Knoxville daily chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1870-1882, 1871-10-28
Hon. Ben. Hill.

"-H. V. r., of the Cincinnati CONNER
cial, has been interviewing Hon. Ben.
Hill, at Atlanta and gives the result as fol-
lows:
He is q man of great ability, immense
force of character, untiring energy and
large requirements. With all these are
broad views, statesmanlike ideas and lib
eral sentiments. AS L looked at him. to-
day, and heard the words of wisdom that
flowed as a stream from his lips, thought
how much better it would be for the South
if she had thousand Ben. Hills in every
State-a thousand barriers against preju-
dice and wrong, thousand moral heroes
against whom the waves of passion and
hate might beat and retire from each on
slaught, only leaving the adamaDtine bar
rier the more polished and pure.
The last speech against secession ever
made in Georgia was made by Ben. Hill,
his words of warning and prophecy, ring
midst of the storm. What he then said
reads now like inspiration, like the words
of prophet possessed of the power to peer
! five years into the future.
The storm came and he bowed before it..
To have remained in his position would
have been death. Yet in truth the day
never was when brave Ben. Hill was not
| Union man.
called upon Mr. Hill to-day, in his ele-
CANT suit of rooms in the Kimball House.
He now spends most of his time here en-
gagged in the practice of the law. There is
nothing striking in his appearance. DR..
Johnson once said of Burke that if you
met him under bridge during shower
you would know him to be a great man,
but YOU might see Benjamin Hill thou
sand times, and if you did not know who
| he was, YOU would never suspect him to hi
| q distinguished man. But it is by his
works that we know him more than by
his looks. Works are the measure of great
ness, not appearance.
| Mr.. Hill is of the opinion that the fate
| of Georgia hangs upon the events of the
| next few months. "Our Legislature meets
| in about two weeks" he said, 'and much
upon their action hangs our fate. No half
way measures will do. They must take a
| bold stand in favor of the constitutional
amendments, and assure the people of the
| North that Georgia accepts all issues of
the war. We must not halt or hesitate.
There is no time for delay. Our Legisla-
| ture, being a Democratic one, must affirm
| in no unmistakable terms their acceptance
of the amendments, and their disapproba-
| ton of kukluXism.o
WHAT NINETY DAYS MAY BRING FORTH.
| rom the steps General UranC Is ldhIHS
in South Carolina" continued Mr.. Hill,
~ should not be surprised to see portion
of our State under martial law in less than
ninety days. If we don't enforce the law
ourselves it will be done for US. The kl-
klux business is the worst that ever af-
flicted the South. Every day that we let
it continue we cut our own throats., What
possible good can it do? Will it reverse
the verdict of the war? Will it injure the
North Willitrestore to us anything we
have lost? Not at all; it is a curse upon
our land, blight following slavery and
war, and the greatest blunder our people
ever committed, excepting the one forced
upon the country by the secession leaders
in 1860 The history of the world presents
nothing so suicidal and self-destructive as
that, and [ always make an exception in
| it's favor" aH
| PRESIDENT GRANT.
"For General Grant personally I have
great respect, and L can never forget his
magnanimous course at the surrender of
Lee and his impartial report upon Geor-
gia affairs when sent here by President
johnson. But he is military man, and
his theory of government is implicit obe-
d 90