The tri-weekly news. [volume] (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1865-1876, 1866-04-14
[From the Chicago Times. |
Getting into Southern Society,

Ihe lnqnisition of Fifteen at Washiurror
tearing the effect upon the public mind Of
the testimony of General Lee and otbcr.
Southcrncrs who are familiar with thc.scn-
1iment of t6e South, have fastened TO G6ol
the country with the evidence of Gcnor,I
Terry This officer Starts out bv Stain.
that 81 ito not come in direct personal con.
tact with the people OF. Virginia, II &
and have no social intercourse. with orv
except those known to the Union people"
Alter Ferry has sworn that he does not
come IN contact with the people of Virginia.
Ire proceeds 10 swear that they are very dis.
loyal, and that they would gladly embrace,
IN opportunity TO secure their independence.
General Lee, who is Virgiuini,, .swcars
'hat they arc loyal, and would not ayail
themselves of the embrolment of the Uni.
ted States with foreign power TO rerpw
their war against The ovcrnmcnt. Who.
IS the most reliable in this case Lee or Ter.
ry? Weneed no, answer the ques ion.
III we examine Terry testimony closely.
we shall find the explanation Of his hostiii.
~, and that of many another Federal officer
IN The South. lie says. there is the snmo
contempt lor Northern men that there al
ways was. The Er,ininns do not scol,
him, he says. and would not become his io.
sitionas commanding officer. nor consis.
tent with his sc'f.rospect. to seek them. In
other words, Terry very unmistaknbl,
shows that he is chagrn,d over n failure TO
get into southern society. What is true of
Terry Is true Of great many other Fede
rni oihcers IN the South aud this chnoa.in
finds vent before the Reconstruction Gnm.
mittee, IN the shape Of deadly hostility TO.
an international or uuiniernationul mis-,
representation Of the South.
There arc two points of prominence con-
nected with this question Of admitIapoc to
Southern society. Southern women enter
ed upon the contest for the inlepcrdcncc
Oh 'he south with aa enthusiasm and
determination that exceeded those Of
the opposite sex. The failure, therefore
was most disastrous in its rcoc,ionorv ctoc,
mon their feelings thanit was in The cose
OF Southern men. The Sou,hrrn women =,
arc more disappointed, more pros,rnted bv
the iail'We than The men, When to this i
added the fact that almost all these womcn
are mourning for the loss of some relative
~ cannot scarcely. he expected that ,hev
would be Niliing TO look favorable .uno,,
men whom they cannot hat regard os ,hc
Instruments by which their pride hos bccn
h"nhled, their hopes blasted, their propcr.
~ destroyed. and their fathers, sons iav.
ers. hhd brothers slnin. These facts are So
Slhrihg thnt ~" Eod"lnl officer who a,,emnis
'o1ofce himself inlo the society of Southern
women or who INDUCES in chagrin because
% i"'lure IN snch an attempt, is brute in
one case and fool in the other.
Supposed tho case reversed. Sunno.o
that the South had conquered and liar
to-day, the North was n desert, held NV
southern troops: would, our wives anil
daughters wish 20 associate with swooger
ing gray backs who had been instrumcn,,,
IN reducing them to poverty and indepriv-
ing them Of their natural protectorsP va,
should regard our women as coarse or,, IN
feeling if they ventured to take auv sncb
course. S"o'
Inc other prominent point in this matter
is, That in Southern society, ny in any Other
society a gentleman il admissible, whether
me oamc from Boston, Paris or Kamseho,ko
No gentleman will force himself into n
mouse OF mourning aud propose game. of
e@ohre OF unnce III coH1eriion with the
obscquies of the deceased; and in i'm
manner, no gentleman will seek admission
into Southern society until Its peor,le h.yn
buried their dead. In time the dead
VIII be buried. tho period Of mourning will
De passed, the bitterness of recollection will
become lesscncd, and then the donrs NJ
Southern mansions will swing on oiled hinoes
,or the entrance of the gentleman. r,oai,a.
l'ss of his nationality. 90
we cannot .conscien'iously promise. When,
that time arrives, that these doors will he .
open to New England and tho. entiro Nor,b
blatant abolitionists, who offensiycly insist
that the Southern negress is the intellecf,inli
ana SOCIAL eAnni of the Southern white wo-
man, VIII md 1t as hard TO get into South
e,h society then as they do now. This fact
alone VIII probably bat' the doors of South.
ern houses against niao-ten,hs Of Tho Pur;.
iins. inns. Respectable society in tho Sou,h ~.
ike respectable society everywhete. Il .js,
an aggregation of sympathetic social ele.
menis, aud il rcpudiaies everything. nm \
couth, brutal and offensive