The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1897-06-29

suppose that President Davis ncplec
, ed any means in his power to end tn
: war on honorao.a . terms, ana mcntiO
them because Of the many misrepre
, sentations which have been made o
this subject. He could not have mad
public all he did in this respect at tn
time without diScouraging our arm
and the people. And if at any tim
he had proposed or consented to ur
conditional y surrender he would hav
been in danger Of violence at the hand
OF our own people. Neither he no
they proposed or intended to surrende
unconditioually unless overpowered.
RECONSTRUCTION AND RESTORATION
After the overthrow Of the Confedcr
ate government and the surrender o
the Confederate armies. the work o
the restoration Of the Federal author
ty in the Southern States was com
menccd, while the exciteme mt ana pas
sions and prejudices of the war were
in full blaze and were intensified b,
the assassination Of President Lincoln
with which it was then uujustly as
sumed the Confederate authorities hat
some connection, and which was re
garded by them as most unfOrtunlt,
for the people who had adhered to tn,
fortunes of the Confederacy.
Under the state Of feeling which thcr
existed on both sides it was hardly tt
be expected that q wise and temperate
policy OF reconstruction would be udopt
ed. while many Of the churches of the
! Northern States were resolving and
some of their ministers Of the religion
of Christ were preaching crusade OF
hate, description and revenge against
the Southern people.
The plan adopted for the restoration
OF the Union and the paciiication OF
the Southern people was to deprive
them OF all political rights, put them
under military rule, and suspend the
right of the writ Of habeas corpus, SO
that there could be no relief or redress
FOR any wrong done to a citizen, how
| ever unlawful or outrageous. Our
cltlZ Ems were subject to arrest by the
military authorities without an atlida-
Wit or formal charge, or legal warrant,
and to detention without knowing
what the charges against them were,
and to trial by Il drum-head court mar
tlal without the intervention of q Jury.
a large part of the Southern States
had been devastated by war the Dco-
PIE mad exhausted their resources in
the endeavor to maintain their cause
and tens OF thousands OF their bravest
and best men had either fallen in bat
tie or died in the service Beaten in
battle, denied political rights and the
protection OF law, governed by an un-
friendly military authority, and by the
negroes, carpetbaggers and scalawags,
IL mention them in the order OF their
ctabilityl plundered and robbed
by the employees Of the treasury de-
partment, and constantly menaced by
loyal leagues composed Of the clements
above named, their condition seemed
to be al hopeless as can well be i'm
agined.
under the providence OF God the
life Of President Lincoln could have
been spared, SO that he reconstruction
and the restoration of the Union could
have been brought about under his
supervision, and that Of the officers
aud soldiers who fought the battles of
the Union, | believe the country would
have been saved from the introduction
Of abnormal military governments
which are SO unfriendly to civil rights
and political liberty, and so contrary
10 the genius of our government and
that the people OF the Southern States
would have been saved from much of
the enormous sacrifices and suffering
which they were compelled to endure
during the period of reconstruction ::
the demagogues in politics, the un-
Christian persecution by religious
bodies, and the thieving II easury Off
cials would not have had SO wide a
field for their operations.
1T Is unpleasant for me to make the
foregoing re citals, and the more so he
cause the purpose for which they are
made may be misunderstood or mis-
represented. The restoration of peace,
good government, the rule of law, and
good will between those who were once
enemies, is as gratifying to me as it
can be to any other citizen. But the
charge has been constantly .nade since
the war that the Confederates were
rebels and traitors, and the effort is all
the time being made to educate the
rising generation INTO the belief that
their fathers and til cir mothers were
rebels and traitors, anu therefore law
less criminals. Without u.alice against
any OF our follow citizens, | feel it to
be my duty to the memory oil our he
rolc dead, to their surviving associates
and to those who are TO come after
us, to make the foregoing statements
in vindication Of the truths of history,
and in justification of the patriotism,
the manhood and love of Justice of
those who defended the lost cause, and
offered their all in an eff )rt to pre-
serve their constitutional rights
against the aggressions OF hostile
majority.
Triumph OF SELF-GOVERMENT
From the desOlatiOn, absence OF civil
government and political rights and of
law throughout the Southern states,
less than thirty years ago, we now, In
all these states, have good civil govern
ment, good laws faithfully enforced
liberty protected, society reorganized
peace and industry re-ostablished, with
many valuable enterprises put into sue
cessful operation, and with steady
and wonderful increase in population,
wealth and comforts of civilized life
This constitutes the greatest and proud
est vindicatiOn Of the capacity of our
people for local self-government and
Is q grander and nobler achievement
by our people than was ever obtained
by war. 1t is the triumph OF their ca
pacity for self-government, and shows
/ that our people are worthy the pos
session OF the political power and reli-
gious liberty which they now enjoy
and which shows them worthy Of po-
litlcal equality with those who were
once our enemies. In this great Cen.
tennial Exposition of Tennessee we
have before us q magnificent exhibi
tiOn OF the results Of Southern enter.
prise and prosperity to gladden. the
hearts of our people and to crafty the
pride of the people Of this great state
And to-day the people OF the South are
as earnest In their attachment to ouI
common government as those OF any
other part of the Union and wOnlf