Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1873-04-10
Our washington Correspondents.
WASHINGTON. D. c., April I'd, '7s.

I have yet to see the first senator or
representative who does not admit that
the reasoning which seeks to justify the
retroactive legislation initiated by Butler
OF Massachusetts, by which some 81, ,OOO,-
900 of the money Of this heavily-taHed
people were taken from their treasury,
Immediately after the adjournment of the
42d Congress, and divided among the
members Of that delect,ble body, would
apply with equal propriety to an act for
giving extra pay to the members Of the
41st or any other preceding Congress,
even back to the 1st Congress-for that
matter, even to all the members Of all
preceding Congresses, or their heirs. The
8 only difference would be in degree and
application. There would be none iq
principle. If this kind of Legislation is
constitutional, the organic law needs a
little more tinkering,". or we shall
wake up one fine morning and find But
: Ter and his gang carting away from the
public treasury.o Our sentire pile having
acquired the right to do ., the night be-
fore, by the simple process of majority
vote, and the approval Of coarse-grain-
ed, underbred president to whom had
been awarded, for his official signature,
lions share of the booty.
Never before was there such a bare
faced breach Of trust committed bya Leg
: fc1a ir-h Il
fore was there congregated under one
roof, representative body containing so
many unScrupulous men under leader
educated and qualified for the infamous
position by q lifelong association with
criminals, and enriched by his shares OF
the proceeds of their crimes turned oyer
to him for defending them-tor having,
in other words, time. time and again,
consented to become, for pecuniary con.
sideration, professional "aceessory af-
ter the fact" to any crime on the calendar.
Ben Butler has done more toward de-
bauching Congress than any other ten
men have done, collectively, since the
formation of the government. He takes
to thief, swindler or murderer as
naturally as duck takes to water. He
has converted the House Of Representa-
stives into criminal court room, and in
troduced into 1t the slang, the tricks and
the cunning of the Old Bailey: He has
been the professional defender of every
swindle and other dishonorable act com
nitted by members Of Congress ever
since the House has been polluted y his
presence-froln the sale Of cadet ships to
the Credit Mo6ilier swindle. No other
man would have dared introduce the re-
troactive clause in the salary bill. The
thing was too barefaced for any man but
professional criminal or criminal law
yer to attempt Just look at the facts.
Butler and his accomplices had con-
tracted to work for the people of the Uni
ted States for period of two years. each
workman to receive certain yearly sala
~ and other stipulated allowances. EN-
ployers and employees understood the
terms. 1t is not contended that there wa.
any misunderstanding. Not Q word re-
garding the insutficiency Of the compen-
sation agreed upon was raised. Had any
one of theme expressed simple dis.
satisfaction on that score, he would have
been set aside quicker than lightning
The market was glutted with eager aspi-
rants for the positions. Hundreds Of ablel
and honester men than many of those
chosen would have been glad to do tho
work for half the wages. But the meT
selected were all anxious to serve, ant
many Of them moved heaven and eartl
to secure their places. The terms of theil
contract were more favorable to then
than to their employers; for they were
not even required by it to complete thei
term of service, it being understood tina
they should have the privilege of termi
mating the eengagementat any hour, with
out assigning any reason for the act, ant
that they should receive pay for as lons
as they mad served, while their employ
ers bound themselves to retain them OF
the payroll for two years, however in
competent they might prove themselves
provided they conformed to certain rule
and regulations which they were gener
ously empowered by said employers t.
establish for themselves. a contrac
more Ineligible, more generous 10 en-
ployees, could not have been devised
And so the latter apparently regarded it
for not whisper OF dissatisfaction wa:
heard until within a few hours of the
close Of the session, when, instigated by
this man, Butler, who had previously Sc
cured as pal the President of the Uni
ted States by bribe of Sl00,000 stolel
money, they suddenly ignored their con
tract, took the bold, piratical ground tina
they were entitled to as much money q.
they wanted, seized upon 81, 900, 900 o
their employers funds, for the economi
cal and Just disbursement of which they
were heconfidential and wellpaid agents
divided it up among themselves, and in
continently adjourned amid the eXecra
tionS of an outraged people. That's al
there is about it.
1t has been so long the fashion, all ovel
the North, to depreciate the business ca
pacity of SouthernerS, that many of the
latter have at length assumed as an aXi
ON the proposition that they are natu
rally inferior in that respect to men borr
and bred north OF Mason and IliXon's
line. and are waiting for the Infusion oi
Northern blocd'' so complacently claim
ed. by New Englanders especially, to be
a sine qua non to material progress in the
South. Now, this is sheer humbug, ant;
is doing more to retard progress there
than all other causes combined. The
comparatively stagnant condition of af-
fairs at the South is NOT the consequence
of an inherent incapacity OF its native
citizens to Srapple with and overcome
natural obstacles to material progress
nor does it arise from any influence q.
climate or soil unsavorable to the physi-
ca. development of the individual, or To-
.he successful and remunerahve prose
cution of the industries. The condition
of the South is simply and soiety the le-
eitimate result of the circumstances by
which the people were surrounded tol
several generations. But, those cironm
stances no longer existing; their influ
ence is gradually disappearing, and al
ready those men who have wholly OF
partially emancipated themselves from il
are displaying, i'll business enterprise
CAPACITY and energy that challenge ad.
miration, and justify the belief that, 8
few years hence, when the young South
shall have adapted itself to the new or
der of things, we shall hear no more o.
this senseless twaddle about the innate
superiority of Northern men for business
pursuits Two men, for example, t.
whom the people OF the United States
ure largely indebted for having trans
formed the National Capital, within .
few wears, from dirty, Struggling. neg.
lected, overgrown village, the butt anG
bv-word Of travellers and writer's, into
one of the most delightful cities in Amer.
ica. were born and bred on the Southern
side of Mason and Dixon's line. One q
them. A. r. Shepherd, Vice President o.
the Board of Public Works, is a native
of Washington, and has never resided
nor done business anywhere else; yet il
is safe to say that not one among the
most successful. men of the North had, al
his age, (for Shepherd is young man,
conferred moro substantial benefits on
his fellow-citizens than has this same
Washingtonian on his. The other to
whom j refer Is Col. JamegA. .Magruder,
treasurer Of the Board, Marylander by
birth. but . resident of this District from
b;s infancy. IT would be no easy matter