The Pascagoula democrat-star. (Pascagoula, Miss.) 1878-1920, 1885-12-18
The Last Carpetbagger.
From the Atlanta Constitution.

merely The squares OF the big chess
board on which be played his daring
game, with Governors, Senators and
Judges i1stead OF ivory dsares gen
orally used. He was Il reckless
player, having every thing to gain
and nothing to lose. It needless 70
say fortune was against him.
lie attracts attention even now IN
the crowds burrylng to and fro
along our busy streets. He seems
to stand apart from his fellows, and
they unconsciously shun bin.
There is nothing vicious III his
countenance. He is simply a bent
aud broken old man, with a strain
ed, inteuse look, the look Of a hunt
ed fugitive in a strange land. lie
is lingering on the border liue be-
/ tween the present and the past,
iust ready to flutter and fit. This
carpetbagger has a stirring history.
! At the close of the civil war he laid
aside his blue uniform and sword,
and with number of cougenial
comrades went to work to shape the
destination of the new South. From
his point of view the Southern
States were conquered provinces
and the Inhabitants defeated rebels.
Trained in the narrow minded
school of the Puritans, whose siugle
object in life is to maintain their
rights and prevent everybody else
from doing tue same, he felt that it
was part of the cOHquerors mission
to force The civilization OF New
England upo9 the South. Indus.
triOus, temperate, serious minded,
it never occurred To him that he
was a crank instead of a reformer.
Selfish ambition and the greed OF
gain entered more largely into Ills
schemes than he was willing to ac-
knowledge. He expected to profit
by the results OF the social and pc.
litIcal revolution in which he was
engaged Englishmen rose tn
wealth and power in Ireland aud
India; why, then, should not the
veuturous Yankee rule the unfort-
,, uuatc descendants of the Cavaliers
make their laws and divide theiI
broad acres
The carpetbagger and his friends
soon made their purpose known,
,, aud naturally the Southern whites
stood alOot. They could not have
done otherwise. The strangers pro-
cee,ied TO organize ignorance
against intelligence, to fUrDent race
trouble, TO tear down the social aud
polilica, fabric. 1t was evident
that they intended to put the bot
tom rail on top. AS they went
along they stripped the people of
: everything. They stole votes, stole
counties, stole States and stole rail-
J. roads. They emptied State treas
: urles aud piled up mountain load
Of debt upon future generations.
Dressed in Il little brief authority,
they made their victims feel the in
, science of Office. There could be
but one ending to such a traVesty
on government. A convulSiOu rent
the land, aud when it was over the
earpetbaggers were in Jail, dodging
reQuisitionS in Northern States, or
in close retirement at bone.
From his standpoint the carpet
bagger was an honest reformer.
He took other peoples property,
! but he was foraging on the enemy.
1t took money to build up new
civilization and Republican States,
and it was a brilliant idea to make
the rebels foot the bill. 1t was his
view of it. 1t took a certain kind
of courage, physical as well as
moral, to carry out such ideas. La
the excitement of the time our peO-
pie hastily pronounced the carpet
Dagger "A coward. because he sub
mitted TO an unlimited amount OF
kicking and cuffiug. He was not d
coward, because he deliberately
faced the consequences of his act.
ions. and after being kicked aud
cuffed, he bobbed up serenely the
next day, candidate for the same
punishment. Mob law, violence,
/ uultCtS, udu uO CnCOt- Az AOoh
brains aud ballots to put down such
Adventures.
Sometimes the carpetbagger
would disappoint public expeesa-
tioRs. When he was crowded by
the boys he said:
~ do not resent insults now.
Once under tue impulse of the mo.
ment | shot u man through the
4 heart. Since theu his face has al
ways beeu before me. l will sub-
NIT to almost anything rather than
have the blood of another fellow
being on my hands,
Then the boys laughed heartily
, 1t was a capital joke. 1t sounded
like a coward's lie. Aud they
crowded the. fellow relentlessly
, than ever. But Que fine day he set
, tied a difficulty with one of his
own gang by walking Into a hotel
dining room, and shooting him
through the heart. The lawless
ness OF the times made it easy for
bin to obtain an acqnitlal AfteI
this affair be was reparded rs an
unsafe man to tamper With.
The members of the gang have
drifted far apart during recent
! years. Some OF them have settled