The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1901-04-10
SOME PAST HISTORY
Ex. Gov. Chamberlain Writes of
the Reconstruction Laws
As ne SAW THEM
During the Good Days cf Good
Stealing and 9sl age in Scu;h
Carolina. Hampton as
q Leader.

& lS2oeT.
That the reconstruction measures OF
tie Republican Congressional leaders
Immediately after the war were mis-
take Was maintained by this psper ST
the time. That they were directly re-
sponsible for the era Of corruption and
misgovernment which aH cted the
South up to the end Of the efforts to
maintain black or Republican supre-
macy through the use OF Federal troops
and denial Of political rights to the
rebel or white leaders has been abund,
antly demonstrated in the passage Of
time. Of the nature of the blunder
and its deplorable consequer ces no one
is better qualified to speak than Daniel
Il. Chamberlain, Of this State, former
Governor Of South Csroiins, who most
ietiDgly heads list of Atlantic Month,
ly contributors on recoDstru ction in the
South. His article in the April NUN
Der Of that magazine is well worth at
tention.
The purpose IS well as the effects tf
the reconstruction measures devised BY
Thaddeus Stevens and Oliver P. Nor.
ton were to unite the blacks, wholly
regardless of their utter ignorance and
inexperience and undtness, and secure
to them, and the party they were allit q
with, that supremacy in Southern gov
ernment which their numbers alone en-
titled them to. Thus the natural rulers
Of that section were not merely ignored,
bus were sharply antsgcnized snd en-
bistered to the lsst degree. The in
evitable consequences to the negro him
self we're the worst possible and are
ccnspicuously felt to this day.
Governor Chamberlain was not By
any means sympathetic agent Of the
Congressional extremists in their
measures Of The time. he had enlisted
from Massachusetts snd was in con-
msrd of colored troops during tie lat
ter part Of the rebellion, settling in
South Carolins after the war. He had
perceived the folly of the plans of the
Congressional leaders in reconstruction
a. the outset, and in his visits to Wash
iDgton in or about the year 1857 he had
many interviews on the subject with
men like Morton. Of the obdurscy and
intolerance Of Thaddeus Stevens in
forcing measures seen to be most unWise
By Mr.. Chamberlain, the latter gives us
soma idea when he now says that mere
personal self-respeot limited the
writer's intercourse with him % oRs
conversation. When late1 Mr.. Cham
berlain became political leader in
South Carolina and was elected Cover
nor By the black vote he did what he
could to crush the o7er-presuuptuous'
ness Of the negro party and bring the
whitesinto that participation IN the Gov
eminent Of the State which their educa-
tion, ability and experience entitled
them to. His reiusals to commission
two Judges nominated or dictated By 8
Republican caucus is a case in point
which is historical in South Carolina.
That Governor Chamberlain failed to
gain the confidence and support Of The
whites, who turned to Wade Hampton
in 1876, is very far from telling sgainst
the ability, impartiality and honesty Of
his administration. Under the cirsum-
stances it vas hardly 10 be expected,
and the settlement Of the disputed re-
suits Of the State election Of 1876 by
Mr.. Chamberlain's Withdrawal Of Lis
claims and the passing Of the State into
the hands OF the whites vas the Wisest
possible and and reflects credit upon
him. It is interesting to note that be
has, in this article, only sppreciatiVe
words for his old antagonist, Gen. Wade
Hampton, whom be oharac:erizes as the
one True leader South Carolina had had
after Calhoun. The strength Of his
leadership, Mr.. Chamberlain says, lay
not in hls intellectual or oratoricsl
superiority, ''but in high and foIceful
character, perfect courage and real de-
vo,ion to what he conceived TO be the
welfare Of South Carolina"
OF the general character Of the re-
construction measures Governor Cham
berlain says:
1T is now plain to all that recon-
struction under the Acts Of 1867 vas,
at any rate, frightful experiment.
which never could have given s real
statesman who learned OF knew the
facts the smallest hope Of success.
Government, self.governnent, the care
Of common public interests by the peo-
pie themselves, is not so easy or simple
. task as lot 10 require nodicun Of
experience as we'll IS 8 modicum Of
mental and moral character. In the
mass Of $4,000 colored voters in South
Carolina IN 1867 what elements OF
forces could have existed that made for
good government? = 4 Added to this
obvious Encouragement and impossi-
bility in South Carolina was the fac;
that these $4,000 colored voters were
distinctly ano Of design pitted againsi
$4,000 whites, who held all the proper
", education and public experience cf
the State. It's not less than shocking
to think Of such ODDS, such inevitable
disaster. Yet it was deliberately
planned and eagerly welcomed at Wash
ington, and calmly sccepted by the par
ty through the country"
And again in concluding his review
"a most valuable historical chapter
Of South Carolina's ten-years' expert
ence under reconstruction, he says:
THE chapter Of recent events. GOV
cred by this paper is made up largel!
of the record Of mistakes and crimes
\folloae6 By the cure, u1Varying retri
buttons which all history teaches ar
tho early or late result Of evil course
in nations and stsses IS well as in in
d,y,duals. TO whom, humanity speak
ing, are these woes and wastes charge
sble? The answer must be, to thos
Who devised apd put IN operation tn
Congressional scheme Of reconstructlol
to their unspeakable folly, tnel
blind party greed, their lnsensste at