Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1866-09-04

l'hf ~ III u? wv Y0i 'uJiTYIll
SiR--In obedience to Instructions, dated
NAV 9,31lS66is directing me, n while
bcarfying out specific mission, "to ex-
anime carefullyIinto the disposition of the
people of the Southern States through
which \ might pas, toward the Govern
mebt of the United States / have the hon
or ~ rent11nrt.H jEdi s2didt js9id8 5dt 10 OF
! THAT n5alfthe States / visited j found
no sign or 'symptompC organized disloyalltty,
10 the General Government. ! found the
people taking our currency, and glad t6get
/ it; anxious for n fcapitalahd horthH
efnlabor to develop the RESOURCES of their
wasted country, and well disposed toward
every Northern man who came among
them with that object in view! ! '"uig
W In some Iocalities1 heard rumorsi OF secret
organizations pointing to a renewal ot the
rebellion. Oninvestigating these secretso-
cieties, could discover i'll them nothing
more than Charitable irIstihidoi1s1 having
for their principal object the relief of the
widows and orphansiot Confederate soldiers
who had fallenini the war, beB-yu.r.t.ib :,
During the whole of my travels i found
it to be as safe ana conVenfehttor r1ingle with
the people OF the South, freely discussing
any and every topic lthat came up, asip any,
otlIer section of the United States. was
often among then unknown, and the tenor
of their acts and Conversation was then the
same as when my name and official position.
were thoroughly understood. sr4r q gt
10 The people of the South may be DIVIDED
! into two classes. There is, the industrious
! class, laboring earnestly to build up What
has been, broken down, striving to restore
| PROSPERITY to the country, and interested
/ mainly in the great question, OF prQVldng
food and clothing for themselves and fami-
lies. These form the great majority OF the
people. Then there is another fclass, an,
| utterly irresponsible class, composed mainly,
of youne men who were the "bucks" of
Southern society before the war, and clIiet-
ly spent their time in lounging round the
couftrboris and bars, In Chicken fighting
and gambling These have been greatly
broken up by the wars many OF them nave
been killed but those who remain are still
disturbing elements In the eornmunity,a
are doing much mischief, 1t is this class of
! men, and a number of the pOorwhites, who
have, formed gangs for horse-stealinS, It
is they who in some. instances have made
attacks on officers of the Freedmen's 'Bu-
reau, and have i'll treated the freedmem ut
| is they who afford the mampreteXt for say
Ting that there is among the people OF, the
| South, a, feeling Of hostility toward the
! United States government. But tney are
! not the representatives OF the Southern peo7
o pie. They form butan Observation-Disclosures
tyI in the community and even they are
actuated not so much by feeling of oppo-
sition to the Government as by a reluc4
tance to earn their own livelihood by hon
est labor and Individual exertion.t rf plul
"a That cases of authentic outrage have oc-
crtrred in the South, is patent to every one
familiar with the current news of the day.
But these cases are few and far between,
) and ID is both unjust, and ungenerous to
rcharGe the responsibility for such, acts of
lawlessness upon the whole Southern peo1
pie. For some malicious purpose, accounts
Iof these isolated disorders have been col
gleeteT and grouped Together, rand Rnwp,
cbfoadrast over the North, SOFAS to EgiYe to
the public mind an, utterly erroneous, i'm
preston as to the condition OF Southern so
iciety. The tact is, that wherever alsafiec-
tibhf ana dturbulenceihaVe manifested them
solves outside the class to whom lhave above
alluded, there has been some local or spe-
cific. cause to account for IT. LaWless-
mess, like an epidemic,' has extended over
h particular belts of the country; and, like An
|, Epidemic, is equally -traceable to some in
| titiatory cause. Chief among these causes
must lie named bad government, Spillage
band oppression. on.-------------------
| For five years, the Southern people have
| been the subjects of gross misrule. During
| the war their Government was a military
| fdespotism, dependent solely on the dicturn
/ of an individual. Since the war they have
| beenileft more or less in a. archaotic, state
their Government semi-civil, semi-milita=
I nv, or rather division Of rule between the
military, the Freedmen's Bureau, and the
| Provisional Governments. .haWh@t might
| have beenithe result of differentp policy it
| ID not altogether idle to speculate, Every
military man who served ip the South dtll'-
| ing the war,Yill agree that the heart OF the
| great,mass of the people was not thorOugly
| ID the struggle. The hurnber of assertions
| from the rebel armiesabu1dantlye establish
es this fact Had policy Of ootss and Stqtes-
n,anIle Cancellation been .fOlloloed ont innjedt-
ateb after the close Of the t1Qr 1t is more than
probable that the condition and disposition
! OF the people wohidnOwbef far better than
theyIare. But on the spbjugation of the
| South, the national authority in the lately
rebellious Statesi was divided and broken
| up into opposing factions, whose action
greatly hinderedl the fre-establi liShmept of
civil law and good order so much needed
| among people demoralized by the most
! demoralzing Of all agencies Acivl war.
| The country lcns flooded 10Th Treasury AGENTS
akto,. ruth itieiri uec0apIices and sipitdt0rS,
feeCel the people right and {efk returning into
The United States Treasury for all The enormous
| amount Of property they seized and c6hfScdted
6dfely enough to pdyrts cost of og6scatt0ae
1 Agents the fEreedmerls Bureau stepped
between the planter, an and . the laborer, stir
9g up sfg1s REPRESENTATIVES tSRSa a9tsgonii,
I and oppressionld o On every hand the peO-
ple saw wthemselyesrobbed and swronged by
| agents and dself-appoipted agents protesting
i to act under the sanction of the Ufitea
/ States GoVernmenti Need it be wondered
4 at that among gajconim0nity thusdealtw
! powerless to resist, and too weak and ,pros7
! trated for successful complaint, some Bit
/ terness and in feeling should arise? N6he
| but brave and WE'LL -n6eaniHS people
4 have endured unresisting all d that jthe
! South hhayelilndergone,y .tffnh m .ycd b.
| prosecuting this 81 inquiry ]. hardly
] deemed it fair to ask more than What had
/ been the actions of the people Offlthe South
! toward the General Government. With
4 their private opinions, Itheip5 csympathies
1 andntheir rprejudieesI had nothing to do,
! Yet for q more thorough understanding OF
\ the question, made 1t a. part of my mis-
I sion TO Investigate even atheSe. H. found
\ they had9universaAN complied with the
1 conditions granted and accepted at the final
surrender Of their armies and catise. on
/ foiihd that they We're carrying out with
i goof flii6h and alacrity th9Tequirements,O OF
1 the constitutional amendment abolisliRg
slavery and, that ia all the States, except
! Mississippi and Texas, the famous civil
Rights Bill had been aiiticipated by the ae+
ti6hi0R tiI6 iStatenAg ggislahntesr Previous 20
| It's passage dbyd Congress- rm Further than
l this, Il found, that in, the Reputation OF