Monday Iffon?ng, Joly 17,1865.
Taxation.. . ^
We nave already said something about
taxation. We shall have need to pay more,
jt is now evident to all parties that new
standards of value, iu regard/to property,
must be established, in order to reach ^a
. night basis for assessment. The lands of
the low country are temporarily lost to
cultivation. The planters who tilled
those lauds are, m most cases, denied to
use them. A certain tract of our sea-board
country has been lost to the. productive
resources of the State, and is no longer
available for taxation. It ha? been ab?
sorbed for military uses. The large plan?
tations of the middle country are all de?
stroyed. The labor employed on these
estates, if it suffices to feed the occupants,
will have done more than we anticipate.
The general bouleversement in estates is,
briefly, fatal to all the former calculations
Upon which we based the taxation. Wc
must resort to newer standards, and such
as are equitable and duly proportioned to
the productise resources of the country.
This is the only just standard; but, inas?
much as the country is in a state of dis?
order, it is not easy to arrive at the facts
-the criteria-upon which to found a
healthy judgment. We arc forced upon
the only tax-the only standard of taxa?
tion-which will rightly reach all classes
and prevent inequality of taxation. We
have already stated what this tax should
be-a poll tax-by which evory individual
in the community will be placed on an
equal footing, in the eye of tho State. A
poll tax has been frequently made the
subject of odium, by demagogues, who
6eek to flatter voters. It has been held to
be an obloquy put upon a man that his
poll, or head, should be worthy of taxa?
tion at all. But all this was mere balder
dash, and gammon, and false pretence, and
humbug. A poll tax is the genuine repub?
lican tax-the democratic principle. It
puts Tom, Dick and Harry, Ben, Peter and
Sam, Bill, George and Amiuadab, all in
the same category. Nobody can complain;
nobody cnn revile or reproach that he is
not roted as highly as his neighbor. It is
the simplest form of taxation in the world.
There is no complication in the world.
The assessor has simply to ask, 'qiaveyou
a head at all?" If 3011 have, you must
recognize its value, at ?l or ??2 per capuf,
as the case may be. How simple! How
complimentary! You certainly have a
head, and though a pin may make an
equal boast, 3*ou regard your individual
head with Eome living consideration-it i1?
your head-your peculiuni. You are not
sure, if your head were taken oil", that it
would fit any other man's shoulders. Still
less are you prepared to permit thc head
of any man to take lodgment in the socket
between your shoulders. Clearly, your
head is modestly valued at ?2. Pay for
it, like a gentleman, accordingly. When
you tax property, irrespective of persoks,
you tax sobriety, industry, intelligence,
ability, talents, science-all the virtues
and capacities which make a people
famous and successful. In taxing pro?
perty, you let free the idle, vicious, gam?
ing, drinking and most worthless of your
people. These never accumulate. The
taxation upon property is very apt to bc
a bounty to idleness. It is, indeed, one of
the insidious measures of agrarianism. By
a natural law, man is made to be accumu?
lative. His law lies in the rule, "Ho who
does not take care of his own family is
worse than an infidel." The baser kinds
of men are unaccumul alive. They ap
proximate the beast creation, which nevei
provides for the morrow. As a general
rule, be sure of this, that the best citizen:
are those, generally, who aro most accu?
mulative-who gradually collect around
themselves ike necessaries first, and thc;:
tho luxuries of life; t whose larders an
.never otnpty, whose decanters are eve:
full, and whose wives never fail, when yoi
dino with them of a holiday, to give you
in addition to a good dinner, a dosser
suited to the season. Commend us to suet
wives.
Cotton, at last reports from New Or
leans, wa3 at good inquiry and briiighu
from 28 to 38* cents. In Now York, 01
the 8th, cotton was firm, at 50 cents fo
m iddhnsr.
The health o? lue Preaidont continues t>
ia pr ove, ?nd several Cab-nit ^.^-eticg
ha?? teen fc*2d.
-aa? -. - \ . . ?? ? y" ' T-? ?
f Daniels la Judgment.
' Everybody* judges. Everybody ia a"
critic. The maa -who neither knows of
thinks, nor feels, nor dreams^ nor sing?,
' nor hos a care beyond his abdominal ter?
ritory, is yet. a pretender ^o ^Esthetics.
Hew terrible! - You are neyer safe in any
company. You think you know something
-'nay, you haye made a discoyery. The
search after it has cost you five years; yet
here is CoL Flabbergast, who sits in judg?
ment upon it before he quite hears through
tho introduction, Everybody has his
opinion. What impudence! Opinion is a
sacred thing. It is not guessing. It is
tho result of a full knowledco of all the
clements of the subject, and of a consci
.entions study of them. No one^ should
presume in opinion where he knows no?
thing of the subject. He has no right to
do so. He has the right to ask and t o
inquire-to seek of him who knows, and
with that humility which desires to learn.
But, now a days, people f mcy all sorts of
rights for themselves. Veril}*, it isa great
pity that we cannot persuade them to look
into thc sources of their rights. There are
but two-God and society-and wc have
no rights under these, save by a compli?
ance with the laws of God and of society.
In other words, we have all our rights, of
whatever kind, undc arbitrary conditions,
and these conditions must be answered
before we can assert our rights. Apply
these laws, dear reader, to your own case,
and cuter into the forum of conscience for
self judgment.
The Kew? is informed by Mr. Anderson,
the Superintendent of the Charlotte and
South Carolina Railroad, that the cars
will ba running to Winnsboro in the course
of three or four weeks. The great diffi?
culty that has presented itself in pushing
forward the road to completion, was the
scarcity of iron. Mr. A. states that he
had managed to get on this side of the
Catawba River about forty car loads of
iron, which will be enough, together with
what has been straightened, to lay the
track to Winnsboro.
President Johnson and the Fanatics.
A lriend nt Wash insto n assures us that,
a few weeks since, an interview took place
between President Johnson and Senator
Sumner, substantially as follows:
"Good evening, Mr. President," said
Senator Sumner, last week, upon entering
tho President's room in the White House.
"Good evening. Mr. Senator," replied
thc President. "Piease be seated for a
moment, until I finish a letter to an old
friend."
The letter being finished, the President
turned to Mr. Sumner, when the latter
said:
"Mr. President, 1 have called upon you
for tho purpose of expressing to you the
views of our people on the subject of re?
construction." !
"Well, sir," replied the President.
Mr. Sumner commenced by saying:
"Sir, your North Carolina proclamation
does not meet the approbation of the peo?
ple, and they will not submit to have the
great results of the war thus thrown
away."
"What people are you representing,
sir?" asked Mr. Johnson.
.'The whole Northern people," said Mr.
Sumner.
'I apprehend you will find you but
represent a small portion of (lie Northern
people," replied Mr. Johnson.
"Then," said Sumner, "wc must tako
your North Carolina proclamation as an
indication of your policy, must we?"
"Yes, sir," replied the President.
"Then, sir," said Sumner, "you do not
iutend to enfranchise the black man."
"I have nothing to do with the subject;
that exclusively belongs to the States. You
certainly would think it a usurpation on
my part if I attempted lo interfere in
fixing the qualifications of electors in
Massachusetts."
"But," replied Sumner, "Massachusetts
has always been a loyal State."
"That may be," replied the President,
"but the loyal men of the South have
made untold sacrifices for their Uuiou sen?
timents, while Massachusetts has made
hundreds of millions out of her loyalty,
and it would bea poor return for Sou'hern
adherence to the Government, if the latter
should, in violation of the Constitution,
thrust upon them local laws in opposition
to their wishes."
At thia reply of the President, Mr. Sum?
ner became impatient an? irritable, and
rejoined by saying, "I am sorry to see you
evincing so little sympathy with that ele?
ment that placed j-ou in power."
At this, the color flashed to the Presi?
dent's face, and he added, emphatically,
"You and I might as well understand each
other now as any other time. You are
aware, sir, I have no respect for a seces?
sionist; but, as much as I despise them, I
still have a greater detestation aud con?
tempt for a fanatic."
"Good evening," said Sumner, and left
in a huff.-Cincinnati Inquirer, Jul;) 17.
Maximilian'.-, imperial forces ?re said to
be ext4Pgu?6b.?E2 the ludiaus in Yucatan.
i I|P|WM-?- mmmmmmomn II? ii mm^?aMgm^
. ; Batocntion. ol-:rJj*e ^onappators.,
"W/SIIIN?TOX. Jufv -On'.the* petition of
Mary E Surratt* ?farougli hf counsel,
Messrs. Aiken and Orampitt, Jtidge "Wylie,
of the Supreme Court of this district,
directed an issue of the wr?t of habeat
corpus to Gen. Hancock, commanding him
to produce ia <*oart, at IO' o'clock this i
morning, the tody of Mary E. Surratt, !
with the cause and day of her detention.
The writ was served on Gen. Hancock at
the~ Metropwlitau Hotel, at 8 o'clock ihis
morning, by United States 'Marshal Goad?
ing. He immediately consultad with the
Attorney-Geticrul and trie Secretary of
War. At half past TO.'the General had
not obeyed the writ. This fact was
brought to the notice of the court by her
counsel, but the judge said he hod not the
power to enforce theiivrit.
Early to-day, guards were placed all
round the . sena! grounds to prevent the
intrusion o, persons to the scene of exe
ctttion, none being admitted excepting
those previously supplied with tickets by
Maj. Gen. Hancock.
The relatives of Mrs. Surratt and Ha?
rold spent several hours with them during
the forenoon, and they were also attended
by their spiritual advisers; as were abo
Payne and Abzerodt.
A few minutes after 1 o'clock, the outer
prison door was opened, and Mrs. Surratt
?was supported on lier way to the gallows
by two military officers. Kext followed
Abzerodt, Harold and Pa3*ne,accompanied
by a guard and their respective ministers
of the Gospel. Front seats were provided
for them on the platform in the following
order Mrs. Surratt, Payne, Harold and
Abzerodt, the officers entrusted with the
execution, and the ministers occupied in?
termediate positions. Maj. Gen. Hartrault,
who has been from the commencement in
charge of the prisoners, came forward and
read the order of the War Department,
already published, approving lim sen?
tences, and ordering the penalty ot' death
to be inflicted.
A heavy guard was stationed on the
walls surrounding the grounds, wuile be?
low soldiers were formed on two bides of a
square. Perhaps several hundred civilians
were present, anxious spectators of the
scene. One of the priests, attendant 0:1
Mrs. Surratt, repeated a short prayer, to
which Payne, who was teated next to her,
attentively listened. The minister who
had been administering to Payne ex
pressed, in the name of the latter, his
sincere thanks to Gen. Hartrault and the
officers and soldiers who had charge of
him for their personal kindness. They had
not uttered an unkind word, nor given an
unpleasant look or gesture, butseetued to
compassionate his misfortune. The minis?
ter then uttered a brief prayer, asking far
Payne tlie forgiveness of all his sins, and a
passage out of ttiis world into the joys of
Heaven.
The minister who attended Harold also
returned thanks for thc kind treatment of
the prisoner, and clfercd a prayer that
God would receive Iiis soul. Harold was
affected to tears.
The minister who attended Abzerodt
also returned for Iii ni thanks to (ion. Har?
trault and other officers for kind atten?
tions, andjthen invoked the merci' of God
upon the prisoner.
The condemned were'then required to
rise from their seats, when thc chairs were
removed. They were now nil on the
drops. Their bauds were fastened behind
them, and their legs bandaged both below
and above the knees, and whitecaps placed
over their head-?.
Abzerodt, while being prepared for the
execution, exclaimed:
"Gentlemen, farewell! Take care!" and
"Good-bye, gentlemen now before me!"
One of the clergymen standing near
exclaimed:
..May we all meet in the other world."
As soon as tho noose was placed around
each neck, Mrs:Surratt's being the last one
adjusted, the section of the platform on
which they had been standing suddenly
fell, and the culprits were haDging several
feet from the ground. Mrs. Surratt and
Payne scarcely moved a muscle; Abzerodt
exhibited some twitch inga, but Harold
showed more nervous sensibility than any
of the others. The bodies hung until lift
was extinct, and were afterward giver
over for burial, thc rough coffins being
already at hand for that purpose.
It is said Payne last night made a state
ment.in behalf of Mrs. Surratt, exon?r?t
ing her from complicity, and that anothei
subscribed to an affidavit impeaching th<
testimony of an important witness agains
her:
Alter the sentence was read. Payne die
no.t express any hop:, lie said John Sur
ratt was acting the coward in failing tc
appear and die with bis mother. Behn
asked if he had any directions as to th?
disposition of his holy, he answered tba
he had no friends wi hiu reach or withit
immediate communication, and therefor
his body must be suKeet to such disposa
as the officers shall direct. He maintains
that his relatives arein Florida, and tha
his real name is Powell. He expressed th
deepest regret ?bat Mrs. Surratt should, lo
reason of any act of his, suffer, andevincei
solicitude for her, seen?njy tuinkingjonf
of ber fate.
Harrold and Abzerodt manifested n
hope. Thc former was searceiy more et
nous than be had been during the tria
The latter was much bowed down. Mri
Surratt. begged to be respited a few day
The bodies were applied for by friend;
nut were not given up. The}' were ir
(erred at the foot of the gallows.
On Monday, Mudd, Arnold, 0*Lanshli
ar. cl Spapgler ?iii go Northward to prisoi
Local X^^ESOLSS. .'
. We-are almost daily, placed under obli?
gation? to the Southern Express Company
for favors. We are again indebted to them
for a batch of Charleston and Augusta
papers.. .
We beg to call the aitchtion of our sub?
scribers and readers to the advertisement
of Messrs. Archibald Campbell ?6 Rulas C.
Barklay, contracting and supplying mer-:
chants of the city of Charleston.
DBUGS AN? MEDICINES.-We beg to call
attention to the advertisement of drills,
chemicals and medicines, by Dr. P. Melvin
Cohen, to be found in this day'a paper. Dr.
C. has an ample supply of medicines; and
as ho old and experienced druggist, knows
where to seek and how to find good arti?
cles. _ ^
. AMATECK CLUB or Music.-lt ia whispered
on the street that a musical club is in pro?
cess of formation, from which we may au
ticipate a feast of sweet sounds and grate
I ful concords. Several well known musical
persons, of the gender tender as well ns
til? gender tough, are said to he enlisted in
th#corps. Meanwhile, onr serenades and
serenaders increase. The Phaaiix is not
forgotten by her friende, and in these
drearily hot nights, when sleep is impos?
sible, the dulcet strains of guitar and Ilute,
muigling with melting human voices, re?
conciles us to the watch ot wakefulness
which tlie overburdened nature is com?
pelled to keep. We yield ourselves lo the
one influence in defiance of the neglect of
the other- We lorget that sleep is a ne?
cessary, and only feel that music is ono of
the divine luxuries, a foretaste of that
blessed period when we shall need neither
tdeep nor suffer, in the enjoyment of-all
superior delights.
THE WEATUEK.-The sun has subdued
himself in clouds. We have lost the
glare; but the winds are subdued als?.
The atmosphere hangs heavily, lacks
buoyancy, breathing; the spirits are dulled'
invention lacks; one has no heart for any
exercise, no thought, for any situation, no
genial impulse for flight in any direction.
We long for the wings of the dove, that
we may fly away and be at rest; but. like
the swallow, we hum, and twitter, and
flutter, around thc ruin?; and, after faint
wheeling, without sense or purpose, around
the broken walls, each creeps into his
cranny, and sleeps-as well as he can. It
is all vain babble, and worse music, ar.d
ridiculous care, dove, swallow, damsel or
mau, in this state of between itv-like
Mahomet's coffin-in which vie exist!
There is moral stagnation, true! But this
of the physical world as akin to it. Our i
oldest inhabitants profess never to have
known a season so intensely Tophet like, j
But we shall have other rains and another
thunder 6torm before this reaches our
renders.
There was a fine shower of rain yester?
day afternoon, which relieved the atmos?
phere aud left us in a pleasant wrapper of
coolness. A prospect in the skieR of ether
showers during the night, which though
not now needed for the fields, will he
grateful to the flowers, to say nothing of
the animal race.
The course of true love not running
sufficiently smoothly in the case of a
young damsel of Augusta, tia., she sought
relief, like Sappho, by taking to the water.
But jumping into the canal, which did not.
run at all, she was fished out without de?
triment, except to her crinoline. She
soundly berated the gentleman who saved
her. at the expense of her dimity; but it
is doubtful if she will attempt any re?
newal of her experiment -as a sicking
bodv.
Among the articles announced for sale
in a contemporary, we perceive one enti- j
tied "A Mahogany Child's Chair.'' The I
father of this wonderful infant must be of
the Wood family.
A BK E'S NEST IN A MAN'S HEAP.
Some, visitors to the battle-field of the
Seven Pines last week picked up a
remarkably well developed skull, in
which a colony of bees had built their
borne. Ii was evidently a i.iwt year's
nest, for the bees were gone, though
the nest remained perfect. A soliloquy
as touching as that pronounced by
Hamlet over tho skull of Y one k
might be suggested by this skull, and
the strange incident of its becoming
the habitation of bees. Whose skull
j was it? Nobody knows. Yet some?
body once knew the owner of it well,
I and some heart broke when he came
j not back from thc battle. That skull,
: that once, percbacce. was animated
j by rare intelligence; that intelligence
gone, becomes the resting place of
\ bees!-Richmond Whig, ?th.
Benjamin P. Perry, Esq the Pro vi.
?ional* Governor of South Carolina.
Governor Perry was born in Pick
ens District, South Carolin, Novem?
ber 20, He is descended from
the same Massachusetts ian i Iv which
produced Oliver H. Perry. Uh father,
Benjam?n\Perry, fought in lie army of
the Revolution. After theiJose of tho
war he removed to Charlton, where
he married a Miss Ann F?t?r;daugh
ter of Lieut. John Foster,oj thc Revo?
lutionary army. :ind becanp a planter.
? The son of this marriage, benjamin F.
Perry, spent his youth in the district
in which he was born. jje attended
school in the annie vicinity until seven?
teen years of .ige. Tn 1824 he entered
the law office of J tulga Earle, but
finished hid law studies ii the office of
Col. Gregg, ol Columbii} aud was ad?
mitted to the bar in IS:. 1.
During thc; m?morable nullification
contest of 1S32, Mr. Terry edited a
newspaper published in Greenville, op?
posing the nuHiiieatioa doctrines of
Calhoun, with nmch aliilhy and great
persistence. Among oihjer interesting
arguments which he was forced, to
deliver was a bulletin the heart of a
nullification, editor who had challeng?
ed him, and with whom the mistaken
principles of chivalry compelled Pei ry
to fight a duel. Ho was a delegate to
the Union Convention which as?
sembled at Columbia ia August, 1SJ2.
In 1S;34 he was defeated by a ma?
jority of sixty vetes only as tile Union
candidate for Congress from the
Anderson, Pickeos;and Greenville Dis?
tricts. For the two years following
I thia defeat he devoted himself tu the
law. In 183G lie was elected to the
State Legislature-without opposition,
ami in ?S'?S was again returned. While
holding this office the second time "ne
became prominent with Mem tn inger,
lately rebel Secretary of the Treasury,
in closing up the connection between the
Siate and the banks which bad existed.
In 1S-14 he was elected to the State
Senate. Ile was the only member of
that body who voted against the ex?
pulsion from the State of Mr. Hoar,
the Massachusetts State agent. It is
noteworthy that Memminger was the
only member ?t the Lower Hou.-e
who voted against the same resolution.
In IS?0. wbe.n the disunion feeling
again rose high, Mr. Perry established
a Union paper at Greenville, and per
sered iu its publication, though at
great'personal risk. A speech which
he made ir, the Legislature was widely
published througlrout the North and
South, ;tpd was hailed tis the first ray
of light luna benighted South Caro?
lina. Mr. Perry's speech and Presi?
dent Jackson's action had a wonder?
ful effect in killing oft* secession in
South Carolina, and when, in 18?1 an
election was held for a State conven?
tion to dissolve the Union, nobody but
'.he Union men voted, and thc -Slafe
did not secede. '
The career of Mr. Perry since tins
period we are r.ot familiar witing J l'a
has always maintained Ids position in
oppositiou to the right of secession.
In 1850 he laughed at the idea of
South Carolina seceding at that time,
and expressed tho opinion that he
should ?ive to see the Slate 'one of the
most thorough going Union States of
the Republic.' On the adjournment
of the Convention without seceding,
he was lol J that one-half of his pro
pheey vas now true. 'Yes,' replied
Mr. Perry, 'and the oilier haif will he
true. I shall jet live io defend the
States Rights doctrines of Virginia
against tjie consolidating, centralizing
principles of S^iith Carolina.' On tho
.question of slavery his opinion has
changed bv the experience of the last
ten years. Lie now believes the insti?
tution to have been a burden to tho
?outh. and that, as slavery caused tho
rebellion, it is well that it is atnor.g
the things that should perish by its
failure.-Li" i ny s tori s 1 Imminent Ame
\ ricans.''
I Twenty indian tribes have had a
j meeting at Armstrong ^ Academy,
Indian Territory. They havo agreed
to cease all further hostilities against
the United States, and will send a
'delegation of five from each tribe to
Washington to negotiate for a perma?
nent peace.
Gov. Holden, of North Carolina,
bag appointed a commission to go to
Washington and confer on the subject
of confiscation.