The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1874-03-18
QUESTIONS ANSWERED.
40 lhe EdIlor Of lllo Dallas Heraldl

10 the Editor OF lhe Dallas lefhldi
In the WEEKLY HERALD Of March
7th, under tho head "By Their Fruits
Shall ye Know Them" after an inter
estlng history of the legislation OF
Texas on the subject OF common
schools, you say, In answer To the III
qulrles Of an unknown c0rrespon-
pondent,n "Now, dear Sir, this IL what
Texas did, Of her own free VIII nnd nc,
cord, before what h now called radlcal
or scalawag had an existence on our
soil. BY the war Texas fell under bay
onet rule, and then, for the first Time,
we came 10 know those classes OF man
kind now known as radicals and scala
ways" Now, not knowing the exact
meaning OF the term 'scalawag," for
| cannot find II In "Websters una
bridged,n and wishing 10 know our 80
clpl status, ] respectfully and kindly
ask more information than Is contained
IN the above quotations. l am u new
comer,p n stranger rs yet, In Texas. !
am here TO make Texas q home fol
myself and family. We come to I'LL
the soil, and feed our locks on
the broad rich pastures, ana 10
live in peace and quiet with
all mankind, and especially the people
of Texas, aud add something to oul
own stock of worldly goods, and nd
vance the interests OF our adopted
state. But, for q number OF years, II
Illinois, where we lived, ] generally
voted the republican, or as you call IL
the "scalawagn ticket. l did II hon
estly, and have no disposition TO deaA
II, aud, think, no cause to be ashamed
of IL, and shall still most certainl.
claim the right Of every American cit
izen, TO vote according to the dictate
of my own Judgement. We have M
political aspirations, but do tell US, Mr.
Editor, whether, for having votedwitl
the republican party in another state
and claiming the right TO vote here, n
we may think best for the interest o
our adopted state, we will be pointe'
at as 'scalawags,n as family unfit 70
decent society, for think the wor
has some such meaning
Please speak plainly, that we ma
know our social status among this pee
pie, rs well rs 10 report to those lei
behind. SUBSCRIBER.
With pleasure we publish the fore
going respectful communication, ne
knowing the author, though his nam
accompanies the article. The first IN
SEPARATION Is to tell him twoplaln truth'
that he is neither n carpet Dagger nor
scalawag. Webster truly does not de
fine the meaning of either term, bu
as we are now free and can make Oh
own dictionaries, we will give the con
respondent our definition of the tw
terms, to-wit:
Carpet bdgger-A term unknown wi
the close of the American civil war /
} 1865. The north having conquered til
south, n large number of persons in TIL
north, often without money or chara'
ter, conceived the idea of following til
conquerng army into the south, hol
ing 10y loud talk and false pretences
| be placed as rulers over the conquere
people, whereby they could enric
themselves.
.Scald,rdg, AS we understand tn
term, has been applied to souther
men, who, since the war, have cooper
ated with the carpet bag elcment--n
more, no less
The term carpet Dagger has neve
been applied to actual, bona .fde emf
grants, from the north or elsewhere
for such people, whether democrats o
republicans, are welcomed by the pee
pie of Texas 10 the state, and nov
moro so than ever, because of til
favorable change in our political cor
dition.
4 Nor has the word scalawag bee
applied to southern union men a
such, by no means, but only t. thos
:. who, since the surrender, have acte
in concert with the carpet bag peopl,
whether they were formerly secession
lists or union men.