The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1866-02-07
The Material and Political Status OF
the HOuth.

New ORLEANS, January 10, 1866.
To the Editors Union and American,
NdshviNe:
You requested q line from me on
my return to the Southwest upon the
general condition of affairs, and upon
the prospects which the future seemed
to open. shall endeavor briefly to
comply.
Everywhere in the interior Of the
country, as we'll as in the towns, there
are evidences of activity, and people
who were reduced to the greatest
extremity show spirit and determi-
nation in graphing with the situstion
which Is truly astonishing, and every
branch OF business or employment is
already crowded. The planters, how
ever, struggle against thousand diff
ficulties. The ruin of estates is but
a small part. They are perplexed and
worried by the labor question, and
until few days ago, itseemed as if the
freedmen had abandoned all thought
OF further occupation. More recent
~ it is said that they are contractors,
and on favorable terms, but it must
be admitted that the greatest distrust
prevails of their future. The plant
ers find it impossible to procure ad-
vances to work the estates. Capital
is too cautious to seek such adven-
lures. Thousands of estates are in
the market for sale at half or quar-
ter their former values, or for rent,
but there are few transactions. Agents
offer the most inviting lists, but offer
in vain. The capital and labor which
were to have come from the North or
Europe have not yet appeared, and
the evidence SO far is complete that
the Southern crops for another year
will be very short, and that million
bales of cotton will be a very liberal
estimate.
The great activity which prevails,
and which is SO imposing to the eye,
ought not, however, to deceive. It
is no augury for the future. The
wretched condition of affairs at the
end of the war occasioned almost
struggle for life among our people,
and all the little savings that had been
boarded up or hidden away were
brought forth to replenish supplies.
In the utter exhaustion, there was q
demand for everything-thus the
large trade which Immediately sprung
up. The cotton which survived the
war, and which was generally dihused
over the country, furnishes the means
of keeping up this commerce. Itwas
an act of Providence that so much
was saved in the general wreck, but,
when that is gone, a collapse may
reasonably be expected, unless some
great and unexpected relief presents
itself. The idea generally prevails,
and men speak gloomily of the future.
Certainly there never was such field
for enterprise rs that which the South
furnishes, but the capital is wanting.
So far for the material question.
Now as to the political. There is
an intense feeling of disappointment
and chagrin prevailing, and people
who, few months ago, accepted the
situation and were in good faith en-
deavoring to perform its duties, ex-
press themselves with bitterness.
They perceive disposition in the
national councils to humiliate and
degrade them. They are required to
make sacrifices from which their
manhood shrinks. Their honest pro-
fessions are mistrusted, and the mag
nanimity which might have been ex-
pected from q generous foe has not
been shown. This remark does not
apply to the President, whose noble
course is universally lauded. Even
those who were called Union men in
the past, and those who were recon
structionists during the war, speak
with Indignation It was not for this
they bargained. They predicted a
generous policy on the part of the
North, and are twitted by their asso-
ciates with their over confidence.
Certainly q great change has taken
place in public sentiment, and the
radical party may take credit to
themselves for engendering feelings
of alienation and hostility greater
than would have resulted from an
other year of war.
Ninety-nine in the hundred of the
Southern people were devoted to the
Confederacy, gloried in its achieve
ments, doubted not an instant of its
just cause and its eventual triumph,
and sacrificed, or were willing to
sacrifice, for it all they possessed
or expected to possess of life or pro-
perty. When the crash came, they
We're overwhelmed The path of duty,
however, soon opened to them The
conqueror was entitled to their allie
NJ