Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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COLUMBIA Tuesday Morning, November 6,18b'6. Universal Suffrage. John Bright hus stirred up thc popular feeling in Englaud to its profoundest depths, and tho reform agitation has reached a new phase in that country, which is without prece? dent. Even the conservatives-as those opposed to popular enfranchise? ment are called rn that country-ure driven from their position of sullen restiveness by tho overwhelming aud imposing aspect of popular opinion. As an evideuce of this, they have ap? pointed M. DTsraeli tu prepare a reform bill, which; it is said, w ill go even beyond Mr. Gladstone's mea? sure in his concessions to the work? ing classes. This is tho last report from that country, and it will not bc surprising if the present Ministry should endeavor to retain their posi? tion by concessions, to which, while in opposition, they would never have consented. The plan of reform proposed by Mr. Gladstone and embodied iii the bill on which he staked his Ministry and their position in office, was to al? low all to vote who paid a certain rental-the consequence of which would be the extension of the fran? chise to a large number of the popu? lation who are now excluded. Thc principle was to allow every man tc vote unless it could be shown that he was disqualified. But +hc chief ques? tion on this point was, who was t< he tho judge? Both Bright am' Gladstone declare that Parliament . was to be the judge, and thc paymenl of a particular rental the test. It i; replied, on the other hand, that thi; does not establish a principle-ii only sets a limit, purely arbitrary which might, at any time, be re moved. Tho truth is, universal suffrage ii an absurdity, and would, sooner o: later, sap the foundation of any fro* Government. The ballot-box wouh be a fruitful source of all evils, am be prostituted to a mere tool in th hands of ambitious demagogues Whenever party leaders, even in thi country, have tampered with Lt, it purity has been despoiled, and hone: voters ignominiously excluded froi the rightful exercise of their priv: lege as citizens. There must be mete and bounds on this subject, if healthful and legitimate effect in pr? serving tho Government in its orig nal perfection is to be expected. Wit us at the South, heretofore, our p< litical distinctions have beenfoundc on invariable natural characteristics that is to say, on the presumed < admitted distinctions between tl white race and the black race, the n tural superiority of the one and tl natural inferiority of the other. No\ this distinction has been modified I the emancipation of the forim slaves, and those who have hurrit them into this condition, for whic they were totally unfit and unpr pared, desire to' increase tho evi they have brought upon the bia? man, by giving him the nnqualifh right of suffrage, for which he is much prepared as to enter college. A change in our system, howeve is inevitable, and the only safe wa and the surest safeguard to good c der and tho proper exercise of tl franchise, is to adopt a proper qualification-applicable to ali. ? good citizen can object to this, ai to it we will have to como at last. The New York Evening Express, Saturday, states that six ocean steai ers left tiiat port on that day-four which were destined to Southe ports-one to Charleston, one to fi vannah, one to New Orleans, and o to Galveston-and adds j "T Southern steamers^ out full of pi sengcrs, Southern fam?es, chief] who have been spending the ';umra North." That's the way the mon goes from Southern purses to Nor I ern safes. In this respect, tho Son has played the fool long enough, is time to stop it. WHAT MAKES A TJ. S. CONGRESS. Two Senators from each and eve one of the States of tho Union, a the number of Representatives p vided for and elected according law, from each and every State. C( gress cannot be made in any otl way-and the unskillful journeyir who. undertake to make a Congr of tho people of tho United States any other way, are a set of law-bre ers and botchers. The Amendment- Tiio Wliolc Ground j Covered? The communication from Hon. Ii. | F. Perry, which we published on j Sunday morning, and which appears in our tri-weekly <>f this morning, is ono ol' tho ablest arguments, most comprehensive, and most convincing iu all tho positions tulum, that wo have road among tho numerous dis? quisitions which have appeared bu tho subject from the pens of many of tho leading men of tho ?South. Senator Perry has taken up thc subject, ns he docs all other*, calmly and dispassionately; and from his in? troductory remarks concerning the object and ends aime il at, throughout the complete discussionjof every sec? tion of the proposition, his remarks and reflections are those of a states? man, and must carry conviction to the minds of every reader. His dis? section of the third clause of the amendment is one. that cannot fail to convince every halting South Caro? linian, if there be any such, that the people of this State could never sub? mit to such dishonor and disgrace as that contemplated by the provisions of this section. We agree wi til Senator Perry, that the radicals never expected that the Southern people would ever ?dopt this amendment. It was a mere party ruse, to distract the" people of the South, if possible, and to persuade thc North that they were offering very easy terms to the rebels, as a condition to their restoration-a pro? mise they took good caro not to make. We again commend Gov. Perry's let? ter to a careful perusal by our readers. INTERESTING TO LAWYERS.-Judge Clayton, of Mississippi, says an ex? change, recently held that legal ten? der notes were such and a valid ton der, stopping interest, when made. That the Act of Congress makin? such notes a legal tender was eonsti tutional, and that thc power to issut such notes is derived from .the wai powers of the Goverument. He als?, held that the suspension of tho sta tuto of limitations during the wa: was constitutional and valid, and tba no suit eau be maintained to recove on a note the consideration forwbicl was Confederate money. Nor cai any suit be maintained to recover 01 a note given as compensation for th hire of a substitute in tho Confede rate army. A FACT WORTH KNOWING.-To bu; tho grouud, erect buildings, suppl machinery and put a cotton spiiidl running, with looms to weave it yarn into cloth, costs forty dollar; With this fact, any man that know tho multiplication table, can arriv? ?t the cost of any number of spit: dies. 1,000 spindles will convert int yarn about 200 bales of cotton pc annum. Tho same person can easil ascertain how many spindles it wi require to use .up the cotton crap c "tue South at a given annual average and how much capital is required t do it. Will the reader think abor it? *_ At a late meeting in Now Orlean: Mr. itoselius stated that, since th close of tho war, property in Ne Orleans has advanced to double it formen' value, owing to tho surpb of Northern capital, and the influx i enterprising people from tho Nert who were not afraid to settle. Wi Mr. Greeley go down South and mal ''that speech," safe and unmoleste as he may, or will he keep on doin business at the North as a cowai and calumniator, with an assistai living in New Orleans who issues daily coinage of calumny with perfe impunity? Artemus Ward, in one of his lette to Pundi, speaks of tho Traitors' Ga at the Tower, which, he says, is lar< enough to admit twenty traito abreast, and adds: "Traters, I w: here remark, are an onfortnit class people. If they wasn't they wouldr bo traters. They conspire to bust r a country-they fail, and they becon trat?is. They bust her, and flu become statesmen and heroes. " Art mus has become a philosopher, ai has hit tho truth in the case, as tin say at the shooting matches, phi centre. Tho salt water voyage h agreed with Artemus' intellect. Threats of vengeance against tl members of the Canadian Gover mont and court, which convicted Cc Lynch and Father McMahon, a freely mado in Ottawa, and crea great excitement. These threats ai Mr. Seward's letter create the impre sion there that war will ensue, in ca the Fenians are hung. Thc Fluctuation? In Gold. We presume there are few people, liviug remoto from Wall street, who know anything about tho mysteri?s of the gold market-of the causes whian produce tho almost daily ebb and flow in the price of the precious metal. Yet every one has something to urge on thc subject-especially newspaper men, who arc generally presumed to have a largo practical intimacy with all questions of a finan? cial character, lu a late nlimber of the Baltimore j G'tt^/e, we lind a long article, called forth by the announce? ment that thcro are ?9?,000,OOO of gold in the Treasury, the hoarding of which t he writer regards as an unwise feature in .Secretary McCulloch's financial policy. Without pretend? ing to determine to what ?xtent our Baltimore cotemporary may be cor? rect in his conclusions, wc copy a portion of his remarks: Mr. McCulloch is certainly hene fitting ono class of men-tho manu? facturers. By keeping up tho price of gold to 150, he is virtually aiding them by giving them what is equiva? lent to a very large additional duty in addition to the excessive duties now levied. This is all very well for Massachusetts; but it is very hard on the masses of tho people. An appre? ciation of gold is a depreciation o? currency, and the policy which maket thc Middle and Western and South? ern agricultural States give more grain, and more pork, and more cot? ton, for shirts, and shoes, and woodcr I nutmegs, is certainly neither a wisc nor national one. The customs re? ceived for the year 18GG will probably ! amount to $140,000,000. Of this sum [ about $75,ODO,000 is paid out for golc interest, a considerable portion o I which goes abroad. On every cen that goes abroad, the consumer o: j foreign imports has to pay apremiun I of 50 per ceut. so long as gold is a 150, which neither benefits him. no the importer, nor the Government j He is* merely taxed so much for th rival manufacturer, and for nothin; else. On the balance of the custom received, Government benefits to th \ extent of the gold premium save? I on the gold interest paid ont or real ized on the surplus gold sold. This however, large as it appears as whole, is a small matter when com pared with the heavy tax on an al ready overburdened commuuity, am that, too, levied by a Governmen whose receipts are professedly largel in excess of its expenditures. But this is not the only evil. ] Mr. McCulloch and the administra tion, of which he forms a part, desir actually to bring about a healthy an settled condition of affairs througl out the country, the first requisite i a settled policy. An unsettled polio creates distrust and unsettles even thing. Mr. McCulloch's objet should be to inspire confidence an not to destroy it. How can M McCulloch expect a man to invei largely in foreign goods-to-day wit gold at 147, when he knows that M McCulloch may throw 350,000,000 < gold on the market next morning au bear down the price to an extent sn ficient to ruin him? This is sure no way to deal with the heavy ta: payers of tue country. It is certaii ly not wiso to destroy tho men wi contribute so largely to the revenue Still this is where Mr. McCulloch policy tends, and so . long as M McCulloch is uncertain in his polio so long will there be uncertainty at distrust in the business community What the country wants is a bett policy and a return to specie pa ments. To effect this, the first sh required is that all the gold in tl country, not needed for payment i interest abroad, should be kept afio in tho coniniunity and not hoard? up by the Government. Let Al McCulloch announce the amount bo held in reserve, and then let t'. surplus be sold regularly in t market. Let thc gold question, ir word, take care of itself, and it w do more to create confidence th I anything else. Supplied regularly, will excite no uneasiness. Hoard up for extreme occasions and thro\ upon the market in time3 of excii ment, it may only add fuel to t cry flame it is meant to extingu?s ? Mr. McCulloch's experience of h summer should not be forgotten. 1 ! attempted to control gold, and almost created a panic. When t people found Government was sellir they rushed wildly in and gold we in a few days from less than 130 near 170. Mr. McCulloch produe the very effect he desired to obvia and he stirred up an exc?teme which has not yet been allayed. T passions of mon and the panics people are things which no legislati cm control. Storms have their la and hurricanes have their traci Passions and panics have neith Mr. McCulloch cannot protect hi self against either, but he can gua against them by not arousing the which ho certainly will do if he tempts to coerce trade, which 1 laws overr which Mr. McCulloch 1 no control. The price of gold v be regulated by tho law of sup] and demand, and Mr. McCulk may as well expect to make cot? cheap by withdrawing it from ci sumption as to mako gold cheap hoarding it up. Southern Kansas is growing cot! with success. The Impeachment of the President* .A great deal lias been said lately by tho radicals about tho impeachment of tho President. The following well considered views on the subject are from tho Albany Evening Journal, a Republican paper of abilit/: "If an impeachment were ordered, it would not be merely the trial of Andrew Johnson, but also tho arraign? ment of a party which represents a very great aud exceedingly active mi? nority (a large majority, counting the South in,) of tho American people. That party accepts tho President as its leader and exponent. It sustains his policy with energy and determina? tion. It defends, upon what it calls constitutional grounds, the very acts which are relied upon to justify the process of arraignment. It says that any attempt to withdraw this power from the Executive would, in itself, bo usurpation. We cannot doubt that, if articles of impeachment were to be prepared, the Democracy would consider itself as having been placed at the bar-would repudiate tho judg? ment as thc fulmination o! one party against the other, and would stand ready to uphold the President in a refusal to submit, though that refusal should result in civil war, as would be most likely, in the excited state of thc public mind, certain to prevail. "Let us imagine tho condition of affairs: A chief magistrate con? demned by a court whoso jurisdiction is denied, at the outset, by several millions of American citizens. He refuses to obey process. The Senate declares him out of office; but he persists in the exercise of preroga- I tive. Congress, then, representing the Government, undertakes to oust him ; but he summons to his aid what military he can command, and pre? pares lo test the question of force. Meanwhile, the violence aud turbu? lence engendered at the national capi? tal, extend through every section of a country not yet fully recovered from the delirium of war. Parties are de? veloped in each town, city add ham- j let, holding excitedly to the most pronounced opinions on one side or j the other, and ready to fight for t?iose | opinions. A spark might at any mo? ment drop ink) such a magazine, and then-what then? We of the North yet hardly know whakcivil war means, as they have learned it. who have seen steroet divided againststreet, and family against family, law obliterated, order destroyed, civil securities over? thrown, and neighbor arrayed in mor? tal enmity against, neighbor." .V Good Retort. Tin: Cincinnati Commercial, having j taunted Alabama with murdering her paupers, the Louisville Courier thus ! indignantly retorts upon the foul! sheet: This is generous. How came Ala- \ bama with so many paupers? The | Commercial well kuowsthat they were ; manufactured tor her hythe Northern ! hordes who mart-lied through her borders, leaving long black trails of desolation behind them. Because ! the people of Alabama happened to I believe with the Declaration of ludo- j pondenee, that when a form of go- j vernment becomes oppressive; the | people have a right to throw it ort*, i their country was invaded, their men i slaughtered, their women insulted, their houses fired, and their whole land devastated. Their misfortunes and not their faults have reduced them from opulence to penury. If they have not bread, it is oecause they have been robbed of the means to make it. If their lands are uncul? tivated, it is because thor fences were taken to build camp fires, their horses and mules stolen, their agricultural implements destroyed with ruthless vandalism, and their lands laid waste. Yet those who incited these depreda? tions now taunt thoso whom they ; have ruined with their penury. Could meanness find a lower depth I than that? -,0-'^ WHAT WE MAY Exr-Ecr.-Ti ie JW j tionnl Intelligencer says: To show what cause of alarm tho Southern people havo from the supremacy of the radi? cal party, it is sufficient to refer to the alarming threats put forth by that party, or by some prominent in? fluences in it-threats as follows: 1. Disfranchisement of tho rebel whites. 2. Putting all power in the hands of the blacks and a few loyal whites. 3. Organizing and arming tho c? lorcd people, as proposed by the Wasl i i n gt o n Chron ide. 4. Keeping np bodies of loyal troops at tho expense of particular localities,' as proposed by Southern loyalists in their address. 5. Confiscation more or less exten? sive. Gen. Butler told tho soldiers they could start from Arlington and go South, confiscating. G. Hanging tho principal rebels. 7. Ignoring the existing Stato or? ganizations, and appointing military Governors. 8. Annulling tho pardons granted by the President. 9. Exclusion of, every person South who liad ever taken nn oath to sup? port the Constitution, whether com? promised by tho rebellion or not, from all offices, civil, military or naval. Col. Lewis Downing, who has be? come, by tho death of John Ross, Chief of tho Cherokee Nation, has been an ordained Minister of the Baptist Mission for twenty years. Thc Supply of Cotton. Th J following extracts aro from an able article in tho. November number of DoBow's Review: "The causes which are depressing tho price in tho foreign market, and , of course iii our own, aro explained in tho recent circulars of Liverpool brokers. They are the stock on hand, amounting, as before stated ou the 1st of September, to 800,000 bales; the amount (nearly 500,01IU bales) of India cotton now at sea for the British market ; the expected re? ceipt of several hundred thousand bales during the fall mouths from America; and lastly, and principally, the fact that large amounts of cotton have been hypothecated-to English bankers to secure advances during the recent stringency in the finances of tho country, which are, being forced upon the market to satisfy these advances, added to reports from America of large crops expected. Tho intimations iii these circulars are plain, that these causes of de? pression will bo merely temporary. Tho stock on hand will soon be con? sumed by the homo'and export de? mand, amonuting now to some 70,000 bales per week. Nomon! cot? ton is to be shipped from India for six months to come. The bankers will soon be satisfied, and there will be no further reason for urgent sales; added to which, it is more than pro? bable that the English money market will soon become easy again, when tho speculative demand will be re? vived, lt is a significant fact, too, that on the 1st of September there were at sea for the English market only 23,000 bales, and that the whole number in transit, principally from India, was smaller than had been known for months before, being less than 500,000 bales. "The policy which should, nuder these circumstances, govern the course of Southern planters is plain. Where it is possible, let thom by all means hold on to their crops until these causes of temporary depression have been removed, and especially until the extravagant reports of the large crops to be raised by them during this season have been correct? ed abroad. These reports have been industriously started and indus? triously propagated, from motives which are easily seen and understood. The game is being adroitly and sys? tematically played, with many odds against the producer, whose toil and vexation entitle him to the stakes, and unless he is wary, they will bc snatched from him. Where stern necessity does not comped, let him rather prefer to count his bales than his greenbacks, until the propitious time shall come, and as sure as he lives, he will reap a high reward for his labors. But if haste and hurry are to rule the market, it will become glutted, and ho will get a mere pit? tance. "Wo think ono thing, at least, will be conceded by all those who have had any experience in the cultivation of cotton; and that is, that unless those who make it can receive more remunerating prices than aro now being paid, the production must ra? pidly decline; and none will be more ready to admit this than tlyose who, having no knowledge of the mode of its cultivation, have blindly rushed into the field with visions of the goldeii harvest they were to reap. After deducting tho three cents per pound tax which, of course, must come out of the pockets of the pro? ducer, and other expenses incident to the shipment and sale of bis cotton, but little is left, to the planter as net gains at thirty cents per pound, which, by-the-way, is rather more than he can expect with the present market. The average quality will not be higher than what is styled in the market 'Ipw middling' or 'good ordinary,' for which, at the present rates, he could not expect more than twenty-seven or twenty-eight cents per pound, or about twenty cents net, which can be but barely more than the cost of production." BLOOD! IAGO, BLOOD!-According to reports from Camula, the people of that province are exceedingly blood-thirsty. It is said that peti? tions are coming in front all sections, asking that no reprieve Ix; grained to the condemned Fenians. These peo? ple petitioning for blood arc the Black Republicans of Canada. When the Fenians stood on their soil in line of hattie, their anxiety for blood was not remarkable. They carefully staid at home. They did no fighting. They shed no blood. But so soon as some Fenians were captured, and the remainder had re? treated, then the thirst of the ("ana? dian Black Republicans for blood suddenly acquired a vigorous exist? ence. There is a cordial fellow-feeling between these petitioners over the border and our own stay-at-home patriots. Both are excessively anx? ious for blood. Neither did a particle of fighting. Both waited until some? body else had ended the war, and ! thou their turn came. "Blood! Iago, blood!" is the cry of j all cowards, leeches, fanatics and ! sueaks, from the day of Othello to that of the rebellion in the United i States, and that of the Fenian inva- j sion of Canada.-Chicago Times. -? ?? ? >-. The school children in Massachu? setts must be a fine set of youths. The Superintendent of Public Schools in Fall River says that pupils often como to school in a stato of intoxica? tion. The ['hir?is, office ia <>:i Main strei t, a few doors aboveTaylor (or Camden ) st reel. BLANKS FOR SALE AT nus OFFICK. Li? ters of Administration, Declaration ?>.i Bond or Scaled N.>t<-, Mortgages moi Con veyanci s of Real i -title. Wno BUKSEO'COLUMRIA? -This question will lu- asked fifty years hence. Then place fm only full and true account '.f its destruction in your libraries, so that yan children and children's children will know the whole truth. ' li will be more interest? ing tu them t ?i.-\n any romance. fQ DISTRICT COCHT MANUAL. - The most re? liable) amlsomely printed manual Cor thous.:., .hose having business with the District ('.?in t!', is that prepared and au? thenticated Ivr W. R. Huutt-j Secretary of State. Nothing is omitted in this useful volume. For sale at this onie.-. Nt w Ai>vi:r.TisE3iESTs. Attention IS.-?I?I cd to the following .. V-. . Usonients, wbieb are puMisbwl this morning for ?be ?'.rsi time: Notice to Defaulting Tax-Payers. Sch.'du!., over Charlo cte Railroad. Schedule over Charl? ston Railroad. J. L. black -Admti?sirator's Sale. Jesse E. Dont -?100 Reward. R. II. Rik? r- Corn. Wheat, &o. John \V;iti"s -Meeting Court of Appeals. True Brotherhood Lodge -Meeting. GOV. JENKINSON THE A.MENDMKST. In his message, dov. Jenkins, of Georgia, discusses thc constitutional amendment. Of the third aud most objectionable clause, he says: The objection now urged against the amendment is, that it will fail upon citizens inhabiting one latitude like nu avalanche from its mountain perch, crushing where it settles; whilst upon those of another latitude it will al%kt unfelt, like a feather fi?:)ating in siill air. Tho third section engrafts upon the fundamental law a new disqualifica? tion for office, ?State and Federal-a disqualification not the result of any act to be done after the adoption of the amendment, but consummated before its conception. The *act en? tailing disqualification for office con? sists in having heretofore taken an oath to support the Constitution of tho United States, and having there? after engaged in rebellion or insur? rection against the same, or'"having given aid and comfort to the enemies thereof." Considering thc number of our citizens who have taken the oath nuder the circumstances set forth, the number personally engaged in the war, and the breadth of ground covered by the words "giving aid and comfort to the enemies thereof," we can readily perceive the sweeping character of thc disqualification. It is as distinctly proscriptive as if the persons to ho affected had been ascer? tained and their names inserted. Let it be noted, also, t. at the pro? scribed are all dwellers on one sitie of a certain geographical line, whilst the authors of the proscription have their local habitation ou the other side. lt is quite remarkable, moreover, that there is in the entire section no saving clause in favor of those who, in the interval of the cessation of hostilities and tho adoption of the amendment, may have received the amnesty of tho Government. Par? doned they may have been, but dis? franchised they will lie. You are asked to give your consent that such a fate lie visited upon many of your best citizens, who have long enjoyed the public confidence, and some of whom now fill important public trusts. Can Georgia spare all of these from her service? THE EXCITEMENT IN BALTIMORE. The Sun, of Friday, says: . The Governor gives his opinion in full in relation to the malfeasance of office on the part of the old Police Commissioners, anti completely jus? tifies himself in appointing new oues. He concludes his decision as follows: Thc evidence in tho case proves beyond a doubt that tho Police Com? missioners have violated tho law and rendered themselves liable to the charge of misconduct in office : 1. By creating or permitting to grow up under their eyes, and with their complicity, a violent partisan organization, treating nil as disloyal who do not adopt the views'of tine radical party. 2. By denying the right of the Governor to entertain jurisdiction of the charges of official misconduct as preferred against said Commissioners. 3. By appointing to office, both as judges of election, special policemen ;vnd clerks, exclusively from their own party, and in many instances incom? petent, and in some of the precincts D? the most disreputable characters, ^nd denying appointments to any otha class of our citizens. 4. By delegating to thc marshal ind officers under him the power to qipoint special policemen, without Lheniselves inquiring into the qualifi? cations or moral standing of Aid officers, thus attempting to throw the responsibility of bad appointments, which they were ready to accept, ipon their subordinates. fj. By suffering the judges of. elec ;ion to throw aside tho boxes for re ected ballots, and giving them no ulvice as to their obligations under die law to uso th^m, and refusing to .en^ve them from office for so mani est a violation of duty. Every phase of this investigation thows how utterly regardless the Po? ico Commissioners have been of their dain line of duty.