The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1869-05-03
DON Pistt Travels Down af1e Psto.
| mae. and has q Confab-wish q vir-
/ sintan.
Correspondence Cincinnati Commercial
| The WrLpERaEss, sApriI2s, 1869.

sp0uaSOce
The WrLDERaEss, sApriI25, 1869.
, n.y. -. TIE, POTOMAC. o-r-rr.,s, -
There is D certain sort Of majesty, % sense
OF completeness, about this river, below
Washington, that imprssses western mar,
| accustomed to see insthe rivers Of his c1un-
try huge bitches, constructed to carry Of
) surface water, and therefore, only full at
food-time. Yet there is nothing about st
i IN the way of scenery. The banks, although
broken and varied, are too low, and seem to
! frame in inadequstely the vide mirror Of
quiet waters. At least, 80 I though and
felt as the steamer Keyport snored as it
fosted down with its freight of humanity
bound South. A subdued lot Of humanity
!, it was, we'll whipped, but far from recon-
: structed.. And nice mess we are making
! of it in the way; Of legal enactments, as
little observation. Of, and talk with, the as7
! sortment on board would convince one in q
br ef period Of time. u aaEg.arst, Ill ~
! We complain that these southern people
do not accept the. situation and look the in.
hevitable in the face, Are We not guilty of
the same. error? The differences Of ma
~tionality led tos bloody war, in which we
laid waste wide. fields, burned the home
steads, and killed the best beloved, and yet
propose, by a few crude statutes, to wipe,
out the deadly anssgonism, and make the
people so punished a patriotic, peaceful,
loving body Of citizens.zaliio "a
/ Had weattempted this in good faith, we
would yet be- fighting the inevitable; but
feeling the impossibility Of such result, We
have, in fact, used our power to benefit
ourselves. Our so-cslled reconstruction acts
7 serve New England, and not the South. The
net purport and upshot of the business is
to have body Of men in Congress from
the southern States who represent the mo-
neyed interests OF sYankeedom. 4, We call
them carpet-baggers. I.met one at the
opening Of the holidays last winter, car
pet-bag in hand, making for the depot. III
"Whither bound ?" I cried. -, II. ,r'
"Home, for few days. a4-r@
g What, going South 2" Z. - -. r. u. 7
."Devil bit. lam making for Connec-
ticut, to see my family" .i1 -, s. g..
He did not call the land Of his constitu-
ents home. OF course not nor does he
consider the interest Of his political locality,
but votes steadily with the manufacturing
capital Of his old home. a aa
LINK aDOO-uhtG Ulb66AI-, -SY6Ty
time I hit him with the hammer he hol-
lers."
had sitting near me q full-stomached,
heavy .jawed specimen of Old Virginia. He
was reading Richmond paper, and broke
into o hesrty laugh. He thought the mat
ter that contained the laughter too good to
keep to himself, so looking over his gold
, trimmed speotacles at me, his nearest neigh
Dor, he said: rar& &. + .a....s
"Did you read that? Now, say that's
id good" . ....... ia. @
As he pointed to an extract from one of
I, my letters Of course I heartily concurred
in his appreciation. But to save my con.
science said that it was from one of those
paid correspondents that hang about Wash
ington and write sensational stuff.
GA NANCY get of ours, / expect" was
his complimentary response, "but that
These id Yankees are running the Go
vernment to hell on down-grade without
brakes" sE 1--~
Don't you think you are to blame for
good deal of this ?" .
"What the devil can ne do, sab 7"
sshccept the situation. Recognize the
| negro as q citizen. Go on quietly under
the law, and try to create a material pros
perity, instead Of fighting over political
differences" 80. ~a.
My friend removed his spectaeles in evil
dent wrath his brows corrugated, and he
crumpled the journal he had been reading
! into ball, as if to cast it at me, and theI
| roared .'.t 1884,
"Look here, stranger, what you say is
| like kicking man when he's down. We
fought o fair fight, and when we were whip.
ped We owned up like men, and all that
we've got is to be disfrsnchised ourselves
and then have thesed-d niggers made citi-
zens, to send cursed carpet-baggers to vote
away our bread and butter. That you call
accepting the situation. All very we'll fer
you, who may be carpet-bagger for any.
thing know" -'.+."
| I" If I were, it would be more in accord
/ ance with Old Virginia politeness to re-
strain your personal remarks. But / an
not. On the contrary, I am the author Of
the extract you 80 much admired just now
For FIVE or six years have been striving
to withdraw from these heated political con.
tests, so as to look calmly on both sides.
consider the CO. called acts of reconstruction
unwise not on your account, for you are
wrong-headed,i obstinate, and violent, and
| deserve all that has come to you in the way
Of punishment-but on account of the en-
tire country, for l can see that they viii
not bring about the peace and harmon
that are necessary to success" .t
My friend regarded Inc with an expires
sion Of doubt for a few moments. But
suppose my honest, face removed the euspi
cion, for he softened apaee, and said
Well, what the devil would you have
us do ?" -, .as
| Refrain from all violence. Every man
white, and especially black, that is killet
for political difference rash, yio4
lent speech-justifss the enemy, and viii
enable them to end, where any other nation
would have begun, after such causeless
brutal war, in hanging the leaders and con
| fscsting the property" -
Damn me-" snorted my friend, /" eff
wouldn't have liked better the hanging ant
confscation than this aggravating persecu
| ton and insult. But come, General.
know you are General-there's no use il
our quarrelling about it; let's take drink
Don Piatt. ,s
DAnr0 nuN cSuy n ryH<s pTr, uu "