The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1865-09-11

THE leading men at the South have Il
in their power to ut once restore the no
covered States to their former footing
in the Union, or to keep them out in
the cold indefinitely. The Southern
masses have shown by the manner in
which they went into the secession
movement that they are easily influ-
enced and controlled. 1.-THE Southern
politicians will now do everything in
their power, both by precept and ex-
ample, to restore order, awaken a fra
ternal and friendly spirit, and to de-
velop a respect for and obedience to
those in authority, the great difficulties
in the matter of reconstruction will be
readily and quietly overcome. Great
responsibility rests upon them, and it
is now their privilege no less than their
duty to atone for the errors and mis-
deeds of the past.
An address from one of the Charles
ton, S. c., candidates to the approach
ing State election, breathes the right
spirit, and we wish might be perused
and reflected upon all through the
South. Mr.. o'ConnOr says to the peo-
pie of his State in accepting the nomina-
ton:
The South Carolina Constitution now
sleeps, but not in death; her laws are
silent; her former rulers been deposed,
and her civil policy supplanted by
martial jurisdiction; but her people
still live. In proportion as this transit
ton has been sudden, convulsiVe and
destructive, the next that she will soon
have to undergo will be tranquil and
easy, y the people choose to make It so.
AT the holding of her Convention, order
must spring out of political chaos, and
upon the ruins of former greatness will
be founded new and, 1 trust, more en-
during prosperity. Her Constitution
Will be terminated and awake to life
again; her laws again proclaimed from
her temples of Justice, and where mill
tary authority now holds sway, law
ana justice once more will reign SUI
preme.
Unfortunately, so tenacious are we of
old tenetS, that we are prone to exclude
all new light and pass sentence of con-
domination upon a policy before it has
been fairly tested. We have, none of
us, the gilt of prophecy, and the wisest
OF us can only speculate about the fu-
ture; but If we take the experience of
the past as our guide, and compare our
progress with that of other States, there
Is much in the subject TO raise a doubt
whether emancipation will prove in the
end an unmixed evil, or a future last
ing benefit to the South. The decree of
emancipation has gone forth, and we
cannot annul it. Whether my theory
De right or wrong, the practical fact
stares us in the face that slavery in
these States is gone-forever and ire
trievably gone.
"A sound philosophy, then, should
dictate the propriety of adapting our
selves to its abolition, and working out
our prosperity without the aid of slave
ry. This is the surest way of counter
aching the evil, fit be one. By the en-
enlargement of immigration, the diffu-
sion OF education, and by fostering
honest industry, agriculture, with the
AID OF science, will maintain its former
importance. Manufacturers will grow
up and Keep pace side by side with its
sister branch, and our commerce be ex-
tended These will invite population.
ana population in return will engender
them. Population is the wealth of the,
State and the power it exercises. It Is
the grand foundation upon which the
rests.
n new era now dawns upon u.s. Each
has to be the architect of his own for
tune, and the fortunes of all constitute
the fortunes of the State. Let not de-
Spondency corrode our aspirations or
impede our efforts; nor indifference and
blind despair become the handmade of
our continued degradation.
1t is by the display of such a spirit as
this that our deluded countrymen NAV
expect to secure their former rights and
privileges, and see military give woy
to civil authority.