Year: 1867

defphia, addressed TO his fellow citizens as
sembled to greet him on his return from the
South, is published in full in the Philadelphia
Inquirer Of Tuesday last, and is one OF the
most able expositions of the present condition
and future prospects of the Southern States
that has go far come under our notice. Its
general circulation Is calculated to dispel
many erroneous Impressions made by design
ing politicians as to the purposes of the Repub-
lican party in reference to that section. Judge
Kelly is considered one Of the most prsgres
sive men Of his party, and yet there is not one
word in his address which by any distortion
can be made to show that he fayors any more
stringent measures for the government of the
South than the unpatriotic and disloyal mani.
festations of the people there may render ne.
cessary for their own benefit and the security
of the country. His address bleathes the
spirit Of kindness and Cancellation, and his
advice to the whole people of the South is
that of true friend. No dispassionate reader
can find fault with its tone. and its positions
cannot be controverted. To show that we
speak within bounds, we will briefly notice
some OF the principal points. Disclalming
hatred TO any man In his mission South, or any
the truth to the people there, he speaks Of the
other object than to do good by proclaiming
Kind reception he met with from all citizens
without regard to party or color in all the
cities he visited, except Mobile. In that city
he says the murderous spirit of the mob
ought not to be charged to the Southern pso.
pie at large. The chief promoter of that riot


Mr.. Kelly says, was recreant Northerner,
who had been sent TO that city by the Presi-
dent as Assessor OF Internal Revenue, Colonel
Mann, formerly of Michigan, who owns the
Mobile Times. That paper had, in advance of
his arrival, excited the passions of the South
npnnlp Sf HIM nd ha
provoked by NO indiscreet word of his. The
man Immediately behind him would have
been shot through the head, as he was, and
another not five feet from the speaker would
have been murdered, as he was, at the pre-.
concerted signal had Mr Kelly been reading
tho Litany or the Lords Prayer. He says he
crossed kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi
Louisiana, and, leaving the last named State
by Lake Pontchartrain and the Gulf, for Ala.
bama, and coming thence through Georgia
South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia,
on the homeward trip, saw something of the
South, and adds. 81 now know from observa-
ton and Intercourse something Of its people
and do but say to you, what said to each of
my audiences large or small, public or pri-
vate, in school room, or from the public plat
form. that the whole people will soon regard
the terrible war through which we have Just
passed, as the tn roes and agony OF the birth of
a new, higher, holier. and more blessed nation
than the world has yet known" IGreat ap-
plause He spoke in glowing terms OF the
vast agricultural and mineral wealth OF tha
States through which he passed, particularly
of North Carolina. and Of the poverty which
prevailed in the midst of plenty-owners of
one hundred acres Of cleared land applying
for charity. This was not owing SO much to


aziness as to want of knowledge of improved
fhna of


soil, and the general ignorance of the people.
There are In North Carolina, as the census
shows, 1900 white adults who cannot read,
and in Virginia, 7i,0GU. These figures indicate
the general condition of the South in this
respect. In their ignorance the masses have
been swayed to their ruin by the wealthy and
ambitious men who dwell among them. The
great difficulty in the way of their improve.
ment is their Indifference to, or contempt for
education. In this they contrast most strangely
with the freedmen and their children In
reference to the spirit and temper of the
Southern people. he says there is doubtless a
great deal of sullen discomfort. The time has
not yet come when it would be safe to with.
draw the military. His remedy for these evils
Is sub-soil plows, phosphates, agrIc ultural
implements generally, large increase OF
horses, mules and horned cattle, and steadily
increasing supply of steam engines and mining
machinery, and such manufacturing ma
chinery as can be moved by water power.
These, with comparatively small amount of
cash capital, and a few earnest men to teach
others their use and value, would in q few
years make the South bloom like garden,
ana develop population as loyal as was
that OF any Northern State during the war.
And the interests of Northern capitalists re.
quire to supply those potent agencies at the
earliest practicable day.