The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1894-05-09

SD"e u lhr tNu: vilN-'S npoio
the People of tho South-Nothiog Hut
Les.
New YORK, May 5.-WheH the :sv-
erage Northernec reads il the papers
that Governor Eillman's political
strength 10 South Carolina comes
mainly from the farming population,
who are Populists, he thinks OF the
PopuliSt party IN that State as beng
composed of such honest, SLOW, hard
working, saving, churc1-going, sldehlll
farmers as makes up the strength OF
the Republican party in the central,
Northern and Western part OF this
State. This is mistake. The Pal-
metto State countryman bears about
the same resemblance to the farmer OF
this region as nighwayman does to
peddler. This horny handed son of toll
as portrayed in the Sunday school
books OF a generation back doesn't
exist in South Carolina. The man who
fills his place there is called a cracker.
After you have heard South Carroll
nian say that word ''cracker" with the
peculiar intcnation invariably given to
il, you will realizs that it IS by no
means syl onymous with honest far
mer.
A gentleman who has lived in South
Carolina for fifteen years, during which
time he has kept eyes and ears very
wide open, told Sun reporter, few
days ago, some things about the crack
ers, the origin, ways, and the signlll-
capce Of the situation 10 reference to
them.
"Is ought to be generally known, and
don't think itls,% said he, that the
Populist party in South Carolina does
not include, as it does, am told, IN
some States, the good country farming
element. The fact is we haven't enough
Of the good farming element to make
showing on. We have class Of people
who own what were once farms, but
they don't deserve the name of farm.
ers. They're the crackers. There IS
something more than Ignorance and
uncleanliness, and lax morality IN the
real cracker. There's deep-seated deV.
uishness, 8 natural love for liquor, and
a g eat aptitude for murder and otner
crimes. The cracker hasn't evolved
these things out Of his own inner con-
sciousness; he's come by them honestly
if cracker ever does come by any
thing honestly by neredity. He has
fine lot Of ancestors back OF hlm.
"These ancestors are Of two kinds.
You can take your pick; k;there's mighty
little choice between 'em. If you 60
back some centuries in your history
you will find that at one time the Caflb-
bean Sea was 80 infested with pira;es
that some of t, e countries having au
Interest il the New World decided to
clean theu out. They cleaned thtn2
out Of the sea and drove them North.
! The pirates landed and pushed up
through the country, Eoa!ly settling
down to lives Of something rather
worse than usefulness. There is tae
germ Of the cracker. or at least, one CT
the germs. Nog for the other part.
Wien the E glish settled in South
Carolina they were, IN tee lau2uag- o!
+; today, TOO strong 20 Wo1s. But toe
work bad to be cone, 50 they Imported
slaves from Eugland-convictS Tor va
rious crlm-s, who We're to serve oGt
their terms as slaves on the plantations.
Some died IL the process; otheIs served
cur, became free, and having MothiDg
81 do, settled. There's your other germ.
Unite the two, and you have the Crack
er II bis first stage.
"How and where be lived for some
generations thereafter isn't clear-or
Whv. for that matter But, be did live,
probably by hunting and doing Odd JohS
and be hecame known as poor white
trash Even the niggers looked down
on the poor whites and up to the time
of the war be Was the most desplsed In
dividual in the country, aud the most
worthless. The blood OF the pirate and
the criminal was still there, unmiXed
with any better strain, for none but
poor white would marry with poor
white. But it was weakened and
thinned by laZiness and iaaction and
drink aud lack OF opportunity. Then
came the war, and change for the
poor white. No longer having slaves to
work their farms and plantations for
them, the Bourbons. as the good fami-
lies were called, 6Tifte6 away from their
country places to the towns. They
could not soil their hands with spade or
plough, and as their only other resort
they went into business. Mark the re
suit. The farms fell into the hands of
the poor whites, being first divided up
into small portions.
"There you have your door white be.
coming land owner. You might sup.
pose tnat he would develop honesty and
thrift and ambition to improve bis op-
portunities to become a decent citizen.
He doesn't. The pirate and criminal
strain is in him, emasculated by gene.
rations Of contempt and degradation,
but still there, and now it begins to
show itself. Your cracker makes his
wife end children work the farm while
be hunts or fishes at such times as he
iisn'C too lazy. When he gets money he
goes for moonshlne Whiskey and gets
1t. Why, the North Carolina moon
sinners run their blockade wagons for
the crackers. That's where they sell
their moonshine, and they run the gov
ernment blockade and Tlllman's block
ade to do it. and when the cracker
gets full of Whiskey he isn't poor white
trash any more. He goes right. back
two or three centuries and becomes
that mixture Of pirate and English
convict, and a murderous, treacherous,
foul brute be is. Every cracker Car.
rleS his gun ana a knllS DacK Oh MIN.
He uses the gun first but the knife is
his fayorite That's the pirate 10 hin.
Jackknife slasheTs, We Cal! 'em. Tvs
seen Two OF then after knife fight,
andwell, it was worth going miles
not to see.
IF necessary the cracker will stand
up and tight face to face. Most of EN-
are dead shots, fer they have lots of
practice hunting. But their favorite
game is to lie in ambush and shoot
man down as he passes. When man
is found on some looely road with
bullet through him and ms pockets
stripped we cali it cracker killing
They're killers all of them, those fel.
lows, but they'd rather do thelr killing
from safe cover. AS long as its only
cracker that kills Cracker nobody cares
and nothing is done about it. When a