The Fairfield herald. [volume] (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1849-1876, 1868-09-09
Negro Equality. q

E The New y York Times, in. q rccent
issue under the caption ofss"Status Of
the southern Freedmen" says:
Reconstruction did not fly in the
face'of nature by attempting to impose
social, in addition to political cquali-
ty. All it did for the freedmen was
to put him upon u level with the
whito citizen as member Of the po.
litioal community and in the eyes of
tho law. 1t was hopeless to attempt
to uproot dccp.scatcd social prciu-
dice, butit was practicable, in the
interests of freedom, to guard against
the results Of this prejudice.
A nice question has recently arisen
in The South Carolina Legislature, in
which the clements Of Sorial and po-
llcal equality are strangely blended
The blacks claim that they ought not
to hc denied accommodation at the pub
lie hotels, There is some Justice in
this claim. Why should they be cx-
cludcd from hotels anl not from the
rail road car or the steamboat? We
will not enter into the merits Of this
question on the ground Of justice. The
fact, however, that the prejudice of
tho whites is so strongly against tho
claim put forth is sufficient reason
why tho negroes should waive it for
the present. If there is il demand for
the accommodation Of freedmen at ho-
tels, some means Of supply yiug it will
arise without legal interior ,ncc. The
freedmen can afford to wait. 1t wilr
mot hc long before the desire on the
part Of even Southern Democrats to
secure their votes will obliterate many
Of the social prcjudiccs now oxistinr,
Time and patience will conquer in the
end.
The freedmen do not expect to con-
troll Southern politics; and thcy could
I not gnfh this supremacy, ifthcy would
Even III Mississippi and South. CARROLL
ia, where they have clear supcriori-
! ty III numbers, there are three impor
taut and decisive elements against
them. In the first place, there is the
greater wealth Of '.a;" late masters :;
| secondly, the whites, besides their
superior education, have more poi,i,
cal experience, and mo:o organizing
capacity; and, finally, there is The
fatal law Of population, which &itSclf
is sufhciunt to crush the hope of main
tanning even their numerical suprcma-
cy. The mortality of tho blacks, ac-
cording to the last census, is one in
sixty six, that of the whites one in
scVcnty-siX. The rate of increase in
population among the former has been
diminishing for thirtyycars. In 1860
1T was twenty-five per cent, (and
among the slaves nearly twice as great
rs among the irrn blarks,) while the
whites of the Southern slavcholdine
States Increased at the rate Of twenty
seven per cent, and unGcr the new
T'y'mc tho rate will be much higher
The blacks increase only by birth,
while there is an addition to the num-
bcr of the whites by immigration also.
Among many it is Il matter of doubt
whether the black race in a state of
freedom can maintain It's existence in
this country, even under the most ia
Vorable possible conditions and oppor-
tunitics. The act of cmancipation
imposed upon this nation the gravcst
responsibilities. So far rs was posi-.
bic the Government has met these
responsibilities in good faith. 1t has
done all that it could do for the freed
men. 1t has afforded them the best
conditions possible for their conpcti-
tion with the white race, and has
wisely rcfraincd from QuXolic at.
tompts to accomplish impossibilitics.
Everything now depends upon the
freedmen themselves upon thcir per-
severance, their patience, and, above
all, upon their intellectual and
moral progress.
OUR GREAT HINES. The West is waking
up to the Importance TO that region Of the
completion Of the James River and Kuna.
wha canal and the Chesapeake and Ohio
railroad. Whenever she shall bG fully
aroused, these magnificent undertakings
will soon be finished. Congress appropriate
| oi torty..igh thousand dollars per mile t)
that part Of the Pacific railroad which ira
verses tic Rocky Mountains. 1t could with
much better grace and for more potent con
slderations appropriate the few millions
that aro needed 10 make tho two Virginia
lines we have named the crowded channels
uf lin inland comiiicroe such as Hill never
pass over tho Pacific railroad Twenty
millions of dollars would suffice to open n
river from the lload Of navigation on the
Mississippi and the Missouri to Norfolk.
the James River canal would be worth moro
to tile Northwest than q dozen raiir ,adsr
Such canal can bear upon its bosom al
most any quantity Of freight, and at rates
| Which Would put from ten to fifty ccuts over
the present prices into tho pockets Of The
northwestern farmers for every bushcl Of
wheat thus tralisporttt, = Richniond Dis .
baith. siAaa
..}t ---i - g.. @--- ----- d ~ ~ ,a
"TnR BOYS IN BLUs."-sThG Radicals IN
! Hartford lately issued a eall for meeting
Of the "Doys in Dhte." II was stated that
tho organization wotld bic comprised of cx.
ri, linro all, ~ fIl,I =.