The south-western. [volume] (Shreveport, La.) 1852-1870, 1866-03-21
Treasury Agents.

We are perfectly satisfied that Henry Ward Beecher
previous to making his late speech at Brooklyn, \. y
visited this city, in cog and saw with his eyes
what these treasury harpies up to. The reader
viii bear in mind that Mr.. Beecher is preacher and
it would not look well in him to call hard names ike
some Of the newspapers do. Neither has be lost any
cotton through their assistance which we understand
is powerful incentive to the use Of vindctiye Ian
guage. This is what he did say in his speech at
Brooklyn, and we think the reader will agree with Us,
that Mr. Beecher knew what was going on here:
l should be sorry to see any more government
agents spreading through the land If the presi-
dent would call home every treasury agent that is
disgracing the north, and the government and hui
mainly, and alternating the SOUTH for one should be
glad. Here and there are no doubt men who stand
above bribery and suspicion of corruption, noble men
and true; but all through the south, taking them
comprehensivey, they are as locusts eating up the
land They are predatory nuisanees, and degrade the
north, from which they come, and the government
under which they serve.
Well might the Mobile Register say Mr. Beecher
never uttered truer words than these" From the
Registers remarks on these vampires, we should
judge that Mobile had the honor of educating the set
who have been operating here for sometime past By
way of illustrating argument, give Mobile
cotemporary's remarks, and if an outraged public
don't agree with that agents are the ones the
editor had in his minds eye when he wrote the arti
Gle, then we have missed reckoning Read it
carefully, and if you find horse which this sad
die fits better than it does our treasury nags, let us
know:
These agents with only few honorable excep-
tons, with their armies of spies, nformers and
detectives, have been horrid nightmare upon the
breasts of this people since they laid down their arms
and have done to breed dsrust of the integrity
of the government, and alienation from it. than all
other causes combined
1.-THE government Of the bayonet-martial LAWS
hard thing to be borne by men and women born and
bred in an atmosphere of freedom. The freedmen's
bureau could not but be greatly disaseful to people
in these trying circumstances Of the south But
neither, nor both of them together have produced
disgust and distrust in degree comparable to that
wrought by the cotton agency. Just imagine man
sitting III his Office in Mobile or New Orleans, and
after all the socalled government cotton had been
fairly collected, dspatchng his spies to every nook
and corner OF the Interior to nose out imaginary gov
eminent cotton his ofactories stimulated by a con-
tract to allow him onefourth of the game he should
bag Backed by military power-at least so the un-
happy cotton owners feel and beleve-thege spies 20
out with the power well the spirit of piratical
cruisers. With a rowing commission, they are not
oVer-nce in their requirement of evidence A word
OIL Suspicion, a breath from an enemy is enough to
induce seizure Of any mans cotton and the best and
largest lots are in the greatest danger Once seized
the planter gets release except at the
OF fourth half lie is fortunate if he does NOT
lose the whole. Nobody believes that the government
derives dollar of the profit from the transaction
In truth, We doubt if the whole cotton collecting
business has not been losing one pecunariy to the
government. We hazarded the opinion, month
after it was established that it wouldn't pay EXPENSES
and we believe the winding up will sustain the pre-
Judgment. But had it placed millions in the public
golfers, they never could have compensated wise and
just government for the foodgates of demoralsation
and corruption which this wretched system has opened
upon the land. Cotton stealing got to be a MANN
under the influence of its teachings and practices It
was stolen by boat loads and plantation lots by thieves
and by locks and pounds rfed from the bales by little
boys, white and black. For q time the mayors court
OF the city was thronged by negroes who lived bv
picking from the bales on the wharves and in tbo
warehouses The very guards, civil or military set to
watch cotton, caught the Infection and every finger
and palm in the land seemed to itch to handle the
heeey staple Cotton stealing became fashion, inau
gurated by the system ITSELF and immensely aggra-
waited by the abuses of its agents and their paid spies
and detectives If to-day president Johnson were to
leave it to US to say which grievance We would first
have removed from the souh-martial law, the freed
mems bureau, or the cotton bureau-we should hold
up both hands in favor of the latter