UNITED STATES.

other hand, it is complained that the former masters UR Record closes on the 5th of September. are unwilling to recognize the altered state of

different questions involved in the re-construction be actually slaves as much as of old. Instances, of the Union. The only event of considerable im- almost without number, are put forward sustaining portance is the action of the Mississippi Convention, each of these propositions; but the general drift of which met on the 17th of August. It passed an information evinces that both whites and blacks ordinance declaring the ordinance of secession null are endeavoring, in the mass, to accommodate themand void; prohibited slavery or involuntary servi- selves to the new state of things. It is especially tude, except for crime; made it the duty of the next notable that the soldiers and officers who did most Legislature to provide by law for the protection of to uphold the Confederacy are foremost to recomthe person and property of the freedmen of the mend prompt and cheerful acquiescence in the reState, and to guard them and the State against any sults of the issues which were decided on the field of evil that may arise from their sudden emancipation; battle. Thus General Joseph E. Johnston, who and appointed the first Monday in October for the will, when the whole history of the war comes to be election of State officers and members of Congress. fairly studied and written, prove to have been the They also adopted a memorial urging the President ablest Confederate commander, writes, the date beto remove the colored troops from the State. The ing August 17: "We of the South referred the members, acting apparently in their individual ca- question at issue between us and the United States pacity, not as a Convention, united in a petition to to the arbitrament of the sword. The decision has the President for the pardon of Jefferson Davis and been made, and it is against us. We must acquiesce Governor Clark. The Constitutional amendment in that decision, accept it as final, and recognize the providing that "Neither slavery nor involuntary fact that Virginia is again one of the United States. servitude, otherwise than for the punishment of Our duties and our interests coincide. We shall crime whereof the party shall have been convicted, consult the one and perform the other by doing all shall hereafter exist in the State," was adopted by we can to promote the welfare of our neighbors and the decisive vote of 86 to 11. Mississippi, next to restore prosperity to the country. We should at after South Carolina, is the State containing the once commence the duties of peaceful citizens by largest proportion of slaves. These are the only entering upon some useful pursuit, qualifying ourStates in which the slaves outnumber the whites. selves to vote, if possible; and at the polls our votes In South Carolina there were, in 1860, 402,000 slaves should be cast for Conservative men-men who unand 291,000 whites-a little more than four to three; derstand and will maintain the interests of Virginia in Mississippi, 436,000 slaves and 353,000 whites- as one of the United States. This is the course a little less than four to three. In absolute num- which I have recommended to all those with whom ber of slaves Mississippi stood third: Virginia ex- I have conversed on the subject, and that which I ceeding it by 54,000, and Georgia by 26,000. The have adopted for myself as far as practicable." interests of Mississippi were more deeply involved in the slave system than those of any other State. If emancipation can be effected here, it can be effected more easily in every other State. Some portions of the action of Governor Sharkey have been disapproved by the military authorities and Government. He ordered a State militia to be organ-home and devote their energies to the restoration ized in every county; this was forbidden by General Slocum. The Governor also complained that the military authorities refused to obey writs of habeas corpus issued by local judges. To this the Secretary of War replied that the grant of a Provisional Government did not affect the proper jurisdiction of the military courts, and that this jurisdiction. was still called for in cases of wrongs done to soldiers, whether white or colored, and in cases of wrong done to colored citizens, and where the local authorities were unable or unwilling to do justice, either from defective machinery, or because some State law declared colored persons incompetent as witnesses. Mississippi was to a considerable extent still under military law, and the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus had not been revoked. To a similar remonstrance the Secretary of State replied that the State was still under martial law, and the military authority was supreme.

The efforts to adjust the relations between the two great classes of Southern society-the white and the colored population-meet with innumerable obstacles. On the one hand, it is alleged that the freedmen are indisposed to labor, and throng to the towns and military posts, expecting to be supported in idleness by the Government. On the VOL. XXXI.-No. 185.-Yr

General Wade Hampton, who was among the last of the Confederate commanders who surrendered, has published a letter in reply to inquiries addressed to him by persons who proposed to emigrate. He dissuades his correspondents from any general emigration: advises them to remain at

of law and order, the re-establishment of agriculture and commerce, the promotion of education, and the rebuilding of the dwellings and cities which have been laid in ashes. To accomplish these objects he urges that "all who can do so should take the oath of allegiance to the United States Government, so that they may participate in the restoration of civil government to our State. A distinguished citizen of our State," he says, 66 an honest man, and a true patriot, has been appointed Governor. He will soon call a Convention of the people which will be charged with the most vital interests of our State." He urges that the delegates elected to this Convention should be men "who have laid their all upon the altar of their country." He himself should pursue the course which he recommends to others, "devoting himself earnestly, if permitted to do so, to the discharge of these obligations, public and private;" but in the mean time he should obtain all the information desirable in the establishment of a colony in case they were obliged to leave the country.

The policy of the Government is clearly expressed. It will, as far as possible, protect them from outrage or injury; but will not maintain them in idleness. The rations given to whites and blacks will be withdrawn as rapidly as possible.

Applications for pardon by persons belonging to the excepted classes are very numerous, but as yet only a very few have been granted. It is officially announced that counsel and brokers in the case of those applying for pardon will retard instead of advancing their object.-Governor Perry, of South Carolina, writes to William Porcher Miles, formerly a member of the Federal Congress, and subsequently of the Confederate Congress: "If you take the oath of amnesty and apply for a pardon, it is to be assumed, after approval by me, that it is granted, and you are entitled to vote or serve in the Convention, although your pardon may not have been returned or received by you."-Governor Payne, of Alabama, announces the manner in which those who are entitled to pardon under the President's proclamation must proceed. They must take the oath before some competent authority, and then, in order to qualify themselves for voting, must repeat the oath, and have it registered before some county magistrate. "No one is eligible to a scat in the Convention who is not a loyal citizen of the United States," and as those who, like Mr. Miles, are excluded from the general amnesty are not citizens of the United States, they can not be voters or members of the Convention.

Authority,' as it stands in the Book of Common Prayer." The Bishop, however, says that "it is the duty of every citizen to render faithful allegiance to the Government under which he lives, and as an oath of fidelity to the Government is only the formal and solemn acknowledgment of an already existing obligation, if therefore the oath of allegiance should be lawfully required of all citizens, there is no good reason why it should not be taken, provided that all things be done in justice, judgment, and truth.' All false swearing is an abomination." Civil union, the Bishop says, does not necessarily involve ecclesiastical unity. Whether the Church in the South shall reunite with that in the North is a question for future ecclesiastical determination.-At the recent Convention of the Episcopal Church in the diocese of Georgia it was resolved that the diocese would resume its connection with the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States, whenever the Bishop shall consider such course consistent with the good faith which this diocese owes to the bishops in the late Confederate States. Another resolution provides that deputies shall be elected to the General Council of the Church in the Southern States, with the understanding that, if in the judgment of the Bishop, any contingency shall arise to render necessary a representation in the General Convention of the United States, the same deputies shall attend that body.— The Presbytery of Lexington, Virginia, adopted, at a meeting on the 10th of August, a report, declaring that "The General Assembly in the United States required all its members to submit to their ecclesiastical interpretation of the doctrine of State Rights and Slavery. This changed a religious body into a political meeting, necessitated the withdrawal of the Southern part of the Presbyterian Church, and the continued political character of that professedly ecclesiastical body prevents a reunion."

Some of the ecclesiastical bodies at the South have assumed positions of apparent hostility to the return of good feeling. Thus, Bishops Andrew, Paine, and Pierce, of the Methodist Church South, in a pastoral, while urging their people "to adjust themselves, as citizens of the United States, promptly, cheerfully, and in good faith, to all their duties and responsibilities, whatever may have been the opinions, positions, or prejudices of any of them concerning the political changes which have occurred in the Government," bitterly oppose the reunion of the two bodies of the Church. They declare that "a large proportion of the Northern Methodists have become incurably radical. They teach for doctrine the commandments of men. They preach another Gospel. They have incorporated social dogmas and political tests into their church creeds. Without such a change as we see no immediate prospect of in their tone, temper, and practice, we can anticipate no good result from even entertaining the subject of reunion with them."Mr. Wilmer, Episcopal Bishop of Alabama, in a Pastoral Address, says, "The lapse of the Confederate Government requires of necessity the omission of the prayers for the President of the Confederate States, and all in civil authority; but the immediate substitution of another form of prayer does not follow of the same necessity." To pray for "all in authority," he says, "is a duty;” but the mode of it must be determined by ecclesiastical authority. "The Church in this country has established a form of prayer for the President and all in civil authority. The language of that prayer was selecting to provide proper shelter; depriving them lected with careful reference to the subject of the prayer-all civil authority;' and she desires for that authority prosperity and long continuance. No one can be expected to desire a long continuance of military rule. Therefore the prayer is altogether inappropriate and inapplicable to the present condition of things, when no civil authority exists in the exercise of its functions.... My conclusion is, therefore, and my direction, which I hereby give, that when civil authority shall be restored in the State of Alabama, the clergy shall use the form entitled A Prayer for the President of the United States and all in Civil

Henry Wirz, late commander of the Confederate military prison at Andersonville, Georgia, is on trial before a Military Court, of which General Lew Wallace is President. Wirz, who is a Swiss by birth, resided for many years in Louisiana, and entered the Confederate army. Having been disabled for service in the field, he was placed in command of the prison at Andersonville in April, 1864. The indictment consists of two charges. By the first Wirz was charged with conspiring with Robert E. Lee, James A. Seddon, then Confederate Secretary of War, John H. Winder, Lucius D. Northrop, Richard B. Winder, Joseph White, W. S. Winder, and others, to injure the health and destroy the lives of Union prisoners in violation of the laws and customs of war. The specification under this charge is long and elaborate. The principal points are—confining the prisoners in small and unhealthy quarters; neg

of their own clothing and blankets; refusing to furnish food sufficient in quantity and quality to sustain life, and to provide fuel for cooking and warming; compelling them to subsist upon filthy and unwholesome water; permitting the bodies of the dead to remain unburied, thus poisoning the atmosphere; refusing medicines and medical attendance; inflicting cruel and unusual punishments; setting up a "dead line," always indistinct and often imaginary, and causing prisoners who crossed or even touched it to be shot; employing bloodhounds to hunt down prisoners who had escaped; and using poisonous matter for the purpose of vac

Amount.

Interest.

According to the official report of the Secretary of the Treasury, the public debt, on the 31st of August, was as follows: Debt bearing interest in coin Debt hearing interest in lawful money... Debt on which interest has ceased... Debt bearing no inter

est....

$1,105,310,191 80
1,274,478,103 16
1,503,020 09
373.338,256 38

$64,500,590 50
73,531,037 74

cination. This charge was subsequently modified | firm. A few days passed, and the missing securiby omitting the names of Lee and Seddon.-The ties not being replaced, Swan and Belknap wrote second charge is for "Murder, in violation of the to young Ketchum, on the 4th of August, to the laws and customs of war." Under this charge are effect that unless the deficiency was made good by thirteen distinct specifications, all relating to mur- the 15th they should expose him. Two days after ders and outrages committed by himself or by his the expiration of this term it was announced that express order. Wirz protests his innocence of these Edward Ketchum had disappeared on the previous charges. He denies that he ever personally mis- day; that the firm of which he was a member had used a prisoner, and affirms that for the rest he suspended payment; and that forged "gold checks" acted under the orders of his military superiors, and to a large amount were in the hands of banks and should therefore not be held responsible. He also brokers which could be traced to him. These "gold affirms that he was included in the surrender by checks" are a contrivance instituted by prominent General Johnston, and so should not be held to an money-dealers to conduct their business without swer for what he had done. making an actual transfer of gold bought and sold. The Bank of New York was selected as the place in which the gold was to be deposited. The bank agreed to receive the gold, keep it, count it, and pay it out as demanded, upon certain conditions. Each dealer, upon the payment of $1000, received a check-book filled with a certain number of blank checks for $5000 each. These, when filled out with the signature of the drawer, the registrar, the teller, and of the indorser, pass in the market as equivalent to the corresponding amounts in gold. EdTotal, Aug. 31 ..... $2.757.68,571 43 $138,031,620 24 ward Ketchum purchased one of these books of Total, July 31....... 2,757,253,275 86 139,262,408 28 checks, filled them out with the forged signatures Henry B. Jenkins, the paying teller of the Pho- of established firms, and deposited them as security nix Bank, is a man past middle age; had been for loans which he required to carry on his operamany years connected with the bank in various ca- tions. The book contained 500 blank checks, reppacities; was supposed to live within his income; resenting $2,500,000. How many of these had and was not known to have engaged in specula- been actually negotiated is unknown. The Distions. But something more than $300,000 in his trict Attorney, in making his charge, estimates keeping was missing. He was arrested, and it the number at 300, representing an amount of came out that he had engaged in stock specula- $1,500,000. Ketchum remained undiscovered for tions, and being unsuccessful, had from time to time nearly a fortnight; then he was found at lodgings appropriated the bank funds to cover his losses. He in New York, which he had all the time occupied was, moreover, a frequenter of "concert saloons" under the assumed name of C. R. Lowry, of Cinand other disreputable haunts, squandering large cinnati. He had with him about $60,000. sums upon loose women. One of these, named abstracted securities belonged partly to the firm of Genevieve Lyons, with sundry aliases, he had es- Ketchum and Company, and partly to others. The tablished in apartments as his mistress, making her former, amounting to $1,300,000, were replaced, considerable presents in money. This woman had and the remaining assets of the house were declared a paramour named Brower, once a butcher, but de- to be $3,093,000, and its liabilities $3,985,000, leavscribing himself as a "merchant," who also received ing a deficit of nearly $900,000. The total amount large sums of money from Jenkins, who asserted of abstractions was stated by the senior partner to that it was extorted from him as “black mail," un- be "not less than $2,800,000." It was probably der threat of exposing him. Brower, however, as- quite $3,500,000. In addition to this were the forged serted that the money was lent to him by Jenkins gold checks, amounting possibly to $1,500,000, the out of friendship, they having met at places of pub- loss of which must fall upon the banks and brokers lic resort, and contracted a close intimacy. An- who held them: a probable total of $5,000,000. other person implicated was James H. Earle, who acted as the agent of Jenkins in his speculations. He was arrested, and shortly after committed suicide in prison.

The

Within the eight months from January to September 130 "accidents" have occurred to trains on the different railroads in the United States, by which about 300 persons have been killed outright, and The firm of "Morris Ketchum, Son, and Com- about 1200 wounded. Every one of these was the pany" was one of the wealthiest private banking- result of gross carelessness. There is a general dehouses of New York. The "Son" was Edward B. mand that the guilty persons shall be held to crimKetchum, a young man of about five-and-twenty, inal prosecution. In a few cases coroner's juries who was esteemed one of the shrewdest financiers have approximated to their duties in this respect. on 'Change. About the first of August Mr. Swan, Thus, on the 15th of August, on the Housatonic one of the junior members of the firm, discovered Railroad, 13 were killed and 20 wounded by a locothat securities to the amount of nearly a million motive, which was making a trial trip, running into dollars had been abstracted from the firm. a train. The coroner's jury found a verdict censurcommunicated his discovery to Belknap, another ing Charles Hunt, the President, Henry L. Plumb, partner. Various circumstances enabled them to the Superintendent, as well as the engineer and confasten the abstraction upon Edward Ketchum, who ductor of the locomotive.-On the Long Island Railacknowledged the fact, but said that the securities road, August 29, 5 persons were killed and 18 woundwere still under his control, and that he could re-ed by collision between two trains, one or both of cover them in a short time. He promised to do this, and to abandon the speculations upon his own account in which he had been engaged. The matter was not revealed to the senior member of the

He

which was recklessly running out of time. The jury differed as to the culpability attached to the conductors of the two trains-some charging it upon both, some upon one, and some upon the other; but