American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1868-01-11
From the New York Herald.
Progress Of the Counter Revolution =
The Prospect Before Us.

spread, comes up from the Soutl
That productive region of our con
mon country has become as poor a
if it had been struck with steriit,
Industry has been paraIyzed throug
the atrocious legislation of a radicf
Congress. On one hand starvatio
stares the people, both white an
black, in the face, and on the othe
they live in terror of a terrible intel
necine war between the races. Gel
erals Ord and Hancock, aud othe
sagacious and conservative officers G
the government in the South, Sc
what is coming. and they appeal t
the authorities at Washington, an,
to the people, through the press, fo
help. But where is help to com
from 2 The North is suffering frol
the same cause. Fifty thOusan,
workmen are out of employment il
New York, and the same deplorabl
state of things is seen general,
throughout the Northern States
" inter has set in with a fearful pros
pect for the laboring poor. What
then, will the North be able to do fol
the South when widespread distres,
prevails at homel With a burder
of taxation unequaled in any country
"a burden that has become insup
portable-the Northern people can
not support freedmen's bureaus OF
other mOnstrOus charitable institu
tions for the maintenance of three OF
four millions of idle negroes and mil
lions of impoverished whites in the
South. The United States treasury
80 far from having money for such a
purpose, must soon become bankSupt
itselfunder radical rule. Looking at
all these appalling signs of the times,
it is evident that the whole country
is on the eve of such revulsion and
such distress as it has never yet ex,
perienced.
We said the cause of all this is
found in the atrocious legislation of
a radical Congress. Let us explain.
When the war ended the industry of
the South was not destroyed. A vast
deal of property had been destroyed.
it is true; but the loss fell chiefly up.
on the SOutherners themselves. Still,
the rich and productive soil remained
and the labor to cultivate it was
there. The people accepted their
changed situation as the natural re-,
suit of the war, and were disposed
everywhere to 60 to work earnestly
to maintain themselves and improve
their fortunes. Grant, Sherman, and
all the other brave and large minded
military commanders granted liberal
terms ou the Surrender of the rebel
armies, looking to an early restora-
tiOn of harmony and good will. The
President, though he made some mis-
takes is his trying position, favored
the same policy. No one of sense and
divested of strong prejudice could
help seeing that the welfare of the
North, as well as of the South-of the
whole country, in iact-depended up.
on liberal policy and early restora-
tion of the rebel States. But, unfor-
tuuately, we had a radical revolu,
COngress-a body OF men
more senseless, destructive and i'm
practicable than the Roundheads of
England or the JacObins OF France.
an overwhelming majority in
Congress-, though elected Oh no such
issue as that they have since made,
hey adopted proscriptive and ruin
Jus policy toward the South directly
opposed to that of the Generals of
he army, the President and the peo-
Dle generally. Instead of restoring
he South, with sla, cry abolished,
hey undertook to reconstruct it OH
he basis of negro supremacy. Their
ole object was to create radical pO-
itical power in the South by means
# the negro vote, which would give
hem a continued control of the gov
and thespoils ofOffice. This,
nd this alone, was aud is the motive
f the so-called reconstruction policy
f that party. They pretend to act
pOn the abstract principles of right,
lst as the bloody minded Jacobins
f France did but we all know this
} sheer humbug, and that their only
bject is political power. In word.
hey would see the country plunged
lto anarchy and the greatest distress
ather than abandon this selfish, in
imous and ambitious object They
ven have the hardihoOd to pursue
heir destructive course after the
eople of the North have pronounced
gainst it at the polls, hoping to reach
heir ends by means of the votes of
he semi barbarous negroes.
Now, let us see what has been the
nsult of this JacObin radicalism. The
outhern STATES, which used to con
ribute largely by their staple pro.
ucts to both our domestic aud for
ign trade, aud which are still capa-
lie of contributing largely are ruin.
4. The industry of the negroes has
cen destroyed through giving them J
olitical power, through false hopes
agrarianism having bCen instilled
ITO them by radical demagogues,
nd through their natural disposition
, Incidence when not under the di- y
.ctiOn of the white race. The white !
aople of the South are naturally so
sgusted by these ignorant semi I
wages being placed over them that !
lev have no heart to do anything. )
hey feel that there is no security
n their labor or caDital. and that if u