The Fairfield herald. [volume] (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1849-1876, 1873-04-09
South Carolina Correspondence.

t. DEAR SIR: In my last letter, did
nosi intend surfeitipg your Gu,OCO
readers with pro-slavcry arguments ;
such, have never studied, neither do
u believe it to be right, to be Just,
ahat mah should hold nersbip Of man,
but, again, it cannot be right, it can
not be just, that hundreds of millions
Of paid.up capital in slaves, which
were guaranteed by the Constitution
and 's~pportsd by decisions Of the
Supreme Court, should be rendered
halueless by one sweeping edict. Per.
haps YOU may say that this was the
result Of the rebellion, but if the
slaves we're property, the President
had no'rhore right to emaucipate thcnt,
than to libcratc from. work the stock
Of the defeated, Gouthcrner. You
and /, oon we'll pemembcr how often
during '6l and 'G2, the world wns as
tured, that the war was wagcd, not
to- free the negro, but restore the
union. 1t is surprising to me, TO see
how some men will ride hubbyn nto
death. While the republic was in a
ferment over the wrongs Of the down
,troddon dunkcy, aud freely gave up
its sous {if'they could not buy SUBJ
etitutes) to bleed, and if necessary,
die for their ,.emancipation, it t. is
strange that thinking people did not
look nearer home, and devise some
means to at least first feed and clothe
the starving, sewing girls and ragged
of IaIr Il Il h,,
strisen to remove from the minds of
your readers some Of the misrepre-
relations of tho past, among those,
that of cruelty, as a marked trait Of
Southern land ownels which in COM
mon with all readers Of red backed
literature, having Slaves ss leading
characters firmly believed, but al:
though doing so, do not mean to sa y
that whippings were not commcn.
Why the very idea of mans owning
tens, nay even hundreds Of slaves,
without occasionally resorting to the
whip as means of preserving dis
eiplinc on his plantation, is prcpcs-
ferrous in the extreme. + have con.
yersed with many freedman, and have
invariably put the same question,
did your old master ever whip you
without having a good reason for so
doing ? 1t is no Ii tie to the credit,
TO the honor Of these much abused
gentlemen that the answer was always
IN the negative. AS far as | have
been able to CLEAN from the darkcys
themselves, |. am. constrained to say
uat the abolitiorist, when he came
South, and proved renegade to his
party. was the harsh task ster, the
iphuman driver, she,, relentless whip
per, and petty tyraat Of the planta,
tion over which lie held dcspotic
sway. \; :,
Why, sir, darkics will now shudds sr
when relating tales Of cruelty, horrid
scenes which [ would blush to put on
paper, perpetratcd by the liberatirg
army of Sherman'upon the very peo.
plo whom they came to frce.., -.
The dark days Of April '65 came to
an end. The South lay bleeding at
tho feot of a merciless conqueror
Her brayest SONS had fallen in the
struggle, bleeding at every pore.
Crushed and helpless she lay n shat
tered wreck of former days, Il mere
mockery Of what she had once been,
Stock, crop, everything gone. Her
battered sons downheartcd, dispiritcd
Thiswas her state during 'G5.. Its a
strange loss that does not bring some
small profit. Now, amidst all her
troubles, the charmer Hope, Whisper
ed the consultations that as she had
proved to the world the cowardly
slanderers to bc Liars of the deepest
dye, and when the negro was free
she at least would rbe lot alone, and
cease to be in the futurey slandercd, !,
such as she been in the past. She
reckoncd without her host. Tho
.darkcy was too rich character to be
SO easily given up. Tho world was
not at all surprised at the discovery
Of q. horrid Ku Klux plot. Innocent
darkies shot, some whipped to death,
and some compelled to undergo tor.
tues TO which the Spanish lnquisition
Of cid. would be fun in comparison.
~The craving appetite of the public
with whom the past tales proved SO
delicious, again read all, digested all
believed all. So far AS they were
concerned no amount Of insult or inso
lance should in any manner be con-
sidered as a palliative. A, free mig
ger whipped for his insolence, in thci
eyes was crime for. which the SO
verest punishment should be metet
out. Did it matter aught to- them
what befsl their own race L? Wha
did it matter if the POOR Southerncl
accused bya perjured darkoy, wa'
dragged from his family in the doat
Of the night, by the blue coated min
ions of tho Car Ulysses-marohet
through the streets of Columbia, en-
during the insolent mockery Of a rac
whose elevation to equality is dis
grace to humanity. What, nay, eve