Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1881-04-22


find this usually quiet village in stir over
the closing of the second week of
the Superior Court The inhabitants
were not disturbed so much at the closing
up of the week as they were at the
thought of having to continue court another
week. There was never a good time to hold
court and the farmers of Houston think that
this is the worst time that could possibly have
been chosen. Being three weeks behind in
their farming operations on account of the
weather. and now, as the season is opening up
so grandly, to be detained by the Judge and
Sheriff to settle some trivial dispute between
neighbors or 10 grant Sambo a divorce from
his falthleSs Dlnah, is more than good nature
can bear complacently. The lawyers must
ton, If not gone, would be utterly profitless
so, as long as people will do wrong and violate
the law, there is no exemption from jury duty,
however pressing other duties may be.
Judge Simmons is quite popular with both
the bar and people, and is doing everything to
get the dockets clear and the business well up
TO time. His discipline is firm, and yet conSid-
crate of the claims of ALL His aim is to do
justice to all parties, and yet protect every in
tereSt OF the community; to suppress crime by
the penalties prescribed and yet dealing as
mercifully as possible with the criminal
Solicitor General Hardeman is making a fine
impression upon the people wherever he goes
as a faithful and competent officer Evil doers
may well dread the hour when they fall into
his hands
The criminal business was all over before I
reached Perry, and while there were no crimes
OF very. great turpitude brought before the
court there was one case worthy of notice
especially in its bearing upon the labor prob
lem. One of the gravest difficulties confront
ing the PAINTER of the present daY is to secure
ana keep neld hands. In the present status of
affairs, the demand for laborers exceeds the
supply of good work hands. The negro knows
that II he gets out of work on one plantation
neighboring planter will be glad to give him
employment. ThlS makes the negro feel that
ne IS master of the situation, and on any
fancied ground or tlimsy pretext he will violate
the most solemn contract or obligation. This
condition OF affairs prompts some men to offer
inducements TO the negroes to violate their
contracts. To meet the exigencies of the
case, the Legislature has passed an act making
1t criminal for one neighbor to hire hand who
was under contract to another.
Such case came up before Judge Simmons
Mr.. B., young farmer, employed a negro
whom, as the evidence showed, he knew was
under contract to his neighbor, w. All the
points were brought out bearing upon the case
by the counsel on either side. 1t was case
that affected tWo-thirdS of the citizens of the
county, personally, as most of them are farm
ers. Ii was practice that demanded correc-
tion at once. because it seriously affects both
employer and employee The Judge was very
stern and clear in his charge to the Jury show
ing the evils that would befall the country If
this practice was upheld and persisted in. The
jury was no time in making UP verdict of
guilty" The youth of the violator of law
saved him from the severer penalties. He will
never be guilty again of this crime, am sure,
after the lecture given by Judge Simmons.
He was let off with cost of about $50 Let
this case be warning to Others
This morning Judge j. d. Stewart. of the
Flint Circuit Court, came over to preside in
Judge Summons place. as the latter had gone
to Henry county to relieve the former by try
ing some case in which Judge Stewart had
been formerly employed as counsel. l leave
too early to see much of his presiding.
Perry has just had town election, which.
being somewhat OF q personal contest, was
very exciting. The vote was close, and the de-
feated candidates are contesting the election
1t will be decided next Monday. The emou-
ments of such efflces are not excessive, and
fear some bad temper and money will be all
that is expended. The only parties making
anything out of it are the lawyers
Perry now has two most excellent schools
the female school, under the care of Prof p
G. johnson, and the male school, under charge
of Prof. Thurman There are quite a number
of boarding pupils in the town.
The crops in this section of the county are
said to be little better than those about Fort
Valley. although the prospect is not encour-
aging. l saw an elegant patch of wheat (he
only wheat have seen in the county, near the
residence of Capt. G. w. Killers. 1t is in the
boot, and, If no misfortune befalls it, it will
yield abundantly. Some good patches of oats
see about the town also. The immense
to the country indicates its extreme poverty
its great want, How all this is to be paid for
is a question they leave the future to deter
mine. All the farmers of Houston do not be-
long to this class. Some of them are doing
well, and honoring their profession by demon
strating the fact that farm can be self-sus-
tanning.
b. NJ Bateman, ESQ of Byron. iu this coun-
ty, gives me the following account of last
years experiment. He had lot containing
six and half acres. This he prepared we'll
manured it highly, cultivated it properly and
then gathered eight bales of cotton off of it,
weighing five hundred pounds One bale was
charged up to preparation for the crop, one
bale went pay for the guano, and the third
betrayed the expense of cultivation and pre-
pairing it for market, leaving five bales as profit
OFF of the six and half acres.
This year he has twenty acres under the
same system of cultivation, and expects to
gather twenty bales of cotton off of it. HIS
plan is to cultivate a small area of land, by en-
raises fifty bushels of oats to the acre. 1t is much
easier, most assuredly, to reap two hundred
and fifty bushels of oats off Of five acres than
to reap the same amount off of ten acres.
There is no sense in paying hand to swing
cradle over ten acres when he can gather the
same crop off of five. But some men seem to
think there is a kind of grandeur in broad acres
1t is hard to get them out of the old ruts, but
the boys of to-day will learn the wisdom of
small fields well titled.
Business is now conducted in all interior
towns on the credit system almost entirely.
Money is exceedingly scarce and tight, and
merchants are becoming alarmed, and some of
them say that they have at this early day
about all that they can afford to carry, What
are the people to do? JACK PLANE.