The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1880-10-06
An Infamous Letter.
Columbia Register

All
Columbia Register
Scpc,mber q, 1850.
DEAR SIR: like your ndyice In regard to climate,
.Sc.. and II I cal arrange my business here l think
shall try your State fora future home. ~
enclose q letter which the postmaster OF this place
handed to me last evening. II what that Letter states
is true It Is a very bad state Of affairs, to say the least
Of 1t; but rs he did not sign his name ! have 'naae up
my mind tn t it Is the ctfurt II many different hahus'
MS Il IL in s.paratc writings. l would shy that, except.
ing your articl 1t Is all the information l nave ma
from Columbia. The postmaster here han opened 'he
letter and given It pretty general circniati"n oeiofH me
handed it tn the, and two Of the gentlemen thnt WAS
Vnur. trniv JAMES ARMSTRONG.
This letter, whilst It purports to be written from
Columbia, WAS mailed in Charleston. l DSars ene
stamp of tho Charleston office OF August the 5o'h'
LsrrHR or ZONE OF THE FOOLS"
CoLruprA. 8. G., August 26, 1880
NJ. Ju,acs armstrong, Cedar Springs hc"s
County, Michigan.
DEAR SIR: l have seen your letter IN the Solu,n-
bin Icqtster expressing q desire to come S"Htn' tepe.
cisIly to south Carolina, AMI the editor reply 10 your
questions. advising You to come. Just %rite .nesc
few lines to warn you against coming Snntn II youcan
make q bare living clsrwhcre. In the FIRST place, no
man can live South, especially in South Carolina, IN
nny p.ace. He and his family would not lie tolerated
and would always be looked upon with susP,,cioh nhu
JEALOUS surveillance. II he Is poor aud remains pnorh 10
would BE- ~dcspised, and M effect to recnpera'e ms ior'
tunes conld be surely against the overwhelming Pre-.
judice that he would have to encounter, ana II nc
brought r little money with him one would he feece'i
and cheated from the very start by any hnihocI ~
Jobs that are considered Legitimate when directed
against i id Yankee. One would be charged three
prices for m ything 10 would want to bny, and II nc
managed to accumulate alittlr above ms neienpnr" ne
would excite the envy of his ncighho hond ana he
would be burned out. II one Attempted to hire negro
help and treated Them fair and hr'nanely he would De
accused Of interfering with tho peculiar institution;
and. ten to one. he would be tarrcd and ~feathsred II
nut assassInated. Tho Democrats have recently cap
tured the State and no one dar-s to have any opinion
of HIS own. They nre rs corrupt as the Republicans,
and have been impe,cnnlons so long tnat tney are nnS,,
their h0pelrssly bankrupt State BY all sorts VI s'hehieS
Of public plnndrr. !.
A. 200 could stand q chance Of purchasing property,
would say none IN the world except some G"d lorsa-
ken spot Of no value to anybody. AS s0'fi rs you
calna with an avOwed object Of purchasing properly,
land would be run up to three times It's Vnl,lr ana you
could not buy ut all. and perhaps STAND o chahce u oe'
Ing cheated In the title. ,
To your second question, "What part OF the stltcis
best for 4 Northern mans healtbf can only STATE
that In proportion to the ~salubrity of the climate Of
the upper .cc,inis Of tho State, where the LANDS are
rolling and adapted to wheat and grain, Is the vlndic.
tiveness and have towards an intruder IN" stfuily DE-
vcloped. The rrr}ntiees ana bitterness - ID 'n W",, v.u,
man, who I'LL rank rs id Yankees. In the sections
where the most uneducated white small hrln"rs 1--we,
and they have been 50 t,usht and educated by the ar
istocratic lenders. who flourish upon their prSuaicrs
to the ~.nicgern and TO the yankee carpet hsggcr.'
Social and political ostracism Inevitably awaits any
one. never mind how Legitimate may be hi, object III
seeking abode with the Southern native, and the more
marked ard discritns native does 1t bec0me In proper.
| ton as the community are more educated and consid.
er Themselves more refined; nor Is itdininished when
causes pr01uce more narrow lnindedncssn ana lees edn-
cation among a naturally treachernus people lineup
Ter sections of the State, where There are small lar
iner., and where, indeed, the white people can best
live, are ps0pled by n willy, cruel and vindictivc peo-
pie, who have no regard for law or order, and In wh"se
estimation human life Ia q mere trifr. The negroes
do most Of the work ia the State. and every cross.road
ard bar.room md village sh'p finds the white men
and their sons and retainrrs discussing politics over q
drunken brnil, while the work is being done by the
negroes hired for wages or part OF tie crop. which they,
never get. having TO content themselves ut the end OF
the ear with meucrc ratiois OF grits and bacon with
no money, or run the risk Of being killed II they pre-
sunie to demonstrate. The ku kiuS horrors, OF which
you have read, arc enacted every day, or Night ra'her'
but, owing to the fact OF the State being In the hands
Of the Democrats, aid the press. of course, IN uhuer
Its c%ontroL nothing Is ever said whatever ontrascs ne
perpetrat-d. l would commend sou tn real o oook
recently published by Judge TOurgee, called "A Feors
Errand,,' which will give you q pretty good Idea OF
Southern society and what life is, living at the South
Send and buy the book. Ever word OF tits true, on.
" not half Is said that might b. said. Hampton and
iiutler. who are now in the United States Senate, ne
rs deeply inbrued In the blood Of slaughtered negroes
rs the vileSt assassin who did their bidding o. HAM
burg, where negroes were mastered III cpid olnnd,
lie present DrWOCTdllC uuluht " u AA"
good. who led and encouraged the EIenton riots and
m~assacr.s. and 1t would Bseni that the road to prefer
ment in this State Is over the dead budlcs OF pcgroes
carpe.-baggers and any who differ from the ruling
bower In politics. 8,
The State is IN the most deplprable state financially,
being hopelessly bankrupt, MS nre also her CHIEF cities
-Chsrleston, It's seaport and Columbia, its capital.
The people are poor and struggling against high taxa
ton and official corruption among Its State uficrrs
WIN, under the shudOS Of being Democrats, are plum.
derI the treasury. and without the possibility OF pre-
venting It for years to come. Everything Is IN tile
hands or few, and thoy the representatives OF the ar
Istucracy. broken down In fortune, but managing to
keep the people down by the power OF the lrcss,
which is represented by one paper alone that bus any
influence In the State and which OF course belongs to
the ruling element The small County papers amount
to nothing and dare not ex pose a crime II committed
or repsesen. anything not approved BY the one pm er
published In the chief city. No Russian d~esIntisln
restless, discuntcntcd aud unsettled and constant emf
grafton is going on. and the population has diminish.
ed, although the census enumrrators have cheated and
lied to make 1t appear the population has increased.
Farms abandoned, lands lying idle ana eVerSDouy III q
stntu Of uncertainty as to the future Is q sufficient ref
utation OF the cheat. There Is no ono who would not
Sell out and quit II he could, but when approached us
to price the natural suspiciouaness OF ignorance comes
in and three or four prices are asked, which puts on
tho purchaser too fur for uselc,s regrets to avail much
after the trick is discovered aud both foil to come to
terms purchaser snd seller, until patience and money
ore both exhausted In attempts to trade. Steer clear
| nj thlAS Inlt III LHt huN IN VI Nv ~ hNP ibt h"'hS
experience, and Just read Judge TourC"e's book, THE
Fools krrand," for further Information, which Is more
reliable than the words of any living editnr.
No one who was not high up IS IN oh1cer IN me Con
federate army can stand aoy chanxe for nomination BY
tho Democrats Tor Office In this State, and the cause
Of the Couf.deracy is still upperlnost In the henrts oil
| oil, and the common people und illitsrate classes are
led to believe that the election OF Hancock us Prtsi.
dent will give them another chance Of warring against
the Union, and to them he is represented as having
sympathy with the Southern cause. Of course the
leaders don't believe that but they are unedu"ated
whites In that why who think that every Niger they
xiii they are serving the CAUSE Of helping the South
Every negro or white man who Is o Repu0-
licaa is set upon as o dangerous character, ana he 10
marked! Hampton, who. though never elected, was
In 1878, left the office before his term expired In favor
OF his Lieutenant Governor, Simpson, u 60 TO Inc
United States Senate, after approprtsting about U.s.
0OO contingent fund, with which he bought a.h0use
for himself in Columbia, although only allowed $1,000
and mob ody dared coy anything. GOvernO1S imPeon
succeeded him, now leaving In the President OF the
Senate, the former having been elected CHIEF Justice;
lilo was o noted ku klhx leader, although II could
not be Hxsd upon him. lie compounded felonics OF
state offenders to suve fellow ku Klux ~convlcts anil
Lallo:.boA suffers from the penitentiary. The pres
ont Comptroller General, Hagcod, who Is now the
Democratic candidate for Governor, was accused Of
approprIutin ms license fees Of insurance c"mpanire to
his personal benefit and no one has dar.d The
present Secretary VI SEie, Sitns, also q %canditate Tor
reelection, uses the funds designated ior improve
1 TUtnUSU vi IL Okh 4tOoSo - AA $50
! I~uisitcs, having had relations employed as suprinten-
dents. The candidate for for Lieutenant Governor Is
a rampant secsssionist still. The Superintendent OF
Education spends about $500, 600 on public schools
which are o farce-beiug run only two or three
months In a year, and Is, no doubt, involved In
schemes ul book selling to pupils, which amounts TO
m annual expenditure Y more than the dement's de
rived from the schooling. All were Confederate
officers. The taxes amount to from twelve to thirteen
miles upon exurbitaut assessments, and the amount
paid ont in salaries and contingent expenses reaches
nearly el5! OoO-Uver one. sixth OF the whole amount
OF revenue collected. The State debt, accnrding to
the actual population, amounts toahout $3.50 on every
head in the State, including Men, women and child
rem.
The census, by which the State appears to have In
creased about AZ per cent. since 1870, is amOnStrous
fraud designed to justly the huge return OF votes BY
which Hampton was fraudulcntly said to have been
elected IN 1876 and to shield the frauds upon the ballot
box which will be attempted again In tho coming
campaign, and also to secure additinal representation
In the National Assembly. There hns been no emigra'
ton to the Stale and nothing to induce 1t, and no one
believes that the increase has been possible from
natural CAUSES. The supervisors wero oil anIOinter6
Of Hampton or Butler, the Senators from the State,
and the enunerators, Of course, were equally act0m0-
dating to their patrons.
1t would sign my name and send my address. but
hr obyious rcasous, ZONE UF TIE FOOLS"
OPENING UP THE SAVANNAH.
Letter From Hon. Alexander II. Ste.
phenS.