The Sumter watchman. [volume] (Sumterville, S.C.) 1855-1881, 1870-07-20

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Address Or the Excessive Committee
sfths Unisn Reform Party, tStks
Voters Of ssath Carslina.t., ~ :
FELLOW. CITIZENS 1T is made on,
duty to set forth in this form the claim.
Of tho Union Reform party to your con,
fdsnce and cooperation, and We ask ol
you al our oountrymen, children Of the
State, our common mother, having q
common interest and common destiny, q
patient hearing and deliberate and
dispassionate judgment.
The Secession OF the States and the
sectional war which followed wrough,
revolution in tho principles Of The
government, and in tho rigats, powerl
and relations Of the general and State
governments, partly changing their
character. The States were shorn oi
their sovereign attributes, the Union
rendered indissoluble, and the powers
Of the general government correspond
iugly enlarged. The people of South
Carolina, and those of her sister South.
ern States as we'll, accepted amnesty and
civil organization in 1865, thus condi-
toned, and ratified their adhesion to
tho government thus changed in its
character, by the solemnity Of an amend.
ed oath of allegiance. administered to
the voters at the polls, and to all officers
upon their qualification. In 1867, the
United States inaugurated what is
known as the policy Of reconstruction
which hos resulted in the restoration oi
South Carolina to the National Union
with constitution based upon the
principles of universal suffrage. In
1858, the Democratic party arrayed it.
self against the whole policy of recon-
struotiou, and declared the legislation
of Congress upon that subject as "usur
pations, and unconstitutional, revolu.
tionary and void" Mainly upon thi.
issue, the Presidential campaign wa,
fought, and the people of the United
States by overwhelming majorities, sus,
tanned the policy ofreconstruotion. Th.
fifteenth amendment to the constitution
ofthe United States, engrafting therein
as fundamental law, the principle o.
universal suffrage, has bcen proclaimed
ratified by the requisite number of State.
and is received and acquiesed in as Law
in the practice Of all the States of the
Union.
In tho meantime, the people of South
Carolina find themselves in this condi-
tion. With universal suffrage pre-
vailing, two races compose the people
entrusted with the franchise. Circum.
stances and the maohinations of selfish
and corrupt political adventures have
created an antagonism between the races,
and arrayed, practically, the whole OF
the one race in political hostility to the
whole Of the other race. Nearly the
entire landed property and other capital
of tho State are in the hands of the
white race, aud the power of the gov
ernment is controlled by the colored,
which furnishes the chief labor of the
country. Property is the source Of life
to the State. From it the proprietor
and the laborer alike derive sustenance.
When property is made productive,
wealth is increased, labor enchanced,
employments multiplied, the country
prospers, and the people are happy. To
secure these results, cooperation be-
tween labor and capital is essential
Tho laborer and the capitalist are in
effect copartners, who divide among
them, in proper proportions, the products
Of the joint business. Legislation, after
securing the mere personal rights Of the
citizen, has no other legitimate Office
than so to foster and conserve the rights
ofproperty that the whole people may
prosper. It is evident, therefore, that
this antagonism of races is unnatural
unwise, and deplorably injurious and
ruinous In its consequences to BOTH
Under the industrious manipulations o
this unhappy antagonism by the adven
turers who created it, the people are
burthened and beggard, while they grow
fat upon the means wrung from the
hard earned products of the capital and
labor of the citizen. Not content, how
ever, with the exclusive enjoyment o1
multiplied salaried officers, fixed at q
rate of compensation unprecedented in
extravaganza, these wicked rulers have
plunged into the widest, most rockies.
and most corrupt proAigaoy, peculation
and fraud in their dealings with the
peoples money. Lot tho Record speak
Taxes, year ending September 80,
1860. S591 zee SO year ending Ooto.
Der l,1866, S4iS, 86S.78, not includ.
ing interest on debt; texas, year ending
October 81, 1869, 81, ,263, $50 90 county
tax for 1860, $501, 097 .32.
Reflect that this rapid increase o.
taxation has been enforced upon q peo.
pie struggling fol. the necessaries Of life
with two.thirds of their property
destroyed by war, much of what was left
producing nothing, and all tho aoou'
mulated capital Of the State destroyed
the income Of the people probably moi
attaining one. third the amount of th.
year 1850.
Total payments, current expenses 30.
year ending September 30, 1860, S54Y,.
25l.00 year ending October III, 1856
S266, ,248.04 (exolusive Of interest OF
debt not paid) wear ending October 81