The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1865-10-29

|
use the argument that he has never
been in the Confederate Congress. Do
they forget that he was member Of the
South Carolina Secession Convention of
1901; thathe voted, first, on the test reso-
luton, that South Carolina ought to secede
and subsequently in fauor Of the Ordinance
| Of Secession What advantage have has
| nntecedents over mine?
| 1 submit, therefore, that, according to
our respective antccedcnts, having refer
ence to the beginning and the prosecution
OF the Confederate cause, none of my COM
petitors have any advantage over me.
submit, furthermore, that in reference to
our respective anteceIents, since the close
Of the ,odr, the advantage on the score Of
s'dcceptd6aty" to the Administration and
the conservatives Of the North, is in n,y
fdoor, as think will appear from the fol-
lowing statement
In view of the condition in which the
country was left after the surrender of the
Confederate armies-the Capital of the
Confederacy occupied by United States
troops-the President and President
of the Confederate States, and several Of
the Cabinet, together with the Governors
of several of the States, including our own,
held as captaces-many of our court houses
occupied as barracks by United States SOL
diers-the Confederate Government oblite-
rated, and the State Government paral-
yzed-the lives and property of our people
exposed to the depredations of the lawless
as well as to the arbitrary exactions of the
Military Government-and strong symp-
TOMS Of our drifting into anarchy-in view
Of this state of things, did not hesitate
to urge the adoption of measures for the
arllest practicable re-estab ablishment of civil
government. And in a public meeting of
the citizens of Spartanburg, held at the
court house on the first Monday in July,
did all In my power to impress these views
upon the meeting. In the election for
the Convention I was elected member
thereof, without solicitation on my part,
and the journal of that body shows my CO.
operation in the effort to re-establish Civil
Government, and to restore our State to
her former Constitutional relations with
her sister States of the Federal Union. I
who has record to shoe has cooperation
IN has policy. The reason why no one of
my competitors was in that Convention,
does not appear; and it can never be known
officially, but that their absence was occa-
stoned by an unwillingness to accept the
result OF the war as a settlement of our
controversy. The Convention was open to
every citizen of the State Judges, Soici
tors, District Officers and Ex-Army Officers
were there. 1t was an occasion, too, when
the State, lying prostrate-'squ 'squivering in
every limb and bleeding at every PORE
needed the services of all her sons-when
every hand should have been extended to
lift her from her PROSTATE condition-when
every voice that could utter word Of en-
couragement or hope should have been
heard. Yet, not one Of these gentleman
was there. And if any of my competitors
should be elected to Congress-, the absence
of any record as to the position he has oc-
cupied since the close Of the war, might
furnish greater difficulties than Aarinq
been in the Confederate Congress-! In Col
Ashmore's case, it might be said that he
had resigned his seat in the United States
Congress, went home and raised regi-
ment, and held other prominent positions
under the Confederate Government, and
had not appeared on any record to have
accepted the result Of the war, or even to
have favored the re-establisbment of civil
government. Mr.. McAliley's election would
give ground for it's being said, that though
in the outset he was opposed to secession,
he afterwards gave in his adhesion, and
"exerted all his power and all his means to
make the cause of the South triumphant.
and had not, since the close of the war,
taken any part in the re-cstab blishment of
civil government. Mr.. Reids election
would give ground for it's being said, that