Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1867-11-14


forced in the history of nations their property in
slaves has been confscated to the amount of three
thousand millions of dollars; other personal prop
erty in the shape of cotton provisions stock, plate
and money, has been captured or destroyed, to the
value of one thousand millions of dollars; and
from these causes their land has deteriorated to
the extent of one thousand millions Of dollars
making in the aggregate the enormous sum of five
thousand millions Of dollars. Those overwhelm-
ing pecuniay losses fall exclusively upon the
Southern people The political evils complained
of will, of course, fall chiefly upon the people of
theSouth, but not exclusively upon them: Fasten
felt through all of her relations with the North
whether commercial, political or social Should a
Northern man-and how often must such necessa-
rily be the case-be brought to trial in the State
or Federal Courts at the South, his life or liberty
must be passed upon by ignorant negro jurors.
Should the most difficult and complicated ques:.
tions of property arise in Southern courts-and
how often must such be the case, aElslng from IN
termarrage, inheritance or trade-the cause OF the
Northern man must be decided by the same igno-
rant tribunal. Nor is this yet all. The highest
nreroratiye ~ of government is the taxing power,
and the efforts of the wisest statesmen have been
expended to guard this great power against abuse.
No power has been more jealousy watched than
this. No power has given rise to so much strife
and blood-shed in the history of the world. The
contest between the mother country and the colo
MES originated in her assumption of the right to
tax without representation. By the Reconstruc,.
ton Acts of Congress, the taxing power is placed
in the hands of those who own no property, andls
taken away from those who hold the property and
must pay the taxes. The war that has always
existed between capital and labor is decided in ta-
vor of the latter and the wealth of the country is
prostrated at the feet of those who have nothing
at stake but their daily wages and their daily bread
How will this power be exercised? Can it be sup
posed for moment that it will be exercised in any
other way than to impose such burdens upon the
tax payers as will amount in the end, to practical
conGscation of the small remaining substance Of
our people? But we must forbear Such are
some of the immediate consequences of the Re
construction Acts upon the people of the South
and upon the whole country.
We have said, and we repeat that we desire
neace; but the policy now proposed cannot give us
peace. 1t is contrary to the voice OF reason and
he law of nature Instead of peace, under the
Reconstruction A<!s, we shall have strife and bit
terness Instead of the South recovering from hel
noyerty and contributing her share to the common
HVeakh and prosperity Of the country, she VIII De
come more and more impoverished. The blight o.
,nsrue will cut short her harvests and dry up hel
-esonrces. The law of violence, which has pre-
vailed more than two years in reconstructed Iennes
see. s viii extend its sway throughout the entire