Colonel Carter of Cartersville by Francis Hopkinson Smith
page 16 of 149 (10%)
page 16 of 149 (10%)
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The colonel on cross-examination could not locate any particular wholesale robbery, but it did not check the flow of his indignation. "Take, for instance, the town of Caartersville: look at that peaceful village which for mo' than a hundred years has enjoyed the privileges of free government; and not only Caartersville, but all our section of the State." "Well, what's the matter with Cartersville?" asked Fitz, lighting his cigar. "Mattah, suh! Just look at the degradation it fell into hardly ten years ago. A Yankee jedge jurisdictin' our laws, a Yankee sheriff enfo'cin' 'em, and a Yankee postmaster distributin' letters and sellin' postage stamps." "But they were elected all right, Colonel, and represented the will of the people." "What people? Yo' people, not mine. No, my dear Fitz; the Administration succeeding the war treated us shamefully, and will go down to postehity as infamous." The colonel here left his chair and began pacing the floor, his indignation rising at every step. "To give you an idea, suh," he continued, "of what we Southern people suffe'd immediately after the fall of the Confederacy, let me state a case that came under my own observation. |
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