Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1874-04-02


NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. it is not owing to the ex
treme views which you have held-whethel
your action has not consolidated the non.tax
paying portion of the community against you
are questions which | leave to your own con
sideration. Allow me to say, however, thai
l always feel great sympathy with any people
who are badly governed and over-taxed, as is
the case in Louisiana, and seems also to be
the condition of South Carolina. l will say
to you candidly that, while 1 have watched
the proceedings ofyour Taxpayers Conven
ton with no little interest, a portion of my
sympathy has been abstracted by the perusal
of speech delivered during its deliberations
and which contained vler aud more vii
lainous slander than have ever experienced
before, even among my bitterest enemies in
the North. 1t was far worse in its PERSONAL.
ty and falsehood than anything l have ever
seen in the New York Sun.
The President here seemed to have conclu
ded his reply, and Gov. Bonham inquired
what was the speech to which he had refer
red. The President said that he did not
know whose speech it was, or whether it had
been correctly reported, but he had read il
recently as part Of the proceedings Of the con-
vention. -.
Col. T. Y. Simons remarked that he felt il
to be due to the gentleman who made the
speech, that it should be stated here that he
disavowed having made use Of the offensive
language to which the President referred, and
which had been attributed to him by local
Republican paper.
Gen. M. c. Butler corroborated this disa.
vowal He had not himselfheard the speech
but he had read it as fully reported in the
Edge6eld county paper, and it contained nc
such offensive allusions as had been charged
Gen. Kershaw explained that whatever
might have been said in the speech itself did
not reflect the sentiments or meet with the
sympathy of the convention. Expression
was given to this fact by the action of the
body in promptly recommitting the report
which had been introduced by the speech.
The President said that that might be so
but he had seen nothing in the proceedings
of the convention expressing any disapproval
of what had been said in the speech.
Mr.. James G. Thompson here took occa
sion to say that he was one Of the few Repub
licans who had taken part in the convention
that he had heard the speech to which refer
ence had been made with pain ; but he must
say that he and other Republicans in the
body regarded the spirit in which the speech
was received by the convention, and1he action
in recommit,ing the report by which it was
accompanied, as plain and pointed rebuke to
the sentiments which it contained.
Some general talk followed in regard te
the obnoxious speech, the President manifest
ing great irritation whenever he alluded to it
In answering one Of the delegates he said
with great emphasis 81 have never seen
speech equal to it in malignity, vileness, falls
ity and SANDER When I think Of it car
scarcely restrain myself" Mr.. Porter sug
gested that it was hardly just to hold a whole
community, pleading for relief from intolera
Bile oppression, for the utterance of single
individual, but his remonstrance seemed to be
hardly noticed by the President
Colonel Richard Lathers, on behalf Of the
Charleston Chamber of Commerce, here pro
ceeded to read an address to the President, re-
counting the grievances of the people Of South
Carolina, end tracing the origin of those
grievances to the corrupt management, for po
ltlcal ends, of the Freedmen's Bureau. He
was at times interrupted by the President, who
warmly expressed his disbelief of some of the
charges quoted by Col. Lathers, and said that
he attributed much of this trouble in South
Carolina to the unwillingness of the white
people to come forward and form the State
government at the time of reconstruction
This he said, forced Congress to call upon the
colored element.
AS the delegation were about retiring, Pres
ident Grant expressed bis good wishes for the
future prosperity Of the State, and his hope
that when they came to lay their memorial
before Congress, some proper and practicable
plan for the redress of their grievances might
be found.
This ended the interview. 1t has produced
various impressions on the delegates. The
feeling among them is mainly one Of disap
pointment, although they are by no means
discouraged.
The following is published by the Washing
ton Chronicle as au extract from the offensive
speech alluded to by the President; and the
Chronicle is quite successful in reproducing
the Incorporate language to the damage OF
the committee and their object. The extract
purports to be from the speech Of Gen. NJ. W.
Gary:
awe are unwilling to knock at the door of
the White House and ask Grant for any favor.
Congress itself had been guilty Of transactions
which should make its name stink in the nos
trils of every honest man in the world, and
we are not disposed to waste our time. in a
fruitless appeal to Congress. We do not ex.
pect Beast Butler, one of the chief thieves of
Congress, to 20 back on his fellow thieves of
lesser light in South Carolina. We believe in
the dominance of the white race, and would
do all in our power to restore it, to protect
our self-respect, and restore our race to their
natural rights" ....
On Monday, the delegation visited. Vice
President Wilson, the Cabinet officers, Sena.
tors Morton, Carpenter and other distin'
guished Republicans. They report that they
were received everywhere with marked con-
sideration and expressions Of cordial sympa'
thy. 1t was expected that on Tuesday they
would present their memorial to Congress.
THE VOLCANIC EXCITEMENT.
The volcanic excitement in North Carolina
has somewhat subsided during the past few
days; though, according to the newspaper &C.
counts, much uneasiness is still felt by the
residents in the immediate vicinity Of the
scene. The mountain has been visited by
several scientists and newspaper correspon'
dents, all of whom confirm the reports previ-
ously published, with the exception that they
say no smoke has been seen to issue from the
crevices of the mountain.
The correspondent ofthe New York Herald
-. l.. CQsJ ,,1f;,oo rrsuao