Daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1859-1865, 1861-11-28
NOVEMBER 28, 1856 1861, /,
n bgl5qsff sTFFom the N. Z. EImotgp :

| I9OutheRn South Carolinass1t1 Social
Iig1ol .andfPolIElaRl charaeters1oi5t d,
sItisia very common figure of; spseshi to
say that in striking blow ~ South oaso-
lima, we strike at the hsart Of the rebellion.
The figure is both apt aud true. II slavery
be the life-sprfng OF this revolt, here is the
largest proportion Ofo 6lHEegi;5 If tRntf-re-
pu6Iicanism, here is the most c0nceited
and swaggeHng OF all aristoeractes; IL
hatred Of the North and the Union, here it
fs pushed to madness If Lust Of power, in
South Carolina that passion is as wild as it
Is ungovernable AndthAt immediate sec
tion OF the State where our forces noWlare,
listhe cor cordftfa, the Very heart Of hearts
in which all these vile pecullaFIties have
their most intensified existence. The black
element there attainsits maximum ratio
reaching in Beaufort District 70 so per
lcent. of the entire inhabitants, aud in 9TH
er of the seaboard Districts to astill high
er figure; while tie passions Of the naughty
nabdbs who own these sWafming slaves,
lnhcufbed as they are either by law or pub
lie opinion, attain an almost uncontEOlla-
tIs development. By divine right they.
rnie their slaves; by prescriPtive right
they control the legislation of1ths' State j.
and their voice, through their deputies in
conncIlslOf the nation, has always hereto
fore been supreme. They know mo re-
straint either upon their will Ortheir pow
er. lne nrt5ttaie z- fiel EFt9n
In the State itself, these great planters
ofthe Southern section, ymeans of their
immense landed and slave property, by
their consequent social power, and by their
unvarying unity Of action, aided also by
an old rotten borough, or rather rotten pa
rOchial, apPortionmsnt Of members to the,
Legislature, have been able TO maintain an
fhu al nd
upper sections, where the slaves are in q
much smaller ratio, where the social status
Of the people Is more nearly equallzed, and
where the mountain breezes have produced
n more equable temper and character. So
CALLING has this yoke been, however, that
for twenty years an irrepressible conflict
has ragged between the lower parishes and
the rest of the State. These parish legts-
lators, who are elected to their seats by
the votes of a dozen or two of their own
white dependents, have persistsntly voted
dOwnievery scheme of reform, every plan
Of edueation and popular enfranehisement,
every project for elevating the pnutterablyi
degraded poor whites of the State; while
they 1t is who have blarkened the statute
book with acts of cruel and retrogresSive
legislation, such as are a disgrace to a
semi-civilized people, sdl Il yr,.5sl 4. \
Notlong ago, a white legislator from one
of the negro districts argued, in speech
delivered at the capital OF the Stale, that
the mechanics aud working classes (tghite
aen he was speaking of, mind you) had no
right to any education; that they were bet
ter off without it; that il disorgauized them
aud made them unhappy; that they ought
to be prohibited from acquiring it; that
they should be taught the various neces-
sary crafts which cannot be Profitably
practiced by negroes, such as carPeutry,
shoemakipg and tailoring, as well as slave
overseeing and public duty, and that there
after :hey should be compelled to stick to
their lasts. he showed by tue exdmpte of
the Spartans-whom. the South Carolini-
ans are very fond Of claiming resemblance
to, both politically, socially. personally,
aud in their helotry-that education and
eufranchisement were gifts properly be-
longing only TO the 7oligarchy who guided
ttIe destinies OF the commonwealth. In
all this, Mr.Taber wasltiie genuine expo
nent of the ruling sentiment of the low
country, and did but give expression to
aipolicy which the parish Oligarchy have
always tried to reduce TO action-and with
eminent success. Against this atrociOus,
.pagan policy, the yeOmAnry of tha up
country foughtlon aud bitterly, under the
leadership Of Mr. Perry and MraO Orr, until
i've years ago, these gallant democrats
were forced 10 silence, aud finally to ac-
quiesceuCe with the Sea Island lords, by
an organized howl from the ruling class all
over the State, thar they were innoVGtors,
Hgrariansand disCrganizers, If not, indeed,
secret aboIitiouists and traitors to South
Carolina! 7sqp ai - i1i7aa I
y In the Southern third OF this State, com
prisiug the two tiers of counties nearest to
the coast, the negro population foots up
over two hundred thousand, while the
whites of. all kinds count, less than half
that number. Leaving out the city of
Charleston, with its thirty thousand free
Inhabitants, aud the gross number OF
whites in nthese ten PoPul9ps slaye districts,
will be reduced to somewhere between
sixty, and seventy thousand. or these,
about q third are of the class known as
.'poor whites"-that strange, cadaVerous,
shufiing, miserable race Of mortals found
in the CaroIinas, and in the slave States
west Of them. CThe dpoor whites" proper
abound much more in the other sections of
the State. 0fthe remainder, a half are
small traders and persons who live by
selling liquor aud other things surTepti-
tionsly to the negroes, and purchasing
what they pilfer-a class thoroughly de-
spised aud hated by the planters. The re-
maining dozen thousands consist OF the
planters aud their families, the overseers
--genefAlly .villAinous aud iedisghsttng
fellows-apd the white loafers, depend
ents, gamblers and hapgers-on who attach
themselves TO the obscene skirts of slave
society. Most Of the plantations in -fhis.
region are large-the planters owning from
fifty tootiye hundred negroes apiece. and
from, one Thousand to twenty thousand
acres of land. Scattered here and there by
the wAyside, hoWevst, arc SMALL planters
and 8 tenants owning froma Eve negroes
downward, and sometimes only fraction
of a negro, Not unfrequsntly you, see
here, as we'll as elsewhere, an .AfriSan
wretch whom fate has made the solitary
slave Of some poor, ignorant aud brutal
owner, who, spends most of his time in
fogging him, or her, AS the case may be.