The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1867-04-19
Egravo error, ond fruitiul 81 mischief
if aoted,hpon blythe people We had.

if acted;;hpon by The people We had
fondly Hoped TO see-pnd we believe
i, is the determination Of an over-l
whelming majority of the citizens of
the State, that it shall be so-the
people of South Carolina carry out,
in good faith, as q measure of recon-
struction, the provisions Of the law
of Congress. They are weary of po-
litical excitement, and while great
principles never change, the mere
political dignity and honor OF, their
State have lost their magic effect
upon people who have suffered
are still suffering from poverty
and sectional legislation.
We'are surprised to hear Governor
Perry ask, "Have we any assurance
that worse terms may not be imposed
if we accept?" We think we have,
in the declarations of their leaders
and in the express assertions of their
newspapers, that these measures are
aJanality. But still, again, the Co.
vernon falls into the error we have
already noticed, when he speaks Of
"acceptance."'. One thing is certain,
that if we do not-not accept-faith~
fully carry out the programme pre-
sented in the law, worse terms will
assuredly be imposed, and the. State
either territorialized or pareelled out
to her neighbors-her. lands confs-
Gated, her whole people disfranchised
leaving to them only the refuge of
expatriation. c,no.t2
We affirm that this would inevita-
! bly, be the result, if the people Of
South Carolina should exhibit any
contumaoy about. a cheerful COM
pliance with the law of Congress;
and we further affirm, that the people
of South Carolina are not prepared
to be drawn again into the mael-
strom of national politics. They
have certain duties to perfotm-cer-
tain forward movements to take9 and
we believe they will be performed
and taken without ane reference to
the Democratic or any other party at
the North. The idea of. reaction
there, or of entertaining hope from
any party there, is obsolete. We
have trifed too long with our best
interests, in leaning upon such
broken reed; and if every Northern
State would 60 as Connecticut, while
we might feel that there was re-
action, yet we would earnestly trust
that, under no circumstances, would
our people be seduced into the belief
that party politics can ever benefit
them in any point.of view.
From our earliest acquaintance
with South Carolina politics, we were
always taught to regard Gov. Perry
as the champion of the Union, in the
midst of a wicked and perverse gene
| IdtlOu, iillei, thSlCloiC, IL 10 hO lAOlc
singular, to-day, to see secessionists
anxious for the restoration of the
Union, than to see Gov. Perry giving
the aid of his.eounsel against such q
course. It is the first deviation from
a rigid adhesion to Union principles
that we remember in his political
career; and although he, with others,
may be temporarily DISTINGUISHED,
yet we think that calm reflection
and dispassionate judgment, SO cha
racteristic of Gov. Perry, will yet
induce him to cooperate with our
prominent citizens in securing, in the
most, and indeed the only, practical
mode, our restoration rs people to
the political rights and to our repre-
sentation in Congress as State OF
the Union. Let ak our people, whe-
ther Union or secession in their for
mer proclivities, unite and work
heartily in this great work, and the
end will be attained. Union and
} harmony should now be our watch