GEORGIA. 



305 



make such alterations as were necessary for 

 the purpose. Provision was not made, how- 

 ever, for the proper heating, lighting and fur- 

 nishing of the building, and a question arose as 

 to whether that was included in the agreement 

 of the city. Without waiting for the adjustment 

 of this question, the Governor had author- 

 ized the necessary expenses and drawn upon 

 the funds of the State to meet them, thinking 

 that the amount would be repaid by the city, 

 if it were finally determined that it came 

 properly within its agreement with the Consti- 

 tutional Convention. A joint committee of the 

 General Assembly was afterward appointed to 

 consult with the municipal authorities of At- 

 lanta for the adjustment of the entire difficulty, 

 but it does not appear that a conclusion was 

 reached before the adjournment of the Legis- 

 lature. 



This misunderstanding between the Gov- 

 ernor and Treasurer continued to be a source 

 of embarrassment to both, and a somewhat 

 bitter controversy was carried on between 

 them throughout the summer. The following 

 order was issued by the Governor on the 3d 

 of June : 



EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT, ) 

 ATLANTA, GA., June 3, 1869. ) 



Whereas, N. L. Angler, State Treasurer, has as- 

 sumed to repudiate the official acts of the Executive 

 in connection with loans and drafts made in pur- 

 suance of law, with the Fourth National Bank or the 

 city of New York, which bank was by me appointed 

 financial agent under authority of a joint resolution 

 of the General Assembly, approved October 3, 1868 : 



Now therefore, I, Kufus B. Bullock, Governor and 

 commander-in-chief of the army and navy of this 

 State, and of the militia thereof, do issue this Ex- 

 ecutive order, relieving and restraining the said 

 Fourth National Bank, acting as such financial 

 agent, from holding further official intercourse with 

 the said N. L. Angier, Treasurer, and from recogniz- 

 ing any order issued by him, unless specially ap- 

 proved by me; and notifying and directing said 

 bank that henceforth all correspondence and instruc- 

 tions relating to the said financial agent and its 

 connection with this State shall be held with and 

 received from this department only. 

 Given under my hand and the seal of the Executive 



Department at the Capitol, in the city of Atlanta, 



the day and year first above written. 



KUFUS B. BULLOCK, Governor. 

 By the Governor : 



EUGENE DAVIS, Sec'y Ex. Dept. 



Thereupon Mr. Angier published a statement 

 that he had not repudiated "loans made in 

 pursuance of law," but merely labored to pre- 

 vent the Treasury from being plundered and 

 to sustain the credit of the State, and this he 

 was determined to do, " regardless of the illegal 

 injunction of His Excellency." He declared 

 the course of the Governor in the use of the 

 public funds to have been in violation of law, 

 and expressed his belief that his object in issu- 

 ing the present order was to get an opportu- 

 nity " to draw upon the Fourth National Bank 

 for more funds without authority, to be spent 

 by him in violation of law, greatly to the det- 

 riment of the public good." 



The Governor appealed to the Comptroller- 

 VOL. is. 20. A 



General, Hon. Madison Bell, to know whether 

 any Executive warrants had been approved by 

 him which were in violation of law. The 

 Comptroller having replied that he believed 

 the Governor's warrants had been fully au- 

 thorized, was drawn into an unprofitable 

 controversy with Mr. Angier, which lasted 

 several weeks. The only result of the corre- 

 spondence was, to keep up a fruitless dispute 

 and continue the financial embarrassment of 

 the State. 



The question of the right of a negro to hold 

 office in the State of Georgia was settled by a 

 judicial decision of the Supreme Court on the 

 22d of June. The Legislature had proposed, 

 early in its session, to have this matter tested 

 in the court, and adopted a joint resolution 

 providing for the submission of a test case, but 

 the Governor vetoed the resolution in a mes- 

 sage in which he reflected on the legality of 

 the existing government and its power to pro- 

 vide for any final settlement of the question. 

 An actual case, however, soon came up in the 

 county of Chatham, on the following state of 

 facts : Eichard W. White had been elected to 

 the office of Clerk of the Superior Court in 

 that county by a majority of the votes cast, 

 and had been duly commissioned to perform 

 the duties of the position. Thereupon William 

 J. Clements, who had received the next highest 

 number of votes, applied to the Superior Court 

 for a writ of quo warranto against White, on 

 the ground that he had more than one-eighth 

 African blood in his veins. The latter was 

 summoned to show cause why a mandamus 

 should not issue depriving him of the office 

 and putting Clements in his place. The case 

 was tried before Justice Schley, and judgment 

 passed deposing White from the office of Clerk 

 of the Superior Court, and declaring that 

 Clements was entitled to hold the position. 

 The grounds of Judge Schley's decision were 

 substantially the same as those set forth in the 

 dissenting opinion of Judge Warner of the 

 Supreme Court, alluded to below. The case 

 was carried to the Supreme Court on a writ 

 of error and the decision reversed, Mr. Justice 

 McCay and Chief-Justice Brown concurring in 

 the reversal, and Justice Warner dissenting. 

 The two judges, who formed a majority of the 

 court and concurred in granting the negro the 

 right to hold office, did not, however, agree 

 upon the grounds on which that judgment was 

 based, and each read an opinion before the 

 court, which, with the dissenting opinion of 

 Judge Warner, may be regarded as containing 

 the different views held on this important sub- 

 ject by the prominent men of the State. 



Mr. Justice McCay set out with the state- 

 ment that the constitution and laws of the 

 State prior to the late war had nothing to 

 do with the subject. "The constitution or 

 frame of civil government in existence in this 

 State on the 1st of January, 1861," he said, 

 "with all its disabilities and restrictions, was 

 totally submerged in the great revolution 



