A VOICE FROMSouth CarolinaTwelve Chapters Before Hampton and Two
Chapters after Hampton |
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A VOICE FROMSouth CarolinaTwelve Chapters Before Hampton and Two
Chapters after Hampton |
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| CHAPTER THIRD -
RECONSTRUCTION The first ray of hope that dawned on the dark picture given in the last chapter, was the announcement of President Johnson's "Policy" of restoring the Confederate States to the Union, on their complying with certain conditions precedent. In pursuance of this policy, the Hon. B. F. Perry, a thorough Union man, all before and through the war, but highly respected, and honored by his fellow-citizens, for his high character, unswerving integrity, and his honesty of purpose, was appointed "Provisional Governor" by the President. And now, in 1865, for the first time, the forms of Government were, once more, assumed. A convention of the people was called to alter and amend the constitution. Just then began that system "dirt eating," whereby her own citizens have been made to bring degradation on the State. In complying with the "conditions" emanating from Washington, many of the old land-marks of the past, hallowed by the most sacred associations, were removed by our own people. Those who have felt the power of W. H. Seward, still Secretary of State, at Washington, could easily discern "the hand of Joab" in these requirements, though they came ostensibly from the President. At last, the State, in this fundamental law, was made to abolish slavery—or, rather, to recognize abolition, and to declare that the institution should never again exist within her borders. Under this constitution, the courts were re-opened, a Legislature elected, as also members of Congress and U. S. Senators. i All the conditions were fully complied witlv and the State fully equipped for a new departure. Her citizens once more began to breathe freely, and hopes for the future began, at last, to loom up before them. Unfortunately, all this was soon clouded in impenetrable darkness; and, after a bitter experience of ten long years, no light has yet dawned upon us. In December, 1865, Congress convened in regular session, and, in a very short time, President Johnson's policy was wholly ignored by them, and all his measures and plans were upset by the famous " Reconstruction Acts," by which the State was promptly remanded to her previous condition of " conquered territory." As all the measures already adopted were acceptable to the majority, the forms of government were not absolutely abolished—nor was there any necessity for this. Under the military government, so promptly introduced, the Commanding General was, in fact, the Governor; the orders from headquarters were, in effect, the legislature; the military tribunals were, really,the judiciary; and the Freedman's Bureau was a very acceptable substitute for all municipal authority in cities and towns. To give some plausible pretext for this over-riding of all the forms of civil government, certain measures were proposed to the legislature for adoption, whereby odium, disfranchisement and public disgrace were to be heaped upon her former leaders, both in the cabinet and in the field. Of course, South Carolina rejected these almost unanimously, failing by a single vote of entire unanimity—and, immediately, a howl of disloyalty was raised against her, from one part of the country to the other. Her sons could not vote for such measures, consistently with their manhood, nor could they have retained any sense of self-respect, had they acquiesced. Their course, in thus resisting these dishonorable and dishonoring requisitions, was anticipated by their political oppressors, and exactly answered their purposes. Still, these citizens, not yet indoctrinated into the omnipotence of the American Congress, were buoyed up by the delusive hope that President Johnson's policy would yet prevail. They were induced to believe that these Reconstruction Acts were unconstitutional, and that the executive and judiciary departments of government would yet check the madness of Congress, under the 4< old flag" which they had resumed. But the President was without a party, and the salaries and tenure of office of the Supreme Court depended upon the votes of Congress. Not yet believing all this, they really pursuaded themselves that this second "Congressional Reconstruction " would prove a sham. When, therefore, another convention of the State was called under these Acts, to make another Constitution, it was regarded merely as a farce by our wisest and gravest men. None of the bonafide citizens of the State took any part whatever in the elections for delegates to this convention, and the scenes enacted at the polls by the sable voters, were, everywhere, looked upon as exhibitions for mirth and laughter. But the "farce " went on, however, in strict conformity to these unprecedented acts ; and a convention was elected, of every hue, and from every clime; from the glossy blackness of the native African, to the pale-faced Sabbath-school teacher from Massachusetts—all familiarly known as the li Ring-streaked and striped/' in the slang language of the day. It was a fatal mistake in thus unanimously holding back in these, the first elections held under Reconstruction. The pestiferous body of " carpet-baggers " were thus permitted to come boldly to the front, and occupy an open, undisputed field. They thus had ample room and verge enough for introducing all their low and despicable, but eminently successful, appliances of party machinery. The Freedman's Bureau had prepared the way for them, in their separate church organizations and separate schools, all of which were soon diverted into the channels of politics. But their most powerful engine was the "Union-League," which bound the unhappy voter hand and foot. By its secret rules he was not only to vote with unquestioning obedience to party-dictation, but any effort at independent action on his part would bring down upon him the wrath and condign punishment of his own race. Many rites were introduced which appealed directly to his superstitious fears; and the use of the ballot, so new to him, beame inextricably entangled with his religion. He was not only taught that it was his truest policy to vote against his former master on every occasion, but a solemn obligation to God, who had emancipated him—always remembering that God had used the Radical party as his chosen instruments for this great end. This is now the fanatical faith of the whole race,and renders them deaf to all appeals and arguments. He was not safe from the vengeance of his own raceif he continued outside the League, and once in, his identity was lost, and ht became a mere pawn on the political chess-board, to be moved by a higher intelligence. This accounts for the apparent anomaly that, when he gets into straits or troubles, or needs advice about his business, he will come to his former owner with all the humility and confidence of the olden time ; he will work for him, and with him, as cheerfully, if not as faithfully, for wages, as he ever did under the former system ; but as soon as the subject of politics is broached, he becomes as silent and solemn as a tombstone. That is a subject with which. " Old Massa" has nothing to do; it is sacred between him.and his God—but, through the Radical party. Matters might have been very different, had the whites realized the situation from the first, and while they had the influence over this class, founded on the intercourse, dependence and confidence of long years in the past, they might then have taught their negro fellow-citizens to look upon these vile carpet-baggers as they had been trained to regard the intermeddling abolitionists of former years—as those seeking to subvert all things, and bringing desolation and ruin in their train. Immediately after the war, there was no animosity I between the races. The negroes had behaved admirably during those four long years—when almost all domestic interests had been left mainly to their care and management—and the whites felt grateful to them. The negro was, in no way, responsible for his emancipation, nor was that generation of whites responsible for his past servitude. Both parties had been born under the institution of slavery, and there were no heart-burnings nor feelings of revenge, until these were sown in their hearts by designing scoundrels. If these carpet-baggers had been starved out, as they easily might have been, and the two races left to themselves, there would have been a continuance of that harmony which had resuited from mutual dependence and mutual good will. But supposing the policy of "fighting the devil with fire" had been thus early adopted, and every one of these votes had been bought up, as might easily have been done. We now see that, in the last decade, the State would have saved immensely in money—to say nothing of the prevention of incalculable rascality— even if these votes had been paid, each, twice his assessed value, as recorded in the ante bellum tax-books. To outsiders, it may seem marvellous that so few of these unprincipled carpet-baggers—adventurers, "who left their country for their country's good"— should so soon and so long lord it over a people who had, but recently, filled the world with admiration for their unparalleled military record. The explanation simply is, these miscreants were backed by the whole army and navy of the United States, and these reputed " Rebels " had sworn allegiance to the government, and obedience to all its laws, and constituted authorities. The government was in the hands of the war party, who were determined to retain their prodigious power, by every means to which they could resort. These Confederate States had been the backbone of the Democratic party, and this was to be broken, at any and every sacrifice. They could be politically revolutionized by creating a new body of voters, and consolidating them into their party ranks. They did not have the constitutional two-thirds majority to effect this fundamental change in the supreme law of the land, therefore these States must be forced to vote for their own degradation. This was done by the opprobrious measures of disfranchising large classes of the whites—enfranchising the whole body of the blacks— and making the adoption of their constitutional amendments a condition precedent to their re-admission into the Union. The slave thus elevated to political equality with his former owner, must be educated and trained for the purposes of the party. There has always been a dread of the influence of the former master, and this must be overcome by any and every means. Hence, these thick-skinned and heartless, but hungry and zealous partizans, known as carpet-baggers, were the very instruments they needed for this cruel work of sowing suspicion, enmity, and even deadly hate, between the two races. Assured of the protection and unstinted aid from Washington, there was no limit to their unblushing audacity and unscrupulous rapacity. In addition to unlimited military protection, the majority in Congress stood ready to give the forms of law to whatever they required for the good of the party. Is it wonderful that they can so securely and so completely triumph over the natives, bound by obligations the most sacred to passive acquiescence, and then, under the ban of "paroled rebels and traitors". There was danger that this cruel policy would alienate the masses at home ; and the gain of political strength at the South, be more than counterbalanced by the defection and disgust of friends at the North. Hence, the necessity, from time to time, to "fire the Northern heart," and rekindle the hate generated by four years of bloody strife. This was effected by encouraging the carpet-baggers to fresh provocations, more aggravating than human nature could bear, and then to magnify any effort at resistance, or any natural expression of indignation into " Southern outrages "Southern disloyalty," to be heralded from one end of the Union to the other. The Southern newspapers had but a limited and local circulation, and the press was arrayed against them, with slim opportunities for either explanation or correction. South Carolina was particularly odious as the leader in Secession. Whatever justification or appeal came from her borders, fell on ears most un-sympathizing, and the stereotyped reply, "served her right!" was the only satisfaction vouchsafed. Her slaves were in a vast majority, more than three to two in the aggregate, and in some sections of her low country, as many as ten to one. The Congressional policy of reconstruction, therefore, has not only revolutionized her government and closed her record as one of the" old thirteen," but has changed her caste among the peoples of the earth, as far as legislation can do so. A native from the wilds of Africa could, at that time, have reached higher stations, and enjoyed greater privileges and immunities, than any of her native-born sons of the great Anglo-Saxon family. It was in circumstances such as these, that this hybrid Constitutional Convention selected R. K. Scott as their standard-bearer. Several of our thinking men, more far-seeing than others, began to realize that this abnormal state of things might become permanent, and, by their advice, a counter organization was attempted in this the first election of State officers, under the new Constitution, in 1868. Public meetings were held in various parts of the State, and, at first, these were largely attended by the colored voters. Notably, in Columbia, Gen, Wade Hampton, efficiently aided by Col. J. P. Thomas, was earnest in his addresses and appeals. He had been the first leading citizen to urge-that the ballot should be given to the freedmen, and was buoyed by the hoped that they could be taught to use it properly. Several of the colored leaders came out boldly on his side and even made speeches echoing his noble sentiments. But our politicians were too much hampered by their old fashioned notions of honesty and fair-dealing, to contend with the unscrupulous and well disciplined hosts opposed to them. While our men were relying upon argument, old associations, and moral suasion, all these were as nothing when compared with the all-powerful greenback. Those funds, subscribed by the office-holders under the government as "beneficiaries of the Republican Party" came'flowing freely into the pockets of these ebony orators, and instantly charmed their tongues into silence. Beverly Nash, subsequently the Radical Senator from Richland, then thought $500 a vast sum— enough, at any rate, to cause him to turn his back very suddenly on his friends of lang syne. His example was followed, whenever the same experiment was made. Our people, however, went through the form of calling a Party Convention, and nominated a full State ticket. The Hon. W. D. Porter, of Charleston, than whom no civilian stood higher in public estimation for all the qualities which mark the statesman and the patriot, was selected a candidate for Governor. The canvass was a spasmodic affair; as, contending on the rostrum with those who had so recently been their slaves, was no very pleasant inducemept to our speakers. When the election came off, Mr. Porter was beaten by R. K. Scott, by precisely the same majority that crowned J. K. Jillson as victor over the humble writer of these pages for the office of "Superintendent of Education"—a clear two to one. This Jillson was another of those self-sacrificing philanthropists, who had recently left some New England home (?) on a mission to this stricken State, that around her sick bed he might watch and prey. It was Scott's experience, as the head of the Freedman's Bureau, which had recommended him to his parly; as the eyes of the whole hungry crew were fixed upon the Treasury, and he was known to have become expert in diverting public funds. His financial operations are out of the line of this little book, and the reader should congratulate himself on this. He then inaugurated measures which have since made this Treasury a charnel house of fraud, crime and corruption, whose exploration would become equally disgusting to reader and to writer. His lead has been so persistently followed by his successors, that it has actually become stench in the nostrils of the harpies themselves, and we have heard cries for burlesque. "Reform" even from their own ranks. During Scott's first term, the whites, for the most part, still persisted in the stand-off policy, hoping for relief from the United States Supreme Court. He thus had an open field for the inauguration of all his measures. But, as these developed more fully, and the prospect of relief grew more and more faint, the Democratic party became sufficiently aroused to organize "Clubs" all over the State, and to adopt the policy of conciliation. They, therefore, in Party Convention assembled, prepared a platform low enough, and broad enough, for any one of conservative principles to mount, whatever might have been his "race, color, or previous condition of servitude." They nominated for Governor, Judge Carpenter, at that time the least objectionable of the carpet-bag fraternity; and opened the campaign against Scott and Company, under the name of the " Reform Party. The most earnest efforts were made to break the ranks of the opposing hosts. The whole summer was given up to speech-making and the usual electioneering tactics ; but the result showed that it was too late ! Notwithstanding some seeming defection at first, when it came to the test of the ballot-box, the colored voters went solidly for their political masters, and by an increased majority, showed how effectual had been the training already described. The Radical leaders were, at first, very much alarmed at this policy of selecting leaders from their ranks. It would be a moral absurdity to allude to anything like conscience in their case, but vice instinctively cowers before virtue, and even "devils believe and tremble." Some new machinery must be brought to bear against this threatened danger, and the peculiar military genius of Scott now found a wide field for operation. Under his inspiration the Legislature organized a "State Constabulary Force," having its head-quarters in Columbia, in qharge of a Chief Constable. This tool had the power of appointing as many deputies as he wished, and wherever it pleased him; with a squad of detectives and hungry mischief-makers always under their command, and in the pay of the State, through a profligate fee-bill. On warrants issued from some magistrate's office in Columbia, generally based on the affidavit of the Chief Constable himself, these had power to arrest any citizen in any county of the State, and hale him to the jail in Columbia. This was in close imitation of those nice little garrisons which had proved such effectual supports and constant feeders to the Freedman's Bureau. In both, the main object was to foment, instead of quelling disturbances; the fines having been the inducements in the older system, and the fees proved equally efficacious in the new, in promoting active service in these vagrant constables. The proceeding was very simple for the initiatory warrant. The deputy reported some name to the chief, who immediately made oath before some pliant magistrate, "that he had good reason to believe," etc., and, forthwith, the irresistible warrant was issued. The obvious aim in both institutions was to engender and foster ill will and bad blood between the races. The next grand stroke of military policy was the passage of the militia law under the same inspiration; giving the Governor, through his ready Adjutant-General (F. J. Moses), the privilege of rejecting any company organized under its liberal provisions. It is needless to say, that every company of whites was promptly rejected on the ground of disloyalty; and only colored companies and regiments were received. But, the crowning enormity in this whole series of tyrannical usurpations, was the purchasing and issuing improved small arms, with an unlimited supply of fixed ammunition, to all the colored regiments throughout the State. It required no prophet to foretell the deplorable results of such a reckless policy as this. To arm and equip the colored race, exclusively, constituting, as they did, so large a majority throughout the State, and, but a few years before, an ignorant and debased mob of emancipated slaves—could only be accounted for by turning to the desperate character of these leaders themselves, whose well-known policy was to " rule or ruin," or rather to ruin and rule. In the middle and lower counties, where the Radical majorities were well assured, this game of organizing and arming the negroes, was played without serious consequences. As there was no object to be gained, in these counties, by supplementing the militia with the infamous constabulary force, this "playing sogers" was rather a source of amusement, and would have been enjoyed as such, had it not caused serious interruption to their plantation work, by their too frequent drilling and parading. Besides, it was embarrassing to set Col. Sambo and Maj. Cuffee to ditching the ricefields, up to their middles in mud and water—a work only suitable for high privates. But it was desirable to these leaders to have them tickled with a sense of their importance and privileges as citizen-soldiers; and these organizations might be substituted for the Union Leagues, now beginning to flag in interest. But in the upper and border counties, where the whites had a majority, or were so nearly equal as to make the result of a contest doubtful, the whole force of this party machinery, in both its branches, was brought to bear, with very memorable results. Here the constabulary force flourished in full blast, and all their professional ingenuity was called into play to produce sensations, and to cause troubles the most serious. The militia companies were very much under their influence, and were drilled in other tactics beside the military. To secure accuracy in the details in the working of these military and judicial devices, the writer will confine himself, in the next few chapters, to what occurred in the County of Laurens alone, during the political campaigns of 1870 and 1872. |
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