Because this phrase exactly represented the feeling of nine- tenths of the people of the North at that time in regard to the freedmen of the south, it became a general exponent of the nation’s feeling, and unconsciously, no doubt, molded in no small degree the tone and character of the legislation which constituted the reconstruction code.
The idea which underlay all this legislation, was that if the freedmen were clothed with the same powers as the whites, had the same privileges and immunities, nothing more need be done in their behalf. Some said they would take care of themselves and their future; would rise and flourish, develop and grow strong and prosperous. Others, perhaps as many, said they never could rise; that they were a race imbecile in all the requisites of success and prosperity and predicted that they would fail and fall. But all agreed that whether they rose or fell, it should be of themselves. “Root, hog, or die,” expressed the philosophy of both.
Right here occurred the errors which the few years which have elapsed since these governments were created and autonomic States erected on the ruins of the Confederacy, have shown so plainly that one can but wonder that their existence could have been overlooked. Two facts were neglected in this legislation which were fatal to its value:
1. That men who had come up from barbarism through two hundred and fifty years of slavery, could not make complete self-protecting, well-balanced, advancing freemen in a day.
2. That a party made up chiefly of these could never protect itself, nor the rights of its members, from the assaults of a party combining experience, culture and wealth, and animated by the keenest party spirit, the rancor of race prejudice, and the sting of defeat.
It was not giving the colored man a fair showing, though it professed to be based on that very idea. It was pitting ignorance against knowledge, poverty against wealth, ineptness against experience, the habit of deference against the habit of command, the weak against the powerful, and then saying to them: “Go on! take care of yourselves! root, hog, or die!”
The fruits of this error were states which were in the control of parties incompetent to their management or solidification, extravagance, corruption and all the vagaries naturally incident to ignorance and inexperience, suddenly entrusted with power. The next noticeable result is the rapid disappearance of this class as a ruling element, even where it is in the majority, and the rising of the recently master race above it, with renewed hatred and malevolence toward them. This is but a forerunner of the practical disfranchisement and de-citizenship of the colored man, until, by his own act, or by some favoring providence, he shall rise again provided with the freeman’s only armor of proof—knowledge, education, experience; not because they are inferior to their brethren of lighter integuments in mental power or facility of culture, but because while they were yet babes, too weak to walk without a guiding and controlling hand, the nation said to them: “Root, hog, or die!”
The responsibility for this failure does not rest with the people of the South. No class of them urged the hasty and ill-considered legislation which characterized the period of reconstruction. The people of the North and hot-headed legislators who were ambitious to do all that was to be done in an instant must bear the blame. Neither understood the disease nor the remedy. They were willing to apply a nostrum without making a diagnosis. Who, but a people and a party who were intoxicated with success, would ever have dreamed of conferring the power of a State upon a party having not more than a tenth of the property, intelligence and experience in public affairs which was to be found in its limits? Who would expect such power to last, or the rights of the individual members of such a party to be secured from the encroachment of the compact, educated, wealthy minority? It was simply a fool’s hazard. Milton said that one of the attributes of divinity is the power to compress eternity into an hour. The Congress of the United States thought for the moment that it had that power. It was mistaken, and the poor and weak of the South are reaping now the bitter fruits of its stupid error. Something more than emancipation was necessary to make the slave a self-protecting citizen. Something more than the election franchise was necessary to secure to the freedmen, the rights of the citizen. That something is intelligence, culture, development. If the nation had given freedmen of the Southern States thoroughly organized schools instead of the ballot; if it had given the stable and even-handed justice instead of Ku-Klux and white leagues; if it had waited until there was a right-minded, intelligent and loyal people, before it attempted to create loyal States; if it had waited until the freedman had grown used to liberty, and had learned something of its duties; until the master had become accustomed to yield to his late slave the rights and privileges of a citizen; until the traditions of the mart and the plantation had grown dim; if the nation had waited until these things had come to pass, there would have been no burlesque of statal organizations—mere hot-beds of future evils—scattered through the South today. The wards of the nation would be slowly and surely rising to the full stature of self-sustaining manhood, and the bitterness of hereditary hostility would be fading out of the bosoms of the nation’s recent foes under the warmth of material prosperity and national advancement. As it is, the State machinery which has been put in operation at the South is but a set of engines made ready for the hands of our enemies, by means of which the results of the war may be made valueless, the fruits of emancipation destroyed, and the future of the freedmen made one of darkness, doubt and struggle; and in all likelihood, one of tyranny, resistance and bloodshed. All this is the legitimate result of hasty legislation, based upon imperfect knowledge of its subject matter, and the weathercock philosophy, “Root, hog, or die.”
c. 1876
DEFENDING REPUBLICAN RULE:
WASHINGTON, D.C., FEBRUARY 1876
John R. Lynch:
Speech in Congress on Mississippi
Mr. LYNCH I regret that it is necessary for me to make any remarks upon this subject at all. I certainly would not have done so but for some remarks that fell from the lips of my honorable colleague [Mr. SINGLETON] who reported this bill from the committee; a gentleman, by the way, for whom I have the highest regard, and in whose judgment, upon some things, I have unlimited confidence. He is doubtless aware of the fact that there is not a member upon this floor from whose views upon any subject I dissent with more reluctance than his. I confess, Mr. Chairman, that I shall not confine myself to the subjects contained in this bill, but will endeavor to combat some of the arguments that were so forcibly and eloquently presented by my colleague in favor of the passage of this bill as reported from the committee. I will ask the Clerk to read a short passage from my colleague’s speech to which it is my purpose to reply.
The Clerk read as follows:
It may be proper, Mr. Chairman, to state the reasons why we considered it necessary to embark in the work of retrenchment. We cannot cast our eyes to any portion of this country and view the pecuniary circumstances and surroundings of our people without being fully convinced and understanding that it is necessary we should do something for the relief of an overburdened people. I do not know how it may be in other sections of the country except as I see by the reports in the newspapers, but for my own section I know the people there are so overtaxed and so overburdened with debt that it is almost impossible for them in many instances to obtain even the common necessaries of life.
And again:
This is not all. There are other causes for our poverty and our distress. One of them is the fact that we have not had home rulers; that we have been governed and controlled by a set of men who, like the worthless drift-wood that lies rotting upon the banks of a stream, at the flood-tide of reconstruction was gathered up and precipitated upon us. These men came among us for no other purpose than for spoils; and they were not scrupulous as to the means by which they obtained them. We have been controlled by them. They have manipulated the Legislatures of our States, because they have been in the ascendency in several of them; and the consequence has been that we were overburde
ned with taxes, our money extorted from us unjustly, and we are left in such condition that to-day we are scarcely able to meet the taxes levied upon our real estate.
Mr. LYNCH. Now, Mr. Chairman, to give additional emphasis, doubtless, to the above, my colleague remarked that he is a southern man, every inch of him, from the crown of his head to the sole of his foot. To this I have no objection. I, too, am a southern man. I admit, however, that I am not in the ordinary acceptation of that term. That term, I am aware, in its ordinary acceptation, includes only that portion of the white people who resided south of Mason and Dixon’s line anterior to the rebellion. But, to speak practically and not theoretically, I can say that I too am a southern man—by birth, education, inclination, and interest.
I will say, Mr. Chairman, that it is not my purpose, in discussing this subject, to attempt to revive any of the unpleasant feelings engendered by the war. Far from it. I am anxious to see the day come when all those unpleasant feelings that were created by that struggle, when everything in the nature of race prejudices will be buried in the grave of forgetfulness never again to be remembered. I am anxious to see the day come when the rights and privileges of all classes of citizens will be recognized and universally acquiesced in from one end of the country to the other, so that we all can gladly and truthfully say, this is our beloved country, with which we are well pleased.
I am not unmindful of the fact that I occupy a seat upon this floor to-day not by the votes of colored men alone, but by those of white men as well; not by the votes of those who fought the battles of the Union alone, but by the votes of a large number of those who fought bravely the battles of the confederacy as well; not by the votes of outspoken, pronounced republicans alone, but by the votes of a large number of those whom we are pleased to designate liberal and moderate conservatives as well. I hope therefore that my colleague will not object when I claim the right to speak not only for the colored people, not only for republicans, but for a large number of liberals and conservatives as well.
Now, sir, let us see something about what my colleague said in regard to the imposition of taxes by adventurers—by persons who have no interest in the soil. In speaking of carpet-baggers—those who have imposed heavy, oppressive, and unreasonable taxes upon the people of the South—I cannot believe that my colleague intended to include the State he has the honor so ably to represent in part upon this floor. I ask is he aware of the fact that nine-tenths of the offices in the State of Mississippi are now and have been ever since the re-admission of that State into the Union held by southern men—men who are to the manor born, many of whom fought bravely the battles of the confederacy, and who, according to what they say, are not ashamed of it?
Mr. SINGLETON. If you will allow me, I desire to say that I know exactly to the contrary.
Mr. LYNCH. I regret that my colleague is not better informed. [Laughter.] Why, sir, my colleague can say that a majority of them are held by republicans; but if he says they are held by carpet-baggers, it is a mistake. Some of them are, but about nine-tenths of them are held by southern men. And I ask him is he not aware of the fact that these men, representing a large percentage of the wealth, the intelligence, and the virtue of the people of that State—is he not aware of the fact that they are a class of men whom the democratic party were proud to acknowledge in days passed and gone as among their brightest intellects and their ablest leaders? Why, sir, when we speak of men who are holding offices in the South, and especially in the State of Mississippi, we will find a large majority of those offices held by this class of men. Although not identified with my colleague’s party now, yet they upheld the cause of the South—that cause for which he no doubt fought, or at least with which he sympathized—as bravely as those who are identified with the political organization of which he is an honorable member.
I will say, Mr. Chairman, that I commend my colleague in his zeal to inaugurate economy, retrenchment, and reform. He has my cooperation and support as long as he confines himself within the bounds of reason and moderation. I am with him heart and soul to bring about economy, retrenchment, and reform wherever it can be effected. But when he comes forward and tells us that the passage of this bill is demanded in consequence of the heavy taxes under which the people of the South and Mississippi especially are laboring, this demands some little reply, some notice.
Now, sir, let us see what these taxes are of which my colleague so eloquently complained. Let us see why it is that he comes forward and asks that a large number of our important consulships shall be abolished and that the compensation of our foreign ministers shall be reduced in order to relieve the overburdened tax-payers of the South and of Mississippi especially. Let us see wherein that statement can be substantiated and sustained.
Now, Mr. Chairman, the taxes in the State of Mississippi levied for the support of her government are nine and a quarter mills, or $9.25 on each $1,000 worth of taxable property, four mills only of which are for the support of the State government, two mills for educational purposes, and the other three and a quarter mills to pay the interest on the public debt and to create a sinking fund for its liquidation.
Now my colleague says that this is a heavy burden, and appeals to the House to come to the relief of the tax-payers of the South, and especially of the State of Mississippi. He says that if you could stand where he stood, if you could see the anxious countenances of the taxpayers of Mississippi, when the tax-collector was crying off their property to the highest bidder, and see the tears falling down their pallid cheeks, you would sympathize with them, and reduce the pay of these officers for their relief. He says that the people of the South are suffering, and we must make these retrenchments, these reforms, even though it be done at the expense of the honor of this great nation, and I hope my friend from Virginia [Mr. TUCKER] will pardon me for using the word nation in this connection, but the word has become so familiar to me that I cannot help it.
But my colleague says that the people must be relieved, that these burdens must be taken off their shoulders, and that the way to do it is to abolish these important consulates and reduce the compensation of our foreign ministers. Now, sir, in fact the people of Mississippi pay directly comparatively nothing to support the General Government. I admit that, according to the theory of the gentleman from New York, [Mr. COX]—and I do not wish to be understood as combating it—we pay doubtless a great deal indirectly, in consequence of the tariff imposed upon articles necessary for home consumption. We pay something in that way, but so far as direct taxes are concerned, I repeat, the people of Mississippi pay comparatively nothing. Still that is no reason why we should not be in favor of retrenchment; but that was not my colleague’s line of argument. His argument was that it was local taxation imposed upon us by those who came there in the flood-tide of reconstruction, for the purpose of living upon the substance of the people. Now, for my colleague’s benefit, I have had a little comparison made, a comparison of the tax system of Mississippi in 1865, when my colleague’s party held undisputed control of the State government, and in 1875, when the party with which I am identified had control of it. In 1865 the total amount of taxes levied was about $2,634,000, as follows:
Upon realty and personalty
Upon privileges
Upon incomes
Upon cotton
Upon polls
$184,000
200,000
200,000
2,000,000
50,000
My colleague says that we can raise seven million bales of cotton in one part of the State alone, which is about three millions more than I suppose we could raise in the whole State; but I presume he is better posted on this subject than I am. In 1875 the total amount of taxes levied according to this comparison or estimate was about $1,711,500, distributed as follows:
Upon realty and personalty
Upon privileges
Upon polls
Total amount levied in 1865
Total amount levied in 1875
&n
bsp; Difference
$1,461,500
200,000
50,000
2,634,000
1,711,500
922,500
Then, Mr. Chairman, the people of Mississippi paid in 1875 about $922,500 less than they did in 1865.
My colleague spoke of the public debt, the debt under which the people of the South are groaning and laboring, especially in Mississippi. Mr. Chairman, the public debt of my State is to-day less than half a million dollars exclusive of what is called the Chickasaw and common-school funds, and yet he asks us to go to work and relieve the burdens of the people of Mississippi by reducing the appropriations for the diplomatic and consular service of the Government.
Mr. Chairman, I wish to tell my colleague what I believe to be the true remedy for the evils complained of in the Southern States. The true remedy, I think, is for a public opinion to be inaugurated that will crush out mob law and violence and enforce obedience to the laws of the country. What we want in the South is a public opinion that will cause every man, wherever he may have been born, whatever may be his color, whatever his politics, to feel perfectly safe and secure in the exercise of his rights and privileges as an American citizen.
I can assure my colleague that what we want more than anything else is to have these political agitators, these instigators of strife, these promoters of confusion and disturbers of public peace, forced to take back seats. What we want is to bring about a public sentiment that will render impossible the existence of White Leagues, Ku-Klux Klans, and other dangerous, mischievous, and rebellious organizations. It is in consequence of an unsettled state of affairs, of an unhealthy public opinion that has tolerated the existence of these dangerous organizations and justified these crimes that have been committed upon the rights of private citizens, that the development of that portion of our country has been prevented.
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