The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1872-03-21
The Deplorable Condition Of cur Public Affairs
as Described by Tribune Correspondent.
WAsHINaToN, February 22.

80 -
go. WASHINGTON, February %.
The condition of South Carolina is deplora
ble.. In the days of secession it was the creates
offender. In the days of reconstruction it is tn
greatest sufferer. The government of che Stat
was formerly in the hands of an aristocracy-
They were a body of men jealous, wilfui, cog
matte, but high-toned and honorable. The rol
of its representatives in Congress for near three
quarters of century, the names of its civic ant
military heroes in the war of the revolution
shine with a lustre that is undimmed by com
parison with the men Of any other State.
True to the souvenirs Of its former history, i
precipitated the shareholders rebellion, and lee
It's hosts to their doom. 1t sought in its pas
sion a bloody arbitrament on the field of battle
and bloody arbitrament it has had. With
10000 voters, it put 10000 soldiers in the field
The end came, and South Carolina was black
with desolation The smoke and the fire ol
civil war ascended from every household, and
the stain of blood was on the garments Of eve
~ survivor. Its young men had swiftly gone
down to bloody graves till the dead outnum-
bered the living. The means of support were
swept away as by fire and whirlwind. Havoc
and spoil, and ruin were its only gain. This is
where the end of rebellion left South Carolina
What hes been its condition since? What is
ihi condition now?
Tine population of the State is something
over 10000 blacks, and something under 300,
600 whites. The result of the war has made
vet grater disproportion in the comparative
numbers of the voting population. These are
estimated to be in the proportion of 40, ,0O0 white
I'd; 600 black voters, the aggregate being over
100000. But in the Legislature, out of 124
members, there are but thirteen Representatives
of the white minority. The rest of the assem-
bfyi is black, with the exception that here and
there is white representative OF black con-
stituency. There are enough of these, along
with 81 few intelligent colored people, to lead
che great mass Of ignorance and barbarism OF
which the main body is composed.
Without going into details, it is enough 70
say that the men who lead and manage the
Legislature and the State Government are
thieves and miscreants. The great body of the
legislature are the ignorant and corrupt in
stf1ments with which the leaders work, and
though the individuals composing this mass
are Bought and sold like cattle in the market,
their venality in some cases is relieved OF much
of its criminality by reason of the denseness of
their ignorance. Numbers of the blacks who
occupy seats in the Legislature regard them
selves only in the light of employees OF the
Government. Their pay is six dollars day
for their separate votes on every measure In
which there is money These votes are bought
and sold without even pretence Of hiding the
fiagitious transaction. The negro is hardly
conscious Of criminality while he makes his
bargain. IIe owns his mule. He sells It,. he
owns his chicken. He sells 1T. He considers
his vote just as much part of his personal
property as his mule and his chicken. Why
shonld he not sell it also? He does sell it, and
he naiyely wonders that anybody should COM
plain. %
HOf course, the scale of pay varies. 1t is just
according to each mans intelligence and ra-
pacity. A few hundred dollars in specia! graf
uities is enough to satisfy the demands OF
plantation negro Others get more, and more,
and more. One of the smartest sort was &C
cused, the other day, on. the floor of the House,
by a colleague, with then having $1,000 OF
State bonds in his pocket, corruptly obtained
And the charge was not denied. Il 10
But the evidence of gross and universal cor
ruption is palpable in the way everybody lives
who has anything to do with the Government
There is happy-go-luck air among them all.
If q black gets into the Legislature, that IS
enough. He works no more. He has no occa-
sion. he has money enough 1t Is the same !,
with the occupants of the executive ofhces. All
aresleek and fat with their ill.gotten gains
They are like pirates who have captured a
richly-laden ship. They riot in the plnnder,
caring not at all for, nor even thinking OF, the
owners. 10 ;,gjssil.sl 8. i'-..t'e ~ - l;.I'
But the irrefragabae evidence of gigantic
theft and corruption stands like monument
in the vast increase oG the State debt, an, ln-
crease for which there is nothing to show The
State NAV be searched in vain TO find where the
money has gone 1t is in no public work 1t
is in no schemes of public improvements. lit
has simply been stoleD. It has gone into the
pockets of the highway robbers who compose
thelegislative and the executive government
of the State. Behold the stuPendons .f sums
En- 1865. the bonded debt, according to the re-
uort of the Congress Committee, who have
lately returned from their Investigations, was,
in round numbers, S5, 5,O5S, 600. In 1868, it was
S6.454OO0. On the Goth of December, 1871 1t
had risen to the enormous aggregate OF Slo,-
E68.OOO. 1t was not even certain that this sum
covered the whole liabilities of the State 30
much fraud and completely in corrupt practices
by the State officials had been developed, 80
much chicanery had been unearthed, so much
wilful eoncealment and apparent Ignorance OF
the amount of the robberies and issues OF the
State, bonds was manifested, that there was NO
certainty that even the frightful aggregate
which was established would not be augmented
when all the plundering had come to light -
But whether it be raore or not, we nave mere
2n1addltlOn 70 tne otSCe ueo' sinoo sio -
near S11, 100000. And this sum has been, mil
HON by million, dollar by dollar, deliberately
stolen by the villains who have had possession
Of the State since that period, with the exeep-
tioD of such moderate sums as were necesslta-
ted by the measures of reconstruction. l.s =
The methods of robbery have been too vari-
ous and universal to be enumerated IN an ex-
nositieu so general as this. Suffice it to say,
shst they have involved everybody Of any &C
count Who belongs to the majority; 1t is
trembling uorass Of corruption that shakes :: un
der the tread of the investigation There is nc
chance to stop or punish the fragrant crimes
that have been committed, because everybody
outside of mere handful of representatives oi
the taxpayers, is implicated. Whatever VII
iainy is exposed, or whatever investigation is
Threatened silence is at once restored by threat,
ening the threateners with an examination ol