Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1860-12-08
VOL. XVIII, No. $50.
SOUTH CAR0LINA's BILL OF GRiEys
ANCEs-sPEECH OF HON. II. d. RHEpT.

Believing that a fair statement OF The
grievances of South Carolina, az her PEG
PIE consider them, must at least CRAFTY the
curiosity Of our readers, we condense them
from the speech of Mr.. Rhett, Editor Of
the Charleston Mercury, before the South
Carolina Legislature, after it had passed a
bill calling disunion Convention. Mr..
Rhett boldly proclaims the right and ne
cessity Of secession, for these reasons:
Firsay-The United States have never
been one people, in commercial or social
qualities. The North and South differ in
their institutions, /; d are altogether pecu-
liar and distinct. ITO Illustrate this fact"
says Mr. r., Snow that the Union is dis
solved the Union is dissolyed-the
Union is certainly dissolved-Egreat APP
plause1 let US recur to past history"
Seconaly-The North and South have
always been at issqe The first great diff
erence was upon the question Of the alis,,
andssedition laws. The South resisted the
passage Of the law while John Adams was
President. which imposed fine Of $500
upon those who spoke disrespectfully Of the
President. The South said free institutions
could not live without a free Press.
f1HtirdtgeThen came tie war Of 1912,
a war exclusively for the honor and pros
perty Of the North And yet because it
stoppei the commerce. and money making
Of the North, they denounced the Union,
and threatened to dissolve it. Calhoun
and Clay, both Southern men, aided in
vinaica'ing the Union and its honor.
This is a giaring Instance of Northern in
gratitude.
F0ugthly-The Tariff question was next
broached by the North ID 1916, to pay the
expense Of the war. So they passed law
that none of the carrying trade Of this
country should be done 81 foreign ships,
and called it a protective tariff. Mr. lshett
says it never was designed for a protective
tariff, as it was to be decreasing tariff
to. be lessened in 1918 and 1920. But
when those Yeas came round, they (the
North) refused to lessen it, and, instead,
increased it, compelling the South to pay
higher prices still for the use of Northern
vessels. This continued until 1928, when.
South Carolina nulified the law. We all
know the result how the difficulty was
settled in 1888.
1 F1thly-The oppression Of the North
in tariffs was followed by the idea Of sec
tional domination. They decided to agi-
tate the slave question. John @. Adams
commenced it. Abolition petitions. were
poured into Congress-. Then came the
Mexican war, when the North decided that
all territory acquired or to be acquired,
should be non-slavehoding territory. Cal
ifornia was admitted .most unjustly" says
Mr. r., free State. Since then other
free States have been added, and the power
of The South Is paralyzed in the Union.
The North is united against the South, and
the latter is in hopeless minority.
The above is a compend Of the griey-
ances. of the South. Mr.. Rhstt's speech
lis characterized with much earnestness, and
/ he attributes to the Yankees feelings
that they never even imagined towards the
South. He is very sanguine Of the sue
cess Of a Southern Confetleracy, and be-
Iieyes the whole South will enter it. As
1 for South Carolina, he says it shall never
again place itself within the influence OF
the North, y ID his consent.
The great error Of dr. Rhctt's is that he
has charged upon the Moth acts when
were committed by the power Of the South
/ The tariff of 1916 was advocated by Cal
houn, and passed against the utmost efforts
Of New England.
The Mexican war was Southern meas
IRE, and yet he has the hardihood to So
distort history as to charge it lPon tbs
| North Milwdukee Wisconsin.