The sun., 1907-08-04

ional Governors TO supervise the reorganiHa-
ton OF their respective States had all beeri
chosen because OF their record a. opponents
of secession either before or during the war.
They were mostly former Whigs.. The
same thing had been true Of the controlling
element in the various State conventions.
While amnesty and pardon and reviving
interest in politics had enabled considerable
numbers Of once active secessionists TO get
themselves returned as delegates, they In
no State had taken the lead In the actual
work Of the convention. Each subsequent
step. however. in tho process Of reorganiza-
ton had brought TO the front an increasing
proportion OF mon who had been conspicu-
GUS In the military or civil service Of tho
Confederacy. Such facts had q very dis
quieting effect In the North. although to
the South they were normal and inevitable.
for the supporters OF the Confederate cause
had comprehended not only the great
majority numerically OF the population,
but also the best men that their section could
offer in the way Of political experience and
ability. The Southern opponents OF seccs-
sion had, for the most part, embodied none
Of the qualities which could enable them
long to retain the confidence OF the Southern
electorate. Nevertheless. in the North
the temperance Of ex-Confederates In
politics was widely proclaimed and felt TO
be a gratuitous exhibition Of contumacy
and impenitence by those in whom. as the
radicals thought, the opposite spirit would
have been decent and appropriate.
Prof. Dunning brings out In the same
chapter another feature Of the Southern
situation in respect to which the interest
and vigilance OF the North were most keen,
namely. tho attitude of the new State Gov
ernments and of the white population in
general toward the freedman. Through
the summer Of 1885 many sporadic instances
of friction between blacks and whites had
been reported. mostly from the towns.
where the idle and vicious OF both races
were apt to congregate. or from certain
rural regions where the class of poor whites,
whose antipathy TO the negroes was in
grained, predoninated. Northern news
paper correspondents of radical leanings
dwelt at length upon the tone OF contempt
for the blacks, and of Indifference toward
their fate which pervaded the conversation
of even the more ntellgen Representatives
of the Southern whites. This tone signified
to the inheritors Of the snte-slavery tradi-
recognized by the whites as an unchange-
able faSt. liberty in all its fulness would not
be conceded to the freedman.
On the other hand. during the autumn
Of 1865 the decentralization OF the blacks.
resulting from their sudden freedom, had
reached its maximum. From every part Of
the South came complaints that the negroes
were refusing to make contracts for labor
in the next planting season and were mani
Testing q hope and purpose of appropriat-
ing the land OF their former masters. There
was revealed widespread belief among
the blacks that on New Years Day, 1895,
the United States Government would en-
dow every former slave with a farming
outfit, the normal measure Of which was
to be for each adult male forty acres and
a mule" Naturally the uneasiness prevail
ing among the blacks during the autumn
Of 1885 gave rise to corresponding dis
quietude and fear among the whites. and
in a number Of Southern States whore
Federal soldiers were too few to provide
adequate protection local militia COM
panies were formed by the whites for that
object The recourse to this expedient
caused bad feeling at the North, being
interpreted as movement to recOnstitlIte
Confederate military organizations for the
purpose OF depressing negroes snd Union
men.
In spite however. of all the difficulties
which his policy entailed. and all the evil
dence that it would meet with strong OPP
position in Congress when the Representa-
tives elected in November. 1854, should
assemble, President johnson pursued I'M
finchingly the line which, as he conceived.
had been marked out for him by the Con-
stitution. He took. our author notes.
great pains to keep himself informed as to
the drift of conditions and sentiment among
the whites Of the South. Besides the un-
solicited information with which he was
deluged he received extended reports
from certain persons whom specifically
he had designated to travel through the
Southern States. investigate the situation
and keep him informed in regard to il.
BY April, 1895. the question OF the policy to
be pursued toward the South had passed the
point where either testimony as to facts or
sober estimates Of political philosophy could
play leading part. Sectional passion and
partisan political emotion had become pre-
dominant. owing to the spirit inspiring the
proceedings Of the Congress which assem-
bled on December 4, 1895. and was the prod
uct Of the elect ions at which the Union
party, headed by Lincoln and johnson. had
been victorious.
The aim Of the radical policy Of the