Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1867-05-11
" a r I E IT x.
Governor Perry's Letter.

for an injunction against the Secretary of War
and the Military Commanders to bo filed for
hearing, it has subpenacd Mr. Stanton and
General Pope to appear before the Court on
the first of next December. 1t is not worth
while now to discuss the probable character
of,what will be the final decision, because, for
all practical purposes, the decision, is now
madc. The reconstruction Act will be Gu
forced without interference, and by the time
TINT tho argument AZ to its coustitutionality
IL begun it will 30 completely have executed
Itself M 10 have established consequences be-
yond the reach Of any judicial decision. 1t
is to be hoped, therefore, that those who have
felt it duty to support this proceeding will
discharge with equal fidelity the duty which
now lies very clearly before th>m Public
opinion in this State has, we think, so resolute-
~ determined to do that duty, freely and
promptly, that we would not have deemed it
necessary to recur to subject upon which wo
have spoken to our readers with on iteration
that may we'll have become wearsome, were
it not for the letter recently published by the
Hon. 3. +. Perry, which we reproduce in our
columns this morning. We recognize the
right of this eminent citizen to speak to the
people of the State, and to be heard respectfully.
No one in the State, perhaps, can speak from
so varied an experience.
MIR. Perry was one of the very few promi.
nent public men IF this State, who was open.
~ opposed to secession. Il we are not mis-
taken, he was defeated rs a candidate for the
Convention of 1860, from his District, upon
that very ground After the State seeded,
MI. Perry became member of the State
Legislature was one of the most consistent
and ablest advocates Of all those measures Of
legislation necessary for the prosecution Of the
war, and perhaps one of the most determined
opponents of any opposition to the policy of
tue Confederate Government, or of cny set
Element of the contest upon any terms save
those of Independence His Colleagues in
the Legislature will never forget the effect
produced by the concluding sentence Of one of
his most effective speeches. "I was the last
man to come out Of the Union l will be the
last man to 60 back into it," During the
war, MIR. Perry was Commissioner for the reg
ulation of prices; acted as District Attorney
in his section of the State, and Just about its
close, was appointed Confederate District
Judge for the State of South Carolina. Not
long after he became Judge the surrender of
Leo and johnson put at cndto his Court, and
he was, within few months, made Provis.
ionai Governor of the State by the President,
and this Office he held until tho election Of
Governor Orr, as his successor, and his own
election by most fattering vote, to the Uni
ted States Senate. Few men, therefore. have
had larger opportunity more conscicptiously,
70 comprehend the varying relations and 20.
sition of the State in this revolution.
Before entering however upon the conaide
ration of the advice which Governor Perry
now volunteers to the State, we must express
our surprise that he should so fur have over
come the natural kindlincss and generosity of
ms nature, MS to indulge in such language -
In order to debauch prominent Southern
men, o!1ers nave been made IN Congress to re-
move their disabilities, and it would seem MT
without success ]" Has the Governor forgot
ten that on September &c, 1865, he address.
Cd the following telegram to the President?
The following members of the Convention
have shown their loyalty to the Union, by
their works and action, and it is propcr tbey
should be pardoned. y Please
telegraph me that their pardons will be sent
by mall so that | may tell them before thcy
leave here And would he have thought t
Just or generous to describe this application
for pardon as made, Gin order to debauch
prominent Southern men ?" And can he saw
now wha. is tho moral difference between the
Presidents pardon, and the Congressional re-
noval of disability? Surely Governor Perry
will admit, that in times like these mems
ep,n,ions may with regard to any policy. change
with changing circumstances, and that the
honesty of Gov. Browns advice is no more to
De suspected, because Senator Sherman intro
duoed resolution to relieve him from disabl.
lty, than his own advice was to have been mis-.
trusted in 1865 because he was pardoned, and
made Provisional Governor.
Nor do we think that Gov. Perry can sus.
pect us to accept his prophecies as solid ground
for his opinions. If he thinks to. day, honest.
", as we have no doubt he does, that "thcre
Is not the remotest hope or probability of the
Southern States being restored to the Union
till after the next Presidential election" it is
not very long ago that he held just as honest.
~ a very different opinion. IF he thinks to-
day that the reaction of tho North "has al
ready commenced in Connecticut and will
sooner or later sweep over the whole North.
western and Middle States" he must not for.
get, at least he must not complain that we do
not forget, that he thought the same thing at
the close Of the Philadelphia Convention. The
truth is, that Gov. Perry, like many others,