Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1872-11-01
Poor Greeley.

SAllCS thlru Senator does not think Mi.
Greeley ought to be elected. Judge Tour
gee does not Ike Mr.. Greeley either. They
are both champions and defenders of that
virtuous and opulent class Of men whom
Mr.. Greeley designates az ''thieving carpet
baggers." Judge Tourgec's defence of
carpet-baggels rests mainly upon tie
fifteen dead negroes he said were found in
one mill pond i'll Guilford county. AbbOtl's
argument is little more lc@ical and peril
nent. General Abbott thinks Mr.. Greeley
has slandered such men as Latin, Rich,
Estes, Tougee, Foster, Littlefield and him
self. Why does he say so ? Because the
moral character of these men repels the
Glarse Not at all. Does lie think they
are siandered by being charged with steal
ing i'll any shape or form, or does the
slander consist only in the amount alleged
to lave been stolen by them =? Does he
assert that no North Carolina carpct-bag-
gers lave stolen, or have been bribcd, or
does he mean simply to say that there are
some who did not steal Let Us see !!
The cautious ex-senator does not venture
to enter the lists il behalf Of the carpet
baggerS upon the general issue Of stealing,
but upon the special issue Ct stealing Il
/ particular amount. Here is what the calt-
tious ex-senator, himself a carpet-bagger,
says i'll defence Ct carpet-baggelS as a
class" in North Carolina " The carpst
bag villains could not have had much
share in thevius in North Caroliua, mas
, much as they we're in an Insignificant
minority!' They did not steal npch,
forSooth, because there we:e 50 few
of them We have no doubt that
had there been more carpet-bagSeIS there
would have been mere stealing, but still
we think General AbbOtt's mOdcsty makes
, him put too low an estimate upon the
capacity Of our carrct-baggers. Think
Of Littleficld, and think of Lain
and other ''caIpet-ba9 villains OF less dc
! gree, and say whether or not the General
! is not a victim Of misplaced modcaty and
dclu~linS dillidcncc = One gape of the
| carpet bag of either Of Ties, men We're
worth thousand of that Of "a nigger or
scallawag."
We protest against this imputation upon
the thievinS capacity Of Caroliua carpet
) baggers .'as Il class and as individuals.
! General Abbott'S nOdesty is decidedly
mispla ed. If he had displayed some Of it
/ when he was trying TO get seat III the
United States Senate to which he was not
elected. it would have been better timed.
And, 10y the way, that was not a bad job,
even for a modest North Carolina carpet
baggcr; for if UG mistake not, the Senate
gave him tie pay and mileage for the seat
to which it said he had no clainl-a
sum amounting to over five thousand
dollars, we think, Pretty good trans
action for a modest mcmboT Of that
class Of "carpet-bag villains who could
not have lad much share in thieying in
North Carolina, inasmuch as they were
in an Insignificant minority.' But per-
haps the atmosphere of North Carolina
dwMf3 their capacities
Nor was that bad job tor modest North
Carolina ca?pct-baggrrs, when General
! Abbott delegate to the Convention,
toreseeiug ''that the old State bonds would
appreciate 10y the action ofthc Convention,
/ ''In.,dc 4 contract with i.ittlciieid and five
other persons to wit: Mcssr2. French,
Estes, Calvin Littleiielj, Mr.. Clark, of
New Iork, and MIR. Wnslow, Of New
York, to purchase large amount Of these
bends and sell them on the rise, and re-
ceiyed from the said L,tt!efeld So, 900 rs
his shane Of the profits
B&t General Abbott gives some
figures and challenges scrutiny rs
to their acruracy.' Let Us examine
them. He says ''tnc actual author
iIol state debt Of North Carolina when re-
construction commenced was SI7,13 ,94-;'
that Of the bonds afterwards ''issued, $l6,-
$4,000 passed into tho hands of Greeley
men, and that other bonds, about s. )
,UO,C0 PASSED into the hands OF Rcrub-
licaus.
According 10 this statement, if our addi-
ton be correct, the debt of North Carolina
ought 10 foot UP as follows:
Original Hebt. ...-.~i II .5ji ,Jfo
Bonds Issued to Democrats. .......-.. l6,2J6Oo9
Republicalrs......... $500 0a0
Total. OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES .s%j' .2S' %
Not so, however, according to General
/ &b1lOtt for IN. crravrlv tells the DnODlr that