The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1865-12-21
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RATES OF SUBsCRIpTION.
The SOutIl as n n


The correspondent of the Boston Dali
~ 4EdUerEtser;1 from WHOSE letters we
have several times quoted, has returned
from "a three months trip in Georgia
and the Carolinas. His statements have
justly had weight, from their evident
intelligence and candor. In his final
letter. he fgenerdlfzes on the situation
and prospects, of the South, and his
conclusions sustain the impression
made by most accounts from that SEQ
tion. He says:
schools and newspapers are about
the first things needed in the South. It
is q! disgrace toTour civilization that
southern politicians are able to lead the
people as they do. Had schools and
newspapers abounded six years ago, 1
doubt if the masses of the South could
have been forced into the war; The
late elections in these three States {indi-
cato that the rebelious spirit is stronger
than it was three months ago. Freedom
of speech and safety of person are, very
far from being assured mall sections of
these States. Il believe they have,been
won in the cities and large towns, and
on the main lines of railway travel; but
any northern man who goes into the
country, whether for business or pleas
ure, whether as a resident or traveller,
must walk and talk circumspectly. If
he undertakes to maintain radicaii SEN
ttmentS on the negro question. his
friends will probably find him dead
some morning-shot from behind, as is
the custom of the country,
"The ex-rebel soldiers are everywhere
the best disposed clRss of citizens, and
If they alone constituted any given
state, should expect peace and order
and freedom.t to freely abound ut once.
Thet bad classes are, all the women,
mos of the preachers, nearly all the,
young and middle-aged men who did
not go into the army, and many of the
young rebel staff officers, and officers
who didn't see active service. The fact
that such a large proportion ofthe off,.
ces in the gift of the people of these
states have been filled with men who
were officers in the rebel army does not
in itself furnish any argument against
the good disposition of the people,. The
sentiment which voluntarily confers
honor on a man who has shown person-
al bravery, who has been plucky and
daring and gallant, is, one we cannot
afford to crhsh-it is one of the strong
moral forces of nation, and deserves
nurture rather than condemnation
Moreover, in not n few cases these ex-
officers are of better win and purpose
toward the government. than any other
'The negro is no pattern of manhood.
and the negro soldiers have done the
nation some bad service as well as much
good service. Yet, us the common ne
groe's faults and failings areN cry lnrge-
ly due to the white with whom he has
been associated, so the negro soldier
may justly say that he has been us good
as his white officer, For many most
worthless fellows, not 10 say several
| great rascals, have been officers in some
! of the negro regiments on duty in these
states within three months. The aver
age conduct of many of the white troops
| is neither productive of good order nor
promotive of the good name of the army;
| but when vicious or inefficient white
| officers are put over ignorant negro SOL
| dterS, the combination constitutes n
body that does infinitely more harm
than good. Such bodies were not a few
of the detachments of colOred soldiers
which i found. In my journey. have
yet TO see or hear ofa,single instance in
which good officers failed to make the
negro a good soldier even for post and
| garrison duty; and therefore 1T was
nothing less than an outrage to put the
poor freedmen under such vile fellows
as were some Of those on duty in the
| Carolinas six weeks ago, The, harm
TINT these squads of negroes thus OIL
cered did to the plantation negroes new
or can be counted, for it was the injury
Of very bad example, and very bad
f''F6r the abolition of the freedmen,s
bureau and the removal of the military
the mass of citizens of the free States is
very anxious-though protests have
been made from some localities against
the withdrawal of the troops till after
the holidays, and in some quarters of
South Carolina there is even demand
that they shall be retaiued indefinitely.
The truth is that the whites of the low
country OF that State are afraid of tho
negroes, their numbers in many pari-
shes being scarcely one-fourth as great
as those Of the sblacksss- But, every in
Forest Of the negroes requipe that the
reedmeh's bureau stafi not only not
be abolished, but be more vigorously
administered, and more energetically
sustained blythe government and the
nation than heretofore; and the safety
of the officers and agents ofthat bureau,
no less than the well-being ofthe, ne !
grOes, the furtherance of good order
everywhere, the protection OF northern
Immigrants in many sections, and the
incnlcation of n sound national senti-
ment among all classes, requires that
the States be still kept under military
control, and that more attention be paid
to the enforcement of discipline among
/