Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1867-10-03

Of tbs Sautg.
81.
Nor has this act been less wicked in its. .efects
than in its motive. To the white race it was thf
most violent convulsive, reckless and mischievous
act ever perpetrated by q civilized government
As war measure, it was calculated and expected
to evoke all the savage horrors of servie war,
|neighborhood massacre and butchery Of non-com'
batants. Only the kindly relations which the be,
nevolenee and justice Of the people Of Virginia had
established between themselves and their slaves,
and the good characterwhich we had given to these
former savages, disappointed this desired result.
As an economic measure, it was the most violent
ever attempted in modern history; being sudden
confscation of half, land in some Of the counties
two-thirds) the existing property Of the country;
and dislocation of the whole labor system, just
when the people were bowed under the burden Of
a gigantic war, and collapsed currency. Tint it
did not then again result in total paralysis Of in.
dustry, in famine and anarchy, (Which was proba-
bly, intended is only to be explained by the exer.
else of an energy, versatility, good sense and in
dustry in the Southern people, which are almost
miraculous By annihilating at one blow 80 much
of the property on which the Indebtedness Of the
country was based, it insured financial confusion
and general bankruptcy which are destined to
plunge hundreds of thousands Of innocent persons
innocent even from Yankee points of view into
destituton and domestic Distress which three gen.
erations will not heal Il confscated the property
of 'loyal Union men" of helpless minors and lu-
natics, of venerable and in6rm widows, without
compensation, just it did the possessions Of the
Confederate leader most obnoxious to the Yankee
wrath. And what was the species of possession
Was it some foul lucre, like the spoils Of an Achan
so unrighteous that it must be instantly plucked
away, regardless of Consequences No; it was a
species of property legalized by Moses and Christ
owned for ages by the boasted ancestors of the des
poilers, now owned by themselves in the form OF
its fruits and increase, guaranteed by the Consttu
tion which alone gave them any right to govern us,
legalzed by all our, State laws, which were Of ear
lier and superior authority to that Constitution,
and recognized by the sacred pledges of the North
ITSELF even so late as the beginning of this war.
But the step has been fur more mischievous and
unjust to the poor blacks its pretended benefeia-
ries. 1t did not tarry to inquire whether they
were fit for the change. 1t has resulted in the out
break of food of vice, before repressed of drum
kenness of illicit lust, of infanticde, of theft; and
above all, of idleness the least fagrant but most
truly mischievous fault of the African. 1t has sud-
denly and greatly diminished their share Of the
material goods they before enjoyed. The supplies
of clothing and shoes now acquired by them do not
reach third of what they received before the war;
Immediately on their emancipation, all the rural
nill-owners testified that their grists fell off one
half and have remained at that grade since. In
those neighborhoods where the blacks did not en-
igrate, (which was true of many neighborhoods, }
this showed that the consumption of bread was re-
duced one-half; for although tho large proprietors
now had no occasion to send the large grists, yet,
unless there were less consumed, the aggregate Of
the little grists of the freedmens families should
have made good that decrease. Every statesman
knows that any burden or disaster imposed upon
the industrial pursuit Of country, is transmitted
down by the property classes to the destitute class,
and presses there with its whole force; just as in
evitably as the weight of statue placed upon the
top of column, is ultimately delivered upon the
lowest stratum of foundation-stones. Forthe great
law of selEpreservation prompts each man, who
has any property, to employ it in evading that
pressure for himself and his family Thus the ac-
tual onus is handed down, until it reaches that
class who have no property, and must, therefore,
bear it, because they have nothing wherewith to
pay for the shifting of it. Thus, all the malice Of
the conqueror, aimed at the hated white man,
while it crowds us down, also crowds down equally
the laborer beneath us and the blow alights ulti-
mately on him.
The famine which is now preying upon some
parts of the South, illustrates the mischief done
by the disorganization of labor, and the compare
tive excellence of the old system. Such was its
benefcence, that it carried the Southern country
through al the exhausting trials of the war, with
out actual dearth in any part of the Confederacy.
Hundreds of thousands of our most vigorous men
were wholly withdrawn from productive pursuits
our own armies were to be sustained great hosts
of enemies were continually tearing the vitals of
the country; the year 1864 brought drought so
severe that in some parts of the country the crops
of grain were reduced to one-tenth Of the usual
harvest; and yet, such was the happiness of our
system, that it endured all these enormous trials,
and met the wants of ALL But after the new
regime was well established, there came in 1866
such a drought as the South had several times ex-
perienced before, without inconvenience and al-
though all was peace there were no armies to sup
port, no laboring man was called from the farm to
the unproductive tolls of the camp and the in
trenchment, famine Immediately resulted. Here
is fair comparison Of the system Of free African
labor, with the old one: Incidence is the parent
of crime. While the smaller misdemeanors are
more frequent, there has been an alarming increase
of feonies In the orderly little county of Prince
Edward, the criminal convictions of black persons
averaged only one per year before the war. The
last year they numbered twelve! An inquiry into
the statistics of crime in our cities would reveal
yet larger Increase
Last, facts already evince, that the doom Of ul-
innate determination, which Southern philanthro-
pists have ever predicted as the result Of prema-
ture emancipation, is already overtaking the negro
with giant strides. About the end of 1866, the
officers of the State revenue made their returns,
which showed that there were then about 275, CSC
negro males over 2l years within the present limits
of Virginia. Repeated calculations made from
previous returns show that there are usually four