The south-western. [volume] (Shreveport, La.) 1852-1870, 1865-06-28
Charleston Courier.

CoEFIsCAuON.-Th Chicago Tribune discusses
the contscation question very sensibly. Itjustly
charaCterizes the law as it stands as vexation
both to those who own property liable to con
fsCation, and to those who might wish to become
purchasers under DEGREES of condemnation and
a benefit to nobody under the sun For this
reason and for others of a more radical kind it
now advises a repeal OF the contiscation act
The act cannot be amended, because congress
cannot pass an er post tacto law. Its enforce
ment viii retard the prosperity of the SOUTH
which we ought rather to promote by wise legis
ation To the extent that it paralses the south,
it will dsqualify her from paying her proportion
of the national debt. The amount that may be
possibly realised to the government from the
sale Of the life interest in confscated estates will
be a bagatelIe in comparison with the sum which
may be obtained by throwing off the incubus and
giving those whom we do not punish in their
persons an opportunity to do the best they can
for themselves. Shall there be no punishment
then for the rich men Of the south-the $40, 900
rebels? They have been punished in the loss Of
their slaves and the overthrow of their govern
ment. The large majority of them have lost
everything they ever possessed except their real
estate, and this has been mainly turned back to
the dominion of nature. lift be necessary that
they be punished still further, let the punishment
take more civilised form No estate can be
purchased and held under the confscation act
without creating bad blood, and disturbing the
whole neighborhood with the quarrel which the
government confers upon the buyer with his title.
Few persons, we imagine, will be eager to buy
property subject to such an incumbrance. The
remark OF senator Cowan that you might as
well expect capital to seek the margin of an ex-
tnct volcano, before the lava had cooled, for
investments in real estate" was not a serious
exaggeration Of the practical difficulties Of con
hscation.
In view Of the utter and incurable worthless
ness of the bill in the present shape-in view of
the insecurity which it imposes upon property
and the stumbling block which it presents to
industry in the soutf-in view Of its deleterous
effects upon the prosperity Of the whole country,
which must suffer from a disease of any of its
parts-in view of the hateful spirit which must
grow out OF its execution, we sincerely hope that
congress may see fit, among its earliest acts, to
repeal the confscation law Of 1852 entirely.
-~.~-
RECONSTRUCTION Slowly but surely the work
of reconstruction is going on. Fighting is at an
end, and people are turning their thoughts to
peaceful pursuits, returning to their homes Gull
tivating their crops, rebuilding their fences, and
seeing about earning a subsistence for their
families. The soldiers are fast finding their way
back to homes long deserted. A correspondent
of the N. Y Tribune mentions seeing a captain
in Lees late army at bis home blowing up a
small garden lot with his war horse lie had
lost all his slaves and most Of his personal pro
perty. But he had a wife and children whom he
was bound to support, and had gone to work like
a man.
There is no craftsmanship like that shaped by
necessity and common sense. Labor is the true
way to restore the south. Every man in the
southern States should follow the example Of
this captain Out Of the soil, with industry
applied to it, comes the wealth that is to restore
the south to order and prosperity. It may go
hard ut first to those unused to labor to attempt
to earn their own living, but 50 soon as they
show the disposition to help themselves, they
will find others ready to assist them. Let the
people themselves with an elasticity of spirit
reco7er from their depression of spirit, and be
hopeful of better times, which are sure to result
from the restoration Of peace, the reopening of
trade, and the return of the people to the indus
trial and agricultural pursuits of life.
Richmond (Va.) Times.