Year: 1871

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CAROLINA SENATOR'S OPINION OF THE KU-


KLUX.


DANyILLE, Va, April 19.-This Is the mar
ket town for large section Of the best tobaccogrowng
country I'm Virginia The Piedmont Railroad, which does
not deserve its name for nowhere runs near the oot
Of anything resembling mountain coAhec's win
Richmond The road traverses dreary, barren region
sparsely inhabited by poor negroes ana pooIoi
with here and there large, odfashioned
much dapidated lording it over row OF los-capis'
once sayeauarters During the four hours before night
fall after left Richmond yesterday saw not sihee
town. Around the stations there were usually han'
dozen cabins from which negro women issued carry
ing large trays OF fried chicken, soggy biscuits
and pies made Of some greenish-yeuow ma,er'ai,
which the few passengers were imporuned to buy until
the train moved The nearest approach 10 Town was
the county seat Of Amelia County, where there arc
Is or 20 frame houses standing In pine-groVe,
store blacksmith shop and church without steepe.
The country is little better than the dreary
region that lies between Richmond and the Potomac but
1 saw few fields into which Northern farmer wouid
ever have the heart to put pow In the nope OF getting
any return for his labor stout orid man on inc tra
told that the country much better near he
Carolina line He owned farm In Charlotte county, he
said and was on his way home from journey NORTH
He had much to say about the maryes he mad seen Ill
New York City, which he described with such minuteness
that 1t was plain that lie imagined himself the only man


in the company who had Travelled far as that dis
tant place He had been up the Hudson and stopped AT
Tarrytown to the spot whore Major Andre was cap


red but he could find no one there who had ever heard
Of Major Andre and he doubted II there were dozen
people the town who had ever heard OF George wash
ingon. The trouble with Virginia. he declared, was the
want of money. They had got all the money In New
York and meant to keep IL, only allowing "two-and-
thruppence" to the rest Of the country.


asked il he found any difficulty In finding laborefs 10
work his land oh no." he replied, all my n2gers
come back to after the said they wanted to 1--we


whar theyse to-. hire the men by the year, ana
give each $780, beside cabin with grdenpatch, all


the fuel he wants. well as four pounds OF bacon ana
peck Of meal week for rations They might do well,
bnt the women won't work in the fields and anything
They think they must do like white folks, and 80 they
stay in their cabins and gossip with each other from
morning till night" The negroes, he said, generally
spend all they earn but there some exceptions one
OF his former hands" had saved his wages for four
years had bought so acres of land at 81 acre. and was
now farming for himself Mos5 OF them were AMBITIOUS
to own land and there plenty Of land for sale to
negroes or any one else who could pay for it, Inquired
il there had been any immigration to his county from
the North since the war few Northern men had
bought lands he replied and they appeared to him TO DC
ri ght clever people They had all done WELL except one
man. who moved in last year, and who would MT take
advice from his peghDQrs about planting his corn lie
Insisted on planting il in the Northern way and he put
the hills too close together and put two or three kernels
in hill The result was, he did not have single ear In
the whole field. The land was not strong enough; one
stalk in hill was all it would bring to maturity.


Our train was composed Of but two passengerears one
of which was secondclass car Tor negroes Ii tne
other there perhaps 20 passengers According 10
Southern custom large sptoon was placed IN ffohl oi
each seat which the men were constantly nring away
making an explosive sibant noise that could be heard
~ tba trail night
GERS thinned out at waytaons and the few who were
left became communicative A TALL mddle-aged woman,


dressed In black silk with two wiTy corkcrew curls on
each side OF her face said she had been in ana
had bought shawl for her daughter that cost go
Georsn sitting in the next seat remarked that he mad
seen shawl worth $500. "Them kind 3 not for folks as
DOOR az we be at the South" replied the midde-aged
woman "Thems for Ben Butler and sch as stole heaps
Of money in the war But they'll ketch 1t In the next
wOrld-theyIl git their pay" she added III sefcon'
song tone When the Georgian replied that some poo
pie did not believe future punishment, she answered,


in high, sharp tone" Thar amt no doubt about IT, III


didn't know that the Yankees will ketch it in the next
world wouldn't want to live in this single day."
man in the front part of the laughed mmoderately
hut the other passengers gave in their adhesion to this
theory Of retrbutive justice.


About in the evening, handbills were distributed
through the announcing that who wanted


good substantial meal, gotten up without STINT or
oppostion" could find 1t at the next station. This was
welcome piece of the passengers who came from
Washington and who had not eaten since In the morn
ing The meal without stint opposition" was served
in a rude frame shanty, and TO reach 1t we stumbled
across switchtrack, jumped ditch, and scrambled up
cay-bank 1t consisted of fried chicken, shad, eggs,
coffee and heavy indgestble, hot biscuits After sup
per the Georgian grew sociable over his cigar In tho
smokingcar He told me that he owned five plantations
in all over 10000 acres but he had "qut planting and
gone to merchandising" He could not make expenses
at planting Before the he had made money, but e
was not from his crops the profits came from the IN
crease OF his nggers In those days he thought land
and nggers the surest kinds OF property because they
were guaranteed by the Constitution. so when he made
money he had bought more land, and stocked
it with the increase Of his slaves. He had
been colonel in the Confederate army, but
thought the great mistake and that 1t never
would have happened had not been for the politicians
Talking Of the K- Kux he said there was no such or
ranzaon in his county, and he did not believe itexised


In Georgia Last Fall he had takengreat pains to ascer-
tain whether there any KuKlux In his neighbor-
hood but could learn Of II such order existed,
he knew he could have found 1t out for he good
Rebel as anybody He related an occurrence however,
that seemed contradict his statement Not long ago
negro member of the Legislature who lived near Athens,
saw two armed ride up to his house. They were In
search OF horse-thief. but he believed them to be
KuKlux and fred on them. They rode away, and the
next night band Of six broke into his house. The
negro rereated to the garret and fired upon his assai
ants killing and driving the rest away Feeling
in the country after this occurrence he moved into the
town. and he left his house it was burned The
negro believed the KuKlux burned 1t, but the white
people thought was another negro, who was envous
OF the prosperity Of the member OF the Legislature.


We reached Danville late at night The town, which
has some three four thousand inhabitants Is built on
the hills rising from the south bank Of the Dan River
fine that dashes among rocky islands in
sion OF rapids and furnishes water equal TO that
Of the Merrmac at Lowell The only that made Of
1t to turn the wheels Of two small, dapidaed grst
mills found the main street Uttered with all sorts Of
rubbish and garbage and suffused with abominable
odor from the numerous guano warehouses. Apart 0m
the business Streets the town is rather attractive On