University of South Carolina Libraries
Friday Morning, March 16, 1866. Our System ot Agriculture. We wrote a brief article, on Wedues ftr, \ last, as to the mode, in our belief, by which the lands in our State might be most extensively cultivated. We find in the New York Southern Ex? change, a well-conducted poper, the following article : "We have already mentioned in these columns that the way to open tho South to immigration, was, in our opinion, to divide the large planta? tions into lots of from twenty-five to fifty acres, and to advertise them for sale on easy terms in this market. Theso lands are now offered in large tracts that require a small fortuno to purchase them; and many who are eager to go South are deterred by the large amount of capital required. "An instance has lately come to our knowledge that illustrates the fact. " A gentleman, in one of the South? ern States, resided on a plantation of some 3,000 acres. He had built an elegant mansion, substantial and con? venient barns, out-houses, gin-mill, and over one hundred comfortable huts for negroes, fine fences, etc. etc. The lands alone, when but little im {irovement had been made upon them, lad cost him some $70,000. At the end of the war, but twenty of Ms field hands were left, with a few house servants-some had followed the army, some had gone North, and others were killed. Those who were left were willing to work on his own terms, but, embarrassed financially on all sides, he concluded to sell. He offered this whole property for $30, 000, and found no purchaser, and when, at last, being in ill health, he had nearly given up to despair, a re? turned soldier offered him $500 in cash for twenty acres in one corner of ?he plantation, which was accepted. ' This opened the way. He at once divided his ground, except what ie chose to retain around his horse, into farm lots, to each of which was added a small wood privilege, and then advertised in the Northern papers. It is stated that he has a host of buyers, and a prospect of selling his whole place at a f?r price; having already disposed of o*or 1,000 acres of the arable and nearly 300 of the forest lands at the avejage rate of $28 per acre for the forner and $30 for the latter. He iutends to worl his twenty hands, to whom he lets cabins at a rent payable monthly in work or money, with a privilege of ejectment in case of default, ard to keep part of his reserved lund ir cultivation. Ilio gin-house and machinery will answer for his new neighbors as well as for himself. The Dew-comers are gene? rally industrious, and are likely to be valuable citizens, and their settlement has doubled already the value of the unsold land. This instance will show how speedi? ly the South may be populated by the best class of settlers. Of course, some preliminary expenses are neces? sary-such as drainage in low lands, buildings for the reception of the im? migrants, and also for advertising; but if the settlement is healthy and easy of access, and the land not too dear, there can be no doubt of the success of the plan. The experiment has been tried in New Jersey on a large scale, and as it succeeded on a sandy and almost barren soil, why should we doubt the result in the South, when any honest, temperate man, with a couple of hundred dol? lars in cash, ought to be enabled, at present prices, to achieve a desirable position for his family. NORTH CAROLINA.-The Legislature of North Caorlina adjourned on Mon? day. A bill wa* passed allowing negroes to testify in courts where they were concerned in person or property, and when the jurisdiction Khali be restored to the courts in all matters where the blacks are con? cerned. The usury laws were amend? ed, so as to allow 8 per cent, interest by the agreement of parties. - THE TENNESSEE MEMBERS.-We must confess the action of the Joint Committee on Reconstruction with reference to Tennessee is not very .?r' If we comprehend the matter rightly, it is proposed to admit Ten? nessee into the Union, although it is not intended at the same time to allow uer representatives to take seats in 3hi*& do not look so brigit for Tennessee as they did a week since. A special committee in the House of Representatives have reported that West and Middle Ten! nessee are disloyal, while only East Tennessee remains lo , al. An effort is also being made to pass a bill.de? claring negro suffrage in Tennessee. -< -?+-^ It is estimated that $7,000,000 have been spent in the 600 balls given in Ne*f York this season. Episcopal Theological Seminary. We leam, from the Savannah Herald, that Bishop Davis, of South Carolina, has made an appeal, in be? half of the Diocesan Theological Seminary of that State, established at Camden. The Bishop states that the Seminary buildings and a large portion of the library have been de? stroyed by fire, and that the perma? nent fund, amounting to nearly $50,000, was all lost during the pro? gress of the late war. He also states that the effects of these misfortunes have been alleviated in some measure by a present to the Bishop and trus? tees of a large and well adapted building and grounds, in Orange burg, for the use of the professors and students. The liberal donor is Mr. Trenhoim, of Charleston, the ex-Secretary of the Confederate Treasury. But the trustees have no money with which to resume the exercises of thc institution, and hence the appeal of the Bishop for pecuniary assistance. $4,000 are ne? cessary to carry on thc work this year; but $250,000 will be required to put the institution on a secure and permanent basis. It is proposed to establish a preparatory school for boys, vhich shall be of a liifrh order, and ia connection with the church. It is proposed also to carry out the resolution of the Diocese Conven? tion which authorizes the prepara? tion of colored persons for the sacred ministry of the church, and to pro? vide for their education and training tt schools or seminaries, that the freedmen in our midst may have their brethren of the same race to teach and to minister to them in holy things. The Bishop closes his letter by saying that in this vast country, with its fast increasing population, a semi? nary of this character is needed at the South, to carry out these pur? poses. That the church calls for it and the country needs it. Donations can be sent to Bishop Davis, at Cam? den, or to A. Toomer Porter, Charleston, S. C. THE NEXT COTTON CROP.-In the March number of DeBow's Review, the editor, who has just completed a tour through the cotton States, esti? mates the next cotton crop at not more than 1,500,000 bales. He says: "These figures are not likely to be increased by anything that is now to happen, and iiiixy bo greatly reduced by the ignorance, neglect or desertion of the laboring forces, which, judg? ing from the experience of all other countries, is more likely to occur than not, and reduce the crop to 1,000,OOC or 1,200,000 bales. No account ii taken in the calculation of the appli? cation of white labor to cotton, be? yond what was applied to it before the war. The extensive mortality ol the war has made white labor at* the South very scarce, and so far as it ii absorbed in the necessary pursuits o! the mechanic arts and trade, whicl have been furnishing most lucrative employment. The wear and tear anc frightful destruction caused by the war opened other channels of employ ment besides agriculture. The in crease of white labor at the South, sc far as the next crop is concerned from immigration, is too trifling tc be taken into account. The aggre gate number of laborers introduced is insignificant, and so far is largely absorbed in the cities. " THE TEST OATH DENOUNCED E CONGRESS.-Mi-. Finch;, of Ohio upon a motion to amend the Consti tution, made by Mr. McKee, of Ken tucky, on Saturday, proscribing Southern men from office1, made i speech, in which he denounced th test oath, and closed as follows: "This was not the hour for revengt and hate, but for clemency and for giveness. These people had dom wrong, but we should show then that we can be magnanimous ii council as well as brave in war, arie we should say to them: 'We welconii you back. Let ns forget the past prove by your fidelity to the Consti tution that you know how to bo faith ful to it, as you know how to bc brav and heroic iu, a mistaken and mis guided cause. ' The true principle o Christian charity would be a safe test than the principles of hate anc revenge. " -.-? - The greatest man is he who choose the right with invincible resolution who resists the sorest temp ration from within and without ; who bear thc heaviest burdens cheerfully; win is the calmest in storms, and who* reliance on truth, on virtue, on God is the most unfaltering. A lady advertises in the Hendersoi (Texas,) Times, a reward of $100 ii ?old for the apprehension of her hus band, who, after a marriage of tw< weeks, robbed herself and family anc absconded. His name is H. M. Beck An English widow has recoverec 835,000 from a railroad company foi killing her husband. In Favor of th? Negro Bureau. There ought to be a boreau to pro? tect negroes. "We never could bear to see that class abused. Wie never spoke unkindly to a servant inlbur Uves but once, and that was when we were a very little boy, and the ?wise reproof administered by our blessed mother, showing the domestic relation to us aright, cured us forever. There ought to be a bureau for protection of free negroes, who are iu muqlvworse con? dition than when they had owners. But the seat of operations of that establishment ought to be among us in the North, especially, at present, in Indiano and Illinois. We extract from our exchanges t?ie following items, the first from th? Jownal, pub? lished in Sprinfield, 111: "A man named Salitbury, living near Peoria, has had a regro woman in his employ, who was taken ill. Her master whipped her, and, finding that she was totally unable to work, took her in his sleigh, last Frdiay, and started for town, where he put her out and went back home. The poor woman, suffering v-ith the typhoid fever, was unable to walk, and sank to the ground from exhaustion. Her person was marked up in a shocking manuer, and her head was greatly bruised. She complained of it inces? santly until she expired, on Sunday morning." This man whipped this woman fear? fully and threw her out in the snow, I with a fever on her, and she died. Here is another: "Several negroes, residing in the vicinity of Clarksvillc, Indiana, were recently attacked and brutally ill treated by a pariy of roughs from New Albany." Now, when this article reaches Washington, let Messrs. Trumbull, and Sumner and Stevens bring in a bill to establish this new bureau, and let Gen. Hoke, of North Carolina, be appointed superintendent. If these members of Congress do not bring in such a bill on this showing, then it will prove conclusively that all their harangues are instigated, not by love of the negro, but by hatred of the Southern white man. [New York Watcliman. Mr. S.-warri Sustained--Political Prospects. It is rarely that William H. Seward does not carry his point with his own party. In the State of New York, he is a controlling power. When the American or Know-Nothing party seemed destined to overwhelm every man who refused to subscribe to its doctrines, Mr. Seward calmly con- j templated the subject, saw that the Organization was an ephemeral one, took ground against it, went before a Know-Nothing Legislature for re-elec? tion to the Uuited States Senate, and was successful. He knows exactly how far he may go for or against any political measure, whether the same be popular or not, and yet sustain himself. Ho is not. a political wea- ; ther-cock, for he does not always ! shift his position with the popular breeze. He is rather a political ba? rometer, which indicates what the weather is to be. A remarkable evi- ! dence of his power to control his fol? lowers has just been given. Whilst the Legislatures of all the other States in which the Republicans have a ma-? jority have passed resolutions sus? taining Congress upon the question of the Freedmen's Bureau bill, he has managed to prevent the Republicans in the New York Legislature from fol? lowing the contagious example so generally set. At a full caucus of the Republican members of that body, held in Albany, on Wednesday night Inst, resolutions sustaining the radical majority as against the President's plan of restoration were defeated by a vote of forty-four to forty-three. The city of New York has always beeu. Democratic and conservative. It is, nevertheless, worth noting that, although the City Council, under the peculiar influences of the war, has become semi-radical, one-half of its members being Republican, yet when that body was asked to endorse the President's policy, only two of these Republicans dared to vote in the ne? gative. These evidences of a healthy pub? lic opinion in the Empire State are peculiarly gratifying. They give the Southern people reason to hope that, as New York exercises a great influ? ence upon other States, and will her? self elect good men, the next Con? gress will be much more liberal in word and deed than the present. Nothing more than the manifestation of this kindly spirit in dealing with the South is necessary to attach her firmly to the Union. Nothing less can secure that desirable result. [Richmond I) isj> < tte li. .'How tired Adam must have got on his first day, ma," said an urchin of six years to his mother. "Why so, my sou ?" "Because it was such a long day." "lt was no longer than any other day, my son." "O yes it was ma; it was the longest day ever known, because, von see, it had no Ever -< ^ ? ? In the Missouri Legislature, tho bill prohibiting returned rebels from wearing arms was defeated for want of a constitutional majority. The vote stood thirty-nine to forty-five. One more vote was needed to make a majority-. -^-^.^^ The Fenians are enlisting men and collecting money at St. Louis. Ten thousand dollars were collected and and five hundred men enlisted last weok. From Washington. It is stated that Senator Sherman and many . other Republicans are going to start for Connecticut, to stump that State for the radicals. Party is stronger with them than just policy or principle. The advice? from New Hampshire ar?, that the letter of the Postmaster General, ^nd the going home of the clerks of the Departments to vote, is construed by the-people as a wish of the Administration for the success of the radical Abolition gubernatorial ticket. The speech of Thaddeus Stevens is understood to have been a subject of defiant comment by the President. The Commissioner of Internal Revenue has addressed a letter to the collectors of the twenty-third district of Pennsylvania, stating that inspec? tors cannot retain for their own use that portion of the spirits taken from tho cask or package in order to ascer? tain the proof. This is not only wholly unauthorized; but is looked upon as a positive fraud ?pon the Government and dealers. The col? lectors are instructed to adopt such measures as shall effectually put a stop to this practice. The Assistant Commissioner of tho Freedmen's Bureau, informs General Howard that the number of helpless poor in Arkansas and Missouri that wilj be dependent on the Govern? ment for support during the next three months will be about 4,000. In obedience to instructions from the War Department, the military districts of Northern and Western New York have been discontinued. The Redemption Bureau last week stamped as counterfeits 418 fifty-cent notes, 83 twenty-five-cent notes, 27 ten-cent notes, 1 fifty-dollar note, and 1 ten-dollar note. Total, $292.45. The receipts from internal revenue last week amounted to over $5, 500,000. The Comptroller of the Currency, last week issued as circulation of na? tional banks $2,123.000. Commissioner Sargeant, of the Customs Bureau, is informed that the late blockade-runners contemplate going into the smuggling business, and that thirty-five vessels have been fitted out for that purpose. It is ex? pected that they will attempt to land goods on the Florida coast. Mea? sures have been adopted, calculated to interfere with this illegitimate bu? siness. The Old Capitol Prison is to be thrown open to-morrow to the public, when the curious will have an oppor? tunity of inspecting the cells of the many noted prisoners who have been confined there at different periods of the war. The picture of Wirz, pen? cilled by his own hand, still remains on the wall of the cell occupied by that unfortunate. A subscription paper is now being j circulated in tho District for signa? tures to the proposed new line of Potomac steamers to run to the lower Counties of Maryland and Virginia. A clerk in the Treasury Depart? ment, named J. W. Hasbrouck, who is Secretary to the National Equal Suffrage Association, has been dis? charged. Thomas W. Edwards, Esq., of Lou? doun County, Virginia, having been charged $5.50 by the bureau agent, who handed him the order restoring his property, General Howard re? lieved the gentleman from duty. Good ! According to careful computation by members who are interested in sustaining tho President's policy of reconstruction, there are but fifteen Republican Congressmen who can be depended upon to vote against radi? cal measures as they come up. The Judiciary Committee of the House have under consideration, and will probably report next Tuesday, a bill empowering the President, or any military commander who repre? sents him in the late rebellious States, to reinstate loyal men in the posses? sion of lands which they were de? prived of by rebel confiscation during the war, as everybody knows the Con? federate Government indulged pretty heavily in confiscation against those who were known to favor the Union cause. Since the war, many of their decrees have been reversed, and the former owners reinstated in posses? sion of their property. The object of the proposed bill is to keep the loyal owners in possession by the em? ployment of military power until the Southern country has become so far settled that the questions can be tried before the civil courts. It is merely a measure to choke off the lawyer* temporarily.-New York lierait/. MURDER.-On Thursday morning last, some negroes in a field in Lex? ington District, and not far from the Court House, hearing au unusual noise, together with the report of a pistol, repaired to the spot, and there discovered a dead body, which was afterwards identified by Mr. John Hair, of Frog Level, then on his way to Columbia, us that of Capt. Chesley Herbert, of this District-a most estimable Christian gentleman. The body was very mueh mutilated, appa? rently from blows inflicted with a club, while a ball fired nt the buck of the head had passed out near the upper lip. It appears that on Sun? day night, the 4th, Capt. H. had a horse stolen from him by a negro. Ou Monday, he started in pursuit, mid overtook the thief on Tuesday. On Thursday morning, while on his way back with the negro, he was most foully murdered by him. The negro has been arrested and sent to Colum? bia for trial.- Newberry Herald. Thrilling Tale or mn In-voluntary -'"Krona ut. In 1852, a famous oronaut adver? tised that he would make an ascen? sion from Oakland, California. It was a total novelty to nine-tenths of those he addressed, and the public rushed to see lum in crowds. In the centre of the space from whicli the ascent was to be made, the huge sphere floated, held down to vulgar earth by a dozen ropes grasped by as many persons elected from among the by-standers. -The navigator of the heavens had not yet made his ap? pearance, and the audience were grow? ing impatient, as was manifested by their shouts and curses. He was pro? bably playing freeze-out poker with some flush miner, in some adjoining tavern, a la Artemus Ward, and could not be choked off. In a few minutes more, the "machine" would have been torn into threads, when, a gust of wind arising, the balloon was sud? denly wrenched from the hands that held it, and rushed like a rocket to? wards the clouds. Did we say wrenched from all ? No, not from all. A cry of horror rose from the lately turbulent crowd, for there, clinging to a slight wood cross-piece attached to one of the cords, was a small dark object, which every one pronounced to be a human being. A lad who had been selling papers among the crowd was one of those who had volunteered to hold the guys, and not being sufficiently alert, had been carried off with the balloon. The spectators were appalled, and every observer momentarily expected to see him drop. But the young adventurer had no such idea, and those who had glasses saw him clamber up the cord, and seat himself astride the cross? piece. The balloon ascended upward in the glowing rays of the sun, it seemed like a speck; then vanished altogether. It would have been difficult, just then, to have insured the life of that boy at any premium. As for the in? voluntary seronaut, what must have been his feelings, as he found himself thus severed from the firm earth to which he had been accustomed. At first, his little heart was in his throat, and he seemed to have suddenly fallen from some vast height into an abyss of fathomless air. The world vanished instantaneously from sight. The boy had unfortunately wound the cord about his hand in such a manner that it was impossible to let go at once. Yet, knowing the fate that awaited him, should he fall, he had, by the exertion of an amount of strength wonderful in one so young, contrived to assume the position of comparative safety already noted. There he saw the wind-driven clouds of different strata rush post him with frightful velocity, and look? ing down could dimly discern the landscape, and the ocean with its ships, spread out as on a map. Dur? ing the afternoon, the people of Be nicia saw the car dash by, and little thought of the throbbing heart that from that awful eminence awaited in cold anxiety the coming night. The blood began to congeal in the veins of the little traveler; the act of breath? ing grew difficult; his muscles, in? creased to such a fearful tension, .rere beginning to relax; a numbness seized on the fingers that grasped the cord. A few minutes more must evi? dently terminate his terrible ride through space. All at once, the rope attached to the valve was thrown against the boy. He clutched it in his despair as an additional hold ui^on life. Joy! The valve opens! the gas rapidly escapes! the balloon is once more nearing the earth! It rushes into the leafy em? brace of a grove of trees, and, after a violent struggle, rests. When some ranchman, Avho had been watching the descent, reached the spot, he found the young adven? turer seated on the ground at the foot of au oak, looking the very picture of astonishment, but none the worse for his journey, except a few scratches. We have heard of persons whose hair from terror turned gray in a single night. The hair of the lad on coming down was a bright red, but as it was red before he went up, we do not know that this was anything remarkable. We meet him-the boy then, the man now-daily; he looks like another mortal, and seems to have forgotten all the circumstances to which he was indebted for his ele? vation.-California- Sunday Mercury. MOKE COTTON BURNED.-A corres? pondent of the Philadelphia Inquirer, writing from New York under date of March 7, says: Cotton is once more a sufferer, and insurance men fairly grow pale at a bare mention of the great staple. At an early hour this m Arning, fire was discovered in the hold of the Danish ship Earl of Shaftsbury, a new vessel just about to sail. The cargo was very valuable, consisting, among other things, of 500 bales of cotton, 104 hogsheads of tobacco, 150 barrels of potash and 45 tons of logwood. In spite of the exertions of the firemen, the fire could not be extinguished until the vessel was almost filled with water, and the cargo was damaged to the extent of $100,000, the ship itself being. injured to the amount of Bl0,000. The Shreveport (La.) Southwestern lays Mrs. Cane has rented her mng lificent plantation on Red River, op >osite that place, containing over 1,000 acres of cleared land, to North? ern men for three years, for the sum )f $54,000-being at tho rate of $18, M10 a year. Local Items. CASH.- Our tenus for subscription, ad? vertising and job work are cash. We hope all parties will bear this in mind. THE WEEKLY GLEANER.-The regular publication of this paper will be postponed a few weeks. Persons desirous of sub? scribing, will please forward the money ut once. Terms $4 a year. THE BURNING OF COLUMBIA.-An inter? esting account ol the "Sack and Destruc? tion of tho City of Columbia. S. C.," has just been issued, in pamphlet form, from the Phoenix, steam power press. Order? can be filled to any extent. We have received the amt number of the American Cotton Planter, published by that well known agriculturist, Dr. Cloud. It is an excellent journal for the purposes to which it is devoted, and is published at three dollars per annum. Address A. B. Cloud, M. D., Montgomery, Alabama. POBTBAIT OK GEN. LEE.-The Phonix office is indebted to Mr. James Brown for a beautiful engraving of the likeness of Gen. Robert E. Lee, tbe hero of the South. It is elegantly framed in the "Rustic" style, and will no doubt lind its way into every parlor of the South. The engraving is executod by Elisha Dexter Sc Sons, of New York, and is one of the prettiest works . of art that we havo seen. THE TAUS.-In relation to the notice JR James G. Gibbes, Esq., Collector for flBB Upper Division of South Carolina, we ap^ pend the following information derived from the Collector: Tho license to be col? lected is that for trade, professions, A., viz: For doctors and lawyers, per annum, $10; rotail dealers, $10; retail licpior dealers, $25; wholesale dealers, $50. The fiscal year ends 1st of May. The tax now de? manded is for the first year, or rather from May 30, 1865, to May 1, 18G6, or from the time of persons beginning business up to Miy 1, 1866. Gn May 1, license for the en ing vear will be collected. Retail dealers in all articles, except liquors, are exempt from license, if their sales are less than $1,000 per annum. Wholesale dealers, that is such as sell exceeding $2,500 per annum, pay $50 license; also $1 per $1,000 on all eales over $50,000; butchers, $10; builders, $25; photographers, $10 to $25; manufacturers, $10; dentists, $10. Licenses will be required to be paid immediately; say within the next ten days or two weeks. NEW ADVERTISEMENTS.-Attention is call? ed to the following advertisements, which are published this morning for the first time: Austin, Andua Sc Co.-Groceries. C. H. Baldwin-Beceived To-Day. J. Meighan-Leather. Jas. M. Beard-Estate Sale. J. F. Eisenman-Removal. Nomination for Aldermen. Apply at this Office-Situation Wanted. PEARLS AN? RUBIE?.-White teeth crop? ping from ont of ridgeB of ruby, a breath spicy as the airs from Araby the Bleat who* can resist such fascinations? To realize them-to perpetuate them-to make the mouth a casket of pearls and rubies, and every sigh a gush of fragrance-all you have to do, fair ladies, is to use that "matchless vegetable preparation, Fragrant Sozodont. t The Assistant Commissioner of the Freedmen's Bureau, for the State of Georgia, informs the Bureau that "the condition of the freedmen is commeudable. They are all at work under Government contracts, no lazi? ness being thought of by them. There is a great prejudice against educating the freedmen, and attempts have been made to break up the schools established by the colored people. There exists a hatred deep and bitter, coming from the bottom of their hearts, among the whites, against our Government. This feel? ing they teach their children. We see this feeling in ten thousand ways; neither do they attempt to conceal it from us." He represents that it ia impossible for any people to be more earnest and patient to obtain know? ledge than tlie freedmen of his dis? trict. "They also exhibit an anxiety and watchfulness unparalleled in their efforts not to be offensive to their former masters. " In the opinion of the Assistant Commissioner, "the withdrawal of protection to the freed people, who are now industrious, energetic and obedient, would entail much suffering upon the loyal refu gees as, well as they." In a trial at Charleston of F. G. Stowers, of Anderson, before a mili? tary commission, for the murder of two Federal soldiers last fall, some singular developments are made as to the value of negro testimony. Two freedmen, at the beginning of the trial, gave evidence favorable to the accused, stating on oath that he was in his room, undressed, at the time the murder was supposed to have been committed. They now assert thai the whole evidence was a lie, and they knew nothing of h is whereabouts at the time. Which side of the story the court will accept, remains to be seen. Whe? ther this conflict of testimony arises from a general incapability of truth or other causes, has not transpired. THE PRESIDENT ENDORSED IN NEW YORK. -The Common Council of New York city has adopted, with but two dissenting votes, resolutions endors? ing the President's policy. The Re? publican members pf the New York Eiegislature have also passed, in cau 3us, resolutions of the same kind, by i vote of 4A to 43. -<-??-. A deficit of $39,000 has just been discovered in the accounts of the bounty Treasurer at Chilicothe, Ohio. That official explains by saying that die money was stolen from his safe.