Goldsboro weekly argus. [volume] (Goldsboro, N.C.) 1885-1909, 1907-04-18
The MODEST
CARPETBAGGER
Some Historical "reminiscences Incl.
dent to The Passing OF EX-
Governor Chamber
lain.

The death Of Daniel II. Chamberlain
brings to a close a notable career. Born
in Massachusetts in 1885, and educated
at Yale and Harvard, he naturally alb
sorbed the doctrine of the abolitionists
and their fanaticism on the negro ques-
ton. 1t is not surprising, therefore,
tina when he Joined the Union army in
1864, he should have elected to lead the
negro troops from Massachusetts,. After
the war he settled in South Carolina
and became a cotton planter, out at the
first opportunity he entered politics
and was elected a delegate to the Con-
stitutional Convention of 1868.
In the same year he became Attor-
ney-General of the State, and in 1874
was elected Governor. He was a Re-
publican, of course, and a leader of the
negro party, but he was brave and
honest, and when put to the test he re-
fused to issue commissions to two
judges who had been elected by the
Legislature, because he knew them to
be corrupt. The South Carolinians
hated him, but they were so impressed
with this honorable and courageous act
that they gave him a vote of thanks.
The year 1876 is memorable in the
political history Of the nation. 1t was
the year of the Tilden- Hayes contest,
and the fight in South Carolina was
desperate. Chamberlain was renomi-
mated by the Republicans, and the
DppoN0ra re wora LODI Nv +hn ~n1Iort
Wade Hampton. The red shirts were
earlyin the saddle, and Gov. Chamber
lain issued a proclamation ordering the
rifle clubs to disband, on the ground
that they had organized to in~timidate
the negro voters. The Democrats de-
MED the charge, but this did not deter
the Governor from asking for military
aid, and President Grant sem United
States troops into the State.
After the eleetionth the returning board
threw out the vote Of Edgefield and
Laurens counties, on the ground o
fraud. The members of the House from
these counties were denied admission,
w~hereupon the Democratic members
of the Legislature withdrew, organized
and declared Wade Hampton to be the
duly elected Governor. The Republi-
can members declared Chamberlain
elected, and so the matter stood until
Hayes was inaugurated. President
Hayes then invited both claimants to a
conference in Washington, as a result
OF which the troops were Withdrawn,
and Cham erlain issued a proclama-
ton declaring that he would no longer
assert his claims.
He then went back to the North. a
wiser and disil1usioned man. Contact
with the Southern negroes revolution
lied his views, and he satisfied him
self that his mission was a fools er-
rand" He afterwards became a Demo-
crat, and the Southern whites had no
sympathizer at the North more sincere
than Daniel Henry Chamberlain. In
return he received the respect and good
will Of the Southern people, a distinc-
ton which few of the carpet baggers
over enjoyed.
Governor Chamberlain was never a
bad man; he was simply misguided;
and when he discovered the fact for
himself, he had the courage, the grace
and b manhood to confess 1t. Had all
the carpet-baggers been of the same
stripe, the ~iniquities of reconstruction
would have been reduced by half.