Western sentinel. [volume] (Winston [i.e. Winston-Salem], N.C.) 1856-1886, 1877-05-03
A cARPET.BAGGER STORY.
HNPATTERSON, SENA'
TOR. SO-CALLED, From
SOUTH CAROLINA.
BRIEF CHRONICLE OF Hts THEFT,
LIES, PERJURY AND IDICCY-A
SPECIMEN CARPET. BAG STATESMAN.
Especial Correspondence N. o. Demo-
crat.

Especial Correspondence N. o. Demo-
crat.
WAsBrNoToS, April IL, 1S77.--
After all the woes of South Caroli-
Ma, and at the close of her long
season of horrors, there was an
element of. the ludicrous injected
into the final chapter of her deliv-
erance, which cannot be suffered to
go unremarked without, as Burke
used to say, "eclipsing somo part
OF the gaycty of narions." [ refer
10 the antics of that peculiar inGi-
vidual,
JOHN PATTERSON,
Who, as if the institutions of car
pet baggery required a finishing
tonch of disrepute to make it the
most utterly hateful abortion Of
dcformity that ever dragged out
miserable existence upon the face
of the earth. is known as "Senator,
and credited 10 South Carolina
| 1t is not my present purpose to
speak harshly of John. To speak
harshly of him at this time would
be to waste kicks upon the carcass
eff a dead dog, with no other result
than to infect the surrounding at
mosphere with bad orders, which
may be avoided 10y simply leaving
the aforesaid carcass to decompose
in peace. The current supposition
respecting John is, that he is simply
vile in every impulse of nature and
simply vicious in every fibre of his
being. But this estimate is one
sided. His character presents some
variety of traits, and is therefore
not altogether unintcresting.
His career to the merely casual
observer undoubtedly presents the
aspect of low, dull monotony of
perfectly level baseness; hut the
close observer soon ascertains that
this seeming rnonotony of baseness
is diversified by occasional chasms
of idiocy which, while tl.ey may not
despoil the landscape of its general
lideousness, at least relieve its
samehess. Thus the good-natured
observer of Johns career Is kept
perpctuaily il donbt as to whether
his acts should be rated crimes and
ascribed to depravity of soul, or
errors, and charged up to fcebleness
OF mind; and while there may he
no doubt AS to the advisability of
his immediate incarceration, there
is most perplexing question as
to whether his place ot contine. .nent
ought in justice to be Il pcnitentiary
or, mercy and charity, an asylum
tor idiots.
1t shcnld be remarked, however,
that while Johns viciousness of sou.
has been clearly apparent these
many years, his tcebleness of mind
has been striking!y developed only
of late. You see. it does not re-
quire powerful mind for the
operation OF picking pocket SO
long as the victim is securely held
down by able bodied pals Of the
thief. Thus, while Grant or those
who operated in his name, held
South Carolina pinned to the earth,
John was cnabled to pick her
pockets without bctraying any fee
bleness OF intellect. 1t was All avo-
cation requiring, under the circum>
stances, neither adroitDess, skill nor
courage; nothing was required, in
fact, but mere greed and simple
vacuity of morals, with both OF
which John isendowed to the extent
OF genius. However, any trained
monkey, OF, perhaps, an educated
hog, could have performed the
operation with the same success IN
der the same circumstances. But
the general putlic, looking on from
distance, and intent only uron
the mar,ipulations of the pickpocket,
lost sight Of the military garrotcrs,
who were really the chief contribu-
tors to the success of the operation,
imagined that John was doing an
artistics job of light fingered work,
and straightway oignitied him with
the reputation Of a great, bold and
skilltul thief.
Now the institution of carpet
5aggery has indeed furnished forth
some rare specirnenis CT the genius
thief. Running over the list-too
long to recapitulate-we discover
many names deserving of real emf
nence as thieves; mostly sneak
thieves, it Is tue, but still eminent
as to their kind But Patterson il
not one of them. He lacks even
that low order of intellectual devel
opment requisite to greatness in the
science of theft, and he coulG never
have obtained the reputation he has
but for the peculiar circumstance: