The free press. (Charleston, S.C.) 1868-186?, April 05, 1868, Image 1

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THE F li E E PEESS. JUSTICE TO ALL MEN, REGARDLESS OF ?ACE, COLOR, OR PREVIOUS CONDITION. VOL. I. CHARLESTON^ S. C, SATURDAY, APRIL 5,1868. ~~ NO. 2 He Mxtt Wtm. WHO ARE THE CARPET-BAG ADVEN TURERS ? They are men, who, since the war terminated, have emigrated to the South from Northern States, and have become planters, merchants, lawyers and busi ness men generally, for they have taken hold of any of the industries of the South which seemed to promise reward for Well directed efforts, and was honest as a caHing. They brought with them large sums of money have expended it in rewarding labor, restoring the waste places, and giving life and vigor to bu siness ; some of them bought plantations, others leased places, while others again furnished the capital for working lands jointly with Northern owners, and so in one form or other they provided a large share of the means used in employing labor, buying mules, farm implements, forage and food in growing the crops of corn, sugar and cotton, that have been raised in the South/ since the rebellion was crushed Out. As a class they are not only industrious, enterprising and unexceptional in character, but many of them are men of large experience in the business affaira of life, intelligent and influential in the communities in which they have hitherto lived. Many ' of them were in the Union army, serving their country as soldiers and patriots, during the four years of that terrible war, when the Southern people were in arms for the destruction of the govern ment. They aided in saving the coun try from destruction and in our judgment that country will never forsake them, but will protect those who were loyal to the flag of the Union in the hour of its greatest trial. Governments will .be or ganized in the Southern States that will secure the rights of all these men, in spite of all the calumnies cast upon them, for they are just sueh men as this land, wasted by war, requires, in order to re store it to prosperity. They are inen whom interest and common sense would invite into any country, because of the benefits Jhey are capable of conferring upon any plaee they adopt as their home. But what do we see and hear as the treatment these men meet with in the South ??Why what* else* but de-5 nunciation and abuse poured out upon them from morning until night '! They are called by all the hard names known in the English language, and are falsely charged with all the*offences known in the calendar of crime, and by whom ? Why, by rebels, who undertook to de- - stroy the government ; who, by bringing on the war, ruined the whole south; who are responsible for the half million of lives that Were sacrificed, and for the poverty and distress that so generally prevails. Yes, by men who owe it to the clemency of the government that they have not been tried for treason > and had their property confiscated. By men who seem to be as mad with pas sion, and as void of good sense n<>w, not withstanding all the lessons of the war, as they were during the years immedi ately preceding the war?when no Northern man was safe a moment in the South, unless he degraded his manhood by adopting the sectional views of the Southern politicians, and lauding sla very to the skies. By men who, having been conquered, and all th?ir political heresies exploded as a consequence of the war, and to whom, good sense, pru dence and modesty would dictate to keep silence, ai?fr nevertheless, blatant with their denunciations of Northern men who reside in their midst. In their mad course they seem determined to do the very thing that will prevent a re covery of the property in the South, for their conduct tends to drive every Northern man away, and prevents capi tal and enterprise from coming here. They know there is no value to their lands now, and they seem willing there never shall be, nor any revival to trade or commerce. A man who believes in the congress ional plan of reconstruction, and aids that plan by his vote, and otherwise publicly supports it, is in the Southern man's mind wanting in all the characteris tics of a gentleman ; but on the other hand if a Northern man will so for degrade himself as to speak lightly of the rebel lion, treat it as a mere difference of poli tical opinion, that one side of the war was about as near right as the other, that Jeff Davis is a genial gentleman, and will never be tried for treason, for after all he only failed in "forming an Empire," that rebels ought not to be disfranchised, for their leaders are the only men who really understand how to manage governments, curse the colored race loudly, and tfollow he Southern practice of wearing a belt with a pistol at his side, think that all political hon esty is confined to the Democratic party, that Congress hangs on the "verge of the government," that Mr. Johnson is a great statesman, and the country will be ruin ed if he is impeached, such a man is a ;? gentleman," a conservative, and is taken into the gracious favor of South ern rebels. He is no "carpet-bag adven turer." No, no, for with such men rebels could easily get into power, and I therefore they meet with a cordial wel- I come. Every man has a paradise around him, until he sins, and the angel of an accusing conscience drives him from his Eden. SENATOR WADE. Of course old Ben, must lead the col umn in anything like a list of the prom inent, earnest and unceasing workers for impeachment. He has been in favor of it ever since it was first suggested?and probably not so much because he saw anything commendable in the thing it self, as because it was the skirmish line of his party, where he always desires to be and always will be, let it be never so far away from the main column. He'll take his little "jump ahead," at whatev er cost. It would be wrong to suppose that Mr. Wade is or has been influenced I in his advocacy of impeachment solely by personal consideration growing out of his right of succession. Old Ben., with all his faults, is not at .selfish man. I know of few public men who are less so. He was the silent but persistent ! advocate of impeachment months before ; ! his election to the Presidency of the Senate, and at a time ivhen he had no other interest but that of his party to advance by it. ! Mr. Wade-, as incumbent of the White 1 House, will not be so violent a person ! as "Old Ben:" stumping in the West, or i making after dinner speeches on a rail road excursion. The tendency of power and responsibility is to make men con ; servative; and old Ben., with a consci ousness that so much ?depends upon his nioderationand discretion, will no doubt put himself upon his good behavior? roar him as gently as a sucking dove? and dp nothing more indecorous or outre in its nature than taboo butter and lard from the state dinners. Old Ben is now sixty eight years of ag?, and in his eighteenth year of service in the Senate. *He and Sumner were elected to begin their Senatoral careers together, on the 4th of March, 1851, but I think Sumrier claims "the age" on him; because he (iSumner) was sworn in at the special session of March, 1851, while" Wade did not appear in his seat until the commencement of the regular session in December following. He is stil! hale and hearty ; ri es every morn ing at 6, takes Ions: walks when he can, and when he can't do that he does a little swearing before breakfast to give him a good appetite. This sketch is already longer than I intended it should be, or I might give a few illustrations of old Ben's social lite and mauners. As it is, one must suf fice : He boards at the Washington House, a most humble and unpreten tious hostlery, near the Capitol, and lives up near the roof for the special purpose of avoiding callers. It was thought he would be "at home" to friends and the public on New Year's day, and his accommodating landlord asked if he should not put his room in order for receiving company. Oh, no," said Ben. "I don't want any of their infernal visitiugs. I'm going to lock myself in all day, and if anybody comes I wont be home. Tell them I've gone out." And he didn't make a call or re ceive one. Practical Education.?Education should consist much more than it does in learning to do, to act, to perform. The successful men of the world are those who can accomplish the ends of life, who can by their own energy and skill bring about grand and useful re sults. Our educational institutons make us learned, cultured, but not sufficiently actors. One reason why very often the vouns: men who have but little educa * _ tion from the schools surpass those who have lived for years in college walls, is because they have been trained to action. Action gives health and strength. Cul ture gives ease, grace and finish. They belong together, but have been separa ted. Let them be brought once more into some grand scheme of education, and we shall have men and women as the result who can not only accomplish noble work, but have at the same time fine scholars, with cultivated manners, with grace and dignity of demeanor.? Herald of Health. A Good Name.?Always be more solicitous to preserve your innocence than concerned to prove it. It will ne ver do to seek a good name as a primary object. Like trying to be graceful, the effort to be popular will make you con temptible. Take care of your spirit and conduct, and your reputation will take care of itself. The utmost that you are called to do, as the guardian of your re putation, is to remove injurious asser tions. Let not your good be evil spoken of, and follow "the highest example in mild and explicit self-vindication. No reputation can be permanent which does not spring from principle : and he who would maintain a good character should be mainly solicitous to maintain a good conscience, void of offence to wards God and man. A Severe Winter.?The past win ter has been one of the severest ever known, both in this and other countries. In Algeria the suffering has been very ?reat. In Russia, as we learn from a fetter in a Paris paper, the cold has been intense. Coachmen were frozen upon their seats, the gas refused to burn, and the dogs howled most piteously. Men on horseback went through the streets of St. Petersburg and Moscow, carrying aid to the unfortunate, and the nobility distribute hot tea in front of their palaces. COURSE OF TRE FIRST NEGRO NOMI NATED TO CONGRESS. A Correspondent of the Cincinnati Commercial, who is making a journey through the South, writes as follows, in a letter from Raleigh, North Carolina, dated February 28th : An event has occurred during my stay here which will probably be histo rical. It was the nomination of a full blooded African to Congress, and his declining to accept the proffered honors on the ground that his election would injure the Republican party and retard the progress of his race toward impartial citizenship. James H. Harris, the first negro ever regularly nominated to Con gress in the United States, is a native of North Carolina. He received his edu cation at Oberlin, Ohio, and, after grad uating, spent some time in Liberia. At the close of the war he returned to this State, and soon acquired the reputation* of being the most ready and effective speaker among the colored men in North Carolina, His oratory is of the im passioned kind. After the first two or three sentences, his voice rises into a torrent, his gestures sway his whole body, and his face assumes that intense expression that suggest neuralgic reac tion. * The nomination to Congress tendered him was from the Raleigh District, where the Radicals have a working ma jority of from five to seven hundred, so it will be seen that t?arris refused to accept something thatiwas tempting and tangible. In declining the honor he made a speech in which he dwelt on the inexpediency of sending negroes to Congress at this time, .when such deep seated distaste exists in all parties against "nigger preferment." He said: 1 "If you send me to Congress we shall see all the Southern States following the example, and how will it look to have eight or ten black men sitting in the House of Representatives ? What fuel that would be to feed the 'flame of prej udice ! I want this five thousand dol lars a year as badly as anybody, but I am not willing to strike a blow sgainst the Republican party. I am not willing to sell out my race, for such a sale would my acceptance virtually be." His further remarks, in the same strain, were highly sensible and practi cal, and all present were struck by the display of self-sacrafice. A white man (Colonel Dewese) received and accept ed the nomination. was secretly ad miring the magnanimity of Harris, when a whisper reached me that he had been bribed by Deweese and his friends to de cline the nomination to Congress, it being well understood beforehand' that it would be offered to the gifted black orator. But a little consideration satis fied me that Harris was influenced mainly by noble motives. He is a poli tician, ambitious, a talented speaker, anxious to display his endowments. He would be as capable a black Congress man as any that could be selected, and to be one, some day, is probably his greatest aspiration. What sort of a bribe could he have received to counter balance all this ? No matter what vague scandal may be afloat, the fact remains the first African nominee to Congress rejected the seat on the ground of devo tion to his party and his people, and gave way to one of the "superior race/' though individually his inferior in edu cation and ability. The Democracy were everywhere jubilant last year over what they fae tiously styled "the re-action" against Republican principles and " Radical misrule." Recause the unimportant elections of 1867 in many States were suffered to go, in some cases by default and in others by diversion upon side is sues, to the advantage of the Democ racy, our opponents indiscreetly conclu ded that the Republican party was about to give up business, and would certainly fail to contest the great elections of '68. Or, perhaps, they supposed that we should, again this year, amuse ourselves with the "side shows" which received our entire attention last fall. Never did a faction make a greater mistake ! The great Republican party enters upon this Presidential Campaign, armed at all points, with every man up to the front, and determined to sweep the field by the unity and strength of its organiza tion and the irresistible force of its great living principles. We are neither to be amused by "side shows" nor diverted by false issues. Beginning our work in New Hampshire, where we have deliver ed upon the opposition a blow so deadly that it has already decided the whole campaign, we shall go marching on, turning neither to the right nor left, un til in November the just cause of Con stitutional and Popular Rights shall be everywhere triumphant. Everlasting Flowers.?It is said at Stirling Castle, Scotland, flowers are still in full health and vigor which were planted by Mary, Queen ef Scotts, three hundred years ago. The daffodil and polyanthus still survive the ruin of the parterre, spring up among weeds and <*rass, and contend for existence with plants of "baser quality." The peony will ?tow in the same spot for a thou sand^Tears, and well merits the name of "everlasting," and among woody plants some varieties of rose, even when subject to neglect and maltreatment, are exceed ingly tenacious of life. j ,. THE DUTY 0? A PRESIDENT. Robert j. Walker, of whose De I uHfcracy there can be no possible doubt, j in Hs great argument in the Mississippi cas2j held the following language in re gard to the President's duty to execute all tie laws of Congress, without refer enei to their constitutionality : ' 'And here let me say a word in vin dication of the President, who has been i greitly censured, especially by a large portion of the Secession press of the Sdfcih, for carrying into execution an act which he had vetoed upon the ground that it was unconstitutional. When a bill is presented to the President, he is bound to inquire into its constitutional itj-before he gives his approval. He is then co-operating with the legislative department of the government. If he declines to sign it, and it is passed by a t^?-thirds majority of Congress, it is as j^kch an act of Congress as if it had re ceived the sanction of the President ; and it necessarily follows that, under the obligation imposed upon him by the Gcnnsitution to see that the laws are faithfully executed, he is as much bound to'execute that act as one which met his fujest approval. Why? Because the .President possesses no judicial power; does Congress. If Congress were t^ttempt to convert itself into a judi ei| body, and the two Houses should go into Committee of the Whole to inquire into the constitutionality of a particular act, their resolution on that subject wolud be a mere nullity, because they possess legislative power, and not execu tive or judicial power. So the President had no right to judge of the constitu tionality of an act of Congress after it l?ix? become a law, then being a judicial question. If this were not so it would "b? ihe right, and therefore the duty, of every seccessive Pr?sident, so soon as he was inaugurated, to take up the hund reds of volumes containing all the acts of Congress, and inquire judicially which of them were constitutional and why not, and carry into execution those which he believed to be constitutional and refuse to execute those which he believed to be unconstitutional. I ?ay the President would be usurping the judicial function and overthrowing the distinction created by the Constitution between the co-ordinate departments of the Government if he were to attempt to exercise such a power as that. He has no discretion except to execute the act ; and that important fact goes to the very gist of the matter. When an ap plication is made for a mandamus to compel the performance of an act, or an injunction to restrain the execution of an illegal act, it depends upon whether the executive officers have a discretion in cither case to judge of the law, and a right to execute it or not at their pleas ure. If they have no discretion, and the law positively commands the execu tion of a particular act, the remedy is by mandamus to act affirmatively; if the law forbids peremptorily the execution of an act, then, where it cau be made a judicial question, the appeal is to the judicial tribunals, and especially where the question is a constitutional one. In this case the President has no discretion except to execute the law ; the subordi nate officers who are obeying his com mands have no discretion, except to carry his orders into effect; and there is no discretion in such a case between an executive and a ministerial duty." TWO GREAT CIT?ES OF THE FUTURE. Tt is now almost a certainty that the great Northern Pacific Railroad will be built, and that at an early day. Nobody in California can have any legitimate in terest in opposing that enterprise. The line will be eight hundred miles distant from the Central Pacific, and the road can hardly be a competitor of the latter, unless it is for the Asiatic trade. And even this theory, brought forward by some of the Eastern papers, has no solid backing of facts. The Northern Pacific will derive its import-ance partly from the fact that it will open up for settle ment the richest and most attractive country now unimproved, to be found on so much of the continent as is in our possession. Then this route will be at tractive on account of its shortness and directness. But*the termini are more remarkable. Commencing at the head waters of Lake Superior, the most noted lake in the world, and ending on the headwaters of Puget Sound, the most noted inlet on the Pacific coast, the commercial advantages alone would bring the enterprise into great promi nence at once. Accepting these points as the termini,?and they appear to be as certain as any other part of the project? two great cities are sure to spring up under the quickening influence of the Northern Pacific Railroad. One of these will be found at the Eastern terminus, on the headwaters of Lake Superior. The commerce of the lake will be, in a qualified sense, tributary to it, as well as the vast mineral interests of that region. In fact, it is hardly straining the point to say the road would com mence on an ore bed of surpassing rich ness, and on which hardly more than a surface impression would be made aftei all the mineral had been taken out foi the iron tract across the continent. The other city will be wherever the road terminates on Puget Sound?possi bly at a point where, up to this time, noi a house has been built or a tree cut? JSan Francisco Bu?etin. The Portsmouth Journal makes some valuable suggestions in relation to the political relation of negroes, which it will be well for all citizens of the Uni ted States to consider : It is about time that we give over sneering at the negro and do him jus tice. He is never dangerous unless we wrong him. We can never overthrow his power until we recognize his rights. This will not be done by crying nigger and radical. Although but less than one-eighth cf our population, he has controlled our politics for half a century? occasioned the Rebellion which has killed and maimed one in thirty of our population, and destroyed a large part of our wealth, and now distracts the whole country?deranges trade and obstructs business. He, or policy concerning him, elected three-fourths of our Presi dents and Congressmen, and to-day the question before this State and this na tion, is not what system |of finance or national policy shall be adopted, but every man is arguing and will vote either to enslave or liberate the negro. It is time that this was ended. How can at be done ? Give the negro the same right to live, acquire property and protect it, that other people have?give practical effect to the principles of the Declaration of Independence,?make this country one of equal rights, and the negro will have no more influence upon our national policy than any other per son. His influence will be reduced to its proper proportion. But, says the bigoted man who does not respect or comprehend the principle which makes him a voter, the black man is not the equal of the white man. If that be so. is the fact any rea son why the white man should wrong the black man ? If the negro is infe rior, there is. less chance that he will have the power to do the white man any harm. If inferior we are bound to aid and protect him, to liberate, educate, and elevate him. It will cost less to ed ucate him, than it will to attempt to crush him. Slave labor has been the most expensive and the least product ive this country ever had. The negro without education and without the im proving influence which the ballot will give him, will be neither slave nor citi zen?neither man nor property?and will retard the advance of the country. Educated and a part of the Government, he will become thrifty, well behaved and successful. The ?'irrepressible conflict" between the Republicans and Democrats is shown in the opposite efforts to elevate and de grade this unfortunate people. What Democrat is in the South teaching the blacks their rights and duties, or con tributing to support those who are there ? Half of the time and money spent at the North in attempting to convince the people that the negro ought to be proscribed, spent on educa ting and elevating him, would have made him a safe and valuable member of society. Our prejudices against the black men show how much more power the slave-holding influence had over us than the principles of Christianity. The ex-slave-holders have made, as they have allways made, the platform upon which the Northern Democrats now stand. The Northern Democrats would crush the negro because the rebels order him to do so. The Southern end of the party leads, and in that end, and not in the Constitution or New Testament, do the Democrats find their creed. Reader, stick to the party of Freedom. Just as sure ae Governments are made for man, not man for Government, the party which emancipated the slave and put down the Rebellion, will rule this country, and in spite of Democratic big otry and tyranny the neirro will be a MAN. Seeing the Sun at Midnight.?In July, 1865. Hon. J. H. Campbell ?. S. Minister to Norway, with a party of American gentlemen, went far enough north to see the sun rise at midnight. It was in b'9 degrees north latitnde,~and they ascended a cliff 1,000 feet high above the Arctic sea. The scene is thus described :? i;It was late but. still sunlight. The arctic ocean stretched away in silent vastness at our feet ; the sound of the waves scarcely reached our airy lookout; away in the north the huge old sun swun? low along the horizon like a slow beat of the tall clock in out grandfather's parlor corner. Wc all stood silent look ing at our watches. When both hands came together at twelve, midnight, the full round orb hung triumphantly above the wave?a bridge of gold running due north spangled the waters between us and him. There he shone in silent ma jesty which knew no setting. Wc in voluntarily took off our hats?no word was said. Combine the most brilliant sunrise you ever saw, and ite beauties will pale before the gorgeous coloring which lit up the ocean, heaven and mountain. In half an hour the sun had swung up perceptibly on its beat, the colors changed to those of morning, a fresh breeze rippled over the florid sea, one songster after another piped up out of the grove behind us?we had slid in to another day, Adversity overcome, is the brightest glory, and willingly undergone, the greatest virtue. Sufferings are but trials of valiant spirits. EFFECT OF IMPEACHMENT AT THE SOUTH. Col. Forney reports the following re marks recently made to him by a distin guished Southerner^ nativeof Georgia :? "The removal of Andrew Johnson would be lifting from the Southern peo I pie a greater load than any under which j they have ever suffered. We are like I men struggling with a fiend?our steps are watched, our words noted, our lives threatened, our labor plundered, our best men slandered, our great improve ments retarded, our friends kept away, our brethren driven off?all because Andrew Johnson pardons, pays and pushes on our enemies. We shall make Georgia a KepubKcan State by a tre mendous vote, but no tongue can tell what we have had to endure to accom plish it, and yet we are better off than our brethren in Mississippi, Texas and Louisiana. In the first the reign of terror is more severe than it ever was during the rebellion, while General Hancock, excited to his bad work by Andrew Johnson, refuses to arrest it. Give us a Republican in the Presi dential chair, and we shall require noth j ing from Congress. Millions will be immediately saved to the public treasury ! and there will be an instant submission ; on the part of the public enemies. All that is needed to make the South bloom like a garden, is to notify the emigrant and the capitalist that they will be pro tected by the laws. I belonged to the Democratic party in its best days, voted for James Buchanan in 1856, and for John C. Breckinridge in 1860; but when I realize that the overthrow of the Democratic party was simply to prepare the way for the rebellion, I took my stand, and now, regretting the delusion under whieh I labored, I am resolved I to do all I can to repair my mistake." A FEW PLAIN QUESTIONS FOR THE LOYAL VOTERS OF THIS STATE TO ANSWER. What party was it, in 1860, that re fused honor and submission to the Con stitutional election of Republican Presi dent, and lent its sympathy to an armed revolt ??The Democratic. What party was it, that when the Southern States voted secession, in their resolutions, newspapers and speeches, denied the right under the Constitution to put down the rebellion by coercing the States in revolt ??The Democratic. What party held the power of the National Government when the forts and arsenals on our southern coast were allowed to be taken by rebels without resistance ??The Democratic. What party furnished the men who conspired to murder Abraham Lincoln when on his way to the National Capi tol to take the office of President ?? The Democrats. Who honor the name of the infamous assassin. Booth, and in frequent utter ances declare their wish to build a mon ument to his memory ??Democrats. What party forced the country either to abandon the Union and the great principle of government by the voice of the people, or to endure a gigantic war and sustain the Union by the cost of half a million of lives and thousands of millions of national indebtedness ??The Democratic. What party was it which cursed and defamed the heroes who fought for the Union, and still slander and defame ef ficient soldiers and leaders in the Union cause ??The Democratic. What party is it, which has for the last eight years done all in its power to ruin the country by treasonable acts and influences, and has not repented, and which now demands to be reinstated in its former power by the people's votes '( ? The Democratic. What party would infinitely prefer Jeff Davis, the traitor, to II. S. Grant, the nation's defender, for President of the United States ??Tlu Democratic. What party endorses the treason of Andrew Johnson in his effort to restore the rebels of the South to power and to defeat the efforts of Congress to recon struct the rebel States on the principle of Impartial Liberty and Justice ??The Democratic, Success makes Enemies.?They who are eminently successful in business, or who achieve greatness, or even noto riety in any pursuit, must expect to make enemies. So prone to selfishness, to petty jealousy and sordid envy, is poor human nature, that whoever be comes distinguished is sure to be a mark for the malicious spite of those who, not deserving success themselves, are goaded by the merited triumph of the more worthy. Moreover, the opposition which originates in such despicable motives, is sure to be of the most unscrupulous char acter, hesitating at no iniquity, descend ing to the shabbiest bitterness. Opposition, if it be honest and manly, m is not in itself undesirable. The com petitor in life's struggles who is of true metal, deprecates not opposition of an honorable character, but he rather re rcjoices in it. It is only injustice or meanness which he deprecates and des pises ; and it is this which the success ful must meet, proportioned in bitterness oft-times, to the measure of success which excites it. ! Second thoughts.?How to bring ujj your man to the call of "Time P*