TO THE PEOPLE OF PUTNAM COUNTY.
Fellow Citizens :—Having been nominated by tbe Demo¬
cratic party as a candidate to represent you in tlie Senate of tbe
State of Georgia, I beg leave to present to tbe people of tbe coun¬
ty generally some views in connection with this matter. Though
nominated by a party, should I be elected, I shall then become
in the eye of the law, not the representative of a party alone, but
of the whole people of Putnam County. Hot only shall I be so,
in the event of election, by the dictates of law, but it will be my
pleasure, as well as my duty, to regard all of you, those who vote
against me, as well as those who vote for me, as my constituents,
whose welfare it will be my business to look after and represent.
The relation between the people and those who represent them
in the Legislature should be properly understood. The repre¬
sentative is the servant of the' people. "The servant is not above
his master." When you elect your members to the Legislature,
you do it for a specified purpose. It is to make laws for you, un¬
der whose operations you may enjoy "life, liberty, and the pur¬
suit of happiness." The law-making power is in you. Sovereign¬
ty dwells in the people. It is for you to say what shall be law,
and what shall not be law. ]3ut inasmuch as well-grounded
theory, corroborated by the experience of several republics of
ancient times, shows that it would be inconvenient and impracti
cable for the people to assemble together in mass, and enact laws
for themselves, they have wisely ordained Legislative Bodies,
made up of men selected by their free suffrages, to legislate for
tiiem. The Legislator being but the agent of the people, it fol¬
lows, as a necessary consequence, that the will of those whom he
represents, should be the key to his legislative action.
Such being the case, it becomes me, as a candidate for your suf¬
frages, to enquire what you wish done by your members to the
next next Legislature. In the event of my election, the enqui¬
ries for me will be, "Why am I sent to the Senate? What do
the people of Putnam County wish me to do ? "
From my long acquaintance with you, I think I know what
will he your wishes, should you honor me with an election to the
Legislature, Bear with me while I state what I believe to be in
accordance with your desires. See, then, whether I am a true
exponent of your wishes, and cast your votes accordingly.
In the first place I take up the question of Federal politics, be¬
cause I shall dismiss this portion of my subject very summarily,
as being in a great degree irrelevant to the subject-matter in hand.
I think there is little sense and less patriotism, in allowing Feder¬
al politics to overshadow State policy in legislative elections.
The longing eye of our politicians should he turned less steadily
towards the dazzling central light at Washington City. State
pride, which is real patriotism, should induce those who seek
office, to turn their attention more towards Mdledgeville, and not
to consider it as beneath their dignity to look after the interests
of Georgia. Let politicians whose brows itch for laurels from the
national bowers, wrangle about Federal politics. For myself,
never desiring, and never expecting, to wear them, you will ex¬
cuse me if I say just as little, in this connection, as may be
necessary to a good understanding between us.
The only point of national politics to which I think it necessa¬
ry to refer, is that touching Kansas. Where the Georgia Demo¬
cratic Convention condemns Walker, I condemn him emphatically.
I am in favor of allowing the people of Kansas to settle their
affairs in their own way. On the first Monday in this month, the
delegates of these people meet in convention to form a State Con¬
stitution. Whether they tolerate slavery or not—whether they
submit their constitution for ratification or not—Congress is bound
to admit the new State. This, I have no doubt, will be done at
the approaching Session. And here will be an end of Kansas,
so far as the people of other States are concerned.
I now return to a consideration of questions more relevant to
the matters which will come before me, should you honor me with
a seat in the Georgia Legislature. Whatever will add to the
power and prosperity of the people of this State, will command
my earnest support. Enterprise of a public nature will meet
with a ready succor at my hands. WTien a measure is presented
before the body of which I may be a member, my first enquiry
shall be, "Is it intended for tbe good of tbe whole people of
Georgia, oris it designed to benefit a favored class?" If the
former, then I shall vote for it. If the latter, then I shall vote
against it. It has become very fashionable of late years for Leg¬
islative Bodies to be besieged by persons who either ask direct
aid from the treasury, for private enterprises which they allege
to he public, or who ask for chartered privileges to consummate
private ends, under the guise of benefitting the public. 'The
touch-stone to apply to all these schemes is, "Are they actual
public necessities ?" If so, then the State should aid them.
But unless they equally benefit the humblest citizen in his cot¬
tage, with the millionaire in his palace, not one cent should ever
he contributed from tbe State Treasury in their behalf.
In order that the Legislature may he as far removed from the
corrupting influences which are brought to bear upon it by those
harpies who hang around it in the shape of lobby-members, seek¬
ing to thrust their beaks into the public crib, the place of holding
the sessions of the General Assembly should be continued in
Milledgeville. Keep it in a small place, instead of removing it
to a large city, where lobbying can be more effectually carried on.
For all tbe real purposes of legislation, the State House had bet¬
ter he out in the middle of some rid field, with just accommoda¬
tions enough for the members, than any where else. The peo¬
ple should demand that so much tempering concerning a removal
of the Seat of Government Acrid cease. Besides the reason
given above, its removal would ir yolve an enormous outlay which
might be much better expendcTin providing means for public
education.
There should he a system of common school education adopted
in Georgia, if any practicable pi, n could be fallen upon. There
arc many difficulties in the way of such a system : hut I do not
consider them insurmountable 'Yet it may require time, as it
will require much thought, to de If ope a system adapted to our
wants. The present ."poor school" system, as it is called, is al¬
together inadequate to the nece ssities of our people, even if it
were based upon correct principles: and it is not. For call your
schools "poor schools," and there are many men whose children
j would be entitled to their benefits, who would feel a backwardness
| in availing themselves of the c jportunity offered them, because
I they feel that they do not wish to be more dependent upon the
! charities of the State than their neighbors who may happen to he
better off than they in the thing s of the world. It evinces -a feel-
; iug of independence highly honorable in those who entertain it,
and the State should no lor,go;.;, pursue a policy which does vio¬
lence to it. Hence one'neeesTy, Among many others, for some
system of "common"—not "poo .''—schools, to which the children
of all persons may go without money and-without price. At the
! same time that I would not vedo for any crude and ill-digested j
I plan of common school educalgon, which would involve a large |
; expenditure of money, without a certain promise of being effica- j
cious, it would afford me a pleasure to co-operate with older and
wiser heads in the adoption of i. system of which Georgia'stands j
: very much in need. I go for common schools, and very little fox-
so-called colleges. There is noney enough spent annually in
Georgia on the fripperies and fillies of college education (which
is no education at all, except a eery had one) to give the substan¬
tial rudiments of knowledge tc every child in the Bate, provided
it were only laid out in the prop or way. There is too much money
badly spent on male colleges, ,nd ten times more badly spent on
female colleges. It would b a great ^'gratification to me if I
could he the humble instrumentality of getting the people of
Georgia to expend what mean . they have to lay out in education
upon a system of plain, substantial, common schools, instead of lay¬
ing it out upon the mere nairnis of "college," "institute," "semi¬
nary," "university," &c., ivi'each one of which is involved a
stupendous • falsehood: For 1 y assuming names to which they
know they .are\not envy bAiT.. vy- pretend to be, and that, too, for
the purposes of deception, things which they'neither are, "nor
indeed can be." >■
If by selling the State Load we could thus ljfy the foundation
for an adequate educational fund, looking, in its expenditure, to a
system which had already been well-digested, bcfoi-e the sale
took place, and of whose success reasonable men could not enter¬
tain a doubt, then I would go for the sale of the State Road, with
an application of its proceed-, to the purposes of education. If
there were any other certain, and more useful means of expend¬
ing the proceeds of the sale ofi the State Road, so that the people
could have a guarantee that these proceeds would not be squan¬
dered upon trifling objects, nor transferred into the pockets of fli¬
ckers from the public treasury, then, also, I would be in favor of
selling the Road, But before I could vote for its sale, I would,
in the first place, have to see that we were getting a fair price- for
it,'and in the next place, that tbe price should he laid out in some
way which would render it more useful to the people at large than
is its present investment in the Roach If I do not see some such
opening, I must vote for keeping the Road in the hands of the
; State, and at the same time favor whatever legislation may be
necessary to secure its proper management. At all events I am
I opposed to selling the Road a| a ^depreciated value to glut the
coffers of private individuals, i, r to add to the already overgrown
powers of Rail Road monopoi es.
A favorite project with me is the revising, digesting, and con¬
densing of our State Statutes, so that the people, unlearned in the
subtleties of the law, may open the Statute Book, and read uu-
derstandingly the laws which govern them. /The plan adopted
by fhe Roman Emperor, wko^Liad his laws hung up so high that
the people could not see to read them, was hardly more effectual
in keeping-his subjects from a nnowladge of the law than are the
exeeeding multiplicity and verbosity of our statutes on any one
subject. There should he bii^ono statute on any given subject,
and that should embrace every thing under that head in plain and
intelligible English, free fronj, the technicalities and verbosity
which now disgrace our laws.
To illustrate what I say, take the law of Georgia exempting
certain articles from levy and sale. These articles are hut few in
■number. Now why not pass a statute beginning thus:—"The
following articles, and these only, shall be exempt from levy and
sale : " and then go on and enumerate the articles in as few words
as possible? Thus, if no articles but those now eiempt were ad¬
ded to the list, you would hav^j a statute half as long as your fin¬
ger : and any one could open;the Statute Book and tell exactly
what articles could he kept f A under the officer's hammer, as
well as Daniel Webster him/elf, were he alive. But can the;
ordinary citizen do this now? * Can the lawyer himself, without a
great deal of study and research ? The enumeration of the few
articles which are exempt from levy and sale, extends through a
half dozen or more statutes, in vague and uncertain terms, and in
different parts of the Statute Book, leaving it very doubtful
whether one statute enlarges, restrains, or entirely repeals anoth¬
er. This should not he so.
I take the subject of the several statutes mentioned, merely by
way of illustration. What I have said in reference to it, is ap¬
plicable to almost every other law on the Statute Book. The
last Digest of our Laws made in 1851, is embraced in a volume
about four inches thick. Since then, several volumes have been
added, which would make the volume containing the Digest six
or more inches thick. A hook the fourth of this size would hold
all the law there is in the Statute Book. The balance is mere
words and nothing else. The people should demand that the laws
which govern them should he written in few words/and in plain,
unmistakable language.
Nor should they any longer tolerate those delays in the printing
and publishing of their laws, which have sometimes occurred. In
several instances the people have been compelled to live under
and obey laws for nearly two years of which they were as "igno¬
rant as they were of the language of the Choctaws," simply
because those who. had undertaken the printing and publishing of
those laws failed to fulfill their contracts: and when, too, the
people were taxed to pay exorbitant prices for printing these
very laws.
Having alluded to several important matters in the civil depart¬
ment of our State matters, I now* turn to a much needed reform
in the military department of Georgia. Our present military
system is worse than a farce. It is a by-word and a reproach on
the face of the earth. It should be materially modified, or entire¬
ly abolished, and encouragement be extended to volunteer com¬
panies all over the State. These, while they would he an orna¬
ment to the State, in times of peace, would, in ease of war, he a
sure defence of our homes and our firesides. Georgia should he
prepared for any emergency. If, by the unequal operations of
the Federal Government, site should he forced, according to the
provisions of the Georgia Platform, to withdraw from the Con¬
federacy, she should be prepared with force of arms to maintain
her separate independence. Let us devote all of our energies to
developing all the resources of our beloved State. YVe have the
elements of a great nation within ourselves. Should we at any¬
time be compelled, against our will, to secede from the Union,
and not another Southern State should link her destiny with ours,
we have ample territory, even with a separate existence, to be¬
come a ruling power. Georgia embraces within her limits 63,000
square miles. England proper has only 50,000: Switzerland
only 18,000. And yet with this limited area of territory, these
nations have not only maintained their independence, hut have
grown great and powerful. Consolidated Greece, in the d§% s of
her highest splendor, contained only 40,000 square miles: And
yet with this small amount of territory divided into several petty
States, each maintained its separate independence. Georgia has
natural advantages which England, and Switzerland, and the
Grecian States never enjoyed. May the day he far distant when
she shall be forced to leave the Union : And yet I say she should
be prepared to do so, should occasion require.
To place Georgia upon an impregnable basis morally, socially
and politically—to develope all her resources and her powers—to
render prosperous and happy her people from the sea-board to
the mountains, it will be my pleasure, should you elect me, to
co-operate with all who have the same end in view with myself.
I should he false to the promptings of my heart were 1 to fail
to tell you that should you elect the two gentlemen who have
been nominated on the ticket with me, you will certainly have two
faithful public servants—men with the hearts to suggest patri¬
otic deeds, and the heads to give digestion to their patriotic sug¬
gestions. ipfe
It is known to you that fiom my cradle up I havo been a
Dem<.*u-at—I trust practically, as well as theoretically! And
yet I can call my fellow-citizens to witness that I have never
been a bitter, nor malignant partisan. 1 have always endeavored
to he courteous to my political opponents, and shall continue to
bb so. And I doubt not', from the known character of the promi¬
nent men among my political opponents, that those who may be
the American candidates will join my colleagues and me in con¬
ducting the present canvass in Putnam County in a quiet and
courteous manner. Public morality, and the peace and harmony
of the community always suffer from a heated political campaign.
Let its learn to differ with each other honestly, but with no intol¬
erant or illiberal display of feeling, each believing the other has
the good of his country at heart, but differing only as to the
means of attaining the common end we all have in view. And
then we shall have a peaceful and quiet community, and a pros-
porous and happy county. In the absence of all existing politi¬
cal issues, I have thought this an auspicious time for urging these
views upon your attention. Upon them I ask your verdict. I
would much prefer that every man should go freely and un¬
molested to the polls, and there deposit his ballot according to the
faith that is in him, without bias or prejudice. A fair poll, and
Ave have a fair verdicL YVhatever that verdict may he, accord¬
ing to the will of the majority, no one will submit to it with a
better grace than I.
Your Fellow-Citizen,
J. A. TURNER.
Sept. 2d, 1857.