Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1868-02-19
An Interesting Letter to Gen. Scott,
of the Freedman.S Bureau.'
BEECH ISLAND,
For the Advertiser.

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you to the Planters and Freedmen Of Soutl
Carolina. In it find statements so much o
variance with my own experience, ara will
that of s:auy other planters with whom
have conversed, and whose operations I have
witnessed during the past year, together, with
the almost universal reports from those il
different parts of this State, and throug hou
the entire South, that I trust it will not b4
considered intrusive on my part, or in viela
ton of any law promulgated by the author
ities that be-" to address you this making
such comments upon your statements as ma,
seem to me, to be warranted by the circum,
stances of the case, as my sole object is to af
ford, as far as lies in my power, any light
that will tend to the elucidation of the truth.
and thereby be the means of securing justice
to On oppressed people.
will premise by saying that have resided
in and near this neighborhood for nearly
thirty. five years, and been planting most OF
that time, and have also been extensively en-
gagged in the practice of medicine, and, con-
sequently, have had, and still have, unusual
facilities for observing the operations ofothers.
AS it is natural to be influenced by preju-
dices resulting from association, and espcci,
ally the associations of early life, | trust that
it will not tend to invalidate my statements
when inform you that, both in the earler
part of my life and subsequently, l have had
sufficient intercourse with the people on both
sides of Mason & Dixson's line to enable
me to Judge Of the questions al issus baveen
them without being so much biaosd by sec
tional prejudice as to prevent me from discog-
ering the truth.
What your own origin is, | ana nos able to
say. Whether you claim descent from that
bold and daring people who forsook their na-
tive land on account Of religions intolerance,
and sought the distant shores of North Amer.
lea, landing upon that celebrated rock known
as Plymouth Rock, and'whose names have
since be:ome famous throughout the country
and the world, on account of their energy, en-
durance, industry, and many other estimabic
characteristics, but who, after having escaped
from oppression in the fn,herand, aud despite
their goo&qualities. forgetting the intolerance.
which caused them to forsake their own
country, like the famous robJer Of old, Pro
crustes, set up beds for their neighbors to lie
on. and have accepted Office yourself, prompted
BY fanaticism and prejudice, to carry out tie
intoerant spirit Of your ancestors; whether
you are one of those rent gade Southrons, who
have sold their birlhiight Tor mess of pot
tagc; or whether you are one of those "rara
aris in tc,ris' whose hearts are filled with
generous and kindly impulses, and have &C.
cepted disasrecable aud difficult position
with a view to modify, as far as possible, the
harshpess Of an unjust and tyrannical rule
over subjugated people, seeking every opPor-
tunity to discover the truth, to enable you to do
Sc, am not able to say. But, trust for tue
credit of human nature, that you belong to
the latter class. l. at least, only know you,
as the Assistant Commissioner, &C., &C., and
am satisfied, that so far as my experience and
observation carry me, backed by that of thou
sands of others, that your knowledge of al
fairs, in South Carolina, as expressed in your
Circular, is utterly at fault, and calculated,
when reported to tho teads of your Depart
ment, to increase the embarrassmentS and
difficulties of an already impoverished peo-
ple, if not to invite still greater misrule, to
tie utter ruin and generalization of both
races within your jurisdiction and throughout
the South.
After expressing feelings of regret at "the
disastrous failure of the rice and long staple
cotton crops in the vicinity of the coast" and
attributing the failure to unforeseen and VI
avoidable causes beyond the control OF hu-
man power" and not attributable "to want
of care and expense on the part OF the plan
ter. or lack of labor and attention from the
freed people," you say that the general tes-
timony from the central and upper portions
of the State is, that the freed people have
worked faithfully and well, some say 'never
better This may be partially accounted for
by the fact that the small planters or farmers
Of the interior, are accustomed to labor
themselves, and by giving their entire perso-
nal attention to their planting interests, they
have thereby encouraged the freed people TO
emulate the example thus set them
Again you say, cit certainly must be ap-
parent to every practical man that free ccl-
ored labor can never be q success in this
State unless liberal AID fair contracts are en-
tered into and observed the freed people
cannot much longer be hoodwinked and i'm
posed upon they are rapidly learning the
worth OF money, and all persona who have in
any manner overreached them may depend
upon it that eventually they will fnd that
they cannot procure the labor TO till their
plantations; while planters who have by 8
lust and generous course of trea atment OBJ
tanned the confidence Of their )aborerS, have
thus secured themselves sufficient means tc
carry out their plans for the coming year
And further" 1t may not be improper for
me, in this connection, to counsel the freed
people to avoid contracting, the coming year.
with those planters who have psrsistcntly
wrongcd and defraudcd them taking care
and seeking proper advice that they may not
confound dishonest mer with those high,
minded planters who, owing to tho unfaVora-
bic season, have been unable to meet their
engagements, but in who integrity all can
implicitly rely" And again, ";No valid rea.