The Fairfield herald. [volume] (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1849-1876, 1876-01-05
THE MISSISSIPPI LESSON.
Tho Plain Truth About mississippi by
Ono Who Knows all About It.

Tho Plain Truth About Mississippi by
Ono Who Knows all About 1t.
Mr.. w. TT. Rcdfcld, tho keen.
sighted and impartial correspondent
Of the Cincinnati Commercial, writ,
ing to that papor Of the latest move
Of "B'no1y-Shirt" Morton, says:
! fail to sec what Senator Morton
can accomplish by sending an in
rcstisating committee to NIissis
rippi. The committee, if appointed
will probably consist Of three re
puhlicnns and two democrats. They
will tako an immense mass of tcsti.
mony, and bring in Il majority re
port and minority report Tho
republicans on tho committee vii
report fraud, violence, intimidation
md terrorism, and the democrats
will report that tho election was
perfectly fair, nnd that al is lovely
That is the way with invcstiS;n
ting committees scnt South II il
invariably SO. There is always Z,
majority report and q minority ro
port. ana You can pay your money
ara take your choice.
L was in mississippi during the
latter part of the campaign and unit
after tho election. Tho sum ant
substance OF the whole thing is This
The b(nclSs aro notoriously imcom
pctnnL to govern wisely or well
TEcy elevated misornblo sot tc
Office, and uli ;iio interests Of til,
State suffered. County officers
were rascally and incompetent in
proportion to tho prcpondcrancc OF
negro voters in such counties. A
stream can not rise nhovcils source,
and n voting population rs dcnsclv,
mcomprchensihly ignorant as that in
most Of The counties of Mississippi
cannot elect decent men to office.
mississippi has been on tho down
grade since suffrage was conferred
upon tho blacks, simply because
that class Of people, where in the
ma iority, arc incompetent to Judge
"f qualification for otlico. Loot at
tie officers in Vicltsburg and War
zen County, for instance, before the
whites obtained control Of city and
county. Look at the Judiciary OF
the whole State Men woro made
judges who never read n law book.
The whole concern down there is a
trnycsty on the very name Of govern
Elont. 1t was not Il government it
rNiatod only by liberation f the
whites, and in tho lato cu,.n ,:gn it
became Il question Of self .prcscrva
ton, and tho property holders arose
and turned il oyor.
Thoro was no fraud or ballot-box
ftuiling, but thoro was nm immense
dcal of quict intimidation. The
blacks were given to understand
that they must elect better men to
Office, and they did. Tho Lcgisla-
tnrc elect is as far superior to any
Legislature Mississippi has had in
seven years rs civilization is supo-
rior to lowest Ignorance.
A wcll regulated citizen, not
burned to tho marrow by partisan
virus, could not look upon tho last
mississippi Legislature without q
fco}ing Of disgust. How such lot
Of woolly heads and thick skulls
could govern n great State wisely or
we'll, surpassed his comprehension.
1t was little less than farce Wo
cannot severely blame the whites for
being aroused by this spectacle to n
high pitch Of disgust and indigna-
tion.
Lot Mississippi alone let her
work out the p$oblcm, and zee what
she will make Of it. AS long as we
are permitted to take up our morn
ing paper and glance down it's tclc-
graphic columns without finding nn
account Of a eight" wherein sixteen
negroes are killed and ono white
man wounded, we should hc thank
full. The interests Of the whites and
blacks Of that State aro reallwfd
tlcM rs those Of husband and wifo.
1t is aggravating that tho fools.o Of
both races will not see it and labor
together for the common good, but
tho matter just now needing atten-
ton is to devise means to stop
throat cutting. 2,s,e
Tho charge Of ''intimidation" in
very m:ny counties can BE sustained
but ballot box stufling cannot. Scna~
tor Morton is astonishcd at tho
rapid growth Of tho democratic vote.
lilo suspects ballot-box stuifiing.
At no election heretofore have
tho democrats pollcd their full
strength. This is notorious. They
have laborcd under degree of dis