Richmond Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1862-1865, 1863-11-13
FHRCONsFIFUFIOE-sTATE RIGHTS.
RICHMOND WING.
FRIDAY mORNING. NOV. Is, 1858.
api.n Man, W.r-POOr Mans Fight. .

hfa artll
beps. of the rich man, who buysA substitute remains
At home accommodating riches by the sale OF his crops
A. exOrbant prices, by engaging in mercantile man
uacturng and professional occupations, while the poor
man IA compelled by Law to abandon everything aud
sgbt in the ranks for the pitlu pay OF twelve or th
teen dollars . month. Some countenance is gwen 70
this statement by numbers of planters and others, Who
on one psetext or another have managed 70 eVAue the
transcription; but the demAgOgue IS careful not 70 Al
a. "a ,hs hundreds and thousands of artisans, Who
are EXEMPT By law and take advantage oil their s1'
empton to exort the most unheard Of prices Tor ner
labor. When the war Is ended, We are conndent that
the number of RIGA men, who have lost everything by
ia raVages will tally very evenly with the NUMBER Oh
poor man Who have become rich by its opportunities
The grandees, nabobs and mopey-kingS oil the next
generation will be the descendants Of men Who, at the
nsVnnng of this CO. act had never been heard OF who
o.ysr expected to cut figure in the world, aud who
you'd have remained poor all their days, but Tor the
opportunities Afforded them by the var We could
,ame certain trades rarely very remuneratVe 10 times
of peace which certain passports to fortune
II ia fact which no one has the hardhOOd to attempt
% cOurOvor that thrse-fOurthi OF cor coming Arscc
racy ten years hence viii be made OF men now en-
rased in pursuits which thar children, "burstng with
bRusss aad pride" will affect to be utterly gnerant OIL
80 war ever subVcred society this has, and nothrg
less than convulsion of its magnitude could possibly
have made such immense numbers Of poor men rich
and rich men poor in so short time.
But there Il a question at once deeper and higher
than riches involved in this war. We mean the par
sona Independence and future destiny Of both classes
Fhe demagogue Southerner, Unionist at heart aud
Lincoln man by virtue Of innate baseness teaches men
Of humble eanss TO believe that if succeed in this
cause. the rica and influential will reap all the rewards,
profits and houors while the poor and loEly viii return
20 their cangs no better than before. IT. on the other
land, we fall the rich viii fy the country and e'jOy
their in gotten gains in foreign lands, while the poor,
up.ble to leave, viii have to remain and endure the
Calling yoke Of the Yankee. There is some truth and
much ialsehOOd in this The poor will be cOmfe!led
% stay in their conquered country and take the place OF
he liberated slave who viii share the mastery with the
Yankee Nothing would delight the Yankee more than
% see Southern white men and women heWing wood
and drawing water for their former negro slaves They
EOuld glory in such a scene.
But it mus. DO remembered that the hundreds and
thousands OF pa.ers whose houses and lands have been
swept by the bosom of Yankee destruction will be the
least able get away and the very persons of all others
whom the Yankees would select as slaves to negroes
The rich men would unquesOnAbly leave the country,
but they would not be the men WHO were rich before
the war began. Again, the hatred OF the Yankee 10
.he Southern arstOcrat" as they pleased to call
every land and slave owner would impel him TO single
hem out, not only for cOntumely and shame but for inn
orisonment and death.
A. r-bft nalka ,wha ho thew he
came so, would be drafted into the great armies which
the Lnoolnities would lead 10 conquest in Mexico or
lanadA, or they would be kept at home in mental
positions ust as our African slaves nov. Our me-
chAncs and artisans could not compete with Yankee
artisans and if they could, would not be allowed
o. While all the small lAnd-hOders would be swept from
heir comfortable homes 10 swell the ranks Of the Yam
zee armies and 20 make for Yankee truck patch
men,
In case We win orr independence, We surely will,
n spite Of all the odds at home and abroad then the
rich men of the next generation viii occupy the places
which the rich men of former years occupied and fl
the positions which rich always have and always
vii fill Such of their relatives remain pOo7, after
che war is over will enjoy all the advantages relations
sver erjOy from wealthy aud Influential connection
But tins subject is so ably treated in the Fast Day
mon of the Rev. Nc. Renfroe, Chaplain of WhcOxs
Brigade that We invite the attention of readers
the following pAssages in the hope that they will
mend them the perusAl OF all who in the least dis
contented with their lot and in the full that
they will be read with far more profit than anything
have said or could say the same subject
contend however that the poor of the country have
more reason desire Southern independence than the
rich speak it, too, the representative oil the poor
am a poor man mysel', and II ever had wealthy
relalive never heard OF him. stand up before you
20 represent my Off pring and many orphan rela
yves and urge, most earnestly, that have more in
crest in the War-more at stake-Jhan any rich ms n
can have. The rich mans property is at stake, while
the freedom Of my children and chidrehs children is
involved In the issue owned slave IN my life,
and vet contend that have moro interest in the in
stution of slavery than the man who owns hve hut
ired Abolish the institution of slavery and your Cb-
dren and nv children must take the place Of the inst-
.ution. Abolish that nsttution-as is the design Of
ur enemies-and in less than half century the poor
Of lie land must become the carriage drivers, body
ervapts waiting maids and tenants of the rich. You
may say that the poor would not submit to this. How
would they avoid it? Tee capital of the rich would be
converted nt0 land they would own the land OF The en-
dire country. The poor man has 10 live someEhere ana
he must have something upon which 10 auosst-he can
not live on the air. Sheer necs sy would drive hum to
gladly accept the cy and employ ment OF the rich
ask YOU soldiers, contemplate first the subJugauon
Of your country and the abOlon of slavery and then
look down through few generations, aud behold your
sort off ping grindr IN factory, securing tavern,
lling The soil OF the wealthy, and bAckirg the boots
Of the dandy; and then tell whether the poor have
anyhn g fight for See your pOstery 10 cruel bond
age-see them reduced to an equality with the negro
man and woman, and then remember that those whom
they serve are the proud descendants OF the very pe0
pie who subugated your country, and overthreE your
Government; and then tell me if this Is lot pre-emi-
nenty the poor mans Wsrf
In cur country color Is the distinction Of classes
the only real distinction. Here the rich man and the
moor man and their families equals in every impor
ant respect The poor if they do their duty, are as
mes y 10 establish distinctions in classes and grades
IN society but they have hitherto failed of the establish
mept of ANYTHING like controlling arisocracy; while
or rstutions remain as they are, they must forever