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010 SERIES -VOL. LIIII
NEW SERIES VOl XXXVIII.
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Addr(a , WALSH k WEIGHT,
CttnoMCI.R kHi riser., Angueta. fia.
Ctjromcle anti Sentinel.
WEDNESDAY M W 1:(. 187-1.
MINOR TOPIC*.
I)r. Carry, tlie noted Northern Methodic
prpachrr and editor, and one of the loyalist
men that ever.anathematized a rebel, has been
down South recently, and has gone hack home
with Home of hie pet theories in a state of utter
demolition. For instance, ho concludes that
the project of mixing whites and blacks in
churches at the South is an utter failure. If thg
negroes predominate the whites stay at home,
and if the latter predominate the darkey stays
at home.
Don I'iatt, in tho Capital, thus vindicates
General Grant : “We meet the President
almost daily as wo pass the Executive Mansion,
going to and from onr oflioo, and while his
countenance is not that of a teetotal Jouadab
or Ita.-haway in good standing, there is nothing
in his manner to indicate the frightful excess
with which ho is charged. Ho looks to us like
a bon nioant who puts himself outside of a bot
tle or so after dinner, and retires at night in
a happy state of elevation tli|t is as far from
sobriety as it is from drunkenness.”
'I he actual suffering resulting from the over
flow of a large portion of Louisiana lias caused
the pecuniary damages to ho somewhat over
lsoked. The New Orleans Itepublican of a late
dale lias published a statement of tho esti
mated loss of property by tho Hood. U esti
mates the damage to tho sugar, cotton and rice
crops alone at about $11,000,000, or about 0110-
sixth tho total annual production. To this
must ho added tho loss on the 500,000 head of
live stock, the poultry, vegetables and other
articles of food, which will help swell tlie ag
gregate lohh very largely.
’1 ho w ar in Hpain is as atrocious in its charac
ter as any of tho former civil conflicts in that
most distracted country. In the recent combats
tlie Republicans liavo lost not loss than 2.000
men killed and wounded. The war is conduct
ed with such ferocity that in some instances no
quarter is given. In a recent action at San
Pedro a party of Carlists finding escape im
possihlu fell on their knees and hogged for
mercy ‘‘for tho love of God.” lint tho infu
riated troops of tho Government massacred
them on tho Hpot. with tho bayonet, in retalia
tion of similar acts of inhumanity on tlie part
of the Carlists.
Morton is tho joiliost joker on tho floor of
tho Senate. Hut ho is very exceedingly funny
when ho chooses to bocomo absurd. Ho was
speaking tho other day of tho blessings con
ferred upou the country by Radicalism, anil by
the reconstruction iniquities, and said, with
the gravest face imaginable, that “ in Louisi
ana confidence is reviving, prices of property
are advancing, and tho prospects of tho Statn
aro growing brighter.” If tliiH brightness Hash
over the desolation of Louisiana, it is reflected
from that “ hell of horrors" which Morton’s
party organized when it gave Louisiana its
Caseys. Warmoths. Durells and Kelloggs.”
Tho Philadelphia Press has hoard of an en
terprising citiaen who has promised to build a
ship capable of carrying ten thousand passou
gers in timo for uso at tho international cele
bration, which is to combino a steam railway,
a race course, theatre, shooting gallery, circus,
and every imaginable attraction. Ho claims
that liis plan is complete, and has boon ap
proved by tomo of tho ablest engineers. Ho
proposes to moor it in the Delaware, and con
vey it at internals to tho different cities, ports
and watering places of tho country. This
monster machine will make about six miles an
hour, ami will l>e three or four times largor
than tlie Groat Eastern.
As an instance of tho affect of heat and
cold in expanding and contracting the iron of
the dome of the National Capitol, it is stated
that the colossal statue surmounting it inclines
four and a half inches to the west in tho
forenoon, nml tho sumo distance to tho east in
the afternoon. This fact has been ascertained
by fixing a plumb line to tlio statue and drop
ing it to the rotunda below. As tho morning
sun upon tho east sido of the dome lieatod tlie
iron ami caused an expansion on tho side of
tho statue it was thrown westward four and a
half inches. In the afternoon, when tho sun
upon the west sido heated and expanded that
part of the domo, tho statue inclined to tho oas
a similar distance.
A fashionable paper at Si. Petersburg, the
Orashdanin, expresses groat alarm at the
spread of Protostauism in Russia. In, an
article entitled "A New Apostle iu the Grand
Monde of St. Petersburg,” it describes tho
enthusiastic attachment with which Lord I!ad
stook (who is the “new apostle") has inspired
tho aristocratic circles of tho capital, Tho
ladies of tho nobility, says tho writer, daily
send hint doiena of invitations to religious
conferences, go in crowds to hear liis sermons
in the American church, and sing English
psalms with him in liis own language. The
(trastolanin says that it would not have alluded
ti* these matters if what ia douo by the moth
ers of tlie future supporters of the State and
by persons ocoupyqig emineut positions in
Russian society were Dot of the highest impor
tance to their children and their subordinates.
There are various ways of taking the trying
occurrences of life. Some take them in the
form of a husband. Mrs. Saunders did. Site
lived in tho interior of Michigan, and Mr.
Saunders took a trip soon after his marriage
and nevt-r returned. Some years after Mrs.
Saunders hoard of him in Detroit, in connec
tion with an event of some importance to her.
He was about to he married. Did she come on
and make a fuss and disturb the happy day and
make herself disagreeable ? She did the very
contrary. She came on and attended the wed
ding, considerately refraining from making
herself known, avoiding a scene, and allowing
the fond pair to go unmolested on their wt ti
ding journey. Then this wise Mrs. Saunders
having everything fixed, .--wed for a divorce.
That was her littlo game, and very shrewdly
she played it.
A correspondent writes to Sir Henry Thomp
son a notable suggestion in regard to crema
tion namely, that instead of building furnaces
to consume the dead the town gas works be
utilized. Says this correspondent : “Nearly
every town (Hvssessing a cemetery also pos
sesses gas works. Therefore all that would
be necessary would be a few retorts large
enough to receive the coffin. If the public
objected to the gas being used in tlieir private
houses arrangements might be made to light
euly the street lamps with it. If this plan of
cremation was adopted tho rate payers must
obviously be beuetitted.” but ting asido all
the ordinary objeetious to this mode of crema
tion. aud regarding it simply from its economi
cal aspects, it has much to recommend it. It
is obviously the cheapest method yet suggest
ed. and it has other advantages which seem to
have been overlooked. There is no estimating
the brilliancy with which the public thorough
fares would be lighted if certain Congressmen
and other gaesv orators were thus enabled to
show that "e’en in their ashes lived their
wonted fires” by emitting their light for the
ast time through the street lamps.
The Tima gives an account of the strange
practice of “flogging Judas Iscariot," which
the Portugese sailors went through yesterday
wet-k even in the Loudon Docks. This con
sists in belaboring a wooden image of Judas
Iscariot, roughly carved, and clothed in an or
dinary sailor's suit aud a red worsted cap.
This image is first hauled into the fore-rigging,
after which the sailore go to mass; on their
return, it is ducked three times in the water,
hoisted on board* kicked round the deck, and
lashed to the capstan, when tho crew, in a high
state of excitement, belabor it with knotted
ropes till every vestige of clothing is ripped off
the wooden back, when the effigy is burnt. A
more barbarous mode of commemonuiug the
mild feproval, “Judas, betrayost thou the Son
of Man with a kiss ?” than a ceremony the like
of which Dickens invented ip express the pre
ternatural malignity of.hie hideous dwarf. Mr.
Quilp, can hardly be conoeived. But Chris
-tianity itself assumes in different countries
-shapes at least as divergent as that of Dickens'
brutal dwarf and that of the perfect man.
THE ATLANTA CONSTITUTION.
Ia its issue of Sunday, the proprietors
of the Atlanta Constitution announce
that ‘hey have sold an interest in that
paper to Mr. N. P. T. Finch, who has
been one of its editors for more than a
year past. The firm name and manage
ment remain unchanged. We tender
the new firm our best wishes for its suc
cess and prosperity.
HOW 18 THIS ?
The New York Sun seys it is “certain
that a small nnmber of favored specula
tors in New York were informed of Gen
eral Grant’s veto message the day be
fore it was sent to Congress. One gen
tleman, whose name can be famished,
dealt in gold upon the strength of this
private information. The same intelli
gence. was also in the possession of Mr.
Jay Gould, whose operations in conse
quence are said to have been extensive.
We learn, likewise that a lady who has
become noted in public affairs had the
benefit of the same knowledge.”
NO MOKE I.ANDAULETB.
The action of the House of Represen
tatives, in Committee of the Whole on
Saturday, in striking out the item of
81,400 for the care rtf horses and 8000
for repairs to carriage and harness be
longing to the Department of Justice,
was in effect a sharp rebuke to the head
of that Department for indulging in the
luxury of a private landaulet, purchased
at public expense. It is an intimation
to Government officers that while Con
gress, representing the people, is dis
posed to deal justly and fairly by them
and allow them all the conveniences ne
cessary for tlie transaction of public
business, such willingness cannot be
taken as an equivalent for permission to
spend a thousand or so dollars for ele
gant turn-outs.
POE’S GRAVE.
The Baltimore Gazette says that some
time ago Mr. Pall 11. Hayne wrote for
a Northern paper an account of the
grave of Edgar Allen Poe. Mr. Hayne
had obviously been taken by a friend to
the Presbyterian Church, at Green and
Fayette streets, and hud there seen for
himself what is confessedly true, that
Poe’s grave is still unmarked by any
monumental tablet. With a little poeti
cal license omitted, such as “the rank
grass waving,” &c., the article then
written stated but tlie facts, even to the
unfortunate smashing of the tombstone
nearly completed for the grave at tlie
yard of Hugh Sisson. We have
since met the item iu a condensed
form floating around among onr ex
changes in a reproachful kind of way.
Now one “H. A.,” of New York, lias
contributed ten dollars, and suggests
that authors and journalists should con
tribute additional sums until sufficient
is raised to furnish a modest tombstone.
Tlie object is ono that has enlisted at
tention before. *lf “H. A.” is more suc
cessful than has heretofore been the
case, it will be a matter of congratula
tion.
SIGNIFICANT.
Tho West and South are represented
in the United States Senate by thirty
five Republicans and eighteen opposi
tion Senators. This includes those sec
tions in the widest sense, excluding only
in the whole country the four Middle
and six New Eugland States. Os the
thirty-live Republican Senators only
nine, or barely one-fourth, voted on
Tuesday to sustain tho President’s veto
of the currency bill, and the three who
were absent or paired wore all inflation
ists. Os the eighteen opposition Sena
tors six voted against passing the bill
over tho President’s veto, and two
others, Messrs. Cooper and Sohukz,
would have done so if they had been
present. While, therefore, three-fourths
of tho Republican Senators from the
West are for inflation, only five-tenths
of the opposition Senators are. If tlie
Republicans were divided as tho opposi
tion my, twenty instead of twenty-six
would favor inflation, and fifteen instead
of nine oppose it. This shows most
conclusively that tho opposition Sena
tors kept more closely to the hard money
moorings of tho Democratic party than
the Republicans do to the specie planks
iu Republican party platforms.
TIIE RIGHT SPIRIT,
The Macon Telegraph, and Messenger
has a noticeable article upon Lamab’s
eulogy of Sumner. It says :
Disguise it as you will, despite the
intense disgust which the people of the
South entertain for the eivil rights bill
and its defunct author, there is much
in the catholic spirit evinced by the
speech of tho member from Mississippi,
which finds a cordial response in South
ern hearts. The people do pant for
peace aud j ustiee at the hands of the
dominant section. They are sick of
carpet-bag rule, Ku-Klux prosecutions,
the tyranny of the United States Com
missioners, packed juries, and all the
diablerie of the Radical machinery.
Any one, therefore, however, deeply
dyed in fanaticism or objectionable
otherwise, who dares to counsel mod
eration at the North, and proposes, like
the Massachusetts Senator, to obliterate
from the flags of the Federal hosts the
Union (so-called) victories inscribed
upon them, aud banish every memento
of the late unhappy fratricidal struggle,
strikes a sympathetic chord, which
vibratos from the Potomac to the Rio
Grande. It was the sacrifice made by
Mr. Greeley in standing surety for the
ex-Confederate President, and his desire
to bridge the yawning chasm opened by
the war, that procured for him his largo
following at the South. And now that
Mr. Sumner is no more, with Chris
tian magnanimity the statesman aud
erst-while gallant Confederate from a
sister State, sinks his faults, and pays a
just tribute to the conciliating spirit
manifested by the deceased. In com
mon with our country.nen we loathe and
detest the measure, which owes its pa
ternity to Charles Sumner, but the
grave has closed upon him, and surely
we can afford to do justice at least to his
virtues.
The Rome Courier has also a strong
article npou the decoration of Confeder
ate graves by Union soldiery in Mobile
on Memorial Day:
These were eertainly touching inci
dents worthy of conspicuous record. It
is but additional evidence that, if the
soldiers on both sides of the late con
flict were left to settle the terms of
peace and the restoration of fraternal
brotherhood between the people North
and South, without any other influence
than the promptiugs of their own feel
ings, that peace and harmony would
long since have been restored,’ and the
bitter asperities engendered by the late
war virtually obliterated. Men who
fought for principle—for what they be
lieved to be right—know how to for
give and to forget. They can appreci
ate honest motives. They uudestaud
the trite quotation of “enemies in war;
in peace, friends,” and they act accord
ingly upon all suitable occasions. We
honor the impulses that actuated the
ex-Federal soldiers residing in Mobile.
We are for peace and fraternal brother
hood between the sections at all times
upon conditions of the strictest equality
and npou 'errns of mutual forbearance
aud recognition of honesty on both
sides. We are ready to sheathe the
sword and exchange the olive branch of
peace on these terms; and for these rea
sons we say that the incidents which
occurred in Mobile, related at the out
set of this article, ought to be conspicu
ously recorded everywhere. We are in
favor of reciprocating such tenders of
reconciliation, coming from those who
were manly enemies—men whoscornedto
shirk their duty and respected the honest
impulses of those who opposed them
upon the ensanguined field.
An Oglethorpe man picked up a fish
which fell out of the clouds.
THE HAMPTON HOADS CONFER
ENCE.
An unimportant issue of veracity be
tween two distinguished Georgians—
unimportant so far as the public and
the truth of history are concerned, but
important as, by its determination,
fixing falsehood upon one of two men,
both of whom have hitherto stood high
ia the respect of the people of the
South will probably lead to some im
portant contributions to the history of
the late civil war in America. Mr. Ste
phens denounced the statements made |
in Mr. Hill’s address to the Southern
Historical Society as base and shame- j
le.s fabrications. Mr. Hill replied to ;
the assault by reiterating the truth of
his assertions, denouncing Mr. Ste- I
perns in language equally harsh as that !
used by his antagonist, and calling upon j
the latter to make good his charges by '
proof under penalty of being branded a j
malicious falsifier. To this manifesto !
Mr. Stephens is said to be preparing an :
answer, but it has not as yet appeared.
In the meantime Mr. Hill has pub- |
listed another paper, purporting to be ;
the unwritten history of the Hamp- j
ton Roads Conference, or rather,
of the appointment of the Con
federate Peace Commission, which went
to Hampton Roads for tho purpose
of ascertaining upon what terms the
war could he brought to a close. Os
tensibly a historical paper, it is really a
carefully prepared and certainly formid
able assault upon the loyalty of Mr.
Stephens to the Confederate cause ; and
it is one which the object of the attack
cannot afford to pass by in silence, or
to refute by simple, however severe,
denunciation of the assailant. Mr. Ste
phens, in his first letter, boldly threw
down the gauntlet at the feet of his ene
my. It has been lifted with alacrity, and
a duel to the death commenced between
the two foremost men of the South. The
lie has been given and returned, and
“proof, retraction or infamy” asserted
by Mr. Hill as the only solution of the
quarrel. Not content with meeting the
enemy upon the issue tendered by the
latter, Mr. Hill has assumed the offen
sive and carried the war into Africa. He
has somewhat bombastically announced
that he will fight under the black flag,
and will neither give nor accept
quarter. As we have said before,
his history of the Peace Commission is
nothing more nor less than an attempt
to prove that Mr. Stephens turned
against the Confederacy in its dving
hours, and that he was in sympathy
with designs which the people of the
South, beaten and conquered though
they be, must regard as treasonable.—
Mr. Hill charges Mr. Stephens with
hostility to tho Confederate Govern
ment, with duplicity and bad faith in
his negotiations with the Georgia dele
gation in Congress, and with favoring
and aiding a movement which had for
its object tho desertion of Georgia from
the Confederacy and separate action on
her part for peace with tho Federal Gov
ernment. He gives dates, circumstances
and witnesses, in connection with some
of his charges, and presents his whole
article with the air of an advocate who
is stating the substance of the testimo
ny iu advance of the trial. He is evi
dently bent upon the ruin of his enemy
by proving him a traitor. But those
who read Mr. Hill’s article, while im
pressed with the gravity of the charges
and the circumstantiality of the accusa
tion, should also remember that they
have heard but one side of the question,
and that side the side of the prosecution.
Mr. Stephens has not shown himself tho
man to submit quietly to such imputa
tions upon his integrity and patriotism,
and it is but natural to suppose that he
will speedily respond in his own vindi
cation .
Hon. John H. James, of Atlanta, in
forms the public that he is not, at pres
ent, a candidate for Congressional hon
ors. He says, however, that the “time
will come, iamy judgment, when I think
I would like to go to Congress, for this
especial reason: I think the Southern
people have as much right to ask about
three hundred dollars each for the slaves
that were set free by the war as the man
that stayed at home North during the
war and male large amounts of money
out of contracts and rise in property,
etc., etc., have to ask pay for their Gov
ernment bo|ds and greenbacks. Our
Northern a ■ Western friends will see
the justice if this in a few years, I
think, as nc doubt many do already.
Every man, woman and child in the
South, while or black, is interested iti
this. You fay, why ? I answer, if the
South was piid this debt money would
be plentiful here, and all persons and
classes would get some of it, and all
kinds of property and labor would ad
vanced.” Good enough. This is as good
a platform as any ever constructed by
party carpenters at New York, Cincin
nati or Baltimore. If Mr. James can
carry out his views, by all means let us
send him to Congress.
A reporter of the St. Louis Globe late
ly interviewed General Bragg, who was
in that city, on the subject of the battle
of Cliickamauga, aud the many disputed
points concerning it. Next to Vicks
burg, this battle, in which Gen. Bragg
commanded the Confederate forces, was
the most important in the Southwest.
It appears that he had not. really as
many men in his command as has since
been supposed. He went into the bat
tle with thirty-nine thousand men, and
before eight o’clock in the morning he
lost seventeen thousand of them. Os
these over sixteen thousand were killed
and wounded. The Federal loss was
also very great. General Bragg is rep
resented as emphatic in his statement
that he could not have followed np his
victory by capturing the Federal army,
which he estimates as two to one or
more than his own. He promised the
Globe reporter to write a more accurate
statement of the matter when he reaches
his home aud has access to his papers
and documents.
Chester, on the river Delaware, is be
coming the great centre, of iron ship
building in this country. It is now
stated that the directors of the Pacific
Mail Steamship Company have decid.'d
to contract for the construction of ’line
more iron steamships, at least f.ve of
which will be built at the yard o f Roach
A Cos., in Chester. Also, thai Mr. Ed
ward Faron, the company's superin
tending engineer, who constructed the
models of the City of Pekin and tffe
City of Yeddo (now oa the ways at
Roach's yard, and<to be launched on or
before Wednesday, Ma/ 5), has just fin
ished the model? two of the new
vessels referred tw The new steamers
will have the so lowing dimensions :
Two vessels, each T 24 feet long, 44 feet
broad, 34 feet depth of hold ; three ves
sels, each 324 feet long, 38 feet broad
and 26 feet deep ; lour vessels 200 feet
in length, 33 feet b«am and 17 feet depth
of hold. ____
It has been judVially decided that
the man who comes to grief while play
ing ghust is left without redress. The
colored man in Carroll county who
fatally stabbed yoing Hellon while
the latter, wrapped in a white sheet, was
endeavoring to frighten him, has been
tried aid acquitted. Facetious fellows
will soifle day discover that this species
of humor does not pay.
AUGUSTA, GA., WEDNESDAY MORNING, MAY 13, 1574.
EXTENT OF COTTON PLANTING.
Attention is called to a communica
tion from a subscriber in this issue, in
reply to an article from the Financial
Chronicle, as to the probable acreage
and yield of cotton for the present year.
This article was reviewed in these col
umns over two weeks since, and the
fallacy of the extravagant estimates of
the Chronicle pointed out. The promi
nent idea in that article was that the
crop now nearly marketed was a short
one, and that the coming crop would
not fall below it. The disastrous and
general inundation of the best cotton
lands in Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana and
Mississippi, and the unprecedentedly
heavy rains and freshets in all the cot
ton producing States east of the Mis
sissippi, will prove in
a pecuniary point of view, to the South
than Sherman’s march to the sea. The
devastation from the waste of waters is
fearful to contemplate. Millions of
property have been destroyed. The
waters have not yet receded from the
overflowed lands, and when they do
how are the people to replant their
lands ? Their seed cotton and their
corn, their supplies for plantation and
family use, their cattle, and their farm
ing implements and their household
effects have been swept away. The
people are famishing and crying for
bread. Under this deplorable condi
tion of affairs it is impossible for the
people to recover themselves sufficiently
in time to do more than make corn to
keep themselves from starvation. They
have no means at their command to make
cottou. They have neither money nor
credit. They will be compelled in self
defense to try and raise supplies for
home use. With favorable seasons from
the first of June the people in the over
flowed districts may be able to raise sup
plies enough to keep them from starving
during the Winter. A cotton crop in
the overflowed districts is out of the
question.
The prospects for a cotton famine in
the South were never so promising. In
the States west of tho Mississippi mil
lions of the most productive cotton
lands have been overflown for weeks. In
the States east of it continuous rains,
followed by freshets and cold winds,
have killed the cotton plaut. The wet
weather has been so continuous as to
prevent the cotton fields from being
plowed up. Some planters will re
plant cotton, but where the crop Jias
been entirely destroyed, as in some of
the upper Savannah river counties in
this State, corn will bo sown as soon as
the ground can be worked. Looking
over the whole field, there never was a
more favorable prospect for a cotton
famine in the South. The speculators
and manufacturers in Europe and the
United States may be successful in
“ bearing” the market for some time
to come, in order to get all of the pres
ent crop at low prices; but the time is
not far distant when there will be an in
crease in the price of cotton. A short
crop is inevitable. Our people are pow
erless to make a large one. They cannot
control tho elements. A man may con
trol fire, but He who rides the storm
clouds and flashes the lightnings can
alone control the winds and the waters.
SOUTHERN IMMIGRATION.
The St. Louis Republican, in a sensi
ble article upon Southern immigration,
gives what it considers the true reason
of the failure of tho Southern States to
secure European labor—viz: the failure
to make any proposition for the sale of
laud to the foreign settler. Heretofore
the South has asked for laborers
and tenants, while immigrants from
Europe will only come with the hope of
securing a proprietary interest iu the
soil. We expect the Republican is cor
rect and that the South has failed in her
efforts in this quarter because of the
mistaken policy by which they were di
rected. The few Europeans who have
come to tho South since the war have
been required to labor only as hirelings
and they have usually left the country,
after a short stat 7, in disgust. Their
condition is better than this in their own
country and they left their homes with
the hope of beuefitting themselves The
tenant system is almost as objectionable.
They are tenants in Europe and conse
quently they do not care to submit to
the despotism of a landlord in America.
They wish homes of their own and these
we must give them or tho stream of
foreign immigration will never be turn
ed Southward until all the vast territory
west of the Rocky Mountains shall be
filled up with settlers. The climate
of the South is better than that
of the West and Northwest, the
soil is equally productive and agricul
ture much more remunerative, but those
sections offer the immigrants a home,
while here he must become a day laborer
or at best a yearly tenant, destined to sow
where he may not reap and to toil where
he may not enjoy the fruits of his labor.
We must change our policy. The owners
of large tracts of land must sell a cer
tain proportion of it—a third or a half
—at low figures and upon long credits.
The laboring classes of Europe must be
informed that by coming South they
will obtain homes upon terms which will
not bear hard upon any man of industry
and steady habits. Such a system will
not only bring us population and wealth
but it will give a large and remunerative
return to the landed proprietor. The
planter who owns one thousand acres of
land worth ten dollars per acre and sells
half of it to immigrants upon time will
not only get the full market value of the
half sold, but in a few years will
find the value of the remaining half
doubly and trebly enhanced.
The action of Governor Kellogg, of
Louisiana, in pardoning murderers and
other convicts of the worst order in a
wholesale manner has roused the indig
nation of all tho honest classes of so
ciety in New Orleans. There has been
talk or organizing vigilance committees
to pnnish murderers, burglars, perjur
er* and the like in a manner that will
put them beyond the reach of Executive
clemency. People all over the State are
asking what the action of the Governor
means. The Shreveport Times says:
“It means that Radicalism in Louisiana
is precisely what Radicalism was in Pasir
when the slime of the prisons were
belched upon the streets, when the Bas
tile was stormed and the officers of the
law butchered in cold blood after sur
render. ”
Among the “coming men” is Hon.
William Walter Phelps, of New Jer
sey. His speeches upon the franking
privilege and the currency have excited
general attention, and been most favor
ably noticed by the journals of both
parties. He is said to be a very young
man, but his ability is pronounced of
the first order. By the way, what a
common mistake it is to measure a
man’s capacity by his years. There are
few men who have more talent, whose
mind is more fully matured at fifty than
at twenty-five, and yet the world gives
but few men credit for ability until they
reach the age of imbecility.
New Orleans, May 6.—A1l the
crevasses in Plaque me parish are
closed. The work of replanting has com
menced. Sugar cane in the inundated
parishes has not been entirely ruined.
CX WRITTEN HISTORY
OF THE
HAMPTON ROADS COMMISSION.
BY B. H. HILL.
[From the Atlanta Herald.]
The Confederate situation in the Win
ter of 1864 was such as to excite the
most anxious solicitude in the mind of
i every one who sincerely desired our suc
| cess in the struggle. During that year
I the Federal army, under Sherman, lad
I passed through the entire length of the
I State of Georgia, leaving a track of fire
and a wail of sorrow behind, and was
safely in tlie city of Savannah. The
j Federal army, under Grant, though
after losses almost unprecedented, had
succeeded, for the first time since the
war began, in making a permanent en
trenchment almost within cannon shot
of Richmond. The old year was pass
ing away, bearing. whole hecatombs of
our brothers and sons; and the new year
was coming, bringing, we feared, burial
caskets for our hopes. There had cer
tainly been no period in Confederate
history, and it may be doubted whether
there had been one in any history,which
was to put the wisdom ot leaders, and
the courage and endurance of soldiers
,and people, to such a severe test. But
our enemies, too, had their troubles,
and they were serious. Gen. Grant’s
march could almost have been cause
wayed with the dead bodies of his sol
diers; the Northern people were getting
weasy of such a war, as Mr. Seward him
self confessed; their finances were go
ing rapidly; and foreign Governments,
as Mr. Stanton admitted, were getting
inipatient for peace—they wanted the
Southern cotton crop.
It was clear, too, from Mr. Lincoln’s
annual message to Congress, in Decem
ber, that he was too wise a man to con
clude that a people were conquered be
cause they had been defeated in battles,
and had lost cities and territory. The
will to be free was the citadel to be
taken, before subjugation could be com
plete. How to conquer this will of the
Southern people was, therefore, the great
problem with him. His plan to do ibis
is simply set forth in this message. He
represents the necessity of war as exist
ing between the Federal Government on
the one side, and Mr. Davis, “the insur
gent leader,” on the other side, and be
tween these forces he states the issue
thus :
“7/e,” the insurgent leader, “cannot
voluntarily reaeeept the Union ; we can
not voluntarily yield it. Between him
and us the issue is distinct, simple s.nd
inflexible. It, is an issue which can only
be tried by war and decided by victory.
If wo yield, we are beaten; if the South
ern people fail him, he is beaten.” He
then used these remarkable words :
“What is true, however, of him who
heads the insurgent cause, is not neces
sarily true of those who follow. Al
though he cannot reaeeept union, they
can. Some of them, we know, already
desire peace and reunion. The number
of such may increase.”
Having thus stated that the will of
the iusurgent leader could not only be
conquered by war, but that the will of
the Southern people might be couquered
otherwise, he proceeds to state how :
“They can, at any moment, have peace
by laying down their arms and submit
ting to the National authority under the
Constitution. After so much the Gov
ernment could not, if it would, maintain
war against them. The loyal people
would not sustain or allow it.” This
method, he said, had been tried for a
year, with liberal offers of pardon and
amnesty, and many had been won.—
Some had accepted and proven faith
less, but the means were still extended
and the door was still open.
It was generally believed in Rich
mond that, from the fall of Atlanta,
Gen. Sherman had been active in efforts
to encourage a movement to win indi
viduals and separate States from their
support of the Confederate leader and
cause. It was believed he was so en
gaged front his headquarters in Savan
nah. There were, certainly known,
some acts and declarations of General
Sherman in this direction, and Mr. Lin
coln, in his message, certainly an
nounced, officially, actual knowledge of
partial success, and hopes of further
success in inducing the followers of the
“in-urgent leader” to desire peace and
reunion.
During the month of December, 1864,
the whispers of a counter revolution,
at first faint and then a full year old,
were getting louder. Several State?, it
was said, were to unite in calling a con
vention of all the Confederate States,
ostensibly to amend the Constitution
and get rid of Mr. Davis as commander
in-chief of the army; and a movement
for peace by negotiation through sepa
rate State action, was publicly advocated
by many in State and Confederate posi
tions. Whatever might have been the
motives of such movements (and I am
not now dealing with their motives),
every reflecting man was obliged to
know the only possible effects must be
disintegration and subjugation. Aud
we knew these effects were already go
ing on, not only from Mr. Lincoln’s mes
sage, but from a much more convincing
quarter—our army. It was during the
month of January, 1865, that Gen. Lee
complained before a committee of Con
gress (of which committee I was one)
that he was losing more from his army
by desertion than by the guns of the
enemy. He thought the discussions
against the constitutionality of Confede
rate military laws, and tlie clamor for
peace through separate State action,
contributed milch to this result. De
serters had been arrested with argu
ments, on these subjects, from leading
men in some of the States, in their pock
ets.
The hopes of Lincoln aud the com
plaints of Lee united in a powerful ap
peal to every true Confederate to do
what lie could to promote harmony,
bring about good will, make sacrifices of
opinions and prejudices, aud unite all in
earnest and patriotic efforts to bring,
back deserters, and reinspire the people
to resist subjugation, the evils of which
no man could exaggerate. The Georgia
delegation- hi Congress, perhaps more
than any other, were embarrassed and
disturbed by the rumors and facts al
luded to. It was often said that Geor
gia was to lead off in the cpunter-revolu
tion, and invite other States to follow;
and, more than once in my place in the
Senate, I felt called oil to repudiate such
allusions with energy and emphasis. A
few days before or after, I think after,
the first January, 1865, the Hon.
Wm. E. Smith, the excellent and true
member from the Albany District, re
ceived a letter (I think Judge Hansell
was the writer) giving an account of a j
popular meeting held at Thomasville, at
which resolutions were passed request
ing the Governor to convene the Legis
lature iu extra session, with the view of
.calling a convention of the people of the
State. He also staged that similar meet
ings were called, or spoken of, in other
counties of Southern Georgia, aud the
letter was a most patriotic one in depre
cation of the movement. It was generally
believed in Richmond, and confirmed
by letters from Georgia, that Governor
Brown was ready and willing tc convene
the Legislature and recommend the call
for a convention; that the Vice-Presi
dent was in full accord with the Gover
nor, and that his brother, Judge Linton
Stephens, an able member of the Legis
lature, would take the lead for the move
ment in that body.
On the reception of this letter by Mr.
Smitli, a meeting of the Georgia delega
i tion was called to assemble at Mr. Ste
' phens’ rooto in the afternoon, after the
adjournment of the two houses. Sena
tor Johnson was not preseat, I think
he was absent from the city. I think
one, or possibly two members of the
H«use were also absent. At this meet
ing the letter referred to was read, other
information on the subject added, and
the threatened movemen t iu Georgia was
discussed. The result of the discussion,
or interchange of views, was a unani
mous request from the delegation that
Mr. Stephens would write to Governor
Brown, and urge him, in behalf of the
! delegation, not to convene the Legisla
ture, etc. Mr. Stephens said he would
| not write the letter, as matters then
stood, but if we would unite with him
and aid in getting up a movement
for a negotiation for peace from Rich
mond, he would write to Gov. Brown
and advise and reqnest him to suspend
the call and movement in Georgia until
the result of the effort at Richmond
should be known. lat once sqpd : What
plan do you propose, Mr. Stephens ?
j He then said that Mr. Atkins, of Ten
nessee, had a day or two before pre
sented to him some resolutions for his
review and revision, which he (Atkins)
proposed to introduce in the House
Committee on foreign Affairs for re
port to the House, and that he (Mr.
Stephens) had drawn a set himself in
lieu of these of Mr. Atkins, which ex
pressed his viewS on the subject.
We asked him to read the resolutions
he had prepared, and he did so. The
substance of these resolution* was that,
the House of Representatives, voting by
States, should elect commissioners,
with authority to proceed to Washing
ton, aud, in the name and behalf of the
States, propose peace on the great prin
ciples of 1776 If the commissioners
should not be received at Washington,
or the offer of peace on the principles
proposed should be rejected, then we
were all to unite, fire the Southern heart
anew, and rally the people to the strug
gle for independence as the only re
course left to avoid subjugation. I told
Mr. Stephens I thought it would be
more regular and proper for the resolu
tions to leave the selection of the com
missioners to the President, but I would
waive all objection aud agree to sup
port his resolutions without any change
or amendment if he would write to Gov.
Brown t'o stop the movement in Georgia,
and I moved that the delegation agree
to Mr. Stepnens’ resolutions as pro
posed. After some discussion the vote
was taken, each member expressing his
views, and every member voted to agree
on the terms proposed, except one.—
That exception, I think, was the Hon.
James M. Smith, now Governor. He
stated that he voted nay because the re
solutions did not meet the approval of
his judgment; bat, he appreciated the
motives of the delegation, and in de
ference to their wishes he would not op
pose the resolutions in the House, but
go with the delegation. Thus we were
unanimous.
After this agreement was reached I
said to Mr. Stephens, that if the House
elected commissioners I did not doubt
he would be chosen as one of them.—
But if the House, as I thought was
proper and probable, should amend the
resolutions, and leave the selection of
the commissioners to the President, I
would insist that he be placed ftt the
head of the commission, and, therefore,
he might make his arrangements, in
either view, to go to Washington. He
said lie had no idea of going himself,
and did not suppose he would be either
elected or appointed. Ho said, also, he
did not believe the commission would
succeed, and ho doubted whether it
would even be received at Washington,
and he had no desire to be one of the
commissioners. But we insisted that
lie had made our people believe some
thing could be done by negotiation—
that the people looked to hint more than
any ono else in that movement—that he
was the leader of it—that, therefore, he
could not decline to go if elected or ap
pointed, and that if the commission was
not received, or failed, and he was not
on it, the people would say it failed be
cause he was not chosen. * Wo then in
terchanged views in the delegation, as to
other proper persons to be associated
with Mr. Stephens. He mentioned
several. Judge Campbell, Senator Gra
ham, and, I think, Gen. Benning and
Mr. Flournoy, were all discussed.—
Some of the delegation suggested
Hr. Hunter, but Mr. Stephens ob
jected to Mr. Hunter. It was at this
meeting that Dir. Stephens, also, gave us
his views of how the war onglit to be
conducted. Compulsory laws should be
repealed—only volunteers relied on—
West Point generals removed, and civil
ian generals appointed. The ideas were
memorable.
I went directly from this meeting,
across the Street, to the Executive Man
sion, and, iu a short time after my ar
rival there, was left alone with the
President. I gave Mr. Davis a full ac
count of the reports from Georgia—of
the meeting of the Georgia delegation,
the resolutions of Mr. Stephens, and of
all that was said and done in the meet
ing. He was deeply pained at the move
ments in Georgia. No man could be
more anxious than himself to negotiate
for peace, if there was any prospect of
being met in that spirit by the other
side. He greatly feared that such ir
regular movements would tend, more
than anything else, to eucourage the
enemy and destroy the hope of peace.
I told him I understood his views fully.
I knew he was willing'to negotiate, if it
could be done. But his enemies were
clamorous in making the believe
ho was actually opposed to it~ and were,
by such means, causing desertions from
tho army and divisions among our peo
ple, and something must bo done to si
lence these clamors. That while there
was danger, as he suggested, that an ef
fort to get up negotiations ou our part,
without any indication of a willingness
to meet us on the other side, and with
Mr. Lincoln’s message distinctly repu
diating all negotiations, might be unfor
tunate in the impression made ou the
minds of the enemy to our disadvantage,
yet, to make no effort, and especially to
oppose an effort when proposed by the
malcontents iu our midst, would con
tinue to weaken our army and divide our
people, and this would be by far the
greater evil of the two. I told him that
Mr. Stephens had promised to write to
Gov. Brown, at the instance of the
Georgia delegation, if we would agree to
liis resolutions, and this would, we
thought, stop Gov. Brown, and now we
must adopt a policy to stop Mr. Steph
ens, and I believed this would effectual
ly silence the negotiation clamor. That
if an effort at negotiation had to be made
and fail, it was better to make it iu any
form by the Confederate authorities
than let the agitation for such a move
ment by separate State action go on. Af
ter thus discussing the subject on its
merits for some time, I told the Presi
dent I had three requests to make of
him. The first was if the House should
not amend the resolutions, but pass
them as drawn by Mj\ Stephens, and
elect commissioners under them, that
the Administration would not oppose
the movement, and would promptly fur
nish passports to the commissioners
through onr lines. He said he would
certainly respect the wishes of the
House, and promptly furnish passports
through our lines to any person or per
sons they might desire to send to Wash
ington.
The second request was, if the House
should amend the resolutions, as they
ought to do, and leave the selection of
the commissioners with him, that he
would select Mr. Stephens and place him
at the head of the commission. This
led to a free discussion of Mr. Stephens.
The President, neither then, nor at any
time, said anything to me personally
unkind of the Vice-President, though
he greatly deprecated his course; but
was it wise to place a man at the head of
such a commission who was not only a
known enemy of the Administration,
but who was so constantly condemning
the laws of Congress as unconstitutional,
and the conduct of the war as oppressive
and unwise ? I said the object of this
movement was to silence the enemies of
the Administration and stop this hurtful
clamor about negotiation; that Mr. Ste
phens had made himself the very head
of this negotiation party— had made the
people believe much could be done in
that wav, and that if he was not on the
commission, and «t failed, he and his
friends would say it failed because he
was not on it, and thus we would hazard
the evil of the movement aud not pc
complish the good intended. The third
request was that he would appoint asso
ciates agreeable to Mr. Stephens, and
trammel the commission as little as pos
sible with instructions. My reason for
this request was, that, from my knowl
edge of Mr. Stephens’ character, if the
commission failed and he could find any
excuse for doing so, I believe he would
charge the fault of the failure on him,
the President.
You ask a great deal, said Mr. Davis,
smiling. Appoint an enemy of the Ad
ministration at the head of a commis
gion to made peace with the enemy, al
low him to choose his own colleagues,
and then give them discretionary pow
ers ! I said I was aware I was asking a
great deal, and my requests were only
suggestions to be weighed by him—that
the disease we were seeking to cure-was
great and growing, and needed a bold
remedy, and I believed there was no
way to cure it, and stop the demoraliza
tion caused by this negotiation clamor,
but by making the negotiation doctors
take their own medicines, mixed to suit
themselves; and that Mr. Stephe~s was
under pledge, if the commission failed,
to unite with us to rally the people to
arms, and make a harmonious fight for
independence. Mr. Davis said he had
entire confidence in Judge Campbell,
Senator Graham, and all the gentlemen
named, but he would prefer to have one
“straight jacket” on the commission.
There was no better or truer man than
Mr. Hunter, and there was no good rea
son why Mr. Stephens should object to
•Mr. Hunter. I agreed that the ob
jection to Mr. Hunter was not reason
able. He was President pro tern, of the
Senate, but the Senate could easily
remedy this. I did not believe a better
man, every way, could be selected, and
there was certainly no good reason why
he should not be one of the number.
This interview with the President
lasted several hours, and it was mid
night when I left him. I had not mis-
taken the great character of this great
man. While the President did not
make, nor I ask, any positive
yet, the responsibility I had assumed
in presence of the delegation, I was
satisfied, before the sun rose agaiu, was
not recklessly assumed. Other members
of the delegation approached the Presi
dent on the same business, as both they
and the President afterwards informed
me. It is fashionable with soma to say
Mr. Davis was unreasonable and imprac
ticable. I did not find him so. Such
men as Lee, Jackson, Early, Breckin
ridge, Hunter, Howell Cobb, Sparrow
and Henry,found no necessity to quarrel
with Mr. Davis during the war, nor have
they abused him since the war ended.—
Those who were themselves notoriously
impracticable, or whose zeal, efficien
cy, or fidelity, in auv form, to the
cause, was a matter of debate, could
not agree with Mr. Davis during tho
war, and, of writing books in their own
defense since the war, there seems to be
no end. For myself, I never saw Mr.
Davis until he came to Montgomery to
be inaugurated President. We had be
longed to different political parties. For
the first two years I knew him but
slightly. The journals of the Senate
will show I often differed with him. But
I never decried the laws, nor weakened
their administration. As the struggle
grew harder we drew closer together. I
studied his character well. A truer
man to the cause he was chosen to lead
is not furnished by the history of hu
man struggle. Because I know him I
shall honor him while I have breath. It
is curious, too, that those who found so
much to quarrel with in Mr. Davis and
the Confederate laws have found so little
to quarrel with in the most striking
usurpations of those who were then our
enemies and nre now our oppressors.—
But this is not the time for comment,
and I resume the narrative.
I was informed by members of the
Georgia delegation that, within a very
short time—only a day or two—after our
meeting at Mr. Stephens’ room, the
identical resolutions then read by Mr.
Stephens to us were reported froin the
Committee on Foreign Affairs to the
House in secret session. Mr. Rives, the
chairman of that committee, declined to
report them, not approving them, and
they were reported by Mr. Orr, of Mis
sissippi. Some indecisive action was
had by the House, and a little discus
sion, when a day about a week or less
ahead was fixed for their consideration.
The morning after they were so report
ed I met Mr. Hunter ou his way to my
house to see me He seemed to be as
much troubled ns I ever saw him. He
expressed alarm at the resolutions, aud
especially at the rumor he had heard
that the Georgia delegation, including
myself, had agreed to them. Could it
be that the rumor was correct ? I told
him it was correct, and briefly repeated
the reasons for our course. He seemed
a little better satisfied ; expressed great
confidence in the Georgia delegation,
and said he hoped it would come out all
right, but he was afraid a movement, so
irregular and uninvited by the slightest
indications from the enemy, would do
mischief.
In a day or two after this, and before
the day fixed by the House to consider
the nesohitions, Mr. Blair arrived in
Richmond. His mission was at once
understood by the authorities, and was
the general topic of conversation by the
people. He had consultations with tho
President, and I soon called on Mr.
Davis to learn from him what was pro
per for him to communicate on the sub
ject. He showed me that letter daied
January 12th, in which Mr. Davis ex
pressed his readiness to send a com
mission whenever he had reason to sup
pose it would be convenient to re
ceive a commission if the United States
Government should lie disposed to send
one. The visit of Mr. Blair opened the
way for getting up a commisssion in a
proper and regular way, and rendered
further action ou the resolutions of Mr.
Stephens unnecessary. Mr. Blair re
turned to Richmond again, bringing the
letter dated January 18th, in which Mr.
Lincoln expressed his readiness to re
ceive any agent whom Mr. Davis, or
auy other influential person resisting
the national authority, might informally
send. This letter was delivered to Mr.
Davis about the 21st.
Mr. Davis also showed me this letter
and we discussed the prospects. Ho now
had some expectation that an armistice,
at least, might be secured, during which
discussions might spring up that m gilt
result in a fiual termination of the strug
gle. Mr. Blair was careful to disclaim
all authority from Mr. Lincoln and his
Government, but these disclaimers did
not greatly lesson the significance of his
mission and his conversarions. The
situation, all in all, was well calculated
to inspire hope and even confidence.
The change in the manner of getting up
the commission was to work no change
in the persons who were to compose it
on our part. We still insisted that Mr.
Stephens should head it. At this criti
cal juuoture the proclamation of Gov.
Brown, convening the Legislature of
Georgia in extra session on the 15th of
February was issued, and was telegraph
ek to Richmond. It was dated the 25th
of January, and my recollection is it
reached Richmond the day, or the day
before Mr. Blair left that city.
This proclamation created no little
consternation. It was inexpressibly un
fortunate. Mr. Davis sent for me, and
expressed great surprise at its appear
ance. I had expressed to him great con
fidence, indeed, no doubt, that the letter
of Mr. Stephens conveying to Gov.
Brown the views of the Georgia delega
tion would stop this movement in Geor
gia. It did not occur to either of us
that Mr. Stepheus ha t not written the
letter, and the appearance of the procla
mation was wholly inexplicable on any
hypothesis that Gov. Brown was willing
to act in any accord with the Confede
rate authorities. Nothing was better
calculated to destroy the prospects of
good results from the commission now
about to be organized by the Confede
rate authorities than separate State
movements in what was believed to be a
counter revolution against the Confed
eracy; and if Mr. Lincoln should believe
that these separate State movements
were going on, it was certain he would
abandon the idea of serious negotiations
with agents from Mr. Davis.
The President also received a tele
gram from a high military official in
Georgia, giving account of a deplorable
demoralization in the State, and urging
that something should be done, if pos
sible, to arrest it. At Mi*. Davis’ earnest
request, I agreed to come to Georgia in
time to meet the Legislature on its
assembling, and address that body in
opposition to the recommendations of
Governor Brown for a convention, which
it was well understood he intended to
make. It was the very movement which
the Georgia delegation sought to pre
vent by the meeting at Mr. Stephens’
room, and we agreed to support a move
ment—even an irregular one—for a peace
commission at Kichmond, in order to
get Mr. Stephens’ aid in arresting the
movement by Governor Brown. In the
meantime, the President having deter
mined to propose Mr. Stephens to the
Cabinet as one of the commissioners, it
became necessary for him to have an
interview with the Vice-President, an
event which, I believe, had not occurred
for a long time. Mr. Hunter undertook
to bring about that interview, and it
took place on Friday, the 27th. On the
afternoon of that day Messrs. Stephens,
Hunter and Campbell were proposed as
commissioners to the Cabinet, and were
appointed. The President afterwards
told me that when he' proposed
the name of Mr. Stephens, it was
objected to, and, I think he stat
ed, it was either rejected or was
about to be rejected. He then stated
to the Cabinet the anxiety of the Georgia
delegation on the subject, the assurances
I had given him, and especially my
speech that “the negotiation doctors
must be made to take their own medi
cine, and allowed to mix it to suit
themselves,” and they ratified his nomi
nation. On Saturday, the 28th, the
President and the commissioners had
the conversational interview preparato
ry to their departure on their mission—
a full account of which conversation the
President reported to me on the 3d of
February, preparatory to my departure
for Georgia. On Sunday morning, the
29th of January, the commissioners left
Richmond. Up to this time we all ex
pected they were going to Washington
City. This was desirable for many
reasons. It was thought they would
have the opportunity of seeing and con
versing with many prominent men on
the other side, and the prospects for a
successful mission and good impres
sions would be more favorable. But they
were unexpectedly delayed at Peters
burg, or Gen. Grant’s headquarters, and
only got an interview with Mr. Licoln at
last by a personal appeal for it from
Gen. Grant to Mr. Lincoln. On the
morning of the 3d of February Mr.
Davis received dispatches of the day be
fore, announcing that our commission
era would not be allowed to go to
Washington, but would meet Messrs.
Lincoln and Seward at Hampton Roads.
I spent much of that morning with Mr.
Davis at his house, aud can never
forgot it. The whole subject, from its
beginning nn to that moment, was gone
over. He had not trammeled the com
missioners with any written instruc
tions. He only interchanged views
with them, iu conversation, leaving
them a broad discretion, in the light
of the circumstances as they would
best understand them when they
should reach Washington. Ho thought
it would be advisable, as far as
possible, to receive rather than make
propositions. They might avoid allu
sions to re-nnion and independence,
and agree to preliminary terms of an ar
mistice, to be perfected by another com
mission, even though they might see
that Mr. Lincoln, iu agreeing to the ar
mistice, was doing so under the belief
that it would result in re-union. But
they would know how to talk and act
when they reached Washington, and
took a survey of the situation, and he
trusted with entire confidence in their
ability and discretion. The main idea
of this conversation, ns repeated to me,
by Mr. Davis, is most strikingly con
firmed by Mr. Lincoln himself. In his
message to Congress giving an account
of the conference, he uses this language:
“On my part the whole substance of
the instructions to the Secretary of
State, hereinbefore recited, was stated
and insisted upon, and nothing was said
inconsistent therewith; while, by the
other party, it was not said that in any
event or on auy condition they ever
would consent to re-union; and yet they
equally omitted to declare that they
never would so consent. They seemed
to desire a postponement of that ques
tion and the adoption of some other
conrs first, which, as some of them
seemed to argue, might or might not
lead to re-union, etc."
It was evident to Mr. Davis, in the
interview of the 3d, that Mr. Lincoln
had changed his mind since he wrote
the letter of the 18tli, delivered by Mr.
Blair. The refusal to let our commis
siners go to Washington, the refusal to
let them see anybody but himself and
Sewajd, and their hesitation in letting
them go anywhere to see anybody, all
showed that Mr. Lincoln had changed
his mind. What had changed him ?
Had Mr. Blair and the papers carried
news to Mr. Lincoln of the separate
State movement in Georgia, of tlie di
visions among our leaders, of the pro
bable counter revolution by the States,
of the continued desertions from our
armies, of which Lee himself had
complained, and of the conse
quent early disintegration of tlie
Confederacy? Had Sherman informed
him of movements in Georgia for a
State Convention to get rid of himself
(Davis) as commander of the army?
Whatever was the cause of the change
in Mr. Lincoln, lie (Mr. Davis) was now
satisfied the commission would accom
plish nothing. Seward was wily and
treacherous, and would allow nothing
to be done. Our only chance now was
to realize that we had but one enemy,
and that enemy meant our subjugation
and utter humiliation. Ho hoped on
reaching Georgia I would aid iu arous
ing the people, and succeed in stup
ing the movements proposed by Gov.
Brown. If, on his return from Hamil-
ton Roads, the Vice-President would
tell the people that no hope was left
for them but in arms, and aid in rally
ing them to re-iill the ranks of the
army, and wo should all co-operate,
Mr. Lincoln and liis Government would
soon be brought to treat indeed, and
independence could and would be won.
Rut if others chose, in such a crisis, to
continue their war on him, he should
not strike back—he had but one enemy
and all his blows were for him. He
should do his whole duty to the last;
if defeat must come, the consequences
must bo charged to those who will bo
responsible. I said that one man could
do but little, but I should cheerfully aid
him to the utmost of my poor abilities
to the very end of the struggle ; and of
one thing he might be assured, and that
was, that the Legislature of Georgia
would refuse to approve Gov. Brown’s
recommendation for the call of a con
vention. It grieved me that officials in
and from Georgia were continuing to
give so much trouble in such a serious
crisis, but he would find the delegation
in Congress from Georgia true, able
faithful, and they best represented the
reid views of the people of flio State.
He expressed warmly his confidence in
the delegation and the peopl **, and, with
expressions of thanks to myself for my
uniform support and encouraging as
surances, we parted. Tlie waves of sor
row and adversity had passed heavily
over the truest of leaders and noblest ol
causes before we met again.
Imagine my feelings when, on my re
turn to the Senate to get leave of ab
sence, I found Senator Orr, of South
Carolina, on the floor, indulging in
fierce, bitter abuse of Mr. Davis. I re
plied to him, and closed with this sen
tence: “If those who hurried us into
this revolution would support the cause
with half the zeal they exhibit in abus
ing Mr. Davis, there would be more
hope of success and deliverance for
them and for us.” This was my last
sentence uttered in the Confederate
Senate. I left that afternoon and came
to Georgia, and having to come by Ab
beville and Washington), Ga., did not
reach Macon until the 13th or 14tli.
The Legislature assembled on tlie 15th,
and Gov. Brown sent in his message on
the 17th, and on that evening I address
ed the Legislature in reply to tho mes
sage.
Unable to return to Richmond by
reason of Sherman’s army, I took the
stump for liberty in Georgia, and when
the surrender came it found me appeal
ing to our people to rally against the
inevitable horrors of subjugation. If
the reader is curious to know what I
then thought would be the results of
surrender, he can find them fully stated
in the speech which was delivered at La-
Grange on the 11th of March, 1805, and
which was reported in full. I have
recently learned that Governor Brown
never received the letter which Mr. Ste
phens promised the Georgia delegation
he would write, and that if he had re
ceived it he would have respected the
wishes of the delegation and not have
convened the Legislature. Great anxiety
was felt in Richmond, and especially
with the Georgians, as to the course Mr.
Stephens would pursue on his return, if
thecommission failed. His pledge was in
the resolutions which the delegation had
agreed to, drawn by himself. I was not
in Kichmond when he returned. lam
informed he was appealed to by Geor
gians, in and out of the delegation, to
join Mr. Davis at the African Church in
an effort to rally the people and fir.’ the
Southern heart anew. 1 believe he de
clined to do so and came home. The
important facts of the Confederate Civil
Government, and the reasons for them,
transpired in the secret councils of the
President and Cabinet, and in the secret
sessions of the Congress. Those who
banished themselves from both during
the most important periods of the strug
gle are not fit to write Confederate his
tory. The malcontents are not the men
to pass judgment upon the faithful. The
facts as they occurred, and by those who
know them, will be written, and when
written the true will be vindicated and
the faithless will be made ashamed.
As soon as my professional engage
ments permit, I will give the public the
“Unwritten History of Gen. Johnston’s
Removal.”
The Atlanta Light Infantry, colored,
have signified their willingness to back
up the police in any difficulty with the
Federal soldiers. The Herald says in
relation to matter: We learn from Jes-.
ferson Wyly, the captain of the colored
company, that his company was ready to
back up the police force last Friday
night, and not the disorderly soldiers,
as was supposed by some. He says
he and his men are with the people. He
is acting under Gov. Smith, holds his
commission from Gov. Sm.th and will
stand by Gov. Smith’s people. He
fnrther says that if there had been a
necessity for lively action that night, he
would have had as many men in line as
any other company. We take pleasure
in putting him right.
To the Public.—The rumor circulated
that the Atlanta Light Infantry, color
ed, had expressed or taken any part on
either side of the difficulty between the
police and soldiers, is without the
slightest foundation.
The company, being organized under
the laws of the State of Georgia,, is al
ways at the service of the Governor, and
when “he orders,” we shall be prompt
to obey such orders.
Very respectfully,
Jeffkbson Wyly,
Captain Atlanta Light Infantry.
The ladies of Sparta have formed a
Memorial Association, with Mrs. Dr. H.
L. Bart as President.
NUMBER 19.
PROSTRATE SOUTH CAROLINA.
A POWERFUL I‘LKA FOB THE
STRICKEN STATE.
The Minority Report of the Judiciary
Committee.
Washington, May fi.—To-day El
dridge, from the minority of the Judi
ciary Committee of the House, submit
ted a minority report on the condition of
affairs in South Carolina. The report
dissents entirely from the conclusion of
the majority, and is generally concurred
in by the eutire minority of the Judi
ciary Committee. The minority say it is
impossible to turn a deaf ear to the
supplicating wail of three hundred thfiu
j sand oppressed and despoiled citizens
!of that once prosperous and happy
j State, praying only that, an inquiry bo
j mad*' into their alleged .wrongs. Con
gress cannot Hud in reproaches of the
! conduct of the memorialists in the
; past any reason or justification
for refusing the hearing of their re
quest now. Their fidelity to the
Constitution and laws is now un
questioned, and their plea made iu re
spectful. terms. The report then recites
briefly and pointedly the list of griev
ances complained of, and predicates
from them that the charges of the me
morialists are true. The minority say :
“We are aware of the doubts and diffi
culty in pointing out the precise clause
of the Constitution authorizing inter
vention, lmt that protection in all thing#"
is essential to good government no one
denies. Its upholders never lost sight
of that. For the condition of things
now existing in South Carolina the Fed
eral Government is primarily respon
sible. Blink it, look upon it as wo may,
horrible as the work if its bauds may
now appear, Congress set up and estali
tablished the state of tilings that makes
the Commonwealth of South Carolina
the foul stigma it now is in our system.
Wo do not *rguo our right to • interfere
on that ground at this time, but we sub
mit that wo subject our governmental
theories to the contempt of the world
and all intelligent men in that we ware
all powerful to inaugurate and estab
lish the paudimonium now existing
there, and the very moment it is done
are utterly powerless to interfere with it
at all, or to save the property of the
people from the spoilsman. Nor can we
forbear tho suggestion that if this ap
peal were on behalf of three hundred
thousand negroes, instead of three hun
dred thousand white Southerners, of our
own race and blood, such are tho sym
pathies of the majority, as heretofore
exhibited, that they would find by right
or by wrong some means of relief—tho
petitioners would not have been so
coldly and flippantly turned away. It
is a matter of the greatest delicacy for
the Federal Government to interfere to
protect a part of tho people of a State
from the oppressions and misrule of the
other. Conceded that it ought not to
be done for trivial causes, but it is not
a light or trivial cause that three hun
dred thousand people, tho pioperty
holders of a great State, are being
stripped and despoiled by usurpation und
fraud. That there ought to bo power
and authority adequate in such emer
gency to save, all lovers of honesty
and good government will admit and it
is a fundamental defect in our system if
there be not. In view of tho thought
ful wisdom of the authors of our Con
stitution, are wo prepared to render such
judgment that our constitution of gov
ernment is so fatally, irreparably defec
tive. The complaint of tho memorial
ists is that .the rulers of the people have
usurped tho power to tax property
owners not for legislative purposes, not
to support the government of the State,
lmt for the purpose of impoverishing
tho tax payers and enriching them
selves; for the purpose of taxing tho
white people down to the level of the
negro; under the pretense of the taxing
power are endeavoring to distribute tho
property of the owners amongst those
who have none. Is not this an usurpa
tion by the rulers of a State against
which the constitutional guarantee was
intended to protect ? It is not a mere
abuse of the taxing power, but an utter
perversion of that power from all the
legitimate objects of taxation. Can it
be a republican form of government
where this is done—the main object of
the government being the protection of
the property of the citizen and the citi
zen iu the enjoyment of his property?”
The report quotes from Ilamilion, Cal
houn and other authorities as to the con
stitutional guarantee. It concludes as
follows : “Iu view of the whol« case wo
cannot hesitate to recommend the ap
pointment of n committee of both
Houses of Congress with power and au
thority to go into the State of South
Carolina and fully inquire and investi
gate into the condition of the State and
the charges and complaint of the memo
rialists. To do less we feel we should
violate or neglect the most solemn and
imperative duty. The cry of that out
raged, helpless and suffering people has
reached our hearts as well us our under
standing. That once prosperous and
beautiful State is on tho verge of
ruin. She is indeed already prostrate.
A horde of thieves and robbers
worse than any that ever infested any
civilized community on earth have her
by the throat and are fast sucking her
life blood. Three hundred thousand
of her citizens, decendunts of those
who fought and won with our
fathers the battles of American in
dependence and liberty, are crying to
Congress for redress, for help. They
have suffered all that humanity can en
dure. They have exhausted every re
source and are utterly helpless of them
selves. To refuse their request is to
drive them to despair and ruin.”
TIIIS NEXT SENATOR FROM TIIE
FIRST DISTRICT.
A Card From Henry Smith.
Bryan County, May 1, 1874.
Editors Advertiser Republican :
Being casually in your city yesterday
afternoon for a few hours, my attention
was called to an article in your morning
edition headed, “Home Politics”—“from
the Savannah correspondent of the Au
gusta ( 'hkonicle and Sentinel' we take
the following allusion to political mat
ters in the First District,” which de
serves a passing notice at my hands.
This writer, speaking-of the next Sena
tor from this district, represents me as
being in Savannah a few days ago (when,
in fact, I have not visited the city since
the first of last month ), aud using lan
guage which I disclaim. I admit lam
sometimes careless in words. lam not
ashamed < f being a descendant of the
German family, and am inclined to tlio
opinion that the correspondent who
penned the words said to be used by me
must be of the same blood. Whether
this correspondent intended by his lan
guage to bring mo in disrepute of
pass a good joke upon me, I know
not ; being, however, of a jocular
disposition myself I, accept the latter
construction. In regard to the next
Senator from this district I have this to
say: I shall not be a candidate for that
position unless the nomination were
generously tendered me by a convention
representing the people of the district.
I have, however, claimed that the coun
try counties were under all rule entitled
to the next candidate if they claimed
him. At the first convention, in 1864, a
resolution was unanimously adopted
that there should always be a rotation
between the three counties forming the
district in the selection of a candidate
for Senator. Again, the executive de
partment of the government is not
founded upon population, but upon ter
ritory, nor is the size of the territory
the governing rule in the selection of a
Senator. The smaller States of the
Union have the same number of Sena
tors in the United States Congress ns
the larger ones.
Five elections havo taken place since
the formation of the first Senatorial dis
trict. The county committees have al
ways yielded the selection of the candi
date to Chatham county. Should the
counties of Bryan and Effingham claim
the candidate at the next election, they
could not bo considered presomptious,
as they would ask for nothing but their
right.
And now, Messrs. Editors, I am done.
I very much dislike newspaper noto
riety, and should not have troubled you
at this time but for the remarks of the
Chronicle & Sentinel correspondent.
Very respectfully,
Henry E. Smith.
Au entire block of small buildings in
Savannah was destroyed by lire last Sat
urday. Loss between fifteen and twenty
thousand dollars. Kerosene, as usual,
the cause.
The Greensboro Herald says : Twenty
farmers, taken indiscriminately from all
sections of this county, p anted in 1873
2,841 acres in cotton, 1,440 acres in corn,
210 acres in oats, 67 acres in wheat.
This year they will plant 2,826 acres in
cotton,-1,715 acres in corn, 410 acres in
oats and 153 acres in wheat.