, 1869-07-14
GEORGIA..
A Conversation with Ben. Hill.
Radicalism Made Disreputable.


Radicalism Made Disreputable.
Negroes in Office,
Social Persecution or Rcpub-
ltcans.
tYRoA DUB 6lEcIiL CORRESPONDENT
AC6rarA, GA, July 8, 1869.
It WIS The fortune OF the Wz1ter not long since,
to hear the opinion Of Ben ELL on the queattnns
which hayo sgitsted the people Of Georgla since
the VIZ, While the contse taken bJ ELL has been
condemned by many Of the more couRefgstt7e md
moderate Democrats, there Il no doubt but he
has done more than any other man In the State 70
mould and form the opinions Of his people and
control the action Of his party; and he to-day
the abiest man IN The Conservative party OF
Georg!a, not excepting A 4. 6tepheuA Stephens
Is oftentlmes tmpracticablc, and easily turned
from his con.se Hu1 Is more practical and IN
yielding IN my position assumed BY HIM
Stephens loses the confidence Of his party oT DIS
covering that they mike mlstAfes, and Is some"
times inclined 70 pursue = moderate, conservative
cou1se. Hill ADOPTS the most ultra vtews, and, !
he doubts the policy sometimes adopted BY h!5
party, does rot make his fears known, but 1aoors
to hold the pa1ry In q solid phalao1. ever cond-
dent IN the tuEtiea OF thelr cause md the good
judgment OF their leaders.
In the conversation referred to ELL explained
the policy adopted when the work Of rteonst1ue-
tlon In Georgia WIS commenced. he aald Il WIS
evident to h's mind that to orer to unite the viz
the, respectah!lttJ and wealth OF the white people
OF Georgia, and oppose party IN solid mass to
the Republicans, the prtuo requisite was to uaks
Radiealisns diutputotk and he accordingly lAt'or-
ed tor the attainment Of that object. He said be
knew Seymour was Already defeated BY the bond
influence, at TIC time he made hts July speech, Last
year, and the edort On that occasion MAS only
part Of his plan to mike Radtcallsnn odio13.
In reference to the charge that he d the head Of
the Ku-k1ux organization In Georgia, he scouts
the ldea Of the existence Of any snch body. and
saJs It Is merely this community OF sentiment exist
ing tn the party Of virtue and srspectahllty which
tmpela them to rise up, Without organization, for
the protection Of their homes and nresdes against
the lnwlessness which ssalks abroad In the land.
And 1t Il the knowledge OF the existence Of this
seoument among the people which delets the mAke
Of ignorant Eag2bonds and cut-thrpats from the
perpe1a,ion Of crime: He sa5s 1t ID this unity OF
feeling among the people which alone makes Life
and property secure In Georgia
In The present condition OF the country, he Of !
course only sees an oyerthruwn constitution, Ap-
preaching anarchy. dissolution md ether evils too
numerous to rnentlon. OF Grant he naa I bctter
opinion th1n some Of our Republican journals.
He thinks Grant WantH to be honest, ana In fact,
Is honest, With desire to do light; bat he has
been eleyated to positton for which he Is neither
ltted By capacity no1 education. He looks upon
our Prehdent IS totally without the elements Of
staseauanshlp- In hts effort to form sn adminis-
t1ation which shoa1d ignore the politicians, be &C.
1ected Cabinet Of weak men, who were taken By
the politicians as easily as they would capture
1ocE Of sheep With such men as AiI1afd ELL
more IN his Cabinet the administration would have
been able to cope successfully NTH the politicians
would have been strong with the people, and
would have made lasting reputation for General
Grant
Many other things were spoken Of during the
conversation, which WIS gtvsn In q public place.
without special reference to publication
NEGROES n OFFICE
By the recent decision Of the Supreme Court Of
this State 1t is decided that the negroes have the
right to hold Office IN Georgta, but IS each branch
OF the Legislature Is made the Judge Of The eugt-
blity Of tts own members, this decision would not
rescat the expelled coioIed men. There Is quite
strong feeling since the decision ii favor Of vol
UNFAIRLY reseattng the members, since to keep
them out would be exercising most unjust priyi-
lege after their action had vEtually been pro-,
nonnced Illegal. Whether this honorable feeling
will continue until the Legislature couvcnes will
depend somewhat On the coufse Of events. aud the
necessity for the exercise Of policy in order to pre-
se1Fe the present Stale organization from revision
By Congress. II the colored men are permitted to
ta1e ther seats 1t will Still leave The Republicans In
minority, and It , therefore, Of little Importance
to the Radicals, aside from the ytndIcaton Of the
law, whether the expelled members arc rrsea:ed
or left out ID the cold.
In this connection there Is quite an amusing H. |
cident regarding Belcher, the United States As I
seBsor for thia district When the coioted men |
were expelled on the ground that tney had morc |
than one eighth negro blood, Delcher and Clark \
were found to be so near white that they wern
permitted To retain their seats, not having the
amount Of African blood which constitutes a bar
10 holding ONCE. This spring, however, when
DeJcher was appointed United Btatcs Assessor for
tho Augusta District the astounding discovery
was made BY the Democrats that Bclehcr La
t' nlsger," aud by some waa thought TO be as
"black az the ace Of spades.''
Belcher Is q descendant Of ono OF tho rrst fani-
lies Of the Palmetto State, being the natusd son
Of wealthy planter in the Abbcrille District. lie
Is we'll educated. md 10 white that the pres
cnce uf African blood would not he recognized
among 4 crowd Of his "supeslor." us entered
tho Union army from Phtadalphis, and was pro-
NOTED 10 the Cap.alncy Of tho company In which
he enlisted. The papers here do not have much
to say about, anh nothing against him, except
that he Is anlRger."
The Macon Postmaster, Turner, Is m African OF
Tho policy Of appointing negroes to Federal Office
Is OF exceedingly doubtful proprlc&y, even IL they
were IN crc1y case honest and competent 1tthcy |
arc appointed here IN tho South simply to show
lhcir former masters how roNcness they arc In |
the choice Of thcr own rulers It Is the exercise Of
contemplate spite totally unworthy Of u great
government and great pcople. II II Is absolutely |
necessary to demonstrate that the coloted man Is
Just AZ good as The white mnu, and In every way
rs capable, let tho President appoint negro
Postmaster for Boston, on tue recommendation OF
Sumner, Wu8ou And Boutwell, where It certainty
could not Appear ike exercising petty malice
against conquered people. No onu Eejotccl
more at the downfall OF tho rebellion than your
correspondent ind over dye yenrs' service attest
ed Lta !a:ih In the Tniou cautc; but 1t does secm
ns though there may be "too npch pl good
Thing"
The abstract Hight Of tho coloted man to hold
oG1ce should not be abridged, anil wherever lie |
an be elected TO otlce by the majority Of susages
&c should be permitted to exercise aud enjoy the
1tiy!lcsc. Cndes such M arrangement he would
,cthapa hold ONCE more frequently In the South
han nj the North, for he would be occasionally
dominated here, while al the North he never
would oe, though he were ten tunes Fred Doug
asa IN ability.
SOCIAL o5TRAC1sx-
The efforts Of utll and Toomhs to make Raalcal-
sn od!ous hive been enlnently successful and
ne Wn!te people OF tn4s SECTION arc almost unit
ealnst the Republican party. They VIII not aaso-
late with Republican, nor trade With him, II
heJ know Il In fact there arc instances In this
lty where men have deliberately walked into the I
Rsness pisces OF Republicans, and taken CUSTOM !
rs ty the nnnd, telling them, tn the presence Of
be proprietor, that they muBt not trade thefe for
WAS a Radical concern. Men have been driven l t
Ut o! business n tins manner, and made to feel |
mphsttcal1y TINT 1t WA not only socially dIsa-
1ceahle, but pecunilnly losing matter, to con- ,
nue IN their political faith, And yet Bome Of /
hese men have dared 10 co1tinue tn the faith, )
rusting Iot time to mo1ify or change public 1pin-
IN. There ere sone Republicans n the State +
tho arc foolish enough to think they can make
1atfofM more acceptable to the people bJ eachew.
1g negro ot1ce-holdtng Radicalism; int th.s | Z
,oyemeut II not likely to prove success, for the
id rule that he who ais not for us Il ngatnst nj"
the maum here, and there is no halfway I
round They nust either leave the patty en- |
lrtly or support the national platform. =
rn1Icr OF TIE FREsrpEST." i
It would be . very nice question to determine, ! =
ON the appointments In this State, whether Geu-
rM Grants policy Is Radical or Conservative. :
he Assessor hero Is Of neEro extraction, aad q
straight-out RADICAL Turner, OF Macon, Is q &
III. .blooded African and Radical Of the Sumner e
.hool Bryant, the Postmaster here, ts I con- | b
.vat1ve Republican. belleT1ng that n1gzeta Il
aonld hare ali the nshts except o1cehoidlng. II
[e Ia from Maine, waa formerly connected With l E
lie FreednenB Burrau, aud II Is supposed re-
eiyed his appointment through The influence OF n
enatur 1oahna ELL Fclr01+ TIE Collector. Is 4 b
Alive, and ID cuuseSnttye REp1bIean, on the t.
lMe platform with BrJlat Neither of these geu- q