The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1916-08-04
RECONSTRUCTION.

RECONSTRUCTION.
elizabeth McWaters, Prosperity
''There comes song that awakes
my soul,
1t is the song of years that are
gone,
They roll before me with their
Deeds
So sings every true child of the new
south, through whose veins flows the
blood of those old heroes Of that
wonderful epoch in history known as
"The Reconstruction"
VAT the close of the war the seeded
States we're in a state of utter exhaus-
tion. we protected our struggle
against Federal authority until fur
ther resistance was impossible, and
laid down our arms only (because
there was no longer any power to
use them. The complete subversIon
of our fnancil political, and social
systems was of a very grave nature.
We were bankrupt in our public
finances and without private proper
ty.
We were without governments, ana
not allowed the power to frame gov
ernments except by the permission o.
Federal authorities.
Socially we were in a state Of
anarchy,
About this time there came into
the field to ply their nefarious arts,
the carpet bagger' the soulless op-
~gessor from the north and the "ecal-
awag'' the soulless plunderer from the
south and for nearly ten years in
South Carolina they robbed while
they pretended to rule; they plunder-
ed while they professed to protect
until the state became SO reduced IL
material strength and SO dispirited
under the heavy weight of such con-
ditions that it was known as the
"Prostrate State"
When our people had tried by
every device ingenuity could discover
to get relief from this wretched con-
dition, came the movement of 1876.
This was little short of revolution,
Good men of all parties united to
resist to any extremity the contin-
uance of the Radical Government.
Lincoln's plan of reconstruction was
that the civil government should be
restored in the south as soon as arm
ed resistance to the United States had
been suppressed, and that it was the
duty of the President to reconstruct
the state governments. In 1853 he
ISSUED a proclamation to the effect
that any government organized in any
state of the Confederacy by voters
who would take an oath to support
the constitution and laws of the
United States would be recognized by
him as the true government Of tbs
state. But the number of voters must
no at least one tenth of the total
number of votes cast in the state at
the election of 1850. All persons who
had borne leading part in aid of the
confederaey were excluded.
While this regulation prevented a
large number of white persons from
voting, it did not require that negroes
should be allowed to vote. President
Lincoln knew that race just emerg-
ing from bondage was not capable OF
voting intelligentIy. A few of the
southern states had organized Gov
ernments in accordance with the
proclamation, and Lincoln had re-
cognized them. If Lincoln mad lived
he would probably have succeeded in
carrying out his policy of reconstruc-
tion.
AS it was the ignorant negroes
were called from the fields of cotton
and corn to stand at the polls and
vote. They were m the legislature as
law-maIing power, as judges IN
our highest and lowest courts, presi-
! ding over our senatorial bodies and
serving as Speakers Of the House ot
Representatives and as members o!
congress
Every section prospered except the
south. Here the negroes guided by
their white leaders, formed an asso'
citation known as the Loyal League