Carl Schurz

“ I have no doubt, labor once becoming the general occupation of society, — of course, there will always be exceptions, — it will have a wonderfully soothing effect, not immediate, perhaps, for they will cast many a look behind them; but sure, as they gradually cut loose from the past and embark in good faith in the cause of useful activity. But until they have thus cut loose from the past, it will be a dangerous experiment to put Southern society upon its own legs. ”

“ They will let the nigger know what freedom is, only let the Yankee soldiers be withdrawn. Such is their talk. You can hear it every day if you have your ears open. You see their sullen, frowning faces at every street corner. Now, there may be much of the old Southern braggadocio in this, and I do not believe that such men will again resort to open insurrection. But they will practice private vengeance whenever they can do it with impunity, and I have heard sober-minded Union people express their apprehension of it. ”

“ The white ladies of that neighborhood agree in being indignant beyond measure. Some of them declare that whenever they meet a colored woman wearing a veil, they will tear the veil from her face. Others, mindful of the consequences which such an act of violence might draw after it under this same new order of things, declare their resolve never to wear veils themselves as long as colored women wear veils. ”

“ Only we must not indulge in the delusion that at the present time the civil power in these States can already, with safety, be reorganized on that basis, upon which its restoration is proposed; nor in the other delusion, that all is done when a sufficient number of people have taken the oath of allegiance to elect delegates to a convention or a legislature, and a governor and senators and members of Congress. ”

“ But there is a large number of Southern women who are as vindictive and defiant as ever, and whose temper does not permit them to lay their tongue under any restraint. You can see them in every hotel, and they will treat you to the most ridiculous exhibitions whenever an occasion offers. A day or two ago a Union officer, yielding to an impulse of politeness, handed a dish of pickles to a Southern lady at the dinner table of a hotel in this city. ”

“ In the days of our first innocency, we read of no such thing as eating one's bread in the sweat of one's brow, and it would take more than the tumid platitudes of rhetorical parsons to convince us that there is any dignity in toil. ”

“ We are speaking of the necessity incumbent on our young men to work, in order to rebuild their broken fortunes, or at least secure a decent and comfortable livelihood, and are gratified at knowing many have met that responsibility as promptly as they have ever encountered others. ”

“ We have heard so much of the bitter resentment of the Southern ladies that the tale becomes stale by frequent repetition. But when inquiring into the feelings of the people, this element must not be omitted. There are certainly a good many sensible women in the South who have arrived at a just appreciation of the circumstances with which they are surrounded. ”

“ No judicious and impartial observer will deny that, taking into consideration only the safety of these people themselves, whites and blacks, it would be dangerous under present circumstances to remove military rule and to put civil government in its place. ”

“ That is the veil question, and this is the way it stands at present.
Such things may seem trifling and ridiculous. But it is a well-known fact that a silly woman is sometimes able to exercise a powerful influence over a man not half as silly, and the class of “unconquered” above described is undoubtedly in a great measure composed of individuals that are apt to be influenced by silly women. It has frequently been said that, had it not been for the spirit of Southern women, the rebellion would have broken down long ago, and there is, no doubt, a grain of truth in it. ”

“ It is the necessity to work or starve. That necessity will soon come down upon the unruly spirits of this region as a terrible reality. A great many are still able to live somehow; there are some hidden resources which are not quite exhausted. ”

“ The interesting victim of circumstances dismounts from the high horse of chivalry and steps upon the prosy level of real life. One more grand flourish of trumpets, the old fanfare music so familiar to us, and then “work for a living.” ”

“ They have suffered much; their social standing is in a great measure broken up; most of them are in actual want; their personal property, their investments in confederate bonds or bank or railroad stocks are irretrievably gone; although owners of large tracts of land, they have, in many instances, not the wherewithal to buy a breakfast, and not possessing the elastic spirit characteristic of our Northern race, they are completely at sea as to what they shall do to get a new start in the race of life. ”

“ But there is another class of people here, mostly younger men, who are still in the swearing mood. You can overhear their conversations as you pass them on the streets, or even sitting near them on the stoop of a hotel. ”

“ But the good things that may be said of the country people can readily be applied to the people of the city. Talking with the more intelligent members of the community, you will find them apparently quite practicable. Many of them acknowledge that the best they can do is to accommodate themselves to the existing state of things. ”

“ The same spirit of the female part of the community, although undoubtedly at present much less powerful in a quantitative sense, is now contributing to keep those bitter feelings alive, which as long as kept under a sufficient control, may be harmless and gradually die away, but which, if prematurely relieved of that control, may lead to serious conflicts. ”

“ As the preparations for the restoration of the civil power in the States lately in rebellion are going on, it is necessary to inquire how far the sentiment which may be called “returning loyalty” has developed itself. Savannah was in secession times noted as one of the hottest rebel places. It is asserted that a large majority of the people of Georgia was at the breaking out of the insurrectionary movement opposed to succession. ”

“ They are only smothered for a time. They want to fight the war over again, and they are sure in five years we are going to have a war bigger than any we have seen yet. They are impatient to get rid of “this d—d military despotism.” They will show us what stuff Southern men are made of. They will send their own men to Congress, and show us that we cannot violate the Constitution with impunity. They have a rope ready for this or that Union man, when the Yankee bayonets are gone. ”

“ But most of them, as they are pressed on by their necessities, will gradually learn how to make the best of actual circumstances, and as they become active again, will also become more or less reconciled to their situation. I have seen a good many planters here who mean to go to work, and although their minds are still warped by old prejudices, are commencing to think in the right direction. ”