* UNIVERSITY CiF ILLINOIS 
 
 i 
 
 s 
 
 No. 4 
 
 PUBLISHED AND DISTRIBUTED 
 
 BY 1 HE 
 
 1875 , 
 
 - 
 
 Decrease of the Wealth 
 
 OF MISSISSIPPI 
 
 UNDER RADICAL MISRULE. 
 
 lEADQUARTERS DEMOCRATIC AND CON-I 
 
 servative State Executive Com- > 
 
 M ITT EE- ' 
 
 Jackson, Miss., Oct. 8th, 1875. 
 
 That the present maladministration has 
 n-oduced the most wide spread destruction 
 )f the property and wealth of the State, 
 md not only prevents all progress and 
 improvement, but is surely and rapidly 
 consuming all we have, and all that can 
 oe produced by the best energies of our 
 people, is a truth which we all admit and 
 reel; hut it is nevertheless well to show 
 this by actual figures, so that the extent 
 in<\ steady progress of this ruin may be 
 dearly understood. Each individual 
 citizen is conscious from his own experi¬ 
 ence that notwithstanding his best efforts, 
 his greatest industry and his. most 
 parsimonious retrenchment, he is gradu¬ 
 ally but surely approaching bankruptcy. 
 But he may think that others are more 
 favored,—that the hard hand of poverty 
 ha« not reached others, whom he may 
 
 consider more fortunate than himself; for 
 this reason also, it may be well to look at 
 official docments. 
 
 [t is now ten years since the war ended, 
 
 •j 
 
 and during all that time, it is safe to say, 
 that no people ever worked with greater 
 zeal or energy, or lived closer, and with 
 fewer luxuries, than the people of Mis¬ 
 sissippi ; and the result is that they 
 have not only failed to accomplish any 
 improvement in their condition, or to 
 make any progress or advance, but they 
 have, under a merciless system of taxa¬ 
 tion, and a most dishonest, corrupt, and 
 wasteful government, been growing poor¬ 
 er and poorer every day. This has been 
 the result up to the present time, and 
 during a period when our great sta¬ 
 ple, (cotton) has commanded in the 
 markets of the world, a higher price 
 than ever before; and the question 
 now arises in every thoughtful mind, 
 what are we to do in the future, when 
 cotton has declined to its ante helium 
 price, and is every day getting lower ? 
 There must be relief, or there is certain 
 
 ruin. Disguise it as we may, the people 
 
? 
 
 Of 7 
 
 U? ‘ 
 
 7 
 
 Campaign Document . 
 
 of Mississippi are poorer after all these 
 ten years of self-denial and hard labor 
 than they were before. They are also 
 
 on the verge of universal bankruptcy and 
 ruin. 
 
 This has been brought about by Rad¬ 
 ical misrule, and all our lost wealth has 
 been consumed in taxes, which are levied 
 to pamper and fatten a worthless horde 
 of adventurers, who have no interest in, 
 or sympathy with, the fortunes of the 
 people of the State. 
 
 The people of Mississippi are not 
 drones nor idlers. They have shown 
 their capacity to produce wealth, and 
 
 to improve their fortunes; they have 
 been energetic and economical; thev 
 have worked hard early and late; they 
 haveh ac no luxuries, barely the comforts 
 of hfe; they possess a salubrious clime, 
 a fertile soil, and have been eno-acr Pt ] j a 
 raising the most profitable crops. In the 
 woild. Yet the result is ruin. 
 
 Ret us look at the figures : 
 
 In 1850, the total population of the 
 btate was 006,526, and the total value 
 of the property of the State was #228,. 
 Jo 1,130, or $37/ per head. In 1860 
 the total population of the State was 
 
 DC °; 5 ’ and th etotal wealth $509 472 - 
 9 2. I,, 1866, the total wealth 4 the 
 State was $161,151,207, and the total 
 population about the same in I860 
 and the valuation of the property per 
 head was a little over $200,00. In 1875 
 
 the tota! wealth is $119,123,008-about 
 
 $lbb per bead. 
 
 ,. This shows a large increase in popula¬ 
 tion between 1850 and 1860, but a still! 
 larger increase in wealth; the increase 
 m population being 184,879, or about 13 
 per cent, for the ten years; the increase 
 m wealth being $280,521,782, or over 
 
 in 7 valuatio: ‘ of property 
 
 ! 16 rate of 4644 to each 
 
 I860 to 1870, lour years of which were 
 war, and six years peace, the increase in 
 population was only 36,617—the nonn 
 Jation m 1870 being 827,922; but still 
 there was an increase. The total wealth 
 
 of the State in 1870,. as shown by the 
 census of that year was $209,197,345, 
 
 beiU Yn7noo r W 7 th in that decade of 
 over $300,000,000, or about 60"per cent. 
 
 lhese estimates are based on census re-T 
 turns, not on assessments. 
 
 But as the object of this paper is to 
 rhow what we have lost by Radical mis- 
 government, it will be as well to com¬ 
 mence on a new basis of valuation, just 
 aiier the war ended, and when its rava¬ 
 ges had ceased, making no other use of 
 the ante helium statistics than to show the 
 rate at which our people created wealth 
 in time of peace, under a fair and just 
 government. This rate of increase, as 
 is above shown, was over 12 per cent per 
 annum. 1 
 
 There is no civilized people, certainly 
 there is no part of the United States, 
 not cursed by carpet-bag rule, that does 
 not increase their wealth yearly. The 
 
 iTrnw i“ Missis8i PPi between 1850 and 
 I8bUo * U percent, per annum is not 
 exceptionally high, but is below the aver- 
 ?§®- ,increase in Indiana between 
 
 looO and 1860 was 16 per cent; between 
 UbOand 18/0 it was 14 percent, per 
 annum. 11 ! Yew Jersey, between 1850 
 and 1860, it was 19 4 5 per cent.; a 
 I year,-between 1860 and 1870, it was 
 . per cent. In Massachusetts, between 
 18o0 and 1860, it Was 4} per cent.; be¬ 
 tween I860 and 1870, it was 10 
 per cent a year. In Tennessee, be¬ 
 tween 185.0 and 1860, it was 14 per 
 cent per annum ; and between 1860 and 
 1S/0 there was even then a small in- 
 cre , as 1 e - A In Connecticut, between 1850 
 and I860, the annual increase was 19 
 per cent. ; between 1860 and 1870 it 
 was 7 3-5 per cent. In Illinois the ’an¬ 
 nual increase, between 1850 and 1860 
 was 50 per cent.; between 1860 and 1870 
 
 77 0 W Iu Ge °rgi«. between 
 18o0 and 1860, it was 9 percent, per 
 
 annum. In New York, between 1850 and i 
 
 1 fro ' C 'rofo-ng ° ent ' ea °b year; between 
 1860 and 1870 it was 54 per cent, a year. 
 
 In Alabama, oetween 1850 and 1860 it 
 was about 11 per cent. In the whole of 
 , ^ 111 ad States, the increase in wealth, 
 
 between 1850 and 1860, was over 13 per 
 cent, per annum ; between 1860 and 
 
3 
 
 A 2. 97 Campaign Document 
 
 1870, notwithstanding the great losses 
 sustained by the Southern States from 
 the war, it was nearly 9 per cent. So it 
 appears that the property in Mississippi, 
 under good government, increased be- 
 tween 1850 and 1860, in about the same 
 ratio, as the average of the whole Union. 
 
 But to remove all cavil, we will say, 
 that the increase would, under a fair 
 government in time of peace, be 10 per 
 cent, per annum, and make our calcula¬ 
 tion accordingly. 
 
 Commencing, as before stated, on the 
 basis of the assessment of 1866, the year 
 after the war closed, we will see how the* 
 case stands. Have we lost or gained by 
 these nine years of labor and toil ? In 
 1866, the land assessment, excluding 
 school land, amounted to 8115,321,299. 
 There was no assessment of all personal- 
 tv till 1870, and none accessible to me 
 till 1871. Though the years subsequent 
 to 1871 show a steady decrease in the 
 value of personalty, I will assume there 
 was no decrease before that time, and 
 that the personalty in 1866 was worth as 
 much as it was in 1871, viz : $45,829,908. 
 This added to the realty, makes $161,- 
 151,207, as the total wealth of the State 
 in 1866. 
 
 In 1871 the, total assessment of realty 
 and personalty was $150,000,000, show¬ 
 ing a loss in live years of $11,151,207, 
 or about $2,000,000 for each year. 
 These were years of peace, and the price 
 of cotton, during this entire period, was 
 double its ante helium value, when our 
 increase of wealth was twelve per cent per 
 annum. There is no reason, but bad 
 government, and high taxes, why this 
 increase should not have been kept up. 
 But put the increase at 10 per cent., and 
 the wealth of the State should have 
 been in 1871, $241,726,807, instead of 
 what it was, viz: $150,000,000; showing 
 a loss, by bad government, of $91,726,- 
 807, in five years, or over $18,000,000 a 
 year. 
 
 The assessment of realty in 1871, was 
 $104,136,291, and there was no new as¬ 
 sessment till 1875, and so we cannot show 7 
 the annual decrease in the value of real¬ 
 ty, but w 7 e can take the four years together. 
 
 Tne assessment rolls for the year 1875 
 have not all been returned ; but we have 
 
 the rolls of fifty counties, situated in all 
 parts of the State, and the returns from 
 these counties show a decrease of 18 per 
 cent, in the land assessment for four 
 years. The same rate of decrease in the 
 land assessment in the remaining coun¬ 
 ties w’ould make the land assessment 
 amount this year (1875) to $85,401,759, 
 or a loss in four years of $18,734,759. 
 Add to this the loss in land assessment 
 between 1866 and 1871, as follows: 
 
 Assessment of 1806.$115,321,299 
 
 Assessment of 1871. . 104,136,291 
 
 $ 1L185,008 
 
 makes a total loss in land value of $29,- 
 919,540 in four years. 
 
 The loss in value of personalty is still 
 more marked, and as the assessment was 
 made each year after 1871, we can show 
 the annual decrease, and that it was 
 steady and never varying : 
 
 Assessment of personalty, 1871..$45,829,908 
 Assessment of personalty, 1872. . 45,224,410 
 
 Loss in one year.. 605,468 
 
 Personalty assessment of 1873 . 44,710,345 
 
 Loss as compared with 1872. ... 514,095 
 
 Personalty assessment of 1874. .. 44,3S3,222 
 Loss as compared with 1873. 327,123 
 
 In 1875, w 7 e have assessment rolls of 
 personalty for forty-four counties, show¬ 
 ing a total loss in these counties of 
 $6,838,565, or 24 per cent., making 
 assessments in all about $33,721,249. 
 Loss' in one year $10,661,973, or a 
 total loss in four years of $12,108,659 ; 
 over one-fourth of our personal w T ealth in 
 four years. 
 
 Add now the total loss of land and 
 
 personalty together : 
 
 Land...$29,919,540 
 
 Personalty. 12,108,659 
 
 Making grand total.$42,028,199 
 
 But this is not the real loss, great as it 
 is. We have lost all we have made in 
 these nine years, in addition. This, a 
 before shown, would haye been undern- 
 good government, 12 per cent, per an¬ 
 num, but we will put it at 10 per cent., 
 so as to be perfectly safe. This, as 
 wealth would be as follows : 
 
 Land assessment in 1866, $115,321.- 
 299. 
 
 Personal assessment m I860, asauraed 
 
4 ' Campaign 
 
 to be as great as in 1871,—$45,829,908. 
 
 Total wealth in 1866—$161,151,207. 
 
 Add 90 per cent., or 10 per cent, for 
 each of nine years, for increase, and we 
 have $145,036,086, for the increase— 
 making what our wealth should be in 1875 
 $306,187,293. Instead of this it is only 
 as follows : 
 
 Land assessment in 1875—$85,401,- 
 759. 
 
 Personalty—$33,721,249. 
 
 Total—$119,123,008. 
 
 Which deducted from what it should 
 be, as shown above, leaves $187,069,- 
 285, representing the cost in money to 
 the people of the State, of Radical mis¬ 
 rule, besides the enormous taxation 
 which we have paid. 
 
 The ten years which have elapsed 
 since the war, though in time of profound 
 peace, have been more devastating to 
 the people than war. The United States, 
 as a whole, increased their wealth nine 
 per cent, annually, during the last de¬ 
 cade, yet we have constantly retrograded. 
 
 France recovered aliheiUost wealth in 
 five years, after the most devastating of 
 all wars. We, at the end of ten years, 
 are as if war had never ceased. 
 
 Lord Macaulay, (History of England, 
 V°l. F Chap. 3,) in contemplating and 
 commenting on the improved condition 
 of England after long years of misrule 
 and intestine commotions, makes use of 
 the following language: 
 
 “ In every experimental science* there 
 is a tendency toward perfection. In ev¬ 
 ery human being there is a wish to ame¬ 
 liorate his own condition. These two 
 principles have often sufficed, even when 
 counteracted by great public calamities, 
 and by bad institutions, to carry civiliza¬ 
 tion rapidly forward. Ho ordinary mis¬ 
 fortune, no ordinary misgovernment, 
 will do so much to make a nation wretch¬ 
 ed, as the constant progress of physical 
 knowledge, and the constant effort of 
 every man to better his condition, will 
 do to make a nation prosperous. It has 
 often been found that profuse expendi¬ 
 ture, heavy taxation, absurd commercial 
 restrictions, corrupt tribunals, disastrous 
 wars, seditions, persecutions, conflagra¬ 
 tions and inundations, have not been 
 able to destroy capital as fast as the exer- 
 
 Document. 
 
 tions of private citizens have been able 
 to create it.” 
 
 He further says that the national 
 wealth of England, “in spite of battles, 
 sieges, and confiscations, was greater on 
 the day of the Restoration, than on the 
 day when the Long Parliament met; that 
 in spite of maladministration, of ex¬ 
 travagance, of public bankruptcy, of 
 two costly and unsuccessful wars, of 
 pestilence and fire, it was greater on the 
 day of the death of Charles the Second, 
 than on the day of his Restoration.” This 
 is the great lesson taught by history.— 
 constant progress in wealth and civiliza¬ 
 tion over all ordinary obstacles. Eng¬ 
 land and all other States have triumphed 
 over all obstacles in their march to 
 wealth. Mississippi, in time of profound 
 , peace, without battles, sieges, confisca¬ 
 tions, {.without conflagrations, inunda¬ 
 tions, pestilence or fire, and with only 
 maladministration and wasteful extrava¬ 
 gance, has been constantly retrograding. 
 
 But a still more marked evidence of 
 our decay will be found in the number 
 of acres of land forfeited for taxes. In 
 1866 the value of land forfeited for taxes 
 was $607,632, being about one-half of 
 one per cent, on the value of land in the 
 State. In 1875 the number of acres 
 forfeited is about 6,500,000, or over 27 
 per cent, of the value of all the land in 
 the State. In 6,500,000 acres there is a 
 little over 10,000 square miles, more 
 than one-fifth of the total area of the 
 State, or about fourteen average coun¬ 
 ties. 
 
 We have become so used here to see 
 evidences of decay and destruction of 
 wealth, that we do not readilv take in 
 the full import of these enormous figures. 
 
 The land forfeited in Mississippi for 
 taxes, and which was once private pro¬ 
 perty, constitutes a larger area, by two 
 thousand square miles, than the States 
 of Connecticut, Rhode Island and Dela¬ 
 ware combined; larger than Massachu¬ 
 setts and Delaware combined ; larger by 
 near 1,700 square miles than Hew Jer¬ 
 sey ; larger than Hew Hampshire, and 
 nearly as large as Maryland. 
 
 Under a good government all these 
 lands would be held by private owners, 
 
Campaign Document 
 
 5 
 
 and would be supporting a thriving 
 population. 
 
 This year there will be a large increase 
 in the area of land forfeited. The taxes 
 , which ought to be collected from these 
 lands must be collected from the remain¬ 
 der. Thus every year the taxes will be 
 increased, and there will be less and less 
 property to pay them. Can we stand this ? 
 Is Mississippi alone, of all the United 
 States, to remain under this bondage to 
 Radical misrule and corruption ? We 
 have a fair chance to relieve ourselves 
 now. If we let the opportunity pass, an¬ 
 other may never come. 
 
 J. Z. GEORGE, 
 Chairman. 
 
 proper persons in all cases, when lie may 
 be called upon to act, and as he must 
 necessarily rely upon the advice of others 
 as to who shall be appointed, it will be- 
 | come necessary for the Democrats and 
 Conservatives to take such action as will 
 secure the placing before Judge Hill of 
 ! the names of suitable persons to be ap- 
 ! pointed. 
 
 I know of no better way to accomplish 
 this end than for the Chairman of the 
 Democratic and Conservative Club, at 
 the county seat of each county, to for¬ 
 ward to me at once the names of at least 
 
 -- 
 
 Xiao AppoisitmeMt of Election* Su¬ 
 pervisors. 
 
 Headquarters Executive Committee, 'j 
 Democratic-Conservative Party j 
 of the State of Mississippi. 
 
 Jackson, Miss., Oct. 8, 1875. J 
 
 To the Democrats and Conservatives of 
 Mississippi: 
 
 A recent notice from Judge R. A. Hill, 
 tn reference to the appointment of Super¬ 
 visors of Election, renders it necessary for 
 me to give you some instructions in refer¬ 
 ence to that matter. 
 
 By an Act of Congress (Revision of 
 1875, Title xxvi), any ten citizens resid¬ 
 ing in a county in a Congressional Dis¬ 
 trict may apply to the United States 
 Judge for the appointment of supervisors 
 of any Congressional election. 
 
 | two (2) intelligent and responsible citi¬ 
 zens of his • county, for each precinct 
 therein, belonging to the Democratic and 
 ] Conservative party, from whom th e 
 judge may select one for each precinct. 
 That is, where there are (5) five precincts 
 in a county, let the names of at least ten 
 ; (10) Conservatives and Democrats be at 
 once forwarded to me, two from each 
 precinct, so that (5) five of the number 
 may be selected. 
 
 If the Chairman of the Democratic 
 ! and Conservative Committee can agree 
 
 i # 
 
 with the Chairman of the Republican 
 Committee upon the proper number for 
 each county, one for each party, for 
 each precinct, it would be preferable. 
 If that be done, let the names so agreed 
 on be forwarded, indicating which party 
 
 I suppose that an application will be j each belongs to. 
 
 made to Judge Hill for the appointment j 
 of such supervisors in each Congressional j 
 District. The law requires that two 
 supervisors shall be appointed (when j 
 proper application is made) at each elec- j 
 tion precinct. They are required to be 
 of different political parties, and able to 
 read and write the English language, j 
 and residents of the county. I have no j 
 doubt Judge Hill desires ta appoint' 
 
 In forwarding names, the precinct at 
 which each is desired to be appointed 
 should be indicated. 
 
 I ask for prompt action m this matter, 
 and that the names of no one will be 
 recommended or forwarded who is not in 
 every respect a trustworthy citizen. 
 
 J. Z. George, 
 Chrm. D. and C. Ex, Com. 
 
6 
 
 Campaign 
 
 CIRCULAR. 
 
 Headquarters Executive Committee, ) 
 Democratic-Conservative Party 
 of the State of Mississippi ( 
 Jackson, Miss., Oct. 8, 1875. J 
 
 I have received so many inquiries in 
 relation to naturalization that it is deem¬ 
 ed best to answer all in this circular. 
 
 xlny alien may be naturalized in the 
 following manner: 
 
 1. He shall have first declared his in- j 
 tention to become a citizen, in due form, 
 before a Circuit or District Court of the 
 United States, or a Court of re cord of a 
 State liaviug common law jurisdiction. 
 If this has been done two years, the alien 
 may then apply for naturalization. If, 
 however, the alien was a minor when he | 
 arrived in the United States, and has 
 resided here for three years before his 
 majority, he may be naturalized without 
 having declared his intention as afore¬ 
 said, two years before application. He 
 may make the declaration when he is 
 naturalized—but he still must have re¬ 
 sided before naturalization, five years 
 in the United States. And any alien 
 over twenty-one years of age may be 
 naturalized who has enlisted in the U. 
 S. Army, and has been honorably dis¬ 
 charged and has been a resident of the 
 United States one year. 
 
 2. Before naturalization, except in 
 case of a discharged soldier, the alien 
 must have resided in the United States 
 five years, and in the State where he is 
 naturalized, one year. 
 
 3. The applicant for naturalization in 
 Mississippi, must go before a Circuit 
 Court of the State (■not the Chancery ,) 
 and in term time be naturalized. He 
 need not go to the Circuit Court of the 
 county where he resides, but to any 
 Circuit Court in the State. 
 
 4. When he goes to the Court to be 
 naturalized, he must show to the Court: 
 
 1st—That he has declared his inten¬ 
 tion to become a citizen at least two years 
 before (except in cases of minors and 
 discharged soldiers, as before explained). 
 This can be done by producing the cer¬ 
 tificate given at the time by the officer 
 before whom the declaration was made. 
 
 Document. 
 
 and if it has been lost, he can prove by his 
 own oath its loss, or destruction. 
 
 2d—He must show to the Court*that 
 he has resided in the United States at 
 least five vears, and in the State one 
 year, and that during that time he has 
 behaved as a man of good moral charac¬ 
 ter, attached to the principles of the 
 Constitution of the United States and 
 well disposed to the good order and hap¬ 
 piness of the same. 
 
 But in no case can the residence re¬ 
 quired be proven by the oath of the ap¬ 
 plicant. 
 
 3d—The children of aliens who have 
 been duly naturalized are citizens, by the 
 act of naturalizing the father ; and if an 
 alien has declared his intention to become 
 ! a citizen, and has died before naturaliza- 
 i tion, his widow and children may become 
 citizens by taking the naturalizing oath. 
 
 The oath required for naturalization is 
 as follows : 
 
 “ 1 solemnly swear that I will support 
 the Constitution of the United States, 
 and that I absolutely and entirely re¬ 
 nounce and abjure all allegiance to every 
 foreign prince, potentate, state or sover¬ 
 eignty, and particularly to-, (Prince 
 
 or King, or Empress of-, naming 
 
 the country of which the applicant is a 
 native), of whom I was before a subject.” 
 
 When all this is done, the proceedings 
 should be entered on the record, and the 
 Court should enter up a judgment, de¬ 
 claring that the applicant is thereby, 
 having complied with the law, admitted 
 to the rights and privileges and immuni¬ 
 ties of a citizen of the United States, 
 and adjudged and declared to be a citizen 
 of the same. J. Z. George. 
 
 The election day is approaching rap¬ 
 idly. You have no time to lose. Let 
 every Democrat do his whole duty from 
 now until the electian. 
 
 If there is a Democrat who is not 
 doing his duty, let him reflect upon the 
 infamies and oppressions that will come 
 to us all from two more vears of Radical 
 rule. 
 
Campaign Document . 
 
 7 
 
 e Radical IParty.—Sts 3<3xlrava- 
 g'asuce and Violated Pledges. 
 
 : clarion.] 
 
 The Convention of August, 1873, 
 which nominated Ames for Governor, 
 promised to reform the abuses which it 
 had practiced, and registered a solemn 
 pledge to “retrench expendtiures” and 
 practice “rigid economy.” We can best 
 see how that pledge has been redeemed, 
 b} 7 refering to the official reports : 
 
 [document b ] 
 
 Disbursements for fiscal year 1874, from 
 tile 1st day of January, 1874 to the 31st 
 day or December, 1874, inclusive by war¬ 
 rant. 
 
 Legislative.$133,519 91 
 
 Judiciary.. 300 854 10 
 
 Executive ... . . 54.909 50 
 
 Appropriations. 15,376 03 
 
 State Library .. 3,447 03 
 
 Commissions for assessing. 29.388 13 
 
 Penitentiary . 162,712 84 
 
 Public printing,. 75,23S 36 
 
 Capitol expenses.. 600 00 
 
 Capitol repairs.... . 3.600 00 
 
 University of Mississippi . 50.000 00 
 
 Recording tax titles. . . 22 75 
 
 Common School Fund. 20,266 62 
 
 Lunatic Asylum... . 93.750 00 
 
 Executive contingent Fund ... 10.262 53 
 
 Auditor’s Contingent Fund. ... 2,763 56 
 
 Chickasaw School Fund interest- 77,120 02 
 Deaf and Dumb Asylum ....... 15.000 00 
 
 Institution for the Blind ....... 10,000 ()0 
 
 Alcorn University.. 50,000 00 
 
 Comissioner of Immigration and 
 
 Agriculture . ... 9 533 32 
 
 Expense and postage. . . 1,410 99 
 
 To the foregoing are added in the 
 report a series of other items, the whole 
 aggregating the enormous sum of one 
 
 MILLION THREE HUNDRED AND NINE 
 TEEN THOUSAND TWO HUNDRED AND 
 EIGHTEEN DOLLARS. 
 
 i 
 
 By the foregoing it will be seen that | 
 for 1874, the expenditures on account of l 
 the Legislative department were 133,- 
 513 91.—Now compare this item with 
 the expenses of the Legislature on for¬ 
 mer years: 
 
 1850 (when an extra session was 
 
 held).$63,510 
 
 1854. 43,135 
 
 1857. 32,760 
 
 1861 (when and extra session was 
 held).. 56.901 
 
 An average of $50,000. But these ses¬ 
 sions were held biennially. Therefore the 
 annual average was $25,000 agaiust 
 $132,000 under Radical rule. The reader 
 will he curious to know how all this 
 money, on account of the Legislative 
 department in 1874, was made way with. 
 Here are the items as set forth in the 
 -official report above quoted : 
 
 Statement of Expenditures on account Leg- 
 islative Department for year 1874. 
 
 Per diem of members 
 
 of Legislature.$85,056 00 
 
 M i i cage of memb i rs of 
 Legislature. . . . . 17,512 60 
 
 -$102,568 60 
 
 Per diem of clerks. . . .$13,847 00 
 Perdiem of postmasters 628 00 
 Per diem of sergeant- 
 at-arms and assist’s.. 1,709 00 
 
 Perdiem of door keep¬ 
 ers . .. 1,202 00 
 
 Per diem of pag*es .... 2,484 00 
 Per diem of messengers 756 00 
 
 Per diem of porters... 2.712 00 
 Per diem of elo-et- 
 keepers ... . 546 00 
 
 -- 23,844 00 
 
 Jackson Gas Light 
 Company, for gas, 
 coal and light-wood . 
 
 APPROPRIATIONS. 
 
 Geo. B. Pease, sergeant 
 at-arms of the House 
 of Representatives, 
 tor contingentexpen- 
 ses, Act approved 
 
 March 19, 1874 . 
 
 W. B Redmond, ser- 
 gea 11 1- at-a rm s o f the 
 Senate,for con! ingent 
 expenses, a p p roved 
 
 March 30. 1874. 
 
 W. Q. Low’d, sergeant- 
 at-arms, Senate, spe¬ 
 cial session 1873, for 
 contingent expenses, 
 approved April 6,1874 
 L. Tuttle, jr.,sergeant- 
 at-arms. House Rep¬ 
 resentatives, special 
 session 1873, for con¬ 
 tingent ex penses. Act 
 approved Novemher 
 
 $126,412 60 
 1,056 98 
 
 3,000 00 
 
 2.274 56 
 
 470 77 
 
1, 1873. 277 00 
 
 Sliackelford i n vest!gat- 
 in" committee....... 2S 00 
 
 o 
 
 o 050 33 
 
 Total. $133,519 91 
 
 It is said that the-corruption at Wash¬ 
 ington is so reeking that “the man in 
 the moon holds his nose when he goes over 
 it.” A similar effect is produced by 
 looking over the above items. “ Per 
 diem of closet keepers” for the menage- j 
 rie $546,00 for example. ! 
 
 Under honest rule the whole clerical 
 
 « 
 
 service of the Legislature was performed 
 for $2,800—$1,600 for the Clerk of the 
 House, and $1,200 for the Secretary of 
 the Senate. Now the cost of this service 
 is $13,847. Until Radical rule began 
 the whole cost of sergeants-at-arms, door¬ 
 keepers, pages, etc., was $600 per ses¬ 
 sion. Now it is $8,000—to say nothing 
 of the sweet smelling item above men¬ 
 tioned. » 
 
 For the Judiciary department in 1874, 
 
 $300,855 were expended. Now com¬ 
 pare this with a series of years prior to 
 the war : 
 
 1851. 74 446 
 
 1855 . . . 99^527 
 
 1857.114,984 
 
 The highest expenditure for the judi¬ 
 ciary department during any year under 
 citizens’ rule was in 1859, and then the 
 amount was only $147,105. The con¬ 
 trast in the cost of the Executive Depart¬ 
 ment, is still more striking—as follows : 
 
 852.$ 8,853 
 
 854. 8,008 
 
 858. 11,226 
 
 And from’65 to May'*66 (after! he 
 war)... .... 10,000 
 
 Under the first year of Arnes, the 
 
 expenditures on account of the Executive 
 Department as seen above, amounted to 
 $54,999. These are but examples of the 
 wholesale system of public plundering 
 which has been carried on under the 
 regime of the carpet-bagger ; and their 
 contrast with the rule of honesty and 
 economy. 
 
 j 
 
 \ 
 
 Pardoned Com 
 Tote oi 
 
 ISe 
 
 
 Judge E. S. Fisher has rec 
 ded this question in a case where a negro 
 in DeSoto county was refused registry 
 
 because he had been convicted for grand 
 larceny, although pardoned before the 
 cud of his sentence. He applied for a 
 writ of mandamus before Judge Fisher. 
 Regarding the Judge’s opinion’, the Her¬ 
 nando Press and Times says : 
 
 “Judge Fisher delivered an oral, opin¬ 
 ion, in which, after reciting the provisions 
 of the constitution, and of the several 
 statutes on the subject, by the terms of 
 which disfranchisement is made the con¬ 
 sequence of conviction of a penitentiary 
 offence, he considered the effect of a 
 pardon in restoring eligibility. He held 
 that while at common law a pardon ope¬ 
 rated as a complete defence, and a 
 restoration of the convict to all his 
 common law rights, yet that it could not 
 have the effect of giving to a party a 
 right expressly denied to him by statute. 
 That the statutes of the States having 
 expressly declared that no convicted per¬ 
 son could register, it was not within the 
 power of the Governor to render this 
 statute nugatory by the exercise of the 
 pardoning power. In other words, that 
 the absence of conviction was one of the 
 essential qualifications of an elector in 
 this State, which could not be supplied 
 by any act of the Executive. 
 
 This important decision settles the 
 question of the right to vote of quite a 
 number of active Radical politicians in 
 this county. A 
 
 -- 
 
 There is no help but that we find 
 within ourselves. We can get our rights 
 
 if we put our shoulders to the wheel. Let 
 the men of Mississippi do their duty. 
 Every man is expected to stand to his 
 post. Indifference, lukewarmness, half¬ 
 heartedness constitute no force and pro¬ 
 duce no fruits. Be active, vigilant, un¬ 
 faltering, in this crisis of the battle. 
 Take no step backward. The prize is 
 within reach. Onward !