The Hillsborough recorder., 1877-07-18
From tie North American Review.


/ The people would not have been wholly
4 crashed, either BY the soldier or tile nego.
il bnth had not been used 10 fasten upon
| them the dom natinn OF another class oi per-
sors whoss rule was altogether unenlura-
bic These ws eall-carpet -baggers, not
because the wrrd is descriptive Or euphoni,
Gus, bnt because they hayefno other name
whereby they are known among the children
Of men. They were unprincipled adven
turers. who songht their fortunes in the
South by plundcring the disnrmed and de.
| ienceless people SIme of them were the
dregs Of the Federal army--,he meanest of
/ the camp followers; many were fugitives
from Northern justice the best of them
were those who vert down after the peace.
ready for auy Heed Of shame that was safe
aud profitable. These. combining with u
few treacherous 'scalawags' aud some lead.
/ ing negroes 10 serve as decoys for the rest.
aud oacked BY the power ofthe general goSr
ernment. became the strongest budy of
thieves that eyer pillaged y people. Their
Inoral grade was lar lover, and yet they
were much more powerful than the rubber
bands that infested Germany after the close
Of the Thirty Years war. They swarmed
over all the States from the Potomac TO the
Gulf. and settled in lIordcS. not with intent
to remain there. hnt merely to feed 0n the
substance of a PROSTATE and defencele,s
people. They touk whatever came within
their reach. iniIuded themselves into all
! private corporations. assumed the fuietions
Of all offices. including thecourts Of justice.
aud in lnany places they even run the
churches BY force and fraud they either
controlled all tlectnns or else prevented
elections from, being held They returned
sixty OF themselves 10 one Congress, and
ten or.twelye of the most ignorant an'i yeo
nal among them we're nj the same time
I.thru>t iutu the Sena,e. This false repre-
>eutalion of people by strangers aud enc
mics who had not even bona fide residence
4 'among them sas the b:tirrest Of all mocke-
ries. There was nu show of truth or honur
ab"ut it. The pretended representative
was always ready TO vote for any measure
that would opprcss aud enslaye his so-call-
ed constituents : his hostility was uncon,
cealcd. and he lost no opportunity to do
them injury. fa+ 2l~'s" 10 H." @sa'.~s<
II MS DESCENT rroN LOUISIANA. 81. 2.
| The sgricultarai aud commercial wealth
of Louisiana made her q strong temptation
TO the csrpst-haggers. These vultures
snufFed the prey froin aiar. aud. 50 >oiii as
the war was over. they swnoped down up n
/ her ia fiocss that darkened the air. The
State was isliyrIed into their hands by the
military authoriiics but the officers impos-
ed some restraints upuu their lawlcSs cupl.
duty. They hailed with delight the advent
OF negro suffrage. because to them il was
merely legallzed meilind Of stuIing the
ballot>bOx. aud they stuffed it. Theuee.
firth. aud down TO very recent period.
they gorgad themselves without let or hin.
draHce. L.. ..s-:f ~.
4 The Gepreda,ions they committed were
frightfnl. They appropriated. on one pre-.
tence and anuther. whatever they could lay
their hands un. aud tI,eu pledged To them
selves the credit ol the State for unenuuied
millions more Tue public securities ran
down io'haif price, and still they put their
fraudulent bonds un the market aud sold
them for what they would fetch. The Own.
ers Of the best real estate IN town or cuun-
try were utterly impoverished. bccause the
burdens upon IL we're heavier than the rents
would disrlmrge.s During the last ten years
the city oi New Orleans paid III the form
of direct taxes lnuIe tkan tile estimated va
luc of oil the property within her limits.
, aud still has debt uf equal amount un.
; paid. lis not likely that otbrr parts oi
the State suffered less. The extent pi their
spollalious can hardly be calculated, bu: the
testimony Of the eirPet-baggers themselves
against one another. the reports nf commit
} tees scRt by Congress to investigate the sub
) icct, aud other information from sources
entirely authentic. make il safe to say that
general runhtgration. sweeping over oil
/, the State FROM une cnd to tho other. aud
) destroying every building aud every article
Of persunal property. would have been VI
! ! STATION Of mercy incomparison to the curse
j Of such government.
D This may seem nj FIRST hlush like gross
cxaggeraliun. becnuse IL Is worse than any.
| thing that nisrule ever did beiute. The
u grscdicst Of lIunau proconsuls left some.
thing 10 the provinces they wasted the
Norman did not strip the Saxon quite to
| the skin: the luriiars under Cromwell did
not utterly jesoIaie Ireland Their rapa
city was cunIined to the visible things which
they could presently handle aud use. They
could not take what did not exist. But The
American carpet.hagger has an invention
unknown 10 those OId-faslioncd robbers
which increases his stealing power as mucl
as the steam engine aJds TO the nechaniea
/, force Of mere natural muscles. Tie make'
negotiable honds Of the State. signs ant
.u seals them ascending 10 the fvrnIs 1t law,
scllsthem. converts The proceeds 10 his ow'
use aud then dclirs justice TO g. behind ~