The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1879-06-26

IeStug ueI uclc. ioiij VIC auSNSA w eiiio
charge is simple.
Nearly every man in the South who
could bear arms was in her armies,
and she can scarcely be reproached with
justice for trusting and honoring in
peace the men who risked their fortunes
and their lives for her in war. And
when the fact is cited that while the
South sends so many of her old soldiers
to represent her in this august assembly,
the North sends but four, 1 submit that
the reproach, if reproach rests any
where, belongs rather to the North than
to the South. I feel that but speak the
sentiments of every man here who was
in the Confederate service when l ex-
press my deep regret that there are not
in this Chamber more of the men who
met us in battle, for if opposed to us po.
litically, they would, if true soldiers and
gentlemen, treat US with the respect that
brave men never fail to accord to each
other. And, sir, had these great oppos-
ing armies which for four years confron-
ted each other in death grapple been
left to make and enforce the terms of
peace, not only would the country have
been spared much of the suffering and
the humiliation it has experienced, but
it would have enjoyed a peace honora-
BILE alike to conquerors and conquered.
We should long ere this have seen q
union re-estabished on the basis of
fraternal reconciliation and a whole
people bound together by the indissolu-
Bile bonds of mutual respect, common in
terests, and O common destiny. Such
at least, is the firm conviction of every
true soldier in the South, and all her
sons were soldiers. Nor is this convic-
tion wanting among the brave soldiers of
the North, for have heard it expressed
by them time and again.
That the men who truly represent the
South are here to-day is due mainly 10
our friends on the other side. When
you insisted that the States should re-
turn to the Union; when you called
upon them to send back their Represen-
tatives, did you mean what you said, or
did you mean the Southern States to be
rotten boroughs to be filled by nomina-
tiuns of the republican party? Indeed,
did you not for fifteen years make them
so? And I will leave ii to the candor
of republican Senators to say whether
they are satisfied with the result of the
experiment they made at such frightful
cost to US and the whole country. We
are here because we do represent the
popular majority, the character, the in
telligence, and the property of the States
which have sent us. We are here be-
cause left to themselves, the instincts
of the recently enfranchised voters have
taught them that their interests are iden-
tical with ours. We are here because,
belonging to your own race, trained in
the same political experience as your own,
taught by years of rule how to govern,
we could not be subordinated, and the
people of the country did not wish us to
be subordinated, to such mass of igno.
rant voters as you had rashly and sud-
denly created. We are here, we trust, for
the good of the whole country. What we
were you knew when you insisted that we
should still, be e>part and parcel of this
Union.
For the past you cannot expect US to
apologize ITO do SO would be to sacrifice
our own self-respect and to forfeit the
respect of all honorable men. In the
heat of the conflict we struck hard blows,
and doubtless we spoke hard words. But
does the remembering or repeating them
now bring us any nearer the peace and
harmony for which the whole country
so ardently longs? The men who served
in the opposing armies are now the
strongest advocates Of true reconcile
alton. We learned in common school
how to respect our enemies; we learned
that personal courage and honor and
truth were better guarantees of patriot
ism than constitutional learning or elo-
quent speech; we learned at least that
in spite of differences, even unto death,
there was q common country which we
could better serve in friendship than in
hatred, and were our antagonists of the
late war here to-day, in the contests on
this floor as in fercer battles of yore,
whoever might be the victor, we should
be assured of fair field and an
honest surrender. Applause in the
galleries. Judge us more by our acts
The Presiding Officer, (NIr. Wallace
in the chair.) The Senator will suspend.
The Chair gives notice that if further
applause occurs in the galleries he will
order them to be cleared, Order must be
preserved.
Mr.. Hampton. Judge us now by our
acts; and again I ask what are they to
provoke distrust? We ask you to strike
from the statute-book legislation which
was as much the instrument of war, the
expression of distrust, as were armies
and navies and military districts. We
say, if you bring US back rs States, treat
us as States. We ask you to remove the
disability which forbids citizen 10 serve
on a jury when it does not forbid him
to serve on the bench. We ask you to
leave the ballot box free, as it has been
through nearly the whole of our politi-
cal existence. You may refuse. You
have the right to refuse if you hold our
demands to be unwise or rnconstitu-
tional.
But surely in the face of the recent
decision of the Supreme Court in regard
to the jurors oath, in face of the legisla-
tion of nearly century in reference to
military interference at the polls, you
cannot charge us with revolution or trea-
son in making these requests. Upon
these issues we are willing to stand. If
the people are with us we shall prevail,
and this war legislation will be repeal
ed. If the people are with you, then
this legislation will stand and we can
learn to adapt ourselves to these changes
in our old constitutional thoughts and
habits as we have learned to adapt our
selves to others. In the great contest
in which we failed we lost much. We
lost power and wealth and precious
lives. But when the people of the I'm
tied States declare that the right of self
government is extinguished in the
States; that the prerogative of a free
vote, which is the distinguishing glory
of American citizenship, can be exer-
cised only under the supervision of a