careful to waste time so that the net result would be in favor of the old method.

"Under slavery, it was not always possible to keep the laborers at work, but they had nevertheless to be maintained while idle. This point was stressed by a Northern preacher, Nehemiah Adams, who, during a visit to the South, observed that the kindness of owners prevented them from disposing of superfluous negroes. Another element of cost was in the expense attached to rearing the slave children to the age where they could be used, and the support of superannuated slaves. The one crop system and the absence of fertilizers were unfortunate for the land. Rotation of crops was not practiced and little effort was made to conserve the soil. When the areas under cultivation at any given moment became less productive, the planters pushed on westward with their slaves, bought the holdings of small farmers, cut down the trees, used the virgin soil, and presently abandoned the country to the mercy of the washing rains.

"As has already been said, the majority of Georgia's families owned no slaves. The large-scale planters were a small percentage of Georgia farmers. Below them in the social scale was a class of smaller slave owners who are said to have been unprosperous. The third element in society was the independent, non-slave holding farmer. Among this element of the population, constituting the great majority, there were striking variations in conditions. It is not true that all non-slaveholders were a destitute class. The negroes came at the bottom of the ladder. In many respects they received more benefit from slavery than did any other class. Coming to America as savages, members of a race which had never contributed anything to civilization, the enforced labor of two hundred years taught a great proportion of them habits of industry. No primitive people ever got their upward start under such happy auspices as did the American negroes."

Thus with the help of these able investigators, we have carefully analyzed the institution of slavery, in its ethical, in its sociological, and in its economic aspects. Briefly summing up its results, we cannot escape the conclusion that if it wrought an injustice to the black man, it wrought a much greater injustice to the white man; that, while it shackled the negro, it likewise forged fetters for the South; that it committed this section to agriculture while its absence gave New England an opportunity to develop her industrial interests under free labor, to establish great manufacturing plants, and to acquire a recognized ascendency in the mechanic arts-all of which this section might have enjoyed had she not been shackled to a system which, in the end, overthrew her political power in the nation, brought on the Civil war, with its tragic aftermath of reconstruction, engulfed in colossal ruin the accumulations of half a century, liberated a body of slaves equal to half of the South's entire population, entailed upon her an enormous war debt, both State and Federal, deprived her of a property in human chattels worth $2,000,000,000 and left her with homes in ashes, with cities in ruins, with fields laid waste, and with a population decimated by the ravages of war, to begin once more the struggle of life under the appalling incubus of defeat.

But while slavery took these things from the South it left her with

limbs unshackled by an institution which was a real foe to her progress; it left her with a courage undaunted, with a spirit unconquered, with a faith unshaken, with an honor unsullied; it left her, too, with a record of noble sacrifice, of patient endurance, of marvelous military achievement, of splendid heroism, and of lofty fidelity to principle, unparalleled in the annals of time. All her fine impulses of chivalry survived; all her high ideals of honor remained. Moreover, the institution of slavery bequeathed to her a legacy of tender memories, an inheritance of song, of romance, and of legend, to charm the ears of her children for generations unborn and to enrich the pages of her history forever.

"Uncle Tom's Cabin" will doubtless never become a classic in the homes of Georgia. But the civilization which out of an African savage produced an Uncle Tom was the civilization of the Old South. Its virtues are extolled at least by implication in every lineament of strength and in every feature of nobility which Mrs. Stowe has given to her splendid character; and so long as Uncle Tom shall live in the literature of a vanished era-endowed with an immortality which he only too well deserves so long will the institution which produced him be lifted to the admiration of the ages, an institution to the glories of which a writer, professedly one of its greatest foes is forced by the exigencies of her story to pay the reluctant tribute of an unwilling pen.*

* UNCLE TOM'S CABIN.-Says a distinguished newspaper correspondent at the national capital, in speaking of Mrs. Stowe's book: "It was an extravagant fiction. Every Southern man knew it to be such. There were some short-haired women in the North, who ought to have been born men, and some long-haired men, who ought not to have been born at all, who believed the stuff, or affected to believe it; but it was not until the flag had been fired on that Mrs. Stowe's absurd yarn got to be a classic and a gospel. It was not until the flag was fired on that that ignoble old ruffian, John Brown, got to be a martyr."'—" 'Essays by Savoyard,'' p. 63.

In another connection, this same writer observes: "The John Brown raid would have been the last nail in the coffin of the new Republican party, if the South had only had the patience to stand pat. As for slavery, it put dollars in Northern pockets where it put dimes in Southern. It made the cotton that regulated the balance of trade and fed Northern looms and bought Northern goods. There was not one single Northern State that would have furnished a single regiment to fight for the freedom of all the negroes in the world. There was not a single Northern community that did not regard an abolitionist of the Garrison stripe as little less than a nuisance. Had the South dealt with the problem as Buchanan and Black advised, there would have been no war, and if slavery had died, it would have been a natural death, not a violent one."-Ibid., 61-62.

WHO INVENTED THE SEWING MACHINE?-As an author of stories for the young, Dr. Francis R. Goulding admittedly ranks with the great English dissenter: Daniel DeFoe. But did Doctor Goulding further increase the debt which humanity owes him by inventing the sewing machine? To this question, Joel Chandler Harris returns the following answer: Says he "The first sewing machine was invented by Rev. Frank R. Goulding, a Georgian, who has won fame among the children of the land as the author of 'The Young Marooners.' He invented the sewing machine for the purpose of lightening the labors of his wife; and she used it for some years before another genius invented it, or some traveler stole the idea and improved on it.''

Walter A. Clark, of Augusta, has written a book in which he gives an account of some of the early settlements of Richmond. The old Village of Bath, where Doctor Goulding held a pastorate at one time, is included among this number; and

in regard to the matter in question, Mr. Clark says: "Dr. Goulding must have been a moderately busy man, for in addition to his ministerial and literary labors, he devoted a portion of his time to mechanics. In the early forties his hand and brain evolved a sewing-machine, which is claimed to have been the first invention of its kind operated on American soil. The practically universal use into which such machines have grown and the princely incomes secured by Howe and Wilson and Singer and others, from similar inventions, have led me to investigate the reasons why he failed to profit financially by his mechanical genius. Since I began this story the following variant accounts have been received:

"First, the inventor's trip to Washington, D. C., in the interest of his patent, was delayed by flooded streams, and a rival claiming the same mechanical principle, in this way, reached the patent office in advance of him.

"Second, on the aforesaid trip, the stage was overturned, and, in the confusion incident thereto, the model was stolen and never recovered.

"Third, the model dropped from the buggy into a deep stream as he crossed it and was never found.

"Fourth, he failed to locate the eye or opening of the needle used, near its point, and, for this reason, the machine was never a success.

"I have been told also that Howe, during a visit to Augusta, was allowed by his friend to inspect the working of the model; that he saw the defects, applied the remedy, appropriated the motive mechanism, and secured a patent, which bountifully filled his coffers.

"The needle theory named above was given to me by my old friend, Mr. John H. Jones, whose memory, although he has passed his four-score years, is as retentive as a tar-bucket. It is also confirmed by my friend, Mrs. C. A. Rowland; and since they were both personal friends of Mr. Goulding, from the lips of whom they received the story, it is evidently the correct version of his failure to utilize his invention. After leaving Bath in 1853, Dr. Goulding lived for a time at Darien, Ga., but spent his last years at Roswell, Ga., where he died in 1881." To the foregoing statement, Mr. Clark afterwards added this paragraph: "Since writing the above I have learned through a lady friend that Mrs. Mary Helmer, of Macon, Ga., daughter of Dr. Goulding, has in her possession beautiful samples of the handiwork of this machine, showing conclusively that there was no defect in construction, and it must have been at last his kind consideration for the interest of the gentler sex that held his genius in abeyance."'

Miss Rutherford, of Athens, an educator of wide note, whose writings upon historical topics show thorough research, gives us the following piece of information: "In 1842, while in Eatonton, Ga., Dr. Goulding conceived the idea of the sewing machine, and to this Georgian is due the first practical sewing machine ever known. During 1845, the year before Howe's patent was issued, or Thirmonnier had obtained his, Goulding's sewing machine was in use. He said in his journal: 'Having satisfied myself about this machine, I laid it aside that I might attend to other and weightier duties.' Thus it happened that no patent was applied for." Dr. James Stacy, the historian of the Midway settlement, from which parental source Doctor Goulding sprang, is another witness to the latter's invention. He says that while visiting at Bath in the summer of 1848 he saw the remains of an old machine in Doctor Goulding's home; and in the opinion of this commentator the great author is undoubtedly entitled to the honor which the world has accorded to Elias Howe.

CHAPTER XXIX

THE WHIG PARTY BECOMES A POWER IN GEORGIA-SENATOR BERRIEN ITS RECOGNIZED LEADER-ON JANUARY 19, 1843, A STATE CONVENTION IS HELD AT MILLEDGEVILLE-GEORGE W. CRAWFORD IS NOMINATED FOR GOVERNOR-OPPOSED BY MARK A. COOPER, THE DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE BUT MR. CRAWFORD WINS THE LEGISLATURE OF 1843 DIVIDES THE STATE INTO FORTY-SEVEN SENATORIAL DISTRICTS-REASONS FOR THIS RADICAL CHANGE THE SENATE TOO LARGE A BODYITS CONSERVATISM IMPAIRED MEMBERSHIP IN THE HOUSE IS ALSO REDUCED TO DETERMINE A COUNTY'S REPRESENTATION, ALL FREE WHITES ARE COUNTED AND THREE-FIFTHS OF THE SLAVES-WALTER T. COLQUITT SUCCEEDS ALFRED CUTHBERT AS UNITED STATES SENATOR -THE PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN OF 1844 THE ADMISSION OF TEXAS A BURNING ISSUE-MR. CLAY, NOMINATED BY THE WHIGS ON A PLATFORM ANTAGONISTIC TO TEXAS, LOSES A STRONG SUPPORT IN THE SOUTH-POLK IS ELECTED GOVERNOR CRAWFORD IS GIVEN A SECOND TERM THE SUPREME COURT OF GEORGIA IS CREATED IN 1845JOSEPH HENRY LUMPKIN-EUGENIUS A. NISBET-HIRAM WARNERTHE GREAT TRIUMVIRATE WHY SUCH A COURT WAS NOT CREATED EARLIER HISTORY OF THE MOVEMENT LOOKING TOWARD ITS CREATION.

At this period of the state's history, the old whig party was its most powerful political organization. On January 19, 1843, at Milledgeville, this party held its first state convention. United States Senator John MacPherson Berrien, the recognized leader of the whig party in Georgia, was elected chairman. This body elected ten delegates to attend a national convention of the whig party in Baltimore in 1844, with instructions to support Henry Clay for President. At the same time, George W. Crawford, then a member of Congress, was nominated for governor on a whig ticket.

To oppose Mr. Crawford, the democrats nominated Mark A. Cooper, but in the fall election Mr. Crawford won. The Legislature of 1843 produced one of the most radical changes in the history of the state government. Since 1789 each county in Georgia had constituted a separate senatorial district and was entitled to one state senator; but as the result of this system of representation the Senate had become a second House. To restore the conservatism of this higher body, it was necessary to reduce its membership. Consequently an amendment to the state constitution, having passed two legislatures* dividing the state into forty-seven

* December 27, 1842, and December 5, 1843, see House and Senate Journals for these years.

senatorial districts, was finally ratified, and became a part of the fundamental law of Georgia.

Each of these newly created districts, with the exception of the first, was to be composed of two contiguous counties; but the County of Chatham, on account of its population and importance, was to constitute a separate district within itself. In 1853, this constitutional amendment was repealed; but from 1845 to 1853, it remained in operation during which time the state was divided into forty-seven senatorial districts.

Under an act approved December 27, 1843, membership in the House was likewise reduced. Each county was to have at least one representative and no county was to be allowed more than two; and there were thirty-seven counties, each of which, under the provisions of this act, were entitled to two representatives.* All of the other counties were allotted one member each.

In fixing a county's status, all free white persons were counted and three-fifths of the slaves. Members of the General Assembly were to be elected biennially on the first Monday in October. Future sessions of the Legislature were also to be held biennially on the first Monday in November for each alternate year beginning on the first Monday in November, 1845.

Alfred Cuthbert's term as United States senator having expired on March 3, 1843, Judge Walter T. Colquitt, of Columbus, was elected to succeed him in this high forum.

Financial conditions began to improve somewhat during Governor Crawford's administration and taxes were raised sufficient to pay some of the state's outstanding indebtedness.

Georgia's electoral support was given in 1844 to James K. Polk, of Tennessee, for President. Under normal conditions, Georgia was a Whig state, but she favored the annexation of Texas to the United States; and, on a platform favoring annexation, Mr. Polk had been nominated by the democrats. Texas, having achieved her independence of Mexico, she desired to become a state in the American Union, since most of her pioneer settlers were from the states. Accordingly she applied for admission in 1837, soon after her independence was achieved.

But action was delayed. There was great opposition, especially at the North, to the admission of Texas. All of the territory of this proposed state lay south of Missouri, and its admission therefore meant the addition of a vast empire to the domain of slavery in the United States. Finally, however, in the campaign of 1844, the annexation of Texas became a dominant issue, the democrats espousing while the whigs opposed the creation of a new state out of this imperial area to the Southwest. Had Mr. Clay, the candidate of the whigs, not been nominated on a platform antagonistic to the annexation of Mexico, he would undoubtedly have received Georgia's support and might possibly have won the election. As it was, Mr. Polk carried Georgia by a decisive majority and became the next President.

Georgia cast only ten electoral votes in 1844, due to the reduction of which we have already spoken. Her electors at this time were: from the state at large, Charles J. McDonald and Alfred Iverson; district

* Acts 1843, p. 17.