The weekly clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1863-1882, 1879-12-03
The Mississippi River Region.

We note that Mr.. c. P. Huntington
who is represented as Northern man
who has lived in Washington county
Mississippi, since the war, and is de
scribed as ga trader, railroad man and
Republican" has been expressing his
''views" to a correspondent of the
Cincinnati Gazette. The following are
some of them. He has been kindly
treated by the people among whom he
has lived. Nevertheless in his exag-
gerated statements, it is not difficult to
see a slight touch of malignity:
Just after the war Northern capital
flowed in here by Millions and everything
took a big rise. Land in the 'bottom"
sold for three or four times its present price
1t bid fair to be the richest country on
earth. Then, too, very bad things happened
the currency was contracted and the
negroes were put in power. The RECONSTRUCT
ton acts scared everybody. They saw at
once that the State was to pass into the
hands of the blacks, and property fell |
think the total of Mississippi property sunk
several millions in month. 1t would have
been far better to leave us under military
government for ten years. Congress was in
too big hurry. Well, once they saw what
was coming, all the new settlers who could
do so sold out and left. Then the revolu-
ton of 1875 drove out the carpet baggers
and they took what little money was left
Now the people have politics to suit them,
but nothing else. You would really be
shocked to travel through some of these
river counties-in fact, coming from Indi-
ana, you could not live on the food they
would set before you. 1t would be corn
bread, fat pork and whisky for days to-
gether. They are poor, very poor, and sad
as poor. Yes, you may say without exag-
geration that the people. of the "botton"
counties in general are discontinued and
unhappy. And they are bound to have
change, if they turn out every man now in
office.
The condition of Upper Mississippi is
bad and barely hopeful The people are
poor, very poor; and generally the more
land a man owns the poorer he is. Most of
the land is for sale cheap; many of the
whites want to leave, and nearly all the
But it is plain to me that the +
worst is passed. better policy has been
adopted, and better days are probably at
hand.
The revolution of 1875 demoralized the
Before that day the governments
were generally bad, though the State Gov,
eminent was good. The people of Missis-
sippi never would have rebelled against the
Ames Government if their county affairs
had not been so corruptly managed but
taxes kept on increasing and the law was so
wretchedly administered that it fell into con-
tempt. At last the whites rose with force
and arms and deliberately revoIutionized.
They may talk differently to you, but
among themselves they call it revolution,
and do not deny that much blood was she'd
They succeeded, but in doing so they turn
ed loose the worst elements of society, and
now the struggle is to put down those ele-
mepts
The older class of politicians are deter I
mined to hold on to the power they have I
gained at so much cost, but the people are
weary and bound to have a change. In
,ur county we began by dividing the Off
,es fairly between the blacks and whites
We send two colored men to the Legislature,
md have elected a white Republican for
District Attorney for the counties of Wash !
ngton, Issaquena, Bolivar, etc. Other !
counties in the bottom are following the ex-
nipple, and it works well. In due time
he whites and blacks will be in perfect
ecord