Nashville union and dispatch. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1866-1868, 1867-02-26
BrsINEss NNn REcoNsrRUCrIoN.
From the Philadelphia Age.

The intimate relations existing between
reconstruction and business are not sufiici-
emily considered in the North. They are
deeply pondered in the South for there
the wolf OF want pushes its pinched nose
into almost every household, and men are
compelled to look at every avenue Of escape
from their present condition that is pro
posed, either in Congress or ont. The St.
Louis Republican, in an article upon business
and politics, thus speaks Of the future:
Let all who are forecasting the chances
for business in 1867 take special account of
the political elements which may affect it.
Never was caution i'm that direction more
necessary than now. The measures which
are finding favor with Congress are the po-
lilical ruin Of the South and they invoke
with il the commercial ruin Of that section
Of the country. These measures will do
more TO send down a blight on the fields of
the South in 1867 than did in 1866 a disas-
trous season almost without parallel. There
can be no prosperity at the South under
the whitening touch Of such legislation If
these measures pass-even il the menace of
them il not speedily withdrawn-let no
man look 10 the South expecting To find
paying customers there. And if there is
no prosperity at the South, will there be
prosperity at the North What rejecting
man does not anticipate the answer to such
a question
The political aspect warrants the ex-
pectatiOn that We shall have a year or more
of commercial gloom, depression and dis
aster. Prudent men villas ali should
take warning, and be setting their houses
IN order. They are now at the mercy of
men, who, in aiming at the destruction of
constitutional government and republican
institutions, would laugh at the ruin of the
whole mercantile class a. the merest baga-
hHe.
These are plain thoughts They can he
understood in the counting house, i'm the
work shop in the mandatory. They are
based upon a course of political action, the
shadow of which is already lengthening up
on the history ofo country. The adop-
ton Of the military reconstruction bill
leaves no room to doubt the real meaning
Of the Radicals. They intend to destroy
the political importance of the Southern
States at all hazards For this purpose,
white men are 10 be disfranchised, and
negroes raised TO the elevation Of full Citi-
Zenship. Under the system now advocated,
not more than one-sixth of the white men
of the South can have a voice in adopting
local laws for the South, while all the adult
male negroes will he brought TO the polls.
The will put the South under a negro gov
eminent. That class will fashion the laws
by which property and business are to be
regulated, industry managed and labor
made prosperous. The cotton and sugar
interests Of that vast region viii be at the
mercy Of the uneduCated freedmen, or
spectators and adventures who will look
to present profits at the expense of future
substantial results The elevation of col
ored men and the degradation Of white
citizens will also prevent a proper labor
system from being matured and put in
operation. 1.-THE negroes are armed with
the ballot and allowed to outvote the
whites, they will not suffer such laws to be
enacted bearing upon labor and laborers as
are absolutely necessary in order to meet
the altered condition of affairs in that sec
ton Of the Union.
These are consequences that will inevita-
bly, follow the adoption and enforcement
of the Radical scheme of reconstruction"
And yet that political programme will be
carried forward, regardless of its business
H9lNNis 4 nv hDiAlAttaAlil party Nlhulbl LOT
protection O. home industry from foreign
competition, while at the same time they are
striking down the business interests North
and South by despotic and unconstitutional
legislation with reference to considerable
portion of the nation. The planters and
merchants Of the South are afraid to en-
bark in business when they are threatened
with negro rule and domination. Capital
ISIS will not invest their money in States
where the legislation is controlled by ne
grOes. The blow aimed al the South thus
rebounds and strikes the North in a most
vital spot The diminution Of products in
the South is followed by a shorter demand
for articles produced here, and that fact
operates upon all the business interests Of
the North
The Republican wisely declares that the
political ruin of the South will bring with
1t the commercial ruin of that section of
the country. II therefore, the Radicals
are determined upon the first, as is proved
by their acts, they will be responsible for
the latter, with all its attendant conse-
quenCc5 upon the business of the North. 1t
is fears Of tins kind that are making stag
HaUt the stream OF trade at this time in all
portions Of the North. Business is waiting
upon reconstruction. The labor and CAPT
tai of the nation are enslaved bya few am
hitious men in the Radical party, who for
The sake of success, are willing 10 over
throw the whole commercial and industrial
fabric of the country, and produce general
distress among all classes.
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