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I'llK CONSTITIiilOiNAMST.JAMES GARDNER, JR.TEBMS.Diily, per ................. ................S 8 noTri-Weekly, |er annum....................0 OBif in ................................■'* ,K)Weekly, I^r annum, if paid in advance.--.- 00J'hese terms are offered to new subscribers am1 all wld subscribers who pay up all arrearage*.In no case wil! the weekly paper be sent at unless the money'accompanies the order.In no case will it be sent at $2,00 to an old subscriber in arrears.(O’When the year paid for at £2,00 expires, the piper, if not discontinued, or paid for in advance,wdl be sent on tne old terras,£2,50 if paid at th® otfice within the year, or £3,00 it paid after the expiration of fne year.O^Postage mnsi be paid on all communications n I letters of business.We vo all our Augcl-Side,BY M \ K I K.Despair not of the •• better part”I'nat lies in human kind;A gleam of light still flickereth In e’en the darkest miud. lhe savage, with his chib of war,The sage, so mild and good,Are linked in firm eternal bonds Of common brotherhood.Despair not! oh! despair not then, tor tho’ this world as wide.No nature is so demon-like,But there's an angel-sidc !I he huge, rough stones, from out the mine, Unsightly and unfair,Have veins of purest metal hid Beneath the surface there.FewT rocks so bare, but to their heights Some tiny moss-plant clings,And round the peaks most desolate, l he sea-birds soars and sings.Believe me, too, that rugged-souU Beneath their rudeness hide Much that is good and beautiful —We’ve all our angel-side.In all there is an inner depth,A far-off secret was —Where, through dim w indows of the soul God sends his smiling rav. lu every human harp there is A faithful sounding chord.That may be struck unknown to us.By some sweet loving word !The wayward heart in vain may try Its so.'ter thoughts to hide,Some unexpected tone reveals // h as its angel-side!Despised, and low, and trodden down,—Dark with the shade of sin ;Deciphering not those halo-light*W hich (jioii hath lit within.Groping about in utmost night,Poor prisoned souls there are.Who guess not W'hat lile’s meaning isAnd dream of heaven afar!Oh ! that some gentle hand of love Their stumbling steps would guide Arid show them that amidst if all.Lile ha* its ansrel-side IBrutal and coarse, and mean enough,God knows, some natures are,But He, compassionate lies near,And shall we stand afar ?Our cruse of oil will not grow less If shared with hearty hand,And words of peace, and looks of love,;\o nature can withstand 1Love is the mighty conqueror—Love is the beauteous guide— Love, with her beaming eyes, can see We’ve all our angel-side ![From the Savannah Georgian. ]Georgia Claims-Hou If. V. Johnson’sSpooch.In the Daily Georgian of Tuesday, we published the amendment moved by lion. II. V. Johnson, of Georgia, to the general Appropriation Bill, which was iejected (27th ult.) by the Senate—S to 39—as it was considered by many Senators an inappropriate bill whereon to engraft a claim of a private nature.The following are the remarks of Mr. Johnson, of our State, on this just claim, before the vote w*as taken, as reported in the Washington Union of 3d inst.Mr. Johnson', of Georgia. I am fullyaware, Mr. President, that it would be moreappropriate for this amendment to have been offered to another, the Indian appropriation bill; but, at the time when that bill was under discussion, the committee to which this claim was referred had not examined the subject nor made their report. It was, therefore, impossible, at that stage of the proceedings of the Senate, to have offered the amendment to that bill—the bill to which it would have appropriately referred. Now, I ask the Senate, if the amount which is sought to be appropriated by the amendment that I offer to this bill be justly due to the State of Georgia, what boots it to the federal government by what bill the appropriation may be made? If the State of Georgia had this just demand against the United States—a demand which has existed for more than thirteen years, n demand for the payment ot which the State has not heretofore been knocking at the doorsgia, that the same justice shall be meted out to her that lias been meted out to other private c aim ants. And, sir, this claim, if it be a private claim, stands upon higher ground than others, for the reason that the Indian appropriation bill, to which I admit this amendment would have been more appropriate, was passed before the bill for the payment of this claim was reported upon by the committee, and before it was in a shape to be acted upon by the Senate ; whereas other private claims have had their day in the Senate, and, al-tliougn not applicable to appropriation bills, have been attached to this bill bv the deliberate vote of the Senate : and now' it is contended that this should be rejected on the ground that it is a private claim.But this is not strictly a private claim. Look at its history as it is detailed by the report oi the Committee on Indian Affairs, and you will perceive that it is not strictly a private claim. It is true that the property which was destroyed, and upon which this claim was originallv based, was private property, belonging to Henry \\ . Jernigan, and was in possession of the troops of the United States in 1836, andwas in their possession when destroyed by the enemy. That raseda claim on behalf of Henry \V. Jernigan, the owner of the property. The State of Georgia, looking at the Meritorious conduct of tliis gentleman, who had been thus ruined by this destructive act of the enemy, who had his property thus swept from him, arid who had displayed a degree of public spirit andpatriotism that is rarely found, went forward and advanced to him the sum of twenty-two thousand dollars and upwards, which was the estimated amount of his loss, and took his note for the sail e, payable to the Central Hank of Georgia, relying on the good faith of this government to refund the mone}*.By reference to the action of this government, it will be seen thatthe State of Georgia had good cause to trust to the liability of the I nited States to refund the amount thus advanced to Jernigan. On the 3d of March, 1837, Congress passed an act which was designed, among other things, “ to enable the President of the United States, by suitable agents, to inquire what depredations were committed by the Seminole and Greek Indians on the property of citizens of Florida, Georgia and Alabama. In pursuance of this act the President appointed L. T. Pease and J. M. Smith commissioners to inquire into this subject. On the 28th of November, 1837, these commissioners reported, in separate columns, ! the “ amounts claimed” and the amounts allowed in favor of the respective claimants, andamong others, allowed the identical items specified in this amendment, amounting in the aggregate to $16,467. Now it is true this report does not fix the liability of the government,but that it furnishes prima facie evidence of its liability cannot be denied. It does also fix and settle the true value of the property destroyed ; and if it was destroyed under the circumstances set forth in the report of the committee, the government is undoubtedly bound to pay for it. Upon the faith of this evidenceof the liability of the government to pay the demand of Jernigan, the legislature of Georgia, by resolution authorized the Central Bank, (which is a State institution,) upon a transfer by Jernigan of his claim, as set forth in that report, to surrender up to himbis note for upwards of $22,000. He did make the transfer, and the note was surrendered. Now, I ask the Senate if the State had not just cause to rely upon the good faith of the government? These are the circumstances, which, in my judgment, strip from this the character of a private claim. It comes before the Senate in the character of a public claim. It is to reimburse the State ofGeorgia the amount of money she lias paid, and for which this government is liable upon the principle stated in the report. Altho* the claim originates with a private individual, yet the State of Georgia having become a party, by advancing the money for the benefit of the U. States, it becomes a j ublic claim.But the Senator from New' Hampshire says that if this claim be allowed, it will involve the government in a liability to pay other claims of a similar description, to the amount I of two or three hundred thousand dollars.Mr. President, I care not if the government be made liable for the payment of three millions of dollars by the allowance of this claim ; if it be just, the government ought to pay it ; and, if tiie demands of other claimants are equallyjust, the government ought to pay them all. But the argument of the Senator from New Hampshire is not true in point of fact. By paying the amount which is here claimed, this government assumes no obligation to pay a single dollar beyond the amount of this individual claim. It only assumes to pay this claim, upon a principle which has been recognised and binding upon the government from 1810 down to the present time; a principle which has never been repudiated ; a principle within which, when claims like this are brought by proof, they are always paid. Does it necessarily follow that ail the long list of Claims that were reported on by the commissioners who acted under the authority of the law of 1837 must necessarily be paid / No sir. The government will only be bound to pay them in the event of their being supported by proof, such as will bring them withinof Congress, a demand for the payment of ^ie principle upon which the government haswhich the State has given this government no annoyance—I ask, then, is it fair (on the supposition that the claim is just) that it should be refused at this time, ou the mere technical pretext that it is not a proper amendment to be offered to the civil and diplomatic appropriation bill ? I think not, sir.But the honorable senator from New Hampshire asks why this claim, if it be just, has been so long slept over by the State ? The only response that 1 can give to this is, that it is a claim which is due to the State of Georgia, through a transaction of the Central Bank of Georgia. It may be, sir, that the attention of the public authorities, the executive, or the president of the Central Bank, ha^ not been drawn to this subject, by reason of the vast amount of business to be transacted by them. It may have been overlooked, and consequently no demand made upon this government. But is that a just ground upon which to reject it ? Are senators about to set up the statute of limitations in favor of the government, or is it a fair and legitimate argument against the justice of the claim that it has not been demanded within a given period of time? It may raise a bare presumption, but it does not rise to the dignity of an argument. And it is a presumption which is so feeble in its character* that it ought not to weigh a moment in the deliberations of the Senate in meteing out to the State the justice that is now demanded, much less ought it tohave any weight in the face of the unanimous report of the Committee on Indian Affairs, towhom the subject has been referred, and who now deciare, through their chairman, whe* has just addressed the Senate, and has expressed the judgment of the committee, that they are satisfied thatthe claim is just beyond all question ; and that the evidence by which it is supported is of the most unimpeachable and undoubted character.Again : it is said that this is in the nature of a mere private claim. Well, it it be, other private claims that have been offered as amendments to this bill have not been rejected by the Senate. There have been private claims attached to this bill, by way of amendment, since it has been under deliberation by the Senate ; and if other private claims are considered to be properly applicable to this bill, and are passed upon favorably by the Senate, then I ask, on behalf of the State of Geoi -heretofore acted, and by which the government has held itself to be bound ; and if they be brought within that principle, 1 ask, would the Senator from New* Hampshire, or any other Senator who desired to do justice, be disposed to reject them r The allowance of this,then, devolves no other responsibility on thegovernment than the payment of this* single claim ; and it is for the other claimants hereafter to come forward, and show, by testimony, that according to the principles set forth in the report, and recognised by the government, their claims ought to be paid. When they bring forward this proof, they will be entitled to receive indemnity.This claim rests upon the principle on w hich the government has always field itself liable— that is, the destruction of private property while actually in the possession of troops of the United States ; and is the forbearance of the State, in not asking redress from the government, to be made an argument by which justice is to be refused ? I trust not. Why, if you allow every dollar here claimed, the State will be a loser to the extent of some six thousand dollars by the transaction. The a-monnt allowed by the report of the commissioners to Henry W. Jernigan, in the aggregate, was only about $10,407, whereas ^the State of Georgia, in the transaction to which I have referred, actually advanced to him the sum of $22,000 and upwards. The State has lost the interest upon that twenty-two thousand dollars up to the present hour, and yetshe is only taking the amount allowed by thecommissioners at the time when the claim was investigated. She must necessarily pocket the loss, being the difference between the a-mount advanced, with interest upon it up to this time, and the amount allowed by the commissioners. It seems to me, under all the aspects of this question, that there can be no doubt about the justice of the claim. 1 do trust, therefore, that the Senate will not reject it upon the technical pretext that it is not altogether gennain to the bill before the Senate.Ex-President Polk.—We learn from Capt. Smith, ol the steamer Gladiator, that Mr. Polk arrived at Wilmington on Wednesday morning, at 10 o clock, and was to remain there that day, to partake of the hospitalities that had been tendered him bv the citizens of that place.He will arrive here this day, and from the!
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Augusta Daily Constitutionalist
Augusta, Georgia, US
Sat, Mar 10, 1849
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USA 30 Mar 2020
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