, 1870-04-05
WASklM sTOA,
Affairs in Florida.
Ca1petBagging Kxamined-5ketehes
Of New Rule.



ing, not oalyas giving you An acaount Of the
prcecnt condition Or Enairs in tho Gulf Statos
u1dcr carrat-has rulo, but also as conveying
soue itetus Of information about 4 portion Of
the country which is littlo 1iaited, except by an
occasional slipw1ight, who goes to cut live oak,
or by few scattered colonies Of copsumptivea
and folks Of feeble temperament from the
North, who mnke their homes on the St.
Johpa MveE.
Ny informant i. Republican from ono OF
the Northwestern States Il man Of influence
and OF excellent family connections, and,
tire!J trustworthy.
/ began by asking him whether Florida
thriyed under her new constitution and hur
mA5teIs.
r1oE1pA's SEw CODE.
"The anEwer to that question:" ho said,
"uiu have to be mixed. Ike the state Of affaiss
10 which it haa reference. A. = general
answe1, ! would say th.t DO Stato
could be more gr1eyous1y afflicted by the per
sons which administer har Affairs than Florida
in the year 1870. Tho constitution was q Bit
ter rln, not IN the way OF political e1actions,
fog, in that reapect, I thought it WA the best
We could get, but Is an economical constitu-
ton It WIS groes piece Of extravagance. Tic
State OF Florida u poor as poverty. It iF sail
to contain IL, 600 people, Lut an sure that it
has never had feslly more than about seventy
or eighty thousand, all clzssea includod-or,
not AZ InaI1y people II the single city Of Claye-
land, o., or this city Of Washington, let the
most monstrou8 salaries arc paid ! to
It's officials under Tho NOW regine.
year a1nltst al tho StAta oi1lce1B three thou-
sana apiece, and each member Of the Lesisla-
ture tive hundred dollars and travelling eI-
renses. You hAvc only TO contrast these sila-
nes with those pnid to oiiciAls in the large
Northern States, to ECO bow shA1nalessly rho
people who have taken possession OF F1onl2
regard tue pockets Of the tnx-Paycrs- II I an
not mistaken, tho salary OF tho Governor OF
Connecticut Is only eight hundred dollars al
though he administers the Affairs OF about
eight hundred thousand people, living in one
OF tha richest commonwealth in the wotld
considering its size.
by whom wero these loose pro7lsoea put
into your constitution {"
"Nel, the State Constitution was made H.
most exclusively BY few politicians from the
North, aud sone Of them from the very State
| which camc from. They fret succeeded in
| their purposea by using the political organzA-
ton Of the Freedmen's Bureau. and by m4-
| nipu1Atirg The colortd vote. Iha new cousti-
I tution does not debar rebels from voting. But,
! although there were = number ot The native
white people who wEre Union men during al
80 -, So. ~ aIst a4t -. ,taH1 % ~
.s-a T., ~ - ~. e eou ~.
recognized by The caIpet-baggets, and the
State Was constructed chiefly to snit the pecu-
! hiazy asEirations of few strangers who had
determined to poesess it. This Is why s1ch
largo salAflea were prescribed to be paid
\ rocB DAREnoSEs.
Eut do you say that F1orida Is too poor to
| pay even hex State of5cials7"
I o ~ tean15 ~ p*ue " Psy tnem ny n
| EA11y "basestl. tAe pesI Wen AZ oEet me
sue .te1et nuat riot.uA Hae aot 1e99ceo % i
territorial lofm q sovo5nment, and Kept ont
Of the Union indefinitely, until her material
| interests hau revived. ...,
You .;d mean ,H th,t The e United 9i Ms.es should ii
emo. and Legislature:
| "Yes; tLat would lAvo saved tho Cnited
Btates Tie expense Of keeping thirty regiments
in the south at . cost Of . million Of dollars a
gear for each regiment. The same is the case
u al tie other states; Tor, except Georgia,
Alabama, and Louisiana, none Of these wasted
Cenmonwealths are able to support m entire
gate one rs the ca1pet-baGgers have given
us- The better people, rebels aud al, wished
to be thus ter1ito1iAlized, In order that the
burdens Of taxation might be Iightened, md
Intelligence rrecede the exercise Of sut1ssge b,
There arc many persons who think az you
do, that The Southern States should haro Ieer
Organized as territories until public sentimtni
became hcalthfu1. and all the people falt dis
poeed to take chsIge Of their own anairs- But
sentative institutions, to hold several millions
q people subject to the government, And ye
eire them no Representations"
We'll, suppose that was the reason nh,
the military policy prevailed, but tho next bes
thing would hsEe been the immediate read
| r,GEsrp nf these et fhC rlnpf sf t},t
| war with Ill their inper{ections. Tho pole,
OF reconstruction which did prevail Wal
neither despotasm nor republiranim. Carpet
| Tagging il the name by which it will 70 In lis
| tory for Ill tho future
THE pCzz1xD D.1KE1s.
"Exp1Ain, II you please, Why carpet -baSgips
ha, been IN evil
"Ihe cssaneo Of caIpet-baEging, said u,
fHeEd. was that few delegated PERSONS
acting under ordeTs fron the central ring ri
The Irsed1nan's 3 lsoIeau, should slip auongs
the colored people, and efficiently organize
them 11H voting p1upores. To BhoT the trutt
OF this it need only bo said that two out o1
three of the Florida De1egatiou in the present
Congress were officers Of the burezu- Tbs
same il the case in the State organization
Now, these interested 1narc>na1ies found il
] too long tssk to instruct the black man ir
The rights, duties. and dignity Of hts own citi
zenship; 60. they cut the whole mat
ter abort By saying TO the blacks
l
.nd vc intend TO gtrs yon gpe<
farm and stock. and lalF OF mules, and a1et
give you some OF the ot1cesi thst Ii What VI
are Eent here Tor " the 1resdent. The con
eeqnenee j. thst four-dfths of ~ the blssl
crumeut is going 70 set uem up with Gtt1,
fortune. The effect is general idleness, wit
l. ING. complaining; and yet senila obedience t
the small set of, ahreua ca1pet-haexera thu
come The kw amongst tie earliest negro legin
latots aud af6co-holders. Theso are jus. =
itching for bribes and per1uisites at TsllaflAs
sec ns me Eofst White ecanaNags; and tie in
lection has extended 70 tho Several edncase'
similar eehoota Of The North
"Do undesgtand you 70 Say that the Freed
mems Bureau did more evil than good?"
For the first year atscr the bureau was cs
sablfshed it waB necessary to feed and cloth
a puisanoe, and every ration given sway subss
quent to Tho summer Of 1866 encouraged idle
ness. 1t was not the hurcau that re sE1aig
hut the bureau ring: The political conspirs
cx which asailcd itself OF the bureau 70 get pok
stitutlons. let me g'se q example: 1-as
yea1 / went down to tho mills, about twent
! mules from taE homo, AND found two stron
arniable-looking coo!cd men. asked thel
TO como ur and work for me at setting OF
orsnEe trees, and promised them what wa
1 SSAA&ssoE4 6.rse4 "N3eo1 'AA"% AAtEGA AuAAAo
mouth. They were to come next tzF and com
mence to build two huts for themselves, An
/ afte1ward bring up their families, and gual
, nnteed them permanent work They ca1no II
and worked faithfully, aud At the end OF Il,
, | week paid them thtir wages, aal they we1
down TO the uaills 70 eee their wives proi1aisin
i to como hack on Monday. Well, sir. Monda
came aud l saw nothing Of them On Thur
day went down to The mills to fiji
:, them; They "ere sit6ug round
! freednen b91eau %ASon. Ansnlng ana 81
/ foying themselves. I aaked them Why The
, bad not come up TO ko5k. and they replied II,
! thes olo NOT eHr apoo1 HofHn9 luas nov, o'