Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1872-02-23
From washington.

WASHINGTON. February 12.-Wth huff
of the country aienated from the Government,
war with England or with Spain. or with
both, is invoked and courted. The Grant
administration is responsible for this state of
things. Grant has not the power to carry
through Congress an Amnesty Act. But he
has the power to4inyolye. US in q war with
Sifngland aid her allies at amy moment It
has been trumphantly asserted by an admins
tration organ that special message from the
President to Congress provocative Of war
with Spain would elcctrify and delight the
country Some Of the independent presses
of the South have disscnted ftom this asscr-
tion. They will, it is hoped, show also re-
pugnnnce to n war with England which may
be provoked, if it became necessary, for the
re election of General Grant aud for the ger.
manence Of Republican rule.
The rumors from the White House are of
a character unfivorabc to peace. These out
glvings are for Buncombc. For instance, it
is semi officially reported that the President
aud his cabinet will refuse aud derde any
suggestion from the British Government of II
modification ot the eXtravagant claims pat
before the arbitration at Geneva by the Uni
| ted States Government. These claims are an
insult to England They were so intended to
be- Look ut the history Of them. The Rcpubli
can administration could not afford to adupt
| the Revcrdy johnson Clarendon Treaty, by
which all our differences with England would
have been settled long ago. The new admin
istratiom of Grant wanted the credit of this
settlement or the popular excitement of n
general war with England. So, the johnson
| Clarendon Convention was with contempt
early rejected, after speech from Mr.. Sum
nrr then Chairman of the Committee of For
| clgn Relations, with formal Bill of indict.
| nlcnt against England for her conduct to us
! during the war
| That Indictment was followed by the ap.
| polntment Of Mr. Summers friend, Motley,
as Minister to England. Subsequently Grant
9uarrclcd with Sumner. for both could not be
President at the same time, and Sumner was
dropped from the Committee on Foreign Af-
fairs, and Motley superseded.
But, strange enough, Mt the moment when
an honorable and anicable adjustment Of our
affairs with Engand is about to be effected,
General Grants Administration nterposes a
demand upon England more insulting and
unreasonable than that which Mr. Sumner
had made in his famous speech
Grant did this for political cffeot. It was
an unworthy mode of clectioneering for re.
election. The national interests hazarded
merely for the sake Of a new Republican is
sue. We need light upon this remarkable
trick, which the Grant Administration has
resorted to for the purpose of gaining strength
before the country OH the eve Of Prcsiden
tial election - Correspondence Charleston
Courier.
AN INTERESTING CASE AT CHESTER
The Common Pleas docket being called, the
first case taken up was A. s. Wallace, Trus
tee, vs.. G. Melton and N. r. Eaves. This
was an action On a sealed note dated in 1858,
the consideration of which was the purchase
money of negro slave The plea of The dc.
PENDANTS was failure of consideration, ard the
unsoundness of the negro was relied upon to
establish the plea Messrs. Walker g. Brcc
were attorneys for the plaintiff and Messrs.
McAliley Brawlny for the defendants Mr..
McAliley made very interesting argument to
tho court and jury against the validity of
negro debts. He took tho ground that slav.
cry was entirely an institution of force, that
it did find its origin n the common law,
that it had no legal or moral sanction, and
that, therefore, " zen the force which upheld
it was overcome by other force and tho ins,i
tuition fell, all contracts which owed their ori.
gin to the institution fell with it, General
Walker replied with force, imprcssing the
jury with the Inv az laid downb by the Supreme
Court, and charging that it was their duty to
be governed by that law in naking up their
verdict in the cnse. Judge Thomas, while
expressing hin,self as agreeing with ths prn
ciples laid down by Mr.. McAliley, told the
jury that he was bound by the law MS laid
down by tho Supreme Court, and was obliged
to charge them that negro debts were as valid
as any other debts. The jury retired and in
few minutes brought in verdict for the de-
fendants. The plaintiffs gave notice of n
motion for new trial. This is the first case
tried here since the war ia which the validity
of negro debts was involved A there are
many Of the same kind ON the docket, it was
considered important ns precedent. AS,
however, the negro was proved to have heen
very unsound at time Of the purchase, and a
source Of expense, rather than of profit, to the
purchaser from that time tiIlithe time of her
death, the jury may have based their finding
altogether upon the fact Of unsnundness, and
may not have considered at all the general
question as to the validity of such debts
Chester Reporter. y.
| Tue NEw CONGRESSIONAL AppoRrIoN
MESr.-Tho bill for apportion,ng Reprosen
tatiycs in Congress which passed last week
fixes the representation at 233. The South.