The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1877-06-28

. uaG luTLutT pEOol w you VAIN sn"V Wo
ire not governed by a proscriptige poll
~? Does it not show that we have full
filed the pledges and promises made
during the last canvass, to make no dis
tinction on account of race, color or par
ty? (Applause.) We wanted to show
you people of the North that we were
actuated by the highest and most patriot
ic feeling. We knew that Judge Willard
was an honest man; no stain was upon
his ermine, and though he differed from
the Democratic Legislature in politics,
they elected him to position. We did
not wage a political canvass. We were
fighting for every interest dear to free
men, and, thanks to the brave and true
men and glorious women of South Caro-"
lima, this war for good government was
successful-they have established it in
every department of the State govern.
ment. They have accomplished this, and
they now propose fulfilling to the very
letter the pledges which made and ap-
peaIed to high Heaven to witness, that
they should be carried out. declared
that if elected I would be Governor ofthe
whole people of South Carolina; that l
should know no race, no party, no color;
that all men who stood on the soil of
South Carolina, native or foreign born,
white or black, should be equal before
the law, and, so help ME God, it shall be
done. Enthusiastic applause: l am
glad to say the bitterness which marked
that strife is passing away, and say to
you men Of New York, as say at home,
I owe my election to the colored men of
South Carolina. applause Thou
sands of them voted for me, knowing that
I had been q good friend of their race,
knowing that l was the first man after
the war to recommend that they should
be given the right of suffrage, and Ihave
never yet changed my opinion on this
subject. Knowing this, they sustained
me in large numbers, and I am happy to
say that nearly all the fears of the more
ignorant are passing away, and they are
satisfied that they will be dealt with in
all respects as citizens Of South Carolina.
We intend to try and elevate them, edu-
cate them and show them the response
bilities as we'll as the blessings of liberty.
We want them, as other citizens of
America and South Carolina, to be wor-
thy of the great boon of citizenship ofthis
great Republic.
A UNITED COUNTRY.
My friends, 1 must again thank you
for this cordial greeting, doubly crafty.
ing because it is the voice of New York
reverberating to South Carolina. I come,
as 1 said, to do honor to my distinguished
friend, General Shields. He wore the
blue, and I wore the grey, but we can let
the curtain drop over those years and go
back to the time when that flag, borne by
him, waved alike over the men of the
South and the men of the North, and we
can look beyond to the future when
through all time that flag shall float over
free and prosperous and reunited coun-
try. applause I say this to you-a
Southern man, rebel-for when / fought
fought as hard as 1 knew how against
you, and say also that if that flag floats,
as it should do, over free apd equal
States; if it shall be the symbol of liber-
ty and equality and justice to all the
States, and every man of every State, the
men of the South will honor it and love
it as of old, and the time may come once
more when New York and South Carroll
ma shall stand shoulder to shoulder
against common enemy and their
blood mingle upon the soil. (Ap-
plause.
My friends, shall bear this cordial
greeting back home with me to the little
Palmetto State, and assure our people
that your hearts. here throb kindly for
lis.
l trust in God that better future is
before the whole country, and that we
shall have peace, prosperity and liberty
to every man upon the Continent. (Ap-
plause.
SPEECH OF GENERAL SHIELDS.
General Shields was then introduced
and said:
FELLOW CITIZENS AND FELLOW Sol
D1ERs-I left home the other day to visit
Auburn, expecting to make the acquain-
tance of the Shields Guard and thank
them for the honor of bearing my name.
I expected to make the acquaintance of
good many people of Auburn and
thank them for the kindness they have
shown all these years to the Shields
Guard. But such an occasion as this |
did not expect, and am a little bewil-
dered; such q brilliant spectacle I was
not prepared for. I did not dream you
had such great city here, and that you
would turn out to give me such welcome.
If there is one company in America that
ought to be proud to-day it is the Shield
Guard of Auburn. Here is the Governor
of your great Empire State, New York,
man that I was more anxious to see
than any other man in the State. Why?
Because the name has been borne over
our prairies until it has become house
hold word with us, and I will give you
the reason-his incorruptible integrity,
his infexible purpose, rising above the
pitiful devices of the politician and con-
Quoting the affairs of this great State in
the interests of the whole people. He is
here to-day to welcome the Governor Of
old gallant, chivalrous South Carolina
(applause) and also to welcome me.
(Applause and laughter) This company
deserves great deal Of credit for what it
has done, not because it has kept up my
name, though I am most gratified for
that, II had a great many companies
called after me once, but when went
into obscurity they went into nothing
ness), and their captain is man of vim.
l do not believe there is man on earth
could have dragged me from home but
that same gentleman. But thank him
from my heart and thank you citizens Of
Auburn for bringing me here. 1t is a
glorious day in my life; and here is the
Governor of South Carolina come to
honor the anniversary, Wade Hampton
savior of his State. If there is one man
in America who should be welcomed in
our State that man is Governor Hamp-
ton. applause There does not live
people more ready to appreciate true
greatness than the people of this great
Empire State. He has redeemed South
Carolina without doing swrong or injus-
tice to any man, or class of men of any
color. What a magnanimous example