Lancaster intelligencer. (Lancaster [Pa.]) 1847-1922, April 06, 1870, Image 2

Lancaster 2Jntelltgencer.
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 6, 1870
To Our Subscrlben.
To every subscriber to the INTELLI
GENcER—new or old—who sends us
$2.25 we will send a copy of the paper
for one year, and also a copy of the book
called "The Horse" neatly bound in
cloth, which treats of the diseases of
that animal and contains many valua
ble recipes; retail price $l.OO. If the
book is sent by mail, 10 cts.. additional
must be remitted to us to pay the post-
How the Lancaster County Members
Voted on the Big Steal.
The Lancaster Inquirer has been at
no little trouble to secure from the
Journal of the House a complete record
of the different votes had on the bill for
dispersing the securities of the Sinking
Fund among uncoustrueted railroads.
The record shows that all the members
from this county, except Reinoehl, were
"in the ring." On Thursday evening,
the 17th ult., Mr. Butler B. Strang va
cated his seat in the Speaker's chair, and
called his trusty cotprade, that well
known "rooster," Lish. Davis, of Phil
delphiu, to take his place and act as
Speaker pro tent. Strung did this by
arrangement with the high contracting
parties to the scheme of plunder, he be
ing recognized as the ablest tactician on
the Republican side of the House. Mr.
Strang immediately moved to proceed
to a second reading of the bill. On this
the yeas and nays were called, and the
vote stood yeas 55, nays 37—(lodschalk,
Herr and Wiley, all voting aye, and
Reinoehl nay.
Pending the announcement of the
result, Mr. Brown, of Clarion, raised
the point of order that the bill, never
having been reported from:a committee,
could not coon• before the }louse at that
time without a suspension of the rules,
which required a vote of two-thirds.
The point was unquestionably well
taken, but Dish Davis, having been
" set up" for the ()evasion, and instructed
to rule for the swindle all the time, de
cided against the position taken by Mr.
Brown. Front this unjust nod unpar
liamentary decision an appeal was
taken, and on the question " Shall the
decision of the Chair stand as the judg
ment of the House," the vote was yeas
59, nays 27—Godschalk,II err and W'iley
all voting for the steal, and Iteitioehl
alone against it.
Mr. Parsons moved that the further
consideration of the bill be postponed
until the Monday evening following.
On this the vote stood, yeas 12, nays 17.
Mr. Herr joined Itenuald on this and
voted aye, while Wiley and I iodschalk
still stuck to the swindle and steadily
voted for it.
A motion Wa, 111411 111:1 , 10 to alijolllll,
:111(1 stood yeas nays 55. On this
vote Herr, being pretty well up on the
list,felt called upon to vote further with
the parties who were endeavoring to
perpetrate the swindle, and so he voted
against adjourn nion t, as did I iodselialk ;
Reinoeld voted as he tied done from
the beginning, and NViley,finding,when
the clerk reached his name :it the bot
tom of the list, that the motion to adjourn
had been defeated by a large majority,
eoncluded to east one vote rignitc“ the
measure, and he voted aye.
The railroad men concluded to push
things, :old they moved the previous
question, so as to gag t h e House:toil cut
°Mall debate, and all dilatory motions,
Wiley was one of the movers, and this
time he stood alone,t todschalk,Herr and
Iteinoeld all votingagainst the previous
question. The motion was carried, how
ever, by a vote of yeas 57, nays :ft.
motion was Wen put on the pas
sage of the first section of the bill, and
this time the Lancaster members again
divided eq u ally—blodsehallt and . \Viley
voting for it, and Herr and lteinould
against it.
The opposition finding that there was
no chance of defeating or delaying the
passage of the bill, ceased their efforts
;11 this p o int, and it Was passed up to
third:reading by viru iwoo"votes. When
it came to final passage, Herr and
NV i having probably made um agree
ment with the managers of the scheme,
that they should be allowed to vote
against the measure in the end,if there
appeared to be a sufficiently large ma
jority for it without them, deserted Clod
sehal k .voted nay. Thus was (toa
st-It:ilk:made for a time to appear as the
only black strop in our !lock ; but the
conitflete record, :IS 11 appl.:ll'S 011 the
Journal of the Flnuso, shins that I ern
and Wiley are both fully as guilty us
iodschalk. The votes which they east
c", the bill at dilferent stnges, were as
ellirient in enabling the eonspirators to
rob the taxpayers of Lancaster county
as was that of ltoddehall on final pas
sage. llerr and Wiley are both as deep
in the mud as I toilschalk is in the mire,
They lacked his boldness, but lack
nothing of his guilt. If he was bought
so were they. \Ve heave them to the
tender mercies of their own party, con
fidently expecting that :ill. the Itepubli
can newspapers of the county will fol
low the example of the inuaii,r, in
showing them nil. The r.pccial :aft],
(ion or the nod
limn Is called to this roam'.
Senator Burhalew's Speech
We publish on our outside the :Mk
speech ot • Senator Ruck:dew in oppo
sition to the dispersion of the Sinking
Fund. Senator lilli . k:llCW was the au
lbor of clause of the Stale Constitu
tion by which the Sinking Fund was
created, altil he ought to know, if any
man living does, what was meant by
the language employed. II e shows very
clearly that the bill recently passed is
violative of the Constitution of the Com
monwealth. No one who reads his ar
gument can fail to l'te taivitteed of the
perfect soundness of his position.
If the Supreme Court is allowed to
pass upon this bill it will be declared
unconstitutional, and the ...entities in
the Sinking Futul will not he dispersed
among the corporator: w i n own the
projected railroads. The danger is that
Governor Geary will not sign the bill
until General Irwin, the newly elected
State Treasurer, is ready to transfer the
securities at a moment's notice. From
prominent Radical sources collies the
rumor that Gen. Irwin, the reform can
didate of the Express and certain other
Republican papers, is deep in a plot to
perfect the contemplated swindle.—
Nothing but the complicity of Governor
Geary in the contemplated scheme of
rascality can prevent the bill from being
tested before the Supreme Cotu•t of the
State. A fair test will show whether
the arguments of Senator Buckalew are
sound or not. We are convinced that
the Court would coinc•itle in his view of
the fundamental law of the Common
wealth. l'he only danger is that it will
be prevented from being carried up by
the action of (lie Governor and the State
'l'reasure•.
The Connecticut Election
We arc without reliable returns from
the Connecticut election. The wires
have been prostrated and are working
badly. Tile Democracy have made de
cided gains, and it looks tu4 if the Radi
cals have been beaten..
Our late:it despatithes mulmulee the
election of James E. English, the
Democratic candidate Tor (Thvernor.
'l'llE Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Soci
ety has disbanded ,and the American An
ti-Slavery Society will follow suit on the
9th day of the present month. After
thirty-seven years of agitation liaise who
have kept the country in turmoil upon
this question intend formally to an
nounce that nothing more remains for
them to do. Those who have kept up
the hue and cry about slavery are fast
turning their attention to the question
of female suffrage, and on that subject
we,may expect them to keep up nn agi
•tation until it is decided Ono way or tho
Valor.
THE LANCASTER WEEKLY INTELLIGENCER, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 6, 1870.
Capital Punishment
There Is fast growing up in this coun
try, and throughout the civilized world,
in fact, an opposition to capital punish
ment which promises to become the
controlling sentiment before
Executions are now almost everywhere
conducted in private. That is an ad
mission that the effect of such scenes is
not salutary, and that admission is a
blow struck directly at the root of the
gallows. If the gallows is calculated to
repress the crime of murder why not set
it up where all can see the last agonies
of the culprit? That is one of the ques
tions put by the advocates of the aboli
tion of capital punishment, and it is a
question which those who uphold the
gallows find it hard to answer.
The removal of executions from pub- I
lie sight is not a mere concession to the
tenderer feelings of humanity. It was
forced from law-givers who still believed
in the efficacy of capital punishment by
the horrid sights which were witnessed
wherever public executions occurred.
1 We shall never forget the crowd which
we once met returning from a gallows
in Baltimore. We were a school-boy
at the time, and had no conception that
such a mass of depraved humanity could
have an existence anywhere on the
earth. We stood on the corner of the
street watching the stream of strange
characters which swept by. There were
fully as many women as men—and such
women. Many of them were old and
haggard, others were young, but from
the faces of all the marksof true woman
hood seemed to have been wiped out.
Some were dressed in rags, while others
flaunted the showy robes which pro
claimed their shameless and sinful oc
cupations. Old crones with pinched
and wrinkled faces, as yellow as
the dilapidated and strangely fashioned
bonnets they wore, jostled the painted
courtesans who were arrayed in the
height of fashion. The men scented
suited to mate with the women. )Id
reprobates hobbled on crutches, or crept
along close to the walls, protecting them
selves by their canes from being tram
pled under foot by the younger ruffians
who came swaggering by with loud
oaths and reckless gait. The seem , was
startling and terrible. Such a mass of
depraved and degraded humanity we
never saw together before or since. It
was to prevent the gathering of such a
crowd, to keep the classes most likely to
commit murder from assembling to be
hold a murderer pu n ished,that Maryland
and other States passed laws abolishing
public executions. Experience showed
that public executions could not and did
not deter those who witnessed them
front the commission of murder, and
they were abandoned.
The one question to be determined in
regard to capital punishment as now ad
ministered itt this State is, whether it is
more efficient in repressing the crime of
murder than imprisonment for life
would be. The argument drawn front
the Bible in favor of the gallows ought
to have no weight with intelligent
legislators. If we foll'swed the old
Mosaic law we should execute men for
quite avariety of offenses. The scripture
argument, if it proves anything, proves
entirely too much ; and, if we adopted
the edicts of Moses, we should stone
'every man to death who might be found
gathering sticks on the Sabbath. The
practice of hanging is one to which
divine sanction does not attach, and
legislators are left free to be governed
entirely by their views of expediency.
The man who believes that murders
would be as few with capital punish
ment abolished, as with the gallows in
existence is bound in conscience to vote
against the death penalty.
l'he uncertainty of conviction when
the death penalty attaches is urg
ed as a strong argument by those
who advocate its abolition, and it must
be ‘•ont'ess6d that there is much force in
the statistics which they produce to sub
stantiate their position. The records of
the courts show that convietions fur
murder in the first degree are very rare.
From 1793 to 1543 there were one hun
dred and eleven persons tried for capital
offences iu Philadelphia,and but ten con
victions. For robbery, rape and arson,
high crimes punishable in this State by
imprisonment for long terms, three
hundred and thirty-five persons were
tried during the same period, :1.11,1 but
filty-six acquitted. This shows that
there is a great repugnance to convict
when the penalty is death, eecu in the
minds of jurors who swear before enter
ing the box that they have no'scruples
against capital punishment. One hun
dred out of the one hundred and eleven
murderers, tried in Philadelphia, be
tween 1795 and 1543, were restored to
society, and given an opportunity to re
peat such crimes. Would this have been
the case if the death penalty had not
existed? Thal is a question which de
mands the serious consideration of our
law-makers. The fact that innocent
men have sometimes been condemned
and executed, is an ever present terror
to jurors who are impannelled in capi
tal cases, and able lawyers often secure
the acquittal of prisoners who are really
guilty, by appeals which would lose
their force if imprisonment for life were
the penalty instead of the gallows. To
render punishment certain is the surest
means to suppress crime. We admit
the right of the State to inflict capital
inini,hinent, if the lives of its citizens
will thereby be made more safe. It is
solely a question of expediency, and we
must confess that facts sl2lll to sub
stantiate many of the objections which
are raised by those who urge the aboli
tion of the loath penalty.
Our Course Endorsed
•
The stand taken by the Is - rt.:l.mo ES
( lat against the dispersion of the Sink
ing I , unil, has been endorsed by a large
ntat wily of the Democratic newspapers
the State, and the action of the
and the Pdlriot emphatically condemn
ed. The York lbws., says:
There is noW awaiting the signature of
the Covent., of this Coninninwealth, a
most extraordinary art of the Legislature,
concerning which the people have not been
sufficiently warned. Whether his Excel-
I..ncy will exercise, in this instance, the
prerogative vested in him by the Constitu
tion, to prevent this unconstitutional and
tu dons measure front becoming a law,
remains to be seen. Before this bill was
presented, twit of the Dem.Tatie papers,
The Patriot and The... 11,10, raised a warning
cry, But no sooner Was the act passed,
than both lif those papers appeared as its
friends. It received the support of such
Wen as Senators Wallace and Yunnan. This
would seem to give the sanction of the
party to this ineure, and had not the
stand taken by the LANCASTER INTELLI
oENCER against it, been supported with
earnestness by other journals, tee should
have despaired of ever teat!, able to with
stand the ciachittations of nuompoti,lB to
use for their private purposes the public
nurse.
In an able editorial mi the subject, the
Bloomsburg Cobtinbicut speaks as fol
lows :
To many it is a matter of wonder that
more public indignation is not excited at
such a flagrant outrage. The difficult/1 is ire
the Press. The Morning Patriot, located
at our political and legislative centre first
sounded the tocsin of alarm, but ever since
ha-s been strangely silent. Considering the
scan• it threatened to wage on rings and
monopolies, its silence during the present
crisis shows that potent arguments have
been used in that quarter. tio with the
Age. It has given in its adhesion to the
ring, and henceforth has no claim to be
considered an organ of the pure Democracy.
In some of our exchanges language
still more decided is employed, but the
extracts which we have quoted are suf
ficient to show the tone and the temper
of the Democratic papers in the rural
districts of the State.
Damages for Mobbing a Newspapers
The Court of Appeals of Maryland
the case of Daniel Dechert, Esq., of the
Hagerstown Mail, against the Mayor
and corporation of Hagerstown,affirmed
the.judgment of the Circuit Court of
Washington county. By this decision
Mr. Dechert comes into possession of
about $7,500. The suit was brought
against the corporation for damages in
allowing a mob to destroy Mr. Deehert's
printing office in the year 1862. The
State Legislature also has passed a law
to indemnify Wm. Shaw, of Carroll
county, for destruction of his printing
office in Westminster by a mob during
the war.
The Fifteenth Amendment Declared to be
Ratified.
The dread of a defeat in Connecticut
has led to the speedy admission of Tex
as, and to the issuing of proclamation
declaring that the ',Fifteenth !Amend
ment has bemrratilied by the requisite
number of States. ,fthe Proolaniation to
which the signatuie of the Secretary of
State is attached is a lie. •The requisite
number of States have not legally rati
fied the amendment. The pretended
ratification of Indiana was passed by one
branch of the Legislature when there
was no quorum present. New York
withdrew her ratification. Georgia is
still considered to be out of the Union
by the Radicals, and Congress is busy
reconstructing the State, the acts of the
Legislature which passed upon the
amendment being held to be illegal,
null and void. Deducting the time
States of New York, Indiana and Geor
gia only twenty-seven have evevpre
tended to ratify the amendment. That
is one less than three-fourths, the assent
of which is required to amend the Con
stitution of the United States.
Grant hesitated long before he would
consent to issue the proclamation under
existing circumstances. It was expected
that both Georgia and Texas would be
reconstructed before this. The lower
House of Congress passed a bill for the
admission of Georgia, but Bullock, who
had been defeated for Governor, has
managed to keep the Senate from en
dorsing the action of the House. Bing
ham's amendment recognizes the right
of We people of Georgia to choose-their
own rulers, but Bullock wants Congress
to legislate him into office over the head
of the legallyelected Governor. Wheth
er a majority of Republican Senators
are prepared to commit so infamous an
act remains to be seen. Certain it is
that a goodly number of them are pre
pared to do so, and Georgia is still kept
out of the Union. Texas was hurriedly
admitted only when it was seen that the
egro vote would be needed to enable
,e Radicals to carry Connecticut next
Monday.
That the ratification resolution of any
Southern State which has passed upon
the Fifteenth Amendment is such rati
fication as was contemplated by the
framers of the Constitution we emphat
ically deny. The action was not the
work of a free people, not the voluntary
consent of the States, but the effect of
force applied in the shape of federal
bayonets. Even the logic of the Radi
cals themselves proves the pretended
ratification of the Southern States to be
only a sham and a fraud. They were
either not States in the Union when
they acted upon the amendment, or else
they were never out of the Union. If
they were out of the Union they could
not ratify an amendment changing the
Constitution of the United States, and
through it the Constitution of other
States; if they were in the Union, then
were the reconstruction acts ofCongress
all unconstitutional, null and void, and
the acts of the bogus Legislatures set
up under them of no force and effi. , ct,
the pretended ratification of the Fif
teenth Amendment included.
It is by such means that the Constitu
tion of the United States is to be changed
in its fundamental provisions, the Con
stitutions of the States violently over
turned, and the right to regulate the elec
tive franchise, the most precious of all
rights, taken away from the people of
the States. In a partisan emergency,
for the purpose of influencing an elec
tion in a small State, just three days be
fore the election takeslilace, President
Grant issues a proclamation declaring
that three-fourths of the States have
ratified this amendment. A list of the
States is given, and he who reads it
will find that New York and Indiana
are both counted, and that without
them there are but twenty-seven, one
less than the requisite number.
Were the Supreme Court of the Uni
ted States an independent judicial trib
unal this Fifteenth Amendment would
at once be declared to be no part of the
Constitution of the United States ;
frauds connected with its pretended
ratification would be fully exposed, and
the right of the States to decide who
should exercise the elective franchise
within their borders would be authorita
tively declared and abundantly demon
strated. That the proclamation of Grant
is a lie and a cheat thousands of honest
Republicans will be forced to admit,
while many more will seriously doubt
about the matter. The hurried issuing
of the proclamation, with the avowed
design of influencing the Connecticut
election cannot fail to shock many lief -
ple who might have read it at another
time with comparative composure.—
From beginning to end, from its incelf
lion to its final fulfilment, the whole
scheme has been tainted with fraud.
Negro ballots may be counted in Con
necticut next Monday, and Radical
officials may be declared to be elect
ed by negro voles, but for such out
rages the authors will yet have to
pay the full penalty. The time is com
ing when the people will dispassionate
ly review the acts of the party now in
power, and mete out to those who have
committed so many crimes the punish
ment which they deserve.
It: late decision of the Supreme Court
as to the right of a State to tax on the
shares, National Banks, is one of very
decided importance. The case came up
at the suit of the First National Bank
of Louisville, vs. The State of Ken
tucky. Justice Miller, in delivering the
opinion of the Court held that the prop
erty in a hank called a share, is differ
ent front the capital of the bank, and
that such a share as the property of the
shareholder may be taxed, although the
stock of the bank may be all invested
in the Cuited States securities. The law
requiring the bank officeN to levy the
tax, does not make it a tax on or against
itr; stock. A National Bank, as an in
strument of the general government,
may, within certain limits, be made
liable to pay such a tax, otherwise such
an instrument might be so created as to
invade the rights of a State. These
banks are subject to State laws in re
spect of tax on the shares of sharehold
ers, and they may be compelled to pay
it. They could be garnisheed for a per
sonal 'debt of a stockholder, and to
make them similarly responsible for
this tax is the natural effect of the State
law. The judgment of the State Court
was affirmed. The Chief Justice dis
sented.
Let the Army be Reduced
The army of the United States num
bers 37,000 men ; that of France is 500,-
000, and that of Russia is 800,000—yet
our staff corps is as large as theirs. In
the French, English, Prussian and other
European armies the lowest allowable
rate assigns to each commissioned officer
is 20 men, while in ours there are only
ten men to each commissioned officer,
and six men to each non-commissioned
officer. In 1807 we had a staff corps of
350 officers ;" in 1800, GO. Gen. Logan
calculates that, should his bill become
a law, it will effect an annual saving of
not less than three millions of dollars,
and on account of this saving tsere is
danger that it will fail. If a French or
English officer can manage 20 men, why
may not an American officer do the
THE Harrisburg Patriot, after a long
silence, has at length found courage to
print another editorial in favor of the
Pine Creek and Buffalo railroad steal
from the Sinking Fund. The Phil
adelphia Age has not been able to
pluck up courage to express anew its
admiration for this swindle, since its
exhaustive efforts of a week ago.' The
Philadelphia Ledger is still as silent as
the grave on the subject; it does not
seem to have. heard of this projected
swamping of the Sinking Fund, which
is odd in a journal that makes a speci
ality of financial matters. This pro
found silence is more significant than
open advocacy of the bill would be, of
the fact that the Ledger le a Child of the
Pennsylvania Railroad, and that Drexel
' s another.
Sheridan's Defense
general Sheridan seems to have
sue
dent sensibility left to enable him to
feel the effect of the almost universal
expression of horror at his barbarous
massacre of the Plegan Indians. Smart
ing under the lash of public opinion he
has undertaken to defend himself. He
has put forth a lengthy letter over his
own signature, and has got Colonel
Baker to publish a statement as to what
ho did. Sheridan's letter only makes
the matter worse. It stamps him for
what he is—a brutal, blood-thirsty sol
dier, without a spark of humanity in his
composition. He has not the slightest
conception of that chivalrous honor
which deals boldly with recognized and
capable foes, but spares the helpless and
innocent. His letter planning the mas
sacre is on record against him. It shows
how he deliberately proposed to let the
Piegans alone until the dead of winter;
to wait until they were congregated in
their w igwanis, and then to steal a march
upon them and slaughter them without
mercy. His bloody instructions were
carried out to the very letter. And
now, when the act has shocked the
whole civilized world, and is de
nounced in no measured terms by the
Journals of his own party, lie turns
round defiantly and pleads justification.
He goes so fur as to say that in a delib
erately planned surprise of an Indian
village, if the women and children are
killed, the responsibility Is not upon the
soldiers, but upon the Indians, whose
former crimes necessitated the attack.
The same plan would justify the mas
sacre of all the inhabitants of an ene
mies country, without respect to age,
sex or powers of resistance. It would
warrant the slaughter of the wounded
after the battle was over. lien. Sheri
dan thinks he has done no worse than
Grant did when he threw shells into
Vicksburg, or than Sherman did when
he fired on Atlanta. But the case is
wholly ditlbrent, and he either knows
it is, or his brutal instincts have de
stroyed his power to distinguish between
legitimate warfare and unrelenting
butchery. He knows too, or he ought
to know, that before an attack is made
upon a fortified town, it is the cus
tom to give sufficient warning to
allow the women and children to be
removed to a place of safety. And we
believe this was done in both of the in
stances cited by him. It certainly was
at Vicksburg. lie utterly fails to make
out a defense for his bloody and bar
barous act, even according to his own
showing.
But General Sheridan has called the
immediate executioner, the bloody,
butcher Baker to testify for him. A
supplementary report is gotten up
which does not agree with statements
heretofore made. Baker now comes
out and says that of one hundred and
seventy-three killed one hundred and
,twenty were lighting men. That is in
direct contradiction to the statement
made by Vincent Collier and other par
ties who had the means of obtaining ex
act information. But taking this state
ment of Baker to be true, it attbrds not
the slightest defense fur Gen. Sheridan.
The main facts of the barbarous deed are
confessed to by both himself and Baker
and there is no escape from the merited
condemnation of the world. The New
York Tribunr. in alluding to Baker's
letter says:
Col. Baker adds his testimony to that of
liens. Sheridan and Sherman in the effort
to show that there was nothing inhuman
in the Piegan massacre. But there is a
suspicious look about figures which report
53 women and children accidentally killed
out of IT3 casualities in a cavalry charge
lasting but a fow minutes. Such is the
deliberate official report of the chief officer
of the attacking force. Ile can hardly ex
pect any person, CVell remotely acquainted
with warlike operations, to believe such
statement. The story becomes more painful
and the act leso justifiable with each expla
nation. The conduct of the men in the
charge was gallant and daring and all that
was admirable in soldiers; in the three
hours' slaughter which hollowed it was
worse than barbarous.
Such testimony, from such a source
ought to silence all the minor Radieu
journals which appear to consider them
selves called upon to defend Sheritho
because he sympathizes with them h
polities.
The Probable Effect or the FlTteentl
Amendment.
The following table, which we take
from the New York Tribune, shows ap
proximately the number of negroes who
have been added to the voting popula
tion in each of the States named, by the
Fifteenth Amendment:
Nogr., population. Nt•tv voters.
4,9,6 GBl
8,627 1,438
21,1127 3,604
7,24 1;271
11,428 1,505
1,069 178
236.167 29,361
1,327 221
171,131 28,522
9,663 1,600
6,790 1,333
53 "3
404 02
2.5,331; 4;221i
40,005 0,167
36,673 11,112
12S 21
56,849 9,475
2,952 1150
709 118
1,171 195
California...
Connecticut
Illinois
Indiana
MESS
=II
=',l!=ll
1111=
I=l=l
Ell=ll
New Jersey
New York...
Ohio
Pennsylvania
Rhode Nand
BEES
ID=Il
It will lie seen by au examination of
the above table, that the negroes will
constitute a very inconsiderable element
in most of the States named. In Ken
tucky and Maryland alone are they suf
ficiently numerous to be formidable;
and in those States the native whites
will control a very considerable portion
of them. Maryland and Kentucky
will continue to be steadily Democratic
in spite of the Fifteen th Amendment.
In Pennsylvania the negro vote
amounts, according to ( lreeley's esti
mate, to 9,-175. That is a very small
fraction in a voting population 17 - not
less than six hundred and seventy-tire
thousand. It is only one negro vote to
seventy whites. The Radicals who have
been calculating on securing a continu
ous lease upon Power by the help of the
negro vote will tint that they have
counted without their hosts. ,
In the South the native whig, who
are in close affiliation with the Denutt
cratic party, will control a majority of
the negro vote so surely as the blacks go
to the polls. In the Northern States the
element is so unimportant a one that it
will be very little felt. The Republi
can party will be forced to make
constant concessions to the blacks if
they expect to hold even a majority of
them. Ambitious negroes will demand
a share of the offices even in some parts
of Pennsylvania, and if their claims are
not recognized they will abandon the
party. Sambo will not be satisfied to do
the voting for white Radicals. He will
insist upon having his share ante loaves
and fishes. This will breed trouble.
The Radicals can not "go back on"
their professions. They must stand up
squarely to their doctrines of equality.
They must admit the negro to the jury
box and give him a show for office in
Lancaster county, and that without de
lay, or the sable voters of Tow Hill will
"go back on" the ticket in Columbia.—
The programme must be completely car
ried out. We will have no shirking of
the responsiblities. If the Radical Jury
Commissioner does not put a proportion
ate number of negro names in the jury
wheel we shall score him without mercy.
The play must be played out, now that
it has begun. The Radical politicians
must dance to their own music, and we
intend to play the fiddle for them occa
sionally.
THE Supreme Court of the United
States recently held that a title to lands,
seized and sold under the Confiscation
act of July, 1862, could pass only for the
lifetime of the person who owned the
land and, therefore, his heir must now
come into possession. The decision is
of great importance in all border States
as well as in the District of Columbia,
and shows that these confiscated titles
are merely good for the'llfetime of the
person for whose offense they were con
fiscated.
I Mystery as Explained by Vanderbilt.
The-American manufacturers of steel
are anxious to have an increased duty
laid on the imported article, and accord
big the letter of Mi. Felton, Presi
dent of the Philadelphia, Wilmington
and Baltimore Railroad, to Commodore
Vanderbilt, published in another col
umn, it seems that petitions to Con
gress to increase the duty, have been
signed by the officers of the railroads
that have laid more than three-fifths of
all the steel rails that are now in use in
this country. That these petitions
should come from these sources, will be
apt to astonish unsophisticated stock
holders in railroads; they will natural
ly be at a great loss to determine why
it is to the interest of the corporations
whose stock they hold, that an increas
ed duty should be laid upon imported
steel rails, since this will inevitably re
suit in their being compelled to pay a
higher price for the rails that are re
quired for their roads. Even Commo
dore Vanderbilt, notwithstanding his
reputed astuteness, is not able, as will
appear from his reply to Mr. Felton, to
perceive the advantage to our railway
companies which will be caused by this
increased duty. He does not, however,
find any difficulty in explaining the
reason why these petitions are so nu
merously signed by railroad officials;
he sees the great advantage which will
accrue to manufacturers of steel rails
from an increased duty on foreign rails,
and declares that if the petitions were
not signed by these railroad officers in
their official capacity, he "would con
clude (heir principal interest was cen
tered in the steel works, and not in the
railroads which they represent." The
Commodore's conclusion is perfectly
correct, and the hesitation to believe
that these men would use the influence
derived from their official signatures to
further their private ends, which he
ironically avows, has—as he well knows
—no shadow of foundation. Railroad of
ficers now-a-days consider themselves
the Owners, and not simply the mana
gers of their roads. They do not object
to give to their stockholders—to keep
them in good humor—a respectable in
come upon their investment; but hav
ing done this, they conceive that Omir
whole duty towards them is accom
plished, and any surplus revenues that
accrue they feel perfectly justified in
diverting from the common treasury
and turning their flow into their indi
vidual pockets. They have numerous
stopcocks arranged whereby they care
fully graduate the profits that are to
reach the stockholders to a ten per cent.
standard.
In this way is our magnificent Penn
sylvania Railroad managed by the
moral monstrosities who control it ; the
noble road is really earn ingan immense
revenue, of which but a percentage
reaches its real owners. The stealing
is ingeniously done; side companies,
such as the " Central Transportation
Company," which has the monopoly of
sleeping cars on the road, and the "Em
pire Transportation Company," which
has a monopoly of running fast freight
lines, are gotten up and fastened as
leeches on the main corporation, their
stook being owned by the officers of the
railroad and deriving its only value
from the exclusive privileges conferred
upon these sub-companies by these offi
cers, at the expense of the road of whose
interests they are in charge. So these
offices are interested in car manufacto
ries, locomotive works, rolling mills
and contracts for building side lines of
railway. They steal six millions of dol
Lars from the State to build the Pine
Creek and Buffalo Railroad, acquire
without cost large interests in the
mineral lands which the road will
develop, and will give the building
of it at a liberal price to a contractor
who will refund to the officers the major
portion of the handsome profit upon his
work, which he receives from the com
panies treasury. -A simple calculation
made by a friend of our late fellow
townsman McEvoy, of the profits which
should have accrued to him on his con
tract with the Penn'a R. R. Co., to
build their connecting freight line from
Driftwood to the Allegheny Valley,
shows how much larger would have
been his estate had he not been blessed
With large numbers of " silent" part
ners in the contract.
The officers of the Penn'a. Railroad
are ever ready to grasp at the control of
new and unprofitable lines of road and
saddle the running of them upon the
main line; it May not be to the interest
of the stockholders of the Pennsylvania
Rail.mad but it is to that of the officers,
for it increases their field for "pickings;"
and this is nmtiva sufficient for such an
accomplished Jeremy Diddler as Mr.
Tutu Scott, who introduced upon the
Pennsylvattia Railroad a few years ago
as a clerk by our late townsman Paul
Hamilton, now lives like a nabob and
out of a moderate salary has been able
:o expend for the furniture of one room
n his residence on Rittenhouse Square,
:he trilling 511111 of thirty thousand dol-
The Next Step In the March to Negro
Equality.
On Friday night the negroes of 'Wash
ington city serenaded Senator Sumner,
who is recognized by them as the rep
resentative of the views of the Repubil
can party. Ile made a speech in which
he said :
It remains further that equal rights shall
be secured in all the public conveyances
and on all the railroads in the lThited
Staten, so that no one should be excluded
by TORSOII of color. It also remains that
you here in Washington shall complete
this equality of rights in your common
schools. You all go together to Vote, and
any person may find a seat in the Senate
of the United States, but the child is shut
out of the tsunnion schools_ on account of
color. This discrimination must be abol
ished. All schools must be open to all
NVitll , ollt distinetion of color.
That is the decree of the leaders of the
Radical party. They have succeeded
in clearing the way for the negro to the
ballot-box by force and fraud, but he is
a fool who supposes they will stop with
the bare recognition of the right of the
African to vote. By means of him tiny
hope to be able to maintain their hold
on 4he power they have so shamefully
abused, and they will pander to all the
prejudices of the black race to secure a
monopoly of their votes. They have
tried the temper of the white men of
the North, and, finding them ready to
submit to every species of exaction, they
will not hesitate to advance step by step
to the completion of their designs. In
a little while we may expect to have
Sumner's ideas of negro equality in the
public schools and elsewhere enacted
into a Federal law and enforced by the
Federal courts. That is the next step
to be taken in the march to negro
equality.
A mm, has been introduced into the
House fixing Tuesday after the first
Monday in November as the (103 on
which Congressmen shall be elected in
all the States. A hard etlin't will be
made to pass it before the end of the
present session.
ADvicEs have been received from
Gainesville, Texas, of a raid by the
Camanche Indians into the western part
of the State, in which over forty white
families were massacred. Sheridan has
taught these savages a lesson by his
massacre of the Piegans which they will
not be likely to forget. Retaliation will
be the rule in border warfare until we
show the Indians that we are capable of
employing a more Christian policy.
THE quarrel which has been going on
among the fierce Democracy of New
York seems likely to come to a peaceful
termination, without damaging the
party. A new City Charter has been
adopted, which seems to give general
satisfaction.
Some burglars broke into the Peabody
tomb on Wednesday night, and stole the
silver plate and handles from a burial
casket. They were arrested at Salem,
Mass., yesterday, and the property re
covered.
Geary and the Railroad Robbers
The Express professes to believe that
we did Governor Geary Injustice in al
13ging that there was good ground for
believing that he was leagued with the
men who have conspired..to rob the
Sinking Fund of nine and abalf million
of dollars. The evidence against him is
stronger than we represented it to be.
It seems that the bill was sent to him,
but that it was returned, at the request
of a majority of Senators, in order that it
might be kept back until within ten
days of the adjournment of the Legisla
ture, so that the Governor could attach
his signature during the recess, within
an hour of the time when the Railroad
Corporators might be ready to abstract
the Bonds from the Sinking Fund. If
any one doubts that this arrangement
has been made with Geary, and that It
has been done for, the express purpose
of preventing a mandamus from issuing
from the Supreme Court to test the
Constitutionality of the bill, let him
read the following letter from Harris
burg to the Pittsburgh Gazette, which is
the oldest and most influential Radical
newspaper published in Western Penn
sylvania:
Our city press, of Saturday morning,
printing as.usual one uniform report of the
legislative proceedings of the day before,
represented the entire session of the Senate
as being devoted to two apparently trivial
matters. The first was a discussion of the
fact that the railway-sinking fund-grab law
had not been transmitted to the Governor
for his consideration. This delay was "ex
plained" by the Clerk as due to certain in
formalities in the transcription. A Senator
then gave notice that if it was not sent to the
Governor without further delay, he would
demand special action from the Senate upon
the omission. The other apparently small
matter, about which the whole Senate got
by the oars, was whether there should or
should not be a night session, this (Monday)
evening, but which it was now proposed to
reconsider.
Certainly the public must have read the
report of that long and excited wrangle,
with a feeling of surprise that the Penn
sylvania Senate could have quarreled,
about such trifles, all one long day. Well,
it would surprise honest people, if they
knew nothing of the matters which did
lay under that apparent "much ado about
nothing. ' We shall have now the pleasure
of enlightening the public on these points.
The clumsy "explanation" offered by
the Senate clerk, for the delay in sending
that bill to the Governor, was all bosh.—
The delay had been contrived for the express
purpose of ensuring the final execution of
the law, as it will be signed by the Governor
when the right time comes, and not before.
The bill was sent to Governor Geary and
was returned by him. According to our
advises, the true explanation of the return
was, not that the bill wanted any correc
tions, but that it might bo purposely de
layed in reaching his hands, until too late
to leave tell clear days before the close of
the session, on the "ith of April.
All bills in the Governor's hands must be
either signed, or returned with his veto to
the Legislature if in session, within ton
days. But he may retain all bills received
by him if leas than ten days before the close
of the session, and sign them at his leisure
any time during the recess—in the spring,
summer or autumn. It is upon this privi
lege to the Executive, of taking his own
time with such bills as do not resell hint
outside of the ten days, that the present
little game of strategy has been contrived.
The partners in the arrangement are un
derstood to be the Governor, the Railroad
lobby, and the Treasurer elect—supported
by their legislative adherents.
Observe! The bill is not a law until
signed by the Governor. Until then, its
execution cannot be enjoined by the Su
preme Court. I f signed now, an injunction
could and would be at once sued out—and
the ring dare not trust themselves to that
tribunal. Nor would Treasurer Mackey
show any unseemly haste in making the
exchange of bonds, even if the ring were
ready. But the latter want time to organ
ize the swindle, prepare their bonds, ite.,
and therefore they insist upon a delay and
to bo protected from all risks--and get it.
It is to shut out this intervention of the
Court, for the protection of the Sinking
Fund from a great robbery, that this bill,
thus delayed in its regular course to the
Governor's hands, is not to be signed until
all the parties are ready for the grand final
stroke—the actual exchange of securities,
which is to be made the very hour that Gov
ernor Geary shall sign the bill—and then the
Supreme Court and the people may whistle.
Nice little game, isn't it?
Again, this piece of strategy would have
been spoiled by holding the session of the
Senate, in which the bill originated, this
evening, as had been agreed upon. By a
standing order, the Senate has been regu
larly adjourned over from Friday evening
to Tuesday morning every two weeks.—
It was upon the efforts of a few faithful
Senators like White and Brooke, to pre
, serve the existing order for a session this
1 evening, and to defeat the push made by
the ring for the reconsideration and re
peal of that order, that the exciting scenes
of Friday took place. Since that day,
the bill has gone to the Governor ; it is whir
him now. The 7th of April has been tixed
for the adjournment. Ills ten days would
count from to-day, the 28th, if the Senate
sat to-day, and he would thus be obliged to
sign or veto the bill before the close of the
session. But since the Senate is not per
mitted to sit until to-morrow ' the end of
the ten days falls outside of the final ad
journment, and so the Governor can keep
the bill in his pocket, until everything shall
be fixed up according to the programme.
Here we have the true reason why the
bill was sent back from the Executive
hands, the other day, and why the efforts
of a few honest Senators, to expose and ar
rest this scandalous trickery, were met by
the ring with such a storm of violent abuse.
They carried their point, and now, between
Gov. Geary and the new Treasurer Irwin,
the Sinking Fund robbers will du what
they please with their pliable tools, and it
will be not even possible to invoke the in
terference of the Court, even if we had—
what ire have not—any public offleer who
would take the responsibility of proceeding
in behalf of the people.
We have responsible a u thority for all
these statements.
So € go !
The Next Republican Candidate for Goy
Forney is busy just now setting up
the next Radical candidate for Governor
of Pennsylvania. He brings forward
General Horace Porter, Grant's Private
Secretary, and suggests that his Demo
cratic antecedents, and the fact that he
is a son of ex-Governor Porter would
give lihn great prestige in the canvass.
General Harry White, Winthrop W.
Ketchurn, and other out and out Repub
licans will please take notice. A rene
gade Democrat is to be foisted upon the
party again. St raigh touters will be
compelled to take back seats. They
may do the hard and the dirty work of
the Radical party in Pennsylvania
but when a Governor is to be nominated
he must be a reconstructed locofoco.
The pill may be a bitter one but they
will have to swallow it. If Grant's Pri
vate Secretary aspires to civil honors we
shall have Forney and Cameron combin.
log to carry out the project, and the
President using all the patronage of the
Federal I kivernment to 'further the
scheme. The next Republican candi
date for Governor of this State is to be a
renegade Democrat. The decree has
gone forth.
SPEA I: INu of the minor that a rever
sal of the decision of the Supreme Court
upon the legal tender que,tion, may be
expected, the New York Tribunr says:
" We shall be very sorry to sec the day
when a decision of this tribunal amid Le
safely predicted from a scrutiny of the
opinions held by political friends of the
Judges before their appointments."
Nevertheless, it is true that the two
new Judges are expected to reverse the
decision which was rendered by the
Court just previous to their appoint
ment; and it is also true that the rumor
prevailed extensively, that they could
not hope for a confirmation unless they
gave assurances that they would reverse
said decision. We hope Messrs. Strong
and Bradley may give the lie by their
action to the ugly reports which have
been so freely circulated.
Two items in regard to Hon. Alex.
IL Stephens, one that he waa going to
Washington, and the other that he pro
nounced the first inaugurals of Jeffer
son and Lincoln the finest documents
of the kind in our history, which have
been circulating through the press for
some time, are authoritatively denied.
High Tariff Men Scared
The indications from Washington are
that the high tariff men are ready to
abandon the bill before the House, and
take oft; in a general bill one-fifth from
the present enormous duties. Indica
tions also are that the bill will be re
committed, but this will be resisted by
some of the high tariff leaders.
JEFFERSON DAVIS denies that Senator
Cameron ever told him that a negro
would occupy the seat he vacated. It is
a question of veracity between two men
who are well known to the people of this
country, and we think we know what
will be the decision of a decided majori
mtyi Loyalty will not influence the
inds of those who will take it into con,
sideration.
State lUm.
.
Jared P. Ziemer has' been appointed
Postmaster at Knauers Berks county,
vice Wm. K. Ziemer, resigned.
,
The Lebanon arurier states that the
Union canal is now fullof water, and in
fine navigable condition.
The people of Lebanon are agitating
the question of a better supply of water
for that place.
Franklin county has 199 school houses,
366 schools, and estimated value of
school property $154,650.
The Reading Railroad Company have
adopted a schedule of reduced passenger
fares, to take effect on the 18th of Aprll.
The Miners' Journal says that Potts
ville has more pretty girls that any other
town of its dimensions in Pennsylvania.
Joseph Webster, of Wolf township,
Lycoming county, has caught seven
foxes within the last month.
Daniel Whaion, a boy two years old,
was run over by a train of CAN in Alle
gheny city, the 27th inst., and instantly
killed. His body was cut in twain.
Some loans of the Lebanon Building
Association were sold recently as fol
lows :-11 at $5O; 5 at 51i premium per
loan of $l.l/0.
A man named Henry Kibler recently
died in Franconia township, Montgom
ery county without heirs and worth
$ll,OOO, which sum reverts to the Com
monwealth—an unusual occurrence.
Ripe, red, luscious tomatoes have al
ready appeared in the Philadelphia
markets. They come from the South.
The Lehigh canal and Delaware Di
vision canal are now open and ready fur.
business.
The name of \V. \V. Schuyler, of
Ea.ton, is mentioned in connection
with the Mike of President Judge of
the Monroe Judicial District.
Mr. George Sassaman has sold the
Boyertown Democrat establishment to
Ag,ustus Moyer, formerly journeyman
printer.
There is a great quantity of ice out
side the harbor at Erie, and the open
ing of the shipping sea.son, it is thought,
will be later than usual.
A well was sunk by a co-operative
company, near Kinzua, Warren county,
merely as an experiment, which is pro
ducing live barrels of oil per day.
The school directors of Huntingdon
county have recently added the prince
ly sum of fifty cents to the yearly salary
of the county superintendent. lie now
gets $800.50.
Johnstown must be growing large.
A child WIN lost in the Fifth ward, a
few days ago, and two children were
lost in the Third and Fourth wards on
the afternoon of the 26th ult.
Mr. Daniel Kroninger, of Maxatawny
township, I3erks county, last year plant
ed a strip of ground, a little less than a
quarter of an acre, with sugar cane,
which yielded him 3t; gallons of the very
best molasses.
The Legislature has passed an act
authorizing the construction of a Rail
road front the city of Pittsburgh to a
point at or near Beaver, Beaver county,
on the south or left bank of the Ohio
River.
Jacob Dale, of West Fallowfield, acci
MMEli=
a small piece of glass, a short time since,
and came near bleeding to death. It
was with great difficulty that a surgeon
saved his life.
The Philadelphia Female Anti-slave
ry Society is "done and gone." The fact
was authoritively announeed recently
at a small meeting, upon which WC/IAM]
Robert Pervis said some touching things
and Lucretia Mott shed tears.
A child of Mr. (cphas Kerling, aged
two years, 'living near Franklin Fur
nace, Franklin county,got hold of a
bottle in the cupboard and swallowed a
large quantity of its contents. It prov
ed to be laudanum. The child died soon
after.
A bill has been introduced in the Leg
islature which, if it becomes a law, will
spoil the business of professional in
formers. It provides that the penalties
in case of violation of the liquor law
shall all be paid to the Guardians Of the
Poor. _
Several small boys in Huntingdo
amused themselves a few days ago by
playing at hanging, and came very near
turning the farce into a tragedy, the
breaking of the rope alone saving the
life of the lad who had volunteered to
become the culprit.
Maliony City was incorporated as a bor
ough in Isl 3, and now numbers a pop
ulation of 6,500. It has ten graded
schools with an average attendance of
seven hundred pupils. Its rapid growth
and importance is owing to the fart that
it is the geographical centre of the alio
tliracite coal basin.
The Democrats of Cumberland county
voted for and against the proposed Del
egate System for nominating county of
ficers recently. The vote stood :399 for,
and 794 against the proposed change;
thus declaring by a majority of 398 that
they would retain the Crawford County
System.
The coal tonnage of the Delaware,
Lackawanna and Western Railroad for
the week ending on the fifth inst., was
50,..2118 tons, and for the year 511,370 tons,
against 471,880 tons to corresponding
date in IS69—an increase of 39,400 tons.
The Goyernor recently appointed Al
fred L. Pearson, of the county of Alle
ghenv, to be Major General of the Eigh
teenth Division of the uniformed militia,
composed of the counties of Allegheny,
Armstrong, Indiana and Jefferson,
subject to the advice and consent of the
Senate.
i\ fr. Jas. B. M'Cleary of New Castle,
Lawrence county, woo recently taken
suddenly with a severe pain in one of
his legs above the knee which caused
great suffering. Application was made
to two able physicians, who on exami
nation found imbedded in the flesh near
the bone, a large sized sewing needle.
How it came there Mr. M'Creary does
not know.
The Tolley Spirit says " Our old part
ner, Mr. John M. Cooper, has lately got
into the hoop pole business. During
the late snow, owing to the road being
impassable, hie sled with five hundred
on, was snowed up in MeConnellsburgh
for four days. This is a better business
than editing a newspaper."
The following Notaries Public have
been appointed by Governor Geary and
commissioned by the State Department
for a term of three years each : George
Plummer, Westmoreland county ; I len
ry Smith, James S. Smith, Thomas F.
Middleton, J. Dallas llall, Win. Albert
Steele, J. Howard Glenda, Philadel
phia.
On the 26th., the boiler of M'Cane's
well nt Oil City bursted, throwing the
dome across Oil creek, a distance of two
hundred feet. This well is situated on
the bank of the creek, a few rods above
the Great Western railroad bridge, on
the east side. Two sons of Wm. Ste
wart were injured; the younger, John,
so badly that he may not live. The
stable between the well and. Seneea
street, set on tire, was extinguished
with pails. Several persons were se
verely stunned.
The oilier day a German man, hail
ing from Philadelphia,attempted to get
on a stock train while it was in motion,
beyond the new depot in Reading, awl
narrowly escaped death. In his attempt
to get on the train, he slipped and, fell
along side the track, one of the wheels
of the ear striking hisarm, and injuring
it severely. He was assisted to a house
near by the place of the accident and
properly cared for.
The Fulton Democrat says: "The
Tannery situated in Wells township,
this county, was destroyed by tire, on
the 25th. It appears that the pipes
were frozen up, and some of the hands
attemped to thaw them by holding
burning torches under them. It is sup
posed to have caught from this, though
one of the owners, Mr. (lure, examined
the premises the night before about 9
o'clock and apparently, everything was
right. The fire was discovered about 2
in the morning. We understand there
was an insurance of $6,000 on the tan
nery.
There is being finished, at the Scott
Works, in Reading, agun for the French
(lovernment, which will, according to
the ideas of the patentee, excel all guns
ever manufactured. The bore is 11 feet
it inches in length, and is rifled ; the
outside length, including the cap, is 11
feet G Inches, and it is calculated to
throw a ball, 6 inches in diameter, a
distance of 12 miles. On one side of
this cannon are 4 chambers, each of
which will hold 7 pounds of powder.
Two pounds of powder will be placed
in the breech of the gun, and the ball
rammed tightly upon it; when fired, the
powder in the chambers explodes suc
cessively, giving a great impetus to the
ball. The gun will be finished in course
of six weeks, when it will be at once
shipped to its place of designation. The
patentee calls it a patent accelerating
rifled gun.
The family of Mr. Samuel McLaugh
lin, of Bryanville, York county, and
some visiting friends were poisoned, re
cently by eating bread made of flour
which it is supposed some malicious
person or persons had drugged. Some
eight or ten persons were:a.ffected by the
poison, but fortunately all have entirely
recovered but Mr. McLaughlin, who ls
still suffering to some extent, but no
dangerous effects are apprehended.
A BL.AOII. FRAUD.
The Fifteenth Amendment to the Con
stltuilon•—Message From Presl•
dent Grant Announcing
Its Gatlficatlon.
The following proclamation was issued
to-day by Hon. Hamilton Fish, Secretary
of State : .
'Th al/ tehoht these presents may Mlle vrecting
Know yo that the Congress of the United
States, on or about the twenty-seventh day
of February, ono thousand eight hundred
and sixty-nine, passed resolutions, In
words and figures, as follows, to wit:
Resolution proposing an amendment to
the Constitution of the United States.
Resolved by the Senate and House of Rep
reeentativea of the United State) of America
in Congress assembled, two-thirds of both
Houses concurring, That the following ar
ticles be proposed to the Legislatures of the
'several States es an amendment to the Con
stitution of the United States, which, when
ratified by three-fourths of said Legisla
tures, shall be valid as part of the Constitu
tion, namely :
ARTICLE 15, SECTION I. The rightof citi
zens of the United States to vote shall not
be denied or abridged by the United States,
or by any State, on account of race, color or
previous condition of servitude.
SEC. 2. Congress shall have power to en
force this article by appropriate legislation.
And further, That it appears from official
documents on file in this department, that
the amendment to the Constitution of the
United States, prepared as aforesaid, has
been ratified by the legislatures of North
Carolina, West Virginia, .Massachusetts,
Wisconsin, Maine, Louisiana, AI
South Carolina, Pennsylvania, Arkansas,
Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Indiana,
New York, New Hampshire, Nevada, Ver-
Mont, Virginia, Alabama, Missouri, Mis
sissippi, Ohio, lowa, Kansas, Minnesota,
Rhode Island, Nebraska and Texas—in all
twenty-nine States.
And further, That the States whose Leg
islatures have so ratified the proposed
amendment constitute three-fourths of the
whole number of the United States.
And further, That it appears from the
official document on tile in this department
that the Legislature of the State of New
York has since passed resolutions claiming
to withdraw from said ratification of said
amendment, which had been made by the
Legislature and of which official notice lied
been tiled in this department.
- .
And further, That it appears from an
fiend document on Lilo in this department
that the Legislature of t leorgiallaS by a res
olution, ratified the proposed :unendnient.
Now, therefore, be it known that I, I Imo
ilton Fish, Secretary of the State of the
United States, by virtue and in pursuance of
id section of nit net of Congress, appro V el
. .
the 20th of April, ISIS, entitled, An act to
provide for the publication of lays Of till
United States and for other purposes, I th
hereby certify that that amendment ha.
become valid to all intents and purposes
-
11.4 part of the Constitution of the [tilted
States. In testimony whereof I have here
unto set my hand and caused the seal atilt
Department of State to bo affixed.
Done at the city of Washington, this thir
tieth day of :%lareh, one thousand eight
hundred and seventy, and of the I ndepen
(leiter, of the United States the ninety
fourth. II Am I_,T4 IN FISH.
To (Ar •4e . 11f LI i • and Iluu.or . Of Rrprrsrnhr
It is usual to notify the two houses of
Congress by message of the promulgation
by proclamation of the Secretary of State
of the retitle:akin of a Constitutional
Amendment. In view, however, of the vast
importance of the Fifteenth Ailleinlinent lu
the Constitution, this day declared a part of
Hutt revered instrument, I detall 1.110 -
parturs from usual custom justifiable. A
measure which makes at once four millions
of people voters who were heretofore de
clared, by the highest tribunal in the land,
not citizens of the United States and not
eligible to become so, with the assertion
that, at the time of the Declaration of Inde;
penitence, the opinion Was fixed and
Universal in the civilized portion of the
white race as an axiom in morals as well as
in polities, that black men had no rights
which the white man was bound to respect,
is indeed a measure of grander importance
than any one act of the kind, Iron the
foundation of our free government to the
present day. Free institutions like ours,
in which all power is derived directly
from the people, must depend mainly
on their intelligence, patriotism tint'
industry. I call the attention, there
fore, of the newly enfranchised race to
the importance of their striving in every
honorable manner to make themselves
worthy of their new privileges. To the
race more favored heretofore by the laws I
would say, withhold no legal privilege Of
advancement to our new citizens. Tho
framers of our Constitution firmly tel
that a Ftepublietin government could not
endure, without intelligence and education
was generally diffused among the people.
The father of his Country, in his farewell
address, uses this language:
" Promote, then, as a matter or primary
importance, institutions for the general
diffusion of knowledge. In proportion L.
the structure of a republivan government
gives force to public opinion, it is essential
that public opinion should be enlightened."
In his first message to Congress the same
views were forcibly presented, and he again
urged them in his eighth message. I repeat,
the adoption of the Fifteenth Amendment
to the Constitution completes the greatest
civil change and constitutes the most im
p,:rtant event that has occurred sine,, the
nation came into life, and the change will
be benelleial in proportion to the heed given
to the urgent recommendations of Wash
ington. If these recommendations Were
impnrlm [; then , with a population or wit a
few millions, how much more important
must it be now, with a population of forty
millions and increasing in a rapid ratio.
I would therefore call on Congress to take
all means within its constitutional power
to promote and encourage popular educa
tion throughout the country, and upon
people everywhere to see to it that all who
possess and exercise political rights shall
have an I,prortunity to acquire the know
ledge which will Make theal share in the
government and its blessings, without
danger. By such moans only eon the
benefits contemplated by this amendment
to the Constitution be secured.
C. N. l i itA
Ex Ei TIVE MANSION. March 30, Is7o.
The Admisodon of TOZM and the Elf-
=3=
How the Job Wan Completed—How 11.
Proclamation Was Received.
The Washington correspondent of the
New York 11 - orid writes as follows :
WASIrtNoTos, ,March 30.
An appeal was made to the President this
morning to issue the official notice an
nouncing, the ratification of the Fifteenth
Amendment, and he promised to do so to
day. The Texas bill was sent to him in
time for his signature, and the transmis
sion of a special rnessinfe which he had pre
pared on tire subject. The Reconstruction
Committee met this morning and decided to
accept the Serrate amendment to the Texas
Lill, striking out the provision that the act
should not affect the original terms on which
the State had been admitted in 1045, and to
rush the bill through the 11 ouac. The tiro-
K rammewasearried ou Li( trite swiftly. When
it was reported, Gen. Butler made a few re
marks, stating that he did not regard the
proviso proposed to be stricken out as of
much Ma porburce, on which he was hand
s.mely picked up by M r. Fernando Wood,
who, in the courseof an infesting historical
sketch of the way Texas was brought into
the Ulli.ll by tint resolution, reminded
him that he r. Sutler) laid great stress
upon this very proviso, when it was first
considered in the Iteconstrni•tion Commit
tee, and regarded it as a matter of great im
portance that it should be passed. Now
because some sudden particular purpose
was to be, enacted by the Radical party,
presto change, it wins of no importance
Mr. Wood made the further point that
the passawo of the bill without this
proviso was is violation of a virtual
treaty agreement made between this gov
ernment and the President of the Republic
of Texas in 1045; but the Senate was con
curred with, and the bill passed by a party
vote. It was then enrolled, signed by the
Speaker and the Vice-President, bent up to
the White House, signed there by the
President, and returned to the House with
a special message :roil Secretary Fish's
proclamation announcing the ratification of
the Fifteenth Amendment, all within two
hours from the time the bill passed the
House. When the documents reached the
(louse at 3:30 r. Of., there was a perfect
flutter among the members. Mr. Maynard
was making a prosy tariff speech in Com
mittee of the Whole. 110 was asked to give
way. The Committee rose; the Speaker
was sent fur; order was restored, and the
message and proclamation were read. That
portion of the latter about New York ex
cited close attention. When the reading
was finished, Peters, of Maine, moved to
refer the message to the Judiciary Commit
tee. Mr. Wood rose at once, and em
phatically denied that New York had
ratified the amendment. Mr. Peters said:
"Well, wo think she has over hero,"
meaning the Radical side, which followed
the remark with a shout of laughter. Mr.
Brooks, referring to the disorder, wan ed
to know of the Speaker if this was &town
meeting. It appearing that Indiana had
been counted to make the twenty-eight
States required to ratify the amendment,
Mr. Niblack rose and said that in point of
fact it was untrue that the Legislature of
Indiana had ever ratified the amendment,
and any representation to the contrary was
a fraud. (Sensation.) The House then di
vided, and the Radicals curried the previ
ous question on the motion to refer, but
the Democrats were determined to secure
debate. Mr. Randall moved to adjourn.
Lost. Mr. Wood moved a call of the House,
pending which Mr. Dawes said the Demo
crats were determined to debate this ques
tion, and he appealed to Mr. Peters to
withdraw his motion to refer, which that
gentleman did, and the documents were
then laid on the Speaker's table for future
action.
Judge 'Underwood and Mayor Mum
RICHMOND, March 31.—Judge Under
wood to-day granted an injunction against
Mayor Ellison, preventing him from acting
as mayor. Ho also refused an appeal on
the ground that hemjunction was only
temporary, being to ntinue until the n
term. Etlison's council gave notice of the
intention to disobey the order of the court,
in order to cause hls arrest and then bring
his case before she Supreme Court on a writ
of habeas corpus. Judge Underwood, in
his decision, declares the act passed by tho
L e gislature unconstitutional . , which 'ae
eislon affects nearly all the officers of the
State.
Henry A. Wise On the Rampage
He is counsel for Chahoon, the military
Mayor of Richmond, and has been assailed
by the newspapers for his course, but ho :a
not the man to back down from a positien
he has once taken, no odds how loud the
clamor may be. A Richmond correspon
dent of the Baltimore Sun giros the follow
account of him :
In the Injunction case ofehahoon against
Ellyson and others, before Judge Under
wood, ox Governor Henry A. Wise deliv
ered the beginning of his argument in
favor of the writ asked for. It wee a char
acteristic speed', full of those eccentric
idlosyncracies for which the speaker is fa
mous. Old ns ho Is, ho Is still lull of youth
ful tire, and although his tall frame is a
little bout with ago, his mind Is still erect,
active and vigorous. His versatile genius
still holds Its former sparkle find frostiness
and his eloquence still charms and sways
as of yore, lie is indeed " the old man el
quent," and as ho had to-day to vindicate
himself against the popular odium which
ho has incurred hero by taking ChalliollCS
I part, oven as a counsel, all the comb:ilk o.
ness and defiant temper of his nature was
aroused, lie claimed that lie undertook
ho case in the discharge of his prop,
sional duty, and that ha would hold his
ground in contempt yf the clamor raked
against hint. Ito wds like the nuiu ho
most admired Andrew Jackson--In ul
least ono respect, that when he took a
stand, by the eternal God, he would die by
it, if zweessary. It wt. charged that
sought to curry favor with the powers t hat
be; but ho avowed himself a naked, unre
pentant and tin foresworn rebel, who would
perjure his soul for no privy, and t%
would not aecept even his dearest rights ;Is
favors or upon conditions. Ile not !owrr
asked pardon, and never would ,10 so, for
he WWI not einISCiMIS of having done
thing wron Ito Iva, not sorry for ;my
thing lie had
done in the war, except that
he had failed to (1(i a 11111101 Its he 111,i red.
Nor could he consent for any eousiderat i 11
to wrong the heroic dead who had died
by his side for Om lost must•. Su !
would accept Ito pardon. Ito wonl.l nt,
with his knowledge and consent, a low his
name to sneak through Congress in ati aei
removing disabilities. Ile contemned amt
spurned these things :1.4 :tatting insult 1.,
injury. Were l'l"sses tlrant to send him a
special pardon, he would draw bl:a•k
around it and return it, endorsed With Lilo
derlarntiun that lit , was 1111 Illttne a trait,
than Ile l tlramtl\NlL.. Nor would he take
advantage of a general amnesty a thing
which thu ladies present wmild paribm hit.
but a 11,r fitly tit.tnltnizniting an a d n nasty
trick hi swindle ile“ple or the Slmth into a
tacit t . 1)111 . ‘,..i011 I.f guilt.
Yestt.rklay he was the t,iv tler of slavrs;
I lay he was a slave. Ile desired to be fr.,,
but not upon conditions—not upon ter m.
prescribed by a power that he would never
:ieknowledge. Ile hoped, as old iu Ile 11,-;
or better days iind for teller Wlll . ll
Virginia—always a State, has been
beginning, now is, and over Will be,
without 0,1- Wlllllll stand street 1,1
14 1 111 1 11 1 111.11r1 1 ,l•r1,111,1111111 1 1 . 11,11; 11111 ruled,
but ruling; 11,4.11.11,111i:int, latt ereign
by divine right. Ile had had 1111 art nor
part in bringing her to her present attitude,
with every joint, :lye, every vertebra bent,
crawling through the dirt of humiliation
Lark into the l'nion that her own hands
had Luilt. nt ;rcat tiod, what aspect:ll.ler'
said he. lint, gentlemen of the Commit •
tee of nine, it Is your 41W11 work. Virginia,
'thou eanst not say I did It!'"
Logan 1111 l In In len n Dra bid Jig 11. 41111.
I:2====l
John A. Logan administered :1 stih,,, , alig
rebuke to len. Shermen iii the 1i0n...-. il r e
other day. liking to a personal ..v.rdmia
lion he sent to the clerk's desk to be read
the letter of Item Sherman to Sendtor
eriticising the hill to reorganiAe
army, and I.ottatils spevell in lac or of it.
The letter being read, Mr. Logan said t
tin, or the remarkable features :is, first,
that it should have lit 011 written in all; At,-
ond, that such language as is used in it
should have el11:111111,1 1,111 the 1;01113111 ../
the army. Ile hal nothing to say actin-t
(fen. Sherman, to Ito was 11. gallant officer,
and trout whose roputatlon he had net. r
attempted to detract in the slightest de
grey. But self-respect demanded of Inn:,
when Ito WILS assailed, and the 11./Inte ii
assailed through hint, when he
with falsehood In his statements. to reply
to those) charges, anti to show that. Ins
original statements were perfectly rorree 1.
lit defence of the taxpayers, of the ..1 . 1
pled soldiers, and of soldiers' widow a, NI r.
Logan protested against the fist:rpm,: of
power in the hands it a few mn. Ile I:re
tested against the attempt of men iii high
positions to dietato legislation to r.mgr,,s.
Ilu would say to these 1111.11 in high posi
tions that they were not the law
lint the law obeyers. They onus! not die
tato tillllllll.lllllt of taxatinti to Ist pail 1,1
their benefit. Whenever legislation live:tine
so stilled and so crippled that it man v. leo
stood tip for the people in a nuttily, limiest
and proper spirit, was 1.0 110 iltlat • kvil in
tits COIIIIIIII3 or the netsspupen by .
high officials, demanding that Coligrrss
shall not do certain things, then he It ell
say farewell to the liberties of the emintr
lb: wanted to kfeifv whether this attavl,
main him meant that theentintry Sias to he
turned over hr the 11111111 S of a tetv
(-rats, as in I.:lir:To; whether titles were 1..
be 110110 tore ; whether east: , was to ill' 1, -
Uthlished ; whether an order of tailahly
SOILS to grow up lyre. Th.. people on
Ihonest, 31111 bravo, and true, and it ‘,11,4 i 1.1 1•
IlOyS who carried the musket si lei nacle the
ifenorals, and it W 11.3 lily
the l'residents. Ile stood lure. to W.A....1
Um rights of these num, :11111 their
and orphans, and to defend the Ii la•rtres ..t
the people, and whether assailed by t lener
ads, by Marshals, by tiovernors, by kings,
Princes, or isitt•tuates, by item spapers or
by aristocrats, he would still be found maL -
Mg war against dictation and olietators,
against aristoovraey and in Layer a.t republi
ealliSlll. [Clapping orgall
ries'.
How the Governmeut ist ‘VIIIO/1110
Iturot Itself.
rh, snys
For a time, the all ahsccrloing questions
wccre, Who runs the adniinistration 't who
is Grant's con titlential adviser? T III! vonuir
drum died out for lack of interest, ncr it
was discovered that ;rant until nothing It.
do with the administration. The k ine
smoked and said nothing, and thelicovern
meta run itself.
If this mutter belonged to Cos depart
ment," said an influential gentleman to
me one clay, " Ito could ttec•nmplislt
thing, but It pertains to the State Depart
!neut.
•
" But taut we get some I'llllll.lloo to hear
upon I rant?"
would not do alit good. flu xvottl,l
turn it over nL bible to Pish, anti that wolthl
be an end of it."
"But are not grave questions like this
discussed in Cabinet, where 015 and Belk
nap can have an iiilluenve "
" yes, when the heads of depart
ment see lit to introduve it. But i'll,•111111.111•
her feels that he Is running his own Ma
chine, and there is an understanding not to
interfere with each other."
On further investigation I found this t..
be the fact: We have MOVOII President,.
Fish controls the State Department, with
out referenee to any ono; houtwell Is Mr.)
of the Treasury ; Cos conducts the Interior
and Belknap Nave Department., a n d so
throughout. The President is a st.lenin,
silent, smoking figure-head, with abun
dance of time to put On a white choker and
swallow-tail, and attend every entertain
ment ti, which any one may invite him. I
meet him frequently upon the streets,
mooning along, with cigar in mouth, and
ungloved hands behind his back.
When we come to look further, we lino)
that the State Department is worked by
that learned old muff, Caleb l'ushing.
We all know that when the morlioseli
finds himself in trouble, he mils nn i
Caleb waked up a friend of mine to reel
IMO that famous Alabama despatell, and
tried after to wake up the venerable Sar
dine for the samepurposes, tint failed. We
cannot be said to have any foreign policy,
but we have I! deb, and that is quite as
good.
If the resurrected statesman of the State
Department conlii only be induced ti Cal
1/11 that Other Ohl ease of pi g eoo-hoh,,
~ffled (;”verimr Mack, and :uld the eru
dite Stunner, they would fetch the depart
ment to within ur„.t a,,,,tury or the pres
ent time.
The breezy Porter is ❑taster of the nary,
while an absurd law and an unjust rank
make lieneral 'Tecumseh 011E10X ions tin tllO
War Department; and he would be master
there, but for Belknap, Who stands very
obstinately on his Own heels.
Fur thelirst time, I say, in our history,
we make an npproneh to the bureaucracy
of France, under the monarchy. Such s
Government means routine at home and
drilling abrowl. In our foreign affairs we
have no policy, and, at home, his Serem•
Highness fires another cigar, and says;
"Better move on without change," for
another year, although the people are bur
dened to the death with heavy taxation and
hard times. We have had a year of tide
sort of thing, with the grim prospect of
having, in another, the Democratic party
Intervene; and, when it does, cur excellen t
President will quietly swing over, and
smoke silently on the other aide.
What Iteeonstruction coats the North.
The Washington correspondent of th,
Baltimore Gazelle says:
That the effect of Congressional interfer
ence in the Southern States, under the pre
tence of reconstruction, Is to paralyze trade,
and to bring works of internal improve
ment to a stand-still, has been demon strat d
in Virginia, Georgia and other of the late
unreconstructtd States. "Corning events
theireast shadows
belbre.' T ie niece
hotoff.aerrernstruction in retles
oibeeranent to put a stop to ex
tensive building operations in Nashville;
to cause the annulment of contracts
already entered into, and the postpone
ment of negotiations about to be con
summated. This state of affairs exists
throughout the State. In Georgia, the
merchants instead of forwarding their or -
ders for spring and summer stocks, are
waiting anxiously tho action of Congress.
In response to a suggestion from a large
manufacturing firm in Maryland, a Geor
gia merchant, a Northern man, writes,
"Don't you read the papers? Don't you
see what the Yankees are doing to us? It
is impossible ferns to order any new stock
under present circumstances." It will
thus be seen that reconstruction in the
South reacts upon Northern pockets, whie
is a good and sufficient reason why tho
North should oppose further reconstrue
lion.