The Anderson intelligencer. (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, March 19, 1874, Image 1

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? %i ?u&t$m&mt |*wilg ?^$|ra)w*?fmitafl to falitfe, PfoMtfttw, ?^tfatt?w sail ?lamJ fafaUigrm HOYT & 00., Proprietors ANDERSON 0. H., S. 0? THURSDAY MORNING, MARCH 19, 1874. VOLUME IX.?NO. 36. titen. Gary's Speech on the Tax-Payers' Con . Tentten* We make the annexed extract from the speech of Gen. M. W. Gary, of Edgefield, upon the report of the Committee on Immi? gration, in which be discusses the various modes of relief suggested for the amelioration of our political condition. His remarks on the subject of immigration will prove interest? ing to our readers: The third, and only feasible one, is the ques? tion of introducing white Immigration into this State. The facts set forth in the report, Show that there is a growing spirit on the part of the citizens of this State to offer the greatest inducements to the immigrant We have now thirty-three Counties, ten of which have white majorities; and there are twelve others that will soon have white majorities by the intro? duction of white immigrants. And in this way we will get control of the County and then of the State Government. I believe that South Carolina is the best State in the Union. I do not say so from any provincial pride, bot I have come to this conclusion after visiting most of the States. We have the best soil and the finest climate; our people are the descendants of the Huguenots and Cavaliers, and have no equal, save in the State of Virginia; and our market crops are the most remunerative that are known in the commercial world. I have never despaired of the ultimate redemption of our State. It is unmanly to despair. A coun? try that has been so blessed by nature can never continue under the control of the corrupt and profligate. The material development of this State, even under her present baa govern? ment, is equal to any other State. When the late panic came, the verdict of the business men of South Carolina was the best in the United States. I believe the emancipation of our slaves was a blessing-in disguise. I expressed this opin? ion in 1868 in a speech at Edgefield Court House. I then contended that slavery was a constitutional curse to the entire South. At the commencement of the war the South owned four million slaves, and at an average value of five hundred dollars each, they were worth two billions of dollars. This then was the amount that we had invested in perishable property. A generation only lives about thirty years; so you see that the people of the South, at the expiration of about every thirty years, boxed up their national wealth,* to the amount of two billions of dollars, in a pine coffin, painted it black, and buried it six feet beneath the sod. Such was the short-sighted system of the South, which was in violation of every maxim of Political Economy that looks to national wealth and prosperity. The people of the free States invested their capital in real estate, railroads, shipping, banks, manufactories, and in fact everything that was not perishable property. Hence it was, before the war, that the inhospi? table climate and sterile soil of Massachusetts had made its citizens richer than the genial climate and prolific soil of South Carolina. You already see the effects of the liberation of capital that arises from the sale of your crops, which was formerly invested in negroes; you now invest it in improvements upon your real estate, reducing the number of acres cultivated and increasing the yield of your crops, by the use of the best fertilizers, and labor-saving im? plements, and in the adornment and beautify? ing of your recently desolated homes. Each immigrant that you Introduce, as com? puted by political economists, will be worth one thousand dollars to the State; so if you are actuated by no other motive than adding to the productive wealth of the State, you must aid in their introduction. The chronic discontent and constant whin? ing which characterizes a great many of our citizens, will never bring back your lost for? tunes or relieve the State from its present bad government. "To mourn a mischief that Is past ana gone Is the next way to draw new mischief on." Let each citizen set himself seriously sad patiently to work to overcome our difficulties, and my word for it, we will be bound to succeed. Quit harping on the past, and only look to the glorious future. The completion of the various Railroads throughout the State, and the projection of others, is an evidence that the true spirit of enterprise and progress has not been extin? guished. The Air Line Railroad and the Col? umbia and Augusta Railroad perfect the direct communication between New York and New Orleans. The projected Road which is to put Charleston and Port Royal in direct communi? cation with' Chicago, and other great cities of the North .West, will add greatly to onr mate? rial development. The completion of the Railroad from Augusta to Port Royal gives us the benefit of the best harbor on the Atlantic, deep enough to float the largest ships that traverse the ocean. And the recent establish? ment of a line of Steamers from Port Royal to Europe foreshadows the prosperity of this new city. When these various Roads are com? pleted, our State will be geographically superi? or to any in the Union, for we will have two of the largest railroad routes intersecting each other in this State, and the probability is that they will be completed in a few years. I do not advocate the introduction of white immigrants from any unkind feeling towards the negro. I remember with a proper sense of gratitude, the many faithful acts they perform? ed during the war, and it is true they have been misled by the adventurers from the North and our native scalawags. I am willing for them to remain here, but not as the dominant or controlling race. This country was discov? ered by the white race, it has been settled by the" white race, and there are in the United States thirty millions of whites to four millions of negroes. The white man's natural sympa? thies go with his race. It is the instinct of race that God has placed in the breast of every Caucasian. In order to effect the change we desire, we must have but one idea, tlie intro? duction of good white immigrants, such as will make honest and law abiding citizens, such as will not seek to plunder us under the forms of law. The Romans had emblazoned on their flags "Carthage must be destroyedit was the Srand idea of the army and the people. The ream of Alexander the Great was to conquer the world, and he accomplished it; of Napo? leon to dismember and conquar all Europe. Napoleon the Third's leading idea was to become the Emperor of the French, and he succeeded. BiBmark's life has been devoted to the Unifi? cation of Germany; it is now an accomplished fact. Yon, gentlemen, must address your energies to overcome the present negro majority. You must do so, or prove yourselves unworthy mem? bers of the Caucasian race, unworthy of the past record of South Carolina. ? The ladies' question?what is the next spring fashion ? ? It is almost worthy of Artemus Ward, that heroic declaration of Brigham Young's that "if necessary to the building up of the kingdom, I could bury all my wives without a eigh or a tear." Interesting and Suggestive Ideas of the Sit j nation, j We publish the following editorial from the Springfield Republican as very significant of the signs of the times: It is now some two or three years since the ablest of Southern newspapers first broached a rather startling idea?viz., thatGeneral Grant's second term, if he got it, would be very likely to witness the birth and growth of a new ad? ministration party at the South?a party of white men who had owned niggers and worn the grey?a party of a sort never before seen in our politics. The elements of such a party were all there it said. Of the military men who took part in the rebellion, many bad lost their prooerty, many had lost their old belief in republican institutions, many had lost both. There was a wide-spread feeling that the battle of the Constitution, of State rights, of the old American ideas, had been fought and lost; that centralization was an accomplished fact, and the downfall of the republic only a ques? tion of f me. There was a wide-spread dispo? sition to accept the situation in the fullest sense of the words, and to sacrifice everything else to the achievement, if possible, of a material prosperity. General Grant was net personally unpopular with the Southern soldiers. He bad not been identified with abolitionism like Mr. Greeley; his ante bellum politics, so far as he had any, were known to have been of the or? thodox Southern and pro-slavery type. He had shown magnanimity at Appomattox, and, later, when the civilians at Washington were for bringing the Southern Generals to account. If re-electea, he would be in a position to be of great help or hindrance to the South in its struggle to recover itself Given almost uni? versal poverty, despondency, recklessness, what more natural than that a large percentage of the ex-rebels should see in a fresh surrender to Grant the best thing left to them, if not the one chance for mending the evils of the pres? ent, and even, in time, retrieving material los? ses of the past ? There are some grounds for suspecting that the Louisville Oourier-Joumal knew what it was talking about. Predictions that had a rather wild and improbable look in 1872 read Suite differently by the light of 1874. We on't say that they are fully accomplished, or in visible process of accomplishment But we do say that a number of things have happened, and are happening, which are in the direct line of :i>e Courier-Journals vindication. It is a fact, we believe, that of the military leaders of the South, the greater number either voted for General Grant at the last Presidential election or did not vote at all. Also that, since the election, quite a number of them have taken occasion to publicly vindicate a friendly feeling toward him. Also, that influential Southern journals, heretofore Democratic in politics, have altered their tone in speaking of him personally or of his administration. It will be remembered, further, that the Conservative or'"white man's" party of Vir? ginia, at its last State Convention, went a little out of its way to disclaim hostility to this ad? ministration. Mr. Mosby, quondam guerrilla, but now an intimate friend and confidential adviser of the President, has informed the country that this disclaimer was his idea, and that the Virginia Conservatives are now all "Grant men," or in a fair way to become so. Some of our readers know?others may like? ly have overlooked or forgotten the item?that Mr. Kemper, ex-General C. S. A., now Govern? or of Virginia, lately paid the President a visit. Since his return to "Richmond, he has had a good deal to say about this visit. He tells everybody that the President is all right, has sound ideas, and is a friend to the?white and Couservative?South. We quote a couple of sentences from the Bichmond Dispatch: "Gov. Kemper, it is said, told Gen. Grant that he thought the current of public opinion in the country generally seemed opposed to extreme Republican measures. The President concurred with Gen. Kemper's views, and said that he did not mean in the future to lend his influence to any but liberal measures to the Southern country, and especially to Virginia." In his latest message, the President said a good word?several of them, in fact?for cer? tain pet Southern projects looking toward a grand carnival of ditch-digging ana mountain tunneling, at the expense of the national treas? ury. If he had been desirous to cultivate popularity in that section, this was a very ob? vious stroke of policy. It is generally understood and believed that he regrets his share in the Louisiana blunder, and that he was recently on the point of asking Congress to order a new election there. He succumbed, for the time being, to the adverse pressure brought to bear by Senator Morton and other gentlemen who had committed them? selves too far to admit of a graceful retreat. But, according to late special dispatches of the New York Herald, he has since told Southern Congressmen in conversation that he thinks the carpet-bag element in their section has done the party more harm than good, and that he means to be shy of it in future in making his appointments. We are not disposed to attach to these straws an exaggerated importance ; still less, to turn alarmists. We are not at all in that line. But we find them rather interesting and suggestive. Information to Newspaper Subscribers. ?There a great many people who do not un? derstand their obligations to newspapers.? Numbers of them think they can take a paper as long as they desire on a credit and have it discontinued at will and without settling for it. In this they are greatly mistakeu. We give the law upon the subject as follows: Subscribers who do not give express notice to the contrary, are considered wishing to con? tinue their subscription. If subscribers order the discontinuance of their periodicals the publishers may continue to send them until all arrearages are paid. If subscribers neglect or refuse to take their periodicals from the office to which they are directed they are held responsible until they have settled their bills, and ordered them dis? continued. If subscribers move to other places without in? forming publishers, and the papers are sent to the former direction, thev are held responsible. The Courts have decided that "refusing to take periodicals from the office, or removing and leaving them uncalled for is prima facie evidence of intentional fraud." Any person who receives a newspaper and makes use of it, whether he has ordered it or not, is held in law to be a subscriber. ? If subscribers pay in advance, they are bound to give notice to the publisher, at the end of their time, if they do not wish to continue I taking it; otherwise the publisher is authorized to send it on, and the subscribers will be re? sponsible until an express notice, with pay? ment of all arrears, is sent to the publisher. Subscribers should also remember that in ordering the direction of their paper changed ' from one post office to another, they should be very particular to state the name of the post office the paper is sent to as well as the one j they desire it changed to. ' Fernando Wood Arraigns the Republican Party. Hon. Fernando Wood, of New York, recent? ly delivered an able and exhaustive speech in Congress, in which he arraigned the Republi? can party for its corruption, mismanagement and extravagance. He concluded with an array of specifications against the government, which is contained in the following extract: I have thus briefly presented some of the errors for which the Republican party are re? sponsible. Were I to give them all a day's time would be consumed in the enumeration. To that party and the Congress and adminis? tration it nas created may be charged all the public evils of the times as well as the general Erivate destitution and paralysis of trade. It as diffused throughout the nation erroneous and pernicious ideas of the nature of our gov? ernment and taught the rising generation that extravagance and not economy is the road to wealth and happiness. It has depreciated public morals, and taught that by a pretext of philanthropy, Christianity and temperance, the greatest public crimes could be committed and receive condonement in consequence. By its policy our great national resources have not been developed on a sound principle of pro? duction. Extravagance, profligacy, demoralization and general instability prevade the whole body politic. Everything is artificial and uncertain. Nothing is stable in property. We have neith? er permanency nor safety. The earnings of a life of probity and purity offer no security as against the avarice of the officials it has placed in office. To satisfy its thirst for gain and to continue its partisan dominancy all men and all things must fall, if necessary, the great leading objects being power and plunder.? These two words comprise the motto on its banner under which it fights, and by which it expects to maintain power. In conclusion I present a series of allega? tions implicating this party. I defy contradic? tion as to the accuracy and truth of every one of them : First?Throngh the government of its crea? tion it has maintained a large standing army at great expense during a time of peace. Second?It has issued and continued a de? preciated, irredeemable paper currency called legal tenders, without taking one step toward redemption. Third?It has usurped by force the State authority in several States, producing anarchy and despotism and repudiation of their mon? eyed obligations. Fourth?It has increased the civil list from 44,500 persons in 1860 to 86,660 persons in 1878. Fifth?It has instituted a system of espion? age and oppression in the execution of the revenue laws which has resulted in enriching Custom House and other officials without aid? ing the public treasury. Sixth?It has created and"maintained direct taxation which, until its advent to power, has been unknown in this country since the close of the American Revolution. Seventh?It has stealthily absorbed the whole government power of the country at the federal capital, until all State interests are made sub? servient and dependent upon its will. Eighth?It has driven from circulation gold and silver, the only constitutional medium, and notwithstanding its large receipts in coin from customs, duties and mines does nothing toward its restoration. Ninth?In disregard of the policy adopted by other leading nations, it has permitted the export to foreign countries of about Si ,000,000, 000 of the precious metals, instead of retaining it here for its necessities and the restoration of a sound currency. Tenth?-It has increased the salaries of all officials, including that of the President, which it still maintains, though industries are op? pressed and poverty goes starving through our streets. Eleventh?It has maintained a protective tariff in the interest of a class, to the detri? ment of the whole people. Twelfth?It has, since 1869, anticipated the public debt not due for tweuty years, and paid $40,000,000 for the privilege of doing so, al? though the immediate obligations of the gov? ernment were dishonored and the Treasury is now exhausted. Thirteenth?It has inaugurated a fatal policy in its treatment of the Indians?part peace and part war?by dealing out moral suasion to the most war-like and certain death to the most peaceful, thus adding to the difficulties and expenses of a proper settlement of this serious question. Fourteenth?To divert public attention from the extent of the profligacy and extravagance of its horde of officials it pretends the estab? lishment of a rule of civil service reform, which it applies altogether to a few clerks in Washington, where there are no votes to be had, but ignores elsewhere where party service as a reward for office is required. Fifteenth?It has diffused erroneous ideas of the nature of our government to the youthful and uninformed, and taught by example a general looseness of public and private morali? ty which tends to subvert the permanency of our institutions and loosens the foundation stones of social order and public well being. Col. Richard Lathers.?The Augusta Constitutionalist says: "The people of South Caroliua, and more particularly the people of Charleston, are under great obligations to Col. Richard Lathers. He has inadu, by long odds, the most powerful, practical, and, we may add, eloquent appeals for the salvation of the civil? ization oi the Palmetto State. His public career has been, since the war, one untiring effort to lift the incubus from that Common? wealth, and, we have reason to know, his en? deavors have made great and important con? quests of enlightened Northern opinion in South Carolina. In private life he is the most useful of citizens. A man of culture, wealth and refinement?surrounded, too, by a most i interesting family?his splendid hospitality to all who come to Charleston and get within his magic circle is something to be remembered. We do not wonder that the distinguished j Northern visitors now journeying through the! South were received at his elegaut mansion in a style worthy of the ancient renown of Caro? lina, and that they should have been pleasantly impressed with the noble Charleston merchants and professional men gathered together, in his own inimitable and royal way. Such a man as this is a public benefactor. Would that every | Southern city could boast of a Lathers, who knows so well how to dispense, for the common ?ood, the bountiful gifts bestowed by Provi ence and won by his superior talent and energy." ? A solid old farmer talks thus about his i boys: From sixteen to twenty, they knew more than he did; at twenty-five, they knew as much; at thirty, they were* willing to hear what he had to say; at thirty-five, they asked his advice; and he thinks when they get to be forty, that they will actually acknowledge that the old man does know something. 1 The Worst Government in the World. The South Carolina Government is the worst in the world. In knavery and corruption, it is as bad as the Tweed regime, and it suporadds a density of ignorance to which the old New York ring was a stranger. Tweed's men could read and write, but those are arts to which many of the South Carolina legislators have not attained. This ignorance is especiallv dan? gerous in a public officer clothed with power over his fellow-men, for it renders him an easy dupe of the intelligent villains; and manifests itself, first of all, in the narrowest and most persecuting spirit toward the political minority. The Tweedf gang robbed us, but in a jolly, un malicious way; they never selected a special olass for plunder and oppression. But the thieves in South Carolina have a fiendish hate of the land-owners?a hate born of ignorance and prejudice, and kept red hot by calculating scoundrels who lead the negro legislators. Whenever a negro member hesitates to pile on fresh taxes, by way of providing new stealings, ho is toid by the white Mephistophles at his ear, "Keep up the taxes, and force these land? owning aristocrats to sell their lands." This olicy of revenge and plunder conjoined has riven up the annual taxes to one half of the gross income of average plantations in South Carolina. Very many owners have been una? ble to raise the money to pay these monstrous charges, and the State has sold their lands and turned them out, with barbarous haste. In 1872, L68,523 acres were declared forfeited to the State by the non-payment of taxes ; and over this sequestration of estates and their promised division among the idle and dissolute of both colors, there is great rejoicing at Columbia. We trust that all persons at the North have read, or will not fail to read, the strong and sensible remonstrances adoptod by the Tax Payers' Convention now assembled at the South Carolina capital. That body is composed of Republicans and Democrats, white and col? ored, rich and poor, ex-Con federates and staunch original Unionists?having but one common bond between them, ana that one, honesty; and the accuracy and sincerity of their statements deliberately made and put forth cannot be impeached. They say, in brief, that a majority of the legislature, who impose the taxes, own no property whatever, and that those who pay the taxes have no voice in the government; the annual State expenses have increased from $-100,000 before the war to ?2,000, 000 at the present time, the public debt has ad? vanced in six years from ?5,000,000 to ?16,000, 000, and that, too, without improving the pub? lic works or adding a dollar to the pulttic prop? erty ; legislative committees make large sums in bribes for passing private bills ; Judges livo in fear of removal by the Legislature, and do not dare to violate their wishes; juries are packed by the three State officials, who are tools of the Governor; offices are bartered away in the Executive Department; elections are conducted by persons appointed in the inter? ests of State office-holders, and the returns are under their absolute control, and, therefore, it might be added, are doctored to suit necessi? ties. This is a bare outline of the terrible in? dictment presented by the Tax-Payers' Con? vention to the earnest consideration of Con? gress and of the whole people. Proofs, in facts and figures, accompany it. There is no gain? saying its truth. Honest men, here and there, who have been elected to office, under the false impression that their sympathies were with the thieving majority, denounce the State Govern? ment in the strongest terms. Congressman Elliot, (colored,) in a speech at Columbia, the other day, did not mince words, ilo boldly attacked the infamous abuses of all legislative trusts, and called upon his friends (particularly the colored ones) to abandon their plunder? ing, persecuting, agrarian schemes. He made thase forcible remarks: "If the wealthy man sutlers, the laborer sutlers tenfold ; if Iiis taxes bring burdens, ho makes them up from his laborers." This shoufd be the key-note of re? form in South Carolina. The politico-econom? ical truths should be made clear?and we see that the tax-payers have not omitted them from their able memorial?that the cost of liv? ing is r aised by the addition of the taxes to the price of commodities, and that the poor are made poorer every day and more nopeless of rising above the condition of mere laborers. The rogues in the Legislature, while ostensibly conducting their war against land-owners and those who are supposed to have money that can be squeezed out of them in taxes, are still more than enemies of the poor. The humblest blacks and whites stiller from the wolves of Columbia, and should gladly join forces with the tax-payers to exterminate them politically. It does seem to us, that if these truths?show? ing the identity of suffering of tho rich and poor, in consequence of legislative tyranny and robbery?could be made known by good public speakers, white and colored, through tho length and breadth of South Carolina, the State could be redeemed at last from the most hideous of rings. It is most true, as the me? morialists say, that Congress virtually estab? lished tho government under which Carolina groans, and, therefore, that Congress ought to relieve her somehow. But wo think the job of purgation would be clearer and more satisfac? tory and stay longer done, if it could be wrought out by the tempestuous and irresistible upris? ing of South Carolinians themselves.?New York Journal of Commerce. Disgraceful Scenes.?The General As? sembly of South Carolina is on the eve of clos? ing its arduous duties. (?) Its protracted sessions (extra and regular) have been eventful in measures as varied as the contents of Pan? dora's box ; many being of questionable char? acter, as many more of useless expense, and but few fruitful with good to the State. There have been scenes, too, that presented the hu? morous and ridiculous character of the Solons ; but "the last scene of all, which closes this strange, eventful history," was the shameful and indecorous proceedings at the session last evening. A bill to amend the Act relative to the pay of members was being discussed, when a col? ored member from Orangcburg?Abram Dan J nsrlv?who was, apparently, very much under the influence of liquor, obtained the floor, and used such improper language as to force the Speaker repeatedly to call him to order. This excited Dannerly's ire, and increased his foul and harsh language; when the Speaker was compelled to order the Sergeant-at-Arms to re? move the offending member. That officer be? ing absent, Assistant Simons attempted to per? form that duty, but was resisted?Dannerly even drawing a weapon. Here arose a scene of confusion. Henry Riley, another colored member, from Orangeburg, went to the assis? tance of Dannerly, and a row at once ensued. Members crowded around, desks and chairs were upset, oaths and loud foul-mouthed ex? pressions were to be heard, and finally a mus? cular member pushed forward, seized one of the offending members, and bore him by main force out of the hall. Quiet was then restored. Resolutions of censure and expulsion were then introduced, the offenders were brought before the bar of the House, and finally expelled? Kiley by a vote of 66 to 41, and Dannerly 71 to 18. Mr. Crittenden, one of the Conserva? tive members, attempted to excuse Dannerly I on the score of intoxication?stating that he was usually a verv quiet and peaceable man, but that the whiskey demon had possession of him. The House, however, felt that the indig? nity was too great, and acted as above recorded. ?Phoenix, \Uh inst. _The game law of Missouri forbids the de- j stroying of birds' nests, but has no proteotion for the birds. Such wisdom is worthy of Con-1 gress. I ? A Cincinnati editor suggests that as Chang and Eng's other name was Bunker, they | ought to be buried on Buuker Hill. There's a monument already there. i What an Office-Holder Thinks of South Car? olina. The subjoined extracts are taken from a let? ter lately written by Dr. J. F. Ensor, Superin? tendent of the State Lunatic Asylum, to the New York Tribune. The Doctor's advice is sound and seasonable: The colored people are beginning to have more confidence in their former masters; and the prejudices that once existed against persons who happened to be born outside of the geo raphical boundaries of South Carolina are fast ying out. Some of the best friends that Northern men have are to be found among the "old citizens." The New York Tribune, a pa? per whose presence in any family in the South a few years ago would have been considered a death-knell, now numbers among its warmest friends and strongest advocates hundreds of men who have always been heretofore the most bitter enemies both of itself and the doctrines it has taught. I believe that the Southern people are not only willing but anxious that Northern men, regardless of politics or creed, should settle among them, and by their perse? verance, their enterprise, and their capital, strive to devekp the wealth and promote the material interests of their much-loved coun? try. I would advise you, as I would every one who is looking for a new field for operations, to come South. We have all the advantages of a new country, with the addition of many others which constitute the civilization, refine? ment and culture of the most populous, wealthy communities in the world. And in this latter respect I do not believe that there is any part of the South that has any advantage over South Carolina. In a letter like this I caunot, of course, enter into details, but must speak in general terms. There are here a thousand and one ways in which an enterprising man may apply his industry and direct his energies, and with as gratifying results as in any other part of the globe. Besides, we have as sweet a climate as the sun ever brightened. ' All that the South needs is an honest, enterprising, in? dustrious and intelligent population to make it the richest and fairest spot on earth. And, now that slavery no longer spreads her dark pall over the land, there is no reason why she should not rapidly approach that high state of wealth, power and happiness that nature's God basso richly endowed her with the means of attaining to. Now, should you determine to cast your lot amongst us, let me advise you to eschew the idea thrown out in your letter of obtaining office. The public service has become so cor? rupt that it is almost impossible for a man to serve the State and maintain an unblemished character. Moreover, if strict honesty be ob? served, office-holding is the most unprofitable business a man can pos3ibly engage in. My own experience, at least, shows that to be the fact. Three years and a half ago 1 accepted office under the State Government. At that time I had considerable property, and owed no man a dollar. To-day I am $10,000 in debt, my property is under mortgage, and I do not own a dollar's worth of property of any kiud that I did not own when I came into office. The tax books will show that I really own less, and I know I have lived as economically as was consistent with the dignity of my position. It is true there are others who have been more fortunate. Perhaps they are better managers than I am. But, be that as it may, the South doesn't ne?d office-holders. It needs honesty, industry, enterprise and capital, and any man who will come here armed with any or all these qualifications will find his labors as richly re? warded here as in any other part of the coun? try, and as pleasant a home and as sincere friends. Methodist General Conference. The Louisville Commercial has this to say with reference to the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, to be held in Louisville, Ky., the first of May : It will be composed of nearly five hundred members, half of them the most distinguished ministers of the denomination, and half its most prominent lay members. The assemblage of the Conference will attract besides many hundreds of visitors interested, in its delibera? tions, and anxious to see its members. The whole South will send representatives to Louib ville, and our city is not likely again in a long time to have an opportunity to form and ce? ment so many valuable friendships as this meeting will give opportunity for. The Gen? eral Conference is notlikeiy to meet here again for a generation. Its sessions are held only once in four years. The convention which ?framed the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, at the time when the great division in the Methodist Episcopal Church took place, met here in 1344, thirty years ago. Consider? ing the rapid growth of the country, it is likely that it will be more than thirty years before it again becomes Louisville's turn to entertain another General Conference. The meeting of the General Conference will be especially interesting, because it will be the first at which accredited representatives from the Methodist Episcopal Church will be pres? ent, the last General Conference of that body, held at Brooklyn, having provided, for such representatives. It would be a gratifying coin? cidence if Louisville, which was the place where the division in this great religious body took definite and prominent form, should be the place where a movement for re-union was inaugurated. As we said abovo, the Conference will con? tinue in session for a month. During its con? tinuance a daily paper, under the editorial management of Rev. Dr. T. 0. Summers, of the Nashville Advocate, will be published for the purpose of furnishing a full official report of its proceedings. How Long to Sleep.?The fact is that as life becomes concentrated, and its pursuits more eager, short sleep and early rising become impossible. We take more sleep than our an? cestors, and we take more because we want more. Six hours sleep will do very well for a mason or bricklayer, or any other man who has no exhaustion but that produced by manual la? bor ; the sooner he takes it after his labor is over the better. But for the man whose labor is mental, the stress of work is on his brain and nervous system, and for him who is tired in the evening with a day of mental application neither "early to bed" nor "early to rise" is wholesome. He keens letting down to the level of repose. The longer the interval be i tween the active use of the brain and his re? tirement to bed, the better his chance for sleep and refreshment. To him an hour after mid? night is probably as good as two hours before it, and even then his sleep will not so completely and quickly restore him as it will his neighbor who is physically tired. He must not only go to bed later, but lie longer. His best sleep prob? ably lies in the early morning hours, when all the nervous excitement has passed away, and he is in absolute rest. ? A Philadelphia gentleman advertises a soap that is destined to wipe out the National debt. There is probably some "Jyc" about it. Narrow-Gange Bail ways. The friends of the narrow*gauge system of railways in this country have been actively though quietly at work during the past two or three years, with practical results which will surprise those who have hot closely observed the progress making in this new and important movement. There are at this time in the dif? ferent States and Territories no less than thir? ty-eight different narrow-gauge roads either completed or in the course of construction, and all of them in actual operation, having an aggregate of 989 miles of track already laid, and which, if finished according to the plans on which they have been begun, will give an aggregate of 3,751 miles of narrow-gauge road. In a late number of the American Manujactu rers' Journal we find a mass of interesting sta? tistics on this subject showing more clearly than anything which has hitherto appeared the progress of the narrow-gauge system, especially in the South and the far West. Of the thirty eight roads referred to above the longest is the Denver and Rio Grande, which has 159 miles of completed track, and is to be extended to a total length of 870 miles; the Cairo and St. Louis Road, which is to be 150 miles in length, 144 miles of track being already laid; the Utah Northern Road of 160 miles, with 70 miles completed; and the Kansas Central Road, 560 miles long, 65 miles of which have been completed. Besides the roads in the United States, there are in the British posses? sions of North America five narrow-gauge rail? ways having an aggregate of 456 miles of com? pleted road, and which when finished will make an aggregate of 811 miles. In addition to the roads partially or wholly built which are in actual operation in the United States, there are a large number of others already in con? struction. The Manufacturers' Journal gives the names of twenty-two of these which are to be from 10 to 950 miles in length, eight of them being over 200 miles long. It also gives the names of thirty other companies organized to build narrow-gauge roads. So far as reports have been made concerning the practical work? ing of the narrow-gange system its results have been highly encouraging. The Denver and Rio Grande road for the first ten months of 1873 showed net traffic earnings amounting to nearly 49 per cent, of the gross receipts. The Torronto, Grey and Bruce road in Canada for the year ending June 30, 1873, reports net traffic earnings of 34 per cent., and the Toron? to and Nipissing for the same year of 39? per cent, on the gross. Th^ Arkansas Central Road, for its short line of 64 miles completed, showed net earnings at the rate of $2,000 per mile per year. We do not know what this road cost, but the first division of the Denver and Rio Grande Road cost only $13,500 per mile, with its equipment, while the Canada roads are said to have averaged $15,000 per mile. Whatever opinion railroad men may unite on in respect to narrow-gauge tracks for the great established thoroughfares of traffic, there can be no doubt that their introduction will tions of the country where railroad: facilities are required, but where the capital is wanting to build roads on the expensive plan, in gener? al use. Speakikg Out.?At a recent serenade in Charleston, Congressman Ransier delivered himself in substance as follows: Among other things, he said that rumors of misrule and rascality in South Carolina were presenting themselves from every side; that these reports were not confined to Democratic sources, but that denunciations had been and were still being made by members of the Re? publican party. That there was truth in these rumors, he would not attempt to deny; that there was corruption in the judiciary, and that the party had elected to office men who, to use no harsher terms, were unmitigated scoundrels, every one knew too well; but the course to re? dress these wrongs was not by public denun? ciations, but rather by caucus and party con? vention. Let each man, he said, act as if by his simple vote he could wipe out the stain which rests upon the party, and the evils which so grievously afflict us. Let each man feel that upon him individually rests the work of reform; that for every dollar of the public money fraudulently used, for every school house closed?in short, for every wrong forced upon the people, the community at large would I hold him responsible. This was the way to demonstrate that reconstruction was not a failure, and that the colored man was fitted in ! every respect to assist in the government of the country. Ee warned the colored people and the Republican party at large against treating with indifference the rights of others. The best and only way to keep themselves in power, and to keep unfringed the rights and privi? leges which they now enjoyed, was by a recog? nition of the universality of these rights. Moke Reading Farmers.?One thing is certain, and that is there has never been a papers as now. Notwithstanding the hard times, they will read. They think the news? papers are as necessary for the mind, as food is for the body?that one should be stinted no more than the other. So far as the agricul? tural papers in the West are concerned, the number of readers within a twelve-month has been doubled, and newspapers generally have largely increased their patronage. It may be owing to the Grange excitement; but any excitement which causes farmers to read more, and think more, and talk more, is beneficial. The very association of farmers in the Grange awakens their minds and leads them to desire to know what is going on in the world. What folks have got to say about them, and all that sort ofthing. They want to hear both sides of the question, and patronize papers that they may find out all about the stir they are crea? ting. They feel more important, and that they may be able to defend themselves from opposition. The farmers' brain in the aggre? gate overbalance the brains of all other classes combined. Now, if they can be made as sharp and active, and effective, they are all right They seem to appreciate the importance of this, aud are posting up. They think that perhaps it will be as well to use the brains a little more and the muscle a little less?that it will pay them as well to cultivate less cotton and more brains. We are glad farmers are feeling this way, and feel certain it will redound to their material, intellectual and moral interests.? Exchange. Very Significant.?The last number of Harper's Weekly contains a caricature by Nast representing the disgraceful condition of that negro mob called the South Carolina Legisla? ture. Two black legislators are engaged in a personal altercation, while the goddess Colum? bia, in the Speaker's chair, warns the gentle? men from Dahomey and the gentlemen from Ashantee that if th?y do not behave themselves more properiy they will be relegated to hack seats. When Harper leaves off caricaturing white men, and turns Nast loose upon political negroes, it is a pretty big straw showing the way of the wind in certain quarters. be of immense value iu develop! time when the farmers