Lexington weekly intelligencer. (Lexington, Mo.) 1871-1887, 1879-06-28
MALIaNERs OF THE SOUTH.

Few southern people, or democrats
who only read papers OF their own po-
Utica. faith, have any idea OF the extent of
the effort which is made by radical re-
publican papers to inf1ame the minds OF
northern people against the south. In
all the broad domain OF the late slave
states there is not n paper which in
dulges in bitter and acrimonious Ian
guage regarding the north and her lnstl-
tutions which receives the c~ountenance
OF the people there is not one statesman
who Is honored with their highest con-
tidence who has upon his lips anything
but broad. conciliatory. patriotic speech.
The %utterances of such papers on the one
side as the Okolona States. and on the
other OF the Seymour Republican, should,
OF course, go for naught, as the wildness
of their rawlings sets them down as being
controlled either by fools or knaves. But.
unfortunately for the country, there are
papers of much literary merit, the ex-
tensIve circulation of which gives them
great influence, which prostitute their
columns to repeated calumnies OF a
large element of their fellow country
men. Which. for partisan purposes,
malign, traduce and Willy the south.
Papers which tomorrow would cover
with eulogy any southern leader who
could SO far forget his manhood as to
swear allegiance to republicani<m. as
was done In the cases OF Longstreet.
Mosby, Pagan and others.
One OF the most dangerous and iu-
iammable OF these incendiary papers is
Harper's Weekly. Its cartoons are so
ably executed as to command attention,
and SO brutal in their injustice and fall
sity as to cause a shudder to every
person who knows how to
reckon their effect upon the credulous
and the ignorant. 1t was, more than
any other agency. the lampooning this
caricaturlst gave Greeley ~hich drove
him to his grave. No thought OF his
past services to the ideas championed
by the Harpers caused them to pause.
There was no chivalry OF courtesy. no
refinement OF attack. but instead the
free use of the bludgeon of the rnffian.
Then we have Mr.. Geo. VIM. Curtis, the
dileHante. the orator. the writer. whose
cIassically cut nasal organ received a
permanent ret,ouse from the unsavori-
ness OF the Grant regime in his own
party. but who. nevertheless, is not too
good to grossly misrepresent the south
whenever he speaks of it. and that is in
every issue of his paper. All this might
be endured in this delectable sheet. as
the country has come to know Mast and
but to reinforce them every now
and then comes Eugene Lawrence. That
he has ability is to his eternal shame.
He has great ability. He is scholar.
In Greek and Latin and in all the lore
they reveal he is a master. 1t
may not. probably, be SAID of him that
he is the "wisest, brightest, meanest OF
but he is certainly passably
bright and very mean.
In speaking of the southern states in
the issue Of May "a, this ''liberal," mark
The word, this ''liberal" editor has this
to say. Where he alludes to "reform-
ers" he means republicans: "They have
sunk rapidly ever in relative 1mpor-
sance. They are surrounded by an i'm
mense chain of more liberal communi-
les, full Of vigorous life and progress,
but the whole section of country from
The Potomac to the Rio Grande has been
condemned by its political leaders to a
hopeless decay. Its reformers in 1865
forced upon it a system of free schools
that might well have given it a new
life !; the democrats from $50 have left
their schools to languish, and only out
of shame suffer some of thom to flourish
imperfectly; they begin to fear even
their W depressed people, and some
times dole out q scanty subsistence to
the common-school teacher. From 1865
to 1870 the republicans gave to the south
ern states a system of railways that
might well have enriched and cultivated
their waste and neglected lands; they
have built Atlanta, revived Charleston.
When the democrats came in power
again. they kept the railways. some
times refused to pay for them. and check
ed the progress of the system. Under
the republican rule immigration had
begun; the people of the north and OF
formed colonies IN Alabama or
even Kentucky was invaded
by some ardent republicans. and Vir-
showed some trace of advance.
insecurity, death, drove away
the honest settlers, and after Coushatta,
Vicksburg, the dark deeds II Kentucky,
no stream of immigration has been turn
ed toward the south. Labor and capital
fly from the unquiet land"
Let US seer The southern states are
largely surrounded by Pennsylvania and
Ohio, where, under republican rule and
financial management, strikes, murder
and rapine have run riot in late years.
The political leaders of the south, its
S~tephenses. Gordons, John
stons and Lamars, have rarely given
bad, and never unpatriotic advice. But
for them when the republican party
stole the presidency war would have
been precipitated upon the country.
1.-The twenty or thirty confederate gen.
erals who would shake anew the whole
fabric of government" are the leaders
to whom the writer alludes. Without
stopping to answer the taunt that they
were patriotic enough to risk their lives
for their convictions, which is more than
their opponents on the floors of congress
did, it may be said that 1t is much easier
to make the assertion that their efforts
are toward any such end than to prove
it by pointing to their acts or quoting
from their speeches. The "reformers'
whom 1t is here pretended gave the
south public schools were the carpet
baggers OF the north, who, after the war,
secured control OF the southern govern
mepts, and stole everything thew could