American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1873-06-07
The Condition Of the South.

The true condition of the South
but little known beyond her own
boundaries Tbe North and Yves.
re accustomed to contemplate her
rom wreng standpoint. A cOun-
~ that can pour its vast wealth
INTO the Golfers of the miserable ad-
Fenturers who have been sent
bisber to swallow up our substance
by q system of unjust taxation and
public plumber, is supposed to be in
prosperous condition, and that all
The wailing cries that go up from
kn impoverished and down-trOdtien
people are but solemn mockeries.
Resigned to elicit a sympathy to
which the South can lay no rightful
claim. All such views would "melt
into thin arr" if they could witness
the misfoFtuncs under which our
people are now laboring, not only
bin regard to their financial affairs,
but also In reference to the political
whirlpool into which they have been
plunged by Congressional enact
ments and Executive DEGREES. 1t
would not be going beyond the truth
70 assert that scarcely one family
exists that has not suffered in pc
euuiarv sense, The sudden de-
yangement of the labor system, to
which the South looked for success
and prosperity, tended greatly to
interrupt and paralyze her indus
try, aud cripple the energies that
had already become well-nigh ex
hausted by the ravages Of war. The
difficulties attending the establish
ment of q reliable system of free
labor, together with two or three
disastrous seasons, left the country
IN m almost impoverished condi-
ton, and even what little remained
~ the reward Of incsesant toll and
industry, was consumed in unjust
aud illegal taxation. In addition to
all this, the political arrangement of
the country has operated more
seriously here than IN any other
section Of the Union. Our State
governments, for the most part,
have been placed in the hands of
corrupt and venal men men who
have no feeling in common with
eur people who take no interest in
the prosperity of the States over
which they preside, and whose only
aim is to fill their pockets with ILL.,
gotten gains.
A once proud and gallant people
have been forced to yield mp their
rights and privileges to foreign adj.
venturers and unlettered freedmen,
and the wisdom and experience that
once shaped and governed the des-
TIMES Of the Republic. have been
compelled to give place to igno-
rance and stupidity.
The present position of the South
j. an anomaly in the history OF
Nations, and she is now suffering
the evils of a mistaken philan
thropy. The sudden change in the
political condition of the negro has,
80 far, operated injuriously to hin,
and to the country. The great de-
sire te hold Office has induced thous
ands to abandon their farms and
workshops for the arena of politics,
Of which they know nothing.
Offices of Trust, honor and emolu.
Rient are sought and obtained by
men who are totally ignorant of the
complicated machinery of govern
Ment. Great political systems do
not grow UP. like mushrooms, in the
short space of night, nor do they
spring into being, like the Goddess
Of Wisdom from the head of Olym
plan JOve, full grown and panOpIled
Tor every conflict. They are the re-
suit of wisdom, prudence and saga.
city. and they require wisdom and
sagacity to comprehend and operate
them. A people wholly unused to
sslfgOvernmen not prepared for il
by previous training, by long and
careful education, are no more
capable of responding to sudden
call for it's exercise than a tribe OF
nntanght savages would be in cal.
enlating an eclipse of the sun from
necessary astronomical tables. Tn.
change from besOtted ignorance to
enlightened craftsmanship must be
gradual, and any nation that will
elevate the one above the other
must be stupidity blind to the gene.
raj veal Of its people.
This lamentable condition Of
things has been forced upon the
South, and while the demagogues Of
an bOur-the miserable traitors to
the cause of right-regard it as a
new luminary of universal freedom
and equality, men OF wisdom and
patriotic devotion to the interests of