The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1868-07-22

slavery the Legislature of our State vol
unfairly passed a "Civil Rights Bill,
which secured to the colored man all the
rights enjoyed by any citizen-allowing
him to sue and be sued, and to give EVIL
deuce in all cases. The traditional preju-
dice brought from the mother country,
which had been nourished for ages, against
permitting any party in interest to give
evidence in any cause, civil or cslmlnal,
was broken down; and the law now IN
vites testimony from every source which
is calculated to evolve the whole truth,
leaving it to jurors and judges to determ-
Inc what credence shall be given thereto
From time 10 time measures for the re-
lief of the people who were suffering from
the pressure of a large ante-war indebted
ness were recommended by me to the Leg
islature, but that body, in its wisdom, did
not think it proper to adopt these suggcs-
tions. A liberal homestead law, the abo-
lition of imprisonment for debt, and the
passage of an insolvent law which would
wipe out all Indebtedness on the surrender,
by the debtor, of his property, have been
earnestly urged by me during my admin.
istration, but while failing in the General
Assembly to compass these most desirable
ends, am grati6cd to know that such
measures have been embodied III the new
Constitution.
1t would also have been wise to incor-
porate in that instrument provision for
the scaling of debts contracted prior to
and during the war down to the basis Of
the existing wealth and resources of the
country. No one will question that the
war destroyed more than one-kalf OF the
value of property in the South, and since
its close various causes have produced
depreciation of one-half of the remaining
half, so that the wealth of the State is
really reduced to one-fourth of its value
prior to the war. Now, if an individual
CHANGED, at the commencement OF the
struggle, to have his estate invested In
loans on bonds and mortgages, there GER
tainly can be no justice or propriety in
permitting him to recover the full amount
of his property, dollar for dollar, when
the very property upon which the credit
was given has perished in the hands of the
debtor, not by his own act but by the act
of the Government and the casualties of
war for which the lender and borrower
are equally responsible There is no jus
tice, equity or morality which would re-
quire that the note or bondholder prior to
the war, should not suffer at least pro rata
with the debtor whose property was ruin
ed by the calamities and disasters of the
same period.
The present is also fitting opportuni-
ty for brief review Of my course since
the passage of the Reconstruction Acts of
Congress, and of the reasons influencing
myseondtct with reference TO them-the
same not having before been presented.
In January, 1867, at the instance Of sew
eral of the leading citizens of the State, l
visited Washington. and after full con-
ference with leading Senators and Repre-
sentatives of the Republican party, be-
came satisfied that under no circumstances
would they recognize the Presidents plan
of restoration; and that in the plan which
Congress intended to adopt, the aterna-
tive presented was either qualified or uni
versal suffrage to the colored race. In
view OF this fact, the text Of constitu-
tional amendment was prepared by seve-
raj leading Southern statesmen then in
Washington, approved by many Republi-
cans, and submitted to the Legislature OF
North Carolina in the hope that that body
would accept the same. and request Con-
cress to adopt it in lieu of the fourteenth
article, or Howard amendment. 1t, how
ever, failed in the North Carolina Legis
lature. On my return to the City Of Char
lesion, early in February, in an address
delivered to the colored people of the city,
| | stated that was in favour OF admitting
the colored man to the right Of suffrage
| who was able to read and write, or who
possessed property to the value Of $3.50
Early in March, the first reconstruction
act of Congress was passed, and on the
2od of the same month it was followed by
supplemental act, giving to the colored
race universal suffrage, and dividing the
ten Southern States into five military dis
trcts. These governments, which had
been brought into existence by the plan
of the President, were declared to be on
ly provisional The District Commanders
were vested with such absolute powers as
made the civil authority subservient to,
and dependent upon, the military. In
April following, in an address made before
the Charleston Board of Trade, among
other things, said: "The vital question
now presented to the people of South Car
lima, as well as to the people of the South
ern States, is whether we shall accept the
terms of these bills and endeayor earnest
ly aud in good faith to carry out their
provisions, or fold our arms in silence,
apathy, Indifference and contempt, and de-
termined to take no STEP Again: "Whilc
the constitutional amendment was pro.
posed to South Carolina as a State, and
our own yolition in that capacity could
be exercised, l opposed its adoption; but
the act of Congress, recently passed, has
assumed that this country is a conquered