Year: 1870

matter The present education and intelligence OF the
average negro voter in an interior Carolina dsHi.'
sufficient for the appreciation OF some salient pon's ~
politics; but it is not sufficient to understand Sucn
transaction as the sale of cadetship a. meS' io'
with which their member stands charged ana cohcsu
In fact do not suppose most oi .no
people have any clear idea wnat
is and many OF them would receive apout .io ' ~
preston were they to be told that Mr.. Wm''e"oio M
sold line -of-battle ship, and invested 'lo Pio'oo "
soboo,s for tbor cbdrens benefit tried 10 get at tho
exact notion of the matter which one very hohes' anu


,n, h,ocr man entertained; but the best answer 1
could get was: ~ dunno. sah but reckon we send him
hack to give him chance and clare hissef; upon
further question: "Thats what the Jorty thinks, ana
I'm boun to go with de ority Amt that right sah The


whole matter OF the accusations Of corruption Is TO these
distant unsophiscated voters very vague and dim; one
thing on the other hand clear and tangblethat this
Mr. Whttemore breaches to them loudly prays with them
feryently and has done much or has been tho Vsipe
active agent much that has been done In providing
them with the schools for their children for which they
might asked their white neghbors In vain In re-
turn for all these precious benefits they will give him.
and give him with q will and heartily, the vote which he
asks for to take him back to Congress- and will be con-
tent with very brief verbal explanations OF his dongs In
Washington nor be seriously affected by what Is SAID Oh
him the newspapers which they do cannoreau


But Mr. Whttemore, with his own money judiciousiy
invested or with the money of the Aid Societies III inc
North who have
the money Of the parents Of his cadets has estabshed
schools and here as seem the observation OF your
correspondent on the spot is the saving clause OF he
whole affair The schools exist and thrive Here IN the
little town of Florence hundred black youngsters,
with not shade Of lighter color to diversity tnen
uniform ebony, attend the schools regularly ana inc
street is filed morning and afternoon with the gathering
children bearing their states and books with ahe"
dignity which the pckaninny of ten years ago never
knew AS sat upon the piazza Of the inn this afternoon


little fellow of eight accosted me tirough 'ho
railing-I suppose he not permitted 10 come upon
the floor of the verandahwth some half audible inquiry
about speech thought at first the absurd chd WIN
the American hunger for political Information ana
oratorical entertainment, wanted Inc to make HIM
speech further inquiry developed the fact that ne
wanted TO make me one, and his terms had not
reached the standard Of the yceum as set by Cough
and Beecher, but were, in short, as McawDer would say
five cents, at made the engagement Inc young
Cicero stepped back made his sole auditor bow as iori
If not as graceful Mrs. Kembes and dashed at once
into defamation, with gestures evidently STUDIED rom
the pictures in the school books but not yet precisely


fitted to the sense Of the they accompanied There
was comic nconruty in the "piece too; for 1t was
hymn written in anSlavery days, to impress upon the
mind Of the white child the doctrine of universal brother
hood and dro hear this little lump of black
ness after patronizing auson to the African the In
dian, and the Hndoo, burst forth with


And what though perehance, than they,


IN made of farer purer clay"


which he decidedly not When dutfuly appauded
the too speedy close of this display genuinely well done
as 1t was in its way listener hitherto unseen middle
aged negro with the dialect of the plantation popped
from behind the of the house. "Thats o. my
stock sah" he said, proudly; "Tve got little one at
home, not moren two year old, mako speech right
smart bettern this can" Now it is highly probable
that this man is a stanch adherent Of Whtemore. He
knows what lacks what his children want this carpet
bagger gives to him. and he gives whatever return is
asked But the school is doing its work, by whatever
hand the seed is planted and If my orator OF the
Florence Hotel and his schoolmates vote dozen years
hence for any demagogue, however adrot who cannot
show clean character, then am mistaken in the lad
and in the worth Of education But education Is plant
OF slow growth and the consummate fruit Of cmancpa-
tiOn and of reconstruction cannot be plucked TIL II Is
fully ripened in the distant future. G.B W.