Georgia Historic Newspapers

    Ctjronlcle and Scntmri.
WEDNESDAY...SEPT’BER 8, 1875.
JUDGE JOHNSON’S CHARGE.
We regard it as a most happy circum
stance that the Hon. Hebschei. Y. John
son happens to be the chief judicial offi
cer in the counties where the late at
tempt at insurrection occurred. His
charge to the grand jury was most admi
rable, and receives, as it onght to, the
approval of the people and the papers
throughout the whole country, North as
well as South. The New York Herald
styles it “a remarkable address,” and
says it commends a wisdom and modera
tion which are highly complimentary to
Judge Johnson’s judicial foresight and
fairness. The poor deluded negroes, if
they have been entrapped into a plot
against the whites, must be severely
punished; but it is highly important
that neitherprejudice nor passion should
enter into the deliberations of the grand
jury. If there was no plot there must
be no indictments, and this point Judge
Johnson took care to impress upon the
jury. .
MR. DAVIS IN MISSOURI.
In answer to an invitation to deliver
the annual address at the Jefferson
County Fair, at De Soto, Missouri, Sep
tember Bth, Mr. Davis has telegraphed
to Thos. A. Chabi.es, Secretary of the
Fair, that he hopes to be present on that
day. Colonel L. I. Rankin, a prominent
and wealthy Republican of De Soto, and
brother-in-law of ex-Governor Thos. C.
Fletcher, has tendered to the Fair
Company the hospitality of his house
for the entertainment of Mr. Davis
while at I)e Soto. The largest attend
ance ever in Southeast Missouri is ex
pected, the greatest fears being that the
gronnds will not hold the people. The
Republicans arc vieing with the Demo
crats in expressing a hospitable recep
tion to Mr. Davis.
SENATOR BAYARD.
We publish in another column this
morning the response of this distin
guished statesman at the alumni dinner
at the University of Virginia, to the
toast: “Virtue and Knowledge, the
Twin Stars of Statesmanship.” Perhaps
in no American Senator are these two
qualities more conspicuously exhibited
than in this eminent patriot, scholar
and statesman, hence the appropriate
ness of having such a toast re
sponded to by such a man. Mr. Bay
abd is one of the most finished scholars
—one of the chastest and most eloquent
writers and orators in America. Of a
truth may it be said of him, “he touches
no subject which he does not adorn,
and we cannot let this happy after-din
ner specli pass without specially com
mending it to our readers.
THE CITY OF ATLANTA,
Editorial Correspondence of the
Chroniele and Sentinel.
Atlanta, Ga., September 2, 1875.
In the early part of ’65 the writer
walked into Atlanta and found it a mass
of ruins. Shf.bman’s troops did not
leave many buildings standing. There
were some few houses and churches left
in the neighborhood of the Court House
or City Hall square, and I think a few
stores near the present site of the Union
Passenger Depot. The few buildings
that escaped the torch of the great in
cendiary were saved through the exer
tions of the late Rev. Father O’Reilly,
then pastor of the Catholic Church in
Atlanta. Colouel Luther J. Glenn was
in command of the post at the time re
ferred to. The city was in ashes and its
people scattered, having been ejected by
General Sherman before the application
of the torch. The work of destruction
was complete. Atlanta was literally
burned to the ground and desolation
brooded over the scene.
Ten years have scarcely elapsed, and
yet the city of ruins has become a city
of stately edifices, embracing splendid
stores and bandsomefirivato residences.
The desolated city has been re-built,
the deserted city has been re-peopled,
and the Atlanta of ante helium days
would not be recognized as the great
and populous city of to-day. Atlanta
is a wonderful city. Its recuperation,
its expansion, its resources, its energy
and its enterprise have been wonderful.
Iu these respects it is more like a Wes
tern than a Southern city. It grows,
and it grows, and you will find those
who affect not to know the cause of its
marvellous success. Before the war a
distinguished Georgian was asked as
to the future of Atlanta. He said
it was a growing city but he
did not see what made it
grow, as there was no apparent cause
for its growth. In roply to another
question in the same direction he said
that Atlanta might some day be a rival
of the great cities of the country; there
was no reason for its being as large as it
was then, and there was no reason why
it might not some day be as large ns
New York.
But this conversation is said to have
oocurred before the war. There are
people to-day, however, who speak of
Atlanta in the same way. Stores and
residences are behjg erected, its popu
lation is increasing, and its trade is
being extended, not only over Georgia,
but adjoining States. This remarkable
growth of a city and expansion of trade
cannot be the result of accident or blind
chance. There must be some good
oause working out such beneficial
effects for Atlanta. Its geographi
cal position makes it the receiving
and distributing point for some of the
Atlantic and Gulf States, and hence we
find it the great railroad centre of the
South. This great natural advantage
combined with the energy and enter
prise of the people are building up At
lanta. Her drummers and commercial
agents are met with in every direction.
North and South Carolina, Georgia and
Florida, Alabama and Tennessee, and
even Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas
have been invaded by the untiring
drummer, of the Gate City and the
goods and wares of Atlanta merchants
have found their way into markets
hitherto supplied by the merchants of
other cities in the States named.
Atlanta has been called a mushroom
city. It has been said that there was
no substance there, and therefore there
could be no stability. Atlanta may be
likened to a mushroom in its rapid
growth, but it has been built upon a
foundation as solid as the granite of
Stone Mountain. It is a great and
growing city, and its public spirit and
business enterprise are worthy the emu
lation of other cities in Georgia. At
lanta is no longer an experiment. It is
not a bladder that will collapse on being
squeezed by a possible financial crash.
The city and the people are there to stay
and to increase and multiply. In an
other decade Atlanta expects to have a
population equal to that of Richmond,and
there is n6 reason why this expectation
should not be realized. Houses are going
op in every direction. On this point
“Halifax” has given me some facts, which
I introduce here. The following build
ings are in process of construction:
Markham Hotel, -on Loyd street,
building and ground to be occupied by
Mr. Owens, of the National Hotel—
sloo,ooo. , , . . .
Building on Alabama street, four
-stories high, by P. & -G. T. Dodd,
wholesale grocers and commission mer
chants, building and ground— $75,000.
Building on Alabama street, three
-tries high, by W. A. Rawson, capi
? v ground and buildings—sls,ooo.
“vf 4 !. ' : ng on Alabama street, three
Hullo* ■- bv B. J. Wilson, capitalist,
stoneshign ddings—s2s,ooo.
ground and bn. -qutehall street, four
Building on V -j W. and E.
sr&sysr ft. z*
and ground—s4o,ooo. *hree
Building on Whitehall street, . |
stores two stories high, Jones Brothers,
capitalists, buildings and ground—s4o,-
000.
James Lynch, merchant, building on
Decatur street, four stores, three stories
high, buildings and gronnd— $25,000.
On Broad street, Broomiiead & Alex
ander, one store, three stories high,
building and ground—sß,ooo.
On Broad street, John Ryan, wealthy
dry goods merchant, one store, three
stories high, buildingand ground—sls,-
000.
C. C. Morris, farmer, Peters street,
cotton warehouse—s7,ooo.
A. T. Cunningham, cotton warehouse
on Alabama street and Railroad—s2s,-
000. .
Thos. Alexander, capitalist, com
munity of tenement houses, Fair street
—515,000.
W. P. Chisolm, capitalist, Alabama
street, building two stories, buildings
and ground—s7,ooo.
J. W. Sparks A Son, butchers and
grocers, Line street, building and
ground—slo,ooo.
Peter Lynch, merchant, Mitchell
street, building two stories high, build
ing and ground—sß,ooo.
Dr. W. F. Westmoreland, brown front
residence, Marietta street, building and
ground—s2s,ooo.
Eugene Giorgi, retail fruit dealer,
Marrietta street, building and ground
—55,000.
Private residences throughout the city
to amount at least of SIOO,OOO.
All the above are in process of con
struction now, besides numerous smaller
investments, varying from one to four
thousand dollars.
This shows what the capitalists of At
lanta are doing with their money. They
have faith in the future of their city,
and how better can they show it
than by erecting substantial stores and
residences for the accommodation of all
classes.
Charleston, Savannah and Augusta
merchants should not permit Atlanta to
wrest from them the trade of the coun
try tributary to their respective cities.
The merchants of Augusta must look to
their laurels, and not permit those
of Atlanta to outstrip them in the
race for commercial supremacy. There
is no reason why Atlanta merchants
should invade the territory adjacent to
Augusta, and take away from our mer
chats the trade which they have here
tofore controlled. • The merchants of
Atlanta are extending their arms in
every direction, and unless their efforts
are counteracted by the energy and en
terprise of Augusta merchants, our job
bing trade will be diverted. These
people are so audacious as to send their
drummers into the suburbs of our city,
and actually sell goods to dealers in
Thomson and Waynesboro. Under
the circumstances it behooves our peo
ple to wake up and drive these irrepres
sible Atlanta drummers back into their
own territory. There is food for reflec
tion in the astonishing growth of the
Gate City.
Political.
It is stated, on what I consider cred
ible authority, that Governor Smith
will he a candidate for re-election. He
will prove a formidable competitor for
the nomination in case it turns out that
he is a candidate. Mr. Stephens ex
pressed it that Governor Smith’s action
iu the recent threatened outbreak had
strengthened his administration in all
sections of the State. His prompt and
prudent discharge of duty has won com
mendation for Governor Smith from
many leading papers North.
It may be relied on that General Col
quitt is in the field, to stay until a Con
vention of the party decides its choice
for the nomination. General Colquitt
is a strong man with the people.
Colonel Hardeman will also stick.
This trio will lead the race in the Con
vention. Col. Hardeman has a strong
following in Southwestern and Cherokee
Georgia.
Independent candidates for the Gov
ernorship will not be received by the
people with much favor.
It is rumored that Hon. B. H. Hill
will be a candidate for Senator, but I
think this doubtful, as Mr. Norwood is
more than likely to be bis own successor
if he desires to be re-eleeted. W.
COTTON TO CHINA.
The North American says another
evidence that something can be and is
being done in the export of manufac
tures is borne in news that a Chinese
order has been received in this country
for twelve hundred bales of cotton
goods. It is a step, and a considerable
one, toward recovering the sale of Ameri
can cottons in that market, that had in
terfered seriously with the British before
the rebellion. The Chinese, as shrewd
as auy, found the cheeper American
goods more substantial than tho English
T cloths, and bought them from choice
aud for economy, and tho importation
grew. The war that broke this business
down interfered with all branches of
trade. It is important, because the
Chinese consumption is considerable
and we have comparatively few manu
factures that can be made available to
offset our enormous purchases of teas,
silks and other Chinese articles; and be
cause, now that two steamship lines are
plying on the Pacific and constantly in
creasing the Asiatic trade that centres
at San Francisco, we need to push for
ward every fabrication and exchange we
have in order to reduce the drain of
gold, silver and quicksilver and yet ena
ble us to gain upon European competi
tors.
The fact is connected with another
brought by the last steamship—that the
Chinese Government is about to open
mine? in the empire. This is probably
the practical result of the mission lately
sent to England by the Viceroy of Chihli
to procure the plant for working col
lieries aud iron mines and for smelting
and manufacturing iron according to
the latest methods. Being forced to
pay as much as SSO per ton for pig iron
sometiihes, and in proportion for coal,
the Viceroy resolved to open the mines
of coal, limestone and ironstone in
Chihli and Honan, that are high above
the neighboring couutry and can be car
ried by water muoh of the way to the
arsenal and work shops at Tientsin,
aided by a short railway to the rivers.
Experienced miners and engineers were
secured, and as there is abundant coal
near Pekin, equal to Welsh, it is be
lieved that China will soon enter upon
iron manufacture and cease from im
porting that and coal as heretofore.
At this instant, too, when China is
preparing to drop so much British trade
as is contained in the iron and coal
business, and is commencing, however
slightly, to order some manufactures
hence, our steam communication thither
has been doubled by the agreement of
the Pacific Mail witli the Occidental
Company. This agreement not only
enables the former to touch at Australia
and receive the subsides offered by
Mexico, Central aud South America, but
j it gives that increased Chinese service
that is quite sure to bring a large amount
of tea hither, and to retain the com
merce of eastern Asia with western Eu
rope, at least until the projected rail
ways through central Asia are more than
the mere idea they now are.
The Chinese activity in mining and
j metallurgy shows that there is areal and
j healthy awakening there, where existing
j supplies and evidence of greater through
centuries previous indicate abundant re-
J sources, and where labor is cheaper than
it can ever be in Europe. These con
siderations promise to reduce European
exchanges in some measures, while Eu
ropean purchases are constantly grow
ing. If, supplied with facilities for
transportation western Europe can never
cheapen, onr exelSinges can be made to
contribute, in some degree, to balance
our purchases, one of the most obsti
nate and continuing problems in com
merce will be placed in the way of set
tlement, and will be resolved in onr fa
vor. The fact noticed is small, but it is
of the right nature and occurs at the
right time. Every year will enable ns to
meet Chinese requisitions of this nature
more satisfactorily, and strengthened in
this w’V to gain in all that appertains
to iron henceforth p^i
bly to be disturbed by Ciu-T 686 **
tion, certainly by the catting off of mo.,
and more of the demand that empire has
made on Europe, and by the futnre of
Pennsylvania tre*y closely already—some
hundreds of tons of Lehigh coal having
been ordered by rail from the mines for
San Francisco, although twenty-five dol
lars a ton is paid for the simple item of
freight. But the great question is lock
ed np in the export ol manufactured
goods, that has certainly commenced,
and has the beginning to assist its prose
cution.
COLORED PROPERTY-HOLDERS.
Georgia, since the flight of its indicted
Radical Governor and the wresting of
its government from the hands of the
Radical party, is frequently referred to
as an example of Southern prosperity
worthy of general Southern imitation.
It seems that both races share this pros
perity, for, according to the last report
of the Comptroller, the 83,318 colored
polls returned for 1874 represent a taxa
ble wealth of $6,157,798, and pay $30,-
788 in taxes; they own 838,769 acres of
land and town property to the value of
$1,200,115. This is not much of a show
ing for a colored population of 545,000,
it is true, but the significance of it con
sists in the fact that it is an exhibit of
ownership by a class that never owned
anything before. It is only since the
war that the colored people of Georgia
have begun to gather property, and
though their accumulation is slow it is
the humble beginning of a practice that
may have important beneficent results.
The steady growth of the proprietary
class among the negroes of Georgia is a
fact creditable both to themselves and
to the society in which they live. The
pre-eminent need of the South is wealth,
and it is no less important that the
blacks should acquire it to maintain
their position among the whites than
that the whites should acquire it to
maintain an influence in the Union. —
St. Louis Republican.
The recent decision of a California
Court, affirming the widowhood of Mrs.
King, the wife of James E. King, now
at Sing Sing State prison, though es
tablishing no new point in law, gives,
for the benefit of many women similarly
situated a distinct and definite inter
pretation of an existing statute. Judge
Myrick has given it as his unqualified
opinion that Mrs. King is a widow in
New York, because her husband is dead
to her, dead to the State, dead to his
children, having no right to make con
tracts, to sue or be sued, or to inherit
property. The principle that King is
civilly dead is not contrary to the law
of California, and for this reason she
will receive the portion of her father’s
estate in that State which would not
have gone to her while she remained the
wife of King. The estates of rich life
oonviots can be settled by this rule as if
they were actnally dead. It has been
intimated that this action was taken by
Mrs. King in order that having obtained
her patrimony she might spend the
money in procuring anew trial for her
convict husband. Such a course of
procedure, though it would be proof of
considerable devotion, would, neverthe
less, be little less than obtaining money
under false pretences, while at the same
time showing a lack of prudence on the
lady’s part, but she has relieved public
apprehension on that score by saying
that she had sued for a divorce before
her hnsband committed the murder for
which he is now in prison.
Col. B. F. Sawyer contradicts the
statement that the Atlanta Herald , of
which Mr. Kimball is said to be a pro
prietor, has purchased tho Common
wealth for the purpose of putting a stop
to its attacks on Kimball, or for any
other purpose. He says : The Common
wealth has not been purchased by the
Herald Publishing Company, but re
mains as before under the control of
Sawyer, who does not propose to “let
up” on Kimball or any one else whom
he deems deserving of censure.
We didn’t think, from the beginning,
that Sawyer was that kind of a potato
bug. '
Haven, the notorious miscegenating
Bishop of ' the Northern Methodist
Church, has a four column article in
the Independent, in which he vigorous
ly advocates the doctrine of amalaga
-1 mation of the races on thiA continent.
He thinks Garrison and Phillips did a
very unwise thing when they dissolved
the old Anti-Slavery Society. He calls
for its restoration that it may “ ding
dong in this behalf until equal rights
are, in fact and not in name, secured to
all the people of this land.”
THE FALL TRADE.
[ Xew York Commercial Bulletin.]
In another column our readers will
find the result of a series of careful in
quiries among the principal branches of
trade as to the prospects of business
during the season on which we have now
fairly entered. On perusal of these re
ports, it will be found that, as a rule,
our merchants, while not sanguine, are
yet hopeful. Their reliance appears to
be based principally upon the Western
and Southern markets, both of which
will have the advantage of full crops,
and the West the added boon of high
prices for its prodnots. The South has
now in a large measure overcome politi
cal difficulties which have long held
business in check; it is reaping the ad
vantages of years of severe economy and
hard work; its labor system is becoming
better organized and more productive;
and its crops are growing more diversi
fied. The new crop of cotton, according
to present prospects, may be estimated
at 4,250,000 bales; audtheoostof raising
it is estimated at Balo cents; so that,
if the crop realizes 10al2 cents on the
plantation, a profit about equal to that
of ante-war years will be realized. There
is therefore, good ground for the grow
ing confidence shown among our mer
chants in an improved trade with this
ten or twelve millions of our population.
It seems quite reasonable to expect
that the agricnltnral populations of the
West and the South will require a full
average quantity of goods for the Win
ter trade; but, when we say “quantity,”
it must be kept in mind that, at the
greatly reduced prices of goods, this
may yet imply a reduced volume of
transactions as measured by a money
valuation—a consideration the overlook
ing of which leads to a great deal of
misapprehension as to the comparative
activity of current business. To say
that our agricultural population is pros
perous implies a great deal for the gene
ral trade of the country; for this inter
est constitutes the? substratum of the
’ whole trade of the nation. While this
interest prospers, others that are suffer
ing have an important source of support
against their reverses. This considera
tion is important, because there are
branches of industry that are still se
verely tried. The iron trade, now grown
to a vast magnitude, though only very
partially employed, is yet producing in
excess of the current consumption; and
it would seem as though it would reach
its final level only through a worse ex
perience than it has yet suffered. The
woolen and cotton manufacturers are
embarrassed by over production on the
one hand and too high wages on the
other, and are, therefore, losing rather
than gaining by their operations. The
building trades in the Middle and East
ern States are absolutely stagnant; and
the thousands of workmen employed in
them have little to spend. The same
may be said of nearly every branch of
manufacturing industry. All this means
a limited demand for goods in the
States of Pennsylvania and New York
and in Sew England; and all that can
be said in favor of these sections is that
the healthy condition of things in the
agricultural States lays the basis for an
early improvement at the East.
The strictly mercantile interest has
just now some important advantages
that may be relied upon to offset its
misfortunes for the last two years. It
seems to have now got through the pro
cess of decline in prices by which such
heavy losses have been made daring the
last two years. This at least may be re
garded as true of a large majority of
articles. It has the advantage of
reduced rents, low salaries, and a very
exceptionally low rate of interest. Stocks
of goods also are generally very low;
which diminishes the liability to cutting
down prices in order to provide for pay
ments. So far as respects these circum
stances, merchants are m a better posi
tion for realising a fair profit on their
transactions than they have been for
many seasons past.
Upon a survey of the mam conditions
affecting trade, we feel jostified in con
cluding that the resnlts of the business
-* this Fall are likely to be more satis
o. anything we have experi
factorv w. panic. It seems quite
rienced since 5 no unforeseen mis
likely that, provideo 4 he feeling in
fortune should occur, season
trade circles will improve as Uu. 4 • i
advances, and that the trade of the ia*- .
ter half will be especially satisfactory.
Bayers are at present universally sup-1
dying themselves with great caution;
jut, should it prove, as now appears
quite likely, that cotton comes to market
early, and that the price of $1 per bushel
for wheat at the Northwest brings large
supplies to market aud that high prices
for pork similarly affect the trade in
hog products, we should in all proba
bility find the latter orders from the
West and Sonth very large, cansing the
season to wind up with rnnch spirit and
an improved feeling.
Upon the whole, then, there is reason
to look to the Fall business with tope,
as the beginning of a general recovery
of trade and as promising something
better than the losses with which mer
chants have so long been familiar. Of
course, there are evils yet to come and
gangers scattered here and there; bat |
we have become so familiar with these
things by long anticipation, that the
worst that can happen has been already
discounted, and therefore need not be
now recounted.
THE SUPREME COURT.
Views of Hon. B. H. Bigham.
Editors Constitution :
The suggestion of the Chronicle and
Sentinel to increase the salaries of the
Judges of the Supreme Court is not
good. At the present salaries we com
mand first class talent in that depaat
ment of the public service. We ought
also to reflect that all incomes (except
ing the case of several elasses specially
favored by onr law as it now stands) are
at minimum rates, and that therefore,
it does not behoove the state to pay
more for the work than is necessary to
command its best performance. The
suggestion of the Constitution that
primitive power should be lodged with
the Judges against parties for bringing
up cases is also objectionable. The
Court already has wholecome authority
to mulct in damages when cases are
brought up for delay. If we give it
power to punish parties beyond this
regulation we will declare anew crime
in onr calendar and authorize trial of
the offense without a jury. It also
seems to me to have its origin too near
an idea from which much of our
worst legislation has flowed, which re
gards our people as being reprobates
only to be contrdlled by severe proces
ses, and not what, as a general thing,
they really are, men of honor. The
suggestion of Judge Trippe that no cases
involving less than a sum to be fixed by
law, shall be allowed to be carried to the
Supreme Court is also objectionable.
Because it is the poor who generally
have cases involving small sums, and it
is the duty of the government to admin
ister justice for the poor as well as for
the rich; therefore, if we cut off these
cases we shirk a duty. Indeed, the pQor
need the protection of law more than the
rich, and as duty to all is alike incum
bent on us. therefore, rather than cut off
such cases, it is our duty to cheapen aud
simplify judicial investigations. An
other reason against this suggestion lies
in the fact apparent to all, that the
difficulty of the law questions involved
in any given case by no means depends
on the amount of filthy lucre depending
npon the issue. For reasons which dis
close themselves below, I do not think
his suggestion that the presiding judge
have power to grant one new trial with
out appeal or review amounts to much.
His idea of an intermediate Court of Ap
peals, deserves very serious considera
tion, and I, for one, wish he and Judge
McCay would frame an act on the sub
ject and submit it to the press, so it may
pass review and receive the criticism of
other good minds besides their own, be
fore the Legislature meets.
I have dealt pretty freely with the
suggestions of others. Have I not ?
Well, I will now present a suggestion
myself, for which, however, I do not
claim paternity. I have heard it advo
cated by men of the very best talent
and ripest experience in the State. This
suggestion is that we onght to return to
the old plan of appeals in the Superior
Court as one measure of relief. No very
strong reason presents itself to my mind
against it, and I believe if we allow one
appeal to the nisi prius Judge and jury,
a large proportion of suitors will be sat
isfied with a second trial, aud many
cases of a class that now burden the
dockets of the Supreme Court will end
right there in the Superior Court, either
in compromise or execution of judg
ment. Many reasons favor this sugges
tion. Its chief recommendation is that
it is simple and economical, and of easy
access to all who seek a remedy in the
courts, because, as all governments are
bound to administer justice speedily and
impartially and completely for their citi
zens, we cannot say we do our duty
when, with intent to repress useless liti
gation, we make judicial investigation
hard, tedious and costly. As our sys
tem now works, if a case is once tried
by a jury, the theory is that such errors
as the suitor may believe have been
committed is submitted to the discre
tion of the presiding Judge upon an
other for anew trial. In practice the
Judge rarely exercises such discretion
as to grant anew trial, except for what
ho considers errors of law. Indeed,
motions for new trials are too often
considered under preliminary steps to
bills of exception to the Supreme Court,
and the act of pronouncing .on them
as being more min'•'terial than judicial.
When such caseis are taken to the Su
preme Court they often decline to inter
fere. The exercise of this discretion
may therefore be said to be more theo
retical than practical ; and as most law
cases present mixed questions of law
and fact the suitor is baffled in his ef
forts to review the decisions of juries
and is condemned as litigious when the
fault is in onr system. I appeal to the
experience of lawyers and suitors, and
to the consciousness of the Judges them
selves for affirmation of the substantial
correctness of these observations. May
we not then set it down as a fact that
practically, in most cases, we have no
appeal from the finding of juries ; and
that losing parties, often actuated by a
well founded sense of injustice, are left
to engage themselves in a vain effort to
get defined the dim limits of judicial
discretion, sometimes called “reason
able,” sometimes “sound,” sometimes
“legal,” bnt always indefinite, and too
often mythical. I humbly but firmly
protest that no such “judicial discre
tion” has any place in a well-regulated
system of civilized law. Law, to be
justly binding, must be prescribed and
published so as to be known of all men
to be affected by it, and this discretion
can neither be prescribed or described or
postscribed. I venture the Chief Justice
himself, aided by all the able judges of
the State, cannot tell us exactly what it
is. Let up present another view of the
subject. There are few, if any, observ
ing men who in looking upon the scenes
of the Court room, have not been im
pressed that there were sitting before
them in the jury box men of equal,nd,in
some cases, of superior mental strength
to those who sat before them on the
bench. Now does not this fact of the
comparative capacity to be found on the
bench and on the jury demonstrate that
it is no more reasonable to lodge discre
tion with the judge to rehear the ques
tions of fact and mixed questions of
fact and law than to lodge it with the
ablest member of the jury—say with the
foreman ? It at least indicates that it
is best calculated to produce satisfac
tion, to allow appeals from one jury to
another jury, authorizing the case to be
tried again under a charge reviewed and
critically revised by the presiding judge.
This embraces appeal to both judge and
jury. Including all the advantages of
the present system, it includes also au
appeal upon the facts, which we all
know is within “the province of the
jury,” upon which, as one law now
stands, the judges firmly refuse to en
ter, except in special cases.
’ I write with diffidence to myself, bnt
with confidence as to the suggestion I
submit, because it is sustained not only
by many good reasons inherent to the
pure logic of the issue it makes, but also
because it is sustained by the experi
ence of the State and recommended by
some of the very best minds in the
State. It is laudable in the Constitution
and Chronicle and Sentinel to make
this important matter a subject of de
bate. It is palpably evident that some
thing ought to be done, and we all want
to do the best we can. You have inter
viewed Jndge Trippe, and from him yon
have gotten a very valuable contribu
tion. Why not interview the Chief
Justice? We would all like to hear
from him. If he sees proper to express
himself, he will give os something valu
able to reflect upon about the old Su
perior Court appeal system; and, as to
the general subject, his words will be as
apples of gold. B. H. Bigham.
LaGrange, August 28, 1875.
Atlanta Constitution : Rev. David E.
Bntler is a gentleman of elegant leisure.
He is President of the Georgia Baptist
Convention; President Board of Trus
tees Mercer University ; President Cot
ton States Agricultural Congress; Grand
Master Grand Masonic Lodge of Geor
gia; Director of the Georgia Railroad;
Director in the Direct Trade Union;
Pastor of the Baptist Church at Mil
ledgeville; and one of the multiform
editors of the Christian Index. In or
der to fill np his spare time, it is pro
posed to elect him President of the
State Agricultural Society ; Master of
the State Grange ; Grand Worthy Pri
mate of the United Friends of Temper
ance; Grand Chief Knights of Jericho;
Grand Worthy Chief Good Templars;
Most Noble Grand of the Grand Lodge
of Odd Fellows ; Grand Chancellor of
the Grand Lodge Knights of Pythias;
President of the Baptist Female Uni
versity, and Governor of the State.
■“ **in M. P. Davis, of Athens, is in
Cap.— •*■. '
declining heatui. _
DOR JITLiSTA tORRESPONDEKCE.
The' Trouble Among the Radicals—*
Treason in the Camp— The War Be
tween|the “Ins” and “Outs.”
[SpecidUkrresponderux Chronicle and Sentinel.]
W Atlanta, September 1, 1875.
w*" The End Not Yet.
The affairs of the Federal office hold
ers and seekers in this city, it seems,
are becoming daily more complicated.
Thereyis treason in the camps of the
“outs,” It is stated that Hon. Joseph
G. W. Mills has entered into a sort of
combination with an “in,” the same be
ing Col. Jack Brown, Collector of In
ternal Revenue. Tho design is to ob
tain for Mills the position of Collector
of Inteftal Revenue, .and for Brown the
position of United States District At
torney , vice Farrow, to be scalped.—
Browlf R is understood, is an applicant
for the position of District Attorney,
and Wtfuld willingly resign his position
of Collector in order to secure it. The
position of Collector is a laborious and
responsible one, requiring business
qualifications and dose application. Col.
Brony being by profession a lawyer, is,
he thinks, probably better fitted for At
torney than Collector, and consequently
seeks a position more congenial to his
tastes and talents. J. G. W. Mills,
RadicKT candidate for Congress from
this Congressional District, with a due
appreciation of the situation, begins
early t 5 secure the prospectively vacant
position when Jack Brown accepts the
Attorneyship.
Serious Charges Against Them.
This little game on the part of Messrs.
Brown and Mills, all honorable and
proper, in itself, meets# with decided
opposition from a few persons as will be
learned from the context. There is a
gentleman is this city, never himself an
office holder under the United States
Government, who, it is said, obtained
for Jack Brown the appointment of Col
lector .through the instrumentality of
influential friends in Washington
City, Pennsylvania and New York,
without expectation or hope of reward.
At least he so says. He represents that
while fa Washington city a few months
ago hWfcact Colonel Jack Brown, and,
a likiug Jyr. hfap, interested
himseu in behalf of the Colonel, and
finally secured for him the appointment.
Soon thereafter, so he says, unexpected
ly to him, Brown voluntarily and with
out his solicitation, wrote him a letter
tendering him the position of Deputy
Collector and Chief Clerk, in gratitude
for his services in securing him (Brown)
the appointment of Collector. This
gentleman accepted the appointment.
Soon afterwards charges against Brown
were made by some parties in another
quarter, and his commission was with
held until the charges could be investi
gated. In the course of time Brown ob
tained his commission, and this gentle
man waited patiently for a notification
from him to enter upon the discharge of
his duties as Deputy Collector; but
Brown held no communication. The
gentlemen, whom I will call Mr. P.,
thereupon addressed him a note remind
ing him of his appointment, which note
was not answered. Mr. P. met Colonel
Brown at the Kimball House, and in
quired if he had answered his note.
Brown replied that he had not, aud did
not intend to ; that the note tendering
him (Mr. P.) the position of Deputy
Collector was intended purely as a letter
of credit to assist him (Brown) to obtain
his commission. At the request of Mr.
P. Colonel Brown put this statement in
writing, and J. G. W. Mills endorsed it.
Before the Washington Authorities.
These facts are to' be , placed before
the Attorney-General and other authori
ties at Washington to influence them to
remove Brown and to prevent him from
obtaining the position of District At
torney ; and if upon investigation they
be found true it is possible that Col.
Brown and Col. Mills will find it diffi
cult to onst any of the “ins.” At pres
ent everything is statu quo so far as the
Federal office holders at this place are
concerned.
New Bank President.
It is stated that Col. Jno. T. Grant,
the President of the Citizens BaDk of
Georgia, in this city ever since its or
ganization, has tendered his resignation,
which will probably be accepted at the
next meeting of the Board of Directors.
He resigns, it is understood, because of
numerous outside interests which inter
fere with him in the discharge of his
official duties as President of the Bank.
It is not known who will be his succes
sor, but it is predicted that Mr. W. A.
Rawson, a large capitalist in this city,
and one of the directors and stockhold
ers of the bank, will be elected Presi
dent. Halifax.
SENATOR BAYARD.
“ Virtue and Knowledge the Twin
Stars of Statesmanship.’’
- ’■ ■
[N. Y. World.]
An after-dinner speech of Senator
Bayard at the alumni dinner during the
late semi-centennial celebration at the
University of Virginia, which we have
not before seen reported, was in re
sponse to the following toast : “ Virtue
and Knowledge, the Twin Stars of
Statesmanship.”
Safe comes the ship to haven.
Through billows and through gales.
If once toe great Twin Brethren
Sit shining in the sails.
Senator Bayard had a most enthusias
tic reception, tho company rising to
their feet and cheering to the echo amid
the waving of hats and handkerchiefs.
When quiet was restored he said :
Gentlemen of the Alumni— The easy
sense of satisfaction colored to my mind
with something of fortitude and philoso
phy with which I have regarded the
throes of my neighbors at this hospita
ble board, as one by one they have fallen
under the fatal powers of your toast list,
has suddenly faded away, and I am filled
with emotions of a very different and
less heroic order. The “fbu of the
thing” is less visible, and my apprecia
tion of it, like the courage of Squire
Acres, seems certainly to be going
oozing out, as it were, at the palms of
my hands. Now, indeed, do I realize in
its full force the infelix felicitas of an
swering after dinner toasts, all the more
difficult in that I am called upon to take
care of “twins” whilst other gentlemen
have been held to answer for but a
single little responsibility.” If, there
fore, I cry, “O Gemini,” I trust those
Dei ex machina will come to my aid as
efficiently as they did to tho aid of
Rome in her great battle with the thirty
cities—in commemoration of which the
verse which accompanies your toast was
written. Knowledge and virtue, may
they never be separated—for, of all
spectacles, a fine human mind, well en
dowed and stored with knowledge and
without virtue, is surely the saddest and
to the rest of the world most danger
ous, as being apt to achieve a mis
chievous success in the absence of
those scruples of conscience and re
straints which virtue imposes upon her
followers. If virtue shall go ever hand
in hand with knowledgei—then will pride
of knowledge be abated—and what pride
is more false? For what is human
knowledge in general, but what passes
current aud is so received with but little
of original discovery. Those little par
ticles which a man himself discovers are
the exceptiops whichmay perhaps justify
pride as a sort of proprietorship. And
be it noted the few men who are original
discoverers seem more devoid of pride,
but rather touched with humility and
marked by a simplicity almost childlike,
as though awe-stricken by a sense of
the greatness of nature, of whose reali
ties a dim and hasty glimpse had been
permitted. For our knowledge upon
any subject can only be partial and in
complete, and therefore for our safety,
to preserve ns from the perils and
misery of unbelief, mnstbeaccompanied
and sustained by virtue, so that though
a glimpse only be allowed there will be
a nobleness even in the concealment of
what is withheld from onr view, and the
veil that hideß the whole trnth will be
felt to be a kindly veil, for without vir
tue to guard and restrain us, we should
perish in onr approaches to forbidden
lights as moths shrivel aDd die in our
evening lamps. In restraint lies true
freedom; what are wise laws but just
restraints? and toanation such restraints
are not its chains, bnt its chain-armor,
its defensive strength, although some
times felt as an incumbrance. In self
exacted obedience lies true nobility:
A servant with this clause
Hakes drudgery divine;
Who sweeps a room as for thy laws,
Makes that and the action tine.
If this be true of onr States and peo
ples, now especially true of the United
States, where self-government is the
basis of onr system ; where restraint is
self-imposed; where the fetters of law
upon the ruler and ruled are place | by
the voluntary action of the people tries -
selves. Montesquieu, in bis “Spirit of
Laws,” tells ns:
It does not require much probity for
a monarchical or despotical government
to maintain or support itself. The force
of laws in the one, the arm of the prince
always uplifted in the other, regulate or
keep in its place everything. But in a
popular State some additional power is
required, which is virtue.
And here in Virginia, his place of
birth and place of burial, shall we fail
reverently to listen to the voice from the
tomb at Mount Vernon and heed the
prophetic words of Washington in his
last legacy or counsel to his fellow-ooan
trvmen ?
'Tis substantially tine that virtue or
morality is a necessary spring of popn
lar government. The rule extends with
more or lees force to every species of
free government. Who, that is a sincere
friend to it, can look with indifference
upon attempts to shake the fonndation
of the fabric ?
What sin is to-day more flagrant in
our Government than want of knowl
edge in those who assume high func
tions ? —who take the name of statesman
too often as others take
—the grand old name of gentleman,
Defamed by every, charlatan
And soiled with all ignoblo use.
Knavery is not the less knavery be
cause it involves large interests ; nor
theft the less theft because it is coun
tenanced by usage or accompanied by
failure in undertaken duty. It is an in
comparably less guilty form of robbery
to cut a purse out of .a man’s pocket than
to take it out of his hand in the under
standing that you are to %teer his ship
up the channel when you do not know
the soundings.
What justification is there in seeking
power unless with the only lawful aspira
tion—to do good to others ? Good
wishes are but dreams; power must be
had to do good acts; but power sought
for pelf, and plunder and place to en
rich a vulgar crowd of kindred aDd per
sonal adherents—why neither virtue nor
knowledge are present in such a case, a
nation must mourn the folly when power
falls into such hands. Lord Bacon re
lates that Lucian says Menippus, in his
travels through hell, kuew those who
had been kings and rulers on earth only
by their louder cryings and tears—re
morseful memories of good days and
joys left behind. Let us add, and of
opportunities abused and trusts be
trayed. He says : “The pillars of gov-
ernment are four—Religion, Justice
Council and Treasure. When these are
shaken, men have need to pray for fair
weather.” Religion must include vir
tue, and Justice and Counsel would be
unworthy of their names, unsafe and
impossible, without knowledge. Let
us then pray that the statesmanship of
our common. country may always be
illustrated by both. I have said the
“statesman of our common country,”
for never, never let ns forget we have,
thank God, a common country. God
gave it to us; shall man’s mistakes or
crimes take it from us ? If the bitterness
of sorrows and losses caused by civil
war still linger, let us soothe them, but
not take them as our counsellors. If
there be difficulties in the way of recon
ciliation, let us only be more strenuous
to overcome them. Said the Spartan
mother to her son, who complained
that his sword was too short, “Add a
step to it.” Therefore I say if yonr fel
low-countryman seems to hold back and
retreats from your outstretched hand,
“add a step to it;” touch his hand, and
the warm blood pulsating through yonr
veins will find an answering throb in
his —
To err is human,
To forgive divine.
The statesmanship wo need to-day is
not that of Massachusetts nor that of
Virginia, nor yet Northern, nor South
ern, nor Eastern, or Western statesman
ship, but American statesmanship in its
broadest, all embracing sense, which
shall be the safeguard of every American
home, and help to make our country
what our fathers wished it to become,
what it will bo again if we but will it,
despite all sad and hostile auguries. If
we are to have rivalry and emulation, let
it be for common good. I will contest
on such a plan with any and with all. I
will not enter the lists with harsh, un
kind, repellant phrases, but I will vie to
my utmost with him who seek the happi
ness and welfare of all, of every State,
and the Union of the States. Ah, gentle
men, in wars and contests, where ar
mies are the chessmen and the weal or
woe of nations the wager, lean but think
of the helpless ones who suffer in silence
and are powerless to direct the game.
We meD are sustained by the high pas
sions of the action, but think, I pray
you, of tnose who bear the brunt of our
mistakes and who pay for our errors.
Wliat higher aspiration for a statesman
than
To scatter plenty o’er a smiling land
And read hie history in a nation’s eyes,
Pulclirum eminere est inter illustres viros
Consulere patriae, pare ere affletis, fera
C&ede abstinere tempus atque irae dare
Orbi quietum, seculo paeem suo,
Haec summa virtus—petitu liac coilnm via.
THE FASHIONABLE WALTZING
FIEND.
A Saltatory Pest of Saratoga.
[Saratoga Correspondence of the N. Y. Mail.]
He is bald headed and sixty, and a
well-to-do Boston bachelor, one who
hasn’t missed a Summer at the Springs
since 1835. His attire is invariably
broadcloth, shiny and seedy from the
constant wear of seventeen years. His
face would be boyish but for its stumpy,
frosty beard. There is a bashful
twinkle even in his eye, while the cheeks
are chapped and peely from incessant
blushing. This is Saratoga’s waltzing
fiend. I shall call him Mr. Jonvis. As
intimated, Mr. Jonvis’ sin of commis
sion and ommission is waltzing. Ho
haunts the ball rooms systematically
each night—you know the hotels give
free hops every night. His entrees is
looked for with undisguised consterna
tion by all the pretty girls, as he just
“ goes for” them, and worries and bores
them to waddle around the room with
him in that nervous embrace of his—in
other words, to waltz. Jonvis would be
a success as a terpsichorean but for his
knee-joints—they (k)need oiling. As he
grasps his fragile partner by her elbows
and pulls her around in the mazy whirl,
he gets up and down on her toes and
heels like the walking-beam of a Jersey
City ferry boat, and doesn’t “ let up”
until the orchestra breaks down. There
is a feud of long standing between Jon
vis and the Saratoga orchestras, that
only manifests itself in the ball-rooms,
to the discomfiture of the latter, be it
said. Once he claws a girl and starts
with the music, he means business, and
all the fiddles in the world can’t play
him out. '
“Oh, there comes that horrid Mr.
Jonvis, girls !” Sure enough, the light
fantastic bore of the springs is entering
with his weather-beaten black silk hat
in one hand and plethoric blue cotton
umbrella in the other. Jle struts for
ward, bowing and grimacing at every
side, sticks his venerable hat and para
chute under an unoffending chair, takes
a long last look at both of the relics as
if the company present were all jail-birds
and likely to pilfer his very secure prop
erty. This ceremony over, he buttons
up his coat wherever he can, joins his
hands behind him, then sallies out with
measured tread and piercing orbs for
his prey. On this occasion he began at
the extreme end of the sitters by the
door, attacking every sweet face familiar
to him and sustaining a repulse at every
point after a determined fusilade. The
charmers he had vainly tackled before
reaching mine, were adepts in the
womanly art of self-defianee—whatever
that means—the expression will look
first rate in print, so let it go. “I want
to waltze with you, Miss Vase,” he
mumbled out mechanically, and with an
air of mock despair. He stood before
her, with his hands behind him, look
ing a monument of the meekest sort of
cheek.
“Excuse me, Mr. Jonvis; I’ve just
danced the lancers and am too tired to
dance any more,” pleaded my compan
ion, giving me a nudge that I responded
to by way of capital approval. “I think
you might waltz with me !” continued
Mr. Jonvis, without the least sign of
distress as yet. “Really, Mr. Jonvis,
you must excuse me,” nrges the suffer
er. “Only a little once around,” he
persisted. “No, Mr. Jonvis, I cannot.”
“But you ought to,” he pursued, ele
vating himself by his toes. “I’m too
tired, Mr. Jonvis.” “You don’t look
so.”. “Mr. Jonvis, I tell you again, I
am tired.” “But you are not.” “I
am,” insisted Miss Vase, growing petu
lant. A momentary pause and he re
news the grinding, “eiay, you’re tired,
hey?” No answer. “Won’t dance,
hey ?” “No I won’t” and (sotto voce ) “I
wish you’d go away, you pest,” is where
the laugh came in, for it proved of good
riddance.
And so the old rhinoceros moved
along, peppering away in the same fash
ion at the rest of the rosebuds in the
room unfortunately acquainted with
him. When he does sncceed in fright
ening a girl to his rheumatic arms for
the waltz, he sticks to her the balance of
the evening, and having terrified her
into one waltz, will terrify her into
others. Meeting him in the Grand
Union corridor later in the evening I ac
costed him familiarly and casually ob
served: “You seem to be remarkably
fond of dancing, Mr. Jonvis?” “Not
fond of it by any means,” ho responded
from under his spectacles. “How can
that be, when you are a regular attend
ant at all the hops, and dancing to every
note of music ?” I inquired, as he took
out a revolutionary snuff box and help
ed his nose to its titilating contents.—
“Well, you see," he went on to explain,
after straightening up his teeth, which
had slipped down in the violent sneeze
that followed the snuffing; “you see, I
only dance ’cause my doctor recommends
it as the best way for me- to keep the
pores of my skin open, and so get into
that profuse state of perspiration so es
sential to my health.”
Sidney Herbert writes to the Savannah
News from SandersvUle that the failure
to convict Harris does not of itself
weaken the conspiracy, as the just and
impartial ruling of the Court excluded
testimony that plainly showed many of
his acts and utterances to have been
done or spoken in other counties. The
State also acted with great fairness, and
in no way “clamored” for the convic
tion of the accused. They cheerfully
accorded to him every advantage that
the law allowed him to avail himself of
for his defense.
JEFFERSON DAVIS.
By His Biographer.
Editors Atlanta Constitution :
It is too late in the day to revive ex
ploded calumnies against Jefferson Da
vis, even though such reputable au
thority as the New York Tribune shall
be weak enough to become the vehicle
of the stale lies that have been so often
refuted. Reaction against the calumny
and persecution of which Mr. Davis has
been the victim was inevitable, and dis
cussion of the issues recently renewed
by his assailants can resnlt in nothing
bnt advantage to a man whom a thou
sand oracles of falsehood have labored
for years to brand as a political and
moral felon. At the South of late years
every effort to disparage Davis has sig
nally failed. Tom Jordan’s indictment
in Marper's Magazine served only to
shelter with the loving embrace of the
whole popular heart of the South the
venerable and broken figure that An
drew Johnson’s personal dislike and
Stanton’s cowardly cruelty kept within
the casemates of Fortress Monroe, de
nied the privilege of trial, and subjected
to indignities usually reserved for des
perate criminals after conviction and
sentence.
Poor Edward Pollard poisoned his
pen iu vain in the disparagement of the
Confederate chief, and before ho died
acknowledged that his reckless and ven
omous assaults upon Davis had made no
enduring impression upon the Southern
mind. Yankees mainly wore readers of
his “Lost Cause,” and he went to his
grave with no plaudits save from those
who were interested in defaming his
own people by blackening their leader.
Daniel and Pollard and the Richmond
Examiner, which furnished the brains
aud inspiration of the hostility to Davis
during the war, are dead and well nigh
forgotten, while more and more impos
ing in its historical proportions becomes
that stately figure upon which the eye
of Gladstone rested, when iq the fervor
of his ddmiration of the dignity and
success of the
tion, he declared at an period of
the war that “Jefferson Dafl£ had cre
ated a nation.” The
begins to feel, even more than
ever, now that its lato closely
confronts posterity, that tqpth
in Sidney Johnston’s eitiHskwrof Davis,
that it required a man of high moral
and intellectual stature to rise to a just
appreciation of a character of such no
ble altitude.
What Fanatics Can Do.
Illinois fanatics, headed by the paper
which George Alfred Townsend called
the “Chicago Between Puddies,” have
unconsciously helped to exalt Mr. Davis
in the eyes of his Southern countrymen,
aud it is to be hoped have also helped to
prepare the way for a patient and can
did investigation of his public and pri
vate life by moderate people at the
North. The fanatical hatred of Davis
by the Northern masses is the product
of a system of falsehood organized
during the war and just afterwards. The
country readily recall the shameless
days when Joe Holt presided over the
bureau of military justice and when
Baker and Conover were the heroes aud
sleuth-hounds of the hour. In those
days “rebel” and “traitor” were the
ever ready auxiliary pretexts for tho
justification of “loyalty” in the persons
of perjurers and suborners. Then was
Davis the “wicked leader of a causeless
rebellion,” a “conspirator against the
liberties of his countrymen,” a “relent
less monster who tortured and starved
prisoners of war.” This system of
falsehood was as amazing for its success
as for Its audacity. Its authors counted
safely upon the frenzy and the ignorance
of the Northern masses. The Winne
bago blockheads, however, attained the
acme of absurd calumny when they
called Davis a coward ! Did these poor
idiots ever read tho story of Buena
Yista ? Do they know of those lettered
glories of tlie Mexican war which are
the trophies of Davis and his Mississippi
rifles? But the Mexicau war was a war
for “slavery-extension” and its most
brilliant incidents were the achieve
ments of Southern officers and soldiers,
and the “loil” Wiunebagoes are not rea
sonably to be suspected of acquaintance
with its history. Davis and Bragg v
McKee and Clay, Yell and Ringgold are
not heroes in that copy-book morality
which they study so profoundly, and of
which Butler and Howard aud Colfax,
and other “Christian soldiers” and
“Christian statesmen” are the shining
exemplars.
Tribune Misrepresentatives.
What the red flag in the hands of the
matador is to the enraged bull, the
name of Jefferson Davis seems to be to
the entire mass of Northern journalists.
Even the New York Tribune, so long
and successfully devoted to the gospel
of liberalism, so able and eloquent in its
pleas for purity and patriotism in poli
tics, has fallen a victim to this rabies.
Before me ia a Tribune editorial, which
vies with the Chicago Between-Puddle
or the Cincinnati Daily Scavenger iu
mjsstatements regarding Mr. Davis. Tho
logio which tiie Tribune deduces from
its half dozen or more flagrant falsifi
cations of recent history, is that Mr.
Davis must always expect to be con
sidered at the North with exceptional
harshness in connection with the war
which his people urged for separate na
tional existence. Aud its reason for
this discrimination is, that he is Jeffer
son Davis—a reasoning and conclusion
quite worthy of the Winnebago patriots
and philosophers. The Tribune’s mis
take is that which underlies the whole
fabric of Northern hate of Mr. Davis.
Its efforts to separate Mr. Davis from
the Southern people will always fail.
The Southern people cannot, either in
fact or in sentiment, be separated from
their late chieftain, and they will al
ways, before any tribunal, scorn the
proffer of discrimination between them
selves and the patriot that Lee loved,
the executive whom Sydney Johnston,
Breckinridge and Stuart, and Jackson
and Early loyally obeyed. He was the
compatriot of six million# of freemen,
who struck for nationality and lost, as
Poland and Ireland have done before
them, or he and his followers were alike
insurgents and guilty equally of treason.
When the Tribune says that Mr. Da
vis has “done more harm than almost
any other man who has figured in our
history,” it merely makes a sweeping
statement that it does not attempt to
sustain, and begs the whole question of
the half century of argument that pre
ceded the ultima ratio of secession.
History will inexorably demand its audi
alteram partem. Events show that
neither Davis nor the South dreads the
issue fairly made and honestly tried.
When the Tribune charges that Mr.
Davis “took a prominent part in fo
menting the wicked and causeless con
spiracy which ended in war,” it displays
a pitiable ignorance of the record that
utterly disqualifies it as either witness
or advocate. Mr. Davis’ Congressional
record, made in his brief service before
he resigned to lead his Mississippians to
the glories of Monterey and Buena
Vista, and in his subsequent eight years’
service in the Senate, is accessible to all
interested in its details. Standing firm
ly upon the platform of States’ Rights,
he was yet ever an ardent and eloquent
champion of the union in whose honor
he imperilled his life, and which he
faithfully served in numerous high
trusts. Upon more than one occasion
he indignantly repelled the charge of
disunionism against the advocates of
States’ Bights doctrines. In 1858 he told
Fessenden in debate that he “bad long
songht a respectable man” who would
make the allegation of disunion senti
ments against himself. Let the Tribune
give its readers the benefit of Mr. Da
vis’ Portland speech, made in 1858—a
model of patriotic aspiration, of broad
nationalism, as of dignified composition
and catholic statesmanship; give them
also his farewell address to the Senate,
and they will be slow to appreciate the
Tribune'it sketch of an arch-conspirator
and arch-traitor.
Treatment of Prisoners.
Of course the Tribune, has something
to say of the “horrors of Andersonville
and the Libby.” This question of the
treatment of prisoners is another ad
journed question which the Tribune's
dictnm will no more decide than it will
the question of secession. Whenever it
shall be revived (in our day) there are
some thousands of Confederate soldiers
anxious to testify under oath as to the
humane prison administration that made
Point Lookout, Fort Delaware, Camp
Douglas, Rock Island, Elmira and John
son’s Island snch attractive resorts for
“rebels.” I talked with one of these
Confederate soldiers a few days since in
Richmond; of which city he is now the
Mayor, and I have before me a publish
ed statement made by him which would
startle the Winnebagoes, who always
vote the Republican ticket solid, and
believe that Jeff. Davis shot Union
prisoners for amusement and hunted
them with blood-hounds for exercise.
The Tribune’s discreditable effort to
make Mr. Davis responsible for the
sufferings of Federal prisoners in a fam
ished country, which could not ade
quately feed its own defenders, becomes
conspicuously disingenuous in view of
the miserable failure of Holt and Stan
ton with their well organized system of
perjuTy to obtain evidence of a depar
ture by the Confederate authorities from
the principles and usages of warfare
among Christian nations. Equally dis
ingenuous is the Tribune's failure to ac
knowledge the conciliatory sentiments
of Mr. Davis’ recent address in Texas,
and of all his later utterances. The
reference to the circumstances of his
capture is unworthy of a place in the
paper that Horace Greeley founded; it
is simply a weak concession of the Tri
bune to the vulgar popular prejudice
against which it ordinarily does such)
volcanic service.
A View of Mr. Davis’ Life and Char
acter,
Asa guide to just characterization of
a man who must always be prominent in
American history, even at the risk of
blame for egotism, I shall give you the
substance of my personal experience
with Mr. Davis; and this experience dif
fers only in details, and not in its help
towards forming a theory of the man,
from that of everybody who has ever
had Mr. Davis’ confidence with whom I
have talked. “Intimate acquaintance
with Davis,” said one of his Cabinet to
me, “inevitably ends in hero worship.”
Men crowned with political honors, *and
learned in the methods of political dis
tinction, have told me that Davis was
the only man they had ever known whose
tout ensemble did not grow smaller as
he was approached. Save that of Breck
inridge, that tout ensemble of personali
ty and antecedents up to -the war was
more nearly blameless in the eye of both
North and South, and more auspicious
to expectation of future fame than that
of any of his contemporaries. Every
body, except the Winnebagoes, recalls
the “Jeff Davis,” of the Mexicau war.
The “Hero of Buena Yistu” on his re
turn received the unexampled honor of
unanimous election to the Federal Sen
ate. And what a Senator he was ! The
ideal Senator of Rome when Rome stood
and dictated to the world. As War Sec
retary he has had no rival in our history
save Calhoun. And Davis’ presence and
bearing always suggest the embodied
dignity of these places of high official
trust which he so adorned. My first im
pression of Mr. Davis, when brought
into close contact with him, was that he
was the most candid and guileless pub
lic man that I had ever seen. With the
view of becoming Mr. Davis’ biographer
in the early days of July, 1867, I called
at his modest home in Montreal. He
was as prompt iu responding to m.V de
sire to see him as his physical condi
tion would permit—for this was less
than two months after his release from
prison. I was a passenger aboard a
steamer en route from Richmond to
Norfolk, in May, 1865, when the steam
er containing Mr. Davis aDd family aud
their fellow-prisoners was lying at tho
wharf at Fortress Monroe just previous
to his incarceration. The suttlers and
camp-followets and unsexed women that
thronged the boat, on which I was a
passenger, were most anxious to see
“ Jeff,” and all the way to Norfolk I
was entertained (a silent aud reluctant
listener) with expressions of disappoint
ment that Mr. Davis aud family had not
been brought upon the deck of tho
Clyde as a spectacle for the vulgar gaze
of the motley crowd. From the Clyde
Mr. Davis passed to his solitary con
finement in the fort to endure cruelties
and indignities that caused the South
tears of agony, that awoke the horror of
the civilized world, and will forever
bring the blush to the cheek
of the American citizen when remind
ed of tho shameful story of the pris
oner of Fortress Monroe. Two years
subsequently I saw Mr. Davis as ho was
released from confinement upon that
famous bail bond which boro Horaeo
Greeley’s signature. The heart of Rich
mond seemed about to burst with a joy
that was genuine as that wasted figure
emerged from the custom house through
the very door that led to the Executive
office during the war. Two months had
passed when I saw Mr. Davis in Mon
treal, and a thousand years would not
efface from my memory the impression
made, as with halting step and uncer
tain gaze the late leader of the might
est revolt of history entered tho little
parlor. Emaciated, bowed, haggard,
he was yet in his bearing the Jefferson
Davis of history. Not when he enter
ed Richmond after the transfer of the
Confederate capital from Montgomery;
when after the First Manassas he ail
dressed the exultant crowd at the depot
and from the windows of the Spotswood
Hotel; when, after McClellan’s discom
fiture, he roete with Lee back to his res
cued capital; when he mingled with the
joy of Chancellorsville the anguish caus
ed by Stonewall Jackson’s death; when
he rode to the lines at Drewry’s Bluff to
witness the disposition of troops to re
pel Butler from the doors of Richmond
—was he more the emblem of Southern
manhood, more the man of centuries.
Davis’ Regard for Truth,
“I will aid you,” said he, “to the full
est possible extent. I have no interest
in connection with the history of the
war or of my own times, save that it
shall bo written truthfully.”
Next to his religious regard for truth
was his faith iu its final triumph. In
tho midst of his sorest trials as the
vioarious martyr for the alleged sins of
the South ; assailed by his Confederate
accusers for the failures for which he
believed themselves to be largely re
sponsible, and villified by all the lead
ers of public thought at the North,
there was something stoioal in his calm
refusal to dignify his accusers and
calumniators with refutation, Not a
few of his friends were provoked at his
unconcern at the tide of misrepresenta
tion which followed him. He had never
seen General Jordan’s Harper’s Maga
zine article until I read it to him, while
we were en route from Montreal to To
ronto in September, 1867. Yet two
years before it had been read by thou
sands North and South who were never
to hear from him the masterly and
crushing refutation that he gave me of
that ingenious arraignment of his ad
ministration. On the same journey,
reaching Kingston, on the St. Lawrence
river, I obtained a copy of the New York
Herald containing a statement that
Chief Justice Chase was getting ready
for a grand State trial at the ensuing
November term of the Federal Court at
Richmond, at which Mr. Davis, in com
pliance with the terms of his bond, was
to appear. “Good news, indeed,” he
replied, when I had read the para
graph, “if it be true. Nothing
would give me more satisfaction than to
meet the questions involved in the war,
in my own person, before a compe
tent, judicial tribunal.” “But,” said he,
with a confidence that strongly im-
Eressed me, at a time when the howl for
is blood still filled the air, “they Will
never give the South an opportunity for
historical vindication.” It is needless
to recall that he went to Richmond, and
that the Chief Justice was engaged else
where. When idiots talk now of Davis’
freedom by “suffrage of the hangman,”
let them remember that the Federal
Government, not Jefferson Davis, ad
journed the issue whether he and his as
sociates were patriots or traitors. At
this time, when provocation to the in-
dulgence of asperity was so great, his
charity towards his foes was simply
amazing. After great pains, I had suc
ceeded in obtaining valuable information
regarding the conduct of a great battle
in which tlio Confederate failure had
been emphasized by the brilliant oppor
tunity which had invited the valor of
the army and the enterprise of its com
mander. I regarded the information I had
secured as conclusive in its j ustification of
Davi’s subsequent course towards a prom
inent officer. “Every word of it is true,”
said he, “but I would not publish it.
Make your book a work that all Con
federates can read with satisfaction. I
have no question now with any Confed
erate. Our common failure makes all
who loved the cause my compatriots.
We have enough to do in meeting the
calnmnies of our common enemies, and
though it would vindicate me before all
the world, I should be unwilling tb have
damage inflicted upon the officer who
enjoys the confidence of the Southern
people.” Never, in the many hours of
conversation that I had with him, did I
hear from the lips of this presecutedand
villified man a harsh utterance regard
ing persons whose acts and opinions
were those of embittered enemies. Of
Mr. Lincoln he spoke frequently in
terms of respect and kindness, always
deploring the death and abhorring the
means by which it was procured. Mr.
Seward he held to be responsible for
the failure of the Hampton Roads nego
tiation ; bnt his criticisms of Seward,
as of all his Republican leaders, were
free of bitterness.
Northern Injustice to Mr. Davis.
There was never any common sense in
the selection of Mr. Davis bv the North
as the single victim of cruelty and out
rage. There was never anything in his
personal character or antecedents to sup
port any special allegation against him
even from a Northern stand-point. His
eloquence of tongue and pen was unsur
passed whenever in the course of his pub
lic career, beginning
ginning of war, he touched the topic of
the Union, whose gloi*y he celebrated
and whoso blessings he magnified. At
Washington in 1861, when passion was
supreme, he was among the foremost
ohampions of compromise, and labored
with Mr. Crittenden and others for a
pacific solution of pending troubles. No
Southern Senator abandoned his seat
with so pathetic and regretful an an
nouncement of the necessity impelling
the stop. His valedictory moistened
the eye of every listener, and persuaded
even adversaries of the purity and sin
cerity of his action. His election to the
Presidency of the Confederacy was a tri
umph of the spirit of moderation and a
defeat of the ultraista. His closest af
filiations daring the war were with mod
erate men—old Whigs and Democrats,
who, like himself, had always been vo
taries of States’ Rights, but always con
siderate and conservative,
Davis’ Humane Policy During the War.
Davis, instead of merriting excep
tionally rigorous judgment from the
North, merited exceptional oonsidera
tion. Ever seeking to subdue the ran
cor and bitterness necessarily incidental
to the civil war, he was ever counselling
moderation to a people made desperate
by a cruel invasion of their homes.
“Never be humble to the haughty, nor
haughty to the humble,” was his injunc
tion to the crowd that surged about the
Spotswood to hear his account of the
victory at Manassas. Upon the same
occasion, replying to it reference on the
part of someone iu the crowd to the
black flag, he dwelt eloquently upon the
duty of magnanimity in victory, con
demned harshness to prisoners, and
concluded with the memorable injunc
tion : “Let us smite the smiter with
manly arms as did our fathers before
us.” History has canonized Lamartine
for preventing the unfurling of the red
flag; it will give its suffioient award to
Jefferson Davis, who tempered the
righteous wrath of his countrymen, pro
voked by the most ruthless invasion of
modern times. F. H. A.
Atlanta, August 31st, 1875.
FROM SANDERSVILLE.
THK INSURRECTION TRIAL.
Fourth Day—Tlie State vs. Cordy Har
ris—Verdict of Not Guilty—Other
Cases Continued.
[Special Dispatch to the Chronicle and Sentinel.]
SANDERSVILI.E, VTA TeNNILPE, Ga. , l
September 2. j
Court met at nine and the examina
tion of witnesses was resumed, Salem
Dutcher, Esq., conducting the direct
examination for tho State. Nine witnes
ses, seven of them white, were examined.
All the evidence was in relation to the
pow-wow here July 24tli, the witnesses
testifying that Cordy Harris headed the
procession with drawn sword, that
the use of the Court House was deman
ded and refused and that there
upon Cordy Harris made a speech
from the steps of the Court
House advising tho negroes to go
home, to avoid commission of acts of
violence, to drink no liquor and to be
have quietly aud peaceably. The State
closed before eleven. The defense in
troduced no evidence. The prisoner
made no statement. Hon. A. T. Aker
man made the opening argumeut for
the defense and was followed by Salem
Dutcher for the State, in an exhaustive
argument, displaying much research.
Mr. Dutcher’s peroration was remarka
bly fine. Attorney-General Hammond
made the closing argument for the
State forcibly and with characteristic
fairness. Hon. A. T. Akerman made
tho closing argument for the defense.
During his argument the crowded Court
room was painfully quiet, and in deathly
stillness on attentive ears fell his closing
remarks. In referring to the colored
race he said, “There ought to be har
mony aud friendship between colored
men aud white men. Their interest, and
yours are identical. They have smiled
over your cradles. They will weep over
your graves if you will let them stay anil
be their friends here until you die, and
you cannot better show yourselves their
friends than by refusing to strain tho
law into an unjust conviction of a repre
sentative man of their race.” Judge
Johnson’s charge was brief and perfectly
impartial. At six o’clock the jury went
out, and returned at half-past eight with
a verdict of not guilty. Harris was re
mitted to jail but will be discharged to
morrow. The other insurrectionary
cases have been continued to the regular
term. Court will adjourn to-morrow.
The cases against the prisoners charged
with attempting to incite insurrection
in Johnson county will be tried at
Wrightsville at a special term com
mencing next Monday. S. F. W.
Sandeksville, Ga., via Tennille, >
September 3, 1875.)
On the convening of the Court this
morning the grand jury came in with a
report recommending the discharge of
the remaining prisoners, and commend
ing tho Judge and counsel for faithful
performance of duty. Judge Johnson
then addressed the grand jury and citi
zens generally, advising acquieseuce iu
the decision of the jury, and commend
ing the people for the conservative and
law-abiding course they had pursued.
All the prisoners not indicted were dis
charged, and the military features which
have enlivened the town have disappear
ed. Court adjourned at eleven o’clock
until the regular term. S. F. W.
Discharge of Harris—Report of the
Grand Jury—Address of Judge John
son.
Sandersville, Ga., Septembers, 1875.
Editors Chronicle and Sentinel :
About nine o’clock this morning
•Court was convened. An order was
passed discharging Cordy Harris. The
grand jury came iu with a report, read
by their foreman, in which they highly
oomplimented counsel for the State,
and alluded in appreciative manner to
Governor Herschel V. JolinsoD, the
Judge presiding. The report advised
that all the remaining prisoners who
had not been indicted be discharged.
In response to this address, Governor
Johnson, in a manner to which no re
port can do justice, replied as follows:
Mr. Foreman and Gentlemen of the Grand Jury:
With groat interest I have listened to the
communication you have just presented. I
desire to say a few words in response to mat
ters suggested in it, and I address myself to
the citizens present generally, as well as to
yourselves.
You have passed through a trying ordeal.
Whether justly or unjustly, tho while people
of this county bolieved that on the part of tho
black poople thoro has been an intention to
commit acts of violence and to deprive white
citizens, indiscriminately, of their lives—that
wholesale assassination was contemplated.
That belief was well calculated to excite
indignation and arouse feelings of re
venge in the minds of tho white citi
zens. It is highly creditable to tho
white people of this and other counties in
volved that no acts of violence wore commit
ted, hut that the determination pervaded gen
erally that it would be bettor to appeal to the
forms and principles of the law. That has been
done. One case lias been tried and all the
facts connected—connected under tho rules of
law—have been brought before the country.
Many of you have heard tho testimony. The
jury who tried the case heard the testimony ;
they heard the argument of counsel for tho
State and for tho accused. The Judge pre
sented the law in his charge as he understood
it. The jury have returned a verdict of not
guilty as to tho one against whom most evi
dence was supposed to exist.
Now. gentlemen—fellow-citizons—it is very
probable that there may bo some persons in
the county who are impatient: who are dis
posed to feel that it iH necessary that some
body should be punished ; who aro not satis
fied with the termination of the case that lias
been tried. To all snch let mo Bay, as the re
sult of years of experience and of a profound
study of the relations of mankiug to each
other, an 4 the duties they owe to the law—
let me say, as your friend and fellow-citizen ;
as a true-hearted Georgian, who never had an
impulse disloyal to her interests—a sou of
your State, whose ancestors sleep in Georgian
earth; in whose bosom ho expects before
many days to sleep ; let me say, whatever may
be your feelings of discontent, arising from
the result of this investigation, whatever may
have been your apprehensions as to what
is past, or are your apprehensions as
to what is yet to come, let me admonish
yon .not, to violate the laws of the
land. That law re your protection whilst you
are in the peace of the State and in the fear of
God; that law is the protection of every man
of eveiy class wliilHt confirmed, submitted to,
but is armed with vengencc against those who
violate its mandates. Whilst 1 sit on this
bench, the man who violates the law and is
eouvioted, shall feel its vengeance. X, there
fore, implore all my fellow-citizens, after this
calm investigation lias been made, to coineido
in the result and to endeavor to establish and
maintain relations of harmony and good will
with all, of every color, race and condition, Be
sure you do not cherish the spirit of enmity
and revenge against those of tho opposite
race.
To my colored friends, let me say that 1 do
not believe that tliero is any hostility on
the part of the while people towards you.
I do believe that it is possible for you to
live in harmony with the white people. Tho
very trial which has just taken place here
shows that whatever prejudices may have
been in existence a colored man in this
country may have, and lias had, a fair and
impartial trial and should satisfy you that
no enmity exists against you as a poople.
When you feel convinced that any law
of the land is oppressive, is wrong, try
to get a rectification through the bal
lot box and a change by lawful means of
such laws as aro not to your satisfaction.
Never, never, never band yourselves to
gether to subvert the law or atlempt to in
cite any one to join in; any combined resis
tance to the lawful authority of the Hlato.
Never, never, conceive any sucli horrid and
demoniac purpose as to murder at night those
who are sleeping in their beds. Never, never
attempt such a crime. There may be somo
white people who have done harm to you or
to some of you, but you cannot say that all
white people are guilty of injustice or op
pression to all colored people. That is as
unjust as it is to say that, because a few
black people are had, all aro bad. Try to do
riglit- Try to ontertain feelings of peace, of
love, towards all mankind. The man who has
just been tried is a preacher of the Gospol. I
would admonish him that that Gospel teaches
us all to love one another—to lovo our ene
mies. “ Love your enemies,” it says, “ bless
them that curse you, do good to them that
hate you.” That is the Gospel it is his pro
vince to preach. If ho lias been a participator
in this alleged scheme of insurrection he ban
belied the professions he makes in the pnlpit
and has disgraced the clothes he wears as a
minister of the Gospel of Love and Peace'
My friends and fellow-citizens, we are as
counsel has said in the trial, all in the same
boat. Both colors are here. It is our interest
to live together in harmony. On the one hand
?ou, tpy colored friends, can furnish the labor.
ou are compelled to labor for a living as well
as the white people are. The white people
need your labor and have means to pay you for
it. Capital and labor should work together in
harmony, parallel with each other, and mako
the best of their condition. We should all
bo controlled by these principles and be
guided in our conduct by these considerations.
Let all men, white and black, feel that we are
under the law and under government. Out of
that our liberties are secured. If that law is
not enforced liberty is a myth; and it is the
daw of the government to enforce the law.
Fellow-citizens, let us feel our responsibility
as citizens, and look not for present good only,
bnt for the benefit also of those who aro to
come after us; for if there is anything wbioh
should be most dear to us all it is that we may
leave to our children the heritage of wise laws
and a wholesome government.
These remarks have made a deep im
pression on the community. Fortunate
is the State of Georgia that she num
bers among her judiciary snch a man as
Governor Johnson, and his patriotism
in oocepting and exercising the duties
of his office merit the gratitude of
every citizen in this Commonwealth^