Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1851-04-17
FOR THE ADVERTISER.


II seems that the opposition to separate
State action, within the borders of South
Carolina, is beginning Mt last to unmask ITSELF
Any attentive observer can now distinguish
in clear day light, the friends and enemies of
Secession in our midst.
The farmers who produce the rap material
of the State and who constitute nine tenths
of its population, are ready and eager for
action, with other States five Gun, but alone
if we must The manufacturers of the coun-
try, who work up the raw material into arti-
cles Of trade, and the merchants who sell
those articles, are both strongly inclined to
oppose any action whatever, even by all the
Southern States, much more single State.
Then strip the question of all DISCUSSES
and the issue is madesup. The trial of
strength in the Convention, must be had
between the bone and sinew of the country
the Farmers on the one hand, and the Man.
ufacturers. Merchants and their dependents
on the other That is to say, shall Charles
ton and the other little towns of South
Carolina, embracing in round numbers a pop
ulation of about $4,000, rule the State, or
shall the remaining $4,000 farmers rule it /;
or in other words, shall Charleston be the
State, as she has always contended she had
right to be as much as Paris had a right to
be France. K
Turn it which way you will, and the strug-
gle is between the agricultural and CONNER
cial interests of the Stafe, which are ever
at war with each other,when existing in the
same country, however well, they may agree
in different countries. The same antagonism
of political interest," exi5A between the North
and South. The former is best adapted by
by nature to Commerce and Manufactures,
and The latter to Agriculture, and hence. their
inveterate hostility to each other, which is
older than the Constitution itself; and hence,
also. MS the natural result of the two sys-
TENS, the superior intelligence of the North,
but its great infcriority in physical, moral
and social point of view, when compared
with the South.
The Convention which is to meet in May,
instead of being called the Southern Rights
Convention of the Districts Of South Caroli-
ma, should be more properly styled the South
ern Rights Commercial Convention of Char
lesion and its Tributaries. We may well sus-
pcct without claiming the spirit of prophecy,
or pretending TO superior penetration or sn-
racitv, that it is movement to forcstall pub
lie opininn and control the action of the
State. The same party that concoctcd this
Convention. is tho self same that opposed
the call of the State Convention in The Leg
islature.
Yankee Merchants who control the Com
merce of the Queen CITY, are the master.
spirits of this movement, and so let The coun-
try Delegates beware. or the cards will be
stocked upon them for the trump of high.
lone, beg, jack and the game. Depend upon
it Yankee cunning will exhaust all its arts
and devices TO bring about such a result.
Let no man charge me with attempting to
array the upper and lower country in opposi-
site and hostile ranks. I nm one of those,
who believe that the aristocratic representa-
ton of the lower country Parishes, is our
only salutary check and safeguard upon the
dcmagogism and progressive democracy of
the middle and upper Districts firmly be-
lieve that the past and present proud position
of South Carolina is attributable more to
her Parish representation than to any thing
else. Mir. CALHOUN thought so, and his ad-
mirable letter upon this subject, should for
ever silence even the most grumbling up
countryman, who is open to the convictions
of truth.
My sole purpose in this communication, is
to warn the Whole country against the schemes
and intrigues of Charleston and the CONNER
cial interest. Take the Parishes us whole
'slIu tiitJ arc WdtillCI lUT StCeooioh tiiii tiiS
Districts, which fact of itself, ought to speak
volumes of encouragement to the secession
party.
This Convention will issue an Address and
Resolutions, as a matter of course, and
whether they shall be regarded as evidence
of the present state of public opinion in
South Carolina, or whether they shall opc-
rate to manufacture future public opinion by
the time the State Convention assemblies,
will be all the same.
Then how important is it that all the rural
Districts and Parishes should be fully repre-
sented and the larger the number of Dele
gates from each, the better it will be for
those who send them. An interchange of
views among multitude Of counselors, all