304 



GEORGIA. 



by a joint resolution of a Kepublican Congress ; and 

 I very much regret that the preparation necessary for 

 a proper presentation of this subject to your honora- 

 ble body has necessarily caused a short delay, and 

 thereby prolonged the suspense of those who are so 

 anxious to concur. 



This amendment is specially designed to secure 

 political privileges to the colored man ; and whether 

 its ratification by a General Assembly, which has al- 

 ready violently wrested from him privileges to which 

 he was constitutionally entitled in this State, will be 

 recognized as valid by the power proposing it, unless 

 accompanied by a reversal of the action by which 

 those privileges were denied, is a question which we 

 will not delay hero to consider 



and closed with these words : 



The ratification of this amendment by your honor- 

 able bodv, and a recognition of its requirements as 

 here indicated, together with those of the fourteenth 

 amendment which are as yet disregarded will, I 

 sincerely hope and confidently believe, secure for us 

 full and complete recognition as a State, definitely 

 settle our political differences, and set at rest, finally 

 and forever, the feeling of uncertainty and insecurity 

 which now excites and disturbs a large portion of our 

 people. 



The amendment was nevertheless rejected 

 by a vote of 16 to 13 in the Senate, although 

 the House voted to ratify (64 to 53). 



While the Legislature was in session a diffi- 

 culty occurred between the Governor and the 

 State Treasurer, Mr. N. L. Angier, arising out 

 of the financial transactions of the former. 

 This affair attracted considerable attention in 

 the State, and was commented on in Congress 

 as constituting one of the causes which prompt- 

 ed Gov. Bullock in his attempt to get rid of the 

 existing Legislature. In the fall of 1868 the 

 State had entered into a contract with the 

 Fourth National Bank of New York to place 

 in the hands of the officers of that institution a 

 large amount of bonds as collateral securities 

 for advances to be made to the State Treasury. 

 Money was obtained on this contract from time 

 to time, and, after the bonds were issued, still 

 farther amounts were obtained by their hypoth- 

 ecation. The whole amount of the bonds is- 

 sued and sent to the Fourth National Bank of 

 New York, either as security or to be sold, 

 was $600,000. On the 20th of January a reso- 

 lution was adopted in the House of Representa- 

 tives, calling on the Treasurer for fall informa- 

 tion regarding this loan and the money which 

 had been obtained thereon. In his response 

 on the following day, Mr. Angier said, that in 

 the statement of the matter by the bank, which 

 he had received on the 9th instant, that insti- 

 tution had credited itself with a large amount 

 which he knew nothing about, and which had 

 never reached the Treasury. On receiving this 

 statement of the account, ho had immediately 

 set out for New York to get a full explanation, 

 and found that Governor Bullock had drawn 

 $35,000, which had never been paid or report- 

 ed to the Treasury. 



As soon as this report was made public, 

 Governor Bullock submitted a counter-state- 

 ment, in which he said he had been obliged to 

 advance $35,000 to secure the completion of 



the new capitol building at Atlanta in time for 

 the use of the Legislature, and had drawn for 

 the purpose on the bank in New York. He was 

 prepared to make a full statement of the mat- 

 ter to the Treasurer before the meeting of the 

 Legislature, when he found that officer had 

 gone away to New York. On his return he 

 explained it fully, and wished Mr. Angier to 

 submit his report in reply to the resolution 

 of January 20th to him before it went to the 

 House of Representatives, in order that the 

 matter might be fully exhibited. This was not 

 done ; but the Treasurer made his statements, 

 although he was " entirely advised as to the 

 whole matter." 



The subject was referred to the Financial 

 Committee of the House for investigation, and 

 that body proceeded to receive the full state- 

 ment of both the officials concerned, to inquire 

 into the necessity of the expenditures on the 

 new capitol building, and to examine the pre- 

 cedents with regard to the authority of Gov- 

 ernor Bullock to make advances of money in 

 the way in which he had made them. In his 

 statement to the committee, Mr. Angier cast still 

 more serious imputations upon the integrity of 

 the Governor, and intimated that he had used 

 the public funds for private purposes. Mr. 

 Bullock, on the other hand, gave a full expla- 

 nation of his course, and complained that the 

 Treasurer had refused to pay his warrants on 

 various occasions with captiousness and a want 

 of proper respect for the Executive of the State. 

 Two reports were submitted by the commit- 

 tee on the 15th of February. The majority 

 thought that Governor Bullock had committed 

 some errors of judgment, but expressed the be- 

 lief that "his intentions were pure, and what 

 he did was in good faith," though " without 

 authority of law." They accordingly refused 

 to make any recommendation, except, that the 

 Judiciary Committee be instructed to prepare 

 a bill defining more clearly the duties of the 

 Governor and Treasurer, and giving the latter 

 "exclusive power of negotiating State bonds, 

 by and with the consent of the Governor." 

 The minority report was more severe on the 

 conduct of the Governor, and fully justified 

 the course of Mr. Angier. It closed with a 

 recommendation that no immediate appropria- 

 tion be made to cover the expenses on the cap- 

 itol, and that measures be adopted for the se- 

 curity of the Treasury. The minority report 

 was adopted, but resulted in no important 

 legislative action. 



The facts with regard to the State capitol 

 were these : When the Constitutional Conven- 

 tion of 1868 was in session, the city of Atlanta 

 offered to furnish suitable buildings for the use 

 of the State government for a period of ten 

 years, provided the capital should be trans- 

 ferred to that place. This offer was accepted, 

 and the city purchased the building known as 

 Kimball's Opera-House for the use of the Legis- 

 lature and the government offices, and entered 

 into a contract with the former owners to 



