, 1865-12-15

! found q generally prevalent opinion TINT
the Representatives elect from the lately re-
bc1lious States would be admitted to their
seatz before the organization OF Congress-
belief that the test-oath would not
be eniorced-an assumption that tho Presi-
dent had goue over to the so-callcd Demo-
cratic party, and would use the whole power
OF his Office TO break down the sp-ca1led
Black Republicans. Congress met, eupposc,
two days ago. II the Southern Representa-
tiyes have been admitted to theif seats, then,
indeed, Is the South yictoriouz-then, indeed,
has the war been for naught! II any vote
has been taken which decides the case
against them for the present session, then, In
deed, has tho Republican party proved itself
unfit to control the destinics OF the countr y.
But II such action has been taken a. viii
give the South further opportunity to show
It's temper and disposition, and the nation
further opportunity to consider The great In
tercste af stake, then IL the United States
OF liberty and the cause Of nationality!
II will not be saa 10 admit these reprcscn-
tatiycs elect 10 their seats ut present. Some
Of them ouEht never to be ndmiscd-they
hare no business In Congress Of tue United
States, for they are either Of bitterly rebel
lious spirit, or arc cncased in tho polscc..o,,s
bigotrfcs Of State supremacy. AEaiost these
Tue doors of or .ee:ss.--.as.Ve halls should be
forever closed. Other men there are OF bette1
Opposition and larSer views, hut the tiue has :
not come for crsn their participation IN the
national counsels. If they are really 1T to1
the places to which they have been chosen
nothing will be lost if they prove anew that
those also serve who stand and wait.
For It must be said that ot6l;c sentiment il
changing ttry rapidly .s1he Soutls, anu ;set u
TIE riyAl direction. The President went to the
extreme limit Of naaenanl1nity ; but tho moro
he gave the more was demanded. hare re.
papers in which the removal Of Secretary
Stanton Is asked ~ Il good will offering TO the
people Of the Sonth and knot OF gentle
men at the hotel i,l Augusta argued to me that
! the unconditional release Of JEFF. Davis wns
necessary 10 prove The kindly disposition OF
the North So lar az the pt6scnle 0G Georgia
and South Carolina, and large proportion
Of those OF NORTH Carolina, arc concerned, the
Endorsement Of President johnson, of which
so much Is said in their newspapers, is merely
a grateful sense cC }dtovs 10 be TtceiEed, rather
than Of benefits already conferred. Thus,
South Carolina WIS one OF the first Southern
States to give hin such Endorsement through
a State convention and now we h8vc Wade
Hampton, speaking for the twenty thousand
!oteFs ! At b, back, SAYING: ..it 1t our
as be maniiests disposition to restore ali ali
or rights as as sovereign State "-or, In
other VIC rds, 60 long as he mGnffests DISPOSE
tion TO surrender the Nation to South Caro-
linai
It will not, indeed, do to say that all the
recent elections hsTe gone against the Union,
for Worth, Governor eject ID North Carolina,
Is quite "a sound Unionist as Holden, who
was defeated and jenkins, Of Gcorgia, has a
mich clearer appreciation Of the present
state Of affairs than Gordon, whom the rad
ical scctsssionlstB wanted and Orr fs not to
be mentioned on the same day with Wade
Hampton, when lore Of the national unity Ia
IN issue; and some Of the ex.rebel officers
are of tho best men In their respective 1ocalt-
tics. Yet It Il beyond question that the result
Of the elections indicates = great dcaf OF re-
bellious spirit.
Not that any ono who travels In the South
can for moment believe that there Is the
least dagger Of any luriher armed resistance
to the authority Of tic general government.
possibilities SO far as this generntlon OF the
next Is concerned. A few untamed 1re.eaters
win blustcr, and local politicians will brag,
but the leaders arc wiser than they were, and
the people have lad enough of war. Bnt
there sre things quite as bad as open war. aud
Ism to the idea OF national. sorereignty-
from which will breed moro passionate dsyo-
ucn to local interests, unendlnS persecution
Of the freedmen, never-ceaslug clsmor In be-
half Of State rights, and continual effort 10
break away from tile solemn obligations Of
the national debt.
These four points indicate the direction In
which 1t seems 10 me, from my observotion
during The last three months, that our future
danger Lies. Not that there Arc 10 other
dangers, but that herein arc those now pccu-
lfaIly imminent.
In Georgia and the CarolinAs there is no
such thing as general education. When the
delegate OF the South Carolina Convention
admitted that requirement that voters
franchirc at least third Of the people Of his
district, he bric1y recIted tho history OF the
South. The great majority Of the common
people know next TO nothing, either OF his
tory or coicmpornncous ai!urs-either OF the
principles Of government or the acts Of their
thought ofthcpreseut age; either ofthe desires
or the purposes Of nations. They are dcsti~
tute alike OF the school house and the print
ing preeS. They ret their infot nation and
their opinions mainly from the local office
seekers. Il Is therefore Inevitable that the
ono should be meagre and the other narrow.
The srar seiU not Adre 1orne ii 1est fruit tlV
netctpaperx and school teachers abound in etery
eosnty cf Aaese Statcs, and IA there i entire
freedom IF speech or all quettions. With this
will come ability to comprehend something
beside the petty Interests Of Smith township
or Calhoun county, and one necessary guar
anty to the future glory and stability Of the
Republic.
Ishould scarcely exaegerate II said that
the object Of the people Of tho South Is to cx.
terminate the negro. There Is no more arTnnt
humbpg than their professed love for this
creature whom they so lately bought and
sold az they did mules and cotton. Individ-
ual cases Of real attachment to individual ger
wants were doubtless common enough before
the war, and IN honest observer finds not
few oi them even now. But, having seen the
present relations of the two classes, ! wonder
that or any one else could ever have believed
that the common people Ind any resi- lore for
the blacks as q race. They loved them Just ex.
actly as men lore sheep and horses, and
treat their animals. Some Of the better men
arc now willing to concede to them the minor
rights Of humanity, but not one uan IN five
thousand proposes TO give them all the rights
Of men and women, and scarcely one in twcn-
ty-thousand would invest any of them with
the rights Of citizenship. To dscam that
any of these States will voluntarily grant the
seems to nc 10 qualify yourself for the insane
asylum. The ptainest Of all plain require
ments is that the freed negro shall have the
right to be heard In the courts; and the fierce
and bitter opposition to meeting this require
mcnt Eires tic sharp and unequiyocal lie to
all professions Of love for him. Having set
out under the rev regime with the snecriag
prophecy TINT the free negro will not work,
cannot take care Of himself, and will neccssa-
rily die out in competition with the white
man, the people Of these States are doing
about all they can TO make their prophecies
good; and the manner in which the various
legislatures entcr upon their work gives assu-
r1nce that this race ,oiu get neAher xfavors nor
rights except a' fAty are 'eon for them BY the
When men talk Of tsState ziehts'' It IL we'll
enough 10 ask their definition of the words.
When Gcorgia and South Carolina defeat
every. office seeker who did not "go with the
Stateh In the recent war, they furnish def
milton that 10 man ch1 misunderstood. They
declare that they mean State supremacy. Be
charitable as you will, admit the good hea5t
ty to see the Issues Of the conflict from our
apd.pofnt-urpe all this, and yet the hard
significant fact remains that IN the Sfdtss Of
North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia,
5our:tffhs Of the elections Of all grades are re-
e17rn.atioa eT he supremacy 2f Ms State.
In South Carollns, before I had advanced
hundred miles from Charleston on this South
c5n trip, had some conversation with very
man ahout Confederate money and
Confederate bonds. He would give me some
Of the money II he had any, but tho Federals
had taken II all. But he would not give away
any Of The bonds, for he believed they would
sometime be worth something: Many Of them
were held IN New York and England, and he
thought that within iye yea5s steps Teala W,lss Be-
TraSurv. 1 III experience viii b. the expert
ence Of any man who makes much inquiry,
he viii get all the bonds he wants for cutiosi-
lies, and: he will ind many men who bare
larrc quantities which they quietly hold IN
ths hclief that Government will sometime
make them Of some ralue- Atthe little town
~ Blacky vile a young man asked me
# thought the Government would latt feqnIfe 7fe
se;d Il ffIdn,t seem fair to make them do that
after taking sill their property, and good men
had told hin that when the States were MI
admitted to The Union again the whole Tan
kec debt would be Tcpudiatcd. or tne sontn
=. .n1<nsnd frrf1 her EflarG NI Inc taxes