The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1871-06-16
THE SAGE FLIBERTY HALL.
TWO HOURS WITH ALEXANDER II.
STEPHENS.
His Views on Politics He DOES Not
Accept the Situation Thinks tho
Constitutional Amendmsnts Void
Relieves Despotism will soon be Esta-
blfshed.
correspondence of. the Sew York Trlbune.l

This Is a struggling, sha0oy, dirty Soutnern
town, of perhaps 400 or 500 inhabitants. The
streets are without sidewalks, and pedestrians
take their choice between walking in the mud
or dust of the roadways or among the rank
weeds that fill The broad spaces be.
tween the wheel-traoks and the fences.
The decayed frame houses were painted SO
long ago that they now show no traces OF
paint, This Is the county town OF the County
| OF faltaferro-a name that has degenerated. IN
! the mouths of the people, into TolliVer-and
in the centre OF a weed-overgroWn square IN
the town there is a little ugly brick courthouse
| but no business seems TO be transacted inlt.
Around the square stand four or FIVE stores.
| with large vacant spaces between; each store
has its complement OF halt a dozen dirty, yel.
low-raced loafeis, in. butternut pantaloohs.
coarse cotton shirts, and broad-brimmed
slouched felt-hats, who were banging aoont
| the doorway and chewing tobacco DIS vlgcrouat
IL as II that were the chief business OF life.
| The. rude little tavern has no outward indica-
ton OF readiness to furnish entertainment, ex-
| cept a much-whltlled bench upon the poroh,
| and a wash-basin and towel fUf pnplc use.
There is a church or two, but no public schooi,
| no newspaper, no telegraph office, although
| the wires run through The place, arf no par
ticular sign of-mOdern' civilization except the
van of O travelling photographer established
among the weeds on The square.
On The outskirts OF the village, across the
| railway track, is Liberty Hall, (tlle residence.
of Alex. H. Stephens, late Vice-President o.
the Southern Coniederacy,) so named, not
with any reference 10 the mansion Of the hos
pitable old fellow in Goldsmiths comedy, out
10 Indicate the interest of its owler- In the
| cause of human liberty; for even mere IN Inc
| South, IN Tie old days OF slavery, men talked
| with. enthusiasm about liberty meaning, oil
| coilrae. the liberty of the white race. Liberty
| Halris a plain white farmhouse, with a large
sloping lawn In front, shaded BY locust trees
and numerous negro houses, and other OUT
buildings ut the side and In The rear, all fresh
ly painted. A sprlghtly mulatto girl TOOK IN
| my card, and returned at once to the porch TO
escort me through a'narrow hah, past nttte'
plaiply-iurslshed parlor, through q large room
books, and into areom OF the back Ut the
| house. Here I found q little wlthered, Wrin-
kled old man, with wonderfully bright brown
1 eyes, white hair, and q frame 30 emaciatep
that 1t seemed to be literally skin and bones.
| He wore a hemespun suit OF butternnt color,
and mad an old black felt hat upon his head.
This person was MT; s1spde ! hand ae a aaia ss1n1
and feshless, that It did not aeem
to be the hand OF q living, man,
| aud Immediately alterward be sank back
into his easy chair. At his right
[hand stood a round table, piled up with a con-
fused heap of books, letters, newspapers,
manuscripts. and writing materials. A pair
of .crutches leaned against the wall on lne
on the rounds OF another chair, 10 which lay
an ugly tat, brindled dog, that the flies would
not allow 10 sleep. There We're Two beds IN
the room, a bureau covered with bottles OIL
every size and shape, containing. medicines
and liquors, and q CRATE In which a coal 'nre
was burning, although 1t was q warm June
day. a. single picture, representing Faith
standing by the cross, hung above the mantel,
which rivalled the bureau In lis array OIL oolles.
I There Were piles oil books upon Tue moor, anu
articles of clothing scattered about the room.
Mr.. Stephens said he was always glad TO see
visitors and 10 talk upon public affairs, OUT
| that he invariably insisted that correspondents
who called rpon him. should not publish what
he said, because he had no wish 10 be brought
before the public. This prohibition l alter
ward prevailed ON. him 70 modify 30 far % to
| consent thai I might mention whatever he
should say that had heretofore been made pup.
lie, and he told hts nephew: a young man who
came 10 while We were talking, to give me q
copy of an Augusta paper, which lie said cor
tained an authoritative statement Oh his Views
as far as he wished them to be kna1na
MIR. Stephens denounced the Republican
leaders IL the strongest terms as guilty OF 'lhe
most outrageous perfdyn in prosecuting the
war for The avowed' purpose OF restoring tae,
Southern States to their old places In the
Union, and then, when they had trlumphed,
refusing 10 let them take those places, denying
them the rights OF self.government and repre-
sentation In Congress, putting Them under
bayonet rule, and afIerward reconstrucling
them by hprooting all The oundatlons OF their
| society. disquSifiying all men Of intelligence
and property from holding otdce or voting,
and placing their governments in the hands OF
the Ignorant and vicious. He spoke Of the
Republicans as Jacohins without conscience or
consistency, whose purpose was to establish O
centralized, despotic government, and to de-
stroy The liberties Of The people. All OF the res
construction legislation of Congress lie beiieV:
ed to be unconstitutional, fraudulent and void.
The XIIItll amendment he admitted to be val
Id, because it had been ratified by the rightfnl
gQvernments of the Southern States-the gov:
ernments de jure, and not Tue governments de
fdcsO anerwurd established By bayonets. The
XVIII and XVIII amendments he claimed weTe
no part Of lhe constitution, because Their pre-;
| tended ratification had been effected by force
and fraud. They were not results Of the
war, as the Radical leaders falsely claimed,
but were conceived after the war was oyer, as
a part OF the scheme Of GENERALIZATION which
| those leaders had cOncoCted to keep then1t
selvcs'in power. He did not hold the XVth
amendment 10 be invalid because he opposed
negro suffrage, but'because Of the usnrpatio1s
anu outrages upon the constitution by which
it was wrongfully adopted. He did not be-
lisve the ballot would ever be taken from the
negro II the XVIII amendment was declared
| void, and the control Of the suffrage placed
where 1t rightfully belonged. under the exclu-
Eive Jurisdiction OF the States. In such u case,
il it should be proposed to deprive the negroes
oil the flanchise, the white maj would divide
into two parties upon The question, and the
| one that opposed the measure, With the aid Of
the votes oil the negroes, would carry.the day.
But the fact that universal suffrage was go
firmly established did not. he said, lessen the
duty Of all lovers OF constitutional liberty to
| oppose the XVIII amendments This usurpa-'
ton should never be permitted to pass without
proper rebuke and condemnation, even By
those who favor the object aimed at BY it. The
de jure governments OF the Southern States, he
said, are still IN O condition CT repression, and
| he declared that the history Of no country
shows grosser or'more palpable usurpations Of
power, or more glaring acts OF wrong, vlo-
lence, fraud and perfdy on the part Of those in
authority than were committed by the Repub-
lIcan party In The passage OF the so-cal!ed
amendments and the reconstruction laws.
Mr.. Stephens talked for more than an hour
in this manner, rehearsing all the old argyll
meuts with which Democratic orators and
newspapers have made people too familiar
fDr the past tive years. In answer TO an In
qulry as to what he thought of the New De-
parlhre OF the Northern Democracy, he read
me a copy OF a long letter recently sent to a
friend In Pennsylvania, who had asked his
opinion of the platform lately adopted by the
convention in that State. The letter express
ed very positive opinions, and these he EN-
| - e~--n~,otiNN hat hn nrrnaia1