Year: 1874

Is so mdny-SldeQ tndb IL is liHpossipic W JuuSc VI
tue real condition OF the South except upon
consideration OF every aspect in which the case
Is presented. The negro appears both as the
uuiet inonensive citizen and the dangerous
barbarian. The whites are as diverse as their
interests. There is the conservative republican
and the conservative democrat, each alike anxious
and sincere ior the preservation OF peace and
good feeling between the races. Then there are
the demagogues both sides-the radical who
reminds the neg oes oil their former bondage and
their present power and counsels them to resent
every petty insult that Is offered, and the demo-
crat who ranges himself on the color line and
glories in the lanciful epoch when the negro is
to be divested OF his citizenship. 1 would not
have believed In the terrorism OF the "coor liner
democracy l had not seen the evidences of it
with my own eyes. l sat at dinner at Tuscumbia
with number OF gentlemen, all OF whom were
acquainted with each other. They were eagerly
canvasslng the political situation, but not
from the side OF opinion till one
of them he thought ne Should
vote for Sloss, the independent democratic candi-
date for Cong ess lor that district. The eyes of
one OF the company flashed fire at this intimation
and he exclaimed in q tone of extreme bitterness,
"n you do Pl spot you, and III spot you on the
black side" 1. was repetition IN another form
OF the old secession cry, ''You who are not with
us are against US and We'll spot you on the Yankee
side" After my arrival here l heard some gentle
men discussing the political course OF young
lawyer at Aberdeen. "he is very ultra on the
color line," SAID his friend, "a regular snOrter."
But the conclusion Of the company was that If ne
wished to succeed in his profession he had better
let such extreme politics alone, especially
In State where there Is negro majority or
thirty thousand. That majority and the good
sense OF the people generally serve as check
upon ultra opinions IN MISS issippi, and in conse-
quence his state is one oil the most literally con-
servatlve in the South. 1t is OF this dignted
servatlsm that wish to treat in this letter. and
dnd myself in one OF the representative COM
nunites o the State for dealing with the question
IRON this standpoint.


MODEL TOWN IN MISSISSIPPI.


Oxford is a model town, not only in the opinion
of the stranger who visits 1t, but in its own. 1t is
on the line OIL the Mississippi Central Railroad,
about twenty miles south Of Holly Springs and the
surrounding pautatlons are fertile. well wat
cred and well umDered as any In The State.
''Search MISSISSIPPI over" says the Ricochet, q
new republican paper Just started here, ''and you
Will not find more moral, law-aDlding, thrifty
and Industrious class OF farmers than those or the
rural districts around OK ord" The town is sum
ciently rural Tor that matter. In the South q vii.
age calls tsell city on very slight provocarion.
SGlL III WOulu De udTu W Ueuy u OAlOTQ lLS KeuLc
boast, and so every fair-minded man will accord
the claim Of the RcOchet when 1t says, "Ours Is
truly favored spOt we are, indeed, an enter
prising and progressive people, and 1t Is no ego
tism to blow our own horn" or course not, and
this is the way the Rscocfet does it,


Oxford has no dram shops. We free from death
1esng mas~ac % yapors Water pure cool and
and sociable. We boast Of FIVE white two coored
adss seEac r VIZ Know g s
m as place tor those n search OF homes II you desire
tages OF life come gem OF little city


And this is the way they grow 10 families at OK
ford:-


nrss Five boy boy babies inside Of twentyx hours win do
said to be a we.[spring Of pleasure. Prehaps.


oxford has many amusing features, and strange
10 say one OF Its newest 'lnstitutons' is a news
stand. Unfortunately for the Ricochet and despite
she lecundlty OF the population, there is


ANOTHER SIDE TO THE PICTURE.


His own paper reveals the fact that, however
pious the people in the rural districts around OK
lord may be, they are not so thrifty as he would
have Us believe There has nCt been O sweet
potato brought into the town this season. The
grocery merchants OF oxford are now re ceving
vegetables, butter and eggs from abroad, and the
editor asks, Ladies OF the Grange, how is all
this r There was only one young man in the
whole town learning a trade, and he quit the DAY
before l got here "All that this town needs -
sung the little chorus at the village hotel which
was 30 instructive TO me- as to stop talking and
60 to work" had q talk on this subject with
Colonel Lamar. VINO distinguished himself for
his moderation in Congress last winter. 'Unless
our people go to work. he said ssI cannot see
what Is to become OF them. They are very poor
and are getting poorer every day. One OF two al
ternatives is before them. They will either derer.
crate into something like the lazzaroni OF Italy
and Spain or they Will throw of their soth and be-
come the active and enterprsing community they
are capable oil being" IF there Is peace and espe
cially II there is good government In Mississippi
think this issue would not long be doubtful, and
even the young matchmaker OF oxford might be
induced go back to his trade. 1t is In the evils
OF the public administration, however, that all the
dangers le-the dangers to peace, prosperity and
society.


THE OLD SOUTH IN THE NEW.


It Is living In such a community as this, sur
rounded by so much that Is good and so much that
is bad, so much that Is hopeful and so much that
is appalling, that found many representatives OF
the old south. II is impossible not to be attracted
by these people, even now alter all their misfor-
tunes. They call themselves mercurial, but they
strike me rather as being austere. They are
certainly less like the French than the
people Of New York, and more like the
English-a new and revised edition. with
gilt edges, but without the heavlness OF
an embossed binding But in their hospitality
they are almost as pressing as the Spaniards and
more sincere. Their culture is generous and their
religion fervent and simple Neither Frothing-
hanls name nor his transcendental philosophy mas
reached the people OF Mississippi Everybody IL
orthodox, and 1t was mentioned to me as an evi-
dence OF the regard lor order among the whites
that eighty conversions have Just taken place in
this town. i believe every word Of what IL told
me OF the love OF peace and quiet between black
and white among these people. But they have a
grievance which hurts them nightly. They al
ways argue backwards-not before, but to the war.
They have suffered much Ia their fortunes In their
families and In their cherished opinions in conse-
1uence OF this misrue. They believe tney have
been patient and long suffering, and many OF
them think the North reloces in their
woes. The State treasury Is plundered, and
they are pOweriess 10 prevent 1t. The men
who rule have too often eXemplined their wees
In their oflcial acts Many OF the judges are not
only ignorant and incapable but corrupt These
fhi1Qs apparently are 10 have no end they, at
iaaat GOO no solIfian to the prOblem they arc