New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1876-03-29

I" as long as live. You cannot uriNc he o'oi
"sgain to 20 against this Government. IL
"will he the last lesson as well as the first
that we will teach our boys, to stand by the
old Hag.n When man in Mr.. Yeatess posi-
ton saws this, Mt the Same time complaining
of the treatment to which q class at the South
has been subjected, it is fit and polite that
we should fully comprehend the grounds ana
causes of his complaint. To this simple JUS
tIce he and his associates are clearly entitled.
First Mr.. Yeates says: "They kept us out
ain the cold they would not pardon us; they
"tried to starve us into submission to their
"party. and now they raise the howl that we
care rebels because they cannot buy u.s.
Again. according to Mr.. Yeates, they have I'M
dertaken "to bride and demoralize our people.
"They have broken down the purity of the
"balot-box. When they found that they could
"not get our votes, they turned the coored
"pcople loose and let them vote" This was
not all. Mr. Yeates complains that Offices were
multiplied and filed with carpet-baGgers. lie
quotes Mr. Bruce, the colored Senator
from Mississippi rs saying that 1.-THE
"mnds of the colored people were poisoned"
The country was reduced ito howllng
waste and wilderness. Liberty was destroyed
.'in Louisiana and in South Carolina, and in
call the States where the Administration had
"the power to do it," "Spies." Mr.. Yeates
also complains Of and systematic robbery OF
the Southern people. "They tax d us upon
"stamps; they taxed our land; they taxed us
"upon everything. They threatened us and
"arrested us and carried us before the Federal
"courts." "Why, gentlemen" said Mr.. feates,
al tell You there was a perfect reign OF terror;
"and they left our country desolate."
We quote these statements, leaving much
unextracted, because we have here set forth
the injuries to which, in the opinion of many
of her most intelligent and moderate citizens,
the South has been subjected. There may be
some feeling and some exaggeration in them !;
it would be strange if there were not but
suppose we regard as true only what Repub-
lean Representatives know to be true! Sup
pose we take into account only admitted, IN
vestigated, and indisputabc wrongs! Are
carpet-baggers, for instance, mere mythsf
Have there been no political wrongs in Louis
lana and South Carolinnf No false imprison-
ment7 No OnerOus taXatiOnf No employ
ment of the negro vote to secure the election
of unworthy candidates 7 Have the revenue
laws been honestly administered STEALING"
said Mr.. Yeates, "has been the order OF the
"day." Does anybody doubt this? Will the
most ardent Republican assert that the men in
power for the last three or four years at the
South, kept so either by the appointment or
influence or bayonets of the General Govern
ment, have been wise, honest, polite rulers,
adapted by character to meet this enormous
emergency The shames and crimes which
have made great portion of the South dis
contented and unrecOnciled, are known to
everybody. They have been reported by COM
mittees of investigation. They have been
debated in Congress. They have passed into
history. Republican speecl-makers determined
to stand by the party through thick and thin
have in vain endeavorcd to obscure them by
raising a red cloud of "reminiscences. The
fact remains that public affairs at the South
have been shamefully mismanaged. Certain
Representatives think the remedy for this is to
tell every Southern member who complains of
it that he is Rebel and an unregenerate
Secessionist OF the efficacy of this course
Mr.. Yeates has doubts, and SO have we.