Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, September 13, 1866, Image 2
Many of the States of the Union, and several
of the civilized countries of the old
world, have tried the experiment, and the
result proves that the cause of truth and
justice has been thereby promoted. The
objeot of every judioial investigation is to
ascertain the truth, and when found, to dispense
justice in conformity thereto. With
intelligent Judges and discriminating juries,
oorreot conclusions will be more certainly
attained by hearing every fsct, whatever
may be the character or oolor of the witness.
In the second paragraph of the seotioD already
quoted, the General Assemby have
reached the same conclusions; for in all cases
where persons of color are allowed to
testify, all persons, including parties, are
decided competent witnesses. Would it
not be eminently wise to adopt the same role
in all Conrt8, and extend it to aii persons !
In o:vi! cases, the testimony of persons of
color is oftentimes requisite to elncldate the
facts and secure a jnst decision. They constitute
a majority of the entire population of
the State, and of necessity are often sole
witnesses of contracts and transactions between
white persons. Shall the parties in
such cases he denied justice, by excluding
the only evidence to secure it, because of an
apprehension that it may be in a measure unreliable
? Would it not be more in accordance
with an established rule, to receive the
evidence and weigh its value? In the law
of evidence, the character and standing of
a witness goes to affect his credibility, and
not his competency. Why not, in the
case of the person of color, follow this role
to its logical conclusion ?
In criminal cases these considerations
weigh with peculiar force. The negro is
readily deoeived and corrupted, and beoomes
an easy prey to the machinations of
depraved white men j and past experience
teaches that be is employed to execute the
most dishonest purposes, and with impunity
to the principal, because of his exclusion as
a witness from the Courts of justice. The
Bhrewd and ounning continue to put the
negro forward in the commission of crime,
and they go unwhipped of justice, because
the law forbids that the testimony of the
negro shall be heard. Does not the exclusion
of persons of color make them invaluable
aocesories to the perpetration of crime ?
How can society be protected against that
large class of infamous crimes, now so prevalent
in this State, unless by making the
negro a oompetent witness, we avail ourselves
of all accessible evidence to conviot
the offenders? And will the law of the
State continue to offer a reward to the dishonest
to further tempt and corrupt the negro?
The well-being of the State materially
depends upon the elevation of this class
of our population, and if there was no other
AVMNVMAnf 1 n knUnlf n Jmisnnklli'tn
ai^uuicub IU ucuaii ui IUCU auaji?3auiiii|
to oar Courts, the tendency of such a measure
to elevate tfeeir moral and intellectual
obaracter would be sufficient.
The dishonest may object to the extension
of this right to all cases, because it reduces
the field for nefarious operations, but
if the good and virtuous are protected, society
is amply compensated for the change.
Men of probity and Integrity have no reason
to apprehend any evil consequenoes
from the change. The discrimination of
intelligent Judges and juries will be a
shield against unjust charges supported by
false swearing, and the same intelligence
mill Kvinnr fKrt vnnl mm If n f a nAn J1 mn nun
Will U11U? IUV IVUi IU UUUUI^U ^uuishment.
Tho great increase of crime among
the freedmen, and the inadequate
punishment inflicted by existing tribunals,
make it a high and important duty devolved
on you to so modify existing legislation
as will secure a transfer of jurisdiction to
the State Courts. If the suggestions I have
made do not meet the approval of your judgment,
I will cordially co operate with you in
attaining the end in any way in which your
superior wisdom may indicate.
The prevalence of crime among the
whites as well as blacks, in every part of
the State, admonish us that the criminal
code is defective, and that the punishment
imposed by it are inadequate to deter offen
ders. The penalties attaching to orime are
fine, imprisonment whipping and death
The death penalty is imposed on conviction
for murder, arson, burglary and other
crimes; but the repugnance of juries to convict
and impose that fearful penalty, except
for murder and two or three other enormous
crimes against society, often enables the
guilty to escape under the most trifling pretext;
and even when persons are convicted
in such cases, the verdict is usually accompanied
by recommendation to executive
clemency.
Tbereis no proper punishment, under the
laws of this State, for high misdemeanors
and petty felonies. None of the jails of the
State are constructed for work houses, and
convicts sentenced to imprisonment speud
their time in idleness. The expense to the
State is very great, and, in out impoverished
condition, the people cannot well bear
the heavy taxation necessary to support
the;?e eonvicts in idleness There are many
convicts who find themselves comfortably
housed and well-fed, and who, exempt from
all labor, do not regard imprisonment as a
punishment. They are vicious, depraved I
non-producers; and the effort to punish
them is really a punishment to the honest
tax payer, whose labor, in part at least, is
given to support them in indolence. The
nnmber of convicts will hereafter be great- !
ly increased, and, if the present system of
punishments be continued, the appropria
tions to jailors, for dieting prisoners, will
be greater than the expenditure for either
of the departments of the State Government.
To remedy all these evils, I respectfully
recommend that you provide for the
establishment of a Penitentiary, at Columbia,
and appropriate not less than twenty i
thousand dollars to erect a wall around the
Penitentiary buildings, and to make cells
for convicts. Much of the labor, in erecting
the Decessary buildings, can be performed
by the convicts themselves. If a
favorable site should be selected, convenient
to sufficient water power to drive all the
machinery that may be requisite to carry on
manufactures in wood, leather, iron, yarns '
and cloth, the Penitentiary may be made i
nearly if not quite self supporting. Pun- !
ishmenis may then be imposed according to
the enormity of the offence; juries will
have no aversion to convicting the guilty, 1
and convicts, while undergoing purgation
for their crimes, will be oompelled to earn
their clothing and subsistence
The completion of the prison and the in
troduotion of the requisite machinery will, of
course, be a work of time; but, if proper
economy is praoticed in building and stocking
it, the expense will hardly be felt; and,
in the meantime, the convicts can be sub-1
sistcd as cheaply as in the District jails,
whilst the labor of such as are not required
on the buildings, can be devoted to the various
manufactures of leather, wood and iron,
yielding a fund to the State to meet the expense
of their subsistence.
If you should determine to establish a
penitentiary, it will be neoessary that the
punishments now imposed by law be so |
changed as to oonform to the new prison system.
Before passing from the subject of the
criminal law, I desire to invite your attention
to the necessity for more stringent legislation
for the suppression of vagrancy.
The law should not only provide for the
punishment of idle and dissolute persons,
who are permanently domiciled, but should
extend to transient persons, wandering over
*" ' ? - . LI.
the State, ana woo nave no visioie means
of support; and the duty of enforcing the
law should be devolved, under stringent
penalties, upon the Clerks, Sheriffs, Magistrates
and Constables of the several Districts.
Since your adjournment in December
last, the Court of Errors in this State have,
with a single dissenting opinion, declared
the Stay Law and all amendments thereto
unconstitutional. This decision has produced
restiveness and dissatisfaction in many
parts of the State. Public meetings have
been held in several Districts, and the Legislature
has been appealed to, to furnish
Borne protection to the debtor class, who
anticipate general sueing in the fall term of
the Courts.
After a careful examination of the opinion
of the able and learned Chief Justice,
as well as other authorities, I feel it my duty
to say that I concur fully in the opinion of
the Court, and believe that their exposition
of the constitutional question is unanswerable.
The people of South Carolina have been
proverbially law abiding ; and when anarchy,
reigned supreme, after the fall of the Confederacy,
lawlessness was universally discouraged
by the better classes in every community.
Now, when civil law is restored
aud wc are remitted to our own laws and
Courts to protect lights and redress wrongs,
surely no citizen of good repute will advise
tumult and violence against the solemn
judgment of the highest judicial tribunal in
the State.
In view of the circumstances surrounding
us?when it is remembered that the State
has just emerged from a long and disas
trous war, in which not only her sons but
her resources were prodigally bestowed :
that our banks have all been destroyed;
that more than three hundred millions of
property have beea annihilated; that all
fountains of credit and property have been
thoroughly disorganized ; that the refreshing
and revivifying showers have been withheld
from a parched and exhausted soil,
and that want, if not famine, will keep
ghastly vigils in mansion and in hovel,
when it is remembered that nearly all of
the merchants of the State have been able
to compromise their indebtedness to Northern
merchants on most liberal terms?surely,
the creditor class will practice forbearance
and give the debtors still farther indulgence.
If compelled to enforoe oolleclections,
they should, in the same fair and
liberal spirit, make compromises with
debtors, so as not to drive them and their
families from home, kindred and friends.
The existing embarrassments growing out
of the indebtedness of the country" will,
like other evils, produce beneficial results.
Debtors will find it to their interest to make
oflinolmon^ nf fhoir nxton fhrmrrh
UU..I ^jUJ.rnvu, vuv.. V"V-n"
they are compelled to surrender their property.
As long as their debts remain, interest
will be accumulating to culminate in
more disastrous bankruptcy If they surrender
their property, now, to creditors,
they can resume their occupations and labor
with cheerfulness?knowing that its pro
ceeds will, sooner or later, rebuild their
broken fortunes.
The debtor who desires to compromise
with his creditors has the means of compelling
the veriest Sbylock to accept fair
terms, or exclude him in all share of his
estate by assignment, giving liberal creditors
the preference, or by voluntary confession
of judgment.
Believing that no Stay Law can be passed,
embracing anleceden' debts, that will not
conflict with that clause of the Constitution
uf the United States which declares that
"no State shall pass any law impairing the
obligations of contracts," I respectfully
ronnrnmpnij fnr tronr onnsidorntinn for the
relief of debtors:
1st. That imprisonment for debt, on
mesne and final process be abolished, except
in case of fraud ; and then, as a punishment
for the crime rather than as a means
of enforcing payment of the debt.
2d. That do costs be taxed against a defendant,
either for the officers of the Court
or for the Attorney.
3d That the Insolvent Debtor's Laws be
so extended as that any debtor may, by
petition, after due notice, summon in all his
creditors, and, upon assigning his estate and
effects for their benefit, be discharged from
all further liability, not only to sueing, but
to all other creditors. Being thus relieved
from the incubus resting on him, the honest
and enterprising debtor will go to work with
alacrity and prove himself a useful member
to society.
The Congress of the United States has
authority, under the Constitution, to pass
uniform laws of bankruptcy; but there is
no prohibition upon the States, and as
Congress has not exercised the authority
delegated to them, the States may, with
great propriety, pass such laws?and they
will continue of force, until Uongress adopts
a general bankrupt act?which would supercede
ail State legislation on the subject.
The General Bankrupt Act of 1841, passed
by the Congress of the United States,
extended its provisions to antecedent debts,
and its contitutionality was not controverted
by the Courts. No constitutional obstacle,
therefore, would preclude the General As
scmbly from incorporating the same feature
in their legislation.
It is proper here to remark, that if a Stay
Law could be passed which could be free
from all constitutional objection, it would
not protect debtors from suit in the Federal
Courts. A creditor residing in the State
who bad determined to eoforoe the payment
of bis debt, could readily transfer it to
a non-resident, and if the sum exceeded
five hundred dollars, suob non-resident
oould at once institute suit in the United
States Court, reoover judgment, issue execution
and sell the debtor's property, notwithstanding
the existenoe of a Stay Law.
Suoh a law would not be recognzed or enforced
in a Federal Court.
The complete disorganization of the labor
of the State in 1865, resulted in the production
of very short provision orops; and
to supply the deficiency, large quantities of
breadstuffs have already been imported into
the State, at enormous cost. The imperfect
organization of the system of free labor,
and the unprecedented drought whioh has
prevailed during the montbB of July aud
I A fAnf tlin fitofn aa trnl) qa nrt
XlUk Uolj iiuiuu^uvuu buu uvuvw^ uu nv?? w mu
anusually abort wheat orop, fore-shadow a
gloomy future for the people for the next
year. Coming as you do from every District,
you have the means of making an estimate,
approximating aoouraoy, of the extent
of the failure of the provision orop, and
what amount of supplies will be needed to
save the poor, dependent and helpless from
starvation. I invite your earnest and prompt
consideration of the subjeot.
Sound political eoonomy ordinarily condemns
the feeding of its population by the
Government, as the inevitable consequences
are to increase idleness, pauperism and
crime. But where the provision orop of a
whole country is destroyed by blight, or
where production is suspended by long continued
drought, and the deficiency is traceable
to these causes rather than to the idleness
of the population, humanity and sound
policy alike justify the Government in lending
or giving its means to save the people
from starvation?to arrest that increase of
crime, which want always produces, and
to stay emigration to more favored localities.
The present population is insufficient
to till the soil of the State, and to develop
its resources; and it is a high duty of the
Government to remove, as far as possible,
the necessity for emigration beyond its borders.
The embarrassment of supplying
food for the needy will be greatly increased
after the first of October, when the Freedmen's
Bureau will cease to issue rations for
the indigent and helpless whites and freedmen,
who have been heretofore furnished
with subsistence. You may find it necessary
to increase the powers, duties and responsibilities
of the Commissioners of the
Poor, and to organize suoh bodies in all the
Districts of the State. In most of the Districts,
land and buildings have herefore
been acquired and erected for the whites,
but they must be enlarged, so as to provide
accommodations for pauper, idiotioand help
less freedmen.
me rauure or tne coaras or uommissioners
of tbe Poor to provide for the helpless,
is a great crime agaiost humanity, and additional
penalties should be imposed by
law against suoh a neglect or refasal to perform
properly this philanthropic duty.
The capitation tax imposed by you, at the
last session of the Legislature, on freedmen,
has not generally been collected. The Comptroller-General,
following a suggestion made
by me and approved by the Attorney-General,
instructed tbe Tax Collectors not to issue
executions against the freedmen, for the
capitation tax, until the present session of
the Legislature. This was to avoid all conflict
with the military authorities, arising
out of the fact that our courts were not used
for the protection of the freedmen, and no
provision was made for the support of the
infirm and helpless Whenever your legislation
remits the custody of persons of color
f a ft Qtntft 1 ft TO n f V? ftftft nvftAtif* A*in m n r> l"\ ft
iu iuo uiaic iuvt^i iucou cacuuuuuo may ug
issued. Proper diligence by the Sheriffs
will enforce the satisfaction of most of these
executions, and the fund may then be appropriated
exclusively to the support of the
class from which it is derived.
If you should, in your wisdom, determine
to make an appropriation to buy subsistence
for the indigent white and colored,
the several Boards of Commissioners of the
Poor, would be, perhaps, the best agents
for its distribution.
To meet any appropriation made, there is
no resource available, and the funds can
only bo raised by issuing and selling State
bonds. The credit of the State has been
heretofore untarnished, and a reasonable
hope is entertained that bonds issued for
such a purpose will command nearly par, in
the money markets of the United States or
Europe.
As the present is a called session, and you
m n n /Irtoi m frt rn t a t?a?i ah r> f t k a
ill ay ucotic .vj itiuiu iu jruui uuuico an tuc
earliest day compatible with your public
duties, I shall defer, until the regular ses
sion, bringing to your attention the general
financial condition of the State, or making
aoy recommendation for putting it on a safe
and satisfactory basis Under the authority
of your Act authorizing the issue of bills
receivable, in payment of the indebtedness
of the State, the Treasurer had engraved
and printed, bills to the amount of $300,000
and has paid out to the publio officers and
other creditors of the State, only $150,000.
Most of the Tax Collectors have made their
returns, and the legal tender United States
notes paid into the Treasury, together with
the bills receivable not yet issued, will enable
its operations. to be conducted without
embarrassment until your regular session.
Of the bills issued, there have already been
redeemed in payment of taxes, 872,000.?
No appropriation was made to defray the
expenses of engraving and printing the
bills, but the Treasurer, acting upon my recommendation,
advanced the expenses incurred
from proceeds of the loan heretofore
authorized to be made. The amount paid
by him, was $4,436.12. I recommend that
an appropriation be made to cover this amount.
If the Treasurer had declined to make
the payment in advance of the appropriation,
the Aot could not have been carried
into execution, without convening an extra
session of the General Assembly.
At the last session of the General Assembly,
"full power and authority" was
given the Governor to make "such regulations
as in his opinion might be necessary
to prevent the entrance and spread of Asi- j
atio cholera in this State." In February !
last, I opened a correspondence with Ma- j
jor-General Sickles, with reference to the
establishment of a rigid quarantine at all
the seaports in the State, which resulted in
tbe military authorities undertaking to es- j
tablish and enforce proper qnarantine regu
lations. I am happy to say to you that the
duties, under orders from General Sickles,
have been well performed, and not a single
case of oholera or yellow fever has oconrred
within the limits of the State.
The work of re organization and reconstruction
is progressing slowly, but steadily.
Our Senators and Representatives have not
been admitted to seats in the Federal Congress,
and we have received no relaxation
from onerous taxation, notwithstanding we
have been denied representation. It is believed,
however, that our fellow-citizens in
the North and West will not muoh longer
permit this flagrant injustice to be continu.
3 mi _ r\ i
ea. xne oiaie uovemmens iu euuictjr xcorganized?the
law Courts held their regular
sessions in the spring, and despatched
much business, which has been accumulating
for years, and very generally cleared the
oriminal dookets. The Courts of Chanoery
have also been regularly beld on all tbo
circuits. The machinery of justice is in
full operation, and private rights and
publio wrongs can be enforced and punished.
However much all may deplore that the
progress of the State has been retarded,
and its prosperity paralyzed by loss of fortune
and credit, and by short orops, the
wiso and manly course for our people is to
redouble their energy?banish unavailing
regrets?meet adversity with a stout heart
and brave hands, and through the approving
smiles of a gracious Heaven, our venerable
mother will again be prosperous, and her
children oontented and happy.
JAMES L. ORR.
Ik ftjjjuiwf.
YORK VILLE. S. C.
THURSDAY MOENING, SEPT. IS, I860.
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THE GOVERNOR'S MESSAGE.
We give place in o?r oolumns of this
issue, to the recent message of Governor
Orr to the Legislature. Oar readers will
probably agree with us in the opinion that
it iB an able document, admirably suited in
many respects to tbe circumstances of our
condition. Tbe recommendations relative
to a revision of tbe "Code" and the immediate
establishment of tbe Distriot Courts
provided for therein, are politic, and will
? ^ ' ' ' t- ? -
o aouDi meet tne approDauon or ine people.
The establishment of a Penitentiary
has long been looked upon by a large class
of persons as a measure of necessity in this
State. Wo hope the reootomendation will
meet the approval of the Legislature.
The question of absorbing interest?the
relief necessary to be extended to debtors
in this trying emergency?is treated of
fairly in the Message, but in some respeots
we thiok upon mistaken views. Wnile
ready to advocate any just measure that can
constitutionally afford the desired relief,
we can discern neither justice or propriety
in making the creditor pay all costs in
suits for the collection of debts. Were
this the case, debts would in very few instances
ever be collected without a resort to
the Courts. The debtor would delay the
payment until the last moment, knowing
that it cost him nothing to be sued, but
entail a heavy Baorifioe upon his oreditor.
The measure appears to us to bo wanting
in fairnoca fr> fHn twn clnSHfiS which it wi 11
affect, and wrong in principle.
The suggestions in favor of a bankrupt
law, are liable also to constitutional objections,
but as a measure of temporary relief,
we heartily endorse the wisdom of the
plan, and crust if adopted, that no constitutional
objection will be raised against it.
A liberal and wholesome bankrupt law,
ought to give satisfaction to both debtor
and creditor. Both have rights to be respected,
and the Legislature in a generous
anxiety to protect the one, should not over
step the rights of the other. We believe
this to be the only satisfactory solution of
the dilemma, within the reach of Legislative
action.
PRESIDENT JOHNSON.
Whatever may have been the errors of
the man in the past, the sublime attitude of
President Johnson at the present time,
challenges the admiration and respect of
his countrymen. To combat single-handed
the hosts of opponents striving to overthrow
the Constitution and laws, is a task which
modern politios has not heretofore undertaken.
The President has boldly thrown
himself before this torreot of fanaticism, and
with a moral grandeur seldom surpassed,
holds his position with a purpose that no
odds oan move, or no intimidation loosen.
Let the principles he avows triumph or suocumb
to the pressure against them, he will
ever live in the hearts of the American people
as the sternest champion of right that
these evil days have afforded.
That this coaatry will yet acknowledge
the justice of these principles is no uncertain
conclusion. They may not triumph in
a year, or for years to come, perhaps never;
but when the clouded passions of men have
given place to sober reason, the verdict of
humanity will place them again in the foreground
of all that is just in law and principle.
We have been led to these reflections by
the incidents attending the President's
tour to the West. Scoff and insults have
been offered to the Head of the nation by
the Republicans of Cleveland and Chicago,
that if bestowed upon the plunderers in the
Freedman's Bureau, by Southern men, vould
be odious treason. The inconsistencies of
this Jacobin party are as wonderful as the
phases of Aladdin's lamp. Treason to-day
is patriotism to-morrow. A member of a
Secession Convention who helped to carry
a State out of the Union, was a traitor until
he advocated negro suffrage, and then becomes
a patriot, so exalted, that all who do
not follow his intriguing footsteps are traitors.
President Johnson will some day triumph,
if not now. His position is the Constitution
under which we live, and his principles
the direot preoepts of that instrument.
We believe that the coming generation
if not the present one, will recognize
the faot.
MERE-MENTION.
A difiioult matter is described to be "to
ascend a ladder leaning against nothing,
and draw it from the ground while at the
top." Many Virginia farmers aro
boiling watermelon juice into molasses.
Gen. Nathaniel G. Evans, is doing
business in Charleston as a Commission
Merchant. Two hundred Johnson
men have been appointed in the New York
Custom House. A mass meeting of
the Union soldiers and sailors was held in
New York on Monday evening, and adopted
resolutions in favor of the platform of the
Philadelphia Union National Convention,
and the policy of President Johnson.
A letter from General Kiddoo, Assistant
Commissionr for Texas, states that Texas
will yield a larger cottOD crop than any previous
year, not excepting the immense yield
of 1860. By the new electoral law of
Prussia, every Prussian who has completed
his twenty-fifth year is an elector.
The Radicals have carried the entire ticket
in Vermont. The Southern Presbyterian
Church oontains ten Synods, forty-six
Presbyteries and nearly ninety thousand
communicants. The dinner given at
Delmonico's, in New York, in honor of the
President, is said to have cost twenty-five
thousand dollars. "Beast" Butler
has been nominated for Congress, from the
Fifteenth District of Massachusetts, and has
accepted. A synopsis of President
Johnson's speech at Delmonico's, in New
York, of 478 words, was teleeraDhed to
""*"J ' / " O r
Renter's European Press Association, bj
the Atlantio cable, at an expense of ?5,019
in gold.
Major-Geceral Miles has been relieved
from the command of the District ot Fortress
Monroe, and as custodian of Jefferson Davis,
and ordered to report in person, with all of
his confidential records, to the AdjutantGeneral
of the United States Array. Brigadier-General
S. II. Burton, of the 5th Artillery,
succeeds General Miles. The
N. Y. Herald says that the enthusiasm
which the tour of the President and his
party through the State has created among
all classes leaves no doubt as to the result
of the political canvass in that State. The
Radicals have shown by their loss of temper
that their case is hopeless. At all points
the reaction bas commenced against them
and is making rapid progress. The
total number of deaths in New York, city
and county, from cholera, from its first appearance
on the 1st of May, is 829.
Thfl Metronlitan Record savs that efforts
are makiDgtoget up a ticket of Seward and
Orr for the next Presidential contest.
It may bo mentioned as an extraordinary
fact that nobody has since the President
left Washington conversed with the Presi
dent on the subject of office, or asked him
for a place. A little boy being asked,
"What is the chief end of man 7" replied :
"The end what's got the head on." The
Houston Telegraph has good authority for
stating that Gen. Magruder will return to the
United States shortly, and become a good
and loyal citizen therof. Girls in Egypt
are often mothers at thirteen and grandmothers
at twenty-six, and in Persia they are
6aid to be mothers at eleven, and grandmothers
at twenty-two. The Marion
Crescent learns that the Bishop has ohanged
the time of holding the South Carolina
Conference, at that place, from November 7
to December 19 The Atlantio Cable
is making $10,000 per day. Daniel
W. Hanley, of Bridgeport, Conn., insured
his life for 82000, on Saturday last, and the ;
next day died of Cholera.
The Charlotte Democrat, of Monday last,
hears cheering reports about the crops in
Lincoln and Gaston. A few localities in
those counties have suffered a little from
drouth, but generally the prospect is fair.
Tbe late rains in this seotion have done
much good. Governor Orr, has issu
ed a proclamation declaring the Charter of'
tbe "Cotton Planters' Loan Association for!
the 5th Congressional Distriot," forfeited.
It is said that Bonner offered to eo-!
dow a professorship in Gen. Lee's College, }
provided the General would write him an j
article a week for the Ledger. They !
had frost on tbe 24th of August, in Missouri,
which bit the corn. In Georgia
a black woman has sued a black man for i
breach of promise, the first breaoh suit of >
that of oolor ever known in that State. ;
Tho Darlington Southerner says that there
is a movement on hand, among the freedmen
of that place, to get ap a petition to
the President, for the withdrawal of the
military, the abolition of Provost Courts,
and putting a stop to the interference of the
Bnreau with the affaiis of the blaoks.
A great many people are living in tents in
Atlanta, Ga., bat they are building an opera
honse there.
LOCAL MATTERS.
NEW ADVEETISEMENTS.
Homesley & Asher?New Goods.
J. S. Henderson Ac N. F. Walker?South Carolina limitation
for the Deaf and Dumb and the Blind.
Wm. 8ohms?Palmetto Mills.
^ ?Yarn and 4-4 Shirt in*.
mcvcnrcj ? juiics?Aiiuiiuiiiuuu.
J. A. Brown, O. Y. D.?Citation?J. F. Lindaey, Appli
cant-James G. Lindaey, deceased.
Enquirer Office?Wrapping Paper for sale.
J. it E. B. Stowe?Shoe Lasts, Pegs, Ac.
? ? ? ?Tlmo! Time!!
" " " ?Crockery for sale.
" " " ?Bine Stone for sale.
James Mason, 8. Y. D.?Sheriffs Sale?Mules and Horses,
as the property of r. Whltcsldes, at the suit of M. r.
Nichols for another, and others.
J. A. McLean?Work on Streets.
Thanks.
We are under obligation to Col. J. W.
Rawlinson, for Legislative Documents.
New Cotton.
A bale of new CottOD was received in
this plaoe on Thursday last. It was produced
on the plantation- of Dr. J. M
Lowry, classed as Zow Middling, and purchased
by Mr. ^ F. Rawlinson at 20
cents in specie.
Sad Casualty.
Oar community was pained to learn od
Saturday last, of a fatal casualty that befel
one of its citizens in Charleston. Major
James G-. Lindsey?a merchant long
identified with this place, and highly esteemed
by all who knew bim, had a few
days previously gone to Charleston on business.
Late on Thursday night?the evening
being very warm?he seated himself in
the window of bis room at the Mills House,
and probably fell asleep in this position. A
short time after two o'clock he was found
upon the pavement almost lifeless, having
fallen from the third story of the buildiDg.
He survived, in a state of insensibility, until
seven o'clock, Friday mtrning.
Maj. Lindsey was a man without family,
but leaves a large oirole of frieuds in
bereavement at his untimely death.
Contnktflrial
BY JAS. WOOD DAVIDSON.
The famine.
The general alarm aboat a famine in the
land, eeetns to have subsided into a more
considerate conolnsion that there will be a
great scarcity of corn. Sooth Carolina
conld subsist?could avoid starvation of
any of her people?on what she will raise
herself. Starvation is a measure of famine,
we take it. All the border districts upon
the north, as far as we have seen and beard
?and we are morally assured of the justness
of our conclusion?will make corn enough
to do them, with reasonable economy. We
are also advised that the border districts
npon the coast will probably do nearly the
same. This will leave a belt entirely across
the State of about a hundred and fifty miles
(allowing for ezoeption in the way of bottom
lands in that belt), in whiob there
will not be more than half enough, used as
corn usually is, to suffice.
This deficiency in the interior of the
State will require some provision to stay off
want. It is presumed that Governor Orr
- ?-* ? u
contemplates some uunuu >u iuio umvcr uy
the Legislature, in bis call for the extra
session. The Governor of Georgia, we are
advised, has purchased and brought into
his State a hundred and eighty thousand
bushels of corn Something of this kind,
men surmise, it is proposed to do for South
Carolina. The corn will be purchased by
the State wherever it is abundant, and dis
tributed at oost in some oases, and gratuitously
in others.
Suoh is the scheme talked of by those
who are busy devising meaDs for the relief
of the coming want among our people.
We have so long sinoe given up all our
part in the trade of saving the country,
that we disclaim knowing anything about
this matter. We hope the best; and
earnestly wish the best may be done; but
we do not know what is the best. And we
have an idea that numbers of our best-in
formed street-corner politicians (eaob of
whom has a good scheme for rectifying
everything) are a good deal ia oar individual
predicament.
The fact is (and while we are on the
subject we might as well aay so) we find
difficulty enough in paddling our own
canoe, without piloting the ship of State.
And we fancy that if our own oanoe oould
be well paddled and steered aright, there
would be little need of our taking concern
about either the ship of State or the stream
of time. We maybe wrong of coarse, but
that's the way we have of thinking.
Besides, since Massachusetts and South
Carolina arc being so cosy, we suppose the
country is all right without our assistance.
Fatal Accident ?Mr. James G. Lindsay,
a well known merchant of Yorkvillc,
S. C., who arrived io this city by the South
Carolina Rail Road, on Thursday, and put
up at the Mills House, fell from the third
story of that establishment, between one
and two oclock Friday moruiog, and died
of his injuries about 7 a m. It is supposed
that deceased fell asleep while sitting in
one of the windows of his room, lost his
balance, and was precipitated to the pave
ment.
Mr. Purcell, the gentlemanly proprietor
of the Mills House, has bad the body deposited
in a vault at Magnolia Cemetery,
subject to the order of his friends.
Charleston Courier, 8th.
The President on his Tour.?There
is a great deal of significance in the circumstances
of President Johnson's journey,
and particularly as seen in his reception in
New York. Himself and oortege represent
the Executive and Military of the
country. Secretary 8eward h^is lost do
opportunity of calling the attention of the
people to this fact Said he, at Trenton :
You see before you Genera) Grant.
[Cheers.] Re represent* the. arm# ha.
has done his dnty. [Cheers.] Yoa see
before you Admiral Farragut; he represents
the navy [Cheers ] He has done bis s
duty. [Cheers.] You see before jon the fl
President of the United States. [Treraend- '
ou8 cheering] He has done his duty d
[Renewed oheers.] It only remains for
the people to do their dnty, and the work
of restoring the paternal Union of these
States so auspiciously begun, will be trr
umpbantly compieteu ivrrea*
LEGISLATIVE PROCEEDINGS.
Pursuant to the Proclamation of Governor
Orb, the Legislature oi South Carolina
assembled at Columbia, in extra session, on
Tuesday, 4th instant. The 8enate met in
the College Library, and the House in the
College Chapel After organisation and
the transaction of some formal business,
both Houses adjourned until next day,
Wednesday, Sept. 6.
The Senate assembled at 12 o'oiook, M.
Message No. 1, of the Governor was read
by his Private Secretary. After the reading,
the different portions of the Message
were referred to appropriate Committees.
Mr. Thomson introduced a bill to amend
the Act relative to the emancipation of
slaves Also, a bill to amend the eriminal
law.
Mr Buist presented the petition of the
Ladies' Memorial Association of Charleston,
praying an appropriation of marble and
graoite for the erection of headstones and
monuments for the Confederate dead.
Mr. Tilman offered a resolution, which
was agreed to, that the General AawewMfl
at its present session, will restrict its aotion
to the particular matters recommended in
the Governor's message. Also, offered a
preamble and resolntions, asking Congress
to impair the obligations of contracts for
the sale of slaves; which wasprdeced lo be
printed and referred to the Committee on
Federal Relations- V . i> T*
Mr. Dossier presented the petition of the
Commissioners of the Poor of Georgetown
District, asking relief for the poor a#4 destitute
of that Distriot.
In the House, Mr. Campbell presented
the memorial of the Bank of Charleston^
Bank of the State, Peoples' Bank, State
Bank, acd Planters' and Meobaoioa' Bank,
praying to be relieved from certain penalties
and for other purposes. ?'v;'
Mr. Wegener gave notice of a bill relative
to relieving the pecuniary distress of
the State, and to aid in rebuilding the oities
of Charleston and Columbia. ,
Mr. Easley gave notice of a bill to define
the term "persons of oolor," and to declare
the rights of suoh persons; to make parties
plantiffs and defendants in all eases competent
to give testimony as witnesses; to suspend
the levy of executions for taxes in certain
oases; and to alteT the law relative to
insolvent debtors.
Mr. McKewn gave notice of & bill relative
to making Berkeley a Judicial Distriot.
'.*ii Upfii
After four ballots, Mr. I. W. Hayne was
elected Reading Clerk, in place of H. L.
Farley, resigned. - Mr.
A. P. Nicholson was elected Messenger,
in place of J. L. Boatwrig it, resigned.
i - ^ tGfJCCjnjj
Thursday, Sept. Q. h
In the 8enate, Mr. Townes introduced
a bill to alter and fix the times for holding
the Courts of General Sessions anffCotamon
Pleas in this State. ! ?1" "3
Mr. Win8mith introduced a bill to secure
civil rights to persons of Twlor.
Mr. Buist presented the memorial of the
several baoks of this State, praying legislation
and relief from the imposition of penalties
prescribed bylaw.
The Committee on the Judiciary, to whom
were referred a Bill entitled "A Billio amend
an Act preliminary to the legislation
induced by the emancipation of slaves,"
and a Bill to alter the Act entitled'An
a . . - . s' i ~ ri_: r t T ? >1 l. t.'UiX
?LCl 10 amend me uninmai uaw, bbb wbto
to report that they have considered the Bills
referred to them, and recommend that the
Bills referred be laid upon the table, and
that a Bill entitled "A Bill to define the
* *1 - 1
term "persons of color," and to deolare
the rights of snch persons, reported by the
Committee, be adopted as a substitute for
the same.
The report was agreed to, and the Bills
were ordered to lie on the table; and the
Bill reported by the Committee reoeivedtbe
first reading, and was ordered for the second
reading to-morrow, and to be printed.
In the House, Mr. W. A. Moore presented
the memorial of sundry oitizens of
Lancaster District, praying the aid of the
State to insure against the want of bread ;
which was referred to the Speoial Committee
on that subject.
Mr. Magrath introduced a resolution,
which was agreed to, as to the propriety and
expediency of legislation in reference to
settling a depreciation table similar to that
established by Ordinance of March 1(5,
I783" I
Mr. De Pass introduced a resolution?
which was referred to a Speoial Committee,
consisting of Chairmen of the Standing
Committees of the House?that the General
Assembly during its present speoial session,
confine itself to such matters as are
recommended in the message of His Excellency
the Governor of this State, and all
matters pertaining thereto.
Mr. Graham introduced a resolution,
which was agreed to, that the Committee
of Ways and Means enquire as to the deficiency
in the appropriations made at the
last session of this Legislature, to pay the
contingent aocounts allowed, and that they
report a out matting apjjiupuonvuo <.<j supply
saoh deficiency.
Mr. Bachman introduced a resolution,
which was agreed to, that it be referred to
the Committee on Ways and Means to provide
for the redemption of the bills receivable.
_
Friday, Sept. 7.
In the Senate, Mr. Reed presented a '
memorial of citizens of Lancaster, io reference
to the general indebtedness and