316 



GEOBGIA. 



which eight or nine of the blacks were killed 

 and twenty or thirty wounded, and several of 

 the inhabitants of the place more or less hurt. 

 The negroes fled in consternation, and, of 

 course, no meeting took place. 



The Governor at once communicated to tne 

 Legislature, which was then in session, an 

 account of the affair, based on the first exag- 

 gerated reports, and recommended that a call 

 be made on the Federal Government for a 

 military force to be stationed in Mitchell Coun- 

 ty to preserve order. The Governor's lan- 

 guage is as follows : 



In disregard of the proclamation issued on the 14th 

 instant, the right of the people peacefully to as- 

 semble has been violently and barbarously unpaired, 

 and the civil officers are wholly unable to protect the 

 rights of citizens or maintain the peace. It is earnest- 

 ly recommended that the Legislature make im- 

 mediate application to the' President for sufficient 

 military force to be stationed in Mitchell County to 

 maintain the peace, protect the lives and property of 

 citizens, and see that the guilty are punished after 

 due process of law. The fact that this occurrence is 

 the result of a determination, publicly expressed, by 

 irresponsible persons of one political party that the 

 other political party shall not hold meetings, is too 

 well known. It is gratifying that this sentiment is 

 confined to a lawless class, and not countenanced or 

 supported by respectable citizens ; but the misfortune 

 is that these outrages are not prevented, and, unless 

 physical force is added to the honest efforts of the 

 officers of the law. we shall be thrown into a state of 

 anarchy, when neither life nor property will be re- 

 garded. 



The subject was referred to a joint commit- 

 tee, who took the testimony of the sheriff, 

 and of several reputable citizens of Camilla, 

 and finally submitted the following report : 



The undersigned, appointed, by a joint resolution of 

 the Senate and House of Kepresentatives, to take 

 into consideration the message of the Governor in 

 reference to the disturbance at Camilla, beg leave to 

 make the following report : 



They find that the evidence referred to by his 

 Excellency is not sustained by the evidence produced 

 before the committee, and which is herewith re- 

 turned. They have come to the conclusion that the 

 whole difficulty occurred and originated from a de- 

 termination of the parties referred to in his Excellen- 

 cy's message, to wit, Pierce, Murphy, and Putney, 

 to enter the town of Camilla at the head of an armed 

 company of freedmen, which right was disputed by 

 the sheriff of the county. The persistence of the 

 one and the determination of the other caused the 

 disturbance. 



They find that the civil authorities have shown 

 themselves able to execute the law, and there is no 

 necessity for any military interference. 



A. D. NUNNALLY, of the Senate. 



C. C. DUNCAN, of the House. 



W. H. HALL, of the House. 



W. D. HAMILTON, of the House. 



H. MORGAN, of the House. 

 I agree with the committee, but believe that other 

 legislation is necessary to preserve order and protect 

 persons and property. 

 W. C. SMITH, of the Senate. 



General Marion Bethune, of the House, sub- 

 mitted a minority report, in which he earnestly 

 recommends that the Legislature give the sub- 

 ject its careful attention, with a view to adopt- 

 ing efficient measures for keeping the peace 



and preserving order. General Meade, in a re- 

 port of this affair to the War Department, 

 commended the action of the Assembly in 

 refusing to call for military interference. 



With regard to the use of troops in his de- 

 partment, General Meade had applied for in- 

 structions earlier in the season, and had been 

 referred to a letter sent from headquarters at 

 Washington to General Buchanan, at New Or- 

 leans, which declared that the military forces 

 were to be entirely subordinate to the civil 

 authority, and to be employed only in case of 

 imperative necessity in keeping the peace. 



The following proclamation by the Governor, 

 which was published soon after the Camilla 

 excitement had subsided, has appended to it 

 the important portions of General Meade's 

 order with reference to the disposition of the 

 troops under his command, with a view to 

 the approaching presidential election : 



Whereas, Notwithstanding the Executive procla- 

 mation of September 14, 1868, many lawless acts 

 have occurred in violation thereof, whereby the lives 

 and property of citizens have been destroyed, the 

 right of free speech impaired 2 the performance of the 

 duties of the offices to which citizens have been 

 elected denied, and the lives of citizens so threat- 

 ened as to cause them to abandon their homes and 

 property: 



And whereas, " The protection of persons and prop- 

 erty is the paramount duty of government, and shall 

 be impartial and complete :" 



And whereas, The sheriff of each county is, bylaw, 

 charged with the preservation of life, property, and 

 peace in each county : 



Now, therefore. I, Eufus B. Bullock, Governor, 

 and commander-m-chief of the army and navy of 

 the State of Georgia, and of the militia thereof, do 

 hereby issue this, my proclamation, charging and 

 commanding the said sheriffs, and each and every 

 other civil officer in every county in this State, to see 

 to it that the lives and property of all citizens, and 

 the peace of the community, are preserved, and that 

 all persons are protected in the free exercise of their 

 civil and political rights and privileges. And. fur- 

 ther, to make known that, for failure in the perform- 

 ance of duty, the said sheriffs and other civil officers 

 will be held to a strict accountability, under the law ; 

 and to charge upon every person, resident in this 

 State, that they render prompt and willing obedience 

 to the said sheriff's, and other civil officers, under all 

 circumstances whatsoever / and that they demand from 

 said officers protection when threatened or disturbed 

 in their person or property, or with denial of political 

 or civil rights ; and that, failing to receive such pro- 

 tection, they report facts to this department. 



The following extract from General Orders No. 27, 

 dated October 8, 1868, from headquarters, Depart- 

 ment of the South, is published for the information 

 of the civil officers and the general public, by which 

 it will be seen that said civil officers will, in the per- 

 formance of their duties, be sustained by the milita- 

 ry power of the United States. 



Given under my hand, and the great seal of the 

 State, at the capitol, in the city of Atlanta, this 

 9th day of October, in the year of our Lord eigh- 

 teen hundred and sixty-eight, and of the Inde- 

 pendence of the United States the ninety-third. 

 EUFUS B. BULLOCK, Governor. 



DAVID G. COTTING, Secretary of State. 



General Orders, No. 27. 



HEADQUARTERS, DEPARTMENT or THE SOUTH, ) 

 ATLANTA, GA., October 8, 1868. f 

 Whereas, By an act of the Congress of the United 

 States, approved March 2, 1865, it is made the duty 



