them? Perish forever so base a thought! If they are to be disfranchised, let it be by no act of ours.

The Committee, in the House of Representatives, to whom the subject was referred, reported against the ratification of the amendment, and thus closed their report:

any

As the representatives of the people of the State of Florida, we protest that we are willing to make organic changes of a thoroughly general character, and which do not totally destroy the nature of the government. We are willing to do any thing which a generous conqueror even should demand, much less the Congress of our common government. On the other hand, we will bear any ill before we will pronounce our own dishonor. We will be taxed without representation; we will quietly endure the government of the bayonet; we will see and submit to the threatened fire and sword and destruction, but we will not bring, as a peace offering, the conclusive evidence of our own self-created degradation.

Our present relations with the general government are certainly of a strange character. Beyond the postal service, our people derive no benefit from our existence as a State in the Union. We are denied representation even when we elect a party who has never in fact sympathized with armed resistance to the United States, and who can, in good faith, take the oath. We are at the same time subject to the most onerous taxation; the civil law of the State is enforced and obeyed only when it meets the approval of the local commander of the troops of the United States; the Congress of the United States enacts laws making certain lands subject to entry at a small cost by the colored portion of our population, and denies the like privilege to the white man by restrictions amounting to a prohibition.

We are, in fact, recognized as a State for the single and sole purpose of working out our own destruction and dishonor. None of the benefits of that relation exist. In other words, we are recog nized as a State for the highest purposes known to the Constitution, namely, its amendment; but we are not recognized as a State for any of the benefits resulting from that relation.

Your committee, for these reasons among others, recommend that the House of Representatives, do not ratify the proposed amendment."

This report of the committee was unanimously adopted by the House.

The bonded debt of the State is about $370,617, on which there is interest due to the amount of $100,485. The debt not bonded is $167,759. This includes the indebtedness before and since the war, without including the scrip issues during the first year of the war, which are regarded as cancelled by the act of the State Convention. This issue of scrip was without value outside of the State, and was chiefly made for the purpose of carrying on the operations of the State, and for the relief of the destitute inhabitants. It was received for home products, even when the Confederate currency was repudiated-through reliance on the good faith of the State. On the principle that all acts or laws impairing contracts are unconstitutional, it is intended yet to bring the subject before the courts for adjudication.

In a proclamation issued by President Johnson on April 2d, it was declared that the insurrection which heretofore existed in the State of Florida is at an end, and henceforth to be so regarded." Orders from the Secretary

of War, with the approval of the President, issued on April 9th, declared that, although the President's proclamation did not remove martial law, it was not expedient to resort to military tribunals in any case where justice could be attained through the medium of the civil authority. The major-general (J. G. Foster) in command of the department, issued his orders on April 27th, stating these facts, and also saying that, whereas the Constitution had provided that the inhabitants of Florida "are free, and shall enjoy the rights of person and property without distinction of color," and "the courts being organized in the State, and the officers and people in general' well and loyally disposed,' so that the Constitution and laws can be sustained, and enforced therein by proper civil authority. State or Federal," and the civil rights bill having been passed by Congress, he therefore directed that all persons under military arrest should be turned over to civil authorities for trial, except soldiers and those subject to military law, and that commanders, when requested, should assist the ministerial officers of the civil authorities in making arrests. Governor Walker immediately issued a proclamation announcing the facts to the people, congratulating them upon the restoration of judicial authority, and making the following statements:

Let

Let us constantly remember that every lawless act any individual in our State may commit, and every indiscreet expression that may be uttered, is immediately exaggerated and published broadcast over the Northern States with the view of making it appear that the President is wrong and his enemies are right. We are passing through a fearful ordeal. The eyes of the world are upon us. us, therefore, be wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. In times like these, it is the duty of every good citizen not only to obey the Constitution and laws himself, but to see as far as possible that every one else does so, for each now is held responsible for all, and all are held responsible for each. Therefore I charge not only every officer, but also every man in the State, to be vigilant in the exercise of all his duties as a loyal citizen of the United States, to see that all crime is instantly punished. protection of the freedmen are duly executed. and that all the laws, and particularly those for the

All the greater crimes, such as murder, arson, etc., having since the surrender of General Johnston up to this time been punishable alone by the military, our magistrates and people have fallen into the habit of looking alone to the military for the arrest of offenders, but hereafter this will not be the case. The military have ceased to arrest except upon the warrant of the civil magistrates. I urge the magistrates and people themselves to be prompt to apprehend and punish all violators of the laws, of whatever grade.

I know that our people are loyal, and I feel under no necessity, therefore, of impressing the duty of loy alty upon them, but I wish to warn them particularly against all expressions of impatience which can, by any system of torturing, be construed into utterances of disloyalty. Such expressions are all reported to the North and magnified and made to play an important part in the war upon the President. Every intemperate paragraph in a newspaper is particularly adapted to this purpose-and I here beg leave to say that I think it is high time that the custom which has so long prevailed among our people and newspapers both South and North, and with such di

astrous results, of speaking evil of each other, should be desisted from--it is a custom certainly much more honored in the breach than in the observance, and is productive of nothing but evil continually. I am sorry to say that some of our Southern newspapers are copying too closely the bad example set by some in the North. The only object of certain journals would seem to be to prejudice one section of the country against the other. So they increase their subscription-lists and enlarge their advertising columns, they appear not to care what becomes of the country. The Northern papers of this class reject as odious all notice of every thing good that is done in the South, and collect with care every instance of lawlessness, great or small, real or imaginary, and parade it in their columns until the minds of their readers are poisoned against us, and they mistake the act of one lawless individual for the uniform conduct of the whole community.

On the other hand, some of our Southern papers notice nothing good in the North, but cull with equal care every instance of elopement, murder, theft, robbery, arson, burglary, starvation, destitution, Mormonism, free-love, etc., etc., until their readers are taught to believe that the North is utterly corrupt. Now, this is all wrong. I have lived all my life in the South, and have been much at the North, and the result of my observations is, while too much vice exists in either section, yet the good in both vastly preponderates. And besides itis, we are brethren, and why should brethren strive to blacken the characters of each other? The God of battles has irrevocably decreed that we are one people. We must learn to live together as brethren.

Early in the year, the assistant commissioner reported that the labor system had become settled, that the freedmen were at work diligently on the plantations, and appeared to give satisfaction to their employers. The control and protection of their rights had been transferred, as far as was practicable, to the regularly authorized courts, and in most parts of the State the transfer had been attended with success.

A current of immigration has flowed into the State since the close of the war. The soil, the climate, and the natural productions of the State are enthusiastically described by the Federal officer in charge of the land office at Tallahassee. "There is perhaps no soil in America, that to the eye of the New Englander could look more forbidding than that of Florida; at the same time there is no soil on this continent that will produce more valuable crops to the acre, than can be raised here. The poorest soil will produce two hundred pounds of cotton to the acre, and I have seen land in Laiddle Florida that for seventeen years past has produced one bale of sea-island cotton to the acre. In the southern portion of the peninsula immense sugar crops are grown, while tropical fruits thrive at all seasons. Game is abundant. The rivers and lakes abound with fish. The shores of the gulf on the west and the Atlantic on the east, literally Swarm with them in endless variety, of turtle, terrapin, etc., while the soil and climate are of such character. that two and in some portions of the State three crops have actually been raised in one year. A more equable climate cannot be found in the world, Italy not ex

cepted. It is never so warm at midsummer in South Florida as to inconvenience the white laborer in out-door labor, or so cold in winter as to require any additional amount of clothing. The country is yet comparatively new, and I know of none more desirable to that industrial class of which emigrants are chiefly composed. The products of the State are largely in demand. Cotton, Sisal hemp (one ton of the latter can be grown upon an acre of the poorest soil in Florida), sugar, indigo, tobacco of superior quality, arrow-root, the castor-bean, pineapples, oranges, lemons, limes, cocoanuts, etc., produce largely, and can be made most profitable for purposes of exportation, while the vegetables of every part of the world can be produced in Florida. There are United States lands in every county in the State subject to entry under the 'homestead law,' of which each actual settler can obtain eighty acres."

FOOT, Hon. SOLOMON, an American statesman, born in Cornwall, Addison County, Vt., November 19, 1802, died at Washington, D. C., March 28, 1866. He graduated at Middlebury College, Vt., in 1826; was for one year principal of Castleton Academy, and for a time tutor in the University of Vermont, and Professor of Natural Philosophy in the Vermont Academy of Medicine. Devoting himself to the study of law, he was admitted to the bar in 1831, and at once entered upon an extensive and successful practice of his profession in Rutland, where he resided until his death. But the appreciation of his fellow-citizens soon called him from his chosen sphere of action and he was elected to the legislature of his State, serving several terms, during three of which he was Speaker of the House. In 1836 he was a member of the Convention for altering the State Constitution, and was a State attorney from 1836 to 1842. After this a wider sphere of duty demanded his presence, and he was a Representative in Congress from 1843 to 1847. Returning to his home in Rutland, after declining reëlection, he resumed his legal practice, but was suffered to retain it but four years, being elected United States Senator in 1850, and continuing to serve in that capacity until his death. During this period he was on several important committees. He was particularly active on the Committees of Foreign Affairs, Pacific Railroad, Pensions, and Commerce. He was also chairman of several committees, and through nearly three Congresses was President pro tem. of the Senate, in which position he displayed a thorough knowledge of parliamentary law. In 1854 or 1855 Mr. Foot was chosen President of the Brunswick and Florida Railroad Company in Georgia, and during the recess of Congress visited England, negotiated the bonds of the company, and purchased the iron for the railroad, after which he resigned his post as president.

Mr. Foot was known as a man of indisputable integrity and ever faithful to his principles. He was a thorough Whig while that party was in existence, and when the organization was

broken up became as decided a Republican. As a Senator he was distinguished for his practical common sense, conscientious adherence to principle, faithfulness in the discharge of his duty, and uniform candor and courtesy equally toward those who agreed with him and his opponents, while the probity and openness of his character made him especially valuable both as to executive affairs and as an adviser. His private character as well as public carcer, gave ample evidence of deep and consistent piety. FRANCE. An empire in Europe. Emperor, Louis Napoleon (Napoleon III.), born April 20, 1808; chosen hereditary emperor by the plebiscite of November 21 and November 22, 1852. Heir apparent, Napoléon Eugène Louis Jean Joseph, born March 16, 1856.* The area of France amounts to 207,232 square miles. The quinquennial census taken in 1866, gives 38,064,094 as the number of inhabitants, exclusive of 125,000 employed abroad in Algeria, Mexico, etc. This is an increase of 680,933 over the census of 1861. There are in France 19,014,109 males and 19,052,985 females. The females are therefore in a majority of 38,876. In thirtyone of the eighty-nine departments in France there has been a diminution of the number of inhabitants to the extent of 106,459, which is attributed to emigration and migration from the country districts into the large cities. The population of Paris amounted, in 1861, to 1,696,141; that of the arondissement of St. Denis to 133,434; and that of Sceaux to 122,085. According to the census of 1866, these numbers have severally increased to 1,825,274, 178,359, and 147,283. Thus, in five years, the population has increased 197,256; the increase in Paris being 129,133; in St. Denis, 42,725; and in Sceaux, 25,398. The increase of population has been greatest in the department of the Seine, and the decrease greatest in the department of La Manche. Algeria, which is divided into the three departments of Algiers, Constantine, and Oran, had a population of 2,999,124 inhabitants, of whom, on 31st December, 1864, 235,570 were Europeans.

The colonial possessions of France were increased in 1866 by the acquisition of Adulis and Obock in Africa; but no official statements have yet been published of either area or population of these new possessions.† The budget for 1867, as voted by the Senate and Legislative body, was as follows:

that, owing to the increase of 45,000,000 francs in the revenue arising from indirect taxation, the budget for 1866 will be definitively balanced. Relative to the rectified budget for 1867, the minister estimates the surplus revenue_yielded by indirect taxes at ninety millions, and points out other resources. He concludes, therefore, that this budget will also be balanced. Notwithstanding the considerable expenditure necessitated by new armaments and the return to France of the troops from Mexico, it will not be necessary to impose new taxes or to appeal to public credit. The minister estimates that the ordinary budget of 1868 will show a surplus of 121,000,000 francs. No credit is demanded in the budget for 1868 in respect of the new organization of the army, the emperor having determined that the necessary expenditures should be provided by special bills on the presentation of the rectified budget for 1868. M. Fould states that the State will then be in possession of more than sufficient resources to meet these requirements.

The total receipts from indirect taxation in France for the year 1866, comprising customs, excise, stamp duties, post-office, government manufactures, etc., amounted to 1,282,268,000 francs, showing an increase of 259,734,000 francs in 1865. The branches of revenue most productive appear to be registration duties and mortgages, which have yielded 346,350,000 francs; stamps, 82,318,000 franes; potable liquor, 240,405,000 francs; and tobacco, 242,022,000 francs. With respect to the direct imposts, the total paid into the treasury in 1866 amounts to 530,569,000 francs, leaving only 434,000 francs outstanding. The law expenses for the same year were in the proportion of 1f. 30c. per thousand franes, which is an increase of two centimes per thousand francs on the year preceding.

According to the budget of the minister of war, for 1867, the army was composed as follows:

PEACE FOOTING. WAR FOOTING.

Receipts. Expenses. Francs. Francs.

Administration

10,113

240 17,536

Artillery..

tained no remarks of importance. With regard to the future, the emperor said: "We shall be happy if we can, as at present, congratulate ourselves upon having avoided dangers, removed apprehensions, and strengthened the bonds which unite nations and kings; and happy, above all, if the experience of accomplished events enables us to augur a long day of peace and prosperity for the world."

The session of the French Legislature was opened on January 22d, by the emperor, who delivered the following speech:

Messieurs les Sénateurs, Messieurs les Députés:

The opening of the legislative session permits a periodical exposition of the situation of the empire, and the expression to you of my views. As in preceding years, I will examine with you the principal questions which interest our country. Abroad, peace seems assured everywhere, for everywhere the means are sought for of amicably settling difficulties, instead of ending them with the sword. The meeting of the English and French fleets in the same ports has shown that the relations formed on the field of battle have not been weakened; time has only cemented the agreement of the two countries.

In regard to Germany, my intention is to continue to observe a policy of neutrality, which, without preventing us at times from being displeased or satisfied, leaves us, nevertheless, strangers to questions in which our interests are not directly engaged.

Italy, recognized by almost all the powers of Europe, has strengthened its unity by inaugurating its capital in the centre of the peninsula. We may count upon the scrupulous execution of the treaty of the 15th September, and the indispensable maintenance of the power of the Holy Father.

The bonds which attach us to Spain and Portugal are still more strengthened by my late interviews with the sovereigns of those two kingdoms.

The budget of the public works and that of education have not undergone any diminution. It was of use to preserve to the grand enterprises of the State their fertile activity, and to maintain the energetic impulse of public instruction.

Agriculture has made great progress since 1852. At this moment it suffers from the decline of the price of cereals. That depreciation is the necessary consequence of the plenty of the harvests, and not of the suppression of the sliding scale. I have thought it useful to open a serious inquiry into the condition and needs of agriculture. It will, I am convinced, confirm the principles of commercial liberty.

In the midst of always increasing prosperity, unquiet spirits, under pretext of discussing the liberal progress of the government, would hinder it from marching by taking from it all force and initiative. The constitution of 1852, submitted to the acceptance of the people, undertook to establish a system rational, and wisely based on the just equilibrium between the different powers of the State. It is at an equal distance from two extreme situations. With a chamber, mistress of the fate of ministers, the executive is without authority and without spirit. In the same way it is without control if the elective chamber is not independent and in possession of legitimate prerogatives. Our constitutional forms, which have a certain analogy with those of the United States, are not deficient because they differ from those of England. Each people should have institutions conformable to its genius and traditions. Assuredly, every government has its defects; but, casting a look at the past, I rejoice in seeing, at the end of fourteen years, France respected abroad, tranquil within, without political prisoners, without exiles beyond its frontiers. The

nation for four score years has amply discussed theories of government. Is it now not more useful to seek the practical means of improving the moral and material condition of the people?

Let us employ ourselves in spreading everywhere intelligence, healthy economic doctrines, the love of what is good, and religious principles. Let us endeavor to solve by the freedom of transactions the difficult problem of the just distribution of productive forces, and let us attempt to ameliorate the condition of labor in the fields as in the workshops. When all Frenchmen invested with political rights shall have been enlightened by education, they will discern the truth without difficulty, and will not suffer themselves to be seduced by plausible theories. When all those who live by daily wages shall have seen increased the benefits which assiduous toil procures, they will be firm supporters of a society which guarantees their welfare and their dignity. Finally, when all shall have received from infancy those principles of faith and morality which elevate man in his own eyes, they will know that above human intelligence, above the efforts of science and reason, there exists a Supreme Will that rules the

destinies of individuals as well as of nations.

You have shared with me the general indignation produced by the assassination of President Lincoln; and recently the death of the King of the Belgians has caused unanimous regrets.

In Mexico, the Government, founded by the will of the people, is being consolidated. The opposition, conquered and dispersed, have no longer a chief, the national troops have displayed valor, and the country has founded guaranties of order and security, which developed its resources, and raised its commerce with France alone from 21 to 77 millions. As

I expressed the hope last year that our expedition

was approaching its termination, I am coming to an understanding with the Emperor Maximilian to fix the epoch for the recall of our troops before their return is effectuated, without compromising the French interests which we have been defending in that remote country.

North America, issuing victoriously from a formidable struggle, has reestablished the Union, and solemnly proclaimed the abolition of slavery. France, which forgets no noble page of her history, offers up sincere wishes for the prosperity of the great American Republic, and for the maintenance of amicable relations, which soon will have had a century's duration. The emotion produced in the United States by the presence of our troops on the Mexican soil will be pacified by the frankness of our declarations. The American people will comprehend that our expedition, to which we invited them, was not opposed to their interests. Two nations equally jealous of their independence ought to avoid every step which might affect their dignity and their honor.

It is in the midst of populations satisfied and confiding that our institutions perform their functions. The municipal elections are conducted with the greatest order and the most entire liberty.

The law upon coalitions, which gave rise to some apprehensions, has been carried out with a strict impartiality on the part of the Government, and with moderation on the part of those interested. The working class, intelligent as it is, has comprehended that the more facility is accorded to it to discuss its interests the more it is bound to respect the liberty of each, and the security of all.

The inquiry into the cooperative societies has come to demonstrate how just were the bases of the law which has been laid before you on this important subject. This law will permit the establishment of numerous associations to the benefit of labor and of industrial development. In order to favor the development of them, I have decided that authorization to meet together shall be accorded to all those who, outside of politics, may desire to deliberate respect ing their industrial and commercial interests. This

liberty will not be limited except by the guaranties which public order requires.

ment.

The equilibrium of the budget is secured by a surplus of revenue. In order to attain this result it was necessary to effect economy in the greater part of the public services-amongst others, in the war departThe army being on a peace footing, there was only the alternative of reducing either the regimental cadres or the effective; the latter measure was impracticable, since the regiments hardly mustered the necessary strength of men. The good of the service counselled even their augmentation. By suppressing the cadres of 220 companies, 46 squadrons, 40 batteries, but, dividing the men among the remaining companies and squadrons, we have rather strengthened than weakened our regiments. Natural guardian of the interests of the army, I would not have consented to these reductions, if they had necessarily altered our military organization, or broken the existence of men whose services and devotion I have been able to appreciate.

The addresses from the Senate and the Legislative body, as usual, expressed an unqualified approval of the imperial speech. In his reply to that from the Senate (February 18th), the emperor thus referred to his design to further develop the political institutions of the empire, and thus to " crown "the edifice of the Napoleonic state:

You desire, as I do, stability, the rational and profioration of the lot of the greater number, and the gressive development of our institutions, the amemaintenance intact of the national honor and dignity. This accord is a force in the moral as well as the

physical world, which obeys general laws that can

not be violated without danger. It is not by daily disturbing the basis of an edifice that its completion (couronnement) is hastened. My Government is not stationary; it is advancing, and wishes to advance, but upon firm ground capable of supporting power and liberty.

The proceedings of the Legislature did not present many points of great interest. That body, in the debate on the German question expressed itself very emphatically against the plans of aggrandizement supposed to be entertained by the Government of Prussia. In the discussion of home politics, a considerable number of members of the imperial party joined the Liberal Opposition in expressing a wish for some liberal reforms, and an amendment to the address to this effect received 63 votes. An amendment to the address, proposed by the protectionist party in the Legislative body, was defeated by 190 votes against 35, after M. Rouher had declared that the Government would take into serious consideration the results of the agricultural inquiry going on at that time.

A great sensation was produced throughout Europe by a brief speech made by the emperor at Auxerre, in May. In reply to an address from the mayor of the city, the emperor said:

I see with pleasure that the memory of the First Empire has not been effaced from your minds. Be lieve me, for my own part, I have inherited the feelings entertained by the chief of my family for this energetic and patriotic population, who sustained the emperor in good as in evil fortune. I have s debt of gratitude to discharge toward Yonne. This department was the first to give me its suffrages in 1848, because it knew, with the majority of the