The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1870-04-17
COLUM| BIA, 81 G..
Sunday Morning, April ~, 1870.
Tho Revicwct Revievcd-The Preas Com.
~ ffsreuce-No I ..rss ~. 'ltt'c.

Tho Reviowes Revieved-rne Preas Com
ference-No. l..
We have already acknowledged the
courtesy Of the author in sending to us
copy of his Review of the resolutions
of the press Conference. We further
acknowledge; the fair and courteous spi-
rit in which he has performed the work
which he assigned to himself. In simi-
lar spirit, it ia our purpose briefly to re-
view the reviewer and to discuss the
programme that he sets forth. The
pamphlet under review is divided into
six articles In article No. 1. the author
Of the Review, alluding to the claim that
the principles of tho press conference
resolutions, to wit: that our people shall
recognize the legal right of all the citi-
zens Of the; State, irrespective of color,
to suffrage,,an their right to Office also,
subject only to personal qualification and
ftness-are proper as embracing wise
acceptance of the situation and putting
aside Of dead issues. holds that we had
already accepted the situation" That
is, that when we laid down our arms and
submitted to the rule of the conqueror,
the "situation" was then fully "aocept-
ed" This is his first point. Our answer
to this is, that an acceptance OF the situ
alton, in the sense Of q necessary policy,
extends beyond our original admissions
and embraces the sequence of them.
When, We admit the emancipation of
the slaves, of the South. we must admit
all the consequences that flow from said
emancipation In our country and &c
cording to the genius of our institutions,
there is no halfway ground for citizens
to stand upon. When the negroes of the
South were declared free, they rose logi-
cally and necessarily to CITIZENSHIP and
thence. BY la,o, they were lifted to the
privileges of suffrage and office-holding.
Whether this last elevation was consum-
mated wisely or unwisely, constitution
ally or the reverse, is not now the ques-
ton. The point is, that the matter is
de Jaclo, and according to the forms of
law, accomplished. This has passed into
the domain of 'tfxed facts" When it
was in thesphere of debate, it was COM
batted. Having passed beyond that
sphere, it is accepted-and the most is
now to be made of it. We hold, there
fore. that it was proper for the press
conference to make the declarations that
are contained in resolutions No. and
No. Q. This is accepting the situation as
the situation is noao. But, says the au-
thoreof the Review, it is proposed that
''in place of the Federal bayonet, our
own hands shall be raised to prop" this
inverted, tottering programme" that
represented the political condition of this
section. We answer, not SO. The pro-
gramme Of action comprehended within
the scope of the press conference reselu-
tions looks to the righting of this py-
ramid. By taking practical, common
sense view of the situation, it is contem-
plated that the caucasian race" shall
enter the field, assert its power and re-
place the pyramid upon its base-and do
this, too, upon the basis of ON enlight-
ened and impartial humanity claiming
for itself only what it shall win upon O
fair field of honest effort.
Elsewhere will be found the article No.
l, upon which we have commented. We
shall continue our comments, and at the
same time, give the articles of the re-
viewer as we subject them 10 review.
GIBRALTAR absurd canard which
came from abroad, of Mr.. Bright's in
tention to restore Gibraltar to Spain,
has at once directed the attention of the
world to that famous rock and fortress,
although the report has been officially
contradicted. ''It derived its name,
Ge6el-el-Tarek. Tarel's rock" says an
authority, ''from the Saracenic chief who
first occupied it, early in tho eighth CEN
tury. It came into the hands of the
English in July, 1704. and has been re-