Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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l\u Lancaster febger. VOLUME XVI. LANCASTER C. II., S. C., NOV., 21, 1867. NUMBER 41. THE CONSERVATIVE CON. VENTION. ADDRESSTOTiiE PEOPLE OK SOUTH CAROLINA. TUETRKSEST CONDITION' OF TUB ST ATE. The Relation* of Labor and Capital' A Protest against Negro Suffrage, Ac. To the People of South Carolina : Fki.low Ciiixkn*.?In times of groat public danger, the instinct of ielf proseri vation prompts a people to assemble and confer together upon tho issues that tbe stern logic of erents forces ucon their at tention. The citiRens of South Carolina stand Uvday in this position. It becomes our duty, therefore, to take counsel to gether, and to announce our conclusions temperately, but (irmly aud fearlessly to the public. In performing this duty, we shall avoid all terms of animadversion upon men, parties or section*. The rice of misrep. resentation and detraction ha* become the order of the day, ard both North and South have (tillered from the evils which bad their origin in this fruitful source of mischief. The Northern people, Hushed with victory, have not baeu solicitous to ascertain the temper of the Southern mind ; and the Southern people, crushed by the loss of their cause and their most cherish ed hopes, h**e been alike indifferent to event* f?>r whicn lliev do not feed therti selves r??pnis*in!?>, am! over which they have not the power of control. In the meantime, wicked nn.l designing men, holli Ml I lie North ami at llie South, have not heen wanting, to ke- p alive the fires of sectional hate, unfit now tlicy threaten to involve the whole country in misrule anil anarchy. Of the late war, it is not our purpose now to speak ? '.he sanguinary fact will stand forth forev. r in the history of these American States. Oar duty now is with present evils, an>l their future consequences. The emancipation policy of tiie Gov eminent was ninl is the great fountain head from which spring*, and will con tinua to spring, the thousand evils bv wliir.h we ?rn environed. What but ijiutiUr could f >llov? in the footatepa of the 11 * -1 v and inconsiderate polirv, by which 4,000,000 of slavey without education, and without the leaat preparat on f.?r the cUnja, wero turned adrift front the discipline and interested car? of the master, to provide for them aelvet. Mint it not he self evident to nny thinking man, no inatt<-r what It is prcju dicae, that nothing ho can now propote will ho aide to convert an idle, roving, thriftleaa free negro popu'ation into the ateady, healthy, lahoriu; population that ??e formerly employed in our fields at the Booth. Hut gloomy a* the prospect may he, the people at the South iiiuat regard lltia disastrous reaull aa now fixed and ettled beyond recall. Slavery ia at an and. We do not propoae that what hat been done should be undone; but wo do pro* poae to abow that, with tlm pieacnt free nagro labor, the in.luatrial reaourcea of the South ere in no condition to contribute to tbe prosperity of the country. It ia the part of wiadom to look our nii?forlunea in the face. We ahould not deceive our aelvta, either at tbe North, or at the S'.uth. Three years of eiperience by both Northern and Southern men aiteat the fact that the cultivation of b t'< r<e and cotton? the great ataplca of the South?ia, under the preaent aiaUm of free negro labor, tho moat uncertain, tbe laaal remunerative, and tbe moat harraaaing employment in the world. Had a gradual ayatern of emancipation been adopted, men would by degrace have accommodated thnmeelvee to the gradual change, and tbe induatry of the coun'.ry would have received no auch tboek as now proetratee the South and overwhelm* her in de?pair. Upon the agriculture of the country mainly dependa the wealth and proepcrlty of the country. Hut a few yeara ago, the cotton exported front the United Slate* controlled foreign exchange, and held the monopoly in (or* fign market*. How ia it to.day, anJ bow will it be in the future I Inatead of five million* of bah a, vent forward to exerciae the former Influence upon trade, we have not more than one third of the crop of 1860, com II ??"v n y iv? pound, in currency?tie revenue (ax con tide red-* very li'tle, if anything, in advance of what wae realised per pound for the tar?* crop* of former yeara, paid in gold. Why ia tliia! it may he aaked.? The landa are the eame?the eeaeona are the tame?the climate ie?he eame?why, then, (he difference t We answer, the I labor is not the same. Instead of iodust ! try, we Imro idleness; instead of system, ! we have disorder, and instead of profit#, we have losses. Shall we be able to drive i out competition in the futuro, as we have it In the past f Sure'.y not. Put a few | years before the war, one of our most intelligent planters represented this State at tlie World's Kxhibition in Paris, and, wpon I his return, reported that he saw upon ex? 1 biltilion them th? <?niir???? . ----- ...... ...b i and from the Fast which were in ?very | war icj'ial to the finest productions of the | United State*. lie asked why cannot J theso cottons compete with the American cottons > The answer wa*, because we I cannot produce the article for tho same j price; we are compelled to hire the labor . which you own?ours Is unreliable, idle and costly, while yours is under control, | steady and cheap. For these reasons, | you will always be able to drive us out of ! the inaiket. Hut what now is the Condi- j I tion of the Southern planter! Mia labor is much more costly than that of Algiers I or the Kast, equally unsteady, and, pro I hahly, less under his control, and ire finds i himself now afmr .1? - !? , ...... ^??,.u?uub' wnr, j driven from the market by prices which ; hi? former competitors can afl'ord to take. ' The pre?eot low price of cotton is but the evidence of the causes already stated.? i And it may he that, in a few years, we I shall he importing cotton and rice into , the United States, instead of exporting ' these great commodities. We aro now | eating, in the interior of South Carolina, | rice imported from China, and we have I been credibly informed that East India j cotton has heen imported into New York. How soon the State craft of Croat Hritain I may find it expedient to impose an import I i duty upon American cotton*, who can I toll ? Hut it may l?o nuked, it there no retne t c!y for these calaniitiet to tho Southern I people? We antwtr, rnott probably, no immediate remedy. Time it the great master of the situation. If our people will give up the delusive hope of growing rich by the cultivation of cotton ? thereby j probably forking their utter ruin?if I they mil cultivate lest cotton and more i breadstuff's ; raise for their own u?o and | for rale horses, mules and stock of nil | kinds ; cure their own hay, make their j own huttcr, aud sell the surplus; if they | will labor to fill the land with plenty, they will, in s short time, realize a change I for the better in their own condition and I - i in? condition 01 mo aouiti ; at leant they shall not have debt* and disappointments i added to their other calamities. And in j raising our own food and supplies at the | South, we should also manufacture our own cloths and implements, upon our own J soil. There can he no more auspicious ; moment than the present to begin, at the | South, the manufacture of good* from our | own raw material. This was done to a ! great extent during the war. No matter j on how small a scale, let the work begin. To be successful, we must begin at the beginning, and work upward, as our pop ulation and weallh increase. We repeat, that we would not now re establish slave ry at the South. It is too late to correct ! the error of ita audden extinction. It i? j to our interest to make the most of the I circumstances by which we are surround ed. We cannot recall the nait "!.?? | the dead pa*t bury its dead." Hut let us not he entirely hopeless of the future. Little mora than half a century ago, I the great commodity exported from this J State was indigo. It ceased to be profl table here, because it could be more cheap ! ly cultivated elsewhere. Cotton was introduced in ita atead, and was cultivated with un paralleled success. Tobacco and i rice contributed to increase the wealth of the South. If these staples ceaae to be as remunerative in the future as they have been io the past, wo still have a great country left to us, and, with acme j thing like good government, our necesti 1 ties will give rise to new expedients. To conquer our difficulties, we must meet them with patience, fortitude and courage. Hut shall we have good government I ? That ia the great question presented in the next point that we propose to com aider. To admit aa a fact, m has been aasurai od to be the result of the war, that the Government of the United States is im preme, and that the States have uo right*, i or, if they have rights, that they are tub ordinate to the Government of the United States ; or, which is the same thing, tubf\r/\ in ate ft a iI.a swill ?: 4 ? 1 * , tv mio win vi h uaitjoriiy iiaTing control of the Government, is to admit the abrogation of the Constitution, and to ignore the facte of history. In other words, it is to acknowledge that we hare a Government of abtolute powers instead , of a Oorernment of limited and delegated . powers. It is admitted that any Govern | rnent, however limited, may, for a time, 1 usurp all power. A single ninn may *ise up and say bl am the State." Any assembly of men may, for a season, arrogate ! to themselves all power?executive, legis| lative and judicial. Hut the question re ' curs, is this Irno, or is this usurpation!? Is this good government, or is it rcvolui lion t Mere physical force is not law.? It may compel obedience, but it cannot give fo its acts the sanction of law, unless | it be in those countries where the will of an absolute despot is the recognized law ; of the land. To admit that the war has established utn h power in ino umte<l rstalea, is to H<linit that all constitutional government is at an end, and that an Stated, or as in j dividual*, we held our life, liberty and | property at the will and pleasure of any j majority, which, for the time being, may hold the power. Such, to day, may be i practically the condition of ten States of ! the American *LTnion. llut are wo pre I pared to endorse these proceeding*, and j engraft no monstrous a proposition into | our government polity ? That is the question that the people of tho North as I well aa the South are called upon to com I aider I The great obj set of laws, of cou , stitutiona. and of nrnv?rnin<?nl In " '>''" 1 f ? ^ r .vi?uaVM<| IO VV J/l VkUV? | the weak against the strong?to shield I minorities against the encroachment of I majorities. It is a political aphorism that 1 a majority cau protect ilsalf. Acting by I the sheer exerciso of arbitrary power, a | majority may, for a time, set at naught | all laws within these States?it may enJ force an obedience to military decrees, i from which there is no appeal?it may administer a purely military government according to its own will, and as such, it must be obeyed. Hut when we are called upon to sanction such government as be< ing in accordance with the Constitution I I and the la^s. we have a right to test the i question according to the rule proposed, I and to withhold our assent. We admit i !.. r... ?i.? * " | itir utct i;ni mi arilMl taw e\l?IA It) SOUtft Carolina ; but wo do not admit tbo prin ciple tbat martial law has ibe right to impose a civil government upon us with' out our consent. Far be it from us to raise a factious opposition to the Kecon, struction Acts of Congress. We believe bat those Acts nnd tbo measures they propose are destructive, not only to our constitutional rights, but to our social | peace. With us It is not a question ol | party, nor of political power. Wo care nothing for these things. We are quite I willing that others should enjoy all the j honors, all the emoluments of office, all | the pomp and circumstance of place ? I What we desire is peace?not the sem ; bianco of peace, but the substance ol peaco?peace at our own firesides and throughout all our borders. We desire peace to enable us to build up our waste places, our temples of worship, our sacked and ruined cities, now lying in ashes, our dismantled dwellings and our prostrate credit. We desire peace for its own sake , for its holy Christian influence, and for the civilization and refinement which spring up in its path. Do the Reconstruction Acts of Congress propose to give us this peace ! No, they j give us war and anarchy, rather. They i sow the seeds of discord in our midst, and | place the best interest of society into the hands of an iguorant mob. They disfranchise the while citizen ami enfranchise the newly emancipated slave. The slave of yesterday, who knew no law but the will of the master, is to day about to be i invotica wuu mo control or too uovernmerit. In hII popular Governments, the j (wo great sources of power may l>e tiaced: , 1st. To (he exercise of the ballot. 2d. To ' the franchise of the jury.box. Invest any ' people with these two great powers, and | tbey have at once the government of the country in their hands, liy the Keconstruction Act* of Congress, these powers are conferred upon the negro?he can : make and unmake the Constitution and the laws, which he will administer accord , ing to the dictates of others, or his own caprice. Wo are not unfriendly to the negro; on the contrary, we know that we are bis beat frienda. While he occupied the po sition of a slave, he was protected by the laws, acoording to his condition in life.? Ana now mm no nag maue tree, we are not only willing to confer upon him every ciwil right, but to protect him in the fall and free enjoyment of tbono right*.? In hi* property, io hi* life, and in hi* per on, we are willing that the black man and the white man ahall atand together upon the same platform end be ahielded by the rime eqnal law*. We venture the opinion that the people of South Carolina are prepared to adopt, a* their own, the Conatitution of any New England or other I Northern Stale, rboreio it ia *nppo*ed illat the civil rights of the negro sre most ' fully end amply secured. Hut up^n a | question involving such grave and mo mentuous issues, we should be untrue to ourselves and unfair to our opponents were we to withhold the frank and full j expression of our opinions. We, therefore, feeling the responsibiliI ty of the subject and the occasion, enter our roost Rolemn protest against the policy ! of investing the negro with political rights. ' The black man is what God and nature . and circumstancen have made him. That ; !io is not fit to be Invested with there irn! portant rights, may be no fault of his.? Hut the fact is patent to all that the net gro is utterly unfitted to exercise the highest functions of the citizen. The government of the country should not be ! permitted to pass from the hands of the i white man into the hands of the negro.? I The enforcement of the Reconstruction Acts by military power, under the guise of negro voters and negro conventions, cannot lawfully re establish civil government in South Carolina. It may, for a time, hold us in subjection to a quasi civil government, backed by military force, but ! it can do no inore. As citizens of the j United Stales, we should not consent to live under negro supremacy, nor idiould we acquiesce in negro equality. Not for ! ourselves only, but on behalf of the An| glo Saxon race and blood in this country, do we protest against this subversion of I the great social law, whereby an ignorant 1 and depraved race is placed in power and iulluence above the virtuous, the educated and the refined. By these Acta of Congross, intelligence and virtue are put under foot, while ignorance and vice are lifted into power. In South Carolina, the negro majority, ! under the Reconstruction Acts, is much ! more than two to one. In most of the other Southern Slates, the negro majorities, if not so great, are almost as decided. In those States where the while vote is in the ascendant, the election districts have been so arranged as to take the po 1 | litical power from the white vote and cast it in favor of the negro vote. What, then, is the inevitable result ? It invest* the negro with absolute political power io each of the ten Southern States, and at j the same time invests him with the bal1 ! ance of powt-r in the United States. Nor J is this all. The reconstruction scheme | c'oses the ballot box againit the best im I formed and educated classes in the com" 1 munity, and opens it to the negro, of 1 whom not more than one in a hundred can read a word, and not more than one in five hundred can write hu name; and multitudes of whom are so profoundly ignorant as to be unable to remember the name by whhh they have been reg1 iitered. Verily, this teems, to be convert1 1 ing a popular government, of whom we have been justly proud, into a popular farce; and we would be content so to 1 consider it if did not involve the Issue of 1 life and death to the 1onn of Govern* mcnt established by our fathers for the benefit of themselves and their posterity. If the object of the framers of the Itei construction Acts was to degrade the Southern people, it is time for them to ? i- < * - vuiiniuvr wuoiufr (o? degradation may not be brought to their own doom?whe> (tier the poisoned cup miy not be return e l to their own lips. Hut it may be ask1 ed, why do not the Southern people ac cept the situation And control the negro ' element ! This question is much more j easily asked than answered. In the first 1 place, it may be said that the influence ol . the corrupt and intriguing demagogue, who will appeal to passion and prejudice, has always been found to be more pow , erful with excited and ignorant mobs, than the wisest counsels of the best friends.? ; Besides, the foundation stone upon which Republican Government rests is, that the ! elective franchise is to be exercised by a free, intelligent and unbiased judgment ; and whenever it is admitted that this franchise is to be controlled, or, in other words, to be made the aubject of undue ! influences and of bribes, then, too, it must t>e admitted that Republican Government is at an end, and must, sooner or later, give way to such other Government as Mian I//?? <*>// ??VAS* > 1 * 1 -j .r? ?... u|/uu a urjirn??u ana Ml ready corrupted people, i Rut if it is proposeJ in advanee to place the enfranchised negro under con* trol, why confer tbo franchise at all f ? Surely, the part of wise government ia to prevent the evil, and not open the door to the mischief which others are adinon' ' isheJ they muat be prepare, by trick or management, to avert. But why press the aubject further f It is enough for u* ' to 1coow that this wild and reckteaa ex ' periment cornea home to the hearth atone of every citizen, and involves family and property, society, liberty, and even lifo it self. Nor is this nil. The courts of justice are <lr*m;r.5 into the mire from their i high position ; otir most intelligent white ' I citizens aro excluder! from the jury, while ! the igrorsnt negro is elernterl Jo that re' i sponsible position; the jury lists are made j j up from the lists of registered voters, ' which, as we have said, are more than ' 1 two to one ir. favor of the negro. Not i only, l>e it remembered, is the oegro ad ! milted to the jury>box, but the white j ' man is excluded therefrom. Think you ' tliAt when the great masters of the com I men law of England pronounced their ! encomium upon the trial by jury, that : they contemplated for a moment such an instrument as an ignorant negro psnol ! I Think you, that when the framers of the j Constitution of the United Stales incor1 porated into that instrument the provision that the trial by jury should always be ' held inviolate, that they intended to en- : graft upon it such an enormity as negro ; jurymen, fresh from the cotton and rico j fields of the South I Think you, that' j when John Ilutledce and hi? > I compeer* signed that instrument on the I J part of South Carolina, that the}- intend I I to forge a chaiu which, in a period no | longor than ordinary life time, would ' drop their grand children (who were then 1 ' playing around their knees, and some of ' whom are now living.) for trial before a j jury of their own slaves ! Talk of additional humiliation, talk of confiscation, complain of clemency to reb els, after tbis ! Go-1 forbid 1 The Govt eminent of the United States has enforci ; ed against the Southern people the moat stupendous act of confiscation that hr.a i ever been enforced in the history of naI lions; their property in slaves Las been confiscated to the amount of three thousand millions of dollars ; other personal property, in the shape of cotton, provisions, stocks, plate and money, has been captured or destroyed, to the value of one thousand millions of dollars ; and from these causes their land has been deteriorated to the extent of one thousand inil* lions of dollars?making in the aggre gate the enormous sum of five thousand millions of dollars. These overwhelming pecuniary losses fall exclusively upon the Southern people. The political evils complained of will, of course, fall chiefly upi on the people of the South, hut not ex cluaively upon them. Faalen negro sui premacy upon the South, and it must be felt through all of her relations with the North?whether commercial, political or social. Should a Northern man?and how often must such necessarily be the case?he brought to trial in the State or Federal Courts at ?!? i?t. i:<? ? i ? ?uu wvuiu| u?o iiix9 uf liberty must be passed upon by ignorant negro juror?. Should the mo?t difficult i and complicated questions of properly arise in Southern Courts?and Low often must such be the case, arising from inter* marriage, inheritance or trade?the cause ' of tbe Northern man must be decided by the same ignorant tribunal. Nor is this i yet all. 'Die highest prerogative of Govj ernment is the taxing power, and the efforts of tbe wisest statesmen have been expended to guart} this great power against abuse. No power baa been more zealously watched than this. No power has given rise to so much strife and bloodi shed in the history of the world. Tbe ! contest between tbe mother country and I the colonies originated in her assumption t rtf llio ? * !.# Ia A.. ? I?1- ? ' ,,Siit tu mt Hiuiuui reprcienniion. By the lteconatructica Acta of Con gres?, the taxing power ia placed in the r; hands of tboae who own no property, and ia taken away from those who bold the ! property and must pay the taxes. The war that has always existed between cap ital and labor is decided in favor of the latter, and the wealth of tbe country ia prostrated at the feet of those who have ! nothing at stake but their daily wages ' and their daily bread. IIow will this : power he exercised * Can it be auppoa j ed for a moment that it will be exercised ' in any other way than to impose such ' burdens upon the taxpayers as will ai 1 mount, in tho end, to practical conGaca tion of the small remaining anbetance of j our people I But we must forbear. Such , lire tome of tbo immediate consequences of the Reconstruction Acta upon the peo. ; pie of the South and upon the whole |country. "" ' We hare said, and we repeat, that we desire peace ; but the policy now propoe j ed cannot give us peace, li ia contrary to tho voice of reason and the law of na ture. Instead of peace, under the Re , construction Acts, we ahall bavo strife and bitterness. Instead of the South recovering from her poverty, ajd contributing : her share to the common wealth and prosperi?y of the country, ahe will become more and more impoverished. The bright (of misrule will cut short her harvests and dry up her resources. The law of vio* 'once, w'uicli haw pro Tailed for mora tba_ two years iu reconstructed Tennessee, will extend its 6way throughout the entire South, and we shall reap, like her, the harvest of crime and blood multiplied two fold. We have shown that free negro labor, under the sudden emancipation policy of the Government is a disaster from which, under the most favorable circumstances, it will require years to recover. Add to this the policy which the Reconstruction Acts propose to enforce, and you place the South, politically and socially, under the neei or me negro ; tbese iuflueuces combined wopld drag to hopeless ruin the moat prosperous community in the world. What do there Reconstruction Acta propore ? Not negro equality merely, Lui negro supremacy. In the name, then, of humanity to both races?in .the name of citizenship under the Constitution?in the name of a common history in the past? in the name of our AngloiSaxon race and blood?in the namo of tbo civilization qf the uine teentb century?in the name of tnegnanimity and the noble instincts of manhood?in the name of God and nature, we protest against these Acts, as destruc* tivc to tho peace of society, the prosperity of the country, and the greatness and grandeur of our common future. The people of the South are powerless to avert tho impondins ruin. Wo have been overborne, and tbe responsibility to posterity and to tbe world Las passed into other bands. How to Indnce Immigration. A shrewd writer iu the Columbia Phcenix of Saturday suggests the follow* ing plan to indnce immigration to this State: "It it this : That General Wegener in* rite the land holders of tbe several districts of this State to meet at their respective courthouses on a certain day to be lixed by him, and organize "associations for the promotion of immigration." 3 Let all land owners bo invited to join^theee associations, wbo are'Jwillirig to donate portions of tbeir lands to immigrants wbo will settle on and cultivate tbem. "Let it be tbe leading business of theee associations to collect and register ^.e names of all sucb persons, with tbe number of farms or acres tbey will donate* and forward lists of tbe same to the commissioner, General Wagener. This plaa will prove effectual; no other will. Farms must be given, to induce eitensive immigration. It can easjly be shown that nothing could more successfully or mora rapidly enhance the interests of land holders and the prosperity of the Slate than me aavem within her border* of a large number of small farmers from the old world. Mere laborers from thence will not answer ?tbe purpuse. I would hot undertake to raise cotton with foreign la* borers, if I could get t)iem for their vie* tuals and clothes. We roust have a host of small farmers. The only way to gel them is to givt t\tm farms. I believe every landholder in the State, who possess a thimble full of trains, will be willing, if the matter be fairly presented to him, to donate portions of land as above suggested. One landholder, and not a large one either, assures me he will give i-1 # di._ a - ma iriiui, ot any acres ticn, to itn lint' lie* of immigrant* ; another offer* to give | one third ot hi* land in the same way.? ! Rrery land-owner will give. Posh this scheme properly, and by the opening of Spring we m*y have an 100,000 sturdy farmers from the 4'Kaderland," laboring for the regeneration of Sooth Carolina. ITow to Grt Married Fashionably. ?The fashion now is, at church weddings, to stretch a broad white ribbon aero** the aisle up which the bridal party pas*, 1 above which none but inviud guest* are allowed to sit. The bridesmaids enter 5= I pairs, unattended by gentlemen?.he groom with his future mother indaw?the 1 bride with ber father. Two of the groomemen precede the whole party, and the other* behind. After the ceremony, each of them givea an arm to one of the maide, aa the party leave the church. At leaal auch ia the lateat Philadelphia fashion.? | Char. Mermry. A young girl who haa become tired of ingle bleaaedoeaa, writea to her true twain aa follow a: * ll "Deer Gim?Cum rile off ef you air cummin at awl. hjd. Collin* ia inaiatin that i shall hev him, an he huga an kiaaea me so kontinnerly that I kan't hold owl longer, but will bar to kave in. 1JKTBT. We advise Jim to go along straighti way before Iletry cavee. 11