'Start# fttteMigtttttf.
WEDNESDAY. FEBRUARY 3,1869.
Libeling a Member or tbe Legislature! I!
. We have been accused of doing what
we supposed to be an impossibility, and
have actually been held to answer to
the charge of libeling a member of the
ring which controls the present Legisla :
ture. We hardly know whether to re
gard this as a bit of fun of as a matter
'of serious earnest. But that Mr. Boyer,
thegentlemanly Chief of the Harrisburg
Police, actually called upon us in our
sanctum on Thursday, and exhibited a
warrant given under the hand and seal
of the Mayor of that city, in which
“H. G. Smith and A. J. Steinman,
Esqa., publishers of the Lancaster Daily
and Weekly Intelligencer ” are accused,
on the oath of one Charles Kleckner, a
Radical member of the Legislature from
Philadelphia, of'libeling him, the said
Charles Kleckner, sometimes dubbed
Col., in au article published in our Daily
of Friday,,the 22d inst. —but for all thi9
formality, we say, we should regard the
whole thingas a huge joke. Thedoughty
Col. evidently feels himself aggrieved
by something we said of him. He has
sworn he does, and we suppose we must
believe him on his oath, in this matter
at least. "We have entered into bail
with good aud suillcient security, to be
and appear before the Court of Quarter
Sessions of Dauphin county, which
meets on the fourth Monday of April
next, AM) \VK \VJ LI. UK TIJKKK.
No live newspaper can expect to es
cape. libel suits. We have had our
share of them ; but no one lias ever yet
made anything oil’ us in this way. in
every instance our prosecutors have got
the worst of the bargain. Whether the
Hon. Col. Charles Kleckner, member
of the HoUvse of Representatives, of
Pennsylvania, will ho more successful
remains t.o be seen.
W e are always ready to retract when we
may have been betrayed in to saving any
thing against any man which facts will
not are equally ready to
staud by tbe truih, without fear, fa,vor,
uffeclion or partiality.
in the very article in which Col.
Kleckner’s'namo appeared we charged
three or four Democratic members of
the Legislature with being corrupt, if
they have any idea of bringing li lie 1 suits
against us we hope they will make it
suit to have them come up at the same
time with Col. Kleekner's. Hueli an
arrangement would save us valuable
time, and time with newspaper men is
money, who have not the same facili
ties for enriching themselves which are
eagerly embraced by many members of
the Legislature, if reports do not. belie
them.
The item which gave offense to Col.
Kleckner was a paragraph in which we
denounced what we understood to he an
attempt to levy Mack mail upon the
North Pennsylvania I tail road. The
resolution introduced by Kleckner was
regarded as a regular “ pincher,” anil
the aggrieved “member of the ring”
seems to think we have grievously sin
ned by “ holding him up to ridicule and
contempt,” us a sumplespccimen of the
genus ‘'pincher.” .So lie seeks redress
iu tlio Criminal Courts.
Amtslng lack Other
The Radical newspapers of this
county are just now engaged in u sort
of general battle with each other. The
E.miniiu rami Jntf itlrer defend the paste*
slinger swindle, while the J'.'.rjin ■-» and
Fatlu'r Ahniham denounce it as it de
serves. Thu !in//ii‘rr has made some
pertinent inquiries in relation to the
Hackman whiskey frauds, while the
I'.xumiH' r seeks to cover up this piece
of rascality. Thu F.xpm does not
seem to have any very definite opinion
in regard to ihe transaction. The Jn
•ji/irir cl larges the f'.xpn with bribery,
aud insinuates, awful things jjbout its
editor; the Ixgnss replies by denounc
ing the ./ iK/i/iri r as a Thug organ, full of
ahominations and given up to all sorts
of disreputable practises. The Colum
bia .S/g/intimates ilia! tin* last < 1 rand
.Jury was packed for the express pur
pose of doing injustice to its editor, and
shielding tin* chief si-ribe of the Jp
(juirt r from merited punishment. Al
together the scrimmage i> a tierce one.
We have no doubt there is much truth
iu the accusations which these Uudiea!
organs bring agaiiis: eaHi other. We
are prepared to believe anything bad
which they may say of one another. It
is a family quarrel, and like all such
very bitter. J
The truth is Ilia' the Republican
leaders of thi.. county are, with very
few i‘Xiu*]ilii)j).- f cmLragouuMy corrupt.
They care nuihiiig for the puldic good,
and exhaust all their energies in devis
ing means for enriching themsolv.cs by
thes|)oi].sofolliee. 'J’liey are divided into
cliques anil laclion, which generally
manage to compose their quarrels in
time to make a ring to dictate nomina
tions. .Then they all blow in concert
u util lifter l he elections, when the masses
11 liU that they have been deceived into
voting for unlit, candidates. The Craw
ford'County System has not proved to
be capable of ensuring the selection of
honest and competent nmn for office.
The assaults which are being made niton
the successor of Mr. Stevens, the present
members, of the Legislature, anil the
Comity Com miss ion ers prove this. I tow
the masses of the Republican party in
Lancaster county will ever be able to
relieve themselves of the load of corrup
tion and raseality which they are forced
to carry is more than we can tell. They
are to lie pitied.
The Auditors’ Report
The Auditors have made their annu
al report in regard to the financial af
fairs of the county. They do not con
firm all tlic acts of the Commissioners,
and speak out boldly against some im
proper transactions which have oc
curred. They refuse to sanction the
donation of county funds to lift* , com
panies in Columbia ami Marietta, wliich
were currently reported at the time to
have been made with I he’design of in
fluencing votes in favor of the person
who succeeded in securing the nomina
tion for' District Attorney. They also
denounce the system of letting out job.-
of printing to favori es, and propose
that all such work shall hereafter be
given to tile lowest bidder. They more
than intimate that money has been
recklessly squandered in bridge build
ing, all contracts for such work having
been given to one favored party. They
dennand that another system shall he
adopted, and that when bridges are to
be erected hereafter, the system of pub
lishing specifications and inviting coin
petition shall, be employed.
J J\.s wo shall have occasion to return
to this matter again, we forbear making
any extending comments at present.
When the Auditors find it necessary
thus gravely to accuse the County Com
missioners, there is good reason to be
lieve that tlu-re issomething very rotten
Denmark.
“ Sot For Joe."
Qli! no! The writer of this popular
song would change its title, if he.should
chance to read the statement of the fi
nances of Lancaster county for the past
year, and knew the ex tent of the services
of “Joseph (not. Simon) the Cellarer.”
The Court House was built for “ Joe.”
It is,rumored that the County is build-'
ingalarge building which vs “not-for
Joe.”
“ High-Priced fi-
Tradition has it that the regular tipple
in the office of the County Commission
ers has heretofore been whiskey, but
rumor says that on the organization of
the Board Jast week nothing cheaper
than champagne was tolerated, and
Amos Lee was coigipelled to employ a
Dime fashionable caterer than his ac
comnlished lady. Who paid the bill?
Our’members* of the Legislature can
hardly have made enough money at
Harrisburg as yet.
THE LiA-ISTCASTER WEEKLY ES'TELEiaEiSrCEH, "WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 1869.
Increasing the Number of Thieves.
Mr. Adair, of Philadelphia, has offer-’
ed a proposition in the Lower House of
our State Legislature, to the effect that
the State be ao amended
as to increase the number of members
of the Houseof Representatives to three
hundred. Coi. McClure made the same
proposition just after Simon Cameron
was last elected United States Senator.
The Colonel argued the propriety of
och an amendment at length iu the
Franklin Repository , which he then
owned and edited. The principal reason
assigned by him for the proposed
change was the greater difficulty that
would be encountered in buying up so
large a body. He calculated that it
would take -fully three times as much
money to get an’improper bill through
as it does now, with a House of one
hundred members, and that “snakes”
and “ roosters” and “ pinchers” ■would
be thus killed off. The Colonel *' has
been there” repeatedly and he ought to
know what the effect of trebling tbe
cost of buying up the Legislature
would be.
But is it not strange that such argu
ments should be gravely used to con,-
vince the people of Pennsylvania that
tbe Legislature should be trebled in
numbers. To what a depth of degra»
dation have we descended, when Radi
cal leaders and leading Radical news
papers are compelled to confess that
there is do hope of securing an honest
legislature on the present basis of rep
resentation. It is in fact admitted on
on all hands, notonly thataset of thieves
have had control of former Legislatures
under Radical rule, not only that, the
present one is composed of corrupt and
mercenary rascals,’but that tligre is no
hope of future Radical Legislatures
being any more decent or virtuous than
those which have preceded them.
We do uot believe that the proposed
change would produce the desired re
sult. Tf reports be true, members of a
former Legislature have been bought at
the very cheap rateof live dollars ahead.
What the lowest ligures of the present
“ring” may be we can not say ; but
probably it ranges from live dollars up
to any sum which can be squeezed out
of those wlio apply for legislation. With
smaller districts even smaller and
meaner men than those who now con
stitute Xhe Radical majority would he
likely to he elected.
The great fault is in the present in
iquitous apportionment of representa
tives, whereby a Radical majority is
assured. Radical Lancaster county,
with a smaller list of taxable inhabi
tants and a smaller voting population
than Democratic Luzerne, has two
Senators to the latter's one and four
Assemblymen to its three. By such
infamous means is the Legislature of
Pennsylvania been kept Radical and
corrupt. The members are not re
strained by fear of. party defeat. They
feel assured that they can go on in
their rascalities with impunity while
the present apportionment stands. —
Experience has taught them that the
Republican party are willing to endorse
any amount of rascality and corruption
rather than vote against the settled
ticket. Believing this, the members of
the present Legislature have been guilty
of the most reckless extravagance, anil
they brazen it out with an impudence
that is unsurpassable. An increase in
the number of 'the legislators would
only add to the number of thieves, with
out-producing the slightest reform.
What is needed is a fair aud equable
apportionment of the .State, according
to population and the relative strength
of the two political parties. As mat
ters now stand, the Democrats might
carry their State Ticket by twenty-live
thousand majority and the Legislature
still be Republican. Willi an honest
apportionment nothing of the kind
would occur, and tkepeople could easily
punish any party for corruption and
rascality by depriving it of its majority
iu the Legislature. They have the
right to do that; it is their duty to do it;
and they would do it if they were not pre
vented by the iniquitous and infamous
gerrymandering of the legislative dis
tricts. Let such RepuM icau newspapers
as are really desirous of reform strikfc at.
this, the very root and source of corrup
tion. As new apportionments will be
made in ISTi, and, if it be fuir and
honest, the strongest possible check will
be put upon the bribery and corruption
which disgraces the State. It is the as
surance of a continuance of their ma
jority in the Legislature which lias
made members in the present body
so shameless in their rascalities.
Does any one suppose the House would
have forced through the paster swindle
if the present iniquitous apportionment
had not existed.’ Not they. Each
member would have felt that the future
success of his party would be affected
by his vote, and that he would be held
to the strictest accountability. Let
there he an honest and equable appor
tionment in IS7I, and weshallseeanew
order of affairs in our Stale Legislature.
That is the true remedy—the only one.
An Indignant *• Booster;"
The members of “ the ring,” which
has been established iu the lower House
of our State Legislature, arc becoming
decidedly sensitive. Having voluntarily
sacrificed their reputation for honesty
they seeui to desire to do something to
retrieve their characters. They have
been very properly assailed by all hon
est journals of both political parties.
Being thus left naked to the scorn of
the people, and entirely defenceless, the
disreputable scamps are looking around
for some place of refuge from the sting
ing attacks of their assailants. So we
find them appealing to the Courts for
protection. It is passing strange that
any of them should resort to such a
renn dy, a Court of Justice being the
la-q place one would 'suppose they
would think of entering on such a mis
sion. But they are no doubt encouraged
to hope tlrey may succeed in concealing
the truth through the unfairness
of our law relating to libels. Not
only have we been prosecuted for
libel, but on Saturday morning
Elisha W. Davis, the pet;sdn who
was made Speaker of the House
last year after a very warm contest, rose
in his seat ami took occasion to respond
to an attack made upon him by that
Radical sheet, the Pittsburg Dispatch,
ami two other papers in the State.
It seems, from the remarks of Mr,
Davis, that the Dispatch charged him
with being at the head'of the extrava
gance of the past session, aud with aid
ing iu securing the appointment of
useles ollicials about the Housb. We
think this sensitiveness of Mr. Davis is
exhibited at a very late date. Ifhewill
search through the files of some of the
Republican papers of this county he will
find it charged, that lie had at least a
guilty knowledge of the little arrange
ment by which one Iliyus of Mt. Joy
drew over seven hundred dollars from
(he State Treasury. It was charged that
Iliyus was not preseut' at the Capitol
during the session, aud did no work, but
thathenevertheless drew full pay under
the order of Speaker Davis. We can
direct Mr. Davis to the party who made
these accusations, and would suggest to
him that imperatively they demand
au explanation from him.
In his speech Mr. Davis said he in
tended to make the Dispatch and the
other papers alluded to “acknowledge
the law or their ignorance of it.” Let
him include the .Radical papers of this
county to which wejefer. And, when
he has done that, let him extend his
operations to all the newspapers of the
State which have assailed him. If he
does so he will have to prosecute almost
every editor of any prominence in the
Commonwealth. We advise him to go
iu fearlessly, if he thinks the profits of
oil speculations and legislating will
enable him to stand the expense.
Personal Explanations of Congressmen*
Almost every day some Radical mem
ber of Congress rises in his seat to make
a personal explanation, and to defend
himself against charges which have
been made in tbe newspapers. As this
is a privileged question the aggrieved.
individuals are always heard. We have
noticed a large number of such cases,
and in every instance the attacks have
been made upon these Radical gentle
men by papers belonging to their own
party. The charges have generally been
that those assailed have engaged in
some scheme for defrauding the Gov
ernment by procuring the passage of
iniquitous bills, in which they have
been more than suspected of having a
direct pecuniary interest. We have
read the lame defences of the men who
have thus exhibited their tarnished re
putations to tbe public gaze, and we
could have pitied them, had not their
halting manner convinced us that they
were guilty, and deserving of the con
tempt of all decent men.
The truth Is that many Radical Sen
ators aud Congressmen have amassed
vast fortunes within the last few years
! by sharing with the thieves who havebccn
| engaged in. plundering the public treas
ury. One scheme after another has been
started under tbe guise of public im
provements, whereby the nation has
been fleeced of many milliousof money.
The public lands have been lavishly
given away to railroad companies, those
who voted for thus robbing the people
j of their homesteads and heritage receiv
ing large donations for their influence
and their votes.
Senators who went to Washington
poor, a few short years ago, now live in
magnificent palaces, which they have
built out of their share of the spoil, and
revel in the most unbounded luxury.
No man needs to be told that'this sort
of thing cannot be done on a salary of
five thousand dollars a year. That
would not pay for the suppers which
these courtly gentleman give every
winter; would not keep up their stud
of line horses ; would not buy the dia
monds and silks in which their wives
and daughters are arrayed; would not
fee the immense retinue of servants
which wait iu obsequiousness about
their palatial residences.
Where do Radical Congressmen get
the money which enables them to live
like the lords and dukes of aristocratic
England? Does any one need to be
told? Do not all men know that the
public treasury has been draiued into
tlio private coffers of Radical Senators
anil Congressmen? Is it uot distinctly
understood that their votes are daily
bought and sold, just as those of mem
bers of the Pennsylvania Legislature are
reputed to be? Who denies that these
solons receive big slices out of every
grant which is made to railroads, and
to the companies which engage iu the
impruveineiitsof riversand harbors, and
other devices ofJike character? If the
stock accounts of members of Congress
could be examined, and their bank
books be submitted to public inspection,
a revelation of rascality would be made
that would startle even the dull ear of
this generation ?
Never was there so corrupt a govern
ment as ours on the face of the earth.
Bribery controls the votes of Congress
and of our State Legislatures; corrup
tion has fastened upon public officials
iu every capacity ; fraud i 3 the order of
the day, and the most outrageous in
iquity seems not to be sufficient to
stamp public men with the infamy
so many of them richly deserve.
Tbe public mind lias been de
bauched, all sense of honor seems
to have departed, and the success
ful rascal is often the pet of society and
tile fluttered representative of the dom
inant political party. Will this people'
ever go bark to the virtue of their
fathers? Will the time come again
when no man ,can be choseu to oilier
who is suspected of being dishonest?
We fear not. But one thing we do
know—that unless there is a change,
and that a speedy one, our Republican
form of government will have proven
itself to be a failure, and the Republic
itself tvuso to be worth preserving.
Expensive Bridge Building.
This morning tlie viewers appointed
to view the new bridge over the Cones
toga, near the Printers’ Paper Mill,
asketl the Court for instructions as to
the manner of making their report.
They stated to the Court that they had
examined the structure, anti found it
too light for the location anti the uses
to which it would be subjected.. They
also alleged that the sum contracted to
be paid for its erection was five or six
thousand dollars in excess of what it
should have cost. It appears that the
contractor made the specifications him
self, and was paid for doiug the same.
If lie is now paid five or six thousand
dollars more than the work is worth,
he will make a nice little pileof money
out of the taxpayers. This furnishes a
nice commentary upon the report of the
County Auditors, and subjects the
County Commissioners to grave suspi
cions. Tlie Court instructed the viewers
to return all tlie fads, and it would af
terwards be determined what action
they would take iu the premises. We
will publish the report when made.
The “Roosters’”and “Pinchers*” Mutnal
Aid Society.
Tlic “Roosters” and “Pinchers” who
infest the Lower House of our State
Legislature have formed'A. Mutual Aid
Society. One evening last week a secret
meeting was held to devise ways aud
means for silencing the newspaper
press, wliich lias been exposing their
•disreputable schemes. Various plans
Vere suggested ami a deal of discussion
ensued. At last a regular society was
organized, with a corps of officers, and
; a committee was appointed toprepare a
i Constitution and By-Laws for the gov
| eminent of the organization. The fun*
i damental object of the association is the
prosecution for libel of every news
paper editor iu the State, who may as
sail the honesty or speak lightly of the
virtue of “any member of the ring.”
The pasters and folders are to tie taxed
fifty dollars (ach, aud two and a half
per cent, of all uioueys paid forthe votes
of members of the ring is to besetapart
to fee lawyers aud pay costs.
Our reporter occupied an unfavorable
position during the progress of the meet
ing, but he is ready to be qualified that a
proposition made to devote an addition
al two and a half per cent, for the pur
pose of bribing juries to convict all edi
tors who might be indicted, was only
lost by a few votes. It would have car
ried, our reporter thinks, if it had not
been'for a few remarks made by the
chair, to the effect that bribing juries
would not be found so easy or so safe
an operation as bribing the Pennsyl
vania Legislature.
We are puzzled to tell precisely what
action ought to be taken by the press in
regard to this important matter. Per
haps it would be as well to await further
developments of the plot before doing
anything. We shall be glad to hear a
free expression of opinion in regard to
the atFairfrom all editors who may feel
interested in it.
Our reporter thinks he can manage
to secure a full report of the proceed
iugs of the next meeting, aud a copy of
the Constitution of the Society. If he
should be successful our readers may
expect some rich developments
Another Chance for Kleckner.
Our exposure of the virtuous Colonel
Kleckner seems to have drawn public
attention to him, aud various newspa
pers are paying attention to him. The
Philadelphia Daily Sews says :
It is stated that Councils have appropria
ted some five hundred dollars to pay the
expenses of a committee to visit the “Boud
inot Lauds,” which are locuted somewhere
between here and the setting sun. Can’t
Mr. Kleckner, the distinguished member of
the Legislature from the Sixth ward, offer
u resolution tor a committee to inquire into
the matter? If such a motion were made
at once, the “Boudinot” committee might
invite Kleckner and his friends to take part
in their excursion. We hear it stated that
the.Nortii,Pennsylvania Railroad Company
will be sure to remember Mr. K. when the
managers make another trip to Niagra,
The Proposed Gerrymander of Lancaster
CJUy.
We notice that the bill providing for
a new-gerrymander of this city bos been
reported favorably from the Local Ju
diciary Committee, under tho auspices
of Senator Fisher. We have been as
sured that he does not believe it ought
to pass. If ho bolds to that opinion why
did he permit the bill to be favorably
reported? The best way of disposing of
it, it strikes us, would have been to have
killed it in the Committee. Had he
done so he would have received
the thanks of a large majority of his
own party in this city. We have yet to
meet the first intelligent Republican
who favors the passage of this crude
bill with its multitude of outrageous
provisions.
A main proposition contained in the
bill is that which directs that the citi
zens of the First Ward shall hereafter
elect two members of Select Council,
while the other Wards are only entitled
to a single representative in that body.
Why the First Ward should be thus
favorednoonecantell. Itcastonlyabout
a dozen more votes than the Democratic
Eighth Ward, and has a smaller resident
voting population than either the Sec
ond, Third, or Eighth. The Second
Ward pays a much larger amount of
taxes than the First. On what ground
then it is proposed to justify givingtwo
members of Select Council to a Ward
having fewer residue t voters and paying
less tax than some others is mote than
we can conjecture. There is serious
opposition to this iniquitous and unjust
proposition among the more intelligent
and influential 1 ’"'ublicans of the city.
General Fisher .nows that, and it is
said he does not intend to press the
passage of tho bill. Why then did he
not permit it to die a natural death in
the Committee to which it was referred,
and of which we believe he is Chairman?
The bill is full of monstrosities. The
clause depriving the Mayor and Police
of all control over vagrants, drunken
persons, and parties guilty of riotous or
disorderly conduct, is a blow aimed di
rectly at the peace and order of tho city.
It is au attempt to legislate fees into the
pockets of an alderman aud a constable
who refused to act as a member of the
regular police force.
The passage of this-bill is neither
asked lor nor desired by a majority of
the Republicans of this city. It was
gotten up by au impecunious political
shyster, who expects to make something
out of it, if the Legislature should be
foolish enough to pass It. That it will
be defeated in the Senate we believe.
It ought never to have been reported
from the Committee.
Passage of the Negro Suffrage Amend
On Saturday the following resolution
passed the lower bouse of Congress by
a vote of yeas lot), nays 12.• Speaker
Colfax voting in the affirmative:
lie. it resolved, etc, Two-third s * of both
Houses ooucurring, the following article be
proposed to ihe Legislatures of tbe several
States usun amendment to tbe Constitution
of tho United Slates which when ratified by
thrce-lourths of said Legislatures, shall be
belli u.-> part of said Constitution :
Article Ist, ■Section Ist. The right of any
citizen of the United States, to'vote shall not
be denied or abridged by the United States,
ur any State, by reason of race , color or
■previous eomlition of sloven/,,0f any citizen
or class of citizens of the United States.
'ld. The Congress shall have power to en
force by apjiropriatc legislation the provis
ions of this article.
The above is iu the form of a joint
■resolution, ami it passed the House by
the necessary two-thirds. Should it
receive a similar endorsement in the
Senate, as it no doubt will, it will then
gn before the country for approval or
disapproval by the different State Leg
islatures. Cun three-fourths*of the
State Ltgislalures be induced to endorse
it? By tbe admission of little rotten
borough States in the far West, by
military control of the South, and by a
reckless and iniquitous gerrymandering
of St.ales in the North, tbe Radicals
bavesccured a majority in three-fourths
of tbe State Legislatures. Should they
decide to do so they can force the pro
posed amendment through.
It will speedily come up before the
Legislature of this State for considera
tion. What will be its fate there? Will
the present Legislature dare to force
Negro Suffrage upon Pennsylvania?
They know it would be defeated by an
immense majority if submitted to a
popular vote ; they know they were
elected without any reference to this
question ; they know tbe people of this
grand old commonwealth are tenacious
of their rights ; that they are not pre
pared to surrender the most valuable of
all their privileges to tbe arbitrary con
trol of Congress. Will the members
of the present Legislature deliberately
commit so great an outrage ? We know
not. We shall wait patiently to see,
watching tbe course of events, and
chronicling them as they transpire.
If the present Legislature is wise, if
tbe members are honest, if they would
deal justly with tue people, they must
decliue to pass upon this proposed
amendment to the Constitution of the
United States. It is a question for the
people of Pennsylvania to determine for
themselves. They should be consulted.
Tbe question should be submitted in the
coming canvass, and the next Legisla
ture be elected with direct reference to
the adoption or rejection of negro suf
frage. ft need not be made a party
question. Individual candidates of
either party can take their staud for or
against it. That is the only honest
course to pursue. We shall wait with
solicitude to see whether it will be
adopted.
Another Mind Suit Properly Decided,
P. Gray Meek, Esq., of the Jicllcfontc
Watchman, is one of the boldesteditors
in Pennsylvania. He calls things by
their right names, and assails corrup
tion aud rascality wherever it exists.
We like him for that. Of course he
has to pay the usual penalty, and is pes
tered with libel suits occasionally. He
has just come through an important
trial triumphantly. Finding it proper
to tell some plain truths about Dickin
son Seminary, he offended the trustees
of that institution, and they prosecuted
him. The case was ably contested on
both sides, and the result was an ac
quittal of Mr. Meek. The time has
gone by in this State when the freedom
of the press can be abridged by threats
of prosecution for libel. Editors can
speak out freely and fearlessly, being
sure that juries will stand by them and
prevent them from being muzzled in -
their honest efforts to expose rascality.
This is as it should be in a free country.
Retributive Justice.
The ejection of Senator Stockton, of
New’ Jersey, from his seat was one of
the most iuiquitous arnoDg the many
arbitrary outrages perpetrated by the
Radicals in their reckless exercise of
the wantonness of power. It will be
remembered by ojr readers that the
subject was debated a long time. Before
the vote was taken, Mr. Wright, then a
Senator from New Jersey, was obliged,
on account of ill health to go home;
but, before doing so, he “paired off” in
the Stockton case with Mr. Morrill, of
Maiue. When the roll was called the
Senate was found to be evenly divided,
and it required a majority to deprive
Mr. Stockton of his seat. Then,
in violation of his plighted word ;
of honor, the Yankee Morrill rose in
his seat and voted against Stockton.
Mr. Wright never dreamed when he
“ paired off” with him that he could be
induced to commit so dishonorable an
act for so base a purpose. Time, which
is said to set all thiDgseven, has brought
its revenge. Morrill is repudiated by
the Radicals of Maine, and deprived of
his seat in the Senate, while Mr. Stock
ton is returned by the Democracy of
New Jersey. This is a piece of retribu
tive justice over which all honorable
men must rejoice.
Bepndlatlon.
Repudiation has become a topic of tlie
hoar. Up to this time, although many
persons and parties have been charged
in the heat of political strife by their
opponents with being in favor of the re
pudiation of the National war debt, yet
in fact few, if any, responsible persons
have ever actually and publicly an
nounced their belief in the doctrine in
its full length and breadth; many have
favored a reduction of the interest on
the debt or its payment in greenbacks,
or have advocated some other means of
lightening its burthen upon the people
which has caused them to be stigma
tized for political effect as repudiators.
But now a prominent gentleman, Mr.
Butts, for many years editor of the
Rochester (N.Y.) Union, has published
a lengthy pamphlet in which he de
mands the absolute renndiation of the
government indebtedness incurred dur
ing the war. Of course we do not
coincide in his views and he will
probably find few, at present, who
will agree with him; but the sub
ject has been broached and other advo
cates may rise up in its favor, who will
strive to corrupt the honesty of the tax
payers. If a time of great public distress
shall come upon us, a great temptation
will be presented to the people to adopt
the doctrine to save themselves from the
oppressive demands of the tax-gatherer.
Its advocacy may become popular and
it will then become the doctrine of a
political party, adopted to obtain or re
tain power. It will be well therefore for
those who are interested in the govern
ment debt, it will be advisable for the
bondholders to seriously consider now
whether it is not their better policy to
abate something of what may be their
just claims upon the government, iatiier
than run the risk, by insisting upon tho
very letter of their bond, of losing the
wholeofit; whether mother words they
had not better take a half a loaf than
incur the danger of getting no bread at
all. The New York World quotes the
language of Hamilton upon a like situ
ation of affairs in past times. It speaks
as follows:
The fact of a contract is one thiug; the
equity of thut contract is quite another. In
a court of luw, a hurd bargain can be en
forced, because tho complainaut is not al
lowed to judge in his own cause, and the
whole power of society will execute tho de
cision of the court. But ihe public contracts
of an elective government are construed
by the [people who have covenanted
to pay, and there is no superior force
to compel them to keep a contract
which revolts against their sen&e of
justice. . Public creditors, therefore, stand
on firm ground only so far as their claims are
supported by the judgment and conscience
of tho innjority of the people. . In resneet to
our present public debt, ittho amounted* tbe
principal and the rate of interest are lair
and equitable—that is, if the principal re
present the amount of money which was
actually borrowed, and the interest is at
such a rate ns governments of equal credit
and resources are accustomed to pay—noth
ing needs to be feared from repudiation;
for, in that case, the publiccou.-eience will
support tbe claims of the creditors. But if
the contract violates substantial equity, the
public creditors are safe only so Jong as the
country does not suffer any severe distress.
It is accordingly of very little use to meet
the reasoning of Mr. Butts with a detailed
refutation, 'ihe public creditors ought, iu
their own deprive it of its power
of mischief by 4 giving their voluntary con
sent to a rectification of the ex istiug contract,
.accepting Jess that they may be more se
cure.
In giving this advice to the public credit
ors, wo stand on precisely tbe same ground
that was occupied by Alexander Hamilton,
in that famous report of his on the public
oredit which is the chief pillar of his great
reputation as a statesman. The most solid
and convincing arguments anywhere to be
found in favor of maintaining publiccredit
inviolate are contained in that document;but
Hamilton w*as a man of sense and wisdom,
and did fiot deliver prudish financial cant,in
place of robust, wholesorno equity. He told
the publid creditors plainly mat they had
better abate their claims as u meaDS of estab
lishing them on a firmer foundation.
“Though it may not be safely affirmed,” he
said, that occasions |iave never existed, or
may not exist, in which violations of the
public faith, m this respect, are inevitable,
yet there is reason to believe that they ex
ist far less.frequently than precedents indi
cate. 3 3 3 Expedients might often have
been devised; to effect, consistently with
good faith, what bus been done iu contra
vention of it. Those who are most com
monly creditors of a naliou are, generally
speaking, enlightened men ; and there are
signal examples to warrant a conclusion,
that when a candid and fair ajtpcal is made
to them, they will understand their true in
terest too well to refuse then • in
such modifications of their claims as an y real
necessity may demand.”
In the plan which Hamilton proposed,
and which was adopted by the first Con
gress, the whole pubfic debt, was not funded
at its face value, but at only two-thirds of
that value ; iu other words, the public cred
itors relinquished one-third of their claim to
make the residue more secure. We quote
again from the report: "Tho interesting
problem now occurs. Is it in the power of
tbe United S tales, consistently with those pru
dential considerations that ought not to be
overlooked, to mako a provision equal to the
purpose of funding the whole debt, at the
ratys of interest which it now bears, in addi
tion to the sum which will bo necessary for
tlie current service J fi* the government ?
" The Secretary will not say that such a
provision will exceed the abilities of the
country; but he is clearly of opinion that to
make it would require tho extension of
taxation to a degree which the true interest
of the public creditors forbids. It is there
fore to be hoped, and even to be expected,
that they will cheerfully concur in such
modifications of their claims on fair and
equitable principles os will facilitate to the
government an arrangement, substantial,
durable, and satisfactory to the community.
Tbe importance of tbe last consideration
will strikeevery discerning mind. No plan,
however llattoring in oppeuntnee, to which
it did not belong,‘could be truly entitled to
confidence ”
“It will not bo forgotten that exigencies
may ere long u’-iso, which would call for re
sources greatly beyond what is now deemed
sufficient for the current service ; and that
should the facilities of the country bo ex
hausted, or even strained, to provide for tho
public debt, there could be less reliance on
tho sacred ness of tho provision.”
In the Wrong Pew
This morning a seedy looking old
chap with a whiskey-burnt face dropped
into our sauctum with a manuscript
book iu his baud, which he presented
for inspection. Ou looking at it we
found that he was neitherthecanvnsser
for a Hash publication nor the agent for
a patent churn. His “brief” stated that
he was “an orator during the Jast Pres
idential campaign, and that he had
done Yeoman’s service in the Repub
lican rauks for a very inadequate com
pensation.” Appended thereto we no
ticed the names of several Radical poli
ticians of this btate with subscriptions
ranging from one to five dollars. When
we informed the gentleman of our po
litical status he grabbed his book and
speedily vamosed without giving ua a
chance to contribute. We commend
him to the tender sympathies of the
Radicals of Lancaster.
Whiskey Thieves Convicted.
We record it as a most note-worthy
fact that two whiskey thieves were sen
tenced to imprisonment in New York
the other day. They bore a very bad
previous character, however, having
been tried for murder and been cleared
with difficulty. Thb rich aud reputable
members of the whiskey ring, from
Commissioner Rollins down through
Congressmen to country distillers escape
by some means. The initiated know
how the thing is done, and Radical rev
enue officers might tell if they could be
got to speak out, but, then, they would
commit themselves, and thatis contrary
to certain well known principles of law
so the stealing goes on and the Govern
ment is defrauded of many millions of
dollars, which has to be made up by the
toiling masses. Witness the Hackman
case, and others which have occurred in
this county.
Increased Cost or the Army
What is all this trash about reducing
the army? Away with it. Does this
look like reduction? §300,000 for re
cruiting this year to $lOO,OOO on the
•ame account last; $500,000 for clothing
commutation this year to $290,000 last; i
$8,500,000 for horses and mules to last
year's $5,000,000; subsistence $5,500,-
000 in excess; and, finally, $43,195,500, !
total, called for this year against $33,- j
082,093 la9t—an increase of $10,113,407.
Reduction, indeed! Why, here are ten i
millions increase at the first blush, and i
nobody knows howmany more millions
to come, like thieves in the night, in •
the shape of deficiency bills, “to cor
rect an error,” and so on, and so on.—
And yet these impudent michers dare
to prate about reduction!;
A Few Questions.
, As we observe that onr Congressman
Col. Dickey is in town we consider this
a favorable opportunity to ask him a
question or two. For instance: Did
your position as. Congressmen aid you
in your other capacity as Attorney for
the Hackman Estate, in getting that
Estate relieved from the payment of
over forty thousand' dollars charged
against it for non-payment of tax bn
whiskey? and if so, do you consider this
a legitimate advantage of the position
conferred upon you by your fellow-citi
zens.
bditobiai,botes, XIV.
In tho morning Mr; Frank Sloan, a Dem
ocratic member of the Legislature from
this District, drove na out five miles to tho
residence of Mr. A. F. Lewis, whoso plan- 1
tali on adjoins Fort Hill, over which he
kindly consented to guids ns. As we stood i
upon tho hill back of his house, wo had a
magnificent view of the surrounding coun
try. The gigantic range of tho Blue Ridge 1
loomed up before us, twenty or thirty miles
away but apparently much nearer; there
were “ Wbito Side” and “ Chimney Top,”
two towering mountains,. wo believe the
highest in the whole range. They are
named after their charaeteristic resem
blances; “ White Side ” falling perpendicu
larly for several hundred feet of its height,
without giving opportunity for the growth
of a tree to vary the whiteness of the bar
ren rock. A. half mile to oui* right was
the former residence of John C. Calhoun,
while a short distance in front of u-', arose
the rounded mound which was the she of
old Fort Hill; it ends a nock of high hind
that stretches across the low ground of
the valley of the Seneca and abuts imme
diately upon the riyer, forming a miniature,
Vicksburg. It was an Indian stronghold
long before white men got possession of the
country, and was an important out-post in
the early history of our country. Corn wa§
grown upon the fruitful valley at its feet
by the red man before the white man seized
upon it, and corn has been grown upon it
every year since. Its inexhaustible soil
has had no, iranure except what it {gains
from tho backing of tho waters upon it in
the periodical overflows of the river. Finer
corn than is raised upon these bottoms can
not bo found unywhere; the stalks were
left standing on tho ground and they seem
ed almost largo enough to bo denominated
timber. Tho Fort Hill estate contains
about u thousand acres of which we believe
some huudred and fifty acres are bottom
land ; a couple of hundred acres of upland
aro cultivated and tho balance is in wood.
Wesuw as fine cotton grown on tho up
lauds in this neighborhood as we had seen
anywhere; although this is about *ho
limit of the cotton country in this direc
tion ; much nearer the mountains it is not
cultivated. It is not planted on the bot
toms because of tho damage ft would incur
from freshets.
The Calhoun Mansion is finely situated
on a bluff, and is a comfortable though net
very pretentious house. It is a frame build
ing two stories high, with a portico sup
ported on wooden pillars at the front door,
which opens into an entry running through
the middle of the house, intersected ut tho
rear b}' another entry and portico, leading
out at the side of the house; a few yards
from which stands a small one story frame
office that contained Mr. Calhoun’s library
and in which ho read, studied and transuded
the busino.ss of his plantation. At tho other
side of the house and joining it, was a long
row of one-story buildings used for out
houses and quarters of domestic servants >
in the rear is the garden. A grove of native
forest trees lies between the lions** and tho
public road, concealing it from view. Mrs.
Andrew Calhoun, who is a daughter of Duff
Green, was occupying tho mausiou. She
has a number of children, one of whom a
bright young boy of about fourteen invited
us to enter. Mrs. Calhoun received tis
particularly when she un
derstood Mr. Clarke was from Maryland,
her native .State, There were threo por
traits of John C. Calhoun hanging on the
walls; one taken when he was Secretary
of War, and about :k> years of age. It,
shows a small and shapely head with well
cut features and coal black hair, the font
now tlic Radicals Annul Elections. ! < *** , f te b ? ar i n s a ,lecidpdl r martial air.
. Another painting was taken when he was
The Examiner published a lot of tea- an oI(1 niau and <lepicts one -., klca of tbe
timony taken iu a contested election grey-haired old grandfather, its lines leav
case iu the lower House of our State ing no impression of the statesman or the
Legislature, but it takes good care not j warrior; Mrs. C. called itthefamily picture
to give the pedigree of the perjured .of the great man, and said that both these
scouDdrels who swore to the lies which portraits, although we could trace no re
were put into their mouths by the man semblance between them, were accurate
who desires to turn a Democrat out of P icturcs of- r - Calhoun at tho two
the seat to which he was duly elected. P erio< l a of his life. Neither of them
The Harrisburg Patriot tells us who ? v:ls auylhin S 15ko our preconception of
these convenient witnesses are. It , 13 n PP I -' !irauce » which was realized by
q g . the third painting executed by a -ilol
" Daniel Redding, a fugitive from justice, lanJ and > iesi Portray Him as
under indictment for the crime of MURDiiR, n statesman. The artist, however, threw j
Harry Mitchell, the man who made tho re- ton much fancy into his work, and while]
turn of the Ft. Deluware fraud. Rowan, a ho has produced a striking picture, ho has
professional Radical repeater,” now being ! „,,,
looked after by the Philadelphia «»* <.l>..i.ntd an accurate likeness. Tt et
Siavin, another of tho same kidney, C. 8. 11 ls tau or lgir.al, of the engravings of 1
Williams alia# Christopher , Lumb, who Mr. Calhoun, with which wo are familiar
served a term iu the Ilauphin county jail, j portraying a massive forehead, deep, pene
and for whom tho officers of the law are I , . , <
now looking— these aro the men upon whose ! ‘ 1 = and abundant long Iron-gray
testimony a committee of tho House of I “ a,r * P art( -*d near tho middle and sweeping
Representatives are about to oust ono of j U 9 a frame around the face.
Furthermore: Why is not the inven
tory filed in the estate of Thaddeus Ste
vens, of which you are one of the Exe
cutors. The law requires it to be filed
within thirty days after the estate came
into your hands, whereas nearly six
months have now expired, and no in
ventory was, a few days ago, on record.
We should like to know, dear sir, the
nature of the assets and the valuation of
Pacific Railroad 'stock reported to be
included among them.
We observe also that the Revenue
officers in this District have not as yet
explained their connection with the
Hackman matter, nor have they an
swered our question as to whether they
had recommended the release of the
estate from its boDds. "We think they
had better let us hear from them. Peo
will talk, you know, and it is as well to
explain, if explanation is possible.
Letter of Hod, W. a. Wallace.
By the subjoined letter of Hon. W.
A. Wallace, to the Chairman of the
Democratic Committee of Clearfield
county, the public will learn that that
gentleman is not a candidate for the
Democratic nomination for the office of
Governor. His name was brought for
ward iu the Clearfield meeting without
his knowledge or consent. We com
mend the spirit of Mr. Wallace’s letter'
to every Democrat who has at heart the
good of the party :
Senate Chamber, >
Harrisburg. Jan. 20, ISM. j
J. Blake Walters, Esq.,
Chairman Count;/ Committee of Clearfield
County i.
Dear’ Sir:—l learn that at the meeting
held at Clearfield, on the evening of the 12th
inst., to provide for tho selection of dele
gates to tho Democratic State Convention, a
preference was expressed by those present
lor myself ns the Democratic candidate for
Governor, in the coming election. At the
time that meeting was held I was confined
to my room by illness, or I would have beeu
present and declined the honor that my fel
low citizens thus seek to confer. I write you
now, to say that I am not a candidate.
Whilst I am gratified by this mark of
confidence, I am convinced that my nom
ination is not the best that enu be made.
I recognize the vital importance of the se
lection of tho strongest Candidate that can
be found, to make this contest. lam one
of those who believe that everything but
principle should boubordinated tosuccess,
and that preferences for individuals and
the desire to reward party services should
bo made to yield to the imperious necessity
to win. It seems to be the universal desire
of tho press of the State that the convention
shall be held at a late day, and if the best
men of the party bo selected as delegates,
and authorized to carry out the will of tho
party as shown by the light that shall! then
surround them, the selection of the strong
est candidate will follow and our success
will be assured.
I desire through you to express to my
constituents who have invariably given me
a cordial support, my earnest thanks for
this renewed mark of their confidence.
Very respect fuiJy yours,
William A. Wallace
their fellow members from the seat to wliich | The estate is in litigation: according to the
he washonestly elected by a majority of tho ! ~m,i r, n . , ” ~ .
lawful voters of the district. The men who : ng the war Andrew Cal
dare to deprive Mr. Daniel 'Witham of his houn, who was the eldest son ol John C.
seat, upon the testimony of these infamous Calhoun, sold a fine estate ho had in Goor
witnesses, are robbers themselves. They gin and purchased Fort Hill from his
j mav perpetrate the contemplated outrage, . ...
theS" may hope to shield themselves from ' dow of the statesman, giving
public scorn by pleading lidolity in their ker therefore a mortgage lor somo fifty
party, but tho ’Radical organization itself, thousand dollars, fourteen thousand dollars
as well as its representatives upon this being the appraised value of the land,
committee, must and will be held re- , ~ , f
sponsible for this atrocious act. So far. k-dance " aa lor slaves. 3bis
as the Democratic press, the Demo- mortgage the willed to her daughter at
cratic rostrum, the Democratic canvass, her death about two years ago and
can publish the hideousness of this infer- it is now being pressed to execution.' The
nal trick, it shall be dinned in the ears of • -.. . , w ,
an insulted people until the crime shall be P orl,on l ke indebtedness for slaves we
expiated by the popular coudemnation of j presume, under recent judicial decision, is
all concerned in it. It is but another club i worthless, but the balanco is more than
handed us by our political opponents with j equal 10 [bo present market Tnlue of lhe
I which to beat out their brains. We shall I ‘ .. . , _ , , , , 7
: see that it be properly used. j P ro P erl i • Andrew Calhoun died suddenly
i about t he close of the war insolvent, as all
Kow a Radical Senator Got Rich. ■ hismca " 3 " ror(iin ™sted in slaves and other
Bonn Piatt, the Radical C OQ .; P-P«'y <l-t at onco had become
dent of that Radical sheet, the Cincin-; Xd /r .“T ?
_ . , ' sire, expressed a few days before his death.
natl Commercial will sometimes tell upohtheverysumraitofahighwooded hill
some ugly truths iu reference to Radi- . that rises up precipitously between his
cal officials. Pie thus speaks of a cer-; residence and tho river; Lhere holies alone,
tain well-known Senator : i After u pleasant interview with Mrs. Cal-
I look across the street and see in front of \ koun, wo rode on up the river a milo or
a Sonator’s house the carriage of another : two, to the fine plantation now owned bv
Senator. The pair of blooded horses cost FHwnn? p n , . /
some thousand dollars. The gilded harness : , d Cal koun, a young man who is the
isin keeping. The close, handsomeshiuing ; OI "3’ surviving child of John E. Calhoun,
coueh is ouo of Brenton’s best, lined with i a cousin of the Senator. This estate also
silk vdvet, and graced with the choicest j is iu litigation and has been divided into
man's Leat sktwVof^God'screamres,called ‘ hr °° CqUa ‘ I ' ortiona ’ ‘wo of which areliened
men; one a bright/mulatto, the other n °y creditors of the estatos of two deceased
whiteman, and both in livery. They sit brothers of Edward Calhoun ; one of whom
in solemn silence, under their gay robo ..1 ■ was killed in a duel at Charleston during
furs and white gloves. Directly tue door of ! tlv* w.r h-o- ono nr ik« n\^ t ,, 4 t
the house opens, and two ladies carrying a , ’ T . e l^e ietts > ( ko cause ol
poor man’s fortuneon their backs, descend- ! lDe f l Uarr(?l being a point of military eti
the steps. The footman swings down i Col. Calhoun held a commission in
and opens the door, with an easy grace the the Stato forces of .South Carolina which
master cannot imitate. The door’closes wer«. im.-iiv,. i,„ ,
with a bang, the footman mounts, and the ~ ‘ kc accepted a more no
coach rolls away. Well, it seems but yes- * iye P oi,t ion m the Confederate army with
terday that the owner of all this catne here out resigning his State commission. This
apdorman. did not suit his subordinate, Major Kbctt
" e remember the fairy tale whore the . sn thnf ha , .
old witch touched the pumpkin and turned i , P- - * e( l a piarrel with him and
it into a coach, nnd touched the rats and j saol him to gain promotion,
turned them into horses. And so the ugly j Tkis estate is a very lino one, and has a
witch of the lobby touched the poor man, ; lurge amount of fertile bottom land lying
and out of fraud came the coach, and out I ..in,,,, t ,. ft . , y
of theftcame the horses, and swindle drives, irp , ODLLa aud on both Bides ol
and stealings oil and burnish. Like that . twelve Mile creek. The residence pro
witch, I could touch that man with this sents a very elegant and imposin'* appear
delicato little pen oi mine, and carriage and ance, crowning the summit of a high bluff
horses, coachman and footmaD, would all j nn n ’ rivor n „ rl . 11 , , bluU
disappear. Forhonorand honestv would ° , river, and is approached by a steep
claim their own, and the very clothes would ! arid winding roadway. It is a magnificent
fall from the backs of wife and daughters. ! ancestral inheritance, and we trust that
DONN PIATT. | young Calhoun may bo able to retain it.
I At Pendleton Squire Mackey, who
■ knows and has surveyed nearly all this
country, gave us glowing accounts of tho
beauty and fertility of the valleys that nes
tle in at lhe baso of the Blue Itidge. One
might have a fine farm in tho vulley, a
residence at its edge overlooking tho whole
country,and thousands of acres ofsheep pas
tured the green sides of tbomountain.from
which mutton could be furnished in unlim
ited quantities, and wool raised that might
be woyvn by the abundant water power of
the estate itself. The amount of % power
which may be obtained from tb6numerous
and rapid streams of all this section is truly
wonderful,and some day it must be utilized.
The country is full ofgamoand the moun
tain streams abound in trout, which Wudo
Hampton, who has a summer residence iu
a valley of the Blue Hidge near here, intro
duced into them a few years ago, as his an
cestors long before bad introduced into
Carolina the red fox of Virginia, whose
chase now forms tho main sport of the
plauter.
Mrs. l.incola's Pension.
Mrs. Lincoln’s application for a pension,
and the manner in -which the Radicals have
treated it, has been the subject of no little
comment. The humorous correspondent
j of the New Yoik Mercury thus alludes to
it:
The egjrsemplary widder of my late la
mented l'rend Lincoln, who, as the kentry
is awar, was left in destitoot suckemstauces,
with only a misabul hundred thousand dol
lars to her name, and hed to sell her dry
goods to keep outer the poor house, has
ben treated by the Sennit Committee in a
style that rings my hart when I think of it.
She writ a beggin'letter to ’em that mought
hev drorn tears from a castiron crockadile.
But these radicals hey no bowels. They
report that all they ken allow her is thirty
dollars a munth —a sum’ onsutfeshent to
pervide the poor forlorn critter with lace
pocket-handkerchers. All she axes for is
five thousand dollarsprannum, jest tosave
her from the sharp pangs of actual star
washin, and keep her feet from blisterin
for want of a privet carriage. I never
heerd of setch meanness! Wot will be
cum of her Heaven oney knows, but I hope
it will temper the wind to the shorn lam
that bleats so pitifully for a cumfortable
golden fleece in this inclement wether It
hes been subjested that she mought stand
at the entrance of the capitol with her bun
net In her hand, solissitin pennies from her
late husband’s frends ; but I trust for the
honor of the nashin that she will not be :
obliged to resort to this humiliation eggs
pedient to obtain spenden-money. Besides,
it wouldn’t pay. She couldn’t make day’s
laborer’s wages outer Radical charity. It
allera begins and allers eends to hum.— ;
When Sumner oflerd his five-thousand-a- I
year resolooshins, he knew very well that I
it was the resolooshin of the mean whites
in Congress not to fork over. Wot do the
nest-fetherlng-plundermungers of the Radi
cal rings keer for the unheerd-of sufferins
of a martyed President’s widder? Not a
continental cuss.
Delegates to the State ConYentiou.
Westmoreland county sends her dele
gates to the next Democratic State Con
vention, with instructions to support
Gen. Geo. W. Cass for Governor.
A IMP'TO THE SOUTH,
The climate hero Is delightful. Cool in
Summer and moderately cold in Winter,
the labors and the pleasures of ®ut-door life
are never interrupted by extremities of
temperature, and as seldom as may be, by
! sickness of body.
The most productive land in the South is
the rich loam of the river and creek bot
toms. On the uplands the soil is sandy or
is a red cloy, that of the deepest color, we
believe, being the best quality. Although
limestone outcrops here and there near the
mountains, there is no limestone soil be
tween the Blue Ridge and the Ocean. •
We would have liked to bavo staid longer
in this country, and to bavo gone farther
towards the mountains, but as only one
train a day ran on the railroad, so that each
stoppage involved the loss of a whole day
we could not afford the time to do so. Next
morning, therefore, we chartered a pair of
horses, a wagon and a negro driver, and
drove across the country twenty-fivo miles
to Greenville, passing through nearly n
continuous stretch of forest. Wood is so
abundant here and in tho South generally
that it is worth little or nothing. Tho rail
road pays two dollars a cord, delivered
along side or tho road, and then will tako
nothing but pine, which Is deemed tho best
wood for locomotive use. The largo amouot
of woodland explains to some extent tho
small price per acre at which these valuable
plantations can be purchased. Thero is sel
dom more than u third or a fourth of tho
choicest portions of the farm in cultivation,
tbo balance being in wood and of very littlo
present value; it is truo tho negroes will
■clear it if you give them the wood and tho
privilege of cultivating tho land for the first
one or two seasons, but the planters gener
ally have already more ground under cul
tivation than they can properly attend to,
and these forests will therefore continue to
cover tho country uutil the immigration
of a white population produces their grad
ual extinction.
Greenville is quite a largo town and is
tho third city in size in South Carolina.
Being the terminus of tbo Railroad it seems
doing a flourishing business. It is
connected with toe fine town of Asheville,
over the mouqtains, in North Carolina,
and with other points by lines of stages.
Colonel Hammett kindly conducted us
, through tho place, in which wo suw a
large number of very handsome residences*
It is a gay town during the summer season,
being a favorite resort of the plauters of the
low country, and we can personally testily
that it is blessed with at least one largo and
well kept Hotel. Kx-(«ov. Perry resides
here engaged in the practice of the law, but
wo did not see him and others whom we
would have been glad to meet, as wo wore
compelled to decline a cordial invitation to
remain a day or two aud make the ac
quaintance of the people, because—shall we
confess it—wo had run out of money and
had to seek Columbia to replenish.
timOHIAI. NOTE*, XV
We stopped a duy m Columbia to see
that wonderful production of .Southern soil
—a Negro Legislature. We saw but one
branch of it, for tho Assembly ou the day
previous, Friday, alter an animated, ilobale
as to the propriety of voting a Christmas
dinner to its employees, hud adjourned
over until Monday for the purpose of at
tending a circus that was to exhibit on Sat
urday alternoun. The members thought
that there would be no u-*e holding a ses
sion ou Saturday morning, as there minds
would be so lull of joyful anticipations of
tho pleasures which the afternoon bad in
store for them, they would bo so intently
dwelling upon Ihe prospective mule race,
tho mad gallop of tin* bare-legged, painted
equestrienne, the perilous bap of the acro
bat, and the wonderful jpkes of the down,
that they would be entirely uuliUed for tho
grave business of law-making. One hun
dred aud eightoen of the one hundred and
thirty-two members of this body are Radi
cals, of whom sixty-seven are negroes and
the balance white carpet-baggers.
1 here are thirty-two Senators, eighteen
ol them being white Radicals, nine black
ditto, aud five Democrats. Tin* proportion
of blacks in this body being le-s, it was
more sedato than the lower House, and had
a session on Saturday morning, taking
very good cu&e, however, to adjourn in ex
celleut time fur the circus. Tbo Senate
Chamber occupies the first door of a build
ing in tho busiuess part of the town, the
room having been apparently intended for
a store or a drinking saloon. The chair
man’s desk stands about the middle of the
side wal],' and the august Senators have
desk* in front of him, fenced oil' from the
common people that come in to see the
menagerie, by a railing that curves ellipli
caily around to the wall. Tho words that
fell from the thick lips in that ellipse, San
ford nor Christy could eclipse, in their pecu
liar style of utterance. Beverly Nash was
there occupj’ing Wade Hampton's former
place as representative of Columbia; a tall
slim darkey, who for many years was tho
porter in ono of the principal Hotels of the
Cupitul. Two stolid looking colored gen
tlemen sat in a corner, whose appointed
business seemed to be, to second ail the mo
tions made by their dusky fellow Senators ;
they seconded the motion to adjourn for the
circus, with groat apparent cheerfulness
Mr. Haney was a portly black man, who
looked as if ho had in his time placed a
great deal ot hog and hominy under his
jacket, 110 was Chairman, • we be
lieve, of the Judiciary Committee,
and his lurnmr profession was that
of a barber. Hu had had the custom of ull
lawyers of tho town, um\ wn» supposed
to have acquired an ample legal knowl
edge iroin his numboriess manipulations of*
the legal heud ; hence ho was made tho legal
luminary of the .Senate. Mr. Wright is
accounted the orator of the body and is its
leafier; he is a mulatto, and a native of
Pennsylvania, but is said to have been ad
mitted to the bar in one of the Northwcst-
em States. During tho war lie got down
to II i I to ti Head .j, which district he now rep
resents. He tMstinguished himself while
wo were listening with wrapt attention to
his soul-stirring eloquence and earnestly
striving to find out what ho was talking
about, by moving that “ de bill be laid on
de Sheli-' wo were somewhat startled and
involuntarily looked for that article of fur
niture, but failed to see it. Ou tho next sub
ject that ho handled, Mr. Wright made him
self more clearly understood ; he wanted to
bo paid for his services as a law maker, and
Buspeeted that a clause in a bill which had
been introduced for that purposo, might
operate to delay tho replenishment of his
pocket book. Tho bill was entitled, “A
bill to make appropriations'for the pay
ment of tho per diem and mileage nf the
members of the General Assembl}*, and the
salaries of tho .subordinate officers and
other expenses incidental thereto." The
first section road thus : “Be it enacted, Ac.
That the stun of swu, ooo, if so much be ne
cessary, be, and tlio siuno isjieroby appro
priated out of any funds in (he Treasury not
otherwise appropriated , for the purpose
aforesaid.’’ Mr. Wright objected to the
words “not otherwise; appropriated," and
moved that llio bill be sent back to
the Judiciary Committee, and Unit they
bo instructed to report it with those
words omitted. In a few eloquent sen
tences he portrayed tho great value of the
services which he and his colleagues were
rendering to tho State, to the Nation audio
the world at large, ami he insisted upon the
eminent justice of their being paid lor tboir
services without any ifs or huts, and re
gardless of whether they had or had not
previously voted away all tho money that
was in tho Treasury; if tboro was any
money thero, they should first get their pay
and other creditors could take what was
left, A darkey on the opposite aide of the
room got up and said that ho had listened
with groat interest to the.thrilling remarks
of his brother Wright, and tho amendment
he proposed would be most agreeable to his
feelings, but ho was afraid tho Treasurer
-couldn’t pay them anyhow, if they hud
previously voted uwa}’ all tho money
that was iu tho Treasury. “About dis
’ere pint,” says he, “I’se doubtful
an I’d ax for inl’maahun from de cheer
man ob de ’Disbery ’milty.” Tho chair
man of tho " Dishery mitty,” Mr. Raney,
mildly remarked that the clauso com
plained of was put in every appropriation
bill and he could not get it through his
wool, how they could, let them bo uovor so
willing, appropriate the same money to
two different objects. Ho wanted Brother
Wright to explain, which that accomplished
darkey did so much to the satisfaction of
thechamber,tbat they voted by a largo ma
jority to refer the bill. Tho sum appropri
ated, §llO,OOO, was just SLOO,OOO more than
white legislatures used to cost the Btate,
and what additioual legitimate expense tho
black sort has, except for perfume wo
were not able to ascertain. If the scene
we looked upon in that Senate chamber
had not been so very farcical it would have
been terribly exasperating. Our feelings
were very much mixed, liko tho company;
at one time we folt like tukiog the negroes
by the neck and applying our boot a pos
tcriorc to hoist them out of the nearest
window, and the next momeut we would
bo convulsed at the surpassing humor of
the situation. But wo did wonder that the
resident white men, whom the joke affects
seriously, forbore to hang the black rascals
to the nearest , treo for tbeir unparalleled
impudence in presuming to legislate for
them. We wondered whether such a scene
would ever bo presented to us in the State
Capitol at Harrisburg; we thought it would
not, but who can tell? The Constitutional
amendment lately proposed for adoption
by the House of Representatives at Wash
ington, makes it possible that the experi
ment may bo tried upon us at an early
day.
In tho South the negro is held in power
only by the military force of the govern
ment, which permits every black man to
vote, and has hitherto excluded the mass
of the white citizens from the polls.. This
holding up of tho negro cannot bo main
tained forever, and when it is discontinued,
ho will fall limp and helpless to the ground
and pass under his ancient control. Tho
Freedman's Bureau peoplo down here,
admit that it is fightibg against futo to
strive to muko tho black man a freo agent.
One of them, who was nn officer in tho
regular array and whom wo had known at
College, Beemed to be greatly annoyed at
the negro's want of stamina, and expressed
a great desiro that ho ahoukl bo enabled to
cast an untraimneled vote. lie proposed
to secure this lor him, by declaring martial
law, puttiug a company of Boldlers at every
poll and summarily hanging every white man
who should attempt in any way to influence
a black man's vote , and every black man
who should strive to itijlucncc the vote of a
white vtan . Wo suggested that this would
bo rather an odd way of securing a fair
election, aud ono rather antagonistic to the
“genius of our institutions to which lie
agreed, but nevertheless wished to try the
experiment to settle the vexed question,
whether tho black fellows hnd any opinion.**
which they would stand by, if they were
carefully protected from every adverse cur
rent ot lutluenco that might be opposed to
their real feelings.
The truth is, the Republican party made
a very grave mistake when it attempted to
control tho political power of the Mouth by
conferring it upon the negro, " bom it vain
ly booed to have nhvaj's with it, when its
true policy wus to conciliate the white peo
ple .with whtnn it should have known the
real power must ultimately rot. Its lead
ers feated that tho .Southern people wore
too greatly embittered against them to en
able such a policy to enure to llutr benefit,
mid that a generous treatment of the con
quered people would strengthen the Demne
lacy. In this they manifestly erred. When
the war ended the Southern people cared
nothing lor the politics of the North; thev
were conquered, they were destitute,
and they bad no other desire than
to be allowed peacefully to resuscitate
their fallen fortunes. The war had been
brought to a close under a Republican ad
ministration, ami that party therefore ob
tained tin* credit of its smvess; it was m
power, and -so was in a piHilion to render
needed assistance to the South, the grati
tude *il whoso people it would Imvu earned
by a generous and magnanimous enur-e.
Tilt* Democracy would then have been
nothing but'tin* tail end of Its kite, ami
would have let'll utterly swamped as an
opposition ’party. Politicians are always
anxious t> be on the •vinning side, ami
many <•!' those of tin’ South would lia\r
joined hands with the Republican pailv,
if they and their people had Isin freely
restored to their pnhtlc.il privileges ; tin v
fult no attachment to tin- Noriln-m Demo
cracy, as was evidenced win n. alter our d--
font m l'' l ' l ’, they selh-hly Lit ns to i<>
main in a hopeless nimorm, while ih.-v
attempted to up a government
of their own. ibit the Republican parly's
opportunity baa.passed; ii toliod upon the
black man to perpetuate its pouer :illl )
nas proved a broken reed ; it has iilu-uamd
fiom it tho masses of lie Southern people
by its brutality and lolly, and thrown them
bodily into I'nr arm-, ol the | Vnmeraev, with
tin-exception of a lew politieians who, nn
abiu to withstand the smell ol the kileluci
to whirli alley li.ive nl 1 their ,uri l«vii nc
etlslomrd, may Iry !• i g,■; ,>, in;,:,-, |he win
oft 1 rant.
And tin- Smith in ; tif I'ulujv hi s:,n. d [>>
h» a pawn* in tin- land than il In
been in Liii' pu-'L It has timh.-r aml
pnwur which t)m Went has not. Il lias In -
lilo liidds to HrL oil against N«*\v Knylaiid's
barren rock l *, and faniiiii-s
which stu> nm n<>t rival. Tim loom will
move Southward to tin* c.iiion
going now. Smialor Sprague has seen the
handwriting on the wall, ami hnsju-t pur
chased from the Slant of South Carolina I lie
lino water-power in Columbia known an the
Columbia Canal, and proposes erectinglargo
manufactories to utilize it. Tha canal is
eight thousand six hundred and tifiy four
yards long, and tbo average lull lor llm lirst
threo miles is fourteen loot, iHuiiiueneitig at
ten feet, at l.'pper street, m Columbia, ami
attaining nineteen feel one inch at Bridge
street; the remaining two miles, from
Bridge street to its immth, romruenre at
nineteen feet ten ineliesand attain a fall o|
twenty* live feet.
Kino building' sites exist
between the canal and river, giving com
plolo protection to buildings and machinery
from freshets. The State eonve}-* iheeanal,
and all its appurtenances, together with tlm
right of way for one hundred feet on em-b
aldo of the eon Ire of the canal, to the pin
chaser.
It is a great mistake to suppose that the
South is poor, Iy is true that; many fami
lies have been brought from wealth to
poverty. The immense capital invested
in negrooshas vanished, as also that in < 'on
federate bonds and notes and in bank
stocks; buifihe land remains, and that has
been a busy and productive matrix of value
since tln> war. Cotton is now bringing ’J7
cents l>> on tin* plantation ;it can Be raised
for locenis. It has advanced in price
Christmas o cents per in., as it was rating
when wo wore in the country at 'll cents
the rise is caused by the f,mi that the cot
ton of tho small farmers has all gone into
the market and that which remains h in
tho hands oflurgo planters, who can afford
to hold for larger prices and for investment,
llioir cotton is the same to them as rash,
and they would have no use for the money,
if they sold it. Formerl}’. they used to lie in
debt to their factors for large? advances made
on their crops before it was gathered, to en
hie them to buy slaves and go to watering
places in the North and to Europe. But
now they are independent, and tuu of debt
They do not need to put a heavy capital
into slaves; they get their labor for the
interest of the capital formerly Invostrd in
it or loss, ami run no risk of loss l>v death
or sickness. They do not care to bu}* more
lund, for the}’ have already as much a-;
the} - can attend to, under their prudent
views of the greater profit of cultivating
well Hinull tracts, instead of diffusing thoir
\ lubor oyer larger ones. Heady mom*}' i->
becoming then-loreplentiful in thesoSlatcs ;
, «nd what do, they do with it 7 They will
not invest iu'C. S. Bonds, for they do not
trust them. An oliieerot'tbo N&tioual Bank
in Charlotte told us when we were there,
that he hail ju.st made the first sale of gov
eminent bonds that had ever b**on made
through his Bank, and that only amounted
to s].‘>oo. Taught by their experience oi
Confederate notes, the pyiple are also very
chary of greenbacks and very Iriquently
demand payment in gold, which they hoard.
This same gentleman told us Unit a couple
of years ago ho hud placed a keg of gold,
received for cotton, on tho wagon of a ter
mor, who had hauled it out to lbs planta
tion, and must still hold it, a.-, it had never
since been ln-ard of. There is an old Slat"
btyikul Green wood, in South Carol mu, which
wont down in the general crush, in whose
vaults,wo were told,there is now lying kouic
§7(X),000 in gold, deposited thero liy neigh
boring-planters for safekeeping. The cot
ton States are in an eluant position lor the
resumption of specie payment; they com
mand the situation, and can shakeout more*
gold any day than we cun, while their cotton
is tis good as gold.
So that wo are not able to perceive that
tho South is poor ; when confidence is re
established, when negro government!! art*
abolished, and tho guidance id their own
affair* is once more placed in the hands of
tho while citizens, gold will come out of Its
hiding plnces and capital, unlocked
from Us chains, will flow Into tho nu
merous channels that are open to It, wherein
it may bo mod with great profit to itself and
great advantage to tho country. 'I he whito
population will ultimately govern the.Soutb,
aud the sooner tho fact is recognized, the
better will it bo for the Nation. It is
useless oven for Republican statesmen any
longer to kick against the pricks, und en
deavor to stem the natural lido of events.
Tho river wifi flow to tho sea, no matter how
tortuous its course may bo made or how
greut obstructions may bo thrown in it 4
?
A light snow had fallen at Columbia, re
minding us of the presence of winter, and
of the necessity for our speeding homeward,
ff we purposed spending there the Christ
mas time. We loft the South with regret,
and would gladly have travelled yet longer
within Us hospitable borders, had circum
stances permitted. We left it, satisfied tjiat
it has a bright future beloro it. Its climate,
its rivers, its soil and its minerals, offer
such tempting inducements to settlement,
that it cannot be long before it obtains that
which alone it needs to dovolop its re
sources,—an abundant white population.
Go.reador, to the mild and healthful climate
of Virginia,the Western Carolinaß or North
ern Georgia, and you will not fail to find a
farm, the development of which will yield
you ample compenaation,.ancfahome|which
will be a pleasant tarrying place for you
and your descendants. Y ; '• ’.
So we close our superficial; and hasty