose
side the most imaginative and tender
poems in Mother Goose seem stale and
flat,
I object to the spirit of the poem. An
impartial jury have found Malone guilty
of murder. An able Judge sentenced him
to be hung. Our Supreme Court twice
affirmed the judgment of the Court be
low, and the Executive, after patient and
honest examination of the facts, has re
fused to interfere with the sentence of
the law. Should a good citizen ever
lend his sympathy to those who would
bring reproach upon the administration
of law ? Ought he not rather to applaud
the honest Judge and the fearless Gov
ernor who execute the law? I have no
harsh word for the dead criminal, but it
seems to me ill-timed and unwise to at
tempt to invoke for him a maudlin sym
pathy, when common sense tells us he
has but paid the deserved penalty of his
crime.
The style of the poem offers cause for
congratulation to the little nursery rea
ders. It gives promise of a genius
which, if properly cultivated, will win
for its author greener and more fadeless
laurels than those worn by the author of
Little Jack Horner, Peter Piper, and
Jack A. Sprat. When reading the lines,
'PorliapH it is wrong,
This sad little song;
It may be that I
Should laugh and not cry
When criminals die.
But not thus was I made."
I was forcibly reminded of this verse
of that famous dirge Cock Robin:
"Who saw him die ?
“I,” said the fly,
"With my little eye
I saw him die.’’
It is said that if every copy of Pari
dice Lost had been destroyed, MeCau
lay could have rewritten the poem from
memory. lam persuaded that this poet
could uo the same for Mother Goc-e.
Causidious.
THE POLICY OP THE PLANTERS.
Editors Chronicle & Sentinel :
There is a deep gloom weighing upon
nearly every cotton planter of the South.
He has been for the past eight years
taxing his brain, temper, and energy,
and jeopardizing his laud and credit, to
grow cotton. He has grown it, the
world has bought and consumed it, and
he is poorer than when he started, save,
perhaps, exceptions enough to establish
the rule. He has benefitted the world,
the middlemen, and the thankless negro,
but not himself. If those who freed the
negro had made the planter his guardian
and had paid him handsomely to take
the office, he could not have more faith
fully or humanely Ailed the appointment.
If furnishing everything, being respon
sible for everything, and letting the
ward do as he pleased, entitle one to be
termed a good guardian, then has the
planter earned the title; and, just as
might have been expected, he has lost
the service, the gratitude, and well nigh
the respect of his ward. One-third
of the produce was once thought to
be sufficiently remunerative for the ne
gro, but soon he said that would
not support him, and one-half was
given. That now is getting to be too
little. Soon it will be three-fourths,and
then it will require all to support the
horse leech, which ever cries, “give,
give !” And just in proportion as the
negro has retrograded as a laborer has
his demands increased upon the planter,
and will continue so to do till the plant
er, in despair, ceases to be a planter, or
gives the negro all he can make and
helps him besides, just for the pleasure
of having “bands” to run his planta
tions. What is the use of planting at
all if the negro must get it all ? Don’t
talk about extravagance in the use of
fertilizers. Would the negro work as he
should, he would make more compost,
split more rails, keep more lands en
closed, permit more resting and better
rotation of erras, and less manure
would be bough C. The planter has been
vainly trying to make high productions
per acre reimburse him for losses inci
dent upon uncertain and fitful labor,
and has failed, as fail he will as long as
he risks so much upon the reliability of
the negro. Who is so blind as not to
see written upon the wall the doom of
cotton growing upon the plantation
system! The negro cannot be in
duced to steadily and honestly work the
year through for love nor money, and
anything short of continued, steady in
dustry from year to year will make
planting a losing business sooner or
later. And it is high time that the
terms plantation, planter, and manager
were consigned to ob ivion, for they will
soon be historic terms. Then, what
must planters do ? Do anything or
everything, better nothing, than risk
your all upon the short sighted,thriftless,
and ungrateful negro. Bent when you
can keep fences in order, land in good
heart, and your tenants from wasting
your last rail tree, or last acre of fire
wood, but do not lend him a mule, or
buy him one, or stand his security. He
gambles with a full hand. If he loses
he will make the loss yours. If he wins,
he will soon want everything his own
way, and you will have to eject him.
There is a class of men who are thriving,
and will in a few years be the property
holders of our agricultural population. I
allude to the small farmers, those who la
bor themselves and teach their sons to do
the same. Never has there been a better
time than the present for the poor man who
will work, and practice eoonomy. Aie
whenever our young men and our ab
bodied, cultivated men will put their
pleasure horses to the plow, seize the
Handles themselves, work in the cool of
morning and evening, take a nap at mid
day, read newspapers and books after
dinner, and play the gentleman as they
lik,eonly do not depend upon the negro,
then will our country begin to rise from
its low estate. Intelligence will tell as
well as muscle. Mind and muscle com
bined can work .out more profit from
the soil in our country working six
hoars per day, than can be got from
most negroes working ten hours. Strong
arms, guided by a well informed head,
can beat the negro in the art of hus
bandry, and such persons must go at it,
or we are undone. Whatever the negro
touches soon withers. O.
Allendale, S. C., December 6, 1873.
Hall’s Tar Works at Fort Breeas, near
Philadelphia, have been burned.
WOMEN IN POLITICS.
Severn Royal Ladies Who Are lu
(’tiesßboard tlie JBuropean Poll tical
London, November 15. —An extremely
interesting letter might be written at
this moment, if one were allowed to toll
all he kuows concerning the parts
which certain women are playing iu the
tangled game of politiosof which Franco,
Spain, Germany, Austria and Italy now
form the stage. The Empreea Eugenie
is one of these women; the Duchess of
Magenta, wife of Marshal MaoMahon,
is another; the wife of Don Carlos is a
third; the Countess of Chambord a
fonrth; the Empress of Austria a fifth;
Emgress Augusta a sixth; the Countess
Marfaori, who should be Queen of Italy,
ia a seventh. Curious information as
to the doings of these ladies comes to
me, now and again, through very queer
sources. Sometimes a piece of news
which I have read in a newspaper, and
which seemed to have no meaning at all,
has been suddenly invested with great
aignifieance when re-read in the light of
a remark made to me perhaps when rid
ing on the knife-board of an omnibus;
perhaps when waiting in the auto-room
kyj* Him as he
trine for ‘a new coat, ana relieved
the tedium of that operation by relating
tome what he had beard from
-Wbd-wa-s the bosom friend'd! the "dress
maker. of Her Highness the ——; per
haps by a priest; perhaps by a bishop;
perhaps by a French refugee iu very
tattered gloves. Then, as in a Chinese
puzzle, all comes straight when you
once have found the key. I can place
these stray hints alongside of the infor
mation which comes to me in the letters
of my correspondents and in the jour
nals, and often what was very mysteri
ous becomes plain, and hidden things
are brought to light. Without betray
ing any confidence, let me sketch in
very rude outlines the various roles
which these women are playing, and
point out the influence which they are
exerting upon the fate of Europe at this
moment.
The Empress Eugenie, iu her quiet
retreat at Chiselhurst, holds with a firm
hand the control over her section of the
Imperialist party in France; she not only
guides them as they should go, with the
aid of M. Rouher, who really takes his
orders from her, but plots aud counter
plots against the faction of Prince Napo
leon (who also has his women agents),
and what is a still more delicate task,
against the faction of the Prince Impe
rial, who would alienate the son from the
mother, and who, curiously enough, have
another woman at their head. The
Duchess of Magenta—the wife of the
Bayard of modern times—has eaten of
the fruit of the tree of ambition, and she
is tempting her Adam. Her influence
over her husband is unbonnded, and it
has been wholly to her that he has con
sented to play the part which he is now
acting in the eyes of all the world. When
the Shah of Persia was in Paris, the eld
est son of the Marshal was presented to
him. He placed his hand on the boy’s
head, aud said: “This is the hope of
France.” The Duchess has pondered
these words in her heart; she has con
ceived the idea of making her husband
Dictator, First Consul, Emperor per
haps; and she is worth more to the Right
than the Due de Broglie and all the Min
istry put together.
The Countess of Chambord—the wife
of him who might have been Henri Y.
had he been content to be silent—is the
person who upset all the plans of the
Monarchists. She adores her husband,
and she is not ambitious. She believes,
and with some reason, that if he were to
mount the thronw, he would, in a few
months, meet the fate of his father. She
has an unconquerable presentiment that
he wonld be assassinated, and I have
been myself assured by a resident of
France, in whose opinion I have great
confidence, that there really would be
very great danger of this. She made her
husband write the letter which rendered
his call to the throne at this moment im
possible ; and, although the French Le
gitimists still hope, she will be likely to
thwart all their schemes in the future, if
they are not overthrown by other agen
cies.
The wife of Don Carlos is a woman of
wonderful beauty, but her beauty is
equalled by her good sense and her
spirit. Her husband is by no means
lacking in these qualities. One has only
to read the letters of the Carlist corres
pondent of the London Times, who is a
well known officer of the English Horse
Guards, to obtain a good idea of the
soldierly and kingly qualities of this
young prince. But in his wife—who is
still living near Bordeaux—he has his
best and wisest ally; and it was through
her that the recent discomfiture of the
Alphonsist party was brought about.
The three ladies whom I have last
named—the Empresses of Austria and
of Germany and the Countess Marfaori
—are, each in her own way and each
through different motives, anxiously
seeeking to fight the battle of the Roman
Catholic Church against the policy
which their husbands, willingly or un
willingly, have adopted. The Empress
Augusta is a Protestant, but she has
been for a long time persuaded that
the Catholic Church in Germany was a
most essential bulwark of the rights of
all religion, and the only trustworthy
guardian of the sanctity of marriage.
She has intrigued and worked hard
against Bismarck. Sometimes she al
most won her game. It seems now to be
lost, but I am told she does not despair.
The other two ladies are both devout
Catholics. The Empress of Austria
would not receive the King of Italy
when he came to Vienna; and the wife
of the King of .Italy ceases not to im
plore her husband to reconcile himself
to the Pope before he dies. There is
impending at this moment in Austria a
new campaign against the Church, and
the anxiety of the Empress concerning
it lfes made her very ill. Her husband
seems disposed to allow his ministers
full rein, and this adds to the distress
of his wife.
Thus these seven ladies play their
cards and move their pawns back and
forth upon the board of Europe. It
seems at this moment that all of them
are likely to lose. But let no one be
too certain of that. Don.
THE WORK OP TWENTY YEARS.
Opening of the Hoosac Tunnel—A
Brief History ot the Great Enter
firise— The Embarrassment and De
ay in the Beginning of the Undertak
ing.
Massachusetts has fulfilled the threat
of twenty years standing to let light
through the Hoosac mountain. On
Tuesday night a large hole was drilled
completely through the two headings,
and Thursday, a dispatch received early
this morning tells us, the great tunnel
connecting the eastern and western rail
ways was opened.
A correspondent of the New York
Tribune, writing from North Adams,
says the history of the Hoosac tunnel,
in all its details, is an almost endless
task. The legislative bills and hearings,
the reports of committees, memorials,
remonstrances and private pamphlets
on this subject of the last twenty years
would, if stacked up in an ordinary pile,
almost rival in size Mount Hoosac itself.
Massachusetts has not gained this new
avenue to commercial prosperity by any
lottery. She has done it by sheer hard
labor and through a host of discourage
ments and vexations which wound have
paralyzed a fainter heart. The engineer
ing difficulties involved in so large an
enterprise have indeed been great.
Courage, skill and a dogged persever
ance have been necessary to overcome
them. But if these were the only dif
ficulties the work of making the tunnel
would have been a recreation. To make
people believe in its feasibility and give
their voice, influence and money toward
the project was a task not second in diffi
culty to boring the hole itself. To devise 1
a financial method by which the project
should go through was another moun
tain. In fact, several mountains of no
little magnitude had to be removed be- \
tore Hoosac itself was reached. The
financial and legislative prob em was like
the engineering one. “How shall we
make both ends meet ?” was a question
of means as well as ends. “And after
all has been done,’’ asked the melan
choly prognosticator, “after that hole is
put through the mountain, will it really
be worth the trouble, time and expense
it has coast T' The flock of doubts that
rose up and blackened the sky when the
project was mooted were nke the lo
custs in Egypt. This twenty years ago.
The first idea of tunnelling under the
Hoosac mountain dates back, however,
some thirty years before. It* was pro
posed about that time to make a canal
from Boston to the Hudson river by
way of the Deerfield and Hoosac rivers.
The Hoosac mountain was quite as much
opposed to the canal as to the railroad,
wltuch was then an infant invention, and
the board of commissioners appointed
j in 1826 to examine the project with a
: very intrepid judgment advised the cut
ting of a tunnel through the mountain,
j The geological character of that region
. was then comparatively little known and
the real difficulties of such an under
taking were perhaps not so well ap
preciated as they were some years later.
Bnt it seems that even then the com
mercial men of the East and West saw
the necessity of effecting some oompro*
;mise with this natural bar to intercourse,
j In 1848 a railroad company undertook
tho work, bnt it mot with obstaclos at
.every step, and was finally compelled to
abandon it. Thus fourteen year% were
■ spent in controversie.B and quarrspi,
when the State, in 1862, decided to take
the matter into its own hands. T*he
story of the tuunel from this time down
comprises the most important part of its
mechanical history. The adoption by
the State of the project did not remove
all difficulties. Its determined oppo
nents threw as many obstacles in tho
way as before, ana its determined
friends removed them with a like decis
ion. Legislation was from time to time
embarrassed by these conuter current*
of aim and feeling, bnt the friends of
the measure were generally Successful.
Under reeommendsOjtois of the commis
sionSrs the work waspit under contract.
It was at first parceled out fhr *b short
tune to two or three parties, but on the
24th of December,-1868, a oootract for
the wholh work was'made with'ffliir
Walter and Francis Shanley, of Canada,
who agreed to complete tfie tunnel by
the Ist, of March, 1874, for the sum of
$4,594,268. Under this contract the
work has been vigorously and succoss-j
fully prosecuted. Financial and con
structive difficulties having been’ovor
come, the main difficulty now is to tell
how to manage or dispose of the tunnel
on its_ completion. Several railroad cor
porations are strenuously contending
for its possession, while the State,which
now holds possession, is a party to tho
discussion, and may conclude to retain
exclusive control. The subject engaged
the attention of the Massachusetts Leg
islature last year, and will reappear as a
problem the coming session in January.
DIMENSIONS AND PECULIARITIES OF THE
TUNNEL.
The whole length of the tunnel is 25,-
031 feet, or four and three-quarter
miles. It is 26 feet wide by a height
varying 23 to 26 feet, wherever a brick
arch is used. Passing through solid
rock excavation the section is reduced to
24 wide by 20 high. The tunnel grade
is 26 feet to the mile for nearly the
whole distance, rising from each portal
toward the central shaft, and leaving a
short length of level immediately under
the shaft. The height of the interior
summit over the portal will be some
thing over 60 feet. This dip in the grade
each way from the centie was made to se
cure good drainage. This gradointho tun
nel has necessitated some very careful
labor in carrying the elevations. The
main difficulty, of course, was to estab
lish three tunnel points of the east and
west ends and at the foot of the central
shaft in proper relations to each other.
Toreach this the engineers carefully went
over the mountain with their levelling
instruments and determined the relative
position of the portals, and the depth of
shaft which should be sunk to reach tho
proper grade at its bottom in tho tun
nel.
The tunnel has two shafts, one near
the west end, only 318 feet deep, and
the other, or central shaft, nearly in the
middle of tho tunnel. This is 1,028
feet in depth. The west shaft was sunk
prior to 1861. The central shaft was
sunk for two purposes: First, to secure
two facings, one east and one we t, and
thus expedite the work; and, secondly,
to afford ventilation for the tunnel. It
is a matter of great doubt whether the
tunnel, constructed as it is with a grade
from each portal to the centre, wonld
ventilate itself at all. Since this shaft
was built, and connection made with
the east end, a strong draft is obtained
from it, and the tunnel is readily cleared
from smoke and gasses. Before commu
nication from the east was opened with
the shaft, the introiluetiou of a locomo
tive into the tunnel to carry off the de
bris was a source of great discomfort
and even sickness to the men. Now this
difficulty is entirely removed. The cen
tral shaft is an ellipse 27 feet long by ] 5
feet wide. Its position was established
by a series of secondary observations,
the instrument being placed alternately
on each side of the shaft, and the posi
tion transited until exactly determined
between the two principal tunnel sum
mits.
The Hoosac mountain is a part of the
Green mountain lange, which itself bo
lon s to the great Appalachian chain,
extending nearly parallel to the coast
from the State of New Hampshire to and
through the State of Virginia. Stretch
ing across the western part of Massachu
setts, it forms a natural bnrriei between
that State and New York.
The Hoosac mountain has two sum
mits, with a wide valley between them.
The eastern summit is 6,100 feet from
the east portal of the tuniffil, and 1,415
feet above the grade of tho road; and the
western summit 6,700 feet from the west
ern portal, and 1,704 feet above the
grade. Tho summits are 2 40-100 miles
distant from each other, and the valley
between, at its greatest depression, is
801 feet above the grade. A part of the
line over the tunnel is covered with for
ests, and in some places the depth of
earth over the rock is quite considera
ble.
THE VIRGINIUS MASSACRE.
Story of the Executions by An Eve-
Witness.
The bark Morning Star, which arrived
at this port yesterday morning, brings
the first authentic particulars of the
massacre of the crew and passengers of
the Vmjinius. The second mate, Fran
cis Coffin, a highly intelligent young
man, was an eye-witness of all the pro
ceedings, from the moment the Virgin
ius entered the Harbor of Santiago de
Cuba escorted by the Soanish ship-of
war Tornado until the 'last executions
took place. From him, yesterday, a
reporter of the Times obtained the fol
lowing deeply interesting account of the
tragedy: The Virginius was brought
into the harbor on the Ist of Novcmbev,
escorted by the Tornado and another
Spanish man-of-war. On the morning
of the following day, Sunday, a detach
ment of companies of soldiers was
marched down to the wharf and formed
in a kind of a hollow square about it,*
protecting every avenue of approach.
The news, meanwhile, had spread that
the prisoners cap ured on board the
Virginius were going to be brought
ashore and lodged in the jail prepara
tory to their trial by c >urt martial. Soon
all the streets and avenues leading to
the wharf were densely crowded with
people anxious to catch a glimpse of tlie
prisoners when they should be landed.
Such was their eagerness to obtain good
positions to see the prisoners that fre
quently the soldiers were compelled to
employ the butts of their muskets to
keep them back. Every window
and house-top also had their oc
cupants gazing with intense interets
upon the scene below. The people
were not all demonstrative. They seemed,
however, to be deeply impressed with
the gravity of the situation, and con
versed in low tones as to tho awful fate
that probably awaited the prisoners.
The captives first taken from the ship
consisted exclusively of passengers, j
Capt. Fry and his crew being left aboard ,
and were conveyed on shore in the boats
belonging to the Tornado. Among the
first to be landed were Gen. Ryan, |
Bernabe Varona, Pedro Cespedes, and \
Gen. Jesus del Sol. These four were
placed apart as being the leaders of the
expedition, and were treated with more
consideration than was exhibited toward
the remaiaing prisoners. They were
not manacled, whereas the others, with
out exception, before leaving the vessel,
had their elbows pinioned to their sides,
and were handcuffed besides. The irons ;
were not removed until after they had ;
been lodged in the jail. When all the ,
captives had been landed, a Spanish
officer stepped up to Gen. Ryan and his
three companions, and, respectfully
saluting them, intimated his pleasure
that they should accompany him. With
out a word the four obeyed the intima
tion, and marched away from the wharf
to the prison, which was only about two
blocks distant, followed by a file of sol
diers with bayonets fixed. Meanwhile,
the other captives were standing grouped
upon the wharf, chatting and smoking.
None of them appeared to understand
the awful peril of their position. Many
laughed and joked about their position,
evidently considering that they had got
themselves in a bad scrape, but nothing
more. Neither the populace nor the
soldiers at that time made any hos
tile demonstrations against the cap
tives, nor were they subjected to any
ill-treatment or indignities beyond the
pinioning before mentioned. A few
moments after Gen. Ryan and his com
panions bad bean taken away the re-
NUMBER 51.
mainder of the captives were taken U
the prison. The pqeple then dispersed
Late in the evening a rumor was oircu
lated that Ryan, Varona, Cespedes and
Jesus del Sol had be'en condemned t,<
death, and were to be shot pu the fol
lowing morning. The report, whiel
was soon ascertained to be only too well
grounded, excited the most intense ex
citement, and was everywhere the uni
versal topityof discussion. Many por
sons it was apparent condemned the ac
tion of the authorities, but were afraid
Ito express their sentiment for feßr ol
becoming involved in trouble.
How the four eoudemued men spent
the night before their execution Mr.
Übmn safe! he did not know. Gen. Ryan,
a short while previous to the hour foi
going to the place of execution, obtained
permission Yo write some- letters and
•nakeChis will. Before being op-anted
the pesmission, ho. was,,compelled to
make an oath that he would not make
any attempfr-to escape. AboutT> o'clock
on Monday morning, the fated foul
were marched to the “Slaughter House,’
" hich is about tell minutes wall#rom tin
I'lisoM. Ryan was dressed in a blue
flannel shirt and light pantalobusjfwprc
a while felt hat looped up at the M»b,
and carried a small silver star ou'tlisJeU
breast. “H« 'showed,” said the mate,
‘ more gfit and courage than bah' would
have thought possible. \ WcSM
acred like bntve men, especially Oes
pedes, tHe'yonhgest of the three, whose
courage never for an instant quailed.—
On the way to the execution ground
General Ryan spoke two or three times
to the Spanish officer who walked beside
him, protesting that his execution wps
without justification, as he had not lmd
a fair trial, or any trial at all, in fact. A
Catholic clergyman offered his ministra
tions to Ryan, but he refused to spe/ik
to him and moved away. On arriving at
the slaughter-house Mr. Coffin states
that the Spanish offic -rs directed the
condemned men to kneel down with
their faces to the wall. Ryan and Ces
pedes protested against this as an indig
nity, and asked to be allowed to kneel
with their faces turned toward their ex
ecutioners. Finally, however, they sub
mitted and assumed the required' posi
tion. Then there was a pause for an
instant, followed by a flash and a report,
and the four were writhing in the ago
nies of death. Their sufferings did not
last long, and all were dead within the
space of four minutes. The reports cir
culated in this city that, a Spanish officer
thrust his sword through Ryan’s heart,
and that the heads were chopped off the
four murdered men and carried in tri
umph through the streets, Mr. Coffin
pronounced as altogether untrue. The
moment life was extinct the four bodies
were placed iu a cart and taken to the
cemotery, where they were thrown into
a rude hole hastily dug, and some shovel
fuls *f clay thrown over the remains.
Meanwhile, the house of Mr. Smith,
the American Consul, had been placed
under n guard of Spanish soldiers aud
Mr. Smith was compelled to remain
within doors, and not allowed to hold
communication by -letter or otherwise
with any one outside. He was not even
permitted to come out on his veranda.—
Os the massacre of Capt. Fry and tlm
crew of the Virginius, Mr. Coffin givos
the following graphic description: “Tho
execution took place in tfie afternoon.—
The trial had been held on board the
Tornado, and on the morning of the ex
ecution the entire party was taken on
shore and marched to the prison. I
talked with Capt. Fry on the way from
the jail to the slaughter house. Tho
first question I asked him was where
was the Virginius when she was cap
tured. He said that she was just
eighteen miles south southeast from
Fort Moraut, on the coast of Jamaica.—
When I saw that we were certain to be
captured, said the Captain, I sont for
Varona and asked him what ho proposed
to do, to fight or surrender, adding, its
all one to me. He replied that he
thought it best to surrender. Thero
was a slow match to tho magazine, but
he had got the men into their present
position, and thought ho ought to give
them a chance for their lives. Accord
ingly they had surrendered.” “At tho
place of execution,” continued Mr.
Coffin, “one of my mates, Charles Bell,
the steward of our vessel, gave poor Fry
a glass of water. The Spaniards treated
the Captain well, and never pinioned
him from first to last. Ho, and indeed
all the others, boro up bravely, and
never flinched for an instant. Whon
the crew had knelt down the Captain
walked along the lino and bade good-bye
to all the men in turn, white and black,
for there were several negroes in the crew.
As the men knelt they were distant from
the wall lhat surrounds tho execution
ground about three feet, while tliroo
paces behind them, with leveled muskets,
stood the detachment of mnrines de
tailed to execute the sentence. Just be
fore the fatal volley was tired Capt. Fry
took off his hat. He seemed ns if ho
"as saying a prayer. Os tho whole
thirty-seven, Capt.' Fry was the only
person who fell at the first fire. His
body was riddled with bullets, and he
died almost instantly. All tho others
were but slightly wounded. Tho scene
that followed was the most frightful l
ever witnessed, and I have been cn many
a battle field. After tho first volley I
jumped upon the wall, and from there
could see everything that, happened.—
The poor creatures who were wounded
lay upon the ground rolling about fran
tically in their own blood, and uttering
shrieks of pain and agony, and loud ap
peals for mercy. Their appeals for mercy
fell upoß men deaf to compassion. The
murderers rushed upon them like de
mons, and, thrusting their muskets into
the mouths and ears of the unfortunato
wretches, absolutely blow their headsoff.
Some of the poor creatures frantically
endeavored to burst their bonds and
seize the muskets, but, of course, could
not succeed. I shall never forget the
awful groans and shrieks that resounded
from the place of slaughter. Fully ten
minutes, that looked as if it might have
been an hour, elapsed from the time the
first volley was discharged until the last
of the unfortunate men was dead. I
heard men say who were on ships in the
harbor that after the first volly was fired
the reports of tho guns subsequently
discharged continued to sound like tho
cracking of fire-works on the Fourth of
July in this city. It is a positive fact
that, with the exception of Capt. Fry,
the head was blown off every man of the
thirty-six. The marines seemed to exult
in their work of blood. I felt ashamed
that day of being an American. After
all the party was dead, as in the cases
of Ryan and his companions, tin bodies
were thrown into a cart and carried off
to the cemetery. As many as a dozen
bodies were thrown into the same holo.
On the 7th of November the remain
der of the passengers wore to be execut
ed—fifty in all; but on the morning of
that day an English man-of-war, the
Niobe, arrived in port. The Captain,
on coming into the harbor, did not sa
lute the Spanish fort. He was in his boat
before his anchor had touched the bot
tom, and on landing proceeded straight
to tL - e Governor’s house, and pre
i empto.-ily demanded that the execution
j should cease. The Governor at first de
clared that he had no right to interfere,
, but the Captain said that in tho absence
of an Amencan man-of-war he would take
the responsibility of protecting American
j citizens, and guarding the honor of the
| American flag. It is said he gave the
j Governor General his choice between
, yielding to the demands or having the
! city bombarded, and tho Governor ao
; cordingly gave way. Only for the ar
j rival of the Niobe there can be no doubt
! but that tho fifty would have been shot
that afternoon. All the Americans in
port were loud in their praise of the
manner in which the Captain of tho
Niobe acted. I ascertained a few days
after his arrival that ho oamo in an
swer to a telegraphic message from
the American Consul, sent after the
massacre of Capt. Fry and tho crew,
asking to have an American man-of-war
dispatched to Santiago de Cuba. There
happened to be no American man-of-war
in Kingston at the time, but the com
mander of the Niobe immediately got up
- team, and even though he had not his
full complement of men, many of them
being on shore, without delay started
for Santiago de Cuba. Ono of his first
acts was to compel the Spaniards to re
move the American flag from the place
on the deck of the Tornado where it
had been thrown about and trampled
upon for days more like a rag than a flag.
He also compelled the Governor of San
tiago to furnish him with five copies of
the official proceedings in regard to the
trials—one for himself, one for his Com
modore, one for the American Govern
ment, one for the British, and the re
maining one s ot the American Commo
dore.” When concluding his story, Mr.
Coffin assured the reporter that tho
Spanish authorities somehow seem to
have no respect for the American Gov
ernment, and do not hesitate on the
slightest pretext to insult the American
flag.
