The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1899-10-15


4 There are rrany pepple liFing quietly IN
/ the city q wasbfnsto1 alrroHt unnoticea
4 by The general putlie, who have al Oh.
time or another played "a important part
K ~ the history Of this country one Of
4 the most Interesting O. Iris class, vita
whom have come 80 cuntac1 here, is MI.
Hinipn Rowan helper Thst name Will
be remembered only by the older people
Of the Souih. rhcse WHO lived before the
4 dark days that tried mems s5uls irs-n 81
7 TO b5. When be Was q years ola Mr.
+ Helper wroie book. vithogt e Tefertnce
4 10 which It is Impossible 20 write history
Of the downfall Of slavery. That book
cost John Sherman m eiecaion 10 The
( speakeranip. II was prime factor in
adding fuel to The flares Of civil war.
Mr.. Eelper occupied then, and occupies
I nov. q peculiar place among the abo!i-
I tio1ist workers.
4 Bs disrerts strongly from ih. view Of
he negro taken by Garrison, Phillips and
X Mrs Steve As Southern mRn, ard
Ire son Of a Shareholder, his esginate is
essentially the Southern estimate, and yet
that did net prevent TIE pouring upon his
I head Of all the Walls o. wrath o. the South.
/ in the turbulent days b..ore the war.
4 When ] saw MIR. Helper The Other day.
asked hifn how 1.-THE impending Crisis
Of the South" locked forty year6 atter.
That is, what does Mr.. Helper think today
/ Of the crisis which he 90 vigorously de-
piCte2 in aS5Tg The literature OF the civil
war period is filled With illusions 10 MIR.
I Helpers beoiL Mr. Pollard, the Southern
historian, in hiF Loot Cause, males
thix reference. towit: But Il wss no.
only the wretrheo ;!ba.dry Of the Helper
book that was the cause OF excitement.
II is true that Mr. Sherman, the Helper
book candidate FOR the spezkership, was
finally withdraw and one Of bis party not
a subscriber to the book elected.
4 In another place The same writer tells
o. The sherman iacident IN this language:
AT the meeting Of congress in December.
1859, the black republicans nominated for
K the speslfership Mr.. Sherman 0: Ohio, who
had made himself especially odious to the
South By publicly recommending in con-
nection with sixty-eieht other republican
congressman. . fanatical document popu-
larly known as Helpers book" This
\
( licans and circulated by them in the
Northern elections openly defended ami
sought 10 excite seryile Instructions In
the South. and It was Win reason that
I the entire Southern delegation gave warn
T ing that they would regard the election of
Mr., Sherman. or OF any man with his rec
( ord, as an open declaration OF war upon
1 the institutions OF the South" Il IS true
4 that Mr. Sherman signed the paper recon-
mencing The Impending Crisis" but his
4 own memoirs, recently published, tell
what desperate efforts he made to
'sqairm' n regard thereto.
Mr.. sherman arose In congress TO say
that he did not recollect signing the pa
per referred 10, but as his name was on
( the printed list ne assumed that he must
have signed II. He declared that ne had
4 never read Cir. Helpers book or any
I compendium founsei on it. He further
4 declared that hs had never even seen
copy OF the boak. This apology did not
save his bacon. he was defeated for the
I speakership.
! Mr.. Helper Gays. in speaking OF The mat
ter today, that X served him right that
Mr. Sherman was little better than
torger Il he attached mis- name 10 a public
Z statement in regard TO book about which
he had nc knowledge. Sill. public nea
I are always doing such things out Of mere
E good nature The only strange thing
abQn, Nr. Shasrnan's couras is that forty
I years after. when time had fully ylndicas-
ed Mr. Helper. Afr. Sherman stonld have
taken such pains to STOW that he was sisll
innocent Of having held at any time dam
geroasiy impolitie convictions upon the
slavery question.
Yes. shall be 70 years old in Decem-
Der. 81 live" said Mr.. Helper in speaking
to me. q vas born in North Carolina,
about forty miles from Charlotte. Ny par
ents had spent their lives in the itnme-
date locality Ia which ] was raised Ny
father vas a Shareholder ana l certainly
grew up with 70 prejudice against the in-
stitution- When Twas about % years old
came into possession OF little money.
and started out 10 see something OF the
world. / came 10 Washington and nut up
al Browns hotel, which ia low the Metro
po.itan. i was the largest house that /
hau al that time ever seen. went farther
North, spending some time in Baltimore
vent 70 Philadelphia, and finally shipped
for California by way OF Cape Horn
In California engaged in mining and
real estate, and vixen still a young man
returned 10 M Southern home. From my
travels and observations as well as from,
PeFus2i OF The Writings OF Thomas JET /
feFson. became aroused to the great evil 4
OF human slavery, and convinced OF the in.
oaleuiAble injury which 1t was doing TO
the Southland. l accordingly prepared a
simple statement Of facts. tried hard
70 have II published in the South. and
lAboTed In Baltimore for months to bring
this about. Bur found that / would
Do liable for punishment at hard labor OF
from ten 10 twenty years II gave utter
anee In that state TO the simple facts
which The Impending Crisis" contained.
50 went 10 New York and had II printed
there. The book never circulated much in
tbs South the prejsdice was so intense
against II, but enough garbled extracts
got around TO make me much aespised
person.
~
My relatives in North Carolina sent
me word that il ever returned there
would be in great danger Since the war !
have been South many times, in Charles
ton, Richmond, Atlanta, and am received ,,
cordiAI!y. This offsets the threa.s Of {
making mlnee meat ont of me. which, we're q
served On me before the war. oue man. !
for example. came up TO me the last time ,
! was IN the South, saying hat lie wan.ed
10 tell me OF mis- experience with the inn /,
penang Crisis lie read OF the book In !,
ma - INF