New-York tribune., 1872-08-02
DuD cUpSE OF THE CARPET BAGG ERS

THE CURSE OF THE CARPETBAGGERS
Phrases and nicknames bestowed for cause
are ant, through the iteration of pohtlcai
battle. to lose something of their original
force. We have heard of Carpet-Baggers'
their works and their ways, until we nave
become familiar with their arts and pfactices'
and half disposed to regard them as neceS-
sarv though expensive evil. We might not
have been quite 80 Indifferent had these hne
fellows been operating at our own portals and
upou our own lpockets. But then, though
they went from among us, we were "cn
rid of them. They bad left this
part of the country for tins part
of the country's good; and we could hardly
be expected to feel very melancholy on that ac-
count. Now, when we more fully understand
that in the Union, when it shall be thoroughly
reconstructed, we shall be each in all and all
in each. the condition of States blasted TO
barrenness by this flight of sharp-set l0custs
may well appall u.s. To say that North Caro-
lima. Florida, South Carolina, and the other
be-carpet-ba States are head over ears In
debt is to use language which by no means
expresses the pecuniary submersion. Dld our
readers notice the figures as published by us
in Mr.. Grosvenor's speech on Wednesday,
Used as we are to the exhibition of long
debts. here are sums big enough to thunder
strike the most Indifferent. The record Is
worth looking at, for it shows what fright
full picking and stealing must have been going
on at the South The public debt IN the
several States has been increased by millions
upon millions. We condense their financial
situation as well as we can. 1t is as follows:
NORTH CARoIINA.-Debt in 1861, s126s9,2i5; debt In
1911 6l increase, s229s2ls Bonds sold at 10 TO
30 cents on the dollar Nothing 10 show for the debt
Taxes, q 80 on the s1Oo
sourH CARoIISA-Debt In 1851. S,4O795s; debt In
1911 so far as can be ascertaned 1 local taxes
in 1861 In 1870 s27OOOOo Decrease in area OF
improved land oDethird decrease IN value OF farms,
from $3.50 100000 to $5,OOO00O.
FLoRIpA-Debt in 1861 sS7O617; in 1871, s5,7975S7.
State taxes averaged before the $1,000 per annumj
in 1871 were s71sl1 Local taxation Increased from %
cents in 1860 to 81 80 in the 500 In 1870.
GEoRGIA-Debt in 1861, S2,67O75O. In 1871, no man
knows or can guess how great 1T is. Bullock and his
confederates bolted what quantity Of bonds they
carried off can only guessed. The known liabilities
about s2O,OOOOOO
ALABAMA-Debt in 1861 s7oi5OOO; in 1871 1917,
with a further indebtedness for railway bonds OF
$16,OOOOO0.
MIssIssP-Cost of the State Government in 1860 was
s35OOOO yearly in 1870 over s2OOoOOo Local taxation
in 1860 was s954.sO6 1870 it over s2OOO,OOo
TExAs-Debt in 1851 was s20OO,OOO; in 1871 1t was
s1493OOOO. Cost of Government yearly in 1s6o61 was
s25OOOO and in 1901 1t was 81 6437 Rate OF taxation
16b cents the 500; in 1871 1t was s2osI79
ARKANsAs-Debt in 1860 s20s4 49, and IN 1871 IL
was st. $4,000, with s 100000 of railway Indebted
ness besides The rate OF taxation has increased from
40 cents to s. on the 800.
Figures are tiresome," says Mr.. Grosvenor
in giving this stunning report of insolvency,
taxation, and general ruin. We disagree with
him. These figures have the morbid interest
of a nightmare romance. The ruin is 80
enormous as to rivet the attention by sort
of fascination. Here is an aggregate public
debt in nine States Of over $2O0,0O00OO. We
have heard of a mountain of debt before, but
here are whole ranges of such mountains.
Alps of insolvency arise on Alps. Nor is this
War Debit is the hideous offspring of
Anarchy masquerading in .the stolen robes of
Peace; it is the monstrous bastard begotten
by carpet-baggers upon ravished body
polite. What spectacle of scoun-
drels in all the places of trust
and emolument !-of whole festoons Of leeches
swelling with the public life-blood, until sa-
tiated they drop off and sink into their orig
inal obscurity !-of depreciation of those val
ues which, among an agricultural people,
afford the best indications Of prosperity or of
pauperism Never was more systematic
greed gratifed by semi-legalized felonies
We must go back to the provincial govern
ments in the days of Roman decadence to
find parallel, and even if we do So the mill
tary mercenaries Of the Empire seem mod
crate in comparison.
We demand that the people of the Southern
States shall be loyal and we make such
loyalty the condition of their admission to all
the rights and immunities of American citi-
zens. We then proceed to harass and worry
and lrritate them-we steal the little wealth
which they have left-we make their States
merely foraging fields for an army of thieves
who contract gigantic public debts in their
name but without their consent-we ruin
values and diminish incomes while we quad
ruple taxation, and then we wonder that this
people thus despoiled is restless, impatient,
and indignant. In one band We carry the
flag of the Union, but can we expect them to
greet it with much enthusiasm when the other
hand is in their pockets
----
English royalty seems determined 10 earn