Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1876-06-03
LETTER of Attorney General Har-
ris Of Mississippi (Rep.) explaining
the Republican defeatof last fall.
ATTORNEY GENERALS OFFICE, /
-KsoN, Miss, November, "a, 1875.

II NJ
70 his Excellency u. s. Grant, President
OF the United States
SIR-Mississippi, with Republican
two years ago Of twenty-tour
thousand, has gone Democratic by an
overwhelming majority say thirty
thousand. This was no less astonlsb-
ing to the Democracy than it was sad
TO the Republicans, and inasmuch as
many have undertaken to account for
our defeat and contradictory state
ments have been made as to the real
cause, think it proper to write and
give you plain aud unvarnished state
ment of affairs here, and while it is
painful to give the whole truth, yet it |
will In some degree relieve me as legal /
advisor from the responsibility ofmany |
of the fatal bluDders of the present |
State administration and at the same /
time give the real causes of our defeat. |
However, Ames was inaugurated IN |
January, 1874, under the most favora-
bic auspices. His address promised
economy and reform and was well re-
ceived by the whole country, even our
political opponents in q state OF dis
ruption, many of them having voted
for him, expressed a Willingness to
support him in all that he had prom
ised and advised; but instead of en-
couraging every indication Of return
ing friendship, his cold indifference
drove them at once into q direct an
tagouism. He seemed to contract his
views and narrow his circle of friends
TO a few confidential advisers, as it
were close corporation Of mercenary
men, who knew but little of the wants
of the people of the State, and cared less
men who have no identity of interest
or sympathy in common with the peo-
Dle of the State, and, to deal plainly, l
must call names-such men as John
b. Raymond, A. T. Morgan, A. r.
Howe, and few lesser lights. if possi-
BILE. Raymond, the State printer and
chief clerk in the treasurer's office,
lobbyist around the legislature, espec
tally on the printing bills, which pay
him nearly eighty thousand dollars per
annum, when thirty thousand would
be too much. He leaves his printing
Office in the hands of another, it is said,
at a salary of eighteen hundred dollars
in currency, and takes clerkship IN
the Office of the State treasury. at tf-
teen hundred dollars in State warrants
worth seventy-fve or eighty cents on
the dollar. This he could well afford,
because he handled the funds of the
State, and if he cashed his own war
rants, he makes nearly twenty thous-
and dollars per annum on that, and
there is nothing to prevent 1T except
his own honesty %. There has been
much complaint of this, and yet it is
persisted in to this day. But the treas
urer's Office is to change hands since
the special election to fill Ia vacancy, and
his office as State printer Is about to
expire, and now he wants to be post
master at Vicksburg. / regret to add
that he is so degraded that the charge
of corruption and bribery is no Of
Tense to him, and it comes from VarI-
Gus sources.
THE STATE OFFICIALS.
Morgan, who is sheriff of Yazoo
county, has long been a refugee from
his county. Chairman of the late State
convention and husband of very re-
speeta BILE colored woman (?), who, when
Estate senator, offered, in writing, to sell
his vote for two thousand dollars, and
Raymond refused to pay it, saying he
had already paid nine hundred dollars,
and that was enough for that vote. A.
Il. Howe, ex-cOunty treasurer and ex-
member of congress, who took from
the treasury of Pamela county, through
an ignorant colored board of supervi-
sors, and now unlawfully retains the
sum of FIVE thousand one hundred and
twenty-five dollars and seven cents q
have a certified transcript of the re-
cord), and which he does not deny, but
refuses to pay. This, In brief, is a
small part of the record of three Of
the governors confidential advisers
friends and couusellors, and he must
have known their character all the
while. Through these aud other friends
he had very full control of the legisla-
ture, and could procure almost any leg
islation that looked at all plausible
either for the good of the State, the
good of the party, or for self-aggran.
dizement, and the sequel has shown
how he has used that power. The
first session of the legislature passed
with but little if any reform, and We
felt sad. Under the constitution and
laws of the State he was required tC
appoint twenty chancellors, with the
advice and consent of the senate
This, of course, should have been done
during the session of the senate, bu
for some reason, best known to him
self. he refused to do il, but waitet
until the adjournment and then made
ten appointments in vacation, and Thu
was set aside by the supreme eour
(see Brady Us. Howe, 80 Miss. reports
D. COZ, the court holding that the ap
pointments should have been made
during the session of the senate. l
was manifestly his duty to have mad,
the appointments during the session o
the senate and to have sent them il
confirmation, and the terms of office ex
pired long before the next session
But the governor, in his desire to con
troll the judiciary as wellas the execu
tive department of the State, resortet
to the expediency of making the APP
pointments ever them, IN teTrOrenl, un
til the next session of the legislature
and if they did not please him in thei
DEGREES, ETC., he could withhold thei
names (as he did in one CASEY, thu
making the judiciary of the State sub
servient to the executive, in violation
of the constitution (see art. 3, secs.
and y; and he actually removed Chan
cellor brennan, as [ believe, becaus
In case of hdbedS corpus he refuse
bail to the governors friend Morgan
on a charge of the murder of one Hill
lard. In his selection of men to I'll
these important judicial positions b
did not con6ne himself to the legs
profession; made some good appoint
ments, it is true, but in two or tire
instances he appointed men who ha
received a law license only few day
previous, for the purpose of being ap
pointed, who had never had a case j
court, were totally ignorant of the la'
or the practice, and who did not kno'
plea in bar from demurrer. In on
case a man VIGOROUSLY venal and COZ
rupt, and in another case for the avow
ed purpose of giving strength to hi
friend Howe for congress, and tn
chancellor, to secure the sending in O
his name for confirmation, appoints
Howe's brother clerk of the CHANGER
court and clerk of the board of super
visors of Pamela county, for the ex
press purpose of preventing an inves
tigation of Howe's Indebtedness t
Pamela county. In one case he au
pointed Mr.. Peyton, son of the chic
Justice, and then refused to send hi
name to the senate, because he decide