Newspaper Page Text
DECEMBER 80,1874.
W EDSW- —-*■
CROP OP IS74—7*>
Cflf
,Mul in oar paper yesterday that
jpeat faith in the correctness of
*®/nate of the cotton crop as made
•• Department of Agriculture. The
Eon is of such great pecuniary in-
Mt to our people that we devote
M h space to the elaborate report of
Me Department of Agriculture, which
Ire accept as conclusive.
ON DUELLING.
The following is the section in the
Constitution of the State of Georgia
concerning duelling:
Abticlb ll.— Section V. No person
who, after the adoption of this Constitu
tion, being a resident of the State, shall
engage in a duel in this State or else
where, or shall send or accept a chal
lenge, or be aider or a bettor, to such
duel, shall vote or hold office in this
State; and every such person shall, also,
be subject to such punishment as the
law may prescribe.
THE MANHATTAN CLUB.
We are in receipt of an invitation
from Manton Marble, Esq., Secretary
of the Manhattan Club, to be present at
a reception to be given on the evening of
the 29th of December, by the Club, to
their fellow-members, the Hon. Samuel
J. Tildes, elected Governor of the
State of New York, and William J.
Wickham,, Esq., elected Mayor of the
eity of New York. It is difficult to resist
such a flattering invitation, but circum
stances beyond our control will prevent
its acceptance. Wo must be content
with acknowledging the compliment,
and tendering our congratulations to
the members of the Manhattan Club on
the triumph of the Democracy in the
recent elections.
THE COTTON TAX.
Mb. Smith, of North Carolina, has
introduced in Congress a very foolish
and mischievous bill, and we are sur
prised to find that there are newspapers
which give it commendation. The bill,
in substance, is this : The tax upon cot
ton was illegally imposed; the amount
must be refunded; bnt instead of giving
the money to those from whom it was
taken it shall be used to pay the public
debts of the Southern States. It is
simjfly confiscation in its worst form,
nothing more nor less. Tho Congress
of the United States has no more right
to appropriate this tax to the payment
of such indebtedness than it has to sell
the people of Massachusetts to the
Grand Turk. The law imposing the
tax upon cotton was" either right or
wrqng. If right, the money should re
main in the National Treasury. If wrong,
it should be paid to those to whom it be
longs. Mr. Smith’s bill is an absurdity,
and a dishonest absurdity as well.
A PLAIN MORAL.
“The plain moral of it all is that pub
lic companies should stand upon their
own feet, and that they have no more
right to be supported at the expense of
the tax payers than newspapers or any
other description of private property.
We hope Congress will not fail to re
member tlfis when Tom Slott]s huge
job is brought before it. ‘No more sub
sidies’—an excellent motto for this Con
gress and fyr all that are still to come.”
—New York Time*.
And “the plain moral” of the above is
Tom Scott wauts subsidies for a South
ern railroad—tho Southern Pacific Rail
road. If he was about asking Congress
for a grant to aid anything of the kind
North your opinion about “public com
panies standing upon their own feet”
would no doubt bo different. Having
bled the Treasury out of millions upon
millions in building the Central and
Northern Pacific Railroads, in building
custom houses and post offices at every
town wanting them, and squandered
enough in other public enterprises to
pay off the national debt, yon now com
mence crying ont economy so soon as
the South aa!\j for a little aid in build
ing a caual from the Tennessee river
and a railroad from Texas to tho Pacific
ocean,
THE LAST NATIONAL SCANDAL.
A committee of Congress, regularly
raised for that purpose, is now engaged
investigating tho affairs of tlje Pacific
Mail Steamship Company, and particu
larly the means employed by it in get
ting a bill passed by Congress appropri
ating an annual subsidy of $500,000 to
it. It is charged that in getting this
bill through the sum of $750,000 was
paid by the company to members of
Congress for their votes. For several
months stockholders of the company
charged Mr. Irwin, the Secretary and
Treasurer of the oompany, with having
appropriated a large sum of mouey to
his own use. In this charge, Mr. Stock
well, the President, was impli
cated. They now come forward and
refute the charge by alleging that
they paid the money out in getting
the Congressional appropriation. In
order to clear itself Congress puts
tho direct question to Irwin, “Who did
you pay the money to ?” Irwin evades
this, and states in general terms that he
did not pay it directly to any member
but to third parties, of course with the
understanding with them that it was to
go to Congressmen for and in considera
tion of their votes. Ibwin, in his evi
dence, says that his company gave him
$750,000. Says a Washington dispatch
to the New York Times :
Ife testified positively that he took all
that money and used it in pursuance of
his original agreemetit with Stockwell
to procure the subsidy. He. nsed not
one dollar of it in sfock speculation or
otherwise than in this business. He was
at last asked the direct question whom.
he had employed to aid him here in pro
curing the subsidy. This question was
asked him on Friday, and he requested
a day in which to consider what he
should reply. Yesterday he declined
absolutely to answer. He first stated,
however, that not one of those persons
who was employed by him was a njem
ber or officer of the last Congress, or a
member or officer of this. His reason
for declining to give the names was that
ho considered the committee had ex
hausted its power, and that it had no
jurisdiction of the subject matter em
braced in the question. Another reason
which he assigned was that he conld not
disclose the names of those gentlemen
with whom he had carried on negotia
tions consistently with his views of what
would be honorable on his part
By which it will be seen that he makes
no concealment of the fact that the
money was used in bribery. The New
York Times (Republican) says edito
rially :
It appears quite clear that Stockwell
paid Irwin $750,000 for use in Washing
ton to facilitate the passage of the sub
sidy for the Pacific Mail Company, and
that it was so spent. But who received
the money we do not yet know. The
attempt of the Albany lobbyists to make
ont that Stockweel himself “ made
away” with—i. <?., stole—the money,
therefore, breaks down. It is quite evi
dent that a subsidy obtained by such
means aSdheee cannot bo permitted to
stand.
It is evident that the Radical party
was overthrown none too soon. It lead
the country to the very verge of finan
cial ruin. The above transaction was
enongh to scandalize any nation on
Mrtk.
It is rumored that there is a probabili
ty of the South Carolina Railroad leas
ing the Charlotte, Colombia and Au
gusta line. At the last meeting of the
stockholders of the latter company a
proposition was made by the Carolina
Road for a lease and a committee was
appointed to consider the matter. The
committee consists of Messrs. Wm. H.
Brawley, Bion, Palmer, Newcomer,
Bruxjhbs and Townsend. It is said that
* favorable report will be made, bnt as
yet nothing has been agreed upon.
Blitz, the magician, has been delight
ing the people of Savannah.
Nick Thompson, who killed Captain
Hnnter at Qnitman, has been convicted
of murder in the first degree.
TO OUR SUBSCRIBERS.
As the new postal law, requiring pre
payment of postage on newspapers, goes
into effect on the first day of January,
publishers must insist not only on the
payment of postage in advance but also
o4pbe pre-payment of subscriptions.
The subscription and postage on the
Chronicle and Sentinel for 1875 will
be as follows :
Daily one year $lO 60
Daily six months 5 30
Tri-Weekly six months 5 40
Tri-Weekly one year. 2 70
Weekly one year 2 20
Weekly six months 1 10
The past year has been a hard one on
all departments of business, and es
pecially so on newspapers, which cannot
prosper while the agrionltnral and com
mercial interests, of the country are de
pressed.
The proprietors of the Chronicle
and Sentinel have endeavored to pub
lish a representative paper, folly alive to
the wants and interests not only of
Angnstabnt of the District and the State.
How far we have been successful in our
efforts it is not for ns, but the people
who have supported us with their pat
ronage, to determine.
We shall endeavor to keep up the
Chronicle and Sentinel to its present
standard. We can make it a better pa
per if our friends will aid na. All the as
sistance we ask is that parties indebted
pay what they owe. The accounts are
all small, and there is no man so
so poor that he cannot pay a few dollars
subscription. Let no subscriber flatter
himself with the idea that his small ac
count amounts to nothing. Unfortu
nately there are too many who come to
this iojurious conclusion. Subscribers
will aid us materially by responding
promptly to the bills now being sent
out. If any of our friends fail to get
the paper after the first of January it
will be because they have failed to pay
their subscription. We therefore re-
quest them to come forward and re
spond promptly by paying their in
debtedness.
There are some men who consider
newspapers common property and never
think of paying for them. We have
known some such in our day. Our ap-.
peal is not to this class, for we are well
aware that it would be as fruitless as an
effort to whistle down the wind.
We pay cash for labor and material,
and we must insist on our patrons pay
ing both for subscriptions and advertise
ments. The amount due by each indi
vidual is insignificant, being scattered
among many thousand people, but the
aggregate supplies the ways and means,
and insures the continuance of the
Chronicle and Sentinel.
THU STATE OF GEORGIA AND
THE NEW YORK STOCK EX
CHANGE. ”
Some weeks since Mr. Edward Bran
don, Chairman of the Committee on Se
curities, New York Stock Exchange, ad
dressed a note, first to the State Treas
urer, Col. Jones, and afterwards to Gov.
Smith, informing them that payment of
coupons upon certain Georgia bonds
had been refused, and that, in conse
quence the Governing Committee of the
Exchange had determined to strike all
the bonds of the State from the bond list
unless those in dispute “were recognized
and declared valid without needless de
lay.” This insolent missive received a
fitting reply from each of the officials
addressed. Gov; Smith answered that
payment of interest upon the bonds re
ferred to had been refused “on the
ground that no satisfactory explanation
had been made of the manner in which
they were put into circulation, or of the
capacity in which they were held by
those claiming them.” These bonds, it
seems, wero some of those which the
holders refused to present to the inves
tigating committee of 1871-2, and • are
not recognized by tho Treasury until
after their ownership and validity has
been inquired into. He closes his letter
1 by saying:
Before receiving your letter, I had
heard it intimated that a threat had been
made by persons supposed to have influ
ence with the stock boards of this coun
try, that the policy pursued would be to
let the State of Georgia “severely alone,”
in consequence of a refusal upon her
part to accept a scheme which had been
suggested for compounding with her
creditors. The very uncalled-for action
of vonr board when considered in this
connection is very significant. I regret
that you should have deemed it proper
to indulge in a covert threat for the pur
pose of intimidating the authorities of
the State into a compliance with a de
mand of your board. I have no desire
to indulge in harsh expressions, and
therefore will not characterize this par
ticular feature in the action of your
board in the language it deserves. I
have only to say that the people of
Georgia intend to pay their honest pub
lic debt as it becomes due; but will
never pay dishonest or fraudulent claims
upon their treasury. By adhering strict
ly to this policy they feel quite sure that
die public credit will beestablished upon
a firm basis, standing upon which it
will not be in the power of the manipu
lators even of the “New York Stock Ex
change” to do it any material injury.
Treasurer Jones was even more severe
upon Mr. Edward Brandon and the New
York Stock Exchange. His letter is
short and so muoh to the point that we
give it in full:
Treasury of Georgia, )
Atlanta, December 15, 1874. j
Sir— At the instance of his Excellency
the Governor, I write in answer of yours
to him of the 11th instant, to inform
you that the coupons of the bonds about
which yon seem so solicitous were
ordered to be paid by letter to the
Fourth National Bank, New York, dated
31st August, 1874, a copy of which,
from my letter-book I enclose herewith.
As to anything the New York Stock
Exchange may arrogate to itself in the
matter, I take this occasion to say that
feeling under no obligation to that con
cern, in the sale of her securities in the
past, but relying on the public spirit
and honor of her people, the State of
Georgia has not heretofore asked its
assistance, and does not now require its
endorsement for the maintainance of
her credit.. Indeed, our universal feel
ing is, that we can get along, not only
without such interferences bat in spite
of them.
Governor Bullock and Mr. Kimball
placed the finances x>f the State so com
pletely at the mercy of Wall street that
the Stock Exchange still thinks it may
give orders to a State government. The
members of that institntion will, per
haps, learn after awhile that Bullock
and Kimball no longer rule and ruin in
Georgia.
’ To dun a debtor on a postal card has
just been decided by the Supreme Court
of the State of Ohio as unlawful. The
Court held that anything so written as
to injure the credit or reputation of any
oue is a crime. The decision was made
in the case of a man who dunned a
debtor for an old account on a postal
card, and in that manner made the mat
ter public and to the detriment of the
latter’s credit elsewhere. Editors’credi
tors will please take notice and avoid
suits for damages, which, in accordance
with a resolution of the Georgia Press
Association, will be vigorously prose
cuted. •
Congress seems to have set its face
against subsidies for the present at
least. A resolution offered by Holman,
of Indiana, against future subsidies was
not adopted for want of the two-thirds
vote necessary to suspend the rules, so
as to take np the resolution ont of its
order for adoption. When the vote was
being announced a member from Ken
tucky changed his vote from yea to nay,
thus preventing by one vote the adop
tion of the resolution by a two-thirds
majority
A youth asked permission of his
mother to go to a ball. She told him it
was a bad place for little boys. “ Why,
mother, didn't yon and father go to balls
when you were young ?" “ Yes, bnt we
have seen the folly of it," said the
mother. “ Well mother," exclaimed the
son, “ I want to see the folly of it, too.”
At Salisbury Point, Massachusetts,
there are three churches, the minister of
each rejoicing in the name of Wright
One lives in the upper part of the town,
one in the lower, and the third at the
mills; so the people have dabbed their
spiritual guides as “Upright,” “Down
right” and “Millwright”
OIK ATLANTA LETTER.
The Railroad Meeting-The Railway
Interests—The Texas Pacific —Who
Took Stock in Georgia—State House
Notes—The Anderson Suicide—The
Elberton Air Line—The Macon* and
Brunswick Bonds.
[From an Occasional Gorresponrlent of the
Chronicle and Sentinel.]
Atlanta, Ga., December 23, 1874.
The recent railroad meeting held in
Macon, and the action taken by the com
panies which composed it, is attracting
mnch attention here and elsewhere.
The railroad question is also being very
folly discussed. In the face of the facts
presented, no one attempts to deny that
the railroads of. the South, .and es
pecially those of the State of Geor
gia, are * losing money. There is
reason to believe that not a single line
has earned a dividend upon its stock du
ring the past six months. The only divi
dends declared will be by the South
western and Augusta and Savannah
Railroads, and both of these will be paid
in accordance with the contracts by
which those companies were leased to
the Central. The same causes which
have so seriously affected every other in
dustry have also injured railway corpo
rations. In addition to these, most of
the lines have been subjected to severe
and ruinous competition. In order to
remedy the evil as far as possible
the Macon meeting was called. Of its
action you have been already advised.
An increase of rates has been agreed
npon and nnder the plan adopted will
be adhered to by the companies in in
terest, which comprise nearly all the
lines between St. Louis and Norfolk and
represent ODe hundred millions of capi
tal. The pooling system was hit upon
as the only plan by which to prevent
underbidding. This is a perfectly simple
and, I suppose, satisfactory arrangement
—to the railroads, if not to the public.
By it the earnings of all the roads will
be “pooled”—that is put in a com
mon fund—and then divided pro rata
among the combination. Under this ar
rangement it makes no difierence wheth
er a railroad hauls a bag of cotton or
not. It will get its pro rata of the earn
ings of the others. This pro rata is
regulated by the length of a road, its
facilities for doing business and its loca
tion—a trunk line like the Geor
gia, the Central or the Western and
Atlantic getting a much larger propor
tion than the Port Royal or Macon and
Augusta. This system will greatly in
crease the earnings of all the companies,
though it is evident that the cream of
this season’s business is gone. Had
such an arrangement been made in Oc
tober instead of December, the Georgia
and Central might have given their
stockholders a dividend for a Christmas
present instead of a balance sheet with
the figures all on the wrong side of the
ledger. With regard to the recent add,
I think, unwise and unjust attempt to
tax railways with charter exemptions,the
railroads seem less alarmed than tbe
outsiders imagine. They will, of course,
fight the question in the Courts as long
as there is a Court to which they can re
sort. But should the cases be ultimate
ly and finally decided against them, they
will save themselves from loss by the
adoption of a very simple and equally
effectual expedient: An advance in
rates will be made sufficient to
cover the tax, and the dear ‘public
will be the only losers by a measure de
signed for their protection. I think that
the people will soon be convinced of the
folly as well as injustice of the warfare
waged indiscriminately against all rail
way corporations by men who think
•they touch a popular chord when they
denounce “chartered monopolies,” and
declare the rights of the people endan
gered by allowing railroad companies to
manage their own business.
The Texas Pacific.
A story is told here concerning Tom
Scott’s Texas Pacific Railroad scheme,
which, if true, and of its truth I think
there is little doubt, shows that even the
shrewdest and most sagacious men may
be over-reached occasionally. When
Mr. Scott commenced work on his
mammoth job eighteen months or two
years ago every one saw a fortune ahead
and every one was anxious to become in
terested in the undertaking. It was in the
national ‘ ‘flush times” when railways were
being built all over the country, whether
they were needed or not, and without
the builders putting scarcely any money
in the enterprises. They were con
structed wholly upon an atmospheric
basis. Glowing prospectuses were pub
lished, first, second and third mortgage
bonds were issued, and, as they
promised a high rate of interest, and
could be purchased at a considerable
discount, found ready sale among the
capitalists of London and Frankfort.
After awhile came Government subsidies,
liberally supplied, which made the com
pletion"of the new roads a certainty Col.
Scott had built other roads-in this way,
and.he had reason to expect that the plan
would work well with the Texas Pacific.
It was never in contemplation to call in,
at the outside, more than 20 per cent, of
the subscribed stock. The remainder of
the money was to come' from the sale of
bonds and land grants and from Govern
ment subsidies. It was reasonably ex
pected that the road—in this instance a
necessity and certain to do a good busi
ness when completed—would pay a fair
dividend on the par value of the stock,
and a very handsome profit on the real
amount invested. For instance, if the
road paid seven per cent, on the nomi
nal it would yield fully thirty-five per
cent, upon the real capital—a pretty
per cent., which even the re-enactment
of the usury law could not disturb. In
order, I suppose, to keep out the little
fish, who might prove troublesome, Col.
Scott put his shares at $250,000 each—
a figure which placed them beyond the
reach of ordinary mortals. As a special
favor to the lessees of the Western and
Atlantic Railroad and on account, I sup
pose, of the connection of the Secretary
of the Interior with both enterprises,
the gentlemen composing the lease
company were allowed to divide a shar9
among them. Of course the allotments
did not go beggiDg. The lessees
saw a good thing in them and
naturally desired a participation in
good things. In this they were
not to blame. Very few of us, able to
raise the twenty per cent., would have
rejected the offer. A few of the les
sees, however, did—not because they
saw any wrong in the operation—for
there was none—bnt because they were
afraid to assume even a possible liabili
ty of such magnitude. Gov. Brown, Mr.
Grant and others, I am told, partook
largely of the tempting dish. Col.
Scott went to Europe with his bonds;
Mr. Gabbett was ahead of him and had
staggered Europe a little by the size of
his demands, though his mission was
successful; the panic, precipitated by
the bursting of the Northern Pacific
bubble, followed him; his appeals
could not make the Englishmen and
Germans unbutton their breeches
pockets; and he came home to find
that Congress had been frightened
from the subsidy business. Under the
circumstances the twenty per cent, ar
rangement had to be abandoned.
Installment after installment was paid
until 85 per cent, had been called in.
Now I am told the other 15 has been de
manded, and when this has been col
lected the stock will be paid up in full.
One can readily imagine the agony which
each successive call has occasioned and
how different the investment appears
now from what it did two years ago.
“ The greatest clerks are not the wisest
men ” —the best financiers are occasion
ally scorched.
State House Notes—Richmond Taxes.
Every one in the State House is busily
engaged preparing for the approaching
session of the Legislature. The Treas
urer and Comptroller-General are at
work Upon their reports, and the Gov
ernor has commenced the preparation of,
his message. The interior of the Capi
tol is undergoing painting and repairs,
in order that the ricketty old man-trap
may be made as comfortable as possible
for the law-givers this Winter. The mes
sage, it is said, will contain some import
ant information and recommendations
and will treat of one matter of the
gravest movement. Of the nature of
the coming sensation every one, save
the posted and reticent few, seems igno
rant, and we must contain our souls in
patience until the bombshell explodes.
We shall not have long to wait, and in
the meantime the newspaper editors
may amuse themselves guessing the rid
dle. Your Richmond county readers
will be glad to learn that their tax offi
cers are spoken of in the highest terms
by the Treasurer and Comptroller.—
Captain Joses says that Mr. Bohleb,
Tax Collector of Richmond, is one of
the best collectors in the State, and the
best of those who hold office in the
wealthy counties. He does his work
faithfully and promptly— sending on
the money as rapidly as it is collected,
and assisting the Treasury at a time
when it most needs assistance. When
the collection of ' the taxes commences
the creditors of the State send in their
bills and expect payment, and fnnds
are greatly needed. _ The collectors of
many of the counties do not remit
until late in the season, and by their de
lay cause the State much embarrass
ment and annoyance. Mr. BoHnEB sends
the money which he collects as fast as
received, and has earned a fine reputa
tion in the departments. Most of the
collectors think to jnake themselves
popular by indulgences, which they have
no right to give. Mr. Bohlkb has shown
that an officer can be efficient and popu
lar also. Captain Jobes and Colonels
Goldsmith and Rkxfboe are as mnch
pleased at the renomination of Mr.
Bohler and Colonel Wilson as are any
of their friends in Richmond county.
Colonel Wilson’s office brings him in
contact only with the Comptroller’s
office, and the officials of that depart
ment loudly sing his praises. He has
greatly increased the digest since his
term of office commenced, sees to it that
all property is returned at a fair valua
tion, and does his work neatly and with
dispatch. The term of office of the Re
ceiver and Collector should be four in
stead of two years.
Macon and Brunswick Bonds.
Another bond complication will come
before the Legislature for adjudication.
The State endorsed bonds of the Macon
and Brunswick Railroad were investiga
ted by the Bond Committee of 1871-'72
and the then facts reported without rec
ommendation. Subsequently a joint res
olution was adopted end approved recog
nizing the validity of the endorsement.
The State has since treated the endorse
ment aa binding, and when the company
failed to pay the interest, a few months
since, seized the road and now holds it
as its property. Bnt it is said that when
the Governor visited Macon, a week or
two ago, an examination of the books
disclosed two facts : (1) That sufficient
stock had not been subscribed, to meet
the requirements of the Constitntion,
when the bonds were endorsed; and (2)
that the proceeds arising from the nego
tiation of the bonds were not properly
applied. This discovery is thought to
have caused the postponement of the
sale, which the Governor deemed it his
duty to put off until an investigation
conld be had by the General Assembly.
Of canrse these statements are not given
as facts, but as current reports. I think,
however, that there is foundation for
them and that the subject will be a
prominent feature of the message.
The Elberton Air Line.
Col. Gordon Gaiedner, formerly of
Angnsta, bnt now of Macon, passed
through Atlanta recently. He is the
engineer of the Elberton Air Line Rail
way—running, or designed to rup, from
Elberton to Tocoa City on the Air Line
Road—and is very sanguine of the suc
cess of that enterprise. Half the dis
tance twenty-five miles has been
graded at a cost of twenty-one thousand
dollars, and the remainder of the grad-
ing can be done at equally low rates.
The road follows the crest of a ridge
which is almost as level’ as a
parlor floor, crosses no water
courses and can be graded for
less than one thousand dollars per mile.
The money for the work done has been
paid and the company owes nothing.
It will soon commence track laying, and
the engineer expects to have the line in
running order by next Fall. The iron
will be purchased with bonds which an
iron company has already agreed to take
at ninety cents on the dollar. The El
bert people are anxious to have the
Savannah Valley Road built from Au
gusta to Elberton, so as to connect with
the new line, and this policy will be
doubtless urged npon the management
of the Hartwell road.
The Anderson Suicide.
The suicide of Colonel Samuel J. An
derson has been the nine days wonder
in Atlanta. As usual, public opinion is
divided on General Toombs’ connection
with the tragedy. Some say that he was
the dead man’s benefactor; that he had
given him a nominal situation solely for
the purpose of extending to him charity,
and that Anderson had drawn upon him
for more money than he was entitled to
receive. Others maintain that Ander
son considered his place a permanent
situation, and that he should have been
notified, when the last draft was paid that
no more would be honored, and that his
employment was at an end. Whatever
the causes, it is certain that there is no
more deliberate case of self-murder on
record, and that no man ever feared
death less than this brilliant but unfor
tunate man. Becky Sharp.
BISHOP GROSS ON PAPAL INFAL
LIBILITY.
[From the N. Y. Herald.]
Savannah, Ga., December 14, 1874.
J. Gordon Bennett, Esq.:
Dear Sir —Your note of the sth ult.
came dvny to hand. lam just now too
much engaged with the affairs of my
diocese to have time for an elaborate
discussion of the subject to which you
refer. Our Saviour has given us the
rule that we should “render to Csosar
the things that are Caesar’s, and to God
the things that are God’s.” We must,
therefore, give to God all that belongs
to Him, and to the civil government all
that belongs to it. But may not Cmsar
from time to time demand for himself
that which belongs to God ? Have poli
ticians been so pure and enlightened as
never to ask but for those things which
belong to Caesar ? Have they not often
sought for themselves that which be
longs only to God ? History tells us
that kings and governments have often
gone out of the sphere ascribed to them
by the Almighty and claimed things
which clearly belonged to God. This
our own Federal Constitution recogni
zes in declaring unconstitutional any
law infringing <sn the conscience of
the people. While we must give to the
State all that belongs to it, still, when it
asks of us what belongs to God only, we
must say with the apostles, “If it be
just in the sight of God to hear ye rath
er than God, judge ye.” Bnt in such a
crisis who is to tell us what are the
things which belong to God ? Not Cae
sar, not the State ; for they never re
ceived any commission from Heaven to
tell us what are the things of God. But
the Church of Christ has received thu
commission to teach all nations, and has
the divine promise that the gates of hell
shall not prevail against her. The
Church is Christ’s own bride. She is
not a miserable slattern that is always
needing reformation; so despicable that
she is every now and then being seduced
until some glorious reformer rises up to
rebuke her for her licentiousness. Such
a bride would not be worthy of a re
spectable man, much less of Jesus Christ.
But “she is a glorious church, not hav
ing spot or wrinkle nor any such thing.”
Not "only the Paraclete, the spirit of
truth, is to dwell with her all days, but
Christ himself has promised to abide
with her until the end of time. In the
church, therefore, the spotless bride' of
Christ, we Catholics have one who will
and can infallibly teach all nations what
are the things of God.
Thus the church teaches her children
that in all things belonging to the civil
order they must give to the Govern
ment the proper reverence and obedi
ence; for they are “the things of Caesar. ”
And in questions concerning conscience
she is there to tell her children how far
Caesar may go without usurping to him
self the things that are God’s. She
thus on the one hand provides good sub
jects to the State, and on the other
avoids the rock of anarchy ’which would
result from allowing eveiy man, woman
and child to be the judge whether or
not the enactments of the State clash
with the duties owing by the individual
to his God. She, the bride of Christ,
“holy and without blemish,” cannot
lead us astray; for Christ, loving her
even as a husband loves his wife, is con
sequently willing to protect her, and He
is able to do so, for He is the Son to
whom it hath been said: “Thy throne,
O God, is for ever and ever.” In the
lapse of ages Caesar, the State, has often
demanded for himself what belongs to
God. And because the children of the
church, unwilling to give to Caesar the
things that are God’s, reply to such de
mands of Caesar, “If it be just in the
sight of God to hear ye rather than
God, judge ye,” the same old accusation
all the way down from Nero and Diocle
tian to the Robespierres, Victor Em
manuels, Bismarcks and the Parisian
Communists of modern times is brought
up that the Catholics are not loyal
enough to the civil government.
The action of Mr. Gladstone, there
fore, does not surprise us Catholics. It
is nothing new. It is only the tried
old “ no popery” ory, which has more
than once resounded through England,
sending a pions shiver to the heart of
sturdy John Bull. We Catholics in
America, who are somewhat acquainted
with the immaculate loyalty of politi
cians, regard Mr. Gladstone’s action as
merely the frantic effort of a broken
down politician to recover office. I am
not of the number of those who think
that the same howl may not be raised
in this country. America seems to suf
fer from periodical attacks of the no
popery distemper. The present, indeed,
seems to be a favorable moment. The
negro question being now worn thread
bare, an immense number of virtuous
politicians have been suddenly left in a
most distressing want of themes npon
which to warn Americans of the dangers
threatening the liberties of onr Union.
What a stroke of luck, therefore, would
this question of infallibility prove to
those most unselfish patriots who, like
Mr. Gladstone, are bo willing to accept
office for their country’s good if they
conld bnt stir up the ghost of another
"Know Nothibg crusade against Catho
lics, and thus ride once more into power.
Yours, Ac.,
+W. H. Gross, Bishop of Savannah.
How to Keep a Situation.—Be ready
to throw in an odd half hour or an hour’s
time when it will be an accommodation,
and don’t seem to make a merit of it.
Do it heartily. Though not a word be
said, your employer will make a note of
it. Make yourself irdispensable to him,
and he will lose many of the opposite
kind before he will part with you. Those
young men who watch the clock the very
second their hour is np—who leave, bo
matter what state the work may be in,
at precisely the instant —who calculate
the extra amount they can slight their
work and yet not get reproved—who are
lavish of their employer’s goods—will
always be first to receive notice, "when
times are dull, that their services are no
longer required.
IMMIGRATION.
Editors Chronicle and Sentinel:
A recent trip through several counties
in Middle Georgia more than ever con
vinces me that the most urgent neces
sity is upon our State and people to
speedily organize for the introduction
of the best class of European farmers,
dairymen, herdsmen, spinners, miners
and artisans.
Georgia presents such inducements
and attractions that to be seen by the
stranger is to carry conviction to the
most skeptical. Nearness to the harbors
and markets of the great Atlantic, with
a soil and climate uneqnaled, and with
water power to spin a dozen times her
cotton crop, we claim for her pre emi
nence over her Southern sisters and a
superiority in all the attractions of all
the Western States combined.
The Western Grangers are moving to
bring in population to their States.
Cannot onr Grangers form societies, sub
scribe lands and appoint agents to go to
Europe to present the claims of their
particular sections? Let a move be
made on our Legislature and a subsidy
be voted' to some good responsible
steamship company to bring over
monthly such emigrants as may be of
fered to the line. Bring them free and
give them lands at nominal prices, or
if need be, outright. Get them here and
then treat them right.
“ The Bulletin notes the effects of to
Grangers to stimulate immigration the
their unoccupied lands on the Pacific
ooast. By the means which they have
adopted, it says, it is believed that, ere
long at least one hundred thousand im
migrants of the most desirable class can
be induced to come as permanent set
tlers to the Pacific coast. Any plan
which proposes to give anew- country
the benefit of a resident population of
this class deserves encouragement; and
if the Grangers of the Mississippi States
would turn their energies in a similar di
rection, we have no doubt, the editor
says, it would be productive of results
infinitely more profitable than any that
are likely to enure from unfriendly dem
onstrations upon the great railway inter
ests.” . Georgia.
EDWIN BOOTH’S LOSS.
His Past Good Fortune and Present
Wreck —Tne Home of tbe Great
Tragedian.
[N. Y. Letter, Dec. 11, to Troy Times.]
Napoleon culminated at forty-five,
when his progress was checked by
Waterloo. Booth has anticipated that
age, and has reached ruin at forty.
Seldom have any of the sons of genius
traveled with equal rapidity the road to
misfortune. Churchill was, as Byron
said, “ the comet of a season,” but this
was a figure of speech. What Churchill
was in the literature of a past century,
Booth has been in the drama of the
present age. Churchill culminated and
died at thirty-three. Booth was just
that age when he reached the highest
position, and had he died at that time,
his genius would not have been ob
scured by the misery which has recently
fallen on him. At the age of thirty
three Booth had no equhl in the drama
tic world. Asa performer he enchanted
the pqblic, and criticism only became
eloquent in his praise. For one hun
dred successive nights he appeared in
this city as Hamlet, his fee being $3,000
a week, and when the role was concluded
and the full century was completed, a
gold medal was presented amid the ap
plause of a crowded house. Booth was
then considered worth a half million ;
now he is a bankrupt. His beautiful
seat at Long Branch has gone in the
general wreck; he has impoverished
his friends ; his theatre is out 6f his
hands ; and all that is left is the portion
reoeived with his wife and the earnings
of last year’s itineracy.
THE THEATRE.
The scene of his ruin is corner of
Sixth avenue and Twenty-third street.
It is of enormous size, is built without
regard to cost, and being of Concord
granite, forms an imposing feature in
our architecture. It was built with a
purpose of exhibiting the best of Sliaks
peare’s dramas, and this was done with
all the enthusiasm genius of the
great tragedian. Notwithstanding the
artistic show and the talent displayed,
the scheme was a failure, and the
theatre has of late been devoted to melo
drama and farce. “Rip Van Winkle”
survives “Hamlet.” This fate has fol
lowed almost all attempts to restore tbe
drama to classic dignity, and Booth
might have learned from the past, were
it not impossible for an enthusiast to
learn by aught save his own experience.
Even Garrick referred to it in one of his
own prologues, and the lesson thus
taught a century ago has been recently
repeated with impressive force :
“Sacred to Shalsspeare was the spot designed
To pierce the heart and harmonize the mind ;
But if an empty house —the actors curse —
Show us our Lears and Hamlet’s losing force,
Unwilling we must change the noble scene,
And in our turn present you Harlequin.
If want comes on importance must retreat
Our first great ruling passion is—to eat.”
When the theatre was finished, Booth
, found himself in debt a half million.
For three seasons he endeavored to keep
up the Skaksperian -dramas, and he pro
duced some of them with a grandeur of
stylo which has never been equaled in
England or America. It cost $50,000 to
get up King John, and as much more for
Hamlet. No wonder the theatre failed.
SINCE THE FAILURE.
After the failure the property went un
der the care of the tragedian’s brother,
Junius Brutus Booth, who is much more
of a business man. He is by profession
an actor, but is so indifferent in histri
onic genius that he is content to serve
as a manager, in which department he
has had great success. He now owns
one-half of tbe Boston Theatre, which
is a valuable property. Under his ad
vice the theatre constructed by his
brother was leased to Jarrett & Palmer,
who have plenty of capital and are able
to pay a rent of SI,OOO per week. Booth
went starring through the conntry, and
had brilliant success, but it was evident
that he did not like this system. It was
hardly the thing for one who had held
so brilliant a position, and then he could
not adapt himself to the inconveniences
of small theatres. When last season
closed he returned to his residence, and
there he has remained, declining all
efforts to bring him again before the
public.
a tragedian’s home.
In Connecticut, and not far from this
city, is a small stream called the Coscob
river, which is crossed by a railway
bridge. Here is a fine mansion, built
by the late Charles M. Barros, author of
the Black Crook. Barras died in a very
shocking manner. It is well known that
since the Nowalk calamity Connecticut
requires railway trains to halt before
crossing a bridge. Barras was in the
habit of using this halt as an opportu
nity for alighting from the train, which,
if one is careful, can easily be done with
safety One evening, however, he was
engaged in conversation when the train
reached the bridge, and lost his best op
portunity, but being intent on getting
off, he stepped while the train was in
motion, little thinking that the bridge
had no floor. The result was that he
fell between tbe tracks a distance of 20
feet, reaching a rocky bottom. Thus
died the author of “Black Crook,” leav
ing an estate worth SIOO,OOO. He had
no wife or children, and it went to a
pair of brothers, neither of whom he
had seen in many years and for whom
he cared but little. The Barras mansion
was purchased by Booth. As his wife
(formerly Miss McVicker, of Chicago,)
has a wealthy father, there could be
no difficulty in obtaining a home, and
there tbe tragedian remains. It was
supposed that he would either take a
starring tour this Winter or appear on
the boards of the metropolis, but the
public has been disappointed. He could
fill the largest of our houses with an ad
miring audience, and his neglect to im
prove such an opportunity is a matter of
surprise to those who do not understand
the reason. I can not with propriety
speak on this point, except to repeat a
hint that Booth’s troubles have impaired
his mind, and that there is danger of
his sharing the fate of Hamlet. Every
one will hope that this be not the case,
bnt nothing short of his reappearance
on the stage will abate the suspicion
that his retirement is dne to such a
cause. The public now calls for Booth.
NEW YORK ITEMS.
New York, December 24. -Agents of
the South Carolina hope,with fair weath
er, thaPthe vessel will soon be afloat.
They say the steamer is not damaged.
* * The can-can women were released.
The manager promised not to repeat,
and was held in five hundred dollars’
bail. * * Bnt little business was done
at the Stock Exchange to-day, the time
being given np to such sportive demon
strations as are usually indulged, m by
the brokers the day before Christmas.
The usual programme was, # however,
varied, to-day, by hiring a colored man
to personate the King of the Sandwich
Islands, and taking flim into the Ex
change and giving him a mock recep
tion. * * In the case of Josephine
Mansfield against the executors of James
Fisk, for payment on two notes amount
ing to $20,500, payable to plaintiff in
1868 by Fisk, the jury to-day gave a ver
dict for Manfield, with interest.
It is estimated that the “hide haul
ers of Kansas, Texas, Colorado, and
Southern Nebraska kill 50,000 buffalo
each year for the Bkins alone; that the
Indians kill three times that number,
and that perhaps 10,000 more are killed
by sportsmen and those pioneers who
depend on the buffalo for their Winter
meat. Thus we have the enormous fig
ure of 210,000. as the annual slaughter.
THE STOLEN CHILD.
Charlie Ross Still Alive—Mysterious
Outirivinjfa—lira. Mosher’s Story of
Her Lite.
The New York and Philadelphia police
are still actively pursning every cine that
can be ascertained as to the whereabouts
of the Ross child, but with a want of
success that seems to prove that the kill
ing t>f the burglars has deepened rather
than dissipated the mystery that covers
up the case.
THE nmr.n STILL LIVING.
Mr. Cnilds, of the Philadelphia Led
ger, who has been in New York aiding
in the search, says : “One of the very
few satisfactory results of the searching
inquiries made by the Philadelphia par
ty who spent four nights and days at
the work last week in New York, was to
make it clear that the child was living a
few hours before the two brigands were
killed. This does not refer to what
Dorglass said while he was gasping in
the throes of death, but to other con
yincing information independant of that,
and as conclusive as any circumstantial
evidence, or anything short of actual
visible proof can be. Either the child
was living on Saturday, December 12th,
or else the brigands did not know any
thing to the contrary at that time. If
we were at liberty to place the testimony
which warrants this belief before the
public, it would be found to be a full
justification of the foregoing statement,
but the particulars cannot be published
without the risk of defeating the chance
that further valuable information may
be obtained from the same source. The
readers of the Ledger, of course, under
stand that we are not in the habit of in
dulging in editorial statements without
sufficient voucher for all that is said,
whether the statement be made upon
positive knowledge, or upon convincing
reasons for belief; so we repeat that
there has never been any reason to be
lieve that Charlie Ross is not living, and
that there are, on the coutrary, convinc
ing reasons for the belief that he was
living on Saturday night, December 12tli,
and there is no evidence that any harm
has come to him since that time.”
A MYSTERIOUS MAN AT THE MORGUE.
The following from the Herald, to
some extent, may be regarded as con
firming the belief that the police have
assurances that the abducted boy is still
living : When Douglass’ sister visited
. the Brooklyn Morgue she was accom
panied by a quiet, reserved sort of a
man, who was rathhr undersized and
wore a red moustache and side whiskers.
On Friday, when the undertaker arrived
to prepare the bodies_for burial, this
man was also present. He seemed a re
ticent, quiek-witted man, and especially
anxious to avoid meeting any newspaper
reporter. During a conversation be
tween the undertaker and Mr. Maguire,
the lorrner remarked that Charlie Ross
was alive and well, and that he would
not be surprised to hear of the recovery
of the missing boy before sundown that
day (Friday), and that by Sunday at the
farthest Charlie Ross would be in the
keepingof Superintendent Walling. Mr.
Maguire then asked what was the au
thority for making such a statement,
when the red-whiskered unknown man
at once gave the following information:
I saw Douglass last Friday and advised
him to mend his ways and get an honest
living. He then seemed to be penitent,
admitted that he had stolen the child,
and said that he would make a full con
fession and reform, if his safety could
be assured. This man also said he be
lieved that if Douglass hatf lived a week
longer the child would have been re
stored to its parents, with a full history
of the kidnapping. To questions put
by Maguire, the man said he lived in
New Jersey and asked the way to Ful
ton Ferry. Being watched, however,
he was seen to enter a street car going
to Green Point, which is somewhat sig
nificant, as there Douglass’ headquar
ters have been for some months. It is
supposed by some that this mysterious
individual, who would give no name,
was closely connected with Douglass.
MRS. mosier’s statements.
Mrs. Mosher, the wife of the dead
burglar, it is understood, is now in the
employ of the police, and in search of
the lost boy. To the reporter of a New
York paper she has given a long account
of her life since her marriage to Mosher,
which took place when she was but fif
teen years of age, much to the disap
proval of her father, who, though he has
given her shelter in her destitution and
while Mosher was in the penitentiary,
has never spoken to her or allowed her
to address him since the marriage. Ac
cording to Mrs. Mosher, her husband,
notwithstanding his bad character ami
hard life, was always lnnd to her and to
her children. Here is a queer picture
of the dead burglar: “Mosher was a
man who never said much about his
business to any one. He never had any
companions but his own family and
Douglass—that is, since I have been his
wife. He spent all the time he could
with his children and me, and when
he was at home it was the children
all the time. He never smoked a
cigar nor took a drink of anything.
He had no rendezvous or hanging out
places, and those who say he had con
found him with someone else or they
don’t know him. He was fond of read
ing, and though not a man who could
write well, or, may be, spell right, was
well informed. He knew the Bible
through and through, and could argue
and talk on it with any • one. He was
very clever in making things, and often
spent hours explaining to me matters I,
of course, did not understand about
mechanical machines. He was one of
the kindest-hearted men you could meet,
and that is one reason that makes the
present charge against him so extraor
dinary. I don’lj think he would hurt a
dog. If he saw one in the street with a
sore leg he would take it up in his arms
and carry it to some place where no one
could injure it. When he came into the
house, if he heard a child crying,
whether it was his own or,somebody
else’a, he would take it up and try to
please it. He was very fond of children,
and thought the world of his own. He
lost two, and they were a loss to him,
though he was always a poor man. Yes,
we were always poor, and if he was a
very bad man he never made much by
it. It has always been a hard struggle
with us; but as long as he and me had
enough to eat there was no complaint.
If he had been a rich man he would
have been looked up to by all who would
know him, and, as it was, those who
were brought near enough to him liked
him.”
SHE BELIEVES MOSHER STOLE CHARLIE
Rosa.
After telling of her varions wander
ings with her husband, their frequent
changes of residences, and final settle
ment in Philadelphia, Mrs. Mosher said :
“ Mosher would be the last man I should
expect to hear of interfering with an
other man’s child: He was always fond
of his own children, and was very kind
for a man to all children. I first heard
of the Boss case from outside parties,
but from what I learned since and what
t know now I am sorry to be obliged to
confess that I think he was one of the
men who took the child. Where the
boy is I don’t know ; I wish I did. His
mother should soon have him. If I lost
one of my little sons I could not suffer
more than I have since I believed my
husband took that one. I would wil
lingly give one of mine to restore to
Mrs. Boss her child, if that would do it.
I never knew anything about it until
some suspicions of late, and what I have
communicated to Superintendent Wall
ing. He knows all I ever heard or sus
pected, and I only hope any information
I can get for him will enable him to find
the child.”
Life of Capt. Joseph Fry, the Cuban
Martyr.— A Faithful Eecord of His
Bemarkable Career from Childhood to
the Time of His Heroic Death at the
Hands of Spanish Executioners. 585
Pages, 10 Full Page Illustrations.
Hartford, Conn. Published by the J.
B. Bcbk Publishing Cos.
They who believe that in this corrupt,
money-getting and cruel age, all indi
vidual virtue has fled, and that the old
ages of the heroism of a great manhood
only live in song, would profit by peru
sing the life of the noble Fry; and they
who feel how priceless is a virtuous and
consistent life, will thank the authoress
of this charming biography. This book
is as refreshing, in its simple, easy, un
affected style, as anything to be found in
the line of biography, and its high moral
tone cannot be too much praised. A
worthy subject fell into worthy hands
for treatment; and the friends of Cap
tain Fry cannot help but feel grateful to
Mrs. Walker for the devotion she has
shown for his memory. The living
hero’s admirers were not limited by his
large acquaintanceship, for his honora
ble fame had won him the praises of
strangers to his person. But the throng
of the dead hero and martyr’s admirers
will increase as the yeas roll along and
larger numbers become acquainted with
his majestic life through the biographi
cal pages of the authoress of the book
of which we now write. We hope the
work will have a sale commensurate with
the virtues, the lofty honor and world
wide benevolence of Captain Fry. The
chief present object of its publication—
the benefit of Captain Fry’s unfortunate
family—ought to be rewarded by an ex
tensive demand for the work. Mr. J.
E. Boacb, the agert, is now canvassing
this city for the above named work. He
deserves a liberal patronage.
In San Francisco, a prominent lawyer
was shot fatally by a female client. It
:■ believed the woman is insane.
Bev. James Walker, formerly Presi
dent of Harvard College, is dead—aged
eighty.
$300,000,000.
Tremendous Discoveries of Ore in the
Great Comstock Lodge—A Mountain
of Silver.
[Corresponlance San Francisco Chronicle.]
Virginia, Nev., December 6. —At last
the great “ bulge,” the true heart of
world-famous Comstock silver lode, would
seem to have been reached. As far as
explored, it lies iu the Consolidated Vir
ginia, California and Ophir claims. In
all three of these* mines have been de
veloped marvelously rich bodies—won
derful masses of sulphuret and chloride
ores. We have said “ bodies,” but there
is in reality but one body—one immense
bonanza, chimney, or whatever else we
may choose to call it—one huge mass of
ore extending all the way from the Con
solidated Virginia through the Califor
nia into the Ophir, and no one knows
how much further; nor does any one
know how much of its height or width,
and nothing at all of its depth. As to
its length, we know something definite,
viz : that it extends 400 feet through the
Consolidated Virginia, and undoubtedly
traverses the entire length (600 feet) of
the California, as it has been discovered
in the Ophir mine, which adjoins the
California on the north. How far it ex
tends into the Ophir ground, time and
the honest miner can only determine.
It is conceded, however, that the ore
body cannot be less than 1,200 feet in
length.
THE GREAT FISSURE
In which this huge bonanza of ore rests
appears to have expanded at this partic
ular point in the course of the vein, in
order to form for it a cradle suited to its
giant proportions. Measuring across
from the true “west country” rock, the
distance is from 1,000 to 1,200 feet. The
space between the east and west country
rocks is the fissure in which lies the
body of the ore, which of late has so
startled and bewildered all the “ ex
perts ” and the whole “milling world”
of the Pacific coast. The great fissure
is filled with what our mining men call
“ vein matter”—gangue—a mixture of
quartz, clay and porpliy. Here, in the
midst of this vein matter or gangue,
which fills the vast fissure from side to
side, has formed and is now found the
huge mass of ore which runs through the
three mines mentioned above. To pro
duce a body of such great size, an im
mense bed of vein matter was required—
you cannot rear a whale iu a trout brook.
For several months the Consolidated
Virginia Company have been at work in
the crest of
THIS SUBTERRANEAN SILVER MOUNTAIN,
And the Opliir company have been goug
ing into it for a shorter period of time,
while the California folks have but just
begun to feel their way into its western
slope at two or three points. Never,
until lately, have the Consolidated Vir
ginia Company seemed to get fairly into
the ridge of the mountain—to penetrate
a point where they could begin to see
what they were working upon, although
iu their upper levees they have opened
great breadths of wonderfully rich ore.
THE RICHEST MINERAL DISCOVERY IN HIS
TORY.
There can be no doubt that the body
of ore now just being opened in the
three mines under consideration is un
doubtedly the largest and richest the
world ever saw. In the California the
width will doubtless prove to be im
mense ; just bow wide it may be found,
uo one can say, and the experts them
selves fear to risk an opinion, but they
hint at all the way from 200 to 400 feet.
The length, as we all know, is GOO feet.
From the developments now being made
at each end of the mine, we up here are
beginning to fear that some where near
the centre it will be found to be but a
solid mountain mass of pure silver.
THE BOSS OF IT ALL.
[San Francisco Chronicle.]
A Chronicle reporter called upon Mr.
Sharon last evening. In reply to a lead
ing question, Mr. Sharon said: “Of
course it is not possible for any one to
look into the bowels of the earth, and
consequently I can’t pretend to exact
ness. The best judges, however, say
that its value is fabulous. Superinten
dent Bequa, of the Ohollar, and Super
intendent Smith, of the Belcher, set
down the bonanza at double the size of
that found in the Crown Point and Bel
cher and three times as rich.”
Reporter—Have you any notion what
the lead will pan out ?
Mr. Sharon—Judges place the gross
at $300,000,000, and the profits at from
$150,000,000 to $200,000,000.
In general conversation Mr. Sharon
said that he considered the discovery
the most important event in the history
of the coast. “ Its influence upon the
commercial interests of che State,” he
observed, “will be of untold value. The
miDes are owned in San Francisco, ancl
an amount of capital equal to the pres
ent assessed value of the whole city will
be brought here. Such wealth must
bring immigration, and stimulate every
department of trade.”
ROOM AT THE TOP.
To the young men annually making
their entrance upon active life, with
great ambitions, conscious capacities
and high hopes, the prospect is, in nine
ty-nine cases in a hundred, most per
plexing. They see every avenuo to pros
perity thronged with their superiors in
experience, in social advantages, and in
the possession of all the elements and
conditions of success. Every post is
occupied, every office filled, every path
crowded. Where shall they find room ?
It is related of Mr. Webster that when a
youug lawyer suggested to him that the
profession to which he had devoted
himself was overcrowded, the great man
replied : “Young man, there is always
room enough at the top.” Never was a
wiser or more suggestive word said.
There undoubtedly is always room
enough where excellence lives. Mr.'
Webster was not troubled for lack of
room. Mr. Clay anil Mr. Calhoun were
never crowded. Mr. Evarts, Mr. Cush
ing and Mr. O’Conor have plenty of
space around them. When Nealton
died in Paris lie died like Moses on the
mountain. When Yon Graefe died in
Berlin he had no neighbor at his alti
tude.
It is well, first, that all young men re
member that .nothing will do them so
much injury as quick and easy success,
and that nothing will do them so much
good as a struggle which teaches them
exactly what there is in them, educates
them gradually to its use, instructs them
in personal economy, drills them into a
patient and persistent habit of work,
and keeps them at the foot of the ladder
until they become strong enough to hold
every step they are enabled to gain.
The first years of every man’s business
or professional life are years of educa
tion. They are intended to be, in the
order of nature and Providence. Doors
do not open to a man until he is pre
pared to enter them. The man without
a wedding garment may get in surrepti
tiously, but he immediately goes out
with a ilea in his ear. We think it is
the experience of most successful men
who have watched the course of their
lives in retrospect, that whenever they
have arrived at a point where they were
thoroughly prepared to go up higher,
the door to a higher place has swnng
back of itself, and they have heard the
call to enter. The old die or voluntarily
retire for rest. The best men, who stand
ready to take their places, will succeed
to their position and its honors and
emoluments.
The young men will say that only a
few can reach the top. That is true, but
it is also true that the further from the
bottom one goes the more scattering the
neighborhood. One can fancy, for illus
tration, that every profession and every
calling is pyramidal in its living constit
uency, and that while only one man is
at the top, there are several tiers of men
below him who have plenty of elbow
room, and that it is only at the base that
mm are so thick that they pick the meat
out of one another’s teeth to keep them
from starving. If a man has no power
to get out of the rabble at the bottom,
then he is self-convicted of having
chosen a calling or profession to whose
duties he hss no adaptation.
The grand mistake that young men
make, during the first ten years of their
professional life, is in idly waiting for
their chance. They seem to forget, or
they do not know, that during those ten
years they enjoy the only leisure they
will ever have. After ten years, in the
natural course of things, they will be
absorbingly busy. There will then be
no lime for reading, culture and study.
If they do not become thoroughly
grounded in the principles and practical
details of their profession during those
years; if they do not store their minds
with useful knowledge; if they do not
pursue habits of reading and observa
tion, and social intercourse, which re
sult in culture, the question whether
they will ever rise to occupy a place
where there is room enough for them will
be decided in the negative. The young
physician and young lawyers who sit
idly in their offices, and smoke and
lounge away the time “ waiting for
something to turn up,” are by that
course fastening themselves for life to
the lower Itratum, where their struggle
for a bare livelihood is to be perpetual.
The first ten years are golden years, that
should be fil'ed with systematic reading
and observation. Everything that tends
to professional and personal excellence
should be an object of daily pursuit. To
such men the doors of success open of
themselves at last. Work seeks the best
hands, as naturally as water runs down
hill; and it never seeks the hands of a
trifler, or of one whose only recommen
dation for work is that he needs it.
Young men do not know very much any
way, and the time always comes to those
who become worthy, when they look
back with wonder upon their early good
opinion of their acquirements and them
selves.
There is another point that ought not
to be overlooked in the treatment of
this subject. Young men look about
them and see a great measure of worldly
success awarded to men without princi
ple. They see the trickster crowned
with public honors, they see the swindler
rolling in wealth, they see the sharp man,
the overreaching man, the unprincipled
man, the liar, the demagogue, the time
server, the trimmer, the scoundrel who
cunningly manages, though constantly
disobeying moral law and trampl'ng
upon social courtesy, to keep himself
out of the clutches of the legal police,
carrying off the prizes of wealth and
place. All this is a demoralizing puzzle
and a fearful temptation; and multitudes
of young men are noh strong enough to
stand before it. They ought to under
stand that in this wicked world there is
a great deal of room where there is in
tegrity. Great trusts may be sought by
scoundrels, but great trusts never seek
them; and perfect integrity is at a pre
mium even among scoundrels. There
are some trusts that they will never con
fer on each other. There are occasions
when they need the services of true
men, and they do not find them in shoals
and in the mud, but alone and in pure
water.
In the realm of eminent acquirements
and eminent integrity there is always
room enough. Let no young man of in
dustry and perfect honesty despair be
cause liis profession or calling is crowd
ed. Let him always remember that there
is room enough at the top, aud that the
question whether he is ever to reach the
.top, or rise above the crowd at the base
of tho pyramid, will be decided by the
way in which ho improves the first ten
years of his active life in securing to
himself a thorough knowledge of his pro
fession, and a sound moral and intellec
tual culture,— Dr.. J. O. Holland; Scrib
ner for Januarg.
THE CITY BY THE SEA.
[Special Correspondence Chronicle anil Sentinel.]
Charleston, December 24, 1874.
The Inferior Court.
The action taken in Columbia to
abolish the Inferior Court, which has
been an imposition on the public ever
since it was created, meets not ouly
with the hearty approval of the people
of Charleston county, but the news was
received iu the city with acclamations of
joy. The bill which now only awaits
approval was strongly opposed iu the
Senate by some of the anti-riform mem
bers, among whom Whittemore, the ca
detship broker, figured conspicuously.
This terrible tomb of fish, flesh and
fowl, who widens at the expense of tnx
payers, could not understand the neces
sity of abolishing the Court, notwith
standing the significant hints that “for
ways that are dark and for tricks that
are vain the Inferior Court was pe
culiar,” and the fact thatoue of the mo
tives for creating the Court was to bene
fit members of the “party” by investing
them with power and position.
Governor Clianberlaiu.
It will be remembered that in one of
my former letters I spike of the policy
of granting Governor Chamberlain the
charity of silence until he had acted.—
The time has come to speak. Ho has
acted and with such general satisfaction
that friends and foes aliko not only
commend his actions in the highest
terms, but are ready aud willing to
unite with him to further so praiseworthy
an undertaking. As hitherto intimated
Chamberlain is a rara avis in his party.
His attainments are rare and of the most
polished order. His ability as a lawyer
has undergone too many tests to be
further questioned and as a Republican
he is probably one of the most influenti
al in the South. Amid the frowns and
sneers of designing colleagues lie
stands firm and inflexible, and as al
ready published iu the Chronicle and
Sentinel, he has been subjected to the
threats of the bravo because he dared
to put in practice the duties incumbent
upon him. Sudli are the obstacles
which Chamberlain is called upon daily
to encounter, and as long as ho remains
faithful to his trust, Jet the press and
the public unite in his praise.
Judge Reed.
Judge J. P. Reed, who is probably no
stranger in Georgia, and who now fills
the office held by th 6 late Judge Gra
ham, paid a flying visit fo the city last
week, and received the congratulations
of a number of the most prominent
members of the Charleston bar. Judge
Reed has hitherto been an earnest sup
porter of the Democracy, and, as far as
can be ascertained, bears a spotless re
cord.
Effects of Drink.
Policeman Bunch, colored, while in a
state of intoxication, shot and severely
wounded a white policeman named John
Donahue, on last Friday night. Dona
hue was sent to arrest Bunch, who was
on duty in King street, when the latter
drew his revolver and fired five shots.
The balls which did not take effect in
Donahue’s body passed through his
clothing. Donahue is slowly recovering
and will make a statement of the affair
as soon as he is well enough. Bunch is
in. jail.
Temperance Lectures.
Edward Carswell, Esq., of Canada,
delivered two lectures under the aus
pices of the Sons of Temperance of
Charleston, before large audiences, on
Monday and Tuesday evenings last.
Carswell intersperses his lectures with
mirth and pathos, and uses many strong
arguments in favor of tetotalism. While
narrating the fatal effects of alcohol in
the United Stab s, he charges the Gene
ral Government with the responsibility.
Carswell, however, admits that there
was a period in his life when lie used to
sing “We Won’t Go Home Till Morn
ing,” and speaks from experience.
A Suit for Damages.
Several parties whose property was
damaged by the late fire at the Cham
pion Cotton Press will sue the owners of
the press for the losses sustained by
them, on the grounds that the fire origi
nated through carelessness. A petition
is also being signed to prevent the own
ers from rebuilding the presJKn that vi
cinity.
Charleston Gossip.
During the early portion of the week
Miss Ada Gray graced the stage at the
Academy of Music, and for the remain
der we have the inimitable Geo. L. Fox
in Humpty Dumpty. For Fox crowded
houses are predicted, as the Charleston
theatre-going public are willing patrons
of first class entertainments. * * The
store of the King street swindler is
closed, and
“ Not a single trace is seen,
Where he had so lately been.”
Many of the prodigals are returning
from Columbia to spend Christmas iu
the city. * * Little sneak thieves, for
whom Santa Claus lias no regard, have
made several petty raids upon store
keepers. Some of them will pass the
holidays in durance vile. * * The
weather is cloudy, but of pleasant tem
perature. Virginius.
KENTUCKY HORRORS.
Two Men Killed and One Mortally
Wounded In an Affray—And It was
All About a Dog—Best, the Murderer
of Seten Men, Still at Large.
Louisville, December 23.—A special
to the Courier Journal gives an account
of a fatal shooting affray in Mercer
county, Kentucky, yesterday, iu which
two men were killed and one mortally
wounded. A quarrel occurred in the
morning about a dog, in which Isaiah
Gobfiert shot a man named Daniels in
the leg, inflicting a flesh wound. In the
afternoon Joe Davenport, a town con
stable, assembled a posse and went to
arrest Gobhert. Upon the approach of
the posse Gobhert and a man named
Herring fired on Davenport, but without
effect. Davenport then struck Gobhert
on the head with a shovel, and Herring
shot Davenport through the body, kill
ing him instantly. Garland Davenport,
a brother of the constable, here inter
ferred and was shot and killed by Her
ring, who then escaped, and is supposed
to have come to Louisville. Gobhert’s
wound is mortal. Best, the man who
murdered the postmaster at Lancaster,
Kentucky, Monday night, is said to have
previously killed six men. The quarrel
in this instance arose out of a contro
versy in regard to the ownership of land.
The murderer is still at large.
The Louisiana Election.
New Orleans, December 24. —The re
turns as compiled to date, give the Con
servatives forty-six and the Bepublicans
forty-seven. The Conservatives have
abandoned participation in the Beturning
Board on account of arbitrary rulings ol
the majority. . . , .
To-day Mr. Arroyo sent in his resig
nation as member of the Beturning
Board. He says: “I am impelled to
adopt the present course by the rulings
of the Board in the last few days in re
turning to the Legislature as|e ected,
members who were unmistakably de
feated, rulings which, to my mind, are
so clearly partisan and unjust, defraud
ing the people of Louisiana of their
chosen representatives, that my self-re
spect will not allow me to longer retain
a saat on the board.” Arroyo’s resigna
tion was accepted, and the board went
into executive session.
A man named Columbus C. Linam
was fatally crushed between two Air
Line cars in Atlanta last Thursday.
A three thousand dollar fire in Atlanta
last Thursday evening.
FROM WASHINGTON.
Points anout the Passage of the Senate
Finance Bill.
Washington, December 23.—The Re
publican Senators who last Winter were
so widely divided upon the finance ques
tion were a unit, on the bill.. It seemed
evident that the session might last- far
into the night, if it did not continue till
morning, for Senator Sherman had given
notice that lie did not intend to give
way for an adjournment until a final dis*'
position was made "of the bill. The
Democrats fought it step by step all the
afternoon, but soon after the gas was
•lighted they seemed to become con
vinced thkt their factious opposition
would not make any breach in the Re
publican ranks, and about 7 o’clock
tho final vote was taken. The three in
dependents, Sprague, Tipton and Ham
ilton, voted with the Democrats. Sauls
bury was the only Democrat who voted
with the Republicans. It was a novel
spectacle to see Logan, Ferry, OglesSy
and Morton voting “aye” upon the
finance question with Sherman, Bchurz fcj
Anthony and Edmunds. The old di
vision in the Republican ranks upon the
finance question had entirely disap
peared. There were no inflationist Re
publicans, or contractionist Republicans,
or sectional Republicans, but the Re
publican Senators as a body voted square
ly in favor of a bill fixing a day for the
resumption of specie payments. The
Democratic Senators, with their three
Independent allies, voted with equal
unanimity against the bill, and made a
united record against a measure for spe
cie payments.
A Republican Senator remarked' after
the vote that the unity of tho vote
would do moro to consolidate the Re
publican party than anything that had
occurred for years. The most vulner
able part of the bill was the absence of
a provision for the destruction of the
redeemed legal tenders and fractional
currency. This point the hard money
Democrats especially attacked. The in
flationist Democrats of the type repre-
sented by Merrimon were bitterly op
posed to tho bill, and certainly could see
no inflation in it. Mr. Sherman insist
ed that the objections of the Democrats
were not practical, ns they could not be
properly raised for some years. The
bill will probably pass the House, but
it is not so strong in the House as iu
the Senate. *
Full Text of the Bill.
Be it enacted , etc., That the Secretary
of the Treasury is hereby authorized
and required, as rapidly as practicable,
to cause to be coiued at the mints of
the United States silver coins of denomi
nations of 10, 25 and 50 cents of stan
dard value, and to issue them in redemp
tion of an equal number and amount of
fractional currency of similar denomina
tions, or, at his discretion, he may issue
such silver coins through the mints,
sub-treasuries, public depositories, and
post offices of the United States, and,
upon'such issue, he is hereby author
ized and required to redeem an equal
amount of such fractional currency out
standing shall be redeemed.
Sec. 2. That so much of section 3524
of the Revised Statutos of the United
States as provides for a charge of one
sixth of one per centum for converting
standard gold bullion into coin is here
by -repouled, and hereafter no charge
shall be made for that service.
Sec. 3. That section 5777 of the Re
vised Statutes of the United States,
limiting the aggregate amount of tho
circulating notes of national banking
associations be, and the same is hereby,
repealed, and each existing banking as
sociation may increase its circulating
notes in accordance with tho existing
law, without respect to said aggregate
limit; and new banking associations
may be organized in accordance with the
existing law, without respect .to the ag
gregate limit; and the provisions of the
law for the withdrawal and redistribu
tion of national bank currency among
the several States aud Territories are
hereby repealed; and whenever and so
often as circulating notes shall be issued
to any such banking association, so in
creasing its capital or circulating notea,
or so newly organized as aforesaid, it
shall be the duty of the Secretary of the
Treasury to redeem tho legal tender
United States notes in excess only oi
$300,000,000 to tho amount of 80 per
centum of the sum of national bank
notes so issued to any such bauklug as
sociation as aforesaid, and to continue
such redemption as siiqli circulating
notes are issued until there shall be out
standing the sum of $300,000,000 of such
legal tender United States notes and no
more. And on and after the first day of
January, A. D., 1879, the Secretary of
the Treasury shall redeem in coin the
United States legal tender notes then
outstanding on their presentation for
redemption at the office of tho Assistant
Treasurer of the United States, in the
city of New York, in sums of not less
than fifty dollars. And to enable the
Secretary of the Treasury to prepare and
provide for the redemption in this act
authorized or required, he is authorized
to use any surplus revenues from time
to time in the Treasury, not otherwise
appropriated, and to issue, sell, aud dis
pose of, at not less than par in coin,
either of the description of bonds of the
United States described iu the net of
Congress approved July 14, 1870, en
titled, “An act to authorize the refund
ing of the national debt,” With like
privileges, and exemptions to the ex
tent necessary to .carry this act into
effect, and to use the proceeds thereof
for the purposes aforesaid. And all
provisions of law inconsistent with the
provisions of this act are hereby re
pealed.
LOUISIANA.
Moncure and Four Conservative Con
gressmen Declared Elected.
New Orleans, December 23.—The
sub-committee appointed by the Con
servatives and Democratic party, to wit
ness the canvassing and compiling of
the retnrns by the Returning Board, to
day promulgated the returns of the elec
tion held November 2, for Congressmen,
State Treasurer and members of the
Legislature, certifying under oath that
tho statements and compilation were
compiled by them from sworn duplicate
returns in their possession, and have
been by them compared with duplicates
in the possession of said Board and cor
rected thereby, and correspond to the
compilation and canvass, poll by poll
and parish. by parish, made by said
Board; and, therefore, certify and de
clare the following named persons were
duly and lawfully elected. Here follows
a list of the names of those elected,
showing tho election of four Conserva
tives and two Republican Congressmen;
the election of Moncure, Conservative,
as State Treasurer, by 4,851 majority,
and the election of 71 Conservatives and
37 Republicans to the Legislature. Car
roll parish is exclnded from the count
of the Returning Board. The Conserva
tive members to-day withdrew from the
Boatd because of its arbitaary ruling.
Mr. Arroy also withdrew, and will give
reasons to-morrow for his withdrawal.
The returns, as compiled by the Board
to date, give the Conservatives forty-six
and the Republicans forty-seven mem
bers of the House—one majority for the
Republicans. The Conservatives are
despondent and tho Republicans jubil
ant over the result.
A Last Warning.
The Conservative Sub-Committee pre
sented a protest to the Beturning Board,
in which, after renewing the arbitrary
action taken, they say : The responsi
bility for such a step—striking at the
root of our form of government, as it
does—is a grave one, and such usurpa
tion has always reacted in a terrible
manner has been adopted in
America, and this-committee trusts that
its gravity has been well weighed by
your body, as it alone must boar it, as
this committee can share no part of the
burden by either continuing its connec
tion with your body and lending a seem
ing aequicsenee by its continued pres
ence. Having exhausted by this final
protest the last means of resistance to
this revolutionary decision, as we regard
it, this committee now leaves the respon
sibility where it belongs, and completes
its duty by surrenderiug its trusts to
the constituency whom it represents and
placing before the people of the State
and Union, in its proper light, the action
of the Board and this committee, for
them to pass on as a political coart of
last resort, to judge the cause of Lou
isiana, decide the question and decree
the consequences thereof.
What Gov. McEnery Says.
New York, December 26. —Governor
McEnery, in a dispatch to the Herald
dated the 25th, says: The wrong just
perpetrated by the Beturning Board
against the people of Louisiana, and
which vitally threatens the safety and
integrity of republican institutions in
the United states, is a more crowning
infamy than the action of the Lynch Be
tuming Board; surpasses even the mid
night order of Durell, and would not be
submitted to by any free people. Be
sistance •to the national authority, rep
resented here by a large portion of the
army and a naval fleet sustaining a usur
pation and stifling the voice of the peo
ple, has never been meditated.
(Signed) John McEnery.
Adjourned.
New Orleans, December 26.—The
Returning Board adjourned subject to
the call of the President. The returns
show three Democrats and three Bepub
licans members of Congress,. The Heuse
is nearly a tie, as some Conservatives
will probably be neutral.
Eome one appropriated all the fire
wood belonging to the editot of the
Washington Qasetta the othei ; night.