Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1868-11-18
Our TraduCerS.

suffered, may at last cease. How much
this species Of insidious:warfare has cost
the South, it would be difficult to esti7.
mate. We speak not now OF Uncle
Toms Cabin which gave an immense
impetus to the Republican party,-nor
of the poems, essays and sermons, innu-
merab1e, which were circulated as tracts,
all over the North and West, and con-
tributed their share in fomenting the
war; we refer more specially to the
swarm of'lying newspaper correspon-
dents, who were sent out here from the
surrender of General Lee up to the date
of General Grants election These men,
with very few exceptions, were obscure
Bohemians, Ignorant, fippant, and ut
terly devoid Of principle. They were
sent for specific purpose, and knowing
that the sure<t road to favor with their
principals was to paint men and things
in the most glaring colors, they set to
it with a will, and spared not the
brush.
This line of action subserved its pur-.
pose admirably; contributing no. mean
share in strengtheningthe Radical ranks
in the elections two years ago. The.
policy of Mr.: Johnson was condemned
by the "voice of the nation, as was the
fashionable phrase Of that day, the four
teenth amendment was ratified. Next
came the reconstruction acts, and with
them the great hegira of the carpet
baggers; from whose ranks the staff OF
newspaper correspondents was constant
ly recruited. A stronger motive was
now added-interest, ambition, cove
tousness. Three of the strongest pas
sions of the human heart goaded these
gentry to the perpetration of the gros-
sest injustice on an innocent people;
the love of gain, the lust of power, and
abject and cowardly fear; the latter
from consciousness Of the great wrong
they were daily and hourly inficting
upon people who harmed them not.
The object was to carry the Presiden-
tial election, and now that it is over,
Z" let us have peace. f"
Not only were we traduced In the
Northern prints of every description,
the newspaper, the illustrated weeklies,
the literary magazines and reviews, and
the pondelcus tones, but their misera-
BILE caricature was accepted as a faith
full portrait, by their own people, the
people of England, France Germany,
and the rest of The world. Mr.. Adams
in-}ris recent-sleerh-fAst+ll.;;e-e; ,sfelse-
Of this. tiiH lie said that he had met peo=
pie from the South all his life, and they
were much like other men. Yet in his
schoolbooks he had learned they were
semi-savages; in the village newspaper
he read Of their cruelties and barbarism:
and though an intelligent and an edu-
Gated man, one who ought to have
known better, he confessed that these
constant iterations produced their ef-
feet, even upon his mind. lie gave us
the picture Of the traditional Souther-
ner, clustering, bullying, tobacco chew
ing, pistol brandishing
Mr.. Vernon Harcourt, one of the
leading men in England, better known
/ as " Historicus" of the Times, few
weeks ago, at the Social Science Con-
gress, in Manchester, said:
Gentlemen who had travelled in the
Southern States have often seen persons
sit down to peaceful dinner with a re.
volver in each coat tail pocket OF
course, it was only for the purpose Of
self-defence, but then it very frequent
ly happened that before dinner was
over two or three were shot.
In France and Germany, particularly
among the Liberal party, we find
the same ignorant prejudice against MS.
Our immigrant agents have met with
little success in consequence. They had
not only to contend with the current
literature hostile in its tone, but found
vet more formidable obstacles in the
numerous paid agents from the North
west who spread Infamous falsehoods to
our prejudice, in order to induce emf;
grants to go to Indiana, Illinois, Iowa,
&C., and not to South Carolina. We
hope that this warfare will now cease,
and that the hand of time may be per-
mitted to break down this thick wall OF
prejudice. a fair race-justice-is all
we ask. We claim no exemptions, no
special favors; only that which is our
rightful due.
We have been so long accustomed to
these calumnies, that We fear some of
our people have at last begun to accept
as truth the verdict of their detractors.
We are glad therefore that Commodore
Maury. in recent address before an
Agricultural Fair in Stsunton, Va,
took pains to look into this subject, and
nobly vindicated the Southern people
from these foul aspersions.
He said there is nothing more COM
mon than the assertion that the South
ern people lack energy. 1t is a mis-
chiev1ous error. The North is appar-
emily more prosperous, because it is
manufacturing and commercial, the
South agricultural. In all manufactur-
inc and commercial communities pro-
ducts are concentrated, and there is a
show Of life and activity never seen in
agricultural communities, because labor
is there difused.
Another reason is, that the statistics
showing the rewards of labor at the
North and South are not quite fairly
presented. For instance, suppose that
one of your neighbors, in giving you an
account of his earnings during the year
should tell YOU that he Lad housed SO
many barrels Of corn, which was worth
five dollars barrel; and killed SC
many hundred weight of pork, that was