The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1867-05-06
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SENATOR WILSON.

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H. ::2; SENATOR WILSON. 5>... i.
\ Senator wilson has come, and Senator
WILSON has gone. ..With the blessing of God"
and the Rev. AIr, FRnNcH he has carried out
the resolution which he says he made, many
years ago to speak in sithese States where the
right Of free speech was SO long denied to him
and men Of his creed. He spoke satisfactorily,
we hope, to himself. There are some topics
loss agreeabtef than others; it requires rare
tact as well as real generosity to rejoice over
great victory without undue exuitationi over;
the conquered, and perhaps Mr.. WILSON might
have spared us ssthe sermons which he found
/ IN the ruins with which he Was. surrounded
But; when we think Of the pnst- when we
recall the bitter sectional animosity which pre-
ceded the war: and of which, we in this State
| have always regarded Mr.. WILSON as q pre-
eminent epresentative-when we reflect on
the many themes Of Irritation and yindictive
| triumph upon which bad man or foolish
man might, on such ansoecasien, have e1patia-
ted, we must do Mr.. WILSON the justice to say
that On the whole his speech was temperate,
and d, ;faronE!hisipoint { ofview, nqtu &.
That South Carolina. has. been the leader,
| and, as he admitted, the very able leader Of
public.opinion at the South--that Mr.. CA1uouN
was the great thinker who gave shape to the,
theory of State rights which was put in; issue.
in the late civil contest, is true. And when
hlr WILSON feels and says ssthe men of the
South exhausted her resources, sent their
young men to battle-felds, and made sacrifices
| hat 90 hut
the Southern soldiers fought with heroic
valor on more than six hundred felds,' we can
pardon, although we regret that he felt it ne
| cessary to.aadds ttthat slavery sank into
traitors grave and left q traitors name in the
history Of the Republic. Mr: WILSON must,
take an other step forward in the path Of just
appreciation Of those with whom he has fought:
We believe that he and those with whom he
acts will take it. He must learn to believe
that these sacrifices andsthat valor which he
recognizes have not cast a delusive splendor
around treason: but that they were the out
ward expression Of an.inward conviction Of q
duty as sacred as that which sustained him and
his colleagues in their devotion to the Union.
He must believe that the South fought wen be-
cause the South thought she was fighting for.
| the right And when he reaches that point he
will find it easy to understand, not only how
truth ah that and e doaabtafhH1l ha tafh1
struggle, but. how We have honestly and man
fully met the consequences Of failure, and how
the spirit.of the whole people, which, in 1860,
would not compromise with danger, will not,
III 1867, attempt to Compromise with defeat.
we surrendered as we fought, and whenever
the leaders rs Of Of the Republican party. will trust
US, they can safely trust the future Of that
'United America which is the protested.
object of their. love. .: .
I On those portions Of his speech which were:
specially addressed to the freedmen we win
not now comment But we will say this. North
ern statesmen must not complain Of the distinc-.
! ton between black citizens. md white citizens
when they themselves are continually appeal
ing to it--when no Northern orator, no North.
ern press ever refers to the colored vote except
as something distinct from and antagonistic to
| the white vote Mr.. WILSON may say that he
had right to call upon 60, 900. voters to make
| the platform upon which 40, 600 may join them.
But he knows better He knows that the
wealth, the interest, the character Of the coun-
| try belong to that minority Of &C, 900, and that
must govern in Massachusetts OF in South
tCarolina-that the hopes, the prosperity Of the
| $4,000 depend, because the laws Of society
m. make them depend upon the 40 900, and not
even the .exigences of o party campaign can
justify man of Mr.. WILSON'S position in
obscuring this truth When the laws have pro- :.
vided that no man shall BE oppressed in person
or property, that every man shall have the
right to speak and vote as he pleases, then the
| laws have done NIL they can do, and to attempt
the union and control Of 10000 black votes
because they are black is as unjust and idle as
to combine 10000. white votes because they are
white .i,:'. .i. y! :;ss; 6tts 44,s- ~
We would not, however, have thought it ne
cessary. TO express any very strong, difference
Of opinion with 'Mr. WILSON for anything said
in his speech upon the Citadel Green. We
would have preferred that certain phrases
should have been omitted, and certain PROPOSE
tions limited in their somewhat dangerous gen
erality: But Mr.. W1rsox was not speaking to.
us nor specially IN our interest, and We should
have let his speech pass as one of the notice.
able signs ofthe times and hoped that as he pass
cd through the country his views would have
become wider and that he would have returned
home with better and kinder opinions. Of that
Southern people among whom he had come for
the first time. s-i3..e&:-, +,4 tssss sfl s..,'
But Mr.. WILSON made another Speech
speech at the Hibernian Hall to q mass meet |
ing Of negroes, and, if correctly reported, he
said on that occasion some things which We |
cannot CO pass ever without protest Without |
giving the precise language. We refer to the
declaration of the orator that he had heard
that it was the intention Of the planters TO dis
charge from their employment such freedmen !
as either registered themselves OF exercised
their privilege Of sufrage-that if this was
so, he pledged himself to obtain the passage Of
an act which should punish any such attempt |
by Q con6scation Of the lands Of such en-
ployers, and their distribution among the |
freedmen 50 discharged. Language like this |
is unworthy ,N Of any man holding SO RESPONSE
bic position, and can do nothing but mischief.
In the first place, there is no. truth in the ac-
cusation. We feel assured that no such In
formation ever reached Mr.. WILsos from either
tic Aaitars Headquarters Of. tlia..n District nor
from the humane and just head Of the Freed
men mems Bureau: in ahis State II Mr.. WILSON