The South.
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haughty people must have been, is to shut
everything from view and imagine our
selves in their position. Human nature
is the same the world over, and mclhinks
wo would scarcely he able to contain our
selves. But, as wo said, thoir spirit for opposi
tion was broken, and they wholly with
drew from politics the main reason being
that their loaders were disfranchised.
And now a swarm of unemployed army
officers, ofllco-sofkers, (called by the south
cm people "Carpet Bagger") and mission
aries, Hocked thither to enlighten the ne
groes and take the lead in allairs, which
was easily done since the blacks knew
not how to do anything, and blindly fol
lowed those who claimed to be their
friends and benefactors. The condition
of affairs after the mighiy struggle and
revolution, as it is graphically portrayed
by a writer in the Atlantic Monthly, must
have been ten ible. This writer acknowl
edges that many of those who followed
close upon the heels of our. war may have
been sincere, and ofttimes did good to the
negroes; but he claims, und justly, we be
lieve, for it is only In accordance with hu
man nature, tha the most were only un
principled olliee-seekcrs and money-makers.
They were men who cared nothing
for the reconciliation of the two races, or
the prosperity of the South, so long as
they could be filling their pockets with
ill gotten gains. Taxc were run up to an
enormous extent to supply these corrupt
ofllcials and their friends with means
to revel in luxury at the expense of tnose
in whom they took no interest. All state,
even county, officers reveled in luxuries
unheard of before, and such as would not
be folerated here for an iustant.
Men who were beggars one day grew
amazingby rich the next. The negroes
were allowed, at first, the minor ofllces,
concerning the duties of which they knew
nothinir, and in the majority of cases were
so ignoraut that they could only sign doc
uments by a cross. In time they filled
higher ofllces and soon learned from the
white oflico holders to love luxury, and
also, how to extort money, rightly consid
ering themselves as much entitled to it as
their leaders, so tit it they soonoutrivalled
the so called " Carpet Baggers " in their
headlong career. Crimes of all sorts were
on the increase. It is said that it was al
most impossible to convict a nngro since
juries were composed, for the mo3t part,
of blanks. With crimes on the increase
and no chance of punishing the guilty,
with taxes advanced to such an extent that
it was almost impossible to pay them ex
cept by allowing their lands to be knock
ed offundi-r the sheriff's hammer, could
we expect that the southern whites would
long remain quiet and allow their all to
be swept "away by hungry olllce seekers
and especially by those who wereformely
made to come and go at ther bidding? The
Ku Kluxand WhitoLcague organizations
were the outgrowth of this conditou of
things. The southern whites, seeing they
could not obtuiu relief through the lawt
took it into their own hands to punish
crimes committed against them.
The young men, not having been
brought up to labor, found it more con
genial to threaten, beat and shoot down
defenseless, and in, the majority of cases,
innocent negroes. Finding that by so do
ing they could cower down the blacks,
they scoured the country during political
campaigns, threatening, shooting, haug
ing and butchering the defenceless col
ored populace. This condition ofaffaks
has now existed for many years and the
blacks are so afraid of the whites that, in
many places, they live hidden away in the
swamps and forests, only coming forth to
plunder the neighboring country and ap
ply the torch to the property of their for
mer masters, but who are now their dead
ly enemies.
And now we have the spectacle in our
country of two races in open liostility to
each other. The one, shooting and butch
ering; the other retaliating by plundering
and destroying property with fire. In
stead of affairs becoming better as time
