Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1873-01-23
GOVERNOR MESSAGE.
GOVERNOR MOSES FIRST ANNUAL
MESSAGE.
COLUMBIA, Tuesday, Jan. "A.


of the General Assembly to-day, an
will probably be discussed tomorrow
.Fegzo,O- citizens of the Senate ant
House of Representatives
I congratulate you in view of tn
fact that the third General Assembl,
of South Carolina under her free con
, .stitution, has convened and held it
daily sessions in the midst of univer
sal tranquility and order.
You entered upon the duties of tn
session, with difficulties of marked
gravity confronting cyousas the law
makers of the State.
These difficulties I trust and be-
lieve you will in the end s,lrmount
by diligent and faithful dischargt
: OF all the delicate and responsible lu
ties enjoined upon you by the people
with whom We have so recently en-
tered into a covenant through our
official oaths.
Our Federal Relations.
1t is my most gratifying duty tc
inform You that the relations Of the
Statestathe Federal Union are not
Only Of the most cordial character,
but the guarantees of perpetual con-
cord between the great sections pt
our country are beingsteadily increas-
ed and strengthened yby the growing
recognition of the fact that all citi-
zens of the United States are bound
together by the tie Of common in
terest.
The acts of individual violence
which had manifested themselves in
the upper counties of the State since
the summer Of 1865, and which we're
clearly the consequence OF political
and personal animosit,-, engendered
among large portion Of the people,
against.a a class of our. fsllow-citizens
recently enfranchised andvested with
civic rights, have happily ceased.
The lawless and vindictive spirit from
which those acts sprung embodied it
self in armed organizations, which,
in the winter of 1870 and the spring
of 1871, dominated many counties,
and, with startling audacity, overaw-
ed the local authorities with strong
hand, and wrote their DEGREES in the
innocent blood of unoffending VIC
tins, whom they remorselessly scourg-
ed and slew.
Those organizations have been dis
pefsed by the power of the general
government, and many of the actors
therein have been punished by its
courts. That power was exercised
for protective purposes only against
the deadly centralizations symbolized
by the midnight hoFsfman who -r9de ed
as the missionary OF hate, IN a dis,
guise as fearful as the deed he had
armed himself to execute.
Henceforth those who might enter
tain any scheme for the oppression
of an American citizen OH the soil
of our State, because of the manner
in which lie chooses, as freeman, to
exercise his political rights, will be
admonished that, however humble
may be the condition of that citizen,
and whatever may be his race or
color, aipowerful government stands
prepared and willing to protect him
in the free and unquestioned enjoy
ment of all the rights and privileges
that attach to. American citizenship.
shoald be wanting in candor and
Justice if I failed to announce that
not only have the unlawful or5aRl-
zatipns in question apparently ceased
to ekiat, bdt the open exhibition Of a
sentiment of hostility to the State or
Fe leral Government, that made it
possible that such organizations should
SO long continue in grlevous opera
ton, seems to have also passed away.
, Nowhere upon the soil Of South
Carolina to-day does it seem to be
necessary that, for the preservation
of public order, or the present pro-
lection of individual rights, extraor::
dinary agencies should be resorted
to. the pacific agencies which the
Jaws provide as the Safeguards Of the
o;tiza,i and society are all I'M unob-
atruaspd operation throughout oar
State. The person Of the stranger
among us seews to be no longer EN-
vironed by peril. and, however rude
and remote his dwelling, he may re-
pose in safety, for the law Keeps watch
and ward over him. an invisible, 81
lent, but sleepless sentinel. May this
security ever continue; and may the
passions which had their birth in a
false political theory and grew up
amid a sangmnary civil war, be for
ever snbdped, by the consciousness
i,Ahd gratsttl recognition Of that sense
of brotherhood which should spring
MpR Gur coIMon hatioH'iity DE-
Americari citizens.
.y0.As for the resst of ths Governors
chapter upon " Federal Relations,
he appeals to the pride of the Ameri-
can citizen by painting in glowing
eolors the power and glory Of. these
UpNe@ States. They are thirty-sev'
an States and eleven Territories, with
an area greater than The whole o
Europe, and a population of nearly
Forty millions. TheiE sehieyement'
in skilled industry are to be seen PIE
dominant throughout the civilized
world. Our population will p.roba
bly, exceed One Hundred Millions b!
the end Of the century. We annu
ally export saar $225,Ooo,ooO (il
gold value) of cotton. The total value
of our exports of al sorts ~ 1871
amounted to the enormous figure Q
854OO0OOOO. And greatest of all
we haye 20 alase within our wide do
main! Upon this last point our Gov
ou,o, ;s sentimental. Wa spare ou