Orangeburg times. [volume] (Orangeburg, S.C.) 1872-1875, 1874-04-09
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aORANGEBuRa, S. c., Apl. IS, 1874.

of the End, over the signature of " "Repub-
lican,D advising as to our duty in
the coming campaign, magnanimously
saddles upon the white people a part of
the censure for our present condition,
and very kindly exonerates the colored
people from all blame for the crimes
which have disgraced South Carolina.
He upbraids the whites on account of
their "imprudcnt sullenness in refusing
to rccede from their position of hostility
to the government; but thinks "the
colored people were ignorant and have
been fooled"
Now Mr.. Editor with all due Difference
! to the opinions of the writer I must mild
ly say that differ slightly with him, and
briefly record my reasons for so doing.
In the first place the negro is not the
fool some take him to be. He is much
more of the kpave than the fool in every
respect. He upholds this thieving gov
ernment, by no means, through innocence
or because he is fooled into it, but he
does it willfully, and because he believes
he will be benefited by it. He believes
that high taxation will finally break up
the white farmer, and throw the lands
into his hands, and he intends on this &C.
count to uphold it.
He has no thanks whatever to bestow
upon the thousands who have, of their
own accord, divided up, and sold their
lands to hin.
The writer speaks of the whites refu-
sing to accept Office at their hands.
Will he cite single instance in which
the negroes have offered office to white
man, without requiring him first to pro-
nounce himself a Republican, which
whatever it may mean i'll the eyes of the
intelligent,in the eyes of the negro means
nothing more nor less than to 60 with
the majority, that is the negro party
Besides / understand that some promi-
nent men in our County have taken the
pill without sagar, joined the leagues and
bended the knee, and done everything
else required by the Radical party, who
have not yet been honored with even rs
much as corporals guard.
The negro therefore makes, as there really
is, but two parties, the black mans party
and the white mans party; and the sooner
we accept this fact, the better it with be
for us. especially if it makes us abandan
for ever the cringing policy which has
cursed US since the war, and look within
ourselves alone for relief. 1t is, n serious
question weather half of the whites OF
one tenth of the blacks know the differ
ence of meaning between Republican
and Democrat.
In South Carolina it is no longer n
question Of party, but it is reduced to
one of race, and the blacks and not the
whites are responsible for it.
] In 1870 the whites camc to the negro,
| and invited Kim to unite with them i'll the
establishment OF MI honest government,
but he presistently refused. 1t was not
because the negro was ignorant, for the
subject was thoroughly explained on the
stump by Kcrshaw, Rutlcdgc and others.
In the campaign the whites almost
unanimously voted for and supported
negroes for Office, but the negroes were
nearly unit against the whites.
Did Republican" think of this when
he spoke of"the whites refusing to recede
from their hostility &C.. and of the
blacks seeking advice from their old
masters and being refused?
have always been kindly disposed
towards the negro. I always believed
that his emancipation was q blessing to
the South. l think it right that he
should enjoy equal political rights with
the whites, and l think if he would ac-
cept of the system of cumulative voting
and minority representation now, that
we should extend the same rights to him
when we have white majority, but l
think that any further stopping to him,
unless he first comes to us, would be
worse than degradation on our part