The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1872-10-10
HoYF & CO., Proprieto1
Cep THE Colored People Afford to Support
M0seS2

For four years; now, ever siuCo "uuoA oro
operations of the obstruction Acts the rlg9t
to vote was given them, the colored people
have had absolute control OF the State Govern,,
ment. They have not themselves administered
tha government nor held all the Offices, but
men of their choice have. With them mas
rastsd ,st the actual power; the officials are but
their aeents. Much has heretofore been con-
ceded to the calored people on account OF tnear
IGNORANCE. It has Justly been said, IN excuse
for the miserable government under when tne
Siate has and is now groaning, that the me-
p,rnes but suddenly awakened from slavery,
and vested with all tho powers, privileges and
dnties of citizenship, would naturally make
rnistakes and be mis1ed by the wiles of dema-
yoenes and unworthy ot6ce-seeking politicians
Bnf. Is there to be no end to this thing? Must
the colored people continue, from year to year,
TO impoyerish the State, and prevent her pro-
gress by supporting repeatedly corrupt men In
her public Offices? :,
South Carolina is the one State in the Union
an which the black people have unlimited sway.
It is here that the question Will De mosS osI-
nitely settled, whether or not they are capable
of fseIfpoyernment They have made no record
as vet upon which they can look except with
shame and humiliation. Duped by adventures
and thieves, they have allowed millions OF debt
to be piled upon themselves and their white
fellow-citizens. without the first dollar OF con-
sideration being received therefor. In four
wears. they have accumulated against the state
q public debt more than twice as large as that
which had been previously incurred during
nearly a century, and there is nothing WhateV-
er to show for it. More than this, the ra1e OF
taxation has been increased more than tnou-
sand per cent, and still there IS never any
money in the Treasury for any legitimate uses.
There has not been one dollar OF lnls year
appropriation to the Lunatic Asylum paid;
hpt little. better can be said of the Penitentia-
nv. the public schools, or any other proper OBJ
iect of governmental expenditure. More money
was spent and debt incurred for one session OF
the General Assembly, last winter, than used
to cost for the support of the entire State Gov
eminent for two years, and thirty times as
much as any session of the Legislature ever
cost ND to 1868, when the coiored people took
charge of public affairs.
Another election is now on hand, and it re.
mains to be seen whether or not the colored
people approve of the acts which their public
servants have done, and whether they are will
inc to make their acts their own. Many, yes,
most of the very men who have so ruthlessly
BETRAYED their trusts, who have brought the
State to bankruptcy, degradation and shame,
are again Offering for Office. One OF the Ghlef
of these is F. J. Moses, jr., who has the cheek
to offer himself as Governor of the State. he
has probably perpetrated more separate acts OF
dishonesty and peculation than any. other of
Che corrupt men connected with the State Gov
ernment. The proof is plain, and have been
made public tina and again. There is no need to
rehash it, forit is familiar to every one. No
decent, honest man will, or can, defend him.
Win the colored people, with their eyes open,
sustain this man, and even reward his past ms
conduct by giving him the highest Office in
their Gift If they dc, then woe to the State,
for there viii be no hope for its peaceable re-
demption. The colored people have it all their e!
own way, and with them the final responsible
ty must rest. The white people have put, no
candidates in the field, for they desired to
place no obstacle in the way of that Re
form in the Republican ranks, which was
ali the blacks would promise, and which,
if thoroughly effected, will answer all rea-
sonable ends. We hope the colored people
will rise to sense of their duty in the present
emergency. They may fail possibly, even af-
ter their best effort, to secure Government al
together satisfactory. If they try. however,
and hurl from power those who have been tried
and found wanting, they will prove, at any
rate, that they do not endorse rascality, and
that they desire change and better state OF
things..Col,lmbia Phgnir.