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Address WALSH A WRIGHT, !
Cf)totucle ant) .Sentinel.
WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 24, 1873.
MINOR TOPICS.
The Czar of Russia is evidently on the war
path. For so no cause or other, he has ffter
mined to strengthen the army, and has issued
an imperial nkase requiring that six men out
of awry thousand in the Empire, including the
Polish provinces, .hall bo drafted for military
purposes. Much a measure in times rjf pro
found p '»co seems altogether inexplicable,
except upon the well known principle that it is
wise in time of peace to prepare for war.
The youth O'Connor, who, some time ago,
tried to frighten Queen Victoria into signing a
pardon foi the Fenian convictH, is now in Aus
tralia. The Queen interested herself in him,
shortened his term of imprisonment, and,
wlien ho was released, had him fitted out and
sent awav from England. Ho consumes his
time with attention to some clerical duties
and composing letters in verso, expressing his
gratitude to the Queen.
The whole civilized world will be pained to
learn of the serious illness of Professor Agas
siz. at his home, in Cambridge. Massachusetts.
His contributions to science are equal to those
of any man who lias flourished during the pres
ent century. His death would create a vacuum
in the scientific world which would not probably
be filled in the next half century. We trust he
may recover speedily, and live many years to
enlighten the world with his brilliant discover
ies.
Watterson thinks our third-term President
recommends the building of palaces in Wash
ington for Cabinet Ministers and United HtateH
Senators because lie supposes himself to liavo
gone to Washington to stay. It will take the
bloom off (lie Democratic victory of 1576 if
Grant’s back does not take the whipping in
stops for the Republican nominee. We hope
he may live out his present term, therefore, for
nothing is more probable than that thou liis
servilo party will renominate him.
ftrothei'-in-law Casey, with his usual fond
ness for meddling, has seized a quantity of
persouai property on a French steamship, in
cluding five large casus of Chinese goods,
most of which, the captain declares belongs
to ex-President Thiers. The goods aro de
scribed as very valuable, including a number
of superb silk-, worth 41 500 each, a magnifi
cent shawl worth 41,500 a lady's work box
valued at 43,000, and other exquisite articles.
It is suggested that llrother-in-law Casey might
have (lielight they wore directed to the Wrong
President.
i’lia Irish enugrauta in Amorica have for-
Wardod to Ireland during tho pait twentv-one
yearn Mima of money aggregating more than
was rained in Ireland by tax for tho relief of
tlio poor by ti 1,250,000 sterling : and yet the
Irinh ariet'ei'atH and Hquireene are continually
orying »lit against their legal liability to sup
port tho poor. The charity of tho IrisU-Ameri
oan euflgraut should put their nobility to the
blush, if it in capable of blushing. The fact
of the amount of the remittauoes is published
in English official returns, prepared for the
use of Parliament.
Sir Henry Thompson, the British surgeon,
feels that it is not proper for him at present to
refute the court charges that have been made
agai »t him of inipropi r treatment of the late
Emperor Napoleon. After remarking to this
effect at a recent supper of the Midland Modi
ioal Society in llirmingham, S r Henry said that
he was ready to rest any reputation he might
have upon everything he did in that ease and
he might venture to say. in connection there
with, that he did not look back with regret
upon anything ho counselled or did. and that
ho should be ablo to prove its propriety when
the time came.
Iho llev. Joseph P. Taylor, of Brunswick,
Me., having some trouble from an echo in his
churcii, effectually destroyed it in the follow
ing manner : The church consists of a nave
transept aud chancel. Wires wcro stretched
across the arches of the open roof at two
inches distance from each other at the inter
section of the transept ami navo. coming down
to tlio corbels, and also across a portion of
each of several arches in the nave, beginning
at the top. Mr Taylor suggests that the wires
need not be nearer together than one foot.—
The wire is so small as not to be seen from the
floor of the church, and consequently does not
detract from its appearance.
Representative Willard, of Vermont, a Re
publican. was t hairman of one of the regular
committees of the Forty-second Congress. Du
ring last Summer ho wrote a lotter making a
candid statement of the part taken by Presi
dent Grant in the passage of the salary grab
bill, which showed that the occupant of the
White House actually importuned members for
its passage. For thus stating facts. Mr. Wil
lard has been removed by Speaker Maine from
the chairmanship of a committee to au inferior
position. This action is the more marked from
t o fa and that Sjicsker Maine appears to have
taken extraordinary pains to give all the
Credit Mobilier and salary grabbers in the
present Congress the beet positions.
A Mexican audience cannot be trifled with by
a failure to carry out the programme at places
of amusement. The Tiro AVpuWics informs us
that they have an imported opera troupe play
jug at the Grand Opera House in that metro
polis. which contains one or two tirst class
artists, to a "score or more of fifth-rate ac-.
tors." Recently, on a Saturday evening, the
audience became so exasperated on account of
the failure to carry out the programme, that
benches, cushions, chairs and other available
lumber, were hurled at the performers on the
stage. President Lerdo was present when the
uproar commenced, but as he had not gone
there to witness that sort of performance he
quietly withdrew. They have “good judges of
opera in the Mexican capital." atfinns the Pico
KepuMirs.
The old fable tells us that when all the vir
tues flew from Pandora's box hope remained
behind. In real hie. reversing the illustration,
when every other quality which graces woman
has ceased to exist, her fidelity to old attach
ments remains undimiuished. No matter how
anworthy is tho object, or how little that ob
ject reciprocates love and trust, the devotion
of ti c wretched is unabated. Seldom
has a more vivid picture of this fact been
drawn by Pickens, in his "Oliver Twist.
Nancy loves the brutal Bid Sykes, and loves
him even when she sinks in death beneath
his ruffian hand. Something of the same
k ud was manifested by the woman who re
c. t.f.y tided the New York murderer. Sharkey,
to * -cape from the Tomos. Low and aban
doned. a u d fearfully maltreated by the viliiau
whom she helped to escape the penalty of
the law, she yet did and dared for him ail in
her power.
Gerald Massey is one of the few poets who
have arisen from the lowest poverty and mean
est surroundings. His father, a canal boat
man. unable to write his own name, earned but
ten shillings a week. Gerald was born in a low
stone hut. which was often the scene of suffer- ,
iug. and where hunger aud cold were constant '
companions. At e ght years of age he com- i
meneed work in a silk factory, earning a shil
ling a week. The mill burned down, and Ger
ald learned to plait straw. Having learned to
read ai a penny school, he read everything that
came in his way. Banyan, the Bible and tracts
comprised the most of his available literature.
He obtained a situation in a book store as er
rand boy, began writing for obscure sheets, and
when twenty-one years old started a cheap
journal. The Spirit of Freedom, written en
tirely by workingmen, but of which the con
tents were chiefly from the editor's own pen.
He entered i to the agitation of the working
men caused by the French revolution of 19 18.
and has since devoted the greater part of his
life to the elevation of the working classes.
MR. DUTCHKR'B LETTER.
We publish this morning an exceed
ingly able article on the calling of a
Constitutional Convention from the pen
of Salem Dutches, Esq. Mr. Ditcher
is too well known to require any intro
duction from us. He was for many years
editor-in-chief of the Augusta Constitu
fir/nalinl and afterwards, and up to a few
months since, was upon the staff of the
national organ of the Democracy—the
i New York World. Mr. Dctcheb was in |
Atlanta during the session of the Con- j
' veutionas a correspondent of the World, j
and is perhaps better posted as to the
inner workings of that iniquitous body!
than almost any one else. His argu
ments are strong and forcibly presented, j
and will be, read with interest by the j
j people of Georgia.
i A RAILROAD TO ELBERTON.
j The Elberton Gazette states that a j
i gentleman of that place has received a
i letter from Grant. Alexander k Cos., j
i railroad contractors, proposing to build
a railroad from Elberton to Tocoa City
on the Air Line Railway, if a subscrip
tion of one hundred thousand dollars
caa be raised-j A mtMitia* of thi gifem*
of the county™ ill be rteld on nexFSalur
day, for the purpose of taking the matter
into consideration. We are sorry to see j
the faces of the Elbert people turned j
away from Augusta. That county add
this city have always been close friends
and allies and we are afraid that if con
nection is made with the Air Line Rail- j
way Atlanta will get the trade which
formerly came to our merchants. But 1
we cannot blame them for trying to get
a railroad in some way, and if they can- j
not oome to Augusta, why they will go ]
somewhere else. It is one of the
wealthiest counties in the State, with I
a population noted for its hospitality i
and refinement, and it is a shame that !
it has been so long shut out from the
world.
RECEI VING HIS REWARD.
The strongest Democrat in the South
—if his own words are worth anything
—is Honorable and Judge .Tames Lyons,
of Virginia. He was so much of a
Democrat that he could not for a mo
ment tolerate the idea of the Democracy
forming a temporary alliance with the
Liberal Republicans, even to secure a
national triumph. Had he stopped
here no one could have blamed him for
liis honest convictions on this subject.—
Thero were many true men throughout
the country who entertained the same
opinion. But Mr. Lyons was so good a
Democrat that he began to prefer Radi
cals to his own party and frankly de
clared his preference for Grant over
Greeley. Thinking that the best way
to assist him was to organize a third
party, Mr. Lyons assisted actively in
getting together the little squad of mal
contents which met in Louisville and
called itself a “convention.” He was
President of the meeting which passed
this resolution:
That we proclaim to the world that
principle is to be preferred to power;
that the Democratic party is held to
gether by the cohesion of time-honored
principles, which they will never surren
der in exchange for all the offices which
Presidents can confer. The pangs of
the minorities are doubtless excruciat
ing, but we welcome an eternal minority
under the banner inscribed with our
principles rather than an almighty and
everlasting majority purchased by their
abandonment.
But it turns out that after the elec
tion Grant’s best friends are those who
attempted to create a schism in the Dem
ocratic party—Wise, Mosby, Lyons, ct
ill. For them the Radical papers, which
abuse Jefferson Davis and the other
rebel leaders, have ever a kind word.
Their influence is all powerful at the
White House, and their favor consti
tutes the surest road to preferment.—
And now the leader has his reward. The
man who proclaimed liis determination
"never to surrender time-honored prin
ciples in exchange for all the offices
which Presidents can confer” lias just
been appointed by the President to the
office of United States District Attorney
for the Eastern District of Virginia 1
We don't know whether there has been
any surrender of time-honored princi
ples or not, but Mr. Lyons certainly has
his reward in oue of the offices which
Grant can confer.
THE SALARY GRAB.
Harper's Weekly is not loyal enough
to defend the salary grab of the Forty
second Congress. It says that the rea
sons for the repeal of the bill are not
pecuniary but moral. It characterizes
the bill as a bargain. “It was intended
to influence members to vote for the in
crease of the President’s salary by pro
viding for the increase of their own, and
to buy the support of those who were
just leaving Congress by offering them
the increased rato for their expired term.
However defensible the end, the means
made it one of the most disgraceful nuts
ever done by Congress, and the honor of
that body imperatively demands the re
peal.”
This is very strong and harsh language
for the most intensely Radical of the
Radical press to use iu condemnation of
a measure which has outraged the sense
of honesty in both parties. But it is
just. The retroactive features of the
bill are not defensible, and have been
condemned by the voice of the people
irrespective of party. It may be legal
and constitutional for members of Con
gress to vote themselves back pay, but
there is neither justice nor honesty in
the appropriation.
Mr. Stephens defends the retroactive
feature on legal grounds. We desire to
suppose a ease which may be consider
ed analagons, and because it conies
home to the people of Georgia we deem
it applicable. The Legislature of Geor
gia meets in January. The compensa
tion or salary fixed by the Legislature
of 1871 was $7 per day and mileage for
each member. This urnouut was deem
ed reasonable and just. The amount of
salary for members of the Legislature is
not defined in the Constitution of the
State, neither is it defined in the Con
stitution of the United States ior mem
bers of Congress. In each case it is left
an open question, and can be reduced or
increased at the option of a majority.
The question is therefore aualagous, and
1 the comparison which we are about to
i institute is applicable. The members
|of the Georgia Legislature have the
I right to increase their salary. Suppose
at the meeting iu Jannary they increase
their pay from $7 to $lO, and make the !
I increase retroactive so as to embrace $3
per day extra for the session of January
and February. 18?3. There is no law
against it. Itwonldbe constitutional, be
. cause tho'c is nothing wuich prevents it.
It would be legal, because it is within the j
| province of the law-making power,
j But while the increase of salary might
be legally right, it would be moral'y,
wrong. It would be simply legalized j
robbery, and the people of Georgia
i would so hold. They would consider,
* a nd justly so too we think, under the
circumstances, that their representatives
in the Legislature had abused their
trust in taking money out of the State
Treasury to which they were not en
i titled. Public opinion in the State
: would be swift to condemn snch action
lon the part of the Legislature. And
! from a parity of reasoning it condemns
j the back salary grab of the last Con
Legally it may be right, but
morally it is wrong. In this particular
case, reason and honor alike condemn
the additional appropriation of money
j lor services already rendered and paid
for at a stipulated price. There is no
amount of special pleading, legal acu
men or constitutional law and precedent
’ that can be cited that will reconcile the
j public to the j ustice of the back pay bill.
: To characterize it by no harsher term,
| the back pay bill was a forcible and un
i warrantable appropriation of the public
i money. People who are in the habit of
1 using forcible language might with
propriety cbarcterize it as the “Rape of
the Treasury.”
FREE MAIL MATTER.
The Macon Telegraph and Messenger,
after effectually demolishing the argu
ments used in favor of the free trans
mission of literary matter through the
mails, says : “We are able, therefore,
j to see nothing commendable in the bill
i said to be introduced by Senator Gor
don, of Geor ia, for the free transmis
sion of periodicals, magazines and news
papers through the mail.”’ We agree
with the Telegraph. We can see noth
tha
sincerely trust that it may never become
a law. The time has come when the
press should not be made to appear
mendicants in the eyes of the world.
Every properly conducted journal
should be able to pay its expenses with
out receiving charity from the Govern
ment. The press has no more right To j
receive its exchanges free of cost than a
merchant to have his private correspon
dence “dead-headed.” The argument
used is that the circulation of informa
tion should be free, and that exchanges
bring news matter. Let us ask if the
papers do not make their subscribers
pay for this same “news matter” when
re-published ? Why then should they ex-1
pect to receive it free of expense ? A
newspaper is, or should be, a legitimate
business enterprise, and needs no
charity to keep it going. If it does need
alms it had better suspend. General
Gordon’s bill is doubtless prompted by
the best motives, and the newspapers
should feel grateful for his high ap
preciation of their services, but we feel
quite sure a large majority of the daily
and weekly journals of the United
States will oppose the revival of the
free exchange system.
A POOR COMPARISON.
Mr. Stephens, in his defense of what
is known as the salary steal, devoted
some time to the press of the United
States, which has so unanimously con
demned that iniquitous measure. To
show to what an extreme point news
paper criticism has been carried, Mr.
Stephens stated that one journal had
gone so far as to style the bill a raid
upon the Treasury of the United States
comparable to the memorable charge of
the Light Brigade at Balaklava. We
agree with Mr. Stephens—though by
no moans for the same reasons—that
such a comparison is very wrong and
unjust, especially unjust to the immor
tal six hundred. There was no gallan
try displayed by Congressmen in their
charge upon the Treasury. There was
no enemy to attack, no strong position
to carry—though there was something
in the Government strong-box which
they declared worthy of their “steal.”
It <vas not even a wild foray into a
hostile territory. If a militaiy simile
is to be used, it more nearly resembled
the plundering of a store train by the
soldiers left to gnard it than anything
else. Mr. Stephens might also have
stated, whilst engaged in his defense of
the transaction, that another journal had
likened it to the robbery of a bank vault
by burglars, and had given a graphic and
circumstantial account of the manner in
which an entrance was effected, of the
opening of the strong-box aud the divis
ion of theswag. But here again we think
the figure ill-chosen and inappropriate.
The transaction lacked even the nerve
and daring which characterizes the op
erations of the professional cracksman.
It resembles more nearly the spoliation
of the ward by the guardian, or the
night watchman who plunders the prem
ises which he has been paid to protect.
In the event that Mr. Stephens shall feel
called upon to make a second defense of
the most disreputable act of an American
Congress, we suggest that he pay atten
tion to those other similes of the naugh
ty, naughty press. Mr. Stephens has
also stated, in connection with his elab
orate argument in favor of the back pay
grab, that “demagogue,” in the original
Greek, signifies a leader of the people,
aud that it should by no means be re
ceived as a term of reproach. Continu
ing his valuable and interesting philo
logical researches, Mr. Stephens might
also inform Congress and the world that
the word rogue, which some seurillous
aud uever-to-be-too-much condemned
journals have applied to certain Con
gressmen, moans in the original French
a “proud” person, and in the Icelandic
tongue oue “brave and haughty.” There
fore the word, however intended, is by
no means an opprobrious epithet. Here
after, then, the most complimentary lan
guage which can be employed when
speaking of a Congressman is to term
him a rogue and a demagogue. Selah.
THE TRIBUNE ON AMNESTY.
The bill of amnesty and oblivion intro
duced by Mr. Maynard, of Tennesssee,,
meets with a strong endorsement from
the New York Tribune. The severe and
proscriptive measures adopted by the
Radical party in Congress were never
necessary to preserve the fruits of the j
war and the rights and privilegesguaran- j
teed to the freed people. The effect of !
the prescriptive policy of the Govern- I
ment of the United States has been to |
keep alive the bitter feelings growing j
out of the war and to engender hatred
among all classes of the Southern peo
ple against the Radical party for ostra- |
cizing certain citizens who enjoy the
respect and confidence of onr people.
The vindictive measures of Congress out
raged public sentiment in the South. Mag
nanimity on the part of the conquerors
toward the vanquished was the great
panacea for the stricken and widowed
South—the one thing needful to recon-
cile onr people to the fate that they
were po vcrless to avert, aud to bring :
about reconciliation between the sec
tions aud a better feeling on the part of ;
! Southern men toward the General Gov- ;
, eminent. There is no longer any reason I
! t hat can be urged on the part of the most j
i loyal citizen of the North, who really |
wishes a restored Union, against the j
repeal of the obnoxious and vindictive
I measures which exclude some of the j
ablest and purest men in the South from
positions of honor and trust under the .
State and Federal Governments. The
boon of universal amnesty should no
j longer be withheld. No man in the j
l South should be excluded from office;
for participation in the war. The Tri
' bune, an advocate of amnesty for years,
has this to saV upon the bill for amnesty 1
which has passed the House and is now
before the Senate. Speaking of the
evil effects of repressive legislation to
ward the South, it says :
Mr. Greeley was the first Northern
man of wide influence who perceived
the full effect of it, aud the first to de
mand universal amnesty as the logical
corollary of impartial suffrage. His
j nomination at Cincinnati f reed the
AUGUSTA, GA., WEDNESDAY MORNING, DECEMBER 24, 1573.
House of Representatives into a more
liberal measure of amnesty than had be
fore been attainable, and a year after
his death the leading representative of
the Southern loyalists, the statesman who
drafted the iron-clad oath which exclud
ed from office nearly every reputable
man of Southern birth, is able to pass
through the House of Representatives,
by an overwhelming majority, a bill to
permit the people of the South to exer
cise their elective franchise in freedom.
This action has been too long delayed.
Within the last few weeks two impres
sive incidents have shown how useless
and absurd were those out-of-date pre
cautions. One was the letter of Gen.
Forrest to Gen. Sherman, offering to
raise a division of cavalry for war
with Spain, and Sherman’s endorsement
that he would trust Forrest to fight
as well for us as he did against us. ’t he
other was a word coming from a man
who honored us all in his way of dying,
Capt. Fry, of the Yirginius. While he
was lying under an illegal sentence of
speedy death, when he had bade fare
well to the world and made his peace
with God, this manly rebel still thought
of the country that had conquered aud
refused to forgive him, and in a letter to
the President said : “My field of use
fulness has been abridged by proscrip
tion. The carpet-bag policy is ruinous
to the country. Let Louisiana govern
herself. Her prosperity is that of the
whole country.” It is a wretchedly nar
row and not altogether honest policy,!
Whioh-ha*! kept Icafc
nnder the ban of proscription. This
one at least took a noble revenge in
doing honor to the American name wiien
he died. There are thousands of such,
and we do not think they are any more
dangerous to public peace or morals
than Mr. Casey or Judge Durell.
TAX \TION FOR THE PEOPLE.
j The Secretary of the Treasury in his
annual report to Congress conveys the
unwelcome information that the ex
penditures of the Government are
largely in excess of the receipts, and
that in order to meet the increased ex
penditures, additional revenue must be
raised. He suggests to the Ways and
Means Committee how .$74,00 1,000 can
be wrung from the people by additional
taxation, and recommends that it be
laid on in such a mannner as to be least
burdensome. If duties are to be im
posed on the prime necessities and
luxuries of life, and have to be paid by
the rich and poor alike, we fail to see
how the tax bill can be sugar-coated so
as to make it other than burdensome and
offensive to all classes who contribute
to the support of the Government.
The increase of expenditures is mainly
due to the large appropriations made
by the last Congress in excess of the
estimates made by the several Executive
Departments of the Government. The
public servants have been corrupt and
extravagant in the management* of the
high trusts committed to their keeping,
aud the people—the tax payers of the
country—should compel the members
of Congress to reform existing abuses
and reduce the extravagant expenditures
of the Government.
Congressmen—to give the people evi
dence of their integrity—should begin
by paying into the Treasury the money
which was uujustly appropriated by
themselves last year. Their salaries
should be reduced to about $5,000 per
annum, and this would be about $2,-
500 more than the services of the
average member of Congress are
worth. In the present embarrassed
condition of the finances, the depression
of agricultural and manufacturing indus
tries, and the general stagnntion of trade
and commerce, retrenchment and re
form in every department of the General
Government should be the watchwords
of all honest men in and out of Con
gress, regardless of party. Party lines
should be ignored and party pre
judices buried to accompli-li this
great good, to bring relief to this tax
ridden people, to restore confidence to
the country at large, and to protect the
legitimate business interests of the coun
try—all of which by wise and judicious
legislation can be accomplished.
Increased or additional taxation in the
present paralyzed condition of the busi
ness interests of the country should not
be imposed. The people cannot pay
taxes that must prove exacting and oner
ous iu their crippled condition. Mem
bers of Congress should have sense
enough to know that all the industries
of the country have been depressed and
stagnated by the recent financial crisis.
The effects of this storm are still visible.
Congress should apply itself to the task
of removing the commercial debris—the
result of financial chaos—by restoring
public confidence. Inci'eased and addi
tional taxation will not do it. Reduc
tion in every department of the General
Government, retrenchment in appropria
tions and economy in expenditures will
render the present receipts of the Gov
ernment ample to meet every require
ment and obligation of the country.
If the men in Congress have ordinary
intelligence, common sense, honesty or
patriotism, they will commence the work
of reform by cutting down the appro
priations of all the departments of the
Government, beginning first by reduc
ing their pay to $5,000 a year. Let them
bear in mind that salaries have been re
duced from ten to twenty per cent, in
all the great manufacturing centres of
the country; that the agricultural inter
ests of the people North and South have
suffered a loss of from thirty-three to
fifty per cent.; that while those reductions
in salaries and wages have been made,
and the losses iu agricultural pursuits
sustained, the necessaries of life have
fallen in price, and the cost of living is
therefore less ; and that $5,000 a year
from an impoverished people should be
ample compensation for about four
mouths service.
Our Senators and Representatives are
all honorable men ! mark you, reader.
They are intensely patriotic—they love
the people and the country which they
serve, and if they do not love them
selves more than either the reform
and retrenchment which are so much
needed in the impoverished con
dition of the country will be
speedily inaugurated. Men of all
parties—Radicals, Liberal Republicans
and Democrats —can stand upon this
platform, if they are sincere in reform
ing abuses and curtailing expenses
within proper and reasonable bounds.
Lip service is cheap, but the people
should not be cajoled or cheated by
lond-monthed reformers, whose actions
are always sure to belie their words.
The people cannot and should not stand
any additional taxation, because they
can lot pay it. The work of retrench
ment should begin in the Senate and
House, and thence spread to every Exeeu
[ tive Department. Compel the President
| to pay the money wrongfully taken from
the Treasury as back pay, reduce his
1 salary, reduce your own, and return that
which is not yours, and then the people
; of the country irrespective of party
may be induced to believe that the
Forty-third Congress is an improvement
j on its predecessor.
Increased taxation is an expedient
that should not be thought of. Ad
ditional taxation, no matter how judi
ciously imposed, cannot be other than
burdensome to a people whose industries
are crippled from the effects of a finan
cial cyclone which swept the whole
conntiy and paralyzed every interest.
Irascible old party—“ Conductor, why
didn t you wake me as I asked you ?
Here I am miles beyond my st tion.”
Conductor—“l did try, sir, but all I
could get out of you was *‘all right,
Maria; get the children their breakfast,
and I’ll be down in a minute. ’ ”
A STATE CONVENTH -U,
Letter From Salem Dntckeij Ksq.
To the Editors of the Chronicle and Sen-
Gextlemen—ln response I tvr,! po
lite circular note of a few days' since, re
questing, for publication, my views on
the advisability of a Convention to frame
anew Constitution for Georg. I have
the honor to say that, iu my opinion, it
is altogether deshable sucl’ a body
should assemble at an early day.
The present fundamental Is vof Geor
gia is the creature of force It was
brought into being by
and has been sustained up tc ■ Miis time
by fear. Iu no true sense is i; the Con
stitution of the State. Even those who
imposed the instrument us now
a mit it was not authorize! even by
their own laws. The Athwfc Conven
tion was called in October, V*7, and its
handiwork ratified in Aprihf 1868, by
negro votes, and yet in what Js known
as “The Slaughter House Uase,” de
cided in the Supreme Cos t of the
United States, April 14, 1878 jpe Conrt
said, “The negro having, by the Four
teenth Amendment, been decked a citi
zen of the ’united States, was, jy the Fif
teenth Amendment, madea vo'hr in every
State of the Union.” The fourteenth
Amendment was declared a iFt of the
Federal Constitution on theKyof July,
1868, aud the Fifteenth .VitA luent on
the 20fb 1 SoJ3Ek.iug Huy
nKse who^vi^^a^F?e?"mnP
neither voters in nor citizens of the
United States. Touching the lawfulness
of the instrument in the eyes of the peo
ple of Georgia, but few words are re
quired. It is the badge of their subju
gation, the seal of dishonor on their
spent tears aud wasted blood. It is
my firm belief that they deeply resent
its existence, and that neither itne nor
habit will dull them into any respect for
or confidence in it. Now, a law which
has neither the respect nor the confi
dence of those upon whom it is to ope
rate Jacks the first essential of all ser
viceable legislation. We love tLat which
our own h nds have in whole or part
created. We respect that which comes
to us sauctioned by the good opinion of
our friends and neighbors, even though
we feel unable to coincide in all their
views. But what respect or affection
can human nature have for that which
is thrust upon us, contrary to our own
wish and without even the palliating ap
proval of those in whom we trust ? Fail
ing, then, as it most assuredlj does, in
these all-important particulars, the pres
ent organic law of Georgia is fatally
weak. Being weak in the great and
main point of its authenticity, no patch
work of the instrument can make it
strong. Anew, and not an amended,
Constitution is what we need. Such an
instrument, untainted with tli* past and
fresh from the bosom of the present,
will receive that public respect which
the utility of a State Constitution so im
peratively requires.
Coming to those particular provisions
which, in my humble judgment, tiny
new Constitution should confeiin, there
iti this to say: The object of all govern
ment is, or ought to be, the protection
of person and property. Protection to
person is, I believe, in Georgia, well se
cured, though I must confess a distrust
of any theory or practice tending to
limit, the right of trial by jury in crimi
nal cases. “Though begun in trifles,
the precedent may gradually increase
and spread. ” —Blackstoue. Touching
protection to property, we open a wide
field. The reign of violence is over in
Christendom, but the reign of fraud is
come instead. Property is no longer
snatched by the mailed hand of robber
barons. It is softly conveyed away by
the almost imperceptible processes of
taxation, assessment, donation, endorse
ment and subscription. The rough thief
of old plucked away your thousand dol
lars, and that was the end of it. The
sweet-spoken “live mat.” of to-day hot
only takes your thousand dollars, but
makes you pay him discount and inter
est on the theft. In the old time, when
your money was taken you could forth
with begin, unimpeded, to lay up some
more. Iu these modern days you can
only imperfectly wako ijp .epfOie
tion by reason of the necelsfy you are
under of paying for the privilege you
have just eujoyed of being robbed. We
have lately seen Germany demand a war
indemnity of $1,060,000,000 from France,
and France being a ready money country
lias paid it. Her industries do not now
languish under the debt. But suppose
Germany had made what the “live mau”
would term it min e favorable settlement.
Suppose she had said, give us $750,000,-
000 in twenty years seven per cent bonds.
The sum total to be paid by France
under that arrangement would have
been SI,BOO, 00,000, and for twenty years
her industries would have felt the para
lyzing effects of the burden. Mortgag
ing the future is the great danger again-t
which, if Georgia is ever to flourish, she
must in her new Constitution provide
I believe it to be an absolutely indis
pensable necessity, a prime, first, and
fundamental pre-requisite to any re
cuperation of this Commonwealth that
the prevalent practice of incurring pub
lie indebtedness should cease. The Con
stitution should permit no taxation what
ever, State, county, or municipal, save
for ordinary and legitimate State, coun
ty, and municipal purposes, and the
prompt payment, principal and in
terest, of such State or local
debts as have up to this time been law
fully incurred ; nor should either the
State uor any of its political sub-di
visions at any time, in any manner, or on
any pretext give, loau or pledge its funds
or credit in aid of any person, associa
tion, or corporation I would also re
quire a concise annual statement, under
oath of the receipts and expenditures of
the State, and of each of its political
sub-divisions, the general statement to
be published at public cost in every
newspaper in Georgia, and the local re
ports to be similarly published in every
newspaper within the sub-division. —
Among still otlierprovisions, 1 would re
quire the assent of a majority of all the
members elected to eitherhouse to the
passage of any bill. At present the
Senate consists of 44 members and the
House of 175. A majority in either
body, or 23 in the Senate and 88 in the
House, are competent to proceed to
business, and a majority of this majority,
or 12 in the Senate and 45 in the House,
can pass any but some'few specially ex
cepted bills. I fail to see the reason iu
a little over one-fourth of the legislative
body making laws for a people who base
their whole theory of government on the
i idea that the majority must rule. In
j Illinois, lowa, Missouri, Maryland, Mich
j igau, Nevada, and Minnesota, this thebry
is carried into practice, and I believe it
for the advantage of Georgia to have the
same rule. It is a current observation in
politics that most badfe -.vs creep through
in “a thin House,” f. e., where there
is only about a majority of a majority
of the members present The same rule,
mutatis mutandis, I would apply to
cases of a two-thirds vote. Let it be a
real two-thirds, that is 67 per cent, of
j either house, and not a sham two-thirds,
! simply two-thirds of a majority, or 35
per cent. Still, furthermore, I would
provide for the proper publication aud
due promulgation of the laws two
things sow shamefully neglected; would
give cirtain limited exemptions from
jury duly and forbid the Legislature to
grant more; would fix the capital iu its
time-honored seat at Milledgeville;
would iripple “log rolling” legislation
by denying the Legislature power to en
act spedal laws in any case capable of
being pul under general statute; would
apply the principle of minority repre
sentation—just as it was years ago ap
plied in Seorgia to the old bank char
ters—to tie election of officers of incor
porated ccjnpanieSjSo that the large stock
holders cinnot elect all the directors;
and, for the benefit of the rising genera
tion, Woulil insert that provision once so
popular in pur Aneriean Constitutions, ;
the which made England great
and has kept her free —“The doctrine of
non-resistance against arbitrary power j
and oppression is absurd, slavish and
destructive *f the good and happiness
of mankind.*
Such, Mesirs. Editors, briefly and in
the main, are the view- yon have done
!me the honoi to reqne-t. Minor points
: I have passtfi over and presented the
; salient features alone. How far they
i may meet popilar approval or ever find
a place in ours organic law I know not,
i but constitutiifcal law—"the rise of em
pire aud the spring of power”—has long
been a favoriti study, and I am inflexi
bly persuaded! some' snch provisions as
have been her! presented are necessary
to make Georia rich and great. In ad
vocating a Convention you will, I think,
carrv the pefple with you. The shat
tered temple if the Stab- needs re-erec
tion. Many pf the pillars have fallen
from their jedestal and the arch sur
mounting is not as symmetrical as of
yore. Wistim and patience, skill and
devotion aid needed in the work of re
i habilitatioa but if that be well done the
storm-tried State will realize the bless
ing on that ancient city—Peace be with
in thy palaces and prosperity in all thy
borders. Yours, truly,
• Salem Dctcheb.
THE STATE CONVENTION.
Letter From Dr. H. R. Casey.
Waverly Hall, December 8, 1873.
Editors Chronicle and Sentinel:
Gentlemen—Your kind letter of the
29th is just to hand and contents noted.
In it this significant inquiry is made:—
“Shall the Legislature call a convention
for the purpose of amending the instru
ment known as the Constitution of
1868.” And again, “that the people
may be fully informed upon the subject,
you desire to give them, through your
paper, the .opinions of gentlemen whose
ability and experience in publie affairs
make them representative Georgians.”
And again, if consistent with your (my)
feelings you desire an expression of voiir
(aiv) opinions upon this subject matter.
It is my wish, and I conceive it to be
uiy duty, to walk up to the “captain’s
office to settle my account with my na
tive State, as one owing allegiance to
her at all times aud under all circum
stances. Hence I have no hesitancy in
putting myself squarely and publiclv
upon this record. And upon this “plat
form I stand, and shall stand, be the
consequences what they may. I shall
net “hedge” by saying, “I did not go to
-*;%**■ * [ ju£t what I say. If
tins lie treason “x am ill on £ Responsible
f° r .ik I intend no disrespect to the
Uniteu States Government. I desire to
see the “E Pluribus Unum" flag
float from the “masthead” represent
ing many districts, States or sov
reigtities under one General Gov
ernment. I desire to respect the
“delegated rights” of the General Gov
ernment; but also to stand by the “ re
served rights of the States.” And any
infraction by the General Government
upon those reserved rights of my State
L shall ever oppose. But I see a very
great difference between the Government
of the United States, as bequeathed to
us by the “ fathers” and administered
under the Constitution at Washington
City and the present political machine
run alone in the interest of a mere party
at Long Branch, Saratoga, and semi-occa
sion ly at the Capitol. Aud as this State
Constitution (“ so-called”) was framed,
fashioned and manipulated under the
dictation of this rambling government
and outside of the Constitution of the
United States, my answer to your per
tinent inquiry is, Yes 1 Yes!! Yes !!!
And the reasons are many and obvious.
At the time this “ instrument’’ called a
Constitution was put upon us Georgia
was under the heel of the despot, and her
sovereignty was denied her by those
who were here merely to riot in the “flesh
pots and to fill their empty carpet bags.
These were the characters that had control
of public matters, and, bending the pliant
hinges of the knee thatthrift might follow
fawning (thrift to themselves, but not
to the country), this instrument without
form or comeline s was published as the
law of the land. It is not of us nor by
us, but a miserable exotic, a spawn of
the hour, > “conceived iu sin and born in
iniquity.” We then were under the reign
of Rufus, the Bovine. We had to submit
fer tue time being to these “revellers at
Belshazzar’s feast.” But Bullock saw
the “handwriting on the wall,” while
engaged in his peculations and specula
tions, and fled the “chair of State” that
he had desecrated, leaving this country
for the country’s good and stopped not
till the snowy cliffs of Albion intervened
between him and justice. His hegeira
left the State government in the hands
of her own sons, save and except the few
days’ reign of Ben Conley. 1 only
wish that in his pickings his fingers had
appropriated that “instrument known as
the Constitution of 1868,” which was in
part the work of his head, and taken it
along with him. Johnny Bull was more
than welcome to the man and to his
minor charter.
But thanks to a kind Providence, and
to a better feeling at the North, these
bad men and their illegal measures came
to grief, and the Democratic party com
ing into power “things ip general,” aud
UV politics, assumed, $ djflferviit aud a
more prosperous phase Georgians now
rule Georgia. But Georgia should be
under a Constitution eminating directi)
from the brains of her own sous. They
•.nd they aloue are the real custodians
of our State’s honor and manhood. T
continue this “Constitution of 1868,”
now that we have the power to change
it, is a blot and a sore reminder of other
and darker days; all traces of which I
wish to see v tnish from the laud. Now
is the time,for action, and our Legisla
ture at its next session should call a
Convention for the purpose of framing
anew Constitution upon the basis of the
old one, modified and changed only as
the soverjgn people of Georgia have
decided are necessary to meet the chang
ed condition of things. This is not only
>nr r ght but our duty. These are my
honest sentiments, howevercrudelv they
may be expressed.
Respe tfully,
H. R. Casey.
Hen. Gordon’s “Charlatanism.”
[LaGrange Reporter.]
Two or three weeks ago the Columbus
papers stated that General J. B. Gordon
would deliver an ndlress in that city.
Whether they stated the subject of the
address we do not remember; but the
idea got out that the General was going
to urge on the people the importance
and benefits of life insurance. He did
not get to Columbus when he was ex
pected, and for two or three days after
wards the papers announced each morn
ing that he would be there on the suc
ceeding night, and thus the matter ac
quired considerable notoriety. The
Chronicle and Sentinel took occasion,
very properly we think, to reflect on the
exceeding bad taste of a United States'
Senator going about to lecture on life
insurance. Some of the papers, with
more zeal than good taste, undertook to
defend Gen. Gordon, but this did not
make the matter any better. The coun
try press ti ok it up, and from various
parts of the State could be heard con
demnations of Gen. Gordon’s “charla
tanism.”
They were all acting under a mistake.
We happened to be on the same train on
which Gen. Gordon went to Columbus
and heard a conversation between him
and some friends. He stated that he
had no intention of making a speech in
Columbus; that his visit to that city was
strictly a business visit; that the an
nouncement of an address from him was
made without liis knowledge or consent;
that he was astonished when he heard
of such announcement.
We were not in the party to whom
these remarks were made; hence we
have not been in haste to mention them
—preferring that some of Gen. Gordon’s
personal friends should set him right in
the matter. But they have not done so,
and we think it due to our Senator—a
man whom wq all delight to honor—that
this statement be made. Those papers
which have reflected on Gen. Gordon
should now make the correction.
A Regular Mormon.—We Lave a
private letter from Mr. Jacob Duck
worth, residing on Little river, tea.
miles north of Quitman, Brooks county,
in which he requests us to state he will
pay a reward of fifty dollars for the ap
prehension of one Scott, or S. S. Smith.
Said Smith is a regular Mormon, and oc
cupies his time in traveling from one
county to another, remaining only long
enough to deceive and marry some inno
cent country girl. It is known he has
four wives in Middle Florida and two in
Georgia, one of the latter being the
daughter of Mr. Duckworth, whom he
deserted after living with her two weeks.
Several of his abandoned wives are 1
hunting for him now. Smith is sup
posed to be in Decatur county at present,
and is accompanied by a lad named Jim
Johnston.— Savannah Hews.
Patterson’s Tricks.—Whoever in the
Federal Capital, or elsewhere, is in any
wise interested in the question whether
or not John J. Patterson obtained his
seat in the Lnited States Senate hv
bribery, may as well understand that the
accounts of his honorable acquittal that
have been telegraphed to the press of
the conntry are misrepresentations of
the facts of the case, concocted and for
warded in the interest of the accused
Senator. T' e fact that the election of
Patterson was procured solely by the
use and promise of money is perfectly
| notorious in South Carolina, and tiie
'< United States Senate can, if it likes,
j easily satisfy itself that the partial de
, sea of the feeble efforts which have
: thus far been made to bring him to jns
| tice was accomplished by the very same
means . Charleston News.
The Military Committee commenced
an investigation of Freedman Howard’s
defalcation.
A CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION.
Another Letter from Hon. John C. Reed
—Reply to the Atlanta Herald.
December 15, 1873.
Editors Chronicle and Sentinel :
The Atlauta Herald seems desperate
ly afraid of the revival of imprisonment
for debt. It ap> ears shaky at the very
BU BB es tion. When its editorials are
considered so little is found in them
that one almost thinks that the reasons
given are only ostensible and that a still
greater and more moving argument ex
ists, kept back, asyet undisclosed.
The Constitution of 1798 provided
tha, there should be no detention of the
person of a debtor, except in cases where
there was a strong presumption off, aud.
Our law did not stop there. It went on
humanizing, increasing the allowances
to insolvent debtors, until at the break
ing out of the late war no bail writ
could be i ad against a man unless the
plaintiff made oath to the fraud of the
defendant, nor could a ca sa be obtain
ed unless the plaintiff specified iu his
affidavit property other than his exemp
tions held by the defendant, which
could not be reached by ft fa. If the
plaintiff swore falsely iu either affidavit,
the defendant could prosecute him and
send him to the penitentiary. After the
bail writ or the ca sa issued the defend
ant could be at once released by giving
bond to appear at a day appointed and
give up the property over and above that
allowed him by the law. He could only
14 imprisoned by th- finding, of a jury
<>f his neighbors that, he was keeping
back and hiding out more property tha
that which the law permitted to him as
the head of a family. Under this law,
that the free people" of Georgia enacted
for themselves, which they recast and
perfect, and in 1858, no honest man was
ever hurt or even arrested. The fear of
the law sodeterred the dishonest that I
never knew of but oner: se of imprison
ment—that was where a purchaser of a
large stock of mules, having sold
them out and pocketed all of the
money to cheat the seller, pretended that
he had lost his pocket-book. The seller
took him with a bail writ, and an honest
jury of Greene county found that he
stilt had the money. He was sent to
jail under the verdict, aud in there he
found the pocket book and paid the
seller for his mules. I practiced for
eleven years under this law and the
above is the only case of imprisonment
for debt which I ever knew. It was a
good law, guarding jealously the liberty
of the citizen, and it was a terror to
none but those who wished'to cheat aud
swindle. Our State, at her highest pitch
of refinement, when she was free to do
as she pleased, recast the law as I have
said in 1858, and again re-enacted it in
adopting the Code. But the Herald
says : “It was a noble spirit of reform
in our civilization when the foul blem
ish was eradicated from our statute
books.” It speaks also of this law made
by the freemen who bore up the South
ern cross for four years, almost against
the worm come in arms, and who have
not been bent by the eight years of op
pression following their disastrous de
feat as “an outrage upon Christian
civilization aud humanity.” The ignor
ant slave just freed, the carpet-bagger
who ran away from home to steal, and
the scalawag who stole at home, were,
it seems, superior in Christian civiliza
tion to the free whites of Georgiu in the
meridian of their advancement and de
velopment.
The Herald seems to fear that if the
people of Georgia are permitted to meet
in free convention that the barbarians
will at once begin to put every mother’s
son of themselves in jail for debt; and
that paper would patriotically protect
these poor creatures with the superior
civilization of the African anil the Scow
heganite, and keep them from wreaking
their ferocious barbarity on themselves.
•Surely, we ought to thank the Herald.
Moses, who would not let his Divine
Master destroy his people, wasn’t a cir
cumstance.
I say, if the people of Georgia wish a
law to jail the swindler and smuggler,
let them have it. If they wish to re
move the capital back to Milledgeville,
let them do it. Their will expressed in
constitution or law should commaud our
!' : !..f V i'.U , ~!
superiority of the carpet-'baggefiT'''anfl'
scalawags who, in such Christian enlight
enment, corrected our errors aud purged
the worth, intellect and flower of our
people of barbarism, I do not see it. 'The
old law ennot be revived unless the.
people meet in convention, and if it is
revived no man can be imp . -on-d in,less
a jury of his own people find, on relia
ble evidence, th-,t he is hoh img- back
property over anil above his homestead
and exemption. Should any horn st man
fear either a convention or a jury of his
own people ?
After all, this question is trivial com
pared with some of the others ugnated.
So is the. question of the removal of the
capital. Good men may differ on either.
But however much we m v differ, no
•odv should be afraid to see the, people
of Georgia maki tlieit owu constitution,
nor refuse such, when mad-, his cheer
ful obedience, through it may put the
capital where some people do not wish
it, or agree e ther with the Herald or
myself as to the policy of imprisonment
for debt. Revival of the good old sys
tem of our fathers, trampled under foot
by the irruption of the vandals who
desecrated our State under the recon
struction acts, protection of the public
credit, an inhibition perpetual and iri e
pealable on the Legislature to pay the
repudiated bonds, but above all, the ex
ercise of the glorious privilege to make
our own constitution as we please, in
stead of being kept forever under the
immaculate Christianity and supeiior
civilization of the first constitutional ex
periment of thieves, plunderers, floaters
and negroes —all these speak command
ingly to the good citizen, whatever he
may think of the particular subject of
this article. Yours, &c.,
John C. Reed.
A CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION.
Letter From Judge Alex. M. Speer.
Griffin, December 15, 1873.
Editors Chronicle and Sentinel:
Gentlemen—ln reply to yours of the
29th, I beg leave to say, were Ia mem
ber of the Legislature of Georgia, I
should unhesitatingly vote to call a
Constitutional Convention of the State.
Apart from the mode and circum
stances under which the present Consti
tution was framed, I am satisfied the
public interest demands new safe
guards to protect us from the universal
ly .corrupt tendencies of the age. This
corruption seems pervading almost
every department of the National Gov
ernment—is bold and unblushing in
many of the local Legislatures—and to
day Georgia tax payers are groaning
under the burdens imposed by the ra
pacity, villainy afid avarice of those
who came “to develop our resources.”
I want to close the door effectually
and permanently to any chance to be
robbed and plundered anew by these ad
venturers, or any like successors. And
to do this, I want the fundamental law
so framed that the Legislature would be
powerless to do us harm—a positive in
hibition against State aid, in all its
forms or hues, inserted in the Constitu
tion.
The great curse of the day in politics
is too much legislation, too many office
holders and too many laws. Asa
measure of economy—a short session
of thirty days of her best and
wisest men in council could save the
State in one year double the cost it
would impose. Biennial sessions, limi
ted terms and per diem pay of the Legis
lature, fixed in the fundamental law,
coupled with large reduction of the
membership of the Legislature, would
save in one year twice the cost of the
Convention. The gTeat object that I
would seek for would be to limit and
restrict the legislative power in the
imposition of taxes and increasing
public debt or any conditional liability.
Another serious inconvenience that the
people are suffering under is the home
stead exemption in the present Constitu
tion. I am satisfied that the present
real and personal property of the State
—every dollar of it if divided among
heads of families—could be covered with
these exemptions. In other words, it
would require something like five hun
dred millions of real and personal prop
erty to furnish each head of a family
these homestead exemptions—far more
than is returned by her citizens on
the entire tax digest of the State. When
capitalists and money-holders know that
your fundamental laws thus shield, or
propose to shield, so large an amonntof
your property from payment of debts, is
it strang - they decline to 1 >ai>, or when
they do their accommodations bring
ruin to *he borrower in the exorbi
tant interest they charge ?
A moderate homestead I regard as a
public blessiug and a wise policy, but
the exemption that leaves nothing upon
which credit can be based, limits its
owner to his own means, and the result
we see iu abandoned fields, decaying en
closures, and neglected and ruinous
dwellings. This golden bounty that was
| offered to a ruined and war-impoverished
I people as a bribe to submit to the
wrongs and usurpations of reconstruc
tion, is yielding its bitter fruit in the
j utter prostration of credit and universal
loss of confidence be f ween lender and
the real estate of Georgia in golden
streams, under a wise and intelligent
system of agricultural improvement, ex
pended on the remaining half, what a
new face would our country wear in a
few years. Thrift and fertility would
succeed sqnallor and bmYonuess ; happy
and neat homesteads would rise where
now totter the ruins aud wreck of a
former prosperity.
But there are other cogent reasons to
my mind why ourCaustitutiou should be
revised—had I time to submit them,
i'hey will readily suggest tliemselve- to
the reflecting mind. The great, aim to j
be accomplished -the''great purpose t
be kept steadily in view —would be to
grant grudgingly power to your Legis
lature, lest mthefuture it may he used to
wound ahdpliinderyon—while theinte!) i
gence and virtue and wealth of the Stare
still hold the reins—so t > guard the publie
credit and liipit the* power of taxation
and public expenditims in your funda
mental law thW even power if (tempo
raily) conferred upon the unprincipled
fid adventurer by the people eoold not
be Vriehh.d t(>aoi,,' l .ei ; ''u- detriment, or
Tifipr-v!.!- >■ firs Hr i
.ireuotes, not lifc-'v [•< happen -i i. o u-xl
decade of y'urs, 1 would say while it is
calm and the sky is clear, overhaul the
ohl ship, refit her muststrengthen lun
timbers, remove those that are decay i g,
unfit or useless, and prepare for the
storms and perils that even patriotism
cannot always guard against, and which,
in the political as in the physical world,
must occur.
Very respectfully, yours,
Alkx. M. Speer.
LETTER FROM EDGEFIELD, 8. C.
Fdgefield, S. C., December 15, 1873.
Editors Chronicle and Sentinel :
After an unusually' lengthy warm spell
we are now having bracing weather.
Those who have been fortunate in
raising hogs will have them slaughtered
this week. Our farmers are now about
closing up this year’s labor. Occa
sionally we find one who has not finished
gathering cotton, but it does not neces
sarily follow that his crop is any better
than his neighbors. The crop has ngt
been an average one, considering the
acreage p'ante.d, aud the fertilizers
used. As nine-tenths of the planters
were compelled to sell their cotton to
meet their obligations to merchants, the
the planters are not as'well oil'to-day as
they were twelve months ago.
Any business yyill fail conducted alto
gether upon a credit system, aud the
planters are to blame themselves, al
though the merchants aro often unjustly
Warned for the planters’ failures. The
merchant who sell on a credit and take
liens, under the laws of this State, have
very little protection. The homestead
law and one-third of the produce raised
by a laborer will leave but little for tho
merchant after rent and.the laborers’s
third are paid.
The large landed estate of the late
Gov. Pickens, sold at public auction at
this piace to-day, was purchased by his
widow at a nominal sum. The lands
were very valuable in days when labor
was reliable, but with the present laws
we are forced_ to live under, and the de
moralized condition of labor, it is hard
to piace a value on property in this
State.
Taxes the present year will not fall
much under two per cent. Tho Legis
lature has not yet settled the amount.
The Edgefield Sabre Club have con
cluded to have' a hall during the Christ
mas holidays.
The members of the Buptist Sunday
School will have a festival.
We are expecting to have a merry
Christmas, especially the young people.
Homer.
j AGASSIZ.
SftSeVrirrt. -i
Boston, December 15. Professor
Agassiz died to-day. His last hours were
apparently passed in unconsciousness.
■ t 2, p. in., on Sunday he hml an attack
similar to one ox,.erirncei! before a aus- !
pension of r< operation, which continued
about a half minute, icompanied by i
other indication!} of uppmaciuug disso
lution. These, were succeeded 'by un
naturally rapid breathing that continued
to grow outer with flop ii t.ing vigor
The path nfc lay upon h - aide and be
yond an occasional convulsive uiovi m< i .
of his limbs, there were’ no signs that he -
suffered pain, and I he fi: ale, was scarce- !
I.Y perceptible.
London, December 15. Thejournals,
in tlieir obituary notices of Judge -e. ,
son and Professor Agassiz, award big :
praise to them.
liliuis John Rudolph Agassiz, the
great naturalist,, >vho died yesterday,
was born mar the Lake of Neucln.tel,
May 28th, 1807. He was the defendant
of a French Huguenot family which
was driven from Fr nee by the ri vole
tion of the edict of Nantes. Having
chosen the profession of*medicine ho
stud rd in the medical school of Zurich
and alte wards at Heidelberg. In 1827
he entered the University of Munich,
which had recently been organized.
Here he formed intimate friendships
with several distinguished scientists.
Upon the return of a Hcieutjfio explor
ing expedition sent to Brazil by Un-
Bavarian Government, the leader of the
corps, Martius, selected Agassiz to
elaborate t e ichthyological part, of Un
work, and the manner in which the task
was accomplished, placed him at once
in the foremost rank of naturalists.
These studies and labors diverted him
from the profession of medicine to which
he Imd been destined by his par
ents, who therefore withdrew his
allowance. • Cotta, the publisher struck
by the value of the materials Agassiz hml
collected fur a “Natural History of the
Fresh-water Fishes of Europe,” and no
doubt impressed with the genius of the
young naturalist, enabled him, by a
timely supply of funds, to go on with
and complete the work. He took the
degree of doctor of philosophy at Elau
gers, and in the same year the degree of
doctor of medicine, at Munich. He de
voted seven years to researches upon
the fossil fishes, before commencing the
publication of the work. In 1832 he re-
I ceived the appointment of professor of
I natural history in the college at Neu
j chatel, Switzerland. In 1833 lie com
menced the publication of his work on
the fossil fishes. The work was of vast,
benefit to science and has stood
the lest of time, It gained
him gvA-t, celebrity, The Universi
ties of Edinburgh and Dublin con
ferred on liim the degree of LL.D., and
the corporations enrolled him among
their citizens. He wrote a number of
other scientific works now well known.
' In the Autumn of 1840 he arrived in
1 Boston from Paris, his object being in
! the first place to make himself familiar
with the natural history and geology
iof this country. In 1818 Agassiz en-
I tcred upon the duties of professor of
1 zoology and geology at the scientific
| school at Cambridge. From that period
j until his death Professor Agassiz de-
I voted his time alternately to teaching
: and making original investigations. In
j 1852 he accepted a professorship of
j comparative anatomy in the Medical
i College of Charleston, S. C., which he
retained for two successive Winters
j during which lie made a thorough study
| of the marine animals of that coast, ex
| tending his excursion to Georgia and
| North Carolina, but fiudiDg the climate
injurious to Lis constitution, he re
! signed his position and returned to re-
I side permanently at the North, lie
was elected into the Academy of Sciences
| at Paris, the Royal Society of London,
and all the Other learued societies in
Europe and America
A Specimen Senator.
Montgomery, Ai.a , December 17
The Senate, la-t night unseated Hatch,
Senator for Hale county, elected last
Spring to fill a vaoaDcy It seems that
Hatch was, three years ago, postinast, r
•t the county site of Hale couqtv. Mo
neys wi re missed from the mails, arid
Hatch made a'lidavit and accused .-un
born, his clerk. After Sunt” rn had
been j idled several mouths the investi
gation pressed Hatch -n elo.-i- that co
wrote a confession of hi- uvn guilt,
which whs published, and In- agieed
with Special Agent Pettier).ridge to pay
up. Suit was Commenced in the Un tc-i
Slates Court, and Hatch was turned out
of office. Hatch then ran for the Bml
ate, and was elected by a large 111 , jur l tv,
but on the above showing the Senate de
clared him ineligible. He is a Republi
can.
NUMBER 52.
MR. STEPHENS.
A Vivid Description of the Scene in the
House When It was Announced by
the Speaker that He Had the Floor.
We clip the following description and
comments from the New York Hr raid in
regard to Hon. A'. H. Stephens’ speech
I on Wednesday, the 10th inst. :
The scene in the House to-day when
the Spesker announced that Mr Ste
phens, of Georgia, had the floor, was
grandly picturesque. It was intimated
yesterday that he desired to say some
thing on thequestion of pay of members
of Congress, and his infirmity pleaded
for him more eloquently than ther- quest,
of his colleague. Hut it was not what.
Mr. Stephens would say that made the
prospect of a speech irom him so at
tractive. There was somethin,' more
heroic than mere cariosity in tile earnest
desire of Senators to he informed when
the distinguished Southron ha.l the
floor.
A few minutes after one the Speaker
gently tapped his desk to remind the
members of the obligation not to dis
turb debate, and attention at <p ce ('en
tered on the gaunt figure of the Th-pre
mitative from Georgia, who occupies a
desk immediately.in Wont, of the Speak
er. on the inner circle of seats. The
galleries were full of eager listeners.—
Under the eagle’s wing, which over
shadows the clock, stood a youth, peer
ing down the aisles, which were filled to
•nitlbcattyu. It was Young America.
Webster's reply to JTayrie, and in his
tory, when Chathnifilinveighed against
the recognition -of American independ
ence. What, a scene was this I The
Vice-President of the organized rebel
lion, who fourteen years ago was a mem
ber, without, spot or blemish, of Con
gress, to-dav the cynosure of all eyes : ...
How strange in contrast with the' story
of Bazaine’s condemnation, and how
passing strange in comparison between
the strength of the French and Ameri
can republics ! The doors leading t.o
the galleries are jammed; only the dip
lomatic gallery is empty, save two soli
tary individuals of foreign toilet. The
reporters sharpen their pencils, put, on
their eyeglasses, and a hush, produced
by the gentle tapping of the small end of
the Speaker’s gavel, ensues.
The surroundings in the House, and
especially about, the orator, make a pic
ture which must strike him with a sense
of strangeness. In all that crowd of
Representatives there are only half a
dozen whom he knew in his previous
Congressional experience. Who are
they? The tall, gaunt, Indian form of
Maynard, looming up above the throng;
the herculean form of BufHnton, of Mas
sachusetts; tlse si me what grizzly face of
Dawes, and the odd spectacled English
physiognomy of his colleague, Mr.
Gooch, together with the black haired
Marshall, of Illino s, from the Egyptian
part of the State; and S. S. Cox, whose
new name, “ Dew Drop.” sparkles on
every tongue. These six men are the
only ones of this Forty-third Congress
who are familiar with the voice of the
Georgian and who served with him in
the Thirty-fifth.
How curiously his little black eyes
must have gazed upon the strange faces
about him ? What an eagerness on the
part of all others to catch the words as
they fall I He rises, drops one of his
crutches in the aisle; he leans heavily
upon the other. Death the skeleton anil
Time the shadow paint liis picture, and
put a glossy black dress coat hanging
iohsely on the shoulders, with a small,
cadaverous head, covered with a plum
colored velvet smoking cap, from under
which the steel gray hair creeps. Now
for the first words—“Mr. Speaker?” The
first words have a music tinged with the
lull vowelied A-frioanese dialect of the
South. The Democratic seats are va
cant; the crowd presses close up to the
orator. He indulges in a comparison
between the good demagogue who leads
right and the bad ones who pander to
them. He makes a classical, then a
Biblical illustration. Does ho strike the
keynote all expected ? Does he inveigh
against corruption, profligacy, extrnva
gat ice ? Does he applaud economy and
self-sacrifice? Thoreis disappointment.
3,105 t think lu» has clutugeO with the
the mercenary year-' have coiVie, Vie rm™
come with them. Gifted and pure him
self, passionless and almost, disabled, he
would have been the man to herald the
better day, or to renew that, other tame
when -lolin 1 .etcher, George W. .Tones
and others of the South gave up to the.
public their service to save millions for
the public and take nothing for them
whatever may" be’express ,'d.' Z' one
nearly parallel being when Chatham, to
whom the orator referred, cum. into the
H- l u«e of Lords swathed in flannels and
demise HIHII followed .Mr Stephens
has lived since he left here in 1859.
Cornet- Pitt, and old'statesman Chatham,
sonant, even to tlm purlieus of West
minister Hull, nr, in strange contrast
with the shrill, fife-like, octave voice of
the skeleton orator from Georgia
But they group i,bout him. The ora
tor is talking the salary bill, aud what
tors "conklin,"', * Windimi,' Thurman.
Bogy, Conover and others. Within al
most arm’s reach sits It i Butler. To
the rear Judge Hear, tie night In I aud
lent. A number of lueinln rs who served
as generals and colonels m both the
Union and Confederate armies form a
cordon about the old man’s de k. Tin
Speaker is intent, lie lias laid aside
his gavel, for no one even whispers or
disturbs the good order of the House.—
All eyes are fixed upon the orator, and
yet the linden of his remarks was that,
he was not oniy opposed to the repeal of
the salary bill, but did riot believe the
representatives of the people were suf
ficiently paid for their services render
ed. That is all. His time is out. Gar
field and ivellogg, of Connecticut ask
that it be extended. Members press
closer about him and give undivided at
tention until he concludes his speeoh,
resuming his seat.
The Georgia P. ess.—We find the fol
lowing in the Hawkiusville Dispatch:
Our Odious State Constitution. —But
sow papers in Georgia oppose a Conven
tion of the people for the purpose of
changing the present Constitution, and
il the people of the (State were aware
how much bettor they could make it by
a few alterations, they would demand u
Convention at onoe. The present Con
stitution was thrust upon our people at
a time when they were under the power
of Federal bayonets, which fact was so
repugnant to their feelings us free citi
zens that thousands of them refused to
go to the polls and vote agauu^giaAßul
lock was running for Governor, Mid it is
to his party that we are indebted
for the ratification of the Constitution
and its odious provisions. The scala
wags and misrepresentatives who
were a-sembled in Atlanta in the
early part of 1808 had strong ap
prehensions that the people would
some day demand a change in their
legislation, and call for an alteration of
the Constitution. To place aH great an
obstacle as possible in the way of amend
ments to this instrument, they declared
that it should not be altered or amended
\ eicept by a vote of two-thirds of two
Legislatures elected successively. Thus
we are forced to submit to the operation
lof laws that cannot be amended or re
pealed unless by our representatives
elected on different occasions, or a di
rect action by the people to dispose of
the matter. If the present Legislature,
which convenes in the early part of Jan
uary, will submit the question to a vote,
we are satisfied the capital will be re
moved to Miliedgeville, where it right
fully belongs, and some very wliol.
and more important clmi g. will be
made in the present C.oi -titnii n, it
neV one be not entirely and.
“Jury,” said a We,-,tern .1 i.ige, “you
I kin go out and find .i verdict It ;, on
i can’t liud one of your owe, g ( -i Hie one
j tiie las' j .ry n~< and, ’1 n j ir.v v. fumed
; glee.
; A little boy ha been fairly driven
! N w--.
j tobu, .ui.oiig t, ■ >•- ol l; '
j .ire to 'be given enough fishing twine
j every year.
