The Saline County journal. [volume] (Salina, Kan.) 1871-1893, 1881-05-26
PaeNT,s m SOUTH CAROLINA.


In l,is last letter to the Champion,
Noble Prentis relates an interview he
had with Judge Mackey, Of the Sixth
Judicial District of South Carolina
He says:
found the Judge . very entertain.
ing fellow traveller. He had been all
over the West; had served with Mayne
Reid, the novelist, in the Mexican
war had hunted buffalo on the Platte,
and served a. chief engineer on the
staff Of Gen. Sterling Price and gave
me a very graphic account Of the fight
at Pilot Knob. Like most brilliant
takers, his statements were OCCASION
ally contradictory, and he took posi-
tioIs from which he retreated, but a.
a whole regarded his talk as instruct.
i've.
Mention was made Of Frye's speech
i'm the Senate. had not read it, and
asked what Mr.. Frye wanted. 'Oh,"
said the Judge, ''he wants the MAORI
ty to rule, but il does not rule In South
Carolina, nor shall il rule" He said
that when the white race paid 81 per
cent of the taxes and had 90 per cent.
of the intelligence, ii would do % pei
cent. of the voting, and nothing could
prevent it. You might MI South Car
Olina with troops and the result would
terminate the blacks II Il were neces-
sary. asked IL the blacks did not
vote In South Carolina. ''They vote ~
was the answer, "but the majority Is
not counted. Their vote only einbar
rasses the judges of the election"
The negro, my political instructor
Informed me, was a good hand i'm the
fields, but In government he was q
destructive force. He had no moral
sense nor virtue. Yet his offences
were of petty order. Hearing rOOs-
ter crow in the woods, on Saturday
he would move in a bee line for miles
through the woods on that bird, and
Incorporate him into his physical sys.
tenn on Sunday ut dinner time. A
white man going that distance would
mt least rob q store of all its contents
before re turning. The negro, in short,
was sort of half brute, born to steal,
lie, get drunk, and occasionally "get''
a religion which made him worse i'm.
stead of better. / inquired IL there
was no prospect Of the negro being q
better voter i'm the future, under the
influence Of education. No; esiuca.
ton did not make them better voters
He would have the negro taught
to read, write and cipher, so as to pro.
tect himself from being cheated. but
no more. He would never be any bet.
ter qualified rs voter. This was the
general tenor Of the Judges talk.
Generally he spoke of the blacks with
d bitterness heard from no other man
i'm the South.
He said, incidentally, that 1.-THE
Fools Errand" was u true story. That
he had been requested to answer il,
but reading II through, he had found
II substantially correct. ] asked him
his opinion of Gov. Chamberlain. He
said that no act Of official corruption
had ever been traced Ia him. That
matter had been judicially determined
and settled. As To his ability IL was
first class. He was the ablest man
who had ever been Governor Of South
Carolina.
a car with picnic party had been
attached ut Columbia, bound for
WinnsbOro. AS We pulled up at
WinnsbOrO military company was
drawn upon the depot platform to re-
ceive the young ladies. Just as we
passed q large residence near Winns-
bOro, black boy came out aud waved
Confederate battle flag ut the train.
The Judge, Mr.. Massey and myself
happened to see IL nj the same mo-
nlent. He was evidently irritated.
As usual, he held the darkey boy re-
spOnsible, and said he ought u have
fifteen lashes for doing such q thing.
But the absur,lity Of this was 80 ap-
parent that he said further that mo
body but hare-brained fool, like
would have II done; that the military
companies of the State always carried
the flag of the United States" II hap
pened that had seen the Governors
Guards parade ut Columbia, the day
before, without il. I told the Judge
about the Schutzenfest at Augusta,
and said that while q flag might be
only piece Of cloth. it meant q great
deal more 10 u Northern man. That
II was just such "hare-brained fOOls''
rs his fellow citizen who sent out q
Con frtlerate flag To Ike waved I'm the