The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1869-10-26
Parker PiIlsbury aad his Old Pots---Hc
Sees for Himself and the Scene Changes.

anti slavery days. LeAvtng the North,
he visits the Sputh, snd with his own
eyes he sees fothimsslf. The idsal pales
before the real He feels with the poet:
s'Tis distance slends enchantment to the
And robes the mountain in lis azure hue. ."S,sss
Mr.. Parker Pillsbury writes Some let
ters for the. Reuolaaion. The New York
World gives us some extracts, showing
Mr.. Pillbury's views on Charleston whis-
key and Charleston negroes. We know
nothing Of the former, but we think bet
ter than he does of the latter. But with
out further comments. we give the fol-
lowing extract from the World. showing
MIR. Pillsbury's ideas on these two sub
jects-Charleston whiskey and Charles,
ton negroes. The World says:
.'The whiskey here is diabolical, ex-
claims poor P. p, and yet they (the
colored people) appear to love it moro
than ANYTHING else, women as we'll as
men, We certainly would never have
thought of selecting Mr.. Parker Pills
bury as faster, but he speaks 80 autho-
relatively concerning the quality of the
negro whiskey in South Carolina, that
we no longer doubt his capacity. If the
whiskey there is worse than tho World
Commissioner found it in New York, we
pity poor p. p, and pray for his speedy
return ere he finds snakes in his boots.
AS for the negroes, they must be aban-
doncd to their fate. They drink it red
hot from the barrel, clean and pure, he
continues, still harping on the whiskey,
'and L have seen mothers pour it thus
down the throats of their six months old
babies
"But this was not the greatest shock
experienced by Mr.. Parker Pillsbury.
Not only did he find the negro idol
whom he had worshipped drunken sot,
but he saw that even that wonderful
panacea for all human ills, the ballot,
was useless, and worse than useless, to
him. If he had his way just now, while
suffering from the diabolical whiskey of
the negro-quarters in Charleston, lie
would reconstruct the reconstructed
South once more, and shut out the man
and the brother from the ballot-box
He surely must have low estimate of
the solemn responsibilities of govern
ment, he exclaims, who wonld force the
ballot on thousands and thousands 10 be
seen oil over tho South. And forced it
was on many men, wherever the slaves
have voted. x They knew no
moro and cared no moro for what they
did in voting than if they were rs infan-
tile IN years as they are in political expe-
rience.' AS for the social condition of
these wards of the nation these 'nn-
tional freedmen for whose sake Mr..
Charles Sumner demands that the coun-
try shall be kept in turmoil n few years
n 1~o. Co. ~f,,1
the picture drawn by this astonished
abolitionist. Marriage does not exist
among them; very few children are
BORN 'infanticide is common in their
wretched homes. mo family meal seems
ever to be provided each member of
the family doing his own cooking and
eatinS what he can get; knives and forks
are unknown among them; their huts
have no floors, no windows, no decent
table. chair, or bed. I saw infants and
very young children naked from morn
ing till night, says the penitent Pills
bury, 'and boys OF Mt least dozen
years with only single garment, and
that but scanty apology. Many wo-
men, young and old, had little on above
the waist, and nothing below the knees
and then Mr.. Parker Pillsbury goes
into details where we cannot follow him,
lest we should turn the stomach of New
York this morning at it's breakfast table.
Is this a scene from life in Dahomey or
among the Digger Indians that Mr..
Pillsbury is describing; or are these the
men, and the wives and children of the
men, for whom the land has been soaked
with blood and the nation impoverished? {?
'The ballot may be the one thing needful
there. adds Mr.. Pillsbury,' but, it
seems TO me, soap, sand, fne-tooth
combs, pots, kettles, chairs, tables,
knives. forks. spoons, decent food, cook
ing and clothing, glass windows and
looking glasses should Mt least go side by
side, ii they may not precede tho rights
of suffrage and of sovereignty Oh,
Parker! Oh, Pillsbury Why were not
you and all the other fanatical fools in
the country warned in time, and why
were You and they deaf to the voice of
common sense and prudence until the
mischief yon now deplore was done be-
yond remedy?"
MIR. EDITOR, Please inform the public
that we are going to enter the second
fr,o ol VI III