314 



GEORGIA. 



conclusion he says : " I most respectfully and 

 earnestly call upon you, as lovers of our com- 

 mon country and well wishers of the peace and 

 good order of the State, to pause in the suici- 

 dal course upon which you have entered, urged 

 on as you are by bold, bad men outside your 

 body, whose wicked counsels have once 

 drenched our land in blood, and whose ambi- 

 tion now is to ruin that which they cannot 

 rule." 



This message served only to elicit the fol- 

 lowing : 



Resolved, That that portion of the communication 

 of his Excellency reflecting upon the action of this 

 House, in deciding upon the eligibility of free persons 

 of color under the constitution, be returned to his 

 Excellency, with the following resolution : 



Besolvecl, That said communication is not war- 

 ranted by the resolution upon which his Excellency 

 was requested to act, and that the constitution de- 

 clares that the members of each House are the judges 

 of the qualifications of its own membersj and not the 

 Governor ; they are the keepers of their own con- 

 sciences, and not his Excellency. 



The excluded members entered a spirited 

 protest against the outrage perpetrated upon 

 their race by the action of the House, which 

 was addressed to the Speaker and members of 

 the House of Representatives, and accompanied 

 by a request that it be entered upon the jour- 

 nal. This request was not granted. In their 

 protest, they give " notice that they will appeal, 

 at the proper time, to the Congress of the 

 United States and the justice of the American 

 people, to redress their grievances, to which 

 they are subjected by the intolerant and op- 

 pressive conduct of the dominant party in this 

 House, who, while part of their members were 

 in danger of losing their seats on account of 

 ineligibility under the Fourteenth Constitu- 

 tional Amendment, were met by the colored 

 members of this House in a spirit of concilia- 

 tion and kindness during that investigation." 



The action in the Senate with reference to 

 the two remaining colored members of that 

 Chamber, Messrs. T. G. Campbell and George 

 Wallace, was precisely similar to that in the 

 House, but took place about ten days later. 

 The Governor sent a message expressing his 

 disapproval of this course pursued by the Sen- 

 ators ; but a resolution which was offered, to 

 the effect that only that portion of this com- 

 munication giving the names of the persons 

 entitled to the vacant seats be entered on the 

 journal, failed to pass, as being disrespectful 

 to the Governor. 



Senators to Congress were elected on the 

 29th of July. Benjamin H. Hill received a 

 majority of votes for the long term, and H. V. 

 M. Miller for the short term. 



The Legislature continued in session until 



A th f October > and - passed one hundred 

 and fatty-five acts, a large portion of which were 

 for the incorporation of railroad, manufacturing, 

 and other companies, and for the revival and 

 encouragement of the material interests of the 

 Commonwealth. Provision was also made for 



the organization of the courts and the regular 

 exercise of the civil authority of the State. 

 Among the other measures of general interest 

 was an act for the relief of debtors, and an act 

 to provide for setting apart homesteads, and 

 securing them to the sole use and benefit of 

 families. The former was intended to supply, 

 in some degree, the place of the constitutional 

 provision on the same subject w r hich was ren- 

 dered null by the act of Congress of the 25th 

 of June. It provides that, in all suits brought 

 to recover debts due on contracts made prior 

 to June 1, 1865, it shall be lawful "to give in 

 evidence, before the jury empanelled to try 

 the same, the consideration of the debt or con- 

 tract which may be the subject of the suit, the 

 amount and value of the property owned by 

 the debtor at the time the debt was contracted, 

 or the contract entered into, to show upon the 

 faith of what property credit was given to 

 him, and what tender or tenders of payment 

 he made to the creditors at any time, and that 

 the non-payment of the debt or debts was 

 owing to the refusal of the creditor to receive 

 the money tendered, or offered to be tendered ; 

 the destruction or loss of the property upon 

 the faith of which the credit was given, and 

 the amount of loss by the creditor, and how 

 and in what manner the property was destroyed 

 or lost, and by whose default. And, in all such 

 cases, the juries who try the same shall have 

 power to reduce the amount of the debt or 

 debts sued for, according to the equities of each 

 case, and render such verdicts as to them shall 

 appear just and equitable." 



In suits against trustees, executors, etc., it is 

 made lawful for the defendant to put in evi- 

 dence the loss, destruction, or depreciation in 

 value of the property in his hands. 



Before the Legislature adjourned, the Com- 

 mittee of the House on the State of the Re- 

 public made a report, which was almost 

 unanimously adopted. This report gives a 

 brief review of the experience of the State 

 under the process of reconstruction, implying, 

 rather than expressing, the belief that the peo- 

 ple had been treated with unnecessary severity, 

 since they were disposed to return to their 

 allegiance in good faith, and to do every thing 

 in their power to secure the rights of all. The 

 closing paragraphs of this document are ex- 

 pressed in the following terms : 



As the representatives of the State, well acquainted 

 with the views, opinions, and purposes of those 

 whom we represent, we assert that the idea that any 

 portion of pur people entertain the purpose or desire 

 of remanding the negro to a condition of slavery is 

 toopreposterous and false to need refutation. 



We assert that it is the purpose of the white peo- 

 ple of the State to 'faithfully protect the negro race 

 in the enjoyment of all the rights, privileges, and 

 immunities guaranteed to them by the Constitution 

 and laws of the United States and the constitution 

 and laws of this State. 



"We assert that there is no purpose, in any part of 

 the State, to impair the constitutional right of the 

 people peaceably to assemble for the consideration 

 of any matter, or to obstruct any portion of the peo- 



