The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1900-08-22
ARP ON OLD TIMES.
People Seemed To BE Better Long
Years Ago

1nouBht noVeb sWlltly tneSe uGyS. |
How eager we are for news. Two pa
pers day and the people gather at
the post office waiting for them. And
when 1t comes it's all about war afsr
OIL and crime at home. Murder, sui
cides, divorces, outrages by negroes,
lynchings and the Atlanta muddle and
Kentucky murder thrown in as side
show. Some OF the preachers are TAX
Ing hand In the general melee and
are raising racket In the name OF the
Lord. HOW different Ia all this from
the good old times when we got the |
mail only twice week and were con-
tent TO worship God on Sunday and |
work on week days and had time to |
think and ponder and talk to our neigh |
bors. When two doctors were enough |
Tor the community and they had but o |
little shop full OF medicine and there |
were no drugstores and no patent |
brother, Tom, and Glib Wright and
Adam Jones aud his brother, Frank,
and |, aud some other boys, who are
now dead, never were sick or took any
medicine except salts or castor oil for
green apple collie. What a glorious
fellow was Bryant Strickland, whose
hearty laugh could be heard across the
town. He died not long ago and left
his hearty laugh with his boys. And
good old George Lester, who ran
against DR.. FELTON, for Congress. There
never was q better boy, nor better
man, nor better friend. | loved him
and still remember how he and |
searched over the potato patch to find
some remains OF the stars that fell in
1888. What q change has come over
the world, some things for the hoCer,
some for the worse, and we must take
life and progress as we find it. Pope
said: " Whatever is, Is right" but
old men and old women cant help
looking backward and regretting that
some things have passed away. OF
course, we rejoice in the many comforts
that invention has brought to us, but
take 1t all in all, the average of human
happiness remains about the same as
1t was sixty years ago. We had more
content then, more love and fewer
divorces and grass widows. Children
were more obedient to their parents
and there were no cigars or cigarettes
or Bull Durham tobacco or Coca Cola
or cocaine or hip pocket pistols. Every
tNwn had one or two saloons where d
hCdle WAS played Tor the old sots, but
young men did not go there. There
WAS not young man in Our town who
ever took drink OF whisky but nova
days young men consider it manly to
smoke and drink, and even some of the
young women get drunk on the SLY and
vainly imagine that nobody knows it.
Our negro slaves were contented and
happy and not an outrage was COM
mitted from the Potomac to the Rio
Grande. Now there are "a, 600 of them
In the chaingaDgs Of the Southern
States and 4, 100 of them are in Georgia.
Who is responsible for all this, and
the lynchings that still SO on? Mis-
taken philanthropy and unmistaken
malignity. If the South had been let
alone we would have had gradual en-
ancipation half century ago when
Henry Clay was Its advocate and Henry
Clay wings were power in the South
ern States. Now we are taking the
back track and are updoing what our
enemies have done, and hope Georgia
will follow North Carolina's lead and
that Mr.. Hardwick will try his bill
again at the next legislature. would
amend 1t little, but in the main it is
right. | would encourage the negroes
loa better citizenship, both morally
missioners or the grand jury should be
authorized to examine and make a
selection OF certain moral, industrious
negroes and give them the right OF
suffrage. There are some in every
community that l would trust. There
are a dozen Cr more in Cartersville,
and every community has few. This
would create a caste or social condi-
tion In the race that would have a
good influence. / would trust such
men as Professor Councill with any
political privilege, and there are
others.
Frank Carpenter is great traveller
"a diligent student and great writer.
1t is interesting to read from his pen the
true condition OF the negro in tho
Philippines. How the negro captives
a hn, hf a,,I aNlI l. lr-. 4
four likely ones for $50 by woman
who claimed to be Mohammedan
Christian. The boys average ten dol
lars and good looking girl brings
from $l5 to 500. This traffic has been
going on for hundred years, but for
the last half century has been dull.
New England slave ships had to Quit
the business about that time 70, the
Brazil market was overstocked and
English vessels were watching too
closely. According to history the last
= cargo was captured on the coast of
Madagascar in l848. 1t was q yankee
craft and wa3 fitted out in Boston.
That is why Chief Justice Story
charged the grand jury that Boston
merchants were stepped to their eye
brows In this infamous business"
But this is all barred now by the
statute OF limitations. Professor Coun-
the good Of the negro, even thoue h it
was baptized in blood and inhumanity
"Offenses must needs come, but woe
unto them by whom they come"
But In some respects the South is
making good progress. Our manu-.
features are increasing in every State
our agriculture Is improving and our
fruit growing is advancing all along
The line. The diffusion Of knowledge
is spreading from the towns to the
country hamlets and every body takes
and reads newspapers Now If we can
stop these negro tramps who waylay
the highways and byways sc will have
good quiet, peaceable country and
can sit under our own vines and shade
trees and worship God according to
our own conscience. Mean niggers
are our greatest curse and there are
thousands OF them, for, as my nigger,
Bob, said when he had served his term
in the chaingsng, "dar Is some as
mean niggers in do chaingang as dar
la outer dar." That is about the truth
of 1t. If every niger was put In who
has been guilty OF stealing there
wouldn't be enough left to get up q
- paptizing or an excursion.
" BILL ARP.
p. S. Let me correct the printer of
o former letter. did not write that