Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1867-09-14

try, as it now does, by military occupation !;
its troops will be present to inaugurate aud
enforce the new system Of labor decrecd by
the President Of the United Statcs, and the
people, though conquered, will not have the
additional humiliation and reproach which
they would bring upon themselves, if they
consent to destroy their own constitution
which was bcqueathed to them by their faith
ers.
Besides these various reasons against the
policy advocated by th, meeting, it appears to
me that it is premature for the people to
move at present. The authorities at Wash
ington b we not indicated the course they pro-
pose to pursue towards the State, nor have
they manifested great zeal in the restoration
Of that Union for which they have profesScd-
" been fighting for the last four years They
have not asked the State to return to tho I'm
ion. nor have they announced the terms upon
which it can do so. When they haye dono
these things, it will be time enough for the
State to take counsel how to act.
r' ommcnd, them with all Difference to
yourself and the gcntlcmem over whom you
presided the other day, that the people should
rcmaiu perfectly quiet, taking no action what
ever in public affairs. Leave oil these mat
ters to the United States Government, which
will, doubtless, in good time, provide gov
ernmeut for you. Until that is done, tue
cartridge box can take tue place Of the ballot
box, and the bayonct is good substitute for
the law 1t is better to be governed by these
than to give TO your State a constitution which
misreprcscnts the wishes Of the people, hu.
initiates their pride, dcbauches their society,
destroys their prosperity and degrudes their
State.
have the honor to be, very respectfully,
your friend and fellow citizen
WADE HAMPTON.
1t was clear to my mind that the true poll,
cy of the South was to remain passive, OBJ
serving, with the most scrupu,prs fidelity, the
obligations we assumed when We laid down
our arms, and making no concessions beyond
those embraced in the terms upon which we
surrendered held that tho Uuitod States
Government bad not only offered terms to the
Supth, but that its faith was pledged 10 tho
observance OF those terms. Every official act
of every department Of thnt government, du-
| ring the war, declared that the Southern States
were still mcmbcrs of the Union, and Con-
gress, by an almost unanimous vote, in the
, n.ost solemn manner
Rcsolrc7, That this war was not waged,
on our part, in any spirit of oppression, nor for
any purpose Of conquest or subiugation, nor
purpose Of overthrowipg or interfering with
; the rights or established institutions Of the
States but defend and maintain the suprcma-
cy of the constitution, and to preserve the
Union with all the dignity, equality and rights
of the several States unimpaircd. That as
soon as these objects are accomplished, tho
war ought to cease"
The same body gave tho strongest evidence
that they regarded the Union unbroken, even
during the war, by their recognition of Mr.
| Carlisle rs Senator from Virginia--I mean
the noble " Old Dominion" and not her ic-
yitimnte md degenerate child, West Virginia
and allowing him to retain his seat until
near the close of the war. The very paroles
given to the Southern soldiers promised the
protection Of the United States Government
to those holding them, 10 long as they obeycd
the laws of {" the States wherein they resi-
ded )" thus recognizing, not only the South
crn States as States, but the nws Of those
States. We had every reason, as far as We
could trust to the faith of our opponents, TO
believe that the Southern States would be re-
ceivcd into the Union with all their "digni-
| ty, equality and rights unimpaired," az soon
ns they renewed their allegiance to the general
governments, and acknowledged it's supremacy.
1t would be foreign to the purpose Of this
communication to discuss what faith has been
kept with the South--mankind has already
affixed to that sort Of faith the name Of Pu.
mic only touch on these points to show the
mistakes committed by tho South, when it
conformed to those demands of the North
which were intorpolated into the conditions,
| after our surrender. Our State Conventions
were mistakes; 30 were the changes of our
constitutions; greater than all others was the
Legislation ratifying the amendment Of the
United States Consultation known rs Article
! ID. I am we'll aware that the action of the
Southern people, at that time, was dictated by
an honest desire to secure tho blessings of
peace, and by high sense Of honor, which
prompted them to show that they were sincere
in their wish to do everything that would tend
to tho restoration Of the Union on honorable
terms have no hesitation in asserting that
the Southern States would then have been
bro;,cSt back to the Union with more of "loy-
altyo--so Use a favorito expression Of the
North--thar had existed amongst them for
forty years past, had the North. proved itself
1'to be as magnanimous as had shown itse'f
4 to be powcrful< Butt Was tho misfortune,
not only of the South, hut Of the whole coun
try, that tho party which had obtaihsd posses s
nion of tho government WAS moro intont on so,
curing its own power than of restoring tie
j Union to lis own pristine glory. After 40
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