Georgia Historic Newspapers

    \ERIES- VOL. LXHI
ERIES VOL. mVIII.
jjk TERMS.
THK D.ULT CHRONICLE k SESTINEL, the oldest
Dc-rspappr ln the S° olh > ** P'lblished daily, ei
c,, ! Monday. Term* : Per year, *lO ; .lx month.,
}," • thjx* months, |2 50.
THE TRI WEEKLYCBBOMOLEk SENTINEL i.
published every' Tuesday, Thnrud.y, sod Hxtur
dav. Term.: One year, *3 : .lx m nth*, *2 50.
q HE WEEKLY CHRONICLE A: SENTINEL i* pnb
i . very Wednanlay. Terra. : One year, *2;
.ix months, *l.
gJBsCHUTIONS in all cane, ln advance, and no
jiap-r c rationed aft r tue expiration of the time
paid for.
rates OF ADVERTISING in DAILY—AII tran
mirat advertisement, will be charged at the rate
of *1 pc-r square for each inaertlon for the first
w-' 2. Advertisement, in the Tri-Weekly, two
third. of the rate* in the Daily ; and in the
Weekly, one-half the Daily rate*. Marriage and
Funeral Notice., $1 *uh. Special Notice., $1 per
square for the first publication. Special rate
will be made for advertisement* Moiling for a
mouth or longer.
REMITTANCES should be made by Post Office
Money Order* or K*press. If thl. cannot be
done, protection again*! louse* by mail may be
* secured by forwarding a draft payable to the
Pr i rietor* of the CHBOwichE axto Heutiweu, or
by sending the money in a registered letter.
Address WALSH Ac WRIGHT,
CUBonlfl.. k Kkxtii.fi., Augusta, Oi
v£l)rcnu‘lc and .Srnfmel.
WEDNESDAY APRIL 29, 1874.
/
MINOR TOPICS.
Wendell Phillip* say* that a wife who can
took a gocxl iliuner will never bo without a
fashionable bonnet.
A Chinaman on trial in California for larceny
proved that he wasn't within half a rnilo of
the property when it wan taken, and they sent
him up for a tear for contempt of Court.
An lowa judge ham decided that it in more |
of a nin to Htcal a horno Ilian to elope with j
another man’* wife, became thero are 8,OIK),- I
000 women in the United .State* and only !
3,001,000 hornea.
A full grown rnoune, bottled in a four-ounce
vial, i* a curioMity at Lafayette, Ind. The
inoiiHC in MUppoHud to have crawled in when
quite Hinall and wan unable to get out again.
Probably the mongo ha* a name. If not, call it
Butler.
The P&riH correspondent of the Prraeoer
cinza report* a converMation which lie haw had
with M. Olivier, in the course of which M.
Olivier said that the restoration of the Na
poleoi.io dynanty i-i beyond doubt, and only a
question of time.
The Austrian IJiMhops have published a
memorandum, signed by thirty-two of their
number, in which they deny that, the State
lias the right of interfering in religious affair*,
and describe tho new ccclertiastical billrt an
tyranni al me&Htirea.
It may bo dangerouH to vinit a certain Now
York theatre. Last week thero was nightly
“a volcanic eruption of talent,” an *• over
whelming cataract of variety Htara,” and a
“inaob'torin of artistic attraction,”
The Boston TraoeUr Hays “ they let out con
vict* in Georgia for #ll a year, that i« to way,
tho convict’* labor i* wold for that price. Even
a lazy man could pick up sll worth of pinw a
year. In some other States, New York for in-
Htance, they lot out convictn for nothing.”
Five year* ago Colorado did not have a Mingle
foot of railroad track within her borders. In
that whort time many parts of tho howling
wilderness have been made to blossom a* the
rose, and more than seven hundred mile* of
railroad now extend their iron bands across
that Territory.
Nilsson iH conscious of her own personal
charm*. Itecently she met a young lady at tit©
Hub, who remarked : “Miss NHsmoii, lam de
lighted to have tho pleasure of Booing you; I
have boon tolil bo often by my frionilH that I
resemble you." Whereupon the winger scanned
her for a moment, and coolly replied, “I pro
per my own face.”
A rare event occurred at Austin, 111., a few
day* ago. It was a golden wedding, ami tho
fact that two people in tho land of easy di
vorce* had lived fifty years in wedded bliHs was
ho remarkable that tho townspeople gave the
singular couple an entertainment in the town
hall. There in no picture no full of shadow
that no ray of light can be found in it.
In Marysville, Cal., tho other day, a New
foundUud dog walked into a markot, dropped
a ten cent piece out of his mouth, and walked
off with a whole salmon. Tho butcher says
some folks may call that dog intelligent, but
he thinks that a dog that can't distinguish be
tween a ten cent slice and a fivo dollar fish,
hasn’t got even common senso.
Doublo-boilied people are getting plentiful
and will create social difficulties. Tho latest
wo hear of is Blanche Dumas, a beautiful girl
of fourteen years, who has been wont by Dr.
Jtalle to the l’aria Faculty of Medicine for ex
amination. She has a double body from tho
waist downwards, having only one head and
two arms. Bhe is very well, but she is not a
double-header.
Tho pair of Hhakspeare’s gloves which woro
presented to Garrick in 1764 wero bequeathed
bv Mrs. GarricK to Mrs. Shillong, who left them
to her daughter, by whom they wore given to
Mrs. Frances Anne Kemble. Mrs. Kemble has
now presented these glovos to Mr. Horace 11.
Furness, of Philadelphia, tho editor of tho
new Variorum edition of Khakspeare.
Tho Richmond Whig, of a recent date, says
"tho wheat crop generally throughout Virginia
ooks unusually well. It is too oafly to make
any calculation as to what may bo the yield at
harvest; tho fly and rust aro yet to bo encoun
tered. Nevertheless, there is much satisfac
tion in knowing that tho icy fingers of tho
wind have failed to destroy its vitality.”
Aii eccoutric genius lias sent m a potition to
the French National Assembly asking for tlio
passage of a law providing that every now
born child shall have its liatno and the date of
its birth tattooed on its arm. The objoct is to
facilitate Identification. The school teachers
are to perform this operation, and parents
neglecting to have their children thus tattooed
are to be punished by a heavy tine.
The Hartford Times Bays: “A good deal of
money was plastered over the Stato by the
distributors of the custom house fund for tho
Connecticut election. All sorts of prices were
paid ifiO being offered to SeptMirans as an
inducement not to vote tho Democratic ticket.
Those in other States who suppose, from tho
overwhelming defeat of tho Republican party
in Connecticut, that the latter did not work
hard in the late election make a great mistake."
At a sale of autographs in London, a love
letter of David Garrick brought £7 10s.: one of
Deloe’s letters £l2 11s.; a song of Robert
lturus, £l2; a page of correspondence in the
hand of Erasmus. £l6 10s.; a letter of Hogarth,
i £lB 10s.; one of Mozart, £l6 Ids.; one of
i Goethe’s letters. £22 10s. But Oliver Gold
’ smith overtopped them all. his letter to Sir
Joshua Reynolds describing his miseries on tho
* Continent having sold for £37 10s.
Canon pEnglish Sacred Artillery! Kingsley
boldly up in the presence of a WaMiing-
■ ton audience, which attended his lecture on
■the Norseman, and told a story of tho old bat
■ tie of Slicklesbad, and a wounded man who,
■ after the battle, drew an iron weapon from
§ his own heart. But on the iron was a barb,
r ou which bung flesh from the heart—some
red. some white. And when ho saw that lie
said : " The king has fed ns well: lam fat
even to the heart’s root.” And so leant back
and was dead. Nice story ; but. as Mr. Boffin
said of the remarkable stories which Silas
Wegg read him in ancient history, “ It’s a
scarer.”
The European papers continue to report very
■ favorable weather for the crops, and unless
present indications prove false, next year will
see a good harvest. We have as yet no esti*
mates as to the breadth of wheat, Ac., planted,
and although it will doubtless be of an average
. 6 5 tent, it must be remembered that scarcity
* and dearposs of seed aro important elements
in determmfng that point. The I’esth lM>yd,
in a review of the Hungarian wheat market,
states that even -iast year the seed rpmstiou
had au important bearing, and this season will
only witness an aggravation of the difficulty.
I The wheat exporting countries are also being
added to. notably Australia, which bids fair to
become our great rival, her exports to England
this season amounting to some 6,450,000
bushels.
In that fresh and excellent feature of Apple
ton's Journal, the melange of translations
from foreign magazines, we find an inteh;st
ing account taken from the Figaro of a visit to
the liaron WaUleck. who completed his one
hundredth at.d eighth year ou tho 16th of
March last. The old Baron saw the revolution
of 1798, Dautoc, Robespierre. Marat, the
thirsty guillotine, with the kuittiug women
around it; the rise of Napoleon, Louis the
Eighteenth, and the monarchy, and all the
changes since, including, of course, the Com
mune. M. Thiers. MacMahon, and the Septen
nant. He is naturally, from his experience,
•still hopeful of living to see further trans
formations. He began as a painter and has
ended as an archa-ologist. He now has a
manuscript ready for the printer on Western
Arclneology, which he commenced in his one
hundred and second year. Diderot, the cele
brated Paris bookseller, will issue it. and it is
in three volumes. Tho Barou is still in good
health, and is said to resemble one of Albrecht
Purer a Alchemists.
SOUTHERN NEWSPAPERS.
The Columbus Enquirer has intro
duced a novel feature into journalism.
In its last issue we find the words “ To
Let,” followed by a blank space, in sev
eral parts of the paper. In other words,
the proprietor of the Enquirer adver
tises about four columns of his paper
to let to the merchants of Columbus.
This indicates on the part of the busi
ness men of that city either a want of
appreciation of printer’s ink or a gen
eral stagnation of business. We judge,
however, that it is more of the former
than the latter. It is a well known fact
that Southern papers are not apprecia
ted as they should be, though it some
times happens that the fault is more at
tributable to the papers than the people.
The Chronicle and Sentinel has no
reason to complain of the business men
of Augusta, as the patronage extended
to it has been liberal. The Enquirer is
a good paper and deserves well of the
citizens of Columbus. It is evidently
too big for the pretensions of that city.
As an increase of reading matter would
not pay, a reduction of the surplus
space “to let” and an increase in the
rates of advertising would jirote remu
nerative to the proprietor.
The advertising rates of all Southern
papers are entirely too low. People
never appreciate anything that is sold
cheap. If you want a man or a woman
to think well of your goods, you must
never sell them at prices that will lead
peoplo to say: “ Well, they are too
cheap to be good;” or “that concern
must be weak or it could not afford to
sell its goods at such a sacrifice.” In
either caso disadvantage is worked to
legitimate business. Cheap goods and
panic prices are not appreciated in mer
cantile life. People are suspicious of
“Cheap Johns.” The same is applicable
to journalism. When editors and pro
prietors learn to properly appreciate the
value and usefulness of their advertising
space, the dear public will have a better
opinion of the benefits of advertising.
JURORS AND JURY DUTY.
They are troubled with tho profes
sional juror in Philadelphia as well as in
smaller cities. The North American
notices tho springing up in that city of
a class of men who “are willing to serve
upon juries for the same reason they
would marshal a procession or hurrah at
a meeting;” and of others agaiu “who
seek to bo summoned for tho petty pay
given, and the chance that some culprit
or defendant will try to strengthen his
defense by direct appeals and tangible
argument.” One of the worst signs of
the times is the persistence with which
a large proportion of the better class of
our citizens seek to avoid tho perform
ance of jury duty. Their success—and
so far they have been successful in all
the large cities of the State—has given
an opportunity to the professionals
which they have not failed to improve.
In this way tho administration of
justice has been confided to the hands
of men, who of all others, should not be
entrusted with the performance of such
au important and responsible duty.—
The system of exemption has been so
grossly abused that fully eight hundred
of the best citizens of Augusta aro not
required to do jury duty—and this in a
town where the whole number of quali
fied jurors does not exceed twelve or thir
teen hundred. The result has been that
Judge Gibson experiences great difficul
ty in organizing juries when the Superi
or Court meets, and tho few good citi
zens who have not received exemptions
find the service required of them ex
ceedingly onerous. The professionals
have become a necessity and the most
intricate questions of mercantile law
and commercial usage are tried not by
tho business men of the community but
by a class who have sought the position
for tho sake of the two dollars per diem
compensation. It is time that some
thing was done to abolish this whole
sale system of exemption. If one mili
tary company receives such a privilege
from the Legislature wo see no reason
why tho others should not bo privileged
also; but we do see a reason why no
such exemptions should bo granted. No
man should be taken as a t juror who
seeks the position and no good citi
zen should be allowed to shirk such a
responsible duty, except for the best of
reasons.
CREMATION.
In u recent, number of the Review
Scientificque the eminent scientist, Pro
fessor Brunette, gives tho details of the
apparatus which would be required for
the process of cremation, or, as the Pro
fessor terms it, incremation. From it
we obtdiu sotno interesting information
upon a topic which is daily becoming
more interesting. After having made
several experiments on the human sub
ject, in which the bodies were burned
in the retorts of gas manufactories in
closed receptacles, and with free access
of air, he first satisfied himself that the
complete and perfect performance of the
process would bo impossible under all
ordinary circumstances. Iu the first
place, there is required an oblong fur
nace of fire-proof bricks, having ten
holes below, by moans of which the in
tensity of the fire can be regulated.
The upper part of this should be liol
kiwed to receive the coffiu, and over this
a domed cover is to be placed, by which
the flames, as iu a reverbatory furnace,
may be directed upon the body. Within
the coffin is a metal support or table on
which the body rests, fixed by thick iron
wire. The operation embraces three pe
riods,the heatingof the body, thespouta
ous combustion, and finally the incine
ration of the soft parts, and the calcina
tion of the bones. During the first
period, and about half an hour after the
pile of wood in the furnace has been
lighted, thecombustion of the body com
mences. It gives off a large quantity of
gas, and the management of the rever
batory part of the furnace is of great im
portance. If tho wood has been well
arranged, two hours suffice to produce
complete carbonization. During the
third period, tho air holes being opened,
the carbonized mass is collected and
placed upon a fresh plate, and the heat
is now urged to the utmost, a fresh sup
ply of wood being inserted. By means of
this arrangement,at the expense of about
150 pounds of wood, complete increma
tion —that is to say, incremation of the
soft part and calunation of the bones —
may be effected in two honrs. When
the furnace has cooled the cinders and
bones are collected and deposited in a
funeral urn.
The Washington correspondent of the
St. Louis Republican states that a very
strong and well organized movement is
ou foot to bring about the immediate re
cognition of the independence of the Cu
ban Republic by the United States. It has
been quietly worked up iu the high Ad
ministration and Congressional circles
during the past few days. The scheme
will be sprung in Congress by the lead
ing Radical Congressmen. The reason
and necessity assigned for prompt and
immediate action is the alleged fact
that English agents are known to be ac
tively engaged in endeavors to affect the
acquisition by Great Britain of the island
of Cuba, and this agitation of the sub
ject at Washington has for its object the
circumvention of the English schemers.
HANDS OFF.
President Grant is consistent so far
in adhering to hi3 recently enunciated
policy of non-intervention in the inter
nal affairs of the ,Southern States. He
! has positively refused to take sides in
j the troubles in Arkansas. Brooks and
Baxter are to have a free and a fair
; fight, and the supporters of each are
rallying to the standard of their respect
ive chiefs. Baxter, who has been ex
| ercising the functions of the Guberna
torial office since 1872, is the leader of
the Radical host of carpet-baggers,
scalawaggers and negroes, and Brooks
is the leader of the respectabe people of
the State. It is admitted that Brooks
received a majority of the legal votes
for Governor of Arkansas, but, as the
Radicals had possession of tho State
since the days of reconstruction, he
was either counted out by fraud
or prevented by force from taking his
seat. Had the voice of the people as
expressed at the ballot box prevailed,
both Louisiana and Arkansas would
have been rescued from the baneful rule
of thieving adventurers and plundering
traitors. The partisans of Baxter hav
ing possession of the government of Ar
kansas at the t i me, the obstacles in the way
of his inauguration were not difficult to
overcome. It is possible that had there
been a necessity for it, some drunken
Judge of an United States Court would
have been found to play the part of
Durell. The cases are analogous, ex
cept as to the means'used to defeat the
popular will. In order to be entirely
consistent, President Grant should sus
tain the decision of tho Arkansas Judge
seating Brooks. The people of the
South have reason to be thankful at the
conclusion of the President not to inter
fere in the affairs of the Southern States.
Hands off on tho part of the Adminis
tration at Washington is a policy that
will be acceptable to the Southern
people. I’resident Grant would render
his administration popular, if the weight
and influence of Federal office holders
in the South were thrown in the scale in
favor of good government. The curse
of partisanship finds a fearful illustra
tion in tho States of Louisiana and
South Carolina, where Federal officials
have been forced to support a class of
men for office who were generally as
bankrupt in character as in pocket. If
the policy announced at Washington is
to be carried out in good faith, and the
ruling is to apply to the Administration
as well as to its army of office holders,
tho people of the South will accept it as
an earnest of a disposition, however
tardy on the part of President Grant, to
give the people an opportunity of over
throwing mongrel government in Ar
kansas, Louisiana and South Carolina.
TIIE LAST RESORT.
Tho South Carolina Ri*g—shameless
and abandoned as are its members—has
at last begun to quail beneath the indig
nation of the whole nation. They are
execrated for their villainies by both the
political parties of the country, and aro
justly regarded as the greatest criminals
of the ago. So long as this feeling was
confined to thecitizensof their own State
and of the South they cared nothing for
it. Their traducers were men whose disloy
alty to the Government, though crushed
upon the battle field, still manifested it
self, wherever the occasion offered, in an
unmistakable manner, and the Ring*rep
resented the loyal men of South Caro
lina banded together against the attacks
of tho rebels. So long as this impres
sion remained uneffaced it mattered lit
tle what rascality they were engaged in,
or how fully and completely their crimes
were exposed. But such a condition of
affairs could not last forever. The truth
gradually began to dawn upon the minds
of Northern Republicans. By degrees
they discovered what a monstrous system
of misgovernmeut they liad been shield
ing by their sympathy. Northern travel
ers who visited the State ascertained and
reported that the half had pot been told.
Republican newspapers in editorials and
correspondence informed their readers
that these charged of theft and corrup
tion wore not Democratic devices but
shameful realities. Then the awakening
came, and to-day the so-called Republi
can government of the State stinks in
the nostrils of every honest Republican
in the Union. Tho Ring has become a
by-word aud a reproach—a synonym of
shameless scoundrelism. If it were in
their power we believe that the masses
of the Republican party North would
gladly hurl the plunderers from place,
even if by so doiDg the State should
fall into the hands of the Democracy.
The Ring finds that a storm of indigna
tion has been aroused which can not be
easily quelled. Its members tremble
before the just resentment which their
crimes have excited, and they are seeking
to avert the consequences of their
deeds. Os course they use the stale
stock cries of “rebel” and “revolution.**
They have determined to play the old
game. “Tho saints are to be persecuted,
and we are the saints.” “Rebellion is
rampant and revolution inevitable.” “If
the North forsakes us we shall perish.”
Here is the programme. Says the Colum
bia Union, the leading Republican
journal of the State:
Threatening Revolution.
Gen. Kershaw, a member of the so
called tax payers’ committee, in address
ing the Judiciary Committee of Con
gress, is reported to have used these
significant words, “Tho Tax Payers’
Convention resolved, at its last session,
to submit to it no longer. There is no
other mode of redress left us but an ap
peal to force.”
That which ho said the so-called tax
payers resolved not to submit to any
longer was taxation imposed by a Re
publican administration. This, then, is
at least confessed to be the objective
point of the Grange movement in South
Carolina—resistance to taxation, when
those taxes are levied by Republicans—
for tlie Grangers are generally the so
called tax payers, and vice versa. We
knew it mouths ago, and have already
published it in these columns. Our
statements are now proven to be correct
by the testimony of Gen. Kershaw, one
of the representative men and spokes
men of the order, before the authorities
in Washington, that the whole move
ment in this State is a eonspiraev to
break down the Republican form of
State government by unlawful and
treasonable means.
The old cry of wolf will not answer the
Republican lambs this time. It has lost
its potency. The North will no longer
j believe in the injured innocents of South
■ Caroliua. 'They know that the tax
payers do not intend to resort to arms—
' though Heaven knows they have had
! ample provocation. Even if a little
force was attempted we believe there are
i many Northern Republicans who have
! been enlightened to such an extent of
I late concerning the South Carolina gov
ernment that they would not think of
i terming resistance to the Ring revolu
! tion any more than they would think of
calling the shooting of a highwayman
murder. _
The New York anti-inflationists are
puzzled to know what the President’s
reception of their delegation Friday
! meant. We hardly think that any one
! else is puzzled by it or is at a loss to
discover its signification. It means that
General Grant, acting in conformity
with the utterances of his first inau
gural, will veto no public law passed by
Congress. He has no will but the will
of the people, and a Congressional ma
jority constitutes the people.
AUGUSTA, GA., WEDNESDAY MORNING, APRIL 29, 1874.
JOURNALISTIC.
; In the Atlanta Herald, of Sunday, we
: find a card from Col. J. R. Sneed, an
nouncing his withdrawal from the Her
j aid for reasons entirely of a private na
-1 tnre, which in nowise concern the pnb
i lie. Accompanying the card from Col.
I Sneed is one from Messrs. Alston &
Grady, stating that, not Keing able to
employ editors, they have determined to
do their own writing. Col. Sneed is a
vigorous writer and an experienced edi
tor, and we regret the cause which ne
cessitates his withdrawal. Messrs. -Alston
<fc Grady are competent, however, to do
their own writing. Since they have de
termined to do it, the Herald will not
lose its prestige in the front rank of
Southern journalism.
TUE SOUTH CAROLINA COMMUNE.
Tho Washington Republican com
plains that the property holders of
South Carolina favor monarchical gov
ernment. It is stated that at a recent
tax payers’ meeting in Charleston, some
of the speakers expressed the wish that
the day might como when this country
would be ruled “as an independent
people, under a monarch of their own
choosing.”
This preference for monarchical gov
ernment is seized upon as a pretext for
sustaining the mongrel ring in power in
that State. Tho people of South
Carolina would uo doubt prefer
a monarchy or a military gov
ernment, rather than longer sub
mit to the organized band of robbers
who have had control of the State for
the last four years. Every citizen of
intelligence and respectability is ostra
cised. The State is in the hands of an
ignorant and corrupt ring, whose sole
purpose is plunder. Under the circum
stances they are right in perferring a
monarchy to a commune. The injus
tice, rapacity and hate of the Radical
party have made South Carolina a com
mune, and the honest and respectable
people would gladly embrace any form
of government that might afford them
relief. Misrule aud spoliation have
made them desperate.
THE PARTY OF CORRUPTION.
The Boston Globe is a Republican
journal, but it appears to entertain a
lively appreciation of the results of Re
publican rule, since it calls this country
the “El Dorado of scoundrelism.” The
Chicago Tribune did as much as any
journal in the country to bring tho Re
publican party into existence, and to
give it tho power it is now abusing, but
it must have repented of its folly. In
its issue of the 14th inst. that journal
says:
It is just coming to bo understood
what a task this Congress assumed
when it undertook to gaugo the corrup
tion of the present Administration. The
session up to this time has been almost
entirely consumed in providing for aud
making investigations, and in fixing the
salaries and perquisites of members.—
Not one of the great questions which
most deeply concern the country, such
as the derangement of the finances, the
revision of the customs law, the pro
vision of relief for the farmers, lias been
definitely passed upon. The time of
members is, to a great extont, taken np
in the sessions of investigating commit
tees. Os these, eleven are already sit
ting, and it is proposed to order a
twelfth for the benefit of the Post Office
Department. Quite a scene took place
in tlio House yesterday when the matter
was brought forward. The California
members especially seemed to know of
mysterious operations in th letting of
mail contracts, and, from the innueffv
does thrown out, it is a fair supposition
that the Central Pacific Company has
managed to secure some very astonish
ing contracts by the “routine” process.
TROUBLE IN THE CAMP.
Each succeeding day furnishes fresh
evidence of troubles in the Republican
camp—troubles which may soon become
irreconcilable, and which may result in
the disintegration of the party which
has managed the affairs of the country
for tl c last thirteen years. The leaders
have quarreled and refuse to labor
longer together, while the great party
journals are notoriously and decidedly
mutinous. The national organ—the
New York Times— has been sadly out of
tune for some months past, and the Ad
ministration is said to contemplate the
establishment of anew and more sub
servient Republican journal in the com
mercial metropolis. Harper's IJ Weekly
has openly mutinied and is firing hot
shot into the ranks of the dominant fac
tion of “the party.” The nomination of
Williams was the entering wedge, but
other causes of dissatisfaction have
been rapidly afforded the malcontents.
The virtual surrender of Massachusetts
into the hands of General Butler by
the appointment of Simmons to the Bos
ton Custom House, the exposure of the
Jatne-Sanbobn frauds, the condition of
affairs in South Carolina and Louisiana,
the long and bitter discussion of tho
currency question, the disastrous
results of the recent elections in
New Hampshire and Connecticut,
have opened the breach wider and
wider, until there seems to be a
probability that the chasm will
grow so broad and deep that
it cannot bo bridged. The financial
issues seem to have caused the greatest
and most enduring disaffection. The
hard money Republicans of the North
and East do not hesitate to assert that
they will support no man for office who
has favored inflation, which they call by
such harsh names as repudiation and
robbery. The full force of such a de
claration is understood when it is re
membered that among the advocates of
inflation are such men as Morton and
Logan, and that a large majority of the
Republican Senators voted for the Bill
now before the President. If New Eng
land and the Northern States adhere to
their determination we will have pre
sented the extraordinary spectacle of
onc-half of a political faction reading
the other half oat of the party. An
other and most significant symptom of
the state of affairs in the enemy’s camp
is the ill-concealed complacency with
which the opponents of the Administra
tion regard the defeats sustained by the
Republican arms in New Hampshire,
Connecticut and the West. During the
contests they manifested but little inter
est in the result, and they comment
upon the disaster in such a way as to
leave no room to doubt their real feel
ings. They say that the success of the
Democracy is not due to the strength
or activity of that party, but to the luke
warmness and disaffection of the Re
publicans. The party had two heavy a
burden forced upon them, and they re
fused to put it upon their shoulders.
Their success would have been regard
ed as an endorsement of Butlebism
and of Jayne and Sanboenism and
victory was not greatly desired upon
such terms. When luke warmness like
this, amounting to political treachery,
receives approval, it is an evidence of
demoralization and disintegration which
surely foreshadows approaching and
overwhelming defeat. Os course the
Radicals say that however much dissatis
fied they may be with their own leaders,
they will never think of deserting to
the Democracy; that if the worst
comes they will hoist the standard of a
new organization, which will preserve
the purity and achieve the triumphs of
the old Republican party. But we
think they will find that when a politi
cal defeat commences it can not bear-
| rested half way—it is generally dis
j astrous and complete. Upon the other
hand, as soon as the other side begins to
win success, its power is daily and
hourly augmented until it becomes ir
resistible. We venture the prediction
; that the States conquered this Spring
1 will never be regained. Unless some un
looked for, and certainly very difficult,
step be taken to harmonize the party,
the prospect seems good for more than
one Republican candidate in 1876. Our
opponents seem determined to repeat
the programme of the Democracy in 1860.
While they imitate onr folly let us learn
something from their wisdom.
TAXING PERSONAL PROPERTY.
The telegraph reported a few days
since a decision of the United States
Supreme Court as to where that kind of
personal property,, called incorporeal
■shall be taxed. The case was that of
Tapp.an, Collector of Taxes of Chicago,
vs. the Merchants’ National Bank of
that city. Under the law, the Collector
demanded of the bank the taxes due
from its shareholders, on their shares,
in a lump ; the bank refused, on
ground that shares of non-residents were
not taxable in Chicago. Tho Circuit
Court decided in favor of the bank ;
but the Collector carried the ease to the
Supreme Court, and that tribunal re
verses the decision of tiro Court below,
and decides in favor of the Collector,
declaring that the law may separate
shares of stock in a corporation from
the owner for purposes of taxation.
Commenting on this decision, tho St.
Louis Republican says :
The case frequently arises under tax
laws, and possesses a general interest.
Under the common law, personal prop
erty or personally, as it is technically
called, followed tlie person of its owner,
and was taxable in the place of his resi
dence. But that immense class of per
sonal property, tho product of modern
civilization, known as stocks and shares
in corporate companies, was scarcely
known to the common law. It is in its
nature intangible and incorporeal; a
bundle of certificates representing thou
sands and even millions of dollars may
be hidden in a pocket of the owner, and
thus be beyond the reach of a collector.
The only method of reaching it is by ap
plication to the corporation itself, at its
office. The office of the corporation may
be in Illinois, and the shareholder in
New York ; the Illinois collector cannot
reach tho shareholder in New York, but
he can reach the company iu Chica
go, and this the final decision allows
him to do. Under it the right to tax a
citizen of Now York on bank or other
stock in a corporation located in Illinois
may be exercised by the State of Illi
nois; the bank earns its profits in the
latter State and is protected by its laws;
end for purposes of taxation the law
nay separate the property and the own
er, and tax the former without regard to
the situs of the latter. The decision iu
manifestly just. It, however, still leaves
undecided the question whether the
State in which the holder resides may
or may not tax him again on the same
shares.
THE ARKANSAS MUDDLE.
Mail advices from Arkansas throw
some light on the present condition of
affairs in that State. Matters have be
come badly mixed. Baxter was nomi
nated and oounted into office by the ex
treme Radicals. Brooks, his contes
tant, was the nominee of the Liberals
and Democrats, and it is believed that
he received a majority of the legal votes
for Governor, but was counted out. To
use an expression more foreiblo than
elegant, Baxter went right square back
on liis party after his inauguration, and
it is said has discharged the duties of
liis office in a manner to elicit tho sup
port of all honest men in the State. The
Radical ring expected that Baxter
would be a tool in their hands to sub
serve their purposes, but it now appears
that he has disappointed their expecta
tions, and proven himself to be a man
of firmness and of integrity. Brooks,
the Liberal Republican, who received
the Democratic support for Governor,
has fallen into the hands of the extreme
Radicals. Failing to make use of Bax
ter, they seek revenge in liis downfall.
The Memphis Appeal says of the pend
ing trouble in Arkansas:
It is needless to say this unexpected
movement will, for the time being, in
terfere to prevent the consummation of
the plans of the Conservatives and
Democrats, who relied upon Governor
Baxter for a fair registration and elec
tion next Fall. If not prevented, and
we do not see how, on account of the
trade between Brooks and the Supreme
Court, it can be, the Radicals will re
ceive through this movement anew lease
of power in Arkansas.
The Washington correspondent of the
Louisville Courier-Journal telegraphs
the following:
Tlie fraud, trickery, and violence, by
which Brooks obtained possession of
the Executive office of Arkansas, has
created a marked sens-ition here. Gov.
Baxter’s right was affirmed by the Su
preme Court of tho State; but he has
been fair and liberal to the Democrats,
and the Radical Congressmen there
fore, headed by Clayton, are warmly sup
porting Brooks, with, perhaps, a single
exception. The President’s, or rather
the Attorney-General’s decision remits
Governor Baxter to the slow process of
an appeal to the Supremo Court, though
that body has ever decided the question
in Baxter’s favor. This is the reverse
of the President’s position in the case
of Louisiana, where the President relied
on the decision of the State Supreme
Court. Senator Clayton, who last ses
sion upheld the title of Baxter, now
insists that Brooks shall be the Govern
or. It is supposed here that there is an
understanding between Brooks and the
friends of the President that Brooks
will so manage the next election as to
perpetuate Republican ascendancy, no
matter how the State may go in the
election.
This does not represent the non-inter
ference policy of the President in so
creditable a light. However, the South
ern people would prefer to have tlie
Federal Administration attend strictly
to affairs within its jurisdiction, and
leave the Southern States free to be
managed anti controlled by their own
citizens. If the President is firm in his
determination not to interfere hereafter
in our domestic polity, the Southern
people will thank him for it. The New
York Tribune touches up this new de
parture after this fashion:
The policy of non-interference in local
affairs is anew one with General Grant’s
administration. It is not long since the
regulation of State elections, the com
position of State tickets, the manage
ment of ward caucuses, nay, on great
emergency, even the upsetting of State
governments and the installation of
usurping Legislatures, were thought to
be legitimate duties of the President’s
office. The chief aim of popular gov
ernment, according to theories which
recently prevailed at Washington, was
to preserve the party organization, and
the chosen instrument in this great work
was of course the President of the United
States. For this the patronage was in
trusted in his hands. For this he had
consulships, and post offices, and for
eign missions, and collectorships to give
away. For this he had a compact little
armv in the troublesome States, and an
Attorney-General to set the troops in
motion when the disorders of party
politics demanded heroic remedies.
When the supremacy of the party was
endangered in Louisiana, General Grant
did not talk to the rival claimants about
the State Courts. He made his choice
at once between the two candidates, and
stuck to his favorite bravely through
thick and thin. Mr. Kellogg got all
the troops he wanted ; and having the
troops, he cauld set up a Judge of his
own, whose astonishing orders were
promptly and emphatically ratified at
the Federal capital. Mr. Kellogg had
a much fainter pretense of being elected
than Mr. Baxter could show in Arkan
sas, and yet General Grant took him
bodilj, lifted him into the Executive
chair,* and kept him there in spite of all
resistance.
It is the most natural thing in the
world that other claimants, finding
themselves in the predicament of Mr.
Kellogg, should ask for similar moral
countenance aud physical assistance. It
was only to be expected, when the Presi
dent began the practice of Federal in
terference, that all the disturbed States,
where the carpet-bagger still rules as a
sort of brummagem pro-consul by favor
of the Administration, should look to
Washington for the settlement of their
local controversies, and that neither the
vc-rdict of the people nor the decisions
of the courts of law should be accepted
as conclusive on any issue that involved
partisan politics. In Louisiana, in Ar
kansas and elsewhere we have conse
quently found people who pretend to
believe in free government abandoning
all faith in the law and the ballot, cast
lng themselves down at the steps of the
White House, and calling to the Presi
dent, “Come and rule over ns.”
General Grant has discovered that
the interference policy has its disadvan
tages. Kellogg is a load under which
he lias staggered terribly, and it is a
load of which he cannot rid himself.
He will be slow to take np another bur
den of the same sort—especially when
there is no very decided partisan advan
tage to be gained by it. Bnt we need
not quarrel with bis motives. Whether
he refuses to interfere beeanse it is
wrong, or because it is not worth while,
is of little consequence. He has resolv
ed to keep his hands off the Arkansas
Governorship and mind his own busi
ness; and that is a great reform in Fede
ral politics, for which we thank him.
VETO OF THE CURRENCY BILL.
The President has vetoed the currency
bill which fixed the maximum amount of
United States notes at $400,000,000, and
National Bank bills at $400,000,000.
The pressure from the monied centers—•
from New York, Boston aud Philadel
phia-proved more potent with Presi
dent Grant than his meaningless phrase
about his having no policy to urge
against tho will of the people as ex
pressed by the majority of Congress.
The President intended at first to ap
prove the currency bill, and if the truth
were known it would establish the fact
that the veto was not so much the re
sult of conviction as of a vacilating and
time serving policy to accommodate the
monied interests of the North. We do
not mean to say that the President was
bribed, but wo do mean to say that his
backbone weakened, and that lie was
absolutely frightened by the monied
interests of New England and the Mid
dle States into a veto of the currencv
bill.
MESSRS. STEPHENS AND HILL.
We publish this morning Mr.
Stephens letter in reply to Mr. Hill’s
address before the “Atlanta Auxiliary
Southern Historical Society,” together
with Mr. Hill’s reply. This controversy
may properly be denominated a war
between intellectual giants. However
much they may indulge in crimination
aud recrimination, the public at large
acknowledge their intellectual superiori
ty- In point of ability there are no two
men in tho South to-day who surpass
them. For ourselves, wo deplore the
temper exhibited in the controversy, and
regret that both gentlemen should have
found it necessary for their vindica
tion to have indulged in such
violent personal invective against each
other. Thero is plenty of room in Geor
gia for Mr. Hill and Mr. Stephens.
It would be easy for them to use then
great talents in a cause more conducive
to the interests of society and the peace
and well-being of their native State.
When such distinguished gentlemen in
dulge in languago more becoming the
purlieus of disreputable resorts than
the forum of legitimate discussion, they
are setting a bad example to tho people
who look to ‘ them as their intellectual
superiors for good examples. It is to
us a source of regret that the controversy
at the very outset should have degene
rated into violent personal abuse coupled
with charges of a want of veracity on
both sides. The interests of tho State
will never be subserved by such undigni
fied controversies, nor will the truth of
history be vindicated.
OFFICIAL CORRUPTION,
One of the most deplorable signs of
the degeneracy of the times in which we
live is to be found in the fact that men
occupying the highest official station
use their influence with the Government
to secure contracts and jobs for parties
who divide tho profits or the spoils with
the patronizing official. The disclosures
of this disgraceful jobbery are a scandal
and a shame to the American name.
Even the President himself and the
members of his Cabinet, Senators and
Representatives, are mixed up in this
profitable, but shameful business. The
Sanborn swindles are the most outrage
ous upon record. Here is a man who
enjoys an exclusive monopoly as a de
tective and informer from the Govern
ment. He has his friends in the Cabi
net, in Congress, in the Treasury and*
other departments of the Government,
who furnish him with information to
rob the people. The legitimate infer
ence is that Sanborn makes a fair di
vision of the plunder among his co-con
spirators who are the servants of the
people.
The testimony of a Mr. Odell,
Treasurer of the Delaware, Lackawaua
and Western Railway Company is very
damaging to Mr. Richardson, Secretary
of the Treasury. In consequence of a
misunderstanding between Commission
er Pleasanton and the railway company
of which Mr. Odell' is Treasurer, rela
tive to the per centage of income which
the company was required to pay into
the United States Treasury,the payment
of the tax was withheld until a decision
of the points involved could be obtain
ed. The decision was adverse to the
company and Mr. Odell gave the com
pany’s check for the full amount claim
ed—§9o,sßs. He further testifies that
this man Sanborn had nothing whatever
to do with the matter, nor was he known
in the transaction.
Mr. Odell was, therefore, surprised
when he afterwards learned from official
sources, that §49,792 of the amount
he had paid in had g&ne into
the pockets of Sanborn as his
share for collecting it ! Here follows
the most damaging portion of Mr.
Odell’s testimony, that which shows
that Sanborn has his spies in the Treas
ury Department, andtvhich is most inju
rious to the reputation of Secretary
Richardson. Odell mailed his check
direct to the Secretary of the Treasury
on the 6th day of January, and a letter
from Sanborn dated January Bth, only
two days later, was produced and shown
to him, in which he (Sanborn) stated
the exact number, date and amount of
Odell’s check. The letter was address
ed to the Secretary of the Treasury, and
the purport of it was that he (Sanborn)
had collected the check—a statement
which Odell knew to be because
lie had himself sent ’the check for §99,-
585 direct to Secretary Richardson
’ without Sanbobn’s knowledge.
This showing is a very bad one for Mr.
Secretary Richardson. The impression
is that Mr. Richardson, on receiving
Odell’s check, had passed it over to
Sanborn, who wrote a letter in which he
claimed to have collected the amount
due the Government by the Delaware,
Lackawana and Western Railway Com
pany, whereupon he received from Sec
retary Richardson half the amount call
ed for by the check, to-wit, §49,792.
When it is remembered that Sanborn
was in no way connected with this case,
either directly or indirectly, until the
| money was covered into the Treasury
| when he set np a claim for half of it, the
; corruption and rapacity of government
I officials become alarming. Possibly
j Secretary Richardson may be guiltless
of complicity in the Sanborn fraud, but
the whole transaction is highly dis
\ creditable to the department over which
he presides. The Secretary should be
held responsible for the acts of his
underlings, and this Sanborn swindle is
one of the most disgraceful of public
thefts ever committed under the guise
of authority.
Public morality is a thing of the past,
and official integrity is as rare as decency
and good breeding among high officials
at the Federal Capital. Washington
city affords a fine opportunity for the
advocacy of temperance and the inculca
tion of morality and other Christian
virtues. It is folly to send missionaries to
heathean lands, when there is such an
inviting field at home where reformation
would do the most good. In this ease
charity should begin at Washington.
It needs conversion.
LETTER FROM COLUMBIA.
Prostrate Condition of tho State—The
Ring of Thieves aud Plunderers—
Helpless Condition of the People—
The Rascally Officials Riot iu Afflu
ence.
Columbia, S. C., April 21, 1874.
7b the Editors of the Chronicle and
Sentinel:
It is but little wonder why the ma
terial interests of this State should not
be in a better condition than they are at
present. On every side one sees the
honest tax payer striving with all his
energies anil resources to restore his
losses and build himself up again; yet
on every side he is met by a hungry
horde of Radicals who go within aud
from out the : leprous State House, from
and to every corner of this once proud
Commonwealth, sucking the life’s blood
of the State and devouring like ravenous
wolves the tlesli and bones of this poor
down-troddeu people. Tell any Radi
cal of any degree, from the constable to
the Controller-General or Governor, the
wrongs heaped upon you by this bastard
ring and bloated power, and you are
hounded down to bankruptcy. Is it any
wonder, then, why so little expressions
of dissatisfaction are heard ?
The extravagance of this nefarious
State government can be partially ac
counted for. Every job or contract,
every employee or attache, every salaried
officer almost, from the highest to the
lowest, is promised or allowed by Radi
cal law or Radical contract, more of
course than their supposed services are
worth. Thero is rarely ever any.money
in the State exchequer to liquidate such
claims; yet outside capitnlistsaire willing
to trust to the honor and solvency of the
State, provided a liberal margin be al
lowed ; then some day, before dooms-day
certain, all such negotiable paper may
be found properly filed itnd cancelled
among the archives of the State’s trust
ed servants, to show where tho hard
earned taxes went.
Then again the good Legislature must
of necessity be in session each year
during the collection of taxes, and so
long as a dollar is supposed to lie in the
Treasury, the members remained perch
ed like ravens around the sombre por
tals of the reconstructed State House of
South Carolina. Along during dull
times, -when cash gets a little scarce,
State officers, from the highest to the
lowest, must of course live and keep up ap
pearances; and as their bank accounts be
come in a nervous condition, means must
be resorted to for recuperation’s sake !
Then appointees and dependants through
the different counties are sent for, from
whom loans or hush money are extracted,
or woe be unto them. Os course “our
native young Governor,” who lives so
much like a hermit, fares so frugally
and economically, never resorts to such
low devices. Oh, no; not him ! he is
too chaste, too modest and too honest
for stiih tricks !
Moses, being a politician of the first
water, possessing any quantity of cun
ning, fully capable of overseeing the
negro, especially the sub-leaders of the
“party,” might be the next Governor,
but the knowing ones, the leaders, will
not have him, because he costs too much ;
he wants all! He ne\er learned but lit
tle of division, and this rule is about all
he wants to perpetuate his reign.
The honest exertions of South Caro
lina’s best citizens will be met and
thwarted at every step toward progress
and good government by the Radical
ring, but our trusted and tried friends
must not let such scum continue to overrun
and overrule us. There is a quiet, solemn
determination among the people to work
and work hard for a better government,
less robbery and corruption, than we
have had since the so-called era of re
construction.
I will spend a few days here, but be
fore I take my departure will write to
you again—upon the airy, luxuriant,
jolly, turnouts of this State’s officials,
whose salaries range from five to thirty
five hundred dollars per annum. Your
correspondent thinks they “air” them
selves freely and should be freely aired
by the press for the good of posterity.
Carolinian.
VICTOR HUGO STURM.
[From the Louisville Courier-Journal.]
Notwithstanding the threat of a libel
suit we propose to give the public the
benefit of a few facts in relation to this
fellow Sturm we happen to be in pos
session of. Victor Hugo Sturm is the
son of a well-known physician living a
few miles below Cincinnati. There he
married, his wife bringing to him quite
a handsome little fortune. He has suc
ceeded in spending nearly all of it, the
last piece of property his wife owned
having been mortgaged to raise him
33,000, with which to engage in business
in Knoxville, Tennessee. Not succeed
ing, after his means were spent he en
gaged with Barkhouse & Bros, as a
traveling agent, removing most of his
family here, where they remained the
larger portion of the time since, and un
til recently, boarding for the last sev
eral months at the National Hotel,
where Sturm secured quarters for them.
About the first of November Mrs. Sturm
received a letter from her husband,
dated at Macon, Georgia, of which the
following is a copy:
“Macon, Ga., October 29, 1873.
“My Dear Wife— Yours to hand, and
with pleasure I was indeed glad to hear
from you—also to know that my little
ones are all well. I hope they will re
main so. I am quite busy arranging
matters here at the Fair. I have not
seen Maggie, and suppose I will not see
her unless Igo over to Fort Valley, un
less she comes to the Fair here. Mary,
I assure you I am tired of this traveling
life, and am going to quit on next Jan
uary sure. I must and will be more
with you and my babies.
“Please write me in care of Exchange
Hotel. Richmond, Va.
“With much love and many kisses to
you and the babies, I am, as ever, your
“Victor.”
Instead of coming to see and be with
her, as promised, Mrs. Sturm, a few
weeks after this, was handed a letter
from him stating that he did not intend
to live with her longer, asking her to se
cure a divorce, and offering her induce
ments if she would do so. He had di
vorce papers ready for application at
Knoxville, and to make its procurement
more easy he confessed to having lived
in adultery with a negro woman at that
place. Mrs. Sturm took the advice of
counsel and declined to apply for a
divorce. He then called to see her and
threatened her life if she refused to sign
the papers he wished, drawing* at the
moment a long and sharp bladed knife
from his pocket. He had on a previous
occasion, as we have authority for say
ing, forced her, by presenting a pistol
at her head, to give him 8525, the pro
ceeds of the sale of a piano presented to
her by her father, and similar threats
and acts of violence were not unfre
quent. Failing in procuring her con
sent for a divorce, he has probably se
cured one secretly, which of course is
invalid, and renders hi» liable to pun
ishment for the crime of bigamy. The
husband of Mrs. Castlen, whom he mar
ried, it is stated died suddenly only
some three months ago, and it is not
surprising that the affair is now the
chief topic of discussion in Macon
circles. Sturm is a Mason, aud the Ma
sonic fraternity, having had some inti
mations of his misconduct, have been
making investigations, and, we presume,
will thoroughly probe the matter.
The destruction of the Columbian
Flouring Mills, at Richmond, involve
8500,009, including machinery, flour and
grain.
NO INFLATION.
GRANT VETOES THE FINANCE
BILL.
He Gives His Reasons in Full For His
Action.
Washington, April 22. —The Presi
dent vetoed tho finance bill, saying he
was disposed at first to give great
weight to the argument, that there was
an unequal distribution of national cur
rency, but thought differently upon con
sidering the fact that 4,000,000 of such
currency still remained in the Treasury
subject to the demand of sections desir
ing it. He adds the fact cannot bo con
cealed, that the bill increases the paper
circulation of tho country one hundred
million dollars. The theory in his be
lief is a departure from the true princi
ples of finance and its approval would
be a departure from every message sent
by him to Congress.
Tho following is the President’s veto
message :
To the Senate of the United States :
Herewith I return to the Seuato the
bill 617, entitled “An act to fix the
amount of IT. S. notes and the circu
lation of National Banks, and for other
purposes,” without my approval. In
doing so I must express my regret at
not being able to give my assent to a
measure which has received the sanction
of a majority of the legislators chosen
by the people to make laws for their
guidance, and I have studiously sought
to find sufficient arguments to justify
such assent, but unsuccessfully. Prac
tically it is a question whether the meas
ure under discussion would give an ad
ditional dollar to the irredeemable pa
per currency of the country or hot, and
whether by requiring three-fourths of
the resources to be retained by the
banks, and prohibiting interest to be re
ceived on the balance, it might not prove a
contmction, but the fact cannot bo con
cealed that theoretically the bill increases
the paper circulation one hundred million
dollars, less only the amount of reserve
restrained from circulation by the pro
vision of the second section. The
measure has been supported in the
theory that it would give increased cir
culation. It is a fair inference, there
fore, that if in practice the measure
should fail to create the abundance of
circulation expected of it the friends of
the measure, particularly those out of
Congress, would clamor for such infla
tion as would give the expected relief.
The theory, in my belief, is a departure
from true principles of finance, national
interest, national obligations to cred
itors, Congressional promises, party
pledges on the part of both political
parties, and of personal views and
promises by me in every annual message
sent to Congress and in each inaugural
address. In my annual message in De
cember, 1869, the following passages
appear : “Among the evils grow
ing out of the rebellion and not
yet referred to is that of an
irredeemable currency. It is an evil
which I hope will receive your most
earnest attention. It is a duty, and one
of the highest duties, of Government
to secure to the citizen a medium of ex
change of fixed, unvarying value. This
implies a return to a specie basis, and
no substitute for it can bo devised. It
should be commenced now, and reached
at the earliest practicable moment, con
sistent with a fair regard to the interest
of the debtor class. Immediate resump
tion, if practicable, would not be de
sirable. It would compel the debtor
class to pay beyond their contracts the
premium on gold at the date of their
purchase, and would bring bankruptcy
‘and ruin to thousands. Fluctuations,
however, in the proper value of the
measure of all value—gold—is detri
mental to the interests of trade. It
makes the man of business an in
voluntary gambler, for in all sales
where future payment is to be made
both parties speculate as to what will
be the value of the currency to be paid
and received. I earnestly recommend
to you, then, such legislation as will in
sure a gradual return to specie payments,
and put an immediate stop to fluctua
tion in the value of currency.” I still
adhere to the views then expressed. As
early as December 4, 1865, the House of
Representatives passed a resolution, bv
a vote of 144 yeas to 6 nays, concurring
in the views of the Secretary of the
Treasury in relation to the necessity of
a contraction of the currency, with a
view to as early a resumption of specie
payments as tire business interests of
the country will permit, and pledging
co-operative action to this end as speedi
ly as possible. The first act passed by
the Forty-first Congress, on the 18th
day of March, 1869, was as follows:
An act to strengthen the public credit
of the United States.
lie it enacted, etc., That in order
to remove any doubt as to the
purpose of the Government to
discharge all its obligations to the pub
lic creditors, and to settle conflicting
questions and interpretations of the law
by virtue of which such obligations
have been contracted, it is hereby pro
vided and declared that the faith of the
United States is solemnly pledged to the
payment in coin or its equivalent of all
the obligations of the United States and
of all the interest bearing obligations,
except in case where the law authoriz
ing the issue of any such obligation has
expressly provided that the same may
be paid in lawful money or in other cur
rency than gold and silver, but none of
the said interest bearing obligations not
already due, shall be redeemed or paid
before maturity, unless at such times as
the United States notes shall be conver
tible into coin at the option of the
holder, or unless at such time bonds of
the United States bearing a lower rate of
interest than the bonds to be redeemed
can be sold at par in coin, and the United
States also solemnly pledges its faith
to make provision at the earliest practi
cable period for tho redemption of the
United States notes in coin.”
This act still remains as a continuing
pledge of the faith of the United States
to make provision at the earliest practi
cable moment for tho redemption of the
United States notes in coin. A declara
tion contained in the act of June 30] 1864,
created an obligation that the total
amount of United States notes issued or
to be issued, should never exceed four
hundred millions of dollars. The
amount in actual circulation was ac
tually reduced to three hundred and
fifty-six millions of dollars, at which
point Congress passed the act of Februa
ry 4, 1868, suspending the further re
duStion of the currency. The forty-four
millions have ever been regarded as a
reserve to be used oidy in case of
emergency, such as has occurred
on several occasions, and must
occur when from any cause reve
nues suddenly fall below expeditures
and such a reserve is necessary, because
the fractional currency, amounting to
fifty millions, is redeemable in legal
tender on call. It may be said that such
a return of fractional currency for re
demption is impossible, but let steps bo
taken for a return to a specie basis, and
it will be found that silver will take the
place of fractional currency as rapidly
as it can be supplied. When the pre
mium in gold reaches a sufficiently low
point with the amount of United States
notes to be issued permanently fixed
within proper limits, and the Treasury
so strengthened as to be able to redeem
them in coin on demand, it will then be
safe to inaugurate a system of free
banking, with such provisions as to make
oompnlsory redemption of the circulat
ing notes of the banks in coin or in
United States notes themselves re
deemable and made equivalent to coin.
Asa measure preparatory to free bank
ing or for placing the Government in a
condition to redeem its notes in
coin, at the earliest practicable moment,
the revenues of the country should bo
increased, so as to pay current expenses,
provide for the sinking fund required
by law, and also a surplus to be retained
in the Treasury in gold. lam not a be
liever in any artificial method of making
paper money equal to coin when the
‘coin is not owned or held ready to re
deem the promises to pay, for paper
money is nothing more than promises to
pay. It is valuable exactly in propor
tion to the amount of coin that it can be
converted into. While coin is not used
&s a circulating medium, or the currency
of the country is not convertible into it
at par it becomes an article of com
merce as much as any other product.
The surplus will seek a foreign market,
as will any other surplus. The balance
of trade has nothing to do with the
question. Duties on imports being re
quired in coin creates a limited demand
for gold. About enough to satisfy that de
mand remains in the country. To increase
this supply I see no way open but by the
Government hoarding the means above
given, and possibly requiring the Na
tional Banks to aid. It is claimed by
the advocates of the measure herewith
returned that there is an unequal distri
bution of the banking capital of the
country. I was disposed to give great
weight to this view of tho question at
NUMBER 17.
first, but on reflection it will bo remem
bered that there still remains 34,000,000
of authorized bank notes in circulation
assigned to States having less than their
quota not yet taken. 111 addition to
this, the States having less than their
quota of bank circulation have tho
option of $25,000,000 more to bo taken
from those States having more than
their proportion. When thus is all
taken up or when specie payments aro
fully restored, or in rapid process of
restoration will be the lime to consider
the question of “more currency.”
U. S. Grant,
Executive Mansion, April 22, 1874.
New York, April 22.—Although the
news of the veto by President Grant, of
the currency bill, had not become gener
ally known at the close of banking hours,
the information had spread with suf
ficient rapidity to cause some excitement
and conversation at street corners, on
the subject. The prevailing tone was
one of joy at the result of tho Presi
dent’s deliberation. Tho feeling in
spired was generally a hopeful one for
the future. At the close of business at
tho Stock Exchange tho market was
strong, having become firmer immediate
ly upon tho receipt of tho intelligence
from Washington.
Rochester, April 22.—One hundred
guns were fired in honor of the veto
message.
Boston, April 22.—The veto message
of the President was received hero with
great joy.
OUR ATLANTA CORRESPONDENCE.
Atlanta, April 21, 1874.
The Stepliens-Hill Controversy
Continues to be the absorbing topic of
conversation. Mr. Hill, it is under
stood, has been devoting his leisure time
to the preparation of nn elaborate reply
to Mr. Stephens’ first “Phillipic;” and
lie will probably publish his rejoinder in
the herald, of this city, some time
about, the middle of the present week. —
Mr. Hill’s friends confidently predict ho
will readily and gracefully establish all
lie proclaimed in his speech before tho
Atlanta branch of tho Southern Histori
cal Society. It is said that Mr. Hill, in
stead of endeavoring to reconcile tho
ambiguity of his language in referring
to the conversation between himself and!
Mr. Davis, by a plea of inadvertency in
tho use of words, will maintain that ho
was in Richmond at tho time specified.
Newspaper Changes.
For a week past a variety of rumors
have been circulated to the effect that
Messrs. Alston k Grady were about to
dispose of a part interest in the Herald.
It was reported at one time that Col. I.
W. Avery, of tho Constitution, had
bought an interest; that Mr. Estill, of
the Savannah News, and that Maj. Cal
houn, of the Columbus Enquir&r, had
negotiated for its purchase; and lastly
that Mr. B. 11. Hill had obtained a con
trolling interest in the enterprise.
Gen. D. M. Dußose.
It is now understood that General Du-
Bose is here on a professional visit
negotiating for the collection of a claim
of several thousand dollars; and it is
believed that his visit possesses littlo
political significance. Mr. Hill, I under
stand, feels much aggrieved at the pub
lished report that lie, General Dußoso
and others were seen in private consul
tation. He says that he was absent from
the city at the time the report was
circulated. General Dußose lias many
friends here; indeed it is to be supposed
that this is the easo wherever lie is
known, because his social, genial man
ners will win him friends wherever ho
may go.
Col. Sneed.
It is the prevailing opinion that Messrs.
Alston k Grady are sincere in their an
nouncement of their intention to edit
their paper themselves; and this fact
alone explains Col. J. R. Sneed’s retire
ment from the herald. Both Mr. Griuly
and Col. Alston are ready, fluent and
pungent writers, and, unless some fur
ther change occurs in tho editorial
management of that journal, it is ex
pect that these two gentlemen will
edit tho herald with ability.
The Pious Fanatics.
Immediately after tho close of the war
a gentleman in this city, owning a large
body of land in the suburbs, inaugurat
ed a scheme for settling freedmen there
on. In order to induce a speedy settle
ment he offered them property on long
time, specifying in contracts for tho
same that unless one-third of the pur
chase money were paid within a certain
time provided, the purchasers should
forfeit the property. In the course of
two or three mouths the freedmen had
erected two or three hundred dwellings,
somo very inferior, but great numbers
of them good substantial buildings, the
entire improvements costing probably
thirty or forty thousand dollars. About
this time agents of a Northern society
for the education of tho “poor,freedman”
came along, recouuoitering the country
with a view to establishing a Colored
University. The gentleman who had
just sold his property to these negroes,
speedily concluded a contract for a sec
ond sale of tho property, claiming Hart
all the negroes had forfeited their prop
erty by failure to observe the torms of
their contract. The trustees of tho
Colored University took immediate pos
session of the property; turned many of
the ignorant negroes out of house and
homes, giving as the only explanation
that they had purchased the entire
property. Many freedmen who had
spent all their money ranging in
amounts from SIOO to $2,000 were
thus defrauded of not only house and
homes but of all their hard earn
ings for several years. Somo negroes
were allowed to remain on boudition
that they should pay rent, and others
allowed to remain in possession for tho
time being. The negroes were promised
that no white person should he permit
ted to settlo among them ; that manu
factories should be established, wherein
they should have exclusive employment,
and the bonds, contracts, moitgages
and deeds were endorsed with the be
nifleent motto “Enmity to none; charity
to all;” and the great Colored University
proceeded in its prosperous, career,
boasting to the world that it was the
asylum for the poor colored people ;
that its trustees and teachers had left
their luxurious Northern homes and
came to this barbarous land, in or
der to become, the champions, protec
tors and defenders of the poor,
down-trodden, persecuted negro from
tho cruel aud wanton oppression
of their former rebel masters. It
subsequently transpired thatmanyof the
negroes had complied with the terms of
the contract, and they immediately com
menced suit for the recovery of their
property. This morning two of theso
complainants obtained a verdict, recov
ering their property, with damages. It
thus appears that the poor deluded 110-
groes have to flee tho championship of
their so-called Northern protectors, and
at last appeal for justice to a jury of
their former “cruel and oppressive
masters.” The verdict occasions much
rejoicing among the citizens of this
place, and it is expected that nearly all
these poor freedmen will recover tho
property out of which they have been
defrauded,
Win. Henry Peck.
A gentleman of this city has received
a letter from Mr. Wm. Henry l’eck, of
New York city, formerly of Georgia,
and reputed to be the most prolific writer
in America, in which that gentleman ex
presses his intention to move South, and
purposes to settle 111 Atlanta. He still,
cherishes the memory of Southern life
and Southern institutions, and desires
to return South, where lie enn lear his
family with assurances that they will
imbibe that patriotism and chivalrous
sentiment peculiar to Southern hearts.
Mr. Graves, of New York, a Baptist
evangelist, is conducting ft revival in this
city/ He is an eccentric individual, and
not a few pronounce him a lunatic. Ho
preaches sermons in the open air on tho
streets, in mud and rain, to promiscuous
multitudes of Christians, loafers, drunk
ards, dead beats, and other sinners. He
goes to Columbus to-morrow to open the
campaign in that city.
It is stated that seven or eight reve
nue detectives aro reconnoitering tho
city with a view to detect frauds iu tho
revenue department. It seems that
some person is determined to remove
Mr. Holtzclaw, tho Collector at this
place. _____ _ Halifax.
The Episcopal Convention. Tho
delegates to the Episcopal Convention,
which meets in Athens on the 6tli of
May, will be passed over the following
named ronds for one fare, viz : Georgia,
Macon and Augusta, Western and At
lantic, Central, Atlantic and Gulf, Ma
con and Brunswick, Southwestern, and
Muscogee. On tho three roads first
named delegates must ask for return
tickets ; over all others the certificate
of the Secretary will pass them.