USA > Georgia > The Confederate records of the State of Georgia, Vol 2 pt 2 > Part 9
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of which revocation was ordered to be served upon the said Thomas S. Irby by the sheriff of Taliaferro county, or his deputy.
JOSEPH E. BROWN.
By the Governor,
H. H. WATERS,
Sec'y. Ex. Dept.
EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT,
MILLEDGEVILLE, GEORGIA,
March 4th, 1864.
By order of His Excellency the Governor, and in com- pliance with the recommendation of the authorities of Taylor county, license No. 25, issued to Thomas Amerson of said county, on the 8th day of April, 1863, authorizing him to distill four thousand gallons of whiskey for the use of the people of said county, was this day revoked, a copy of which revocation was ordered to be served upon the said Thomas Amerson by the sheriff of said county, or his deputy.
JOSEPH E. BROWN.
By the Governor,
H. H. WATERS,
Sec'y. Ex. Dept.
584
CONFEDERATE RECORDS
EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT,
MILLEDGEVILLE, GEORGIA,
March 4th, 1864.
By order of His Excellency the Governor, and in com- pliance with the recommendation of the authorities of Taylor county, license No. 26, issued to William Turner of said county, on the 8th day of April, 1863, authorizing him to distill four hundred gallons of alcohol for the use of the people of said county, was this day revoked, a copy of which revocation was ordered to be served upon the said William Turner by the sheriff of said county of Taylor, or his deputy.
JOSEPH E. BROWN.
By the Governor,
H. H. WATERS, Sec'y. Ex. Dept.
EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT,
MILLEDGEVILLE, GEORGIA,
March 4th, 1864.
By the order of His Excellency the Governor, and in compliance with the recommendation of the authorities of Talbot county, license No. 24, issued to F. M. Veasey of said county on the 24th day of March, 1863, authoriz- ing him to distill twelve hundred gallons of whiskey for the use of the people of said county, was this day revoked,
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STATE PAPERS OF GOVERNOR JOS. E. BROWN
585
a copy of which revocation was ordered to be served upon the said F. M. Veasey by the sheriff of said county, or his deputy.
JOSEPH E. BROWN.
By the Governor,
H. H. WATERS, Sec'y. Ex. Dept.
EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT, MILLEDGEVILLE, GEORGIA,
March 4th, 1864.
By order of His Excellency the Governor, and in com- pliance with the recommendation of the authorities of Houston county, license No. 10, issued to Jefferson G. Way of said county, on the 20th day of March, 1863, authorizing him to distill fifteen hundred gallons of whis- key for the use of the people of said county, was this day revoked, a copy of which revocation was ordered to be served upon the said Jefferson G. Way by the sheriff of said county, or his deputy.
JOSEPH E. BROWN.
By the Governor, H. H. WATERS, Sec'y. Ex. Dept.
EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT,
MILLEDGEVILLE, GEORGIA,
March 5th, 1864.
By order of His Excellency the Governor, and in com- pliance with the recommendation of the authorities of
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CONFEDERATE RECORDS
Washington county, license No. 78, issued to Nathan W. Haines of said county, authorizing him to distill three hundred gallons of alcohol for the use of the people of said county, was this day revoked, a copy of which revo- cation was ordered to be served upon the said Nathan W. Haines by the sheriff of said county, or his deputy.
JOSEPH E. BROWN.
By the Governor,
H. H. WATERS, Sec'y. Ex. Dept.
EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT,
MILLEDGEVILLE, GEORGIA,
March 5th, 1864.
By order of His Excellency the Governor, and in com- pliance with the recommendation of the authorities of Washington county, license No. 77, issued to Nathan W. Haines of said county, on the 16th day of July, 1863, authorizing him to distill fifteen hundred gallons of whis- key for the use of the people of said county, was this day revoked, a copy of which revocation was ordered to be served upon said Nathan W. Haines by the sheriff of said county, or his deputy.
JOSEPH E. BROWN.
By the Governor,
H. H. WATERS, Sec'y. Ex. Dept.
STATE PAPERS OF GOVERNOR JOS. E. BROWN
587
EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT,
MILLEDGEVILLE, GEORGIA,
March 10th, 1864.
In compliance with the Proclamation of His Excel- lency, the Governor, of the 27th of February, the Gen- eral Assembly convened this day, March 10th, 1864, at the Capitol in Milledgeville, in Extra Session.
The following message was transmitted to the Gen- eral Assembly, to-wit:
EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT,
MILLEDGEVILLE, GEORGIA,
March 10th, 1864.
· To the Senate and House of Representatives :
The patriotic zeal exhibited by you at your late ses- sion, for the promotion of the interest and protection of the liberties of the country, and the personal kindness and official courtesy which I received at your hands, and for which I renew my thanks, have satisfied me that lay- ing aside all past party names, issues and strifes, your object as legislators is to discharge faithfully your offi- cial duties, and to sacrifice all private interests and per- sonal preferences, to the public good. In view of these considerations, I feel that I can rely upon your counsels as a tower of strength in time of darkness and gloom.
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CONFEDERATE RECORDS
I have, therefore, convened you that I may have the bene- fit of your advice and assistance, at this critical junc- ture in our State and Confederate affairs.
TRANSPORTATION OF CORN TO INDIGENT SOLDIERS' FAMILIES.
Since your adjournment, experience has shown that it is not possible without assistance from the State, which will require further legislation, for the agents of the counties where there is great scarcity of provisions, to secure transportation for the corn purchased in south- western and middle Georgia, to the places where it is needed. To meet this difficulty, I respectfully recom- mend the passage of a law, authorizing the Quartermas- ter-General of this State, or such other officer as the Gov- ernor may from time to time designate, under the order of the Governor, to take possession of and control any of the railroads in the State, with their rolling stock or any other available conveyance, and require that corn or other provisions, for the needy or for the county agents for soldiers' families be transported in preference to all other articles or things, except the troops, and the sup- plies necessary for the support of the armies of the Con- federate States, and that the Act provide for the pay- ment of just compensation for the use of such means of transportation, while in the possession of the authorized officers of this State, the compensation to be paid out of the money already appropriated as a relief fund by the agents or persons at whose request the transportation may be furnished.
Experience has also proved that the counties of northeastern Georgia most remote from the railroad can not obtain sufficient means of transportation to carry the
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STATE PAPERS OF GOVERNOR JOS. E. BROWN
corn from the railroad to the place of consumption. The scarcity of teams is owing to the fact that their horses have been taken for cavalry service, and their oxen have been impressed for beef for the army. Finding that there was likely to be much suffering in that section for bread for soldiers' families, I ordered the energetic Quartermaster-General of the State to purchase teams and wagons by drafts upon the military fund and aid those most destitute, and most remote from the railroad in the transportation of the corn. If this action is ap- proved by the Legislature, and I trust it will be, the teams now about ready for use can be employed in this service for a portion of the year. If not approved, they will at any time command more in the market than they cost the State, if not needed for military uses.
RELIEF FUND FOR SOLDIERS FAMILIES.
I am satisfied that the indigent families of soldiers, in many of the counties of this State, are not receiving the benefits to which they are entitled, on account of the neglect or mismanagement of the inferior courts. Six millions of dollars have been appropriated for this pur- pose for the present year, which, if properly applied, is sufficient to prevent any actual suffering. Complaints come up constantly that adequate 'provisions are not made for the needy. In many cases, I have no doubt, these cases are well founded. As evidence of the neglect of parts of the courts, it may be proper to state that great as the destitution is among those entitled to the fund, the amount due for the last quarter of last year has not in some cases been applied for. Some courts have not yet sent in their reports of the number entitled for the pres-
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CONFEDERATE RECORDS
ent year, so as to enable me to have the calculation made and the amount due each county ascertained, while many of the counties have made no application for any part of the fund appropriated for this year.
While the Governor has power to require the courts to make reports of the disposition of the fund, in cases where he suspects it is being improperly applied, and to withhold payments to the courts in such cases, he has no power to compel the courts to do their duty, nor can he take the fund from them and appoint any other person or agent to distribute it among those for whom it was intended. If the courts fail to act, the law makes no other provision for the distribution of the fund. Unless some better plan is adopted, I am satisfied the objects of the Legislature will be very imperfectly carried out in many of the counties, and the needy will not receive the benefits of the liberal provision made for them by the appropriation. As it may be necessary to provide for the appointment of active reliable agents in the counties to assist the courts, or to take charge of the fund in case of neglect or mismanagement by them, I respectfully sug- gest that provision should be made for commissioning all such as officers of this State, so as to protect them against conscription. It will be impossible to relieve the needy, if our most valuable county agents are taken from the discharge of their important duties by the enrolling offi- cers of the Confederacy.
Provision should also be made for the removal from office of all Justices of the Inferior Courts who neglect or refuse to discharge their duties promptly and faithfully.
591
STATE PAPERS OF GOVERNOR JOS. E. BROWN
COTTON PLANTING.
Having on former occasions brought the question of farther restriction of cotton planting to the attention of the General Assembly, I feel a delicacy in again recur- ring to that subject. The present prices of provisions, and the great importance of securing a continued supply of the necessaries of life, are my excuses for again earn- estly recommending that the law be so changed as to make it highly penal for any person to plant or cultivate in cotton more than one-quarter of an acre to the hand, till the end of the war.
This additional restraint is not necessary to control the conduct of the more liberal and patriotic portion of our people, but there are those who for the purpose of making a little more money will plant the last seed al- lowed by law, without stopping to enquire whether they thereby endanger the liberties of the people and the in- dependence of the Confederacy.
To control the conduct of this class of persons, and to the extent of our ability to provide against the possible contingency of a failure of supplies in the future, I feel it to be an imperative duty, again, to urge upon your consideration the importance of the legislation above recommended.
ILLEGAL DISTILLATION.
I beg leave again to call the attention of the General Assembly to the illegal distillation of grain into spirituous liquors. So great are the profits realized by those engaged in this business that the law is evaded in every way that
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CONFEDERATE RECORDS
ingenuity can devise, and I am satisfied that evil can not be effectually suppressed without farther and more strin- gent legislation. Some of the Judges have ruled that the Act passed at your last session does not give them authority to draw and compel the attendance of a jury out of the regular term time of the court to try the ques- tion of nuisance, while some public officers have shown no disposition to act for fear of incurring the ill-will of per- sons of wealth and influence who are engaged in the daily violation of the law.
Distillers in some parts of the State are paying ten dollars per bushel for corn to convert into whiskey, while soldiers' families and other persons are suffering for bread.
I renew the expression of my firm conviction that the evil can only be effectually suppressed by the seizure of the stills. We now need copper for the use of the State Road, and for military uses, and I earnestly request that an Act be passed authorizing the Governor to impress all the stills in the State which he has reasonable grounds to suspect have been used in violation of the law, and con- vert them into such material for the Road, and imple- ments of war, as the State may need; and that he be authorized to use all the military force necessary to ac- complish the object; and that provision be made for pay- ing the owner just compensation for such stills when seized. I also recommend that provision be made for annulling the commission of any civil or military officer of this State who fails to exercise vigilance, and to dis- charge his duty faithfully in the execution of the law against illegal distillation.
593
STATE PAPERS OF GOVERNOR JOS. E. BROWN
IMPRESSMENT OF PROVISIONS.
Since your last session experience has proven that from distrust of the currency or from other cause, many planters have refused to sell corn, or other provisions, not necessary for their own use, to State or county agents for the market price when offered, while soldiers' fami- lies have been suffering for provisions.
I recommend the enactment of a law authorizing State officers, under the direction of the Governor, to make im- pressments of provisions in all such cases, and providing for the payment of just compensation to the owners of the property impressed.
SLAVES ESCAPING TO THE ENEMY.
The official reports of Federal officers are said to show. that the enemy now has 50,000 of our slaves employed against us. If these 50,000 able-bodied negroes had been carried into the interior by their owners, when the enemy approached the locality where they were employed, and put to work clearing land and making provisions, we should today have been 50,000 stronger and the enemy that much weaker, making a difference of 100,000 in the present relative strength of the parties to the struggle. When a negro man worth $1,000 upon the gold basis es- capes to the enemy that sum of the aggregate wealth of the State, upon which she should receive taxes is lost, one laborer who should be employed in the production of pro- visions is also lost, while one laborer, or one more armed man, is added to the strength of the enemy.
It is therefore unjustifiable and unpatriotic for the owner to keep his negroes within such distance of the
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CONFEDERATE RECORDS
enemies' lines as to make it easy for them to escape. This should not be permitted, and to prevent it in future such laws should be enacted as may be necessary to compel their removal by the owner in such case or to provide for their forfeiture to the State.
No man has a right to use his own property so as to weaken our strength, diminish our provision supply, and add recruits to the army of the enemy.
DESERTION OF OUR CAUSE BY REMOVALS WITHIN THE ENEMY'S LINE.
I am informed that a number of persons in the por- tion of our State adjoining to East Tennessee have lately removed with their families within the lines of the enemy, and carried with them their movable property. Those persons have never been loyal to the cause of the South, and they now avail themselves of the earliest oppor- tunity to unite with the enemies of their State.
I recommend the enactment of a law providing for the confiscation of the property of all such persons, and that all such property be sold and the proceeds of the sale applied to the payment of damages done to loyal citizens of the same section, whose property has been destroyed by raids of the enemy or by armed bands of Tories.
I am also informed that some disloyal persons in that section have deserted from our armies, or avoiding ser- vice have left their families behind and gone over to the enemy, and are now under arms against us. I am happy to learn that the number of such persons is very small.
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STATE PAPERS OF GOVERNOR JOS. E. BROWN
I recommend the confiscation of the property of this class of persons also, and in case they have left families be- hind that are a charge to the county, that no part of the relief fund be allowed them, but that they, be carried to the enemy's lines and turned over to those in whose cause their husbands now serve.
I also recommend the enactment of such laws as shall forever disfranchise and decitizenize all persons of both classes, should they attempt to return to this State.
THE CURRENCY.
The late action of the Congress of the Confederate States upon the subject of the currency has rendered further legislation necessary in this State upon that question. It can not be denied that this Act has seri- ously embarrassed the financial system of this State, and has shaken the confidence of our people in either the jus- tice of the late Congress or its competency to manage our financial affairs. Probably the history of the past fur- nishes few more striking instances of unsound policy combined with bad faith.
The Government issues its Treasury note for $100, and binds itself two years after a treaty of peace, be- tween the Confederate States and the United States, to · pay the bearer that sum; and stipulates upon the face of the note that it is fundable in Confederate States stocks or bonds, and receivable in payment of all public dues except export duties. The Congress while the war is still progressing, passes a statute that this bill shall be funded in about forty days or one-third of it shall be repudiated, and that a tax of ten per cent. a month shall be paid for
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CONFEDERATE RECORDS
it after that time by the holder, and it shall no longer be receivable in payment of public dues, and if it is not funded by the first of January next, the whole debt is repudiated. Did the holder take the note, with any such expectation ? Was this the contract, and is this the way the Government is to keep its faith ? If we get rid of the old issues in this way what guaranty do we give for better faith, in the redemption of the next issues? Again, many of the notes have expressed promise on their face, that they shall be funded in eight per cent. bonds. When ? The plain import is, and so understood by all at the time of their issue, that it may be done at any time before the day fixed on the face of the note for its payment. With what semblance of good faith then, does the Government before that time, compel the holder to receive a four per cent. bond, or lose the whole debt? And what better is this than repudiation? When was it ever before at- tempted by any government to compel the funding of ahnost the entire paper currency of a country amounting to seven or eight hundred millions of dollars in forty days? This is certainly a new chapter in financeering.
The country expected the imposition of a heavy tax, and all patriotic citizens were expected to pay it cheer- fully at any reasonable sacrifice; but repudiation and bad faith were not expected, and the authors of it can not be held guiltless.
The expiring Congress took the precaution to discuss this measure in secret session, so that the individual act of the representative could not reach his constituents, and none could be annoyed during its consideration by the murmurs of public disapprobation being echoed back into the Legislative Hall. . And to make assurance doubly
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STATE PAPERS OF GOVERNOR JOS. E. BROWN
sure, they fixed the day for the assembling of their suc- cessors at a time too late to remedy the evil, or afford adequate redress for the wrong.
The secret sessions of Congress are becoming a blight- ing curse to the country. They are used as a convenient mode of covering up from the people such acts or expres- sions of their representatives as will not bear investiga- tion in the light of day. Almost every act of usurpation of power, or of bad faith, has been conceived, brought forth and nurtured, in secret session: If I mistake not the British Parliament never discussed a single measure in secret session during the whole period of the Crimean War. But if it is necessary to discuss a few important military measures, such as may relate to the movement of armies, etc., in secret session, it does not follow that discussion of questions pertaining to the currency, the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus and the like, should all be conducted in secret session.
The people should require all such measures to be discussed with open doors, and the press should have the liberty of reporting and freely criticising the acts of our public servants. In this way the reflection of the popular will back upon the representative, would generally cause the defeat of such unsound measures as those which are now fastened upon the country in defiance of the will of the people.
But dismissing the past and looking to the future, the inquiry presented for our consideration is, how shall the State authorities act in the management of the finances of the State? As the Confederate States Treasury Notes constitute the currency of the country, the State has been
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obliged to receive and pay them out; and she must con- tinue to do so as long as they remain the only circulating medium. The present Legislature has very wisely adopted the policy in the present depreciated condition of the currency, of collecting by taxation a sufficient sum in cur- rency to pay the current appropriations of the State Gov- ernment; instead of adding them to the debt of the State to be paid in future upon the gold basis. If the State issues her own bonds and puts them upon the market, or if she issues her own Treasury notes redeemable at a future day in her bonds, she adds the amount so issued to her permanent indebtedness and defeats the policy of paying as she goes, as her own bonds or notes would then be out and could not be redeemed with the Confederate notes when received into her Treasury.
If the State receives in payment of taxes the present Confederate Treasury Notes, they will be reduced in amount one-third by Act of Congress after first of April next, and the State receiving them at par pays a Con- federate tax of 331/3 per cent. upon all monies that pass through her Treasury. This, of course, cannot be sub- mitted to.
The repudiation policy of Congress seems therefore to have left us but one alternative, and that is to receive and pay out only such issues of Confederate notes as under the Acts of Congress pass at par, without the de- duction of 331/3 or any other per cent. But as we are obliged to have funds before the time when the new issues of Confederate notes can go into circulation, the question presented is how shall we supply the Treasury in the meantime? In my judgment the proper plan will be to issue State Treasury Notes, payable on the 25th day of
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STATE PAPERS OF GOVERNOR JOS. E. BROWN
December next, at the Treasury, and in each of the more important cities of this State in Confederate Treasury Notes of such issue as may be made after first April next to be used as circulating medium. This enables the State to anticipate the new issues, and use them in ad- vance of their circulation by Confederate authority. The new Georgia Treasury Notes of this issue would be just as good as the new issue of Confederate notes, because payable in them, and would be as current in payment of debts. The Act should provide that all taxes hereafter due the State for this year, shall be payable in the Con- federate Treasury Notes of the new issue, and that they shall be deposited in the treasury when collected, to re- deem the State notes payable in them. The Act should . also provide that the State notes shall be returned and the Confederate notes received in place of them within three months after they are due, or that the State will no longer be liable for their payment. This would pre- vent holders from laying them away and refusing to bring them in for payment when due, according to the terms of the contract. As the State tax is not due till next fall, there will be an abundant supply of the new Confederate notes in circulation by that time to obviate all difficulty in obtaining them by our people to pay the tax.
I recommend the passage of a joint resolution author- izing the Governor to have funded in the six per cent. bonds, provided for by the Act of Congress, all Confed- erate notes which may remain in the Treasury, or may be in the hands of any of the financial agents of the State, after the first day of April next, and to sell and dispose of such bonds at their market value in currency which can be made available in payments to be made by the
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