The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1880-02-26

Il
] soptf-Ringipg K4siter from Senator II. II.
Hill-uow the soutIiern People Regard
Grau..
F'o'. The Brdttlc1oro (Hegmont) Reforaer.
The letter below from Senator Ben
i Hill is a manly, straightforward, temper
ate document, which does great credit
/ to the writer and TO bis constItueney 80
far as his 7iews represent it. It ought
/ 10 put TO shane every bloody shirt dema-
4 gogue who iBJ trying to retain his graBp
of the plunder of Office by piofonging
sectional strife:
U. S. SENATE CHAMBER,
WAsHIEGTOGy, Janp26, 1880, =
DEAR SIR-Be kind enough to attrib-
ute to pressure Of official duties, and
not to Intentional neglect, tie delay In
answering your letter of the 18th instant.
You, ask, do you favor Gen. Grant
for President under any consideration
(as some people claim). Has Gen. Grant
any following auh6ag the Southern Dem.
ocrats? And, in case of his nomination
by the Republicans, do you think he
could carry single Southern State ~, :,
| Answer: I do not favor Gen. Grants
election to the Presidency under any con.
tingency can now imagineS Gen. Grant
does have some following in the South
among those who cay they are Demo-
Gratis, but IL nominated by the Reputli.
can party hel could ;not carry sipgle
Southern State.
There a few men in the South who are
| still unfriendly to theT Union. :Hayipg
failed to dissolve that Union by secession,
they hope now to see worse result prac-
ticaiiy accomplished through the oppo-
site extreme of ,centralism and Idsspot-.
ism. They believe this result can be-
reached more certainly and speedily.
through the election of Gen. Grant than
any other means. AN illustration of this
class IS furnished in Geu. Toombs, of MY
own State, wno cent o congratulatory
message to Gen. Grant st Chicago, ending
with the expression, Death to the
| UnioD." But this class are all intense
original secessionists. -.
There are also q few men at the South
who, while. not nnfriendly. to the Union,
have utterly despaired of the preserva.
tion of that Union under our constitu-
tional systsm /; who be.'evs its subversion
in principle has already been accom-
plished, and it's subyeraion in form il only
n question of time; and they believe
this inevitable result can be reached more
easily and with less shock through Gen,
Grant than through any other man. I
| doubt whether both of these classes conf
bined number one hundred men In
Georgia, but they are men of intelligence
and they entertain with favor the idea of
elecGng Gen. Grant nomip9l fora third
term and really for life. i !. $s{s rs
There is third class in Se South who
believe Gen. Grant will be elected by the
Northern people anyhow; who know his
partiality for. his friends, and who expect
by announcing themselves as his fore
most friends in the South. to command
thesofices which will then be IN his gift.
Theseslast are more numerous and more
noisy and less intelligent than The. first
twoaclasses mentioned above, but they
are'too weak in every sense to authorize
any chance of giving the electoral vote
of any Southern State to Gen. Grant.
Nearly all the Southern people have o
Kindly feeling for Gen. Grant. He is
stronger at the South than any other Re-
publican. Cur people will never forget
his manly and magdaninious conduct e..
ward them at the close of the war. If he
had manifested the same ,magnaninity in
his administration of TIE government, he
i'woQld : have become an idol with the
Southern people. But his seeming dis
regard or ignorance Of conBtitutionaI OBJ.
Pligetions, his use. of the army to sustain
thecarpet-bag pl1pderers, his encourage
ment of the returning board frauds both
in State and Federal elections, and his
unexpected subserviency to bad men who
filled tho world with scandals during his
administration, :, have, fully convinced our
people that Gen. Grant was not equal I'd
his grand opportunities, and ought not
again TO be trusted with power, however
4 personally honest and kind he may be.
1t is o nae!onal calamity that the
Northern people are not permitted TO nn-
derstand thei real Views and feelings of
the Southern people, and those who pre-
vent such understanding are .he worst
enemies Of both sections. Let me state
one fact. All thinking men in The South
feel and believe that our constitutional
system of free government is in pery great
| peril of final and complete overthrow.
with the few exceptions 4 mentioned be-
fore, we are naturally more anxious to
avert the overthrow than the Northern
people. VIII ,.ahould ne. .feelmor5 anx-
ious? 1t ia because our Southern. people
feel and believe that the causes which
produce this peril heye derived much
strength, perhaps their chief Strength,
I.Jg0as Mosff otesgg dct-Sfhc dctj of secession.
While not 30 intended by them, they vet
/ see that the sectional spirit, which donli-
nates the z ,publican party, and which
4 enables that party to dnminete the North
81 eTn people, has Fgrawp to its dangerous
proportions through the passions engen-
dered byssecesaion .'And tho war. II,
therefore, fhis Eectiohaf spirit shall finally
plunge all SECTIONS Of Our country init
despotisna, the Southern peosle feel that
they will be held in Aistorysas iaSgelyrre.