Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1913-05-12

Il
by force Of arms. The press and th'
pulpit as a whole in the north, wer'
behind the institution Of slavery II
1850, almost as unanimously as In TIT
south, and in any Of the large cities
Of the north public orator wht
preached abolition lid so at the risi
Of his life. ~. E.
The reason for this is patent, the
pro-slavery vote in the nation held th'
balance Of power, and the Influential
commercial and manufacturing class
es in the north upheld slavery because
there was money for them in the
trade of the south, whose cottor
brought gold from the whole world.
The Republican party was borr
through sectional selfishness and the
abstract question Of the right or wront
Of slavery from moral point OF view
did not enter into 1t. There were peo.
pie in the south who freed their slaves
because they thought slavery wrong
Seward first announced the irrepressi.
BILE conflict between industrial systems
that were built one ON free. the Other
on slave labor. There was more money
in 1t for the north to have new terri
tories come in as free states, because
1t meant a larger white population
hence more buyers for their manufac-
tured goods There was something
tangible upon which to build polit'
ical party appealing to- a people who
were greedy for money. The inevita'
BILE shock of battle came. when the
Republican party went into power by
plurality vote, The south seeded
and the national instinct recognized
that enduring prosperity was impossi'
BILE unless all the states formed one
government, and right there is the
reason why we failed. President Lin
coin declared repeatedly his utter In
difference whether he saved the Union
with or without slavery, but it must
be saved. .,. .,
i will tell you why the slavery ques-
ton was brought in and the issue
changed from one OF money to morals
The first two years Of the war, the
south beat the north to standstill
Bull Run and Manassas had aroused
Europe; England and France were
about to recognize the Confederacy as
a nation. This would have ended the
war at once, for really 1t was not
Grant who defeated Lee, but it was
the blockade Of our ports, which kept
us from the markets Of the world. II
we had had access to world markets
and been able to utilize our resources
the war would have been ended before
1862 in the triumph Of the south.
have often wondered why it was
that England did not recognize the
Confederacy, and believe that the in
lection Of the slavery issue had much
to do with it. The English govern
ment is singularly responsive to pub
lie sentiment, and they had just gone
through with the agitation Of the slav-
cry question in their colonies, and
once the idea became prevalent that /,
was the cause of human freedom, the
government did not dare recognize the
Confederacy. believe that the knowl-
edge Of this fact was responsible In
part for the injection Of the moral Is
sue Of slavery. The other reason was
the war policy to destroy our indus.
trial system by creating insurrectior
and disorder at home, so that we could
not feed our armies. At this distance
Of time, fifty years or more, 1t Is easy
for anybody to look back and show
that secession was folly and fore
doomed to failure. 1t looked different
though, in May, 1860. There never
has been in any country a stronger
abler and longer-headed set Of states.
men, than the men who planned and
carried through the secession move
ment. There has never been nor nev.
er will be ADLER generals or a finel
army than followed Lee and Jackson
We came so near succeeding, both ir
state craft and on the field Of battle
that the weight of hair might have
turned the scale. The leading states
men of Europe, who made careful
studies Of the situation in its minutes
details, declared almost to a man thai
the southern states would achieve theil
independence. The London Times ir
1851 repeatedly and exultantly de-
clared that the south would succeed
and this paper has always been the
mouthpiece Of English royalty. Tht
south had more than one millior
square miles with a population o.
about twelve million. Eleven state!
actually seeded, and Maryland, Ken
lucky and Missouri at heart were with
us. The south was solid almost to {
man, and there is no record in histor!
of such a nation being finally con
orered. The north had only abou
eighteen million people, and were un
warlike and given over to commercial
pursuits, while the south was full o
the military spirit, a people who wer,
soldiers by instinct. 1t is differen
now. When I was a boy we didn'
play baseball; We had tournament
and played war. We were on tn,
ground, the enemy must invade us
our homes were TO be defended. NJ
wonder every true southerner felt equa
to six Yankees, ard under the circum
stances he was, SIX men and all terri
BILE in battle.
I can see exactly how our statesmen
reasoned it out, and the chances seen
to favor there not being a war at all
Indeed had the south not been so de
termined to fight, and commenced b!
firing on Fort Sumter. it would hav,
been very difficult to raise an army IL
the north. I think at least one-thirt
Of the northern people sympathizeC
with the south and distrusted Lincoln
the commercial and manufacturing in
terests dominated the north and wer,
bitterly opposed to war Of any kind
Then, too, the north knew that Eng
land, the greatest sea power, mus
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