Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1871-01-06

90 oh''h' u'utucr III new EnSiand. Inc more
fercely ragged tho mad passions of the crowd,
the greater their efforts to aggravatc and in.
furlate them. They told them every concciva-
blc stesJ1they could invent to make them be.
lieve That we sought their ruin. Every brawl
between white md black was magnfed into
the beginning of war against their race.-
They we're told that we would prevent their
voting BY violence, and on this prctezt they were
armed by the State the further to alarm and
excite them. They were told that We were
rebels, enemies Of the General and State
Governments; that the President and tho
Govcrnor, and the great Republican party
were our enemies and their friends thut
they would never be hurt do what they might
that high taxes were nothing to them-thcy
didn't pay them that it would be good for
them if the landholdcr should be forced to
sell his lands down to mere homestead
They would then have homes through the
operation Of the land commission and other
causes; that all the accumulated property
here was the result Of their labor, that it
rightfully belonged to them, and that the way
to get it was to vote for what they were
pleased to tenn "the Republican party"
meaning the ruling dynasty in South Carolina.
These were the arguments with Which the
pretended friends and self constituted advi
scrs of the colored people met the solemn
peace offering of the whites, ratified by them
by larger vote than has been pollcd siuce
the war.
10 these appeals to prejudice, cupdity and
ignorance was responded, that we were inca.
pablc of the frauds computed to us that the
whites were united in support of these meas.
urcS, and would so prove by their votes f; that
VIC had neither the inclination nor tho power
to remand them to slavery, nor could we in
any way abridgc their rights if VIC would !;
that we were not responsible for the introduc.
ton of slavery that South Corolna. by stat
ute, twice protested against it that it had
been continued in obedience to supposed nc
cessi'y that the system, good or bad, had
the merit of redccming them from heather
barbarity, to make them what they were that
we were honorcd by the Almighty in being
chosen for their masters and teachers, ratheI
than their northern friends-that was to be
presumed. lie meant well by them when he
did SO choose; that the experiment of the two
races cocxistiug in the same State upon equal
terms, III peace and amity, had yet TO be tried;
that we were ready to 20 our part, but if they
made our former relations ground Of hostil.
ity, We could never be at peace, since We could
never change the past that the State could
not prosper so long as the government was
administered by the one race, In a spirit of
hostility to the other that tho mad appeals to
their passions and rescntments could only lead
to violence and blood, if they yielded to them;
that we had proved our claims to the protcc-
ton Of the laws, cy accepting tho terms i'm.
posed by our conqucrors, and that they, not
We, arc rebels who rcsortcd to arms and vic.
lcncc against US in time Of peace that nei-
thcr President nor Governor could protect or
encourage them in such course, without vi
olating his constitutional oath that VIC had
a right to claim the support of true Rcpubl.
cans because we had accepted the laws m
posed by them /; that il they brought on a
war against tho whites, they would be crushed
out OF existence before the white nrcn of
America, who were nearer to us in blood aud
nature than to thom that the attempt to tax
the whites out of their property would certain
ly first ruin the laborcrs, who were subsisted
from their means; that property. holders would
never submit to be turned out of house and
homo for tho benefit Of few Office holders,
whose duty it is to protect the rights of per-
sou aud property; thut such governmcnt
would be wshout tho protection of the law.
and would perish os it deserved. In brief
wo exposed the madness, the folly and tho
wickca1icss Of such incendiary teachings, and
exhausted the resources Of kindly persuasion,
but they we're for the most part only the moro
rooted in prejudice aud tho moro violent in
its manifestation. II
This summary of the arguments by which
tho colorcd people owcre led to fastcn upon the
State, for tho next two years, the samo men
who have so nearly ruined us in tho past, de.
nonstrates tho existence among them of fa-
tai hostility towards us, which cannot now bo
overcome by gentle and kindly ovcrtures. i.
is so violent in some quarters as to threaten
tho existence of society. 1t has bcon foster
cd, famed, and kept alive in very large de.
gree, by those whose duty it is to protect 80.