Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1867-04-27
Letter from Hon. B. F. Perry.
TFro,n the Columbia ph@nix.l

government. - Section 4, 1rticte w Con-
stttutioa Of tie United States Of Amersca.
Under this authority, the Congress of the
United States, after excluding from their
seats the Senntors and Representatives Of ten
Southern States, has established IN ull of the
excluded States military government, abso
Lutte and unlimited in it's powers 1t is we'll
known that these States have exhausted their
power and sources in gallant and heroic
struggle for independence aud self govern
mcut. They now have no alternative but un-
qualified submission to tho military dcspotisn
| thrown over them. 1t is to be hoped, aud it
| is generally believed, that Military commnn
ders in the Southern States will exercise their
lcspotic powers wisely and humancly. It is
the administrator of a government, and not
the form of government, which makes it
odious aud oppressive. A despoism, wis,l
justly aud virtuously administered, is the most
perfect government that can be established
f, II is the government of God, established by
him for the government of the universe.
| Five or six months ago, South Carolina
with all the other Southern States, rejected
with scorn and Indignation, the constitutional
amendment, which proposed to exclude from
resentaton in Congress, unless they permit
pose | hy tho military Till not only to exclude
this class of persons from Office but to dis
franchise them and exclude them from voting
| in all elections, and at the same time to en-
franchise their former slaves aud give univcr
sal suffrage to the negro. Strange to say,
that there are mnDy persons in the Southern
States whose high Srnsc of honor would not
let them adoIt the constitutional amendment.
who arc now urging the people to voluntarily
swallow the military bill, regardless of honor,
principle or consistency. am happy to kouw
that they are scccssonst aud never were Tn
| ion men.
The inquiry is, which, then, shall we do !?
! Will ! have been writing, the telegraph
brings the glorions news that Mississippi aud
tGcorgia have appealed to the judiciary for tho
protection of their constitutional rights as
sovereign States Of the American Union
l Would to God that South Carolina stood by
the side Of Mississippi and Georgia, in this
their last noble effort to maintain their ,iigni.
ty aud honor as States and Just rights and
liberties Of their citizens. If this last grand
expiring effort in favor of freedom should
fail, then the South will have to quietly meet
the tyranny of Congress; but, in meeting.
she need not embrace tho hdeuus thing
When the military order is issued for a reg
chiscd, 90 forward aud register his nan,e-
When the election is ordered for II convention,
it will be the duty of every voter to cast his
vote for the wiscst, best and most trustworthy
men, who arc eligible to seats in that convcn
H ton. THIS much he is forced to do, for self
/ protection, and to keep the State Government
from falling into tho hands Of unworthy and
base men. IA need 20 no further Let him
then endorse on his ticket 4" No ronncn,iDr.'
llt he is II patriot and an honorable man, h.
cannot desire the change which the mlitar,
bill contemplatcs, and he should not vote a
jHc!
With the cunning which always character
ICES the tyrant, Congress has enacted that
tho people themselves shall endorse the c,l
Of convention, in order to give legal valid
ty to its acts Without this endorsement
the whole proceeding might hc regarded q.
4 forced on tho States by the military govern
ment. and therefore, null and void. Hence
the trick of making the people endorse til,
call of convention. 1t is to be hoped that
they will not bo caught by this cunning de-
i vice, and that they may be able to influence
their freedmen to act with them But shonlC
a majority of the votes be for n convention
thcn, it is to assemble, and not otherwise
When it assemblies, the honor and destiny n
III" h'I"IS miti w III 'tS kcepluS.
But if the people should vote /" no convcn
tion," what then ? Tho honor and dignity
Of the States will, at least, not be thereby
sacrificed by their citizens. We shall remain
as nc are, under military rule till there is q
reaction at the North. 1t has already com
mcnccd in Connecticut, and will sooner or la
ter, sweep over tho whole North western and
Middle States. Then wc shall be restored tc
our rights in the Union, with honor unsulicd
and the right Of suffrage unchanged. Let us
await this Democratic triumph, be it hun
} dred years, rather than seek new associations
with our Black Republican tyrants and op
prcssors, and be guilty of tie bascncss OF
abandoning our friends at the North, who
have nobly defended our cause, for two gears
past. and sacrificed themselves in the struggle
for Southern Rights and constitutional free
dom.
If we arc unwilling to bear the ills to which
we are subjected, for the maintenance of hon
or and principle, then we deserve our destiny
H. 10 auiA that ic In l..