The daily phoenix. (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, March 27, 1866, Image 2

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COLUNIA. Tuesday Morning, March 27, 1866. Elsen po of Stephens from Dublin. There is a perfect furore amongst the Fenian Brotherhood in New York, on account of the news brought by the latest steamer, contained in two letters from Dublin to the New York Nexos, announcing that, on the night of Sunday, the 4th instant, Head Centre Stephens made good his es? cape from Dublin, in which city he had been secreted since his wonder? ful escape from the strong prison in which he was confined. The details of this escape, os nar? rated by the two correspondents, are too long for our columns. We will, therefore, briefly state some of the main points. On the evening referred to, about ti o'clock, five gentlemen, said to be Americans, in an open carriage, drawn by four fine horses, ridden by postillions, drew up before a second class hotel in one of the best streets in the city, when a sixth person (Ste? phens) joined the occupants of the carriage, when the carriage moved j leisurely through the principal streets, until it reached the out-skirts of Dublin, when it started off at rail? road speed, traveling thirty miles in three hours. It drew up at a sandy cove on the coast, near Skerries, where a fishing smack was in waiting, and conveyed Stephens alone to a large vessel, lying out some distance-whe? ther a large steamer or sailing vessel is not known-and the vessel imme? diately put out to sea. It is not known whether the destination of the vessel was France or the United States, but it is generally credited it was bound for this country, where the presence of the "Head Centre" is I much needed. Stephens is said to \ be one of thc shrewdest and most I far-sighted men of the ago, and cer J ainly his escape from a prison dou ible-bolted and double-guarded, and rViis escape from a city where he hod Wetly remained for several weeks, -pd which was filled by thousands of stectives, whose sole duty it was to ^rrest him, certainly justifies such a character. J The Organs of Discord. e radical newspaper organs and tant politicians "of that stripe, people of the North, day r day, that the rebellion in the th is not subdued-that the pec? hero are as disaffected as they ere when they took up arms-that I bitter feelings of hostility to the orthern people have only become intensified, and that it will take fears to bring our people to a propar .ind healthful state of subjection. If this were true, as intimated by a Northern cotemporary, the disgrace f it would attach to the dominant . -.rty, for it is a tacit confession that s leaders of that party had not ?jnanimity enough to conciliate a ^e, vanquished foe. "If, then," ?e journal referred to remarks, outh is more discontented now e was at the close of the war; thlTpetty, irritating insults to which Khe is subjected-the narrow-minded spirit displayed towards herby some, and the base policy recommended by others of the radical party-by such men the President's generous policy is neutralized and frustrated." This statement of our cotemporary is true as to what the aims and ten? dencies of the radical party might naturally produce. But the allega f the radical organs are not ll the history of the world, bellions or civil wars, there such a prompt, sincere and submission to the power the nts made war against, but onquered them, as the Sou til? es have exhibited since their that. J3fcs/dent iaest guide to the atiou and recon ed and distracted promptly submit nisition he considered .completion of that But, notwithstanding all this, adical organs of discord and politicians in Congres* still per n their work of defamation, and the flames of discard to the ial injury of all sections of the We have still ?ope of the a conservative policy, and re long the machinations itators will crme to an end. about ?0,000 young South arc socking ^iew /ork city. The Connecticut Elections. Th? National Intelligencer, evidently speaking by authority, contradicts the statement that the Secretary of the Navy had written a letter express? ing his desire that General Hawley, the Republican candidate, might be elected. The Intelligencer states as a fact, though solicited to do as sug? gested, declined to yield to partisan requests to tbat effect. Mr. Welles holds that the late rebel States are in the Union and under the shield of the Constitution, which is the para? mount law. To those candidates for office who are opposed to the restora? tion or reconstruction policy of the Government he is opposed, and those who are in favor of it he favors. The Intelligencer also states that the Democratic candidate for Governor of Connecticut has had several cor? dial and pleasant interviews with the President, who appreciates the friend? ship of Mr. English, and who, that journal believes, would be highly pleased to hear of Iiis success on the first Monday in April. FROM HAVANA.-Further advices from Havana, by the steamer Man? hattan, state that the numerous and recent fires throughout the Island are attributed, by one of the Havana journals, to negro incendiaries. The discovery of a plot on the part of the slaveholders to destroy one ol the Havana newspaper offices is re? ported. A Cuban gentleman, named Fran? cisco de San Juan, who died recently, left bis entire estate, valued at $400, 000, to a Spanish female school, witii a provision in bis will that if thc Spanish Government shall in anj manner interfere with the legacy, il shall revert to the United States Go vernment. The Cubans are again ex cited by rumors that Chilean priva teers are off their coast, Among th< late arrivals at Havana of ex-rebeb from this country is Robert Toombs of Georgia, who has been negotiating for the purchase of a sugar estate but it is said he could not raise tb? necessary amount of funds. Toomb: is reported as intending to settle ii Mexico as soon as he is convincec Maximilian's throne is on a firm basis HARPER'S WEEKLY.-The Nationa Intelligencer tbus rebukes this notori 0 us and mischievous publication which, we regret to say, is expos?e for sale at many points in the South In a recent number of Harper'' Weekly, the humiliating confession i flippantly made, that in previoui editorial articles respecting a matte no less important than the recen veto message of the President, the; had abused him on the suppositioi that the message virtually abolishe< the Freedmen's Bureau forthwith and, further, that the sense of th document was, that no national par ticipation whatever in the care or pro tection of freedmen was to be here 1 after countenanced. We venture the opinion that it i morally wrong to circulate so exten ely a paper of such a grade c editorial ability. If the suceess c the Weekly is really so splendid, car not the publishers afford to emplo competent editors? ONWARD MARCH OF THE CHOLERA The United States Consul at La Rc chelle, France, under date of Febrr ary 20, informs the Department c State that the cholera appears to t moving along the Western coast ( France. . After appearing at Caen an Brest, it has followed the sea-port: and is now actually at the Sables c Ouloune, within the consular distri of La Rochelle. The Consul says thu the winds are cold, and blow ince sently from the North-east, as in 183! accompanied by rain. From prese] appearances it will sweep down tl j coast via La Rochelle and Bordean into Spain. The Consul recommeni rigid quarantine measures from tho: ports. ' THE NEW JOHNSON PARTY.-TJ National Union Club have, throug Hon. Green Clay Smith, chairmi [pro lem, who has been a consiste Republican, issued a call for tl Union people, without regard to par or location, to meet at the City Hi in Washington, on Saturday nigl: for the purpose of endorsing and si faining President Johnson in 1 bold and determined purpose maintain, in its purity, the Constit tion of the United States against : opposition. I Th? orange and jessamine trees the vicinity of Mobile, Ala., wc killed, and the fig crop destroyed I a freeze last week. A meeting was held in Pittsbiu on Thursday last, to endorse t policv of the President. From Washington? A special telegraph to the New York News says: At the Cabinet meeting, yesterday, the civil rights bill was under discus? sion, and the President is understood to have expressed his intention to i veto. Only six of the Southern Se I nators elect are now here. Among them, Messrs. Parsons, Sharkey and Call. But they all say that not only they, but also the people of the South, ave unanimously opposed to the insulting and degrading proposal contained in Stewart's resolutions. They are not disposed to have their seats in Congress bought for them at such a price. It may satisfy public curiosity to learn the reason why Clement C. Clay is kept in durance at Fortress Mon? roe. He is confined there on the charge of advising and being acces? sory to the raiding plots concocted in Canada during the war. A consider? able portion of his correspondence on this subject is in the possession of the Government, and some of it may be published soon. It is estimated by the Internal Revenue Bureau that the proposed change in the income clause of the revenue law, exempting incomes under one thousand dollars from tax? ation, will affect the revenue to the amount of $27,000,000; the repeal of the tax on crude petroleum, about $2,000,000; and the repeal of the tax on articles in schedule A, such as watches, carriages, &c, $1,500,000. The Committee on Ways and Means are disposed to adhere to the loan bill in the form in which it was recommitted to them. Many are sanguine enough to believe that the majority of the House will yet accept it. Mr. Hooper stated, when he in? troduced his bill as a substitute for the Committee's bill, that it seemed to embody the views of a large ma? jority of the House. Should his bill pass, the Secretary must make the best of it, though it does not meet his views, nor give him the additional power he requires. He can, under that bill, f und the maturing obliga? tions of the Government, and may, perhaps, effect some reduction of the currency. It was necessary for the success of the Secretary's policy that his recommendation for a cessation of interest on compound-interest notes at maturity should be adopted. That is refused. It was also necessary that he should have the power to make a foreign loan, if desirable, in order to sustain the price of Govern? ment bonds at home. That is also refused.-Iota, in Baltimore Sun. In the House, Mr. Laffin, of New York, Chairman of the Printing Committee, stated that the Govern? ment uses one-thirteenth of all the printing paper consumed in the United States, and that the Govern? ment expenditure for printing was one-twelfth of the cost of all the printing done in the Union-in fact, that the United States is the greatest printer in the world In conclusion, he stated that the printing now or? dered by Congress was eo great that it would take one or two years to execute it, or else the Government printing establishment must be en The correspondent of the Richmond Dispatch, says: "The resolution of Senator Stewart to provide for universal amnesty as compensation for universal suffrage excites much comment, and the direct assertion has been mode that eminent gentlemen in the South, oi high official position, endorse these views. The names of several, includ? ing Messrs. Orr and Boyce, of South Carolina; Reagan, of Texas, and others, are published as favoring Stewart's measures, when, in fact, it is positively known here that these gentlemen deprecate any such dis? position of events. The President alto is opposed to the adoption ol any such policy, and there is no pro? bability of the resolutions becoming law unless the requisite two-thirds vote to overrule an Executive veto which failed in the only instance where it was wanted-can be ob tained. The resolution, however has been put forward only as a sor of feeler as to what the South think.1 j with regard to the matter." i DESTRUCTIVE FIRES.-The Charl ? J ! ton News learns from passengers b^ the North-eastern Railroad that i most destructive fire occurred in Dar lington village, on Sunday morning destroying a large part of the busi ness portion of the town. Our co temporaries-the Darlington Sou'h erner and New Era-were destroyed At Marion, on the same day, earl; in the morning, some half dozei buildings were consumed. Thes fires are supposed to be the acts o incendiaries, and the loss, at the pre sent time, will fall very hard upoi the communities of these villages. MORE IMMIGRANTS.-We leam iron the New York Herald, of the 19th that a lecture in the Danish languag was delivered, last night, at Dramati Hall, in Houston Street, by Just Al Caen, upon emigration to the South who advises Scandinavian emigrant to settle in the Southern States, am there to form communities, as the have done in the West. If a nigger says he goes in for di union, is ho a loyal Bigger, or a dit loyal? Alt Knglish Opinion. The London Times, of the 8th in? stant, has the following strong article concerning President Johnson and his policy: It was said by thc great Athenian orator that Providence always delibe? rated better for the republic than the republic deliberated for itself. The same thing may be said with the greatest truth of the United States of America. In the heat and excitement of civil war, in indignation for the past, and apprehension for the future, they assembled to elect their Chief Magistrate. As usual on such occa? sions, the popular choice fell on two different men-the one to represent the more moderate, the other the more extreme section of the Repub? lican party. The first was Abraham Lincoln, a man of many amiable and some noble qualities, who had, during four years of the utmost difficulty, lived down much obloquy and con? ciliated much opposition; the second was a man who had been apprenticed in early life to a mechanical - ade, who had learned to read after he had ceased to be a boy, and who was re? garded as the impersonation of the most violent and revolutionary aspi? rations of his party. The hand of an assassin cut short the career of Abra? ham Lincoln, and everybody looked with anxiety to his successor. The war was nominally over, but a task of infinitely greater difficulty -than the conduct of any war lay before the new President. In America, it is found necessary to counteract the weakness of the Executive power by giving it a fixed duration, and people saw with dismay that the highest office in the republic was vested for four years in a man whom nobody had intended for the place, and whose qualifications, be they what they might, were scarcely likely to be equal to the difficulties which sur? rounded him. The best man in America was not too strong for the herculean task which devolved on Mr. Johnson. The man who closes a revolution performs even a mightier task than the man who begins or con? ducts it. It was hard enough to say what should be done between North and South, and how the Union, which such torrents of blood had been shed to support, could be main? tained. It was still harder to deal with the black race, newly emanci? pated from its fetters, and to prevent those who had hitherto been slaves from becoming paupers or brigands. The foreign relations of the State were in the utmost confusion; the Fenians were Beeking to draw her into a war with England, and tho military leaders into a war with France. It was under such conditions that, just a year ago, Mr. Johnson acceded to the Presidency. For one long yeal* he has been content to balance one party against another, and to cherish hopes alternately on the part of men rendered insolent and tyran? nical by success, and sullen and in? tractable by defeat. He had no common enemies to contend with. The Abolitionist party had triumphed and were bent on pushing their vic? tory to the limits of all that the con? queror could inflict or the conquered could suffer. Forgetting that the war was mainly waged for the pre? servation of the Union, they insisted on placing the slaves on a perfect political level with their former mas? ters. They refused to admit the South into the Union which had been reconquered, and determined to perpetuate their own power at the expense, even, of the unity and the liberty of the republic. At last Mr. Johnson seems to think that the time has arrived for abandoning all com? promise. A meeting at Washington had adopted resolutions approving his policy, and he took the opportu? nity of addressing to them such ? speech as hus not often been hearc in America-a speech entirely fret from twardy ornament or ambitious metaphor, but conveying the firmes: determination and the most enlight ened principles in the plainest ant simplest language. The Union ht was resolved should be preserved He stood where he did at the com mencement of the rebellion, to vin dicate the Union and the Constitu tion against disunionists from th? North or the South. He fount 8,000,000 people condemned unde: the law, but while he would punisl tho leaders, he would extend to tin masses leniency and confidence. On? rebellion had succeeded another War was made to prevent separation Now, there was an attempt at a con solidation of power in the hands of i few, equally dangerous with separa tion itself. Military power and pub lie judgment had decided that nc State shall leave the Union, and no\ people assume that they are outsidi it, and shall not come in. Treasoi in the South is over, and now thosi who seek to prevent the restoratioi of the Union are as much laboring ti destroy the fundamental principle of the Government as thpse wh fought against it. Ho mentioned b; name Messrs. Stevens, Sumner ant Phillips, and declared that he wouli neither be overawed by friends no bullied by enemies. He was called usurper; but his only usurpation Ava standing between the people and th encroaenments of power. He wa threatened with being beheaded, an? incitements even to assassinatioi were employed. Were they no satisfied with the blood already sited Let his blood be shed if it must b so; the blood of martyrs was th seed of the church. Suck language acquires a peculiar significance when it is used by one President, who declare* himself threatened by a violent death, stand? ing over the dead body of another. No ono can, of course, estimate tho degree of peril to which Mr. John? son considers himself subject; but it is, at least, significant of the violence of the passions and the fierceness of the animosities which tho civil war has called forth, that we should find the President even alluding to the probability of his own violont death m the same city where his predeces? sor perished only a year before. We cannot withhold our admiration from the position taken up by Mr. John? son, and the manly vigor with which he maintains it. He dots not appear to be gifted with much felicity or fluency of language; but histnoughts swell beyond his words, and give them a weight and dignity scarcely their own. He surely, if any man ever did, occupies nobly and worthily a great historic position. The desti? nies of minions of the human race depend upon him, and he rises fully to the height of the occasion. Men whose nerves are shaken by the holi? day politics of such a country as ours will stand aghast at the audacity with which President Johnson confronts his adversaries. They possess large majorities in both Houses of Con? gress. They wield, at their pleasure, the committees to which are dele? gated in America so many of the functions here discharged by the Executive Government. They are supported by many States, by a host of preachers, and by legions of un? scrupulous fanatics. To all this the President has nothing to oppose but his veto, his patronage, the power of conducting the Executive Govern? ment, and his own firm spirit and in? domitable resolution. Yet the duel is not so unequal as might be sup posed. The issue which ha? been so long maturing is at last ready for trial. The people of America must now decide whether thc great civil war they have waged was worth wag? ing at all. They fought for the Union, and now that they have ob? tained it, a large party seems dis? posed to reject the very object of the contest. They appear to have no choice between bringing back the South into the institutions of the country and holding it down by main force. They incur the danger, on the one hand, of being once more governed by their vanquished ene? mies, or, on the other, of having to keep them in subjection. We do not doubt that the President has decided on the wiser course, and we wish him all success in his mission of mercy and justice. No man has ever strug? gled in a nobler cause, and it is better to fail in such an enterprise than to succeed in a policy of tyranny, con? fiscation and proscription. AMENDMENTS TO THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION.-The New York Posl (Republican,) ridicules the number of amendments proposed by Congress to the Constitution, and very truly says: Our Constitution is not a thing to be brought into Congress and tossed from hand to hand in a sort of con? tempt for its imperfections, and finally mended like an old shoe, with a new heel and a new toe-piece, a patch upon one side, and a patch on the other. We fought the rebel States, which had thrown off its au? thority; we poured out our blood like water in its defence; we mortgaged the revenues of long prosperous years to come t hat we might reduce the insurgents nuder its dominion; we eulogized it through the four years of that cruel war as a frame of government which had never been felt by the rebel States and their population, save in the benefits it conferred, and we brought the insur? gents back by persevering efforts and immense sacrifices to their allegiance. It does not become us now to treat this venerable instrument as if it were the work of sciolists, a thing yet to be licked into shape, and upon which every man who happens to be returned to Congress is invited to try his ingenuity. TRIBUTE TO THE GALLANTRY OP CONFEDERATES.-Gen. Hooker, in his testimony before the Committee of Congress, on the conduct of the var, pays the following tribute to the Confederate troops: "Our artil? lery had always been superior to that of the Confederates, as was also our infantry, except in discipline, and that, for reasons not necessary to mention, never did equal Lee's army. With a rank and file vastly inferior to our own, intellectually and physically, Gen. Lee's army has, by discipline alone, acquired a character for steadiness and efficiency unsurpassed, in my judgment, in ancient or modern times. We have never been able to rival it." Gen. Meade speaks of the "brave and gallant advance" of the Confederate:, at Gettysburg. Hancock talks ol their "wonderful spirit-nothing could have been more spirited"-and Gen. Pleasanton, describing the dis? graceful running away of the lltli army corps at Chancellorsville, ac? counts for it by "the combined effect upon the imagination of thc sound of musketry, the yells of thc Confederates and their increasing ar? tillery fire. It was a theatrical eifeel Stonewall Jacksou could produce better than any other man 1 have seen on the field of battle. Yon could tell one of his attacks any. where-and the turn of the battle was Stonewall Jackson's death.'V Local Items. Wc arc authorized to state that Clark Waring, Esq., declines the nomination for Alderman. CASU.-Our terms for subscription, ad? vertising and job work are cash. We hop? all parties will bear this in mind. THE WEEKLY GLEANER_Th? regular publication of this paper will be postponed a few weeks. Persons desirous of sub? scribing, will please forward the money at once. Terms $4 a year. THE BUUNINO OF COLUMBLV.-Au inter? esting account ol the "Sack and Destruc? tion of tho City of Columbia, S. C.," h?H just been issued, in pamphlet form, from the Phoenix steam power prens. Orders can be filled to any extent. THE WEATHEH.-Yesterday morning pro? voked some sad forebodings of destroyed fruit and injured vegetables. About 9 o'clock, it made a faint effort to snow, but for a short time we had a sleet fall. In time, before 2 o'clock, the skies cleared off, and it is to be hoped that this sudden cho'.igc in thc weather will not result in a killing frost. At the time of writing min paragraph, 5 p. m., we are incUned to be? lieve there will be no frost to kill vegeta? tion or injure fruit. We hope it will turn out so. NEW ADVERTISEMENTS. -Attention is call? ed to the following advertisements, which are published this morning for the first time: Capt. Holcombe- Clerk Wanted. Nomination fer Mayor and Aldermen. W. Hitchcock-Declination. H. White-Charleston Hotel. A Traveler-Beware of Imposition. H. Simmons-Bakery, fie. Wm. Simons-To Debtors and Creditors. Richard Caldwell-Breakfast Bacon, Ac. " " -Kerosene Oil. Mectiug of Israelites. Dr. C. H. Miot-Removal. P. Cantwell-Kerosene Oil. M. Thier?' Speech-Prance and Pru!. sia-The state of Europe. \ The speech of M. Thiers in the \ French Legislative Chamber is a sharp examination of the Emperors position in relation to freedom in France. In the speech from the throne, it will be remembered, he told the nation how free it was, in a few phrases that sparkled on the surface, but that would not bear discussion. He had lauded the prosperity of his own reign, the quiet of France, and the happiness of a nation, whose Executive cannot be hampered in his acts by the representatives of the people. M. Thiers finds that these things on which the nation is congra? tulated are the dangers which menace its peace, and the evils which obstruct its progress. He supposes that even an inferior Constitution which is the choice of the people may be more con? sistent with freedom than a very good one given by an Emperor, which per? mits the Emperor to override the will of the people. He cites an awkward instance of the danger of the Consti? tution that the Emperor praises in the case of the first Napoleon. That great man saw nothing but confusion in the Constitution prepared by the Abbe Sieyes, and gave France what he thought a better one. But his own Constitution "allowed thornier to engage in a career marked by names of painful memory-Moscow, Leipsic, Waterloo, and worst of all, Helena." Therefore, it was a great evil to France; and possibly other Constitutions, given to the country against its will, may not have a dis? similar history. Despite the Em? peror's flattery, M. Thiers flatly tells France that she is not free, beca ?se in a free country "nothing is done but what the nation desires." She is Qot free, because she is not arbiter of lier own destiny. Sharp as this speech is, it is yet nore remarkable for what it indicates than for what it says. Fenianism, we lave often declared, is less important :o the world for what it will accom? plish in Ireland, than for the effect if* viii have in again awakening in Eu :ope the suppressed, but not extin? guished, spirit of republican freedom. Appearances at present are against lie success of an isolated struggle in [reland; but Ireland seems destined ;o be the means of lighting up Eu? rope. Ireland, nearer to us in sym? pathy than any other land, has felt in 1er veins the full influence of the rreat war waged by our people for ree institutions; and, unable to uso t for her own good, she will commu licate it to the people of Europe, eady to receive it, and more likely to >enelit by following the grand ex unple. Europe is uneasy. In Ger nany and France freedom has been ulled to an unquiet slumbev. It is .n indication-in this respect, that the peech of M. Thiers is most signiti ant. M. Thiers, in all his career, ras never more in sympathy with the ?est and most earnest sentiments of he French people than he is now. A uan of the people by origin, he has ?een identified on the popular side ri th the great movements in France, nd his antecedents of this nature ;ive double weight to the word " e tow utters. Letters from the East Indies, repre ent the cotton trade greatly ??preased luring the last year, over the previous ne. The receipts from the ..various ndian provinces amounted to 40,000 lales, three times the amount of the devious year. JjL ^ The young men of New xwk took he initiatory step, on Tuesday, to? wards the formation of what will be a eries of organizations in s??v>ort of be restoration policy of Prudent ohnktt.