West-Jersey pioneer., 1868-01-10
From our Southern Correspondent.
PASSING THROUGH THE FIRE.

L ton our oOutueIu correspondent.
PASSING THROUGH THE FIRE.
The people Of tho South may we'll be
regarded as passing through a transition
period. Their old institutions have fa-
ded; their peculiar civilization outlived
and outruled, and now they are called up
on to adapt themselves to new state Of
affairs, distasteful to them and against
which they rebelled in vain The Re-
construction measure Of Congress are to
them the cause of bitter complaint. The
idea that their old political castles must be
given up and their pet aristocracy give
way before the measures of blindfold JUS
tice and universal rights. The most NAL
ignant passions rule the hour outside Of
the few loyal whites and the intinidated
blacks. The old South, the ruling ele-
ment of the past landed proprietors and
professional men, have generally stood
aloof from the work of Reconstruction and
exhausted their rude vocabulary in ven.
omoas sneers and outlandish curses.
They have been compelled to invent new
words to express their hatred for the few
loyal whites and the freedmen. "White
Niggers," "Black and TAM ''Scala-
wags," and other like vulgar slang en-
rich many an editorial column of rebel
gasconade. Now, add to this unnonnlar
government iuo uue state OF agriculture,
the general lack OF intellectual appliances
to labor, and the limited production of
the South and the consequent dependence
upon cotton, with the present low prices
OF that article, the special tax upon it and
the general bankruptcy that prevailed
through the South on the close of the
war, and you can read the righteous SEN
tence which an equitable Providence is
visiting upon the land, and see the causes
that goad the late staggering rebels to
frenzy, despair, desperation and DEATH
Distasteful government, financial distress
and social disorder, classes arrayed against
each other in feelings of the most bitter
hostility, yet bound to serve each other
by the strongest bonds of mutual interest.
Such is the state of the South. Every
man "totes" a big pistol, and many live
In hourly expectation of an attack upon
their lives. Free speech, or even a free
press cannot be tolerated only in certain
localities. Witness John E. Hayes, of
the Savannah Republican basely attack
ed In his office few days ago. Witness
the dozens, aye, scores of blacks who are
maltreated, assaulted and basely murder
ed. Law in the hands of the civil auth
critics is always oppression to unionists
and negroes. The military authority can
not be established in every locality
Thousands of inhabitants respect the
military government, Andrew johnson,
and the God Of Justice all about alike,
believing they are all too far away to re.
gard or interfere with their malevolent
actions until they have accomplished
heir purposes. The Freedman's Bureau,
though much more available and gener-
ally ready to administer even handed JUS
tice and to protect the interest Of the
freedman, and though highly servicable,
yet it is not an effectual barrier to all the
tyranny, injustice and wrong inflicted
upon the loyal weak by the rebel hordes.
Witnesses are tampeted with, threaten
ed and intimidated, stupendous lies are
fabricated by class of people notorious
for perfdy, the course Of justice is turn
ed aside, and the freedman suffers. What
must be done to remedy these evils =?
WI hat does the South want {? Nothing
put men of principle and means. Blest
With rich soil, salubrious climate, in
Vulnerable facilities, all that is needed is
population. And that of certain kind.
First, a population who are not willing
10 surrender to the vanquished all the
fruits of the war, who are willing to join
with the freedmen and the few Union
whites in preserving liberty and the su-
premacy of the national government. A
population to extirpate the disgusting
ideas of the slaveholding era and give to
the South good government for its peo-
pie. Intelligence and virtue, education
and religion are the elements needed in
the South. As to the men bred up amid,
slavery, rejuvenating the country, that is
for them to reverse the analogy of their
past experience. They simply devour
and impoverish country and even cry
for new land and more room. They eat
up the spontaneous productions of one
quarter, involve themselves in debt, fail,
and remove to another settlement. Thus
have they culled out the rich bottoms and
river fats which nature has already man
.--.-e------~ ,,-.--or
Who can expect those arrogant planters,
those liege lords with their castles and
keeps, whose highest aspirations were
white house, host Of negroes, pack of
hounds, a good horse, barrel of whiskey
and an office in the government, will ever
consent to become enterprising, thrifty,
economising farmers Barred by their