Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1867-05-29
f.cm the Co,.nGia Paeni:r.
i,r Perry anu His Letters.

the three 'etlerS puoHSneO oy 'ne floit. D. &.
Perry, advisory to the citizens of the State ir
their present anomalous condition. These
letters, addressed 70 the public, are open to
criticism without an imputation Of a personal
attack. Their conception may have been dis
passionate, bnt they are certainly dogmaticai.
ilusory, ill.timed and mischievouS, and the
last one is a moagrel argument on both sides
of the question. which, if worth anything at
all, proves that Mr.. Perry is, as he has always
been, consistently wrong. No inspiration OF
prophecy is claimed, but Mr.. Perry continu
ally prophesieS, and always affirmatisely; his
sooth-saying should enlighten US from . neg
alive standpoint, and foretel the result if a
majority of tha ballots are endorsed "No
Convention" He predicts direful future if
we hold convention; does this argue less
evil consequences il we hold no convention ?
Suppose majority of the voters Of South
Ca olna-while and blacI-coincide with
Mr.. Perry, and vote as he suggests, will be
guarantee short-ived military government
over the State, and more speedy restoration
to the Union, with our old State Constitution
intact2 Can Mr.. Perry or any other sane
man anticipate such political future for any
of the Southern States? Does he not know
and experience the fact, that South Carolina
is virtually and practically as much out of
the Union as if secession had been success?
Is he, and are we not all. painfully but forci-
bly, taught BY the occasionally published Or
ders from military headquarters, that we are
but conquered provinces, at the mercy OF our
conpuerors, aud that State sovereignty is ex-
,inct? II such is not The case, wherefore
these military sub divisions Of our State? Il
we have single individual right reserved to
the State, why can we not, as State, open
our courts and execute the laws of the land I?
If we are State, how is 1t that Gov. Orr
continues to occupy the gubernatorial chair
by mere sutierance? These, with many Others
too patent, are facts, aud melancholy facts,
which prove that we US a State may claim
none other than the simple right of obedience,
if this be right. Ii, then, tie forMer citi-
zens Of South Carolina vo!uatarily obey the
laws imposed upon them, the enfranchised
class will be required to do the Same. BY
this means, increased privileges will be given
to one class, while additional rights will be
secured to the other. The reverse of this
course would create antagonism between the
two races, and array the "powers that be"
in hostility against the whites. Then why
.kck against the pricks," as Mr.. Perry ad-
vises? True, the Reconstruction Act allows
The ballot to declare convention or no conven.
tioa, in letter, but its spirit, and the tenor
of all the legislation of the recent Con-
sress, plainly reveals the inevitable necessi-
ty of vital alterations in our State Con
s.itutios, which. if not made by ourselves,
will be made by Congress. Mr.. Perry may
say this would be unconstitutional. Suppose
it woulG be, what is q constitution more than
a mere parchment to q radical Congress :?
Let the vetoes of the President and the recent
lodgings of the Supreme Bench answer this
question.
Another point We think Mr.. Perry has
discovered marc's nest, and flushed bug
bear in the plurality-nesro-voe, which fright
ems only himself Nearly one-half the Dis
tricts of the State have white population
equal to, if not more numerous, than the
black. In those Districts where the blacks
are in the majority, does it necessarily follow
that the black males overtwenty' one years OF
are are more numeroue than the white males
Of the same age? If one in eight Of the
whites before the war were voters, we think
it questionable whether one in ten of the
blacks were of that age and sex which would
entite them, under enfranchisement, 10 vote;
for it has always been conceded fact, that
among the negroes there were more women
and children than amongst the white race.
What is the case to day? The youths Of
South Carolina, who have grown into man
hood since 1865, will, in all probability, ca
ceed the number of voters lost by dlstrap-
chisement aud the war. Hence, in q general
State vote, the aggregate would only be di-
minished by tue number Of emigrants since
the close of the war, which would be heavy
loss, we admit, but nothing, comparatively, to
the emigration of the blacks. During the
war, there must have been very small per
centage of an increase amongst the male
blacks, for there was annually constant flow
of these people to other States, and much the
largest portion of the black emigrants since
the war has been voters. The disparity in
numbers, of all ages and sexes, before the
war; was about 100000 in favor of the blacks.
If a census were taken to-day, we believe the
white inhabitants of South Carolina would
number 100000, while the blacks would not
more than reach $4,000. Then, if the 300,-
900 whites gave 81 900 votes, we think it ex
c,edingly Questionable whether the $4,000
blacks would give more than 5,000 or, at
most, as many as $1,000. Then, if the two
classes should unfortunately bearrayed in po-
litical hostility against each other-which will
most assuredly be the case, if such men as
Mr.. Perry and Senator Wilson are to be list
ened to-can not the whites, with equal mum.
bers, all the property and more intelligence,
pilot the old ship of State once more into a
haven of peace and quiet 2 If they cannot
then they should yield the helm to the other
class.
But there is another point. Suppose the
registered blacks to outnumber the registered
whites in States registration; where did
Mr.. Perry learn that the blacks would, to o
man, desert their white acquaintances, and
cling to such high-scen:ed scallions as Wilson,
Kelley and others? We cannot believe it.
There is 100 much fdelity-call it intelligence,
if you please-among the masses of the COL
orcd population throughout the State, for
them to be caught up aud led astray by the
clap.trap arguments of such demagogues as
these. We grant you, that in OUR cities,
where 80 many hundreds cf idlers congregate,
there may be seeds of discord sown and evil
results follow, but we cannot anticipate any
such consequences throughout the country,
where the industrious laborers are in constant
dealings with their humane employers, and
by whose exarple and advice they must be
influenced. At least, we are willing to risk
the consequences, and would advise every
true son Of South Carolina to be registered
who can, and to vote for convention.
PLANTER.
J.WILEEs BooTH STILL ALIFE.-A letter
from Andrew NJ. Wilson, at Galveston, Texas,
to the New Orleans Picayune, gives an ac-
count of an interview with a gentleman in
Calcutta, who mad won a bet of five hundred
dollars that Booth was alive, and had pro-