Raftsman's journal. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1854-1948, 1865-09-13
THE LOYALTY OF THE SOUTH.

| THE LOYALTY OF THE SOUTH.
1t is a matter which cannot escape notice,
| that certain persons who live in the South
| ern States are beginning to complain that
they are misunderstood by the people of the
North. After the suppression of the rebel
lion, there were numerous Southern utter
ances to the effect that they were resolved
| to give up their errors, and endeavor to be-
come peaceable and loyal citizens They ac-
knowledged that they had appealed to the
| abitrament of arms and had been unsuccess-
| tul. They Were overcome, and Were willing
| to return to the Union and eD3eavor to re-
| pair the disasters of the war. OF Southern
| profession we have had enough, but In
| many things there are needed evidences of
| Southern sincerity. Circumstances have, in
numerous cases, given the lie. to Southern
| promises, and Southern oaths have been
| broken literally and in spirit. The people
| Of the North have cause to doubt the pro-
fession of loyalty made by the persons lately
| IN Rebellion, because actions speak louder
| than words Oaths are emily valuable as
pledges when they are kept, and when We
see maiorities of population who have
formerly abjured former errors still reltera-
| ting those errors in language and by acts,
| we may be pardoned if we have our doubts
of the honesty of the parties concerned.
There have been sufficient indications of the
old spirit manifested to render US suspicious.
| 1t is scarcely denied that dissatisfaction ex-
lists, but it is solemnly avered that the ex-
| Rebels do not again intend to fight for pc
| litical distractions. Perhaps not, but if
| they mean to struggle to gain the same ends
by political actions the results of the war
have not been final. In the resolutions Of
the late meeting held at Richmond, Va,
strong points were made in depracction of
| Northern distrust A Colonel Alster of
Georgia. who writes a letter to the New
York Tribune, takes the same line of argu-
ment. Various Southern presses and speak
ers adopt similar language, and the tone Of
all these declarations seem to be 'wc want
NJ to be faithful to our oaths of amnesty,
lNb but the North abuses US and distrusts US,
"and we are being injured by the hostile
sentiment which is accumulated against
us, in which we are charged with insin-
''cerity and dishonor." This is the Ian
guage Of injured innocence, but it may also
be the language of pretence and deceit.
What the North expect OF the South is
that it shall not only accept the consequen-
ces of Rebellion in words, but that its popu-
lation shall turn in to the discharge of the du-
ties of civil life with an honest intention
to forget the errors of the past, to bury all
dead issues, and to act in conformance with
the necessities of the present time. Slavery
is dead, labor must be recognized. A black
man who works should be faithfully paid a
laborers wages. The matter seems simple
to us, with whom industry is normal con-
dition. But the Southern planters, while
pretending to accept emancipation as fixed
fact, either attempt to act as if the old con-
dltion of affairs existed, or take advantage
OF ancient customs to oppress and defraud
the negroes. Through the South the pre-
vailing sentiment is the same as existed
when Davis was in Richmond and Lee was
at Petersburg. Thousands who are now de-
pending upon the United States for their
daily food still affect the braggadocia and
violence OF the Rebellion, and if they can be
believed they intend to carry out every Reb-
| el idea in defiance of the United States. Ut
| terances like these are intensely common
| Either they are the vaporings of falsehood,
or they mean something. In the latter case
how are we to judge of them in opposition
| to the occasional assurances Of Southern poll
| ticians that they really intend to be good and
| loyal citizens One cannot maintain the old
Rebel State Rights doctrines and be a good
Union man also If the people of the North
| are becoming distrustful;of Southern loyal
ty," who is to blame for it? We cannot
| understand a loyalty which talks against
a Government and for it, when the ae-
| tions coupled with such language general
y evidence disaffection and dissatisfaction.
There is an easy method of satisfying the
people of the North and the United States
Government that the Southern people actu-
ally mean to act as if they were once more
recounciled to the old Government, and that
can only be by abandoning the old State
kghtsslang. .renouncing the idea that slavery
exists, or ought to exist, and by treating the
freedmen as if they had certain inalienable
rights, and that amongthemare life, liberty
and the pursuit of happiness