The Camden journal. [volume] (Camden, S.C.) 1866-1891, May 30, 1867, Image 1
- ^jjpj 1 '' ' '-' I ' *: L.
VOLUME XXV. CAMDEN. .30^1^.^ ^ ^ ^ XUMBEli 40...
PUBLISHED WEEKLY BY
THOMAS W. PEGUES.
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m-TnrrnT v a tatttti/~\ttci
JXU.OUJ^JLiXJ/1.1^ JEi V U O.
AN EFFECTIVE SPEECH.
Senator Wilson has found a lion in
his path. At Montgomery, Ala., he
challenged any Southern man to reply
to him. The gage of battle was
.. accepted by General Jas." Ii. Clanton,
who, though taken by surprise,
delivered a telling and eloquent
sp ccch.
HHft We. make room for the following
ft extract
H|ft "The Senatoi from Massachusetts,
WBP who hasjust addressed you, and who
lives several thousand miles distant,
has explained to you the object of i
his political pilgrimage South. Ifc j
has challenged any one present to j
meet him in discussion to-night, and j
has offered to divide time with any j
one who would accept. I was born I
and raised in the South, and hope to
he buried in her soil. I have met
the brave men of the North on many
fields; they outnumbered and over- <
came us; and I certainly have no fear i
of their politicians: But for my family,
life would have but few charms i
mn N^ifhor tlm fnov nf flin rrnl. i
lows, the gibbet or the bayonet, will ;
ever cause me to desert my people, i
l^rsakc this bright Southern land <
from the expression ofuiy honest sen- 1
timcnts under any circumstances. ]
Some young Radicals, who have re- <
ccntly addressed you, say that the <
Sherman bill, which they arc advoca- i
ting, would disfranchise them, and, 1
hence their efforts were purely un- 1
selfish, whilst at the time their appli- ;
cations to be relieved from the disabilities
of that measure arc pending !
at Washington, and they are doubt- ]
Jes? expecting to call on you for your i
votes at the next election for this '
State. * i
I will here state my own position <
briefly oi\this point.
I believe that Bill is unconstitutional?I
believe it is oppressive to a
certain class of our best men.
* As soon as that Bill passed Congress
a high Federal official with the
kiritlest feelings forme personally said !
to mc: "Iou were not ;in ongimu i
secessionist. Congress will remove!
your disabilities under the Sherman j
Bill. You must send on an appiica-1
tion, and I will approve it, and help )
you to get through." I replied that
the Republican party had no right
under the Constitution to disfranchise
mc, and I would never ask for relief
at their hands, and that is my position
tonight.
The honorable Senator from Massachusetts
has said some things which
evince good feelings on his part, and
which I approve. He has also said
many things from which I must dissent,
and made many asscrsions which
the political history, and particularly
that of our recent unfortunate war,
proves to be untrue. . lie commences
with the history of slavery in the
South since lie came upon the stage
of action, and endeavors to fix the
responsibility of the existence of that
institution upon the Southern people,
with all of its -horrors as depicted by
his vivid imagination. I will carry
the gentleman back to the starting
point of the institution on this continent,
and before I take my scat I
will prove to you that the North is
^responsible for the existence of slavery
with whatever evils attached to
at; and I am frank to say tjiat there
xwere features in slavery whjefy were
wrong.
Many years ago, my friends, before
the United States had an
pxistence as a nation, your forefathers
inhabited the homes of your race?
Africa. The Northern people, who
were then as now a commercial people,
owning many ships, went to the
coast of Africa and bought some, and
and stole or kidnapped your grandfathers
and mothers, placed them in
the hold or their vessels in great
numbers, and in chains, took some
few to their Northern homes, and
sent most of them to be sold to the
Southern people for slaves. 'In this
work they had valuable, co-laborers
in the English and Spanish. By thi?
traffic in human flesh- they made large
sums of money. .
The Southern people, as a general
rule, were opposed to the slave trade,
and when the Colonies, threw off the
yoke of Great Britian, the Southern
Colonies amongst them, and one of
principal reasons which they published
to the world in justification of their
Cause, was that the mother country
had imposed slavery and the slave
trade upon them against their wishes.
When our independence was acknowledged
and we formed a Union
of the Colonics, the South was still
opposed to the slave trade, "and it j
would have been declared piracy, and
half of your race in the United States
would not *havc been here now, but
in Africa; but the Northern men encased
iu the trade found it to be so i
O O ^
profitable, and so entirely free from <
any consciencious scruples were they, <
that they insisted that their pious op- s
orations should continue twenty years i
longer, and the South yielded. These ;
slave traders invested their, money in j
lands, houses and other property ?
North, which made many of their 1
grand Murert or great grand cliil- 1
drcn rich, and some of whom are r.c\v
leading Republicans. c
The slaveholders of- the Northern c
States did the same thrng in most in- c
stances by sending their slaves to ]
Virginia and other Southern States :t
and selling them when their slave .la- c
bor became less profitable in a cold' J
climate than white -labor, and have; g
since amused themselves by abusing t
the Southern people as slave drivers? y
and the Senator, the descendant of o
these men, is here to-night reminding <]
you of the wrongs you have received t
it the hands of your former owners, ii
md advising you to avoid puli trial he
fltnuice^fnTIT^our friends an J ncfgh-" "a
jors, and to seek an alliance with peo- a
dIo in distant States, the llcpubli- '1
;ans of the North. I repeat, that the f
jonsciencious scruples of the North rj
.vas not seen cropping out until they o
md your race in their pockets, where f
;hcy have taken good care to keep ti
)rou ever since. 'J
There arc many good people at the t
North who are your friends, and .who f
have never engaged in tHrrslave'tradc, v
Dwned slaves or approved of slavery, n
The same can'be said of the South, i
and if let alone by the North that c
class would have been much larger r
in the South. More slaves have been c
freed by the act of their owners in the t
South than at the North'.' George r
Washington owned about one thous- c
and, which lie freed at his death. Mr. >
Randolph did the same. General j t
Oglethorpe opposed slavery in Gcor- j
gin. There is a man on this stage i
who knows that I had an angry con- i
trovcrsy many years ago in this city i
for endorsing llcnry uiay s emancipation
scheme for Kentucky. ITc 1
was my political leader, I never knew ]
him to do wrong, but I fear we will 1
never look upon his like again. ]
The gentleman from Massaclrusetts i
gays you ought to identify yourself
with the Radical party of the North,
because they have waded through a
bloody war of four years to set you
free, to give you the right to sit upon
juries, to ride on railroads, testify as
witnesses in courts, and much else.?
I deny every assertion he has made
on these points, and challcggc him to
the proof. He who says that this
war was commenced by the North to
set you free and confer on you the
rights which you now enjoy, falsifies
the history of the country; not intentionally,
I hope. The Government
of the United States, during the war,
again and again declared most sol?
O
emnly that this war was not commenced
or being waged for conquest,
or with a view of interfering withvmr
property in slaves in the States.?
Mr. Lincoln urged us to return to
the Union, pledging the Government
to receive us most cordially, and
give slavery its protection in the Stats.
We were threatened emancipation
if we did not come back. In
-one hand the Government offered us
"Union and Slavery," and in the
other was "rebellion and emancipation."
Having gone to war on principle,
the South chose the latter. No
man knows this better than the honorable
Senator. Nor will he or General
Swayne, who is on the stand,
deny the assertion that I am now
going to make, that we could have
gone back in the Union and held
you as our slaves to-day. You are
not indebted to the North or the
South for your freedom, but to God.
Instead of abusing us you ought to
remember that this rebellion-which
you are taught to dispise, by your enemies
.and ours, who only come ampngst
you for your votes, was an
instrument in the hands -vof God for
your deliverance, so far as mortal
eye can divine the purposes of the
Creator.
The Southern people do not envy
you your freedom. They would pot
restore you to bondage if tbey couldv
They have your well being at heart.
I did not fire a gun for slavey. M'ore
than half the Southern army never
owned a slave. Hardee, Cleburne,
and many others signed a petition
long before the war closed, for your
freedom and to afford you an opportunity
to volunteer and assist your
white friends of the South in achieving
Southern independence.
President Davis recommended this,
OUlliai'j iltLl 11 A, ill tliU lllUcLti U) ill UI1S
3ii3r, endorsed his policy in the prcs2nce
of a very large assembly, and
stated that I would take great pleasure
in. commanding colored troops. You
icted' well your part during that uniortunate
struggle, for which you do- .
serve, and have, the gratitude of every
Southern man and woman in our
nidsf. >
The gentleman says that the Mc~'- i
:an war was brought on and advocat- ]
id by Mr. Calhoun for the purpose t
>f increasing the area of slavery.?
O
So man ought to know better than i
he honored representative of Mnssa- i
ihusctts that {he statement is untrue. J
jr. Calhoun and also*Mr. Clay, the J
;reatest "Southern [giants alive at the [
imc, opposed the war. Mr. Calhoun
ras to the last the bitterest opponent "j
f that war?predicting as he did the f
isastrous results upon the peticc of (
he country.. Instead of that war be- ]
ig waged for slavery it was very t
v'iden t,_ as tU& . results proved, -.Xhat
TTy territory W
cquired would be free territory.?
'ha t war gave to the North, Caliornia,
Utah and New Mexico. '
'hough only a boy, I followed the s
Id flag through that war, with many [
housand good and true men from [
ij section who'only regarded tire 1
National honor of our common coun- 1
ry. Again as to how* you became 1
rce. The North aided to free you 1
nth bayonet and by Military Procln- (
nations only as they believed it would '
njurc us and raise you up a hostile j
lenient in our midst; and seemingly ,
nalcing your welfare a secondary
:onsidciation. To render this act of 5
heirs valid and constitutional, it was J
icccssary that wc should act. We
ailed together our Conventions and !
vithout hesitation made y.o'u consti- 1
utionally free forever. We also gave
;ou the right to testify in cases where 1
roil were interested, arid I advocated !
n this State House your right to '
:estify in all cases.
You now enjoy many privileges
lore not enjoyed by your race in the
Northern States. As the gentleman
. i ? _ i i. ;,y.
has congratuiaieu you upon yum improved
condition here, and created
still greater expectations for your future
political and .social relations in
the South, let me tell you what great
blessings the North "has conferred
upon your race even in his own State.
First, until very recently, although
your race at the North are free, and
have the advantages of tko free school
system of which he boasts, and few in
numbers, yet whilst your numbers ragidly
increased as slaves in tho hands/of
cruel masters referred to by him, yet
with him at the North they have /diminished,
your ra .e have been and,are
still excluded from Northern libels,
steaniboat cabins, rail road cars,/and
places of amusement They havebeen
frequently expelled from such jyaces,
and sometimes mobbed for claimyig the
rights of white people. Arid what has
been the result of every effort ot their
+<-> nVitnin rpdress and c/tablish
I"" U r
their rights by law. They nave in
every instance, (unless it be tery re-:
cently), signally failed. The Courts of
the country were against theih. I saw
in Northern Newspapers, and I believe
it to be true, for I liave no There seen
it contradicted, that about the last of
1866, or the first of the present year,
Frederick Douglas, a mulatto of New
York, who is said to be a /highly educated
and polished man, vho conducts
himself with great propriety everywhere,
traveled as far West as St. Louis
and was there and everywhere on his
route refused admission into the first
class hotels of the Nortk and West.-?
Nearly every Northern State has discriminated
against them as jurors, witnesses,
and heretofoi'e at the ballot-box.
Thoy no where at the North enjoy, in j
t
fit,' /ill the rights of white people, and
in rhqsfr States North they are by local
la '8 denied. political equality at the
jj^sent time. One or more States Tent
sottar as to deny them settlement withnijtheif
boundaries altogether.
Sou have been reminded by the gentleinftb.
of pecuniary favors conferred ;
thfsupplies voted you by his parry,
nnj the Bureau under General Swayne
in klabama, as another reason why you
shodd act with the Republicans. I
belllije Gen. Swayne to be a friend of
yoo%, ?I believe the gentleman who
has [list addressed you is also a friend,,
for ney have no cause to be otherwise;
but ao better friend than I am and
manj other Southern men. Many of
us hie.been educated by your labor,
and jhope I shall livo long enough to
pay jpubnck with compound interest
in pbmoting education a'mong you,
which I tell you is the only hope of your
race. 1 . .
I r^uestcd that General Swayne be
continaed over us; for although we see.
things'from different stand points, yet,
I belieta he wants to do right, and I j
i. J *. r_ 1 O f- ? 1 I
never ninK-iess 01 any one ior an nonost
difference of opinion merely.
But hoTrevcr worthy the motive1 of
the act on the part of the Gdvernment
in'assisting yon through -the Bureau,
and for vhich the Senator, amongst
other reasons, claims your votes for the :
Republicaa party, it is an undeniable 5
fact ihat tie same party discriminates '
against you in theway of taxes on cot- j
ton, and lii this way "wring from the j J
sweat of your brow one hundred, d 1- 1
tars to every one received: by you i
through llie some Bureau. i
With fheso facts staring you in.the <
face, which the honorable Senator will |
iot dony, what is the obvious object of ,
lis visit South ? It is this, my friends :j ^
[lis party is in power, and ho is here' ,|
riding to keep theiu so. He is hereto ^
brm a political alliance with yoiv.Jind .
.vliat few whites can be induced lo join ]
lim. They want office, they wanfc'spoils,- '
md they want to retain powelv It is ]
luite pleasant and profitable to them. <
't is not becaftSfckthey love you: better 5
ban otlier i)eOple. I warn yon against i
V
- m a.
southern conservatiim
At this time of all others, a spirit
)f moderation and conservatism
diould possess our people. The trials
md dangers of a military governncnt
arc so great that, in the defer- .
chi liope ot constitutional remedies,
pany may be willing to sacrifice eve y
doctrine to which they formerly, ,
^lung, and in despair be prepared to '
ulopt measures to which twelve (
nonths ago tlicy would have been 1
jitterly and upon principle opposed.
This must not be. Excessive revulsions
of feeling are ever to be dread(
O # j
3d, and as much harm may be done ,
bv excessive and unreasoning concesuons,
as by dogged obstinacy and an
utterly unyielding spirit.
The condition of our affairs is in (
some respects plain and readily comprehensible.
An effort has been made ,
to test in the Supreme Court the eortitutionalitv
of the Military acts.?
There is no doubt that if the question
is decided at all, it will bedecided in ;
ci -ii :?i?..,!
ravoroi me eoum aim iigiimcst mu iwuical
party. The unconstitutionality of
the Military law is as clear as thelight
of the sun, but the question cannot ,
now come up until December next. It
is certain then that until that month
there is no hope pf relief from the Supreme
Court, and before tliaff time,
in all probability, steps will be taken
in this State for the registration of
voters and the election of. delegates
under the Sherman law. In all
States where the whites have the ma- (
jority, it is clearly the part of wise
and sober men to vote against a convention,
and remain under military
rule in preference to self condemnation
and self-stulification. It would
be their duty and their policy. But ,
when in a State where the colored el-,
ement is largely in the majority, a registration
of voters and a convention ?
is ordered, it is equally the duty and
policy of the people of that State to
meet the issue at once, and, under silent
protest, turn to the best account
the agepcies which are intended to:'
destroy all Conservative ideas and .es?
tablish every violent itaaicai pnnciple.
From every party, as a party, the
people of this State should stand aloof.
With no party, as a party, can
we have any immediate affiliation or
fraternization. Our party must be a
simple conservative organization,
whose object shall be, while obeying
the law as a law in fact though not a
law in right,?to prevent the inauguration
of violence or turbulence, and
exert every possible influence to prevent
the organic change wrought by
force in our institutiOnsirom working 1
our own utter ruin and that of the
country. t *
This great Conservative party may
include-men of every former political
opinion and doctrine. No man in it
should-be tabooed or proscribed, but
all who have order and peace at heart,'
should combine as good 'and honest
citizens, in one powerful Conservative
organization, every Southerner, every
secessionist will find place,, and in it
the n ass of thfc Union party will find
roomt Neither must repel the other,
by any attempt to revive in malice old
issues and dead distinctions. There
must be a true and pandid oblivion
of old disputes and older controversies.
The labor and work of
each one is needed, and they will be
given by every man, who, whatever .
his policy or principle, had only looked
to the well-being and stability of
the country in which he lived.
In the Conservative organization I.
of this State,'there must be leaders, 1
and- while these leaders should be
chosen indiscriminately from all the
various parties which have existed,
tbey must- be, as far as 'is practicable,
men who will command the respect
and confidence of all classes of their
fellow-citizens.. They must 'be men
who will work- for our one common object?to
save; the State from political
liacks and unprmoiplcd agitators, ^'ho
would be willing,-for profit* tb destroy
the very life of 'Carolina, and who
would be willing,- for profit, to'p'anJcr
to any one class that would raise
them ..to a temporary ciainence of
unenviable -- notoriety. No man in
the Conservative party should be outlawed'or
^ostracized. - There should
36 one dest, and one alone,?and that
is that the whole party should work
sedulously to maintain order and law
in our midst, and to avoid everything
zalculated to engender a war of races,
which must end in making the country
exceedingly uncomfortable to all
g^<^t?ucttV,e to^oho'T?eei'l; Cf~'
Charleston Mercury.
General Burton.?In the general
rejoicing over the restoration of Mr.
Davis to the free air of Heaven, the
press has/^poken in kind and cordial
terms of several gentlemen, -whose
names arc not always associated with
the most pleasant recollections. In (
the universal gush of amiability wc (
see evidences of an approach.to a bet- 1
ter understanding between the two ]
sections, and trust that the intercourse 1
between Mr. Grccly and other promi- *
nerit members of the Northern press
with their newspaper cotempoaries of 1
the South may bring good fruits.? !
These gentlemen of the "grey goose
ijuill" have just enjoyed themscl/es in
a very festive manner. On Monday
night Messrs. Carrington and Ford, ^
of the Exchange, as wc see by our ,j
Richmond exchanges, gave tbem a j
sumptous supper, on which occasion 1
Mr. Grccly presided. t
The Enquirer informs us n itsrc- (
port that "many a bumper was '<
drained in honor of General Burton-, ]
Horace Grecly and Jefferson Davis" j
?a curious trio, all will admit, to be ^
thus associated, and yet the kindly
sentiments expressed meet.with gen- (
oral approval.
We accredit Mr. Grecly with the (
purest motives in the course he has (
taken, and fully understand the prac- j
tical value of having our friend, the i(
philosopher, on Mr. Davis'bail bond. .
But, next to the heatlh of the great ^
chief of the lato Confederacy, we ,
should . have done honor to General ,
Burton. s
We cordially detested Mr. Miles, "(
whose genius was the order of the (
turnkey rather than the soldier, and (
wc are honest in our respect for his
successor. General Burton had a <
task of peculiar delicacy to perform, r
and discharged his duty in a manner 1
becoming his profession. (
The contrast between his conduct j
and that of Mr. Miles is at once stri- .
king and instructive. It shotvs us <
the* difference between an educated (
soldier and a drill-master, with polit- j
ical affinities, and constitutes in it- (
self a strong argument against
those progressive philosophers who
arc in favor of abolishing West Point,
in order to increase the patronage of 1
Congress. ;
These reflections, however arc a- i
side from our purpose. We simply ]
desire to say that the people of Vir- <
ginia and of the South understand (
the conduct of General Burton, and i
while under the present condiiton of i
affairs, we arc caucious in praise of i
those wlioare set above us, lost our 1
honest expression should betray the im- i
press of a servile and unmanly, effort
to conciliate favor, still,tin his casewe
fear not misconstruction, when we
say that the behavior of General Burton
to Mr. Davis entitles him to our
kindest regard and earnest commendation.
.
"In this we believe we give utterance
to the unanimous voice-ofthe v
Southern people, and we trust that ^
the instructive lesson of his example
will not be lost on his profession. '
Norfolk Virginiaiu. . ' " .
A July Session of Congress.?
The Washington National Republu
can is now of opinion that the 5th of'
July will be sure to bring a sufficient
number of members of Congress to*,
form a quorum,, and that there may
he a session of several weeks.
The demand for the.extra session,
says the Republican, does not grow
out of any supposition that the impeachment
question is likely to beconsidered.
There is no probability
that anything of that sort "will be attempted.
The question that will ^assemble
Congress in July, if it assemble
at all at that time, is the financial. "
condition of the government. We
bave been going on swimmingly,, and
ire had began to flatter ourselves that
even the national debt would soon bo
paid, or so far reduced as to render
tof very little account; but within a
rerr Trccka-tl>o unrlrlpn njui rapid decline
of the receipts at th<T Internal?- ?
Revenue Bureau has materially
changed the aspfcet of affairsin fchtrt
lirection. Instead of being able to*
cancel any further portion-of the pubic
debt, we may actually be obliged
:o increase it to meet the absolute d"er
nands upon the treasury. * * * *
. We must not be surprised there&re
should Mr. McCulloch find his strongs
cox suddenly depleted to meet the
lemand for the <mrrent expenses of
;he government and the payment of
:he accruing interest upon the na'"""1
rlnV.fc f'nnm-nca * then. mUV
Emd it necessary to 'come* together^
that ways and means may be deviled
to replenish the national treasury,,
rhis, then, and not the impeachment
question, may bring Congress together
in July, and their session may
ic protracted for some time.
Sooner or later, Congress will bo
jompellcd to acknowledge that th'ere
jannot be prosperity for the North
vhilo.efforts are' made to insure the
mlih'ral nnfl-finn-m-iJ
South. Figures and facts are already
naking this evident; and partisan* '
'ecling and sectional rule must be
ibolished if general fortune and general
security are desired to be estabished
and maintaiilcd.
Circular Relative to Intemperance
Among the Frcedmcn.?Maj.-Gene'al
Howard, commissioner of the
Frcedmcnrs Bureau, announces that
n formation has been received from.
Virginia and South Carolina that >ncmperance
among the freedmen is.
)n the increase. General. Howard1
* i i ^ j_ * n
states tfiat already a movement j? u?.
ibot in this city having in view a
;horough organization, so as to enable
;he colored people to exert all the
power possible to prevent the evil in
question. The Sons ofifempcrance,.
n their Grand Divisions, retain Jhe
Did bigotry, and decline to extend
their order to save men of dark skins
"rom drunkenness, except it he upen
mnditioTi that there shall be complete
ind enforced separation. Ho there'ore
expresses a hope that the officers .
md ngonts of this iDureau and thp
igents of the different benevolent a?*
jociations working for the elevation
)f the colored people will take immeiiate
measures to organize associa:ions
of colored people (never excludng
the white) under the name of
'The Lincoln Temperance Society."
There is great appropriateness in the
lame, from the well known character
>f Mr. Lincoln, and from the loye the
freedmcn bear him: General Howlrd
instructs the assistant commissioners
to have the names of officers
Dr agents of the bureau who may bo
intemperate men immediately report
sd to his ofhce.?Exchange.
How. to be Fresii a^d Healthy,
?The New York Evening Gazette
tells young ladies that if they would
have a fresh, healthy and youthful
appearance, they must beware of late
hours, large crinoline, tight corsets,
confectionery, hot bread, cold
draughts, pastry, decollette dress,
modern novels, furnace regulators,
r-asy carriages, late suppers, thin
shoes, fear of knowledge, nibbling
between meals, ill-temper, haste to
marry and dread of growing old.