Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1866-12-19
Ed..se1d District in Bad odor.

From On article in tho Washington Chronicle,
relating to recent Report made to Major Gene
raj Howard by Genl. R. X. Scott, Assistant Com
missioner Of the Freedmen's Bureau for tho State
Of South Carolina, We clip the following:
In Edcsfeld District tho people have In NO
wise improved, and it seems that majority of the
white citizens of tho District have no respect
whatever for the law Of the land, and live in per-
feet indifference to the civil or military Law. Tho
condition of the freed people in the Immediate
vicinity of Edgefeld Court House is favorable, as
the people in the village and its immediate rcin-
iy as we'll as the civil authorities, eyince desire
to have them treated justly. Away from the vii
lsge there is much uneasinefs and terror on ac- |
count of the busbwhackers," who kill and beat
negroes, and burn their dwellings with impunity.
/ That " a majority of the white citizens of tho
District have no respect whatever for the law OF
the land, and live in perfect Indifference to the
civil or military law" is absolutely and unquali-
fedly false. Nine-tenhs of the people Of dge-
field District are as quiet, humane, enlightened
law-abiding citizens MS any in the South. OF this
fact the myrmidons Of the Freedmen's Bureau
can soon convince themselves if they chooso.
But as to the latter part Of this extract, oSay
from tho rilioge there ia much auea'ine" and ter
ror on account Of The tJashehacker.,' whs Kill aud
beat aegroes aud burn their d're'lings eith impu-
sity," VIC dare not deny it. Would to God we
could! And yet we donot mean to admit that
these violent and unlawful proceedings arc carried
on in any or srery part of the District. Far from
it. On the contrary, we know that there are only
one or two sections amenabls to this charge. AND
as to the burning Of negroes dwellings, that 10
nil pure nonsense. It is we'll known that negroes
have no dwellings Ninetcen-twenti0ths OF them
live in out-hour.s belonging to white people.
But that there aro bushwhackcrs, and also
whackers that do not take to the4bush, who ooa'
and kill negroes, cannot and need not be doniea'
And for us to launch out into long article 10
prove how unwiso, how impolitic, how inhumAn'
how unenliehtened, how utterly Genseess, al sucn
killing and beating is, would be an insult 70 Inc
good sense and good feeling Of our people large
These bushwhackers and niggerwhackOrs ought
to be summarily put doun-rooted out. ana 70
this end, the good citizens Of thoac sections in
which such deeds arc perpetratsd, ought to hold
public meetings-gather together en- md"'-and
sternly, by word and doed, set their faeos against
all bushwhacking, or, in plain words, against all
NAL. treatment or oppression Ct negroes. These
negroes should be objects Of pity and Of care
rather than OF violence and oppression. White
people are or are supposed to be, refined and en-
lightoncd by education and by the many advan-
tagcs which money End freedom have given them.
Negroes, on the contrary, have had but little edu
cation, but little money, but little freedom, to re-
fine or enlishten them, White people have the
a alyan.age Of them in every way. To abuse this
advantage is base. 1t should over bo remembered
that there time when the negroes might
easily have taken direful advantage OF the whites.
This they did not do; but on the contrary, re-
mained faithful and obcdent. AS they kept the
faith to us, so should We, by all means, keep tho
faith t, them.
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