The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1867-03-18
Hu.ine.. mad Rec .n.,r.e,is..


The people of the North do not up
pear to consider the close relations be
tween business prosperity and recon
struction. In the South it is not so
When want and wretchedness hover
around every hearthstone, and starving
families realize the miseries of univer
sal poverty, men are compelled to rec
ocnize the cause of their misfortunes
Hence il is that the Southern people
understand more clearly than theil
Northern neighbors the intimacy Of the
relations between business and politics
When the citizens of the loyal States
.hall have felt the distress and ruin
which the future reserves for them and
their interests, it is probable that they
too will appreciate the truth which, il
seems, nothing short of bitter personal
experience can make clear. A Southern
iourna al in an article upon the business
prospects of the country, thus speaks OF
the future: u
Let all who are ferecssting the
chances for business in 1867 take special
account of the political elements which
NAV affect il. Never was caution in
that direction more necessary than now.
The measures which are finding favor
with Congress are the political ruin of
the south. and they invoke with it the
commercial ruin of that section of the
country. These measures will do more
10 send down blight on the fields OF
the South in 1867 than did in 1866 dis
.strous season almost without a paral-
lel There can be no prosperity at the
south under the whitening touch OF
such legislation.
Now that these measures are adopted
let no man look to the South expecting
70 find paying customers there. And II
there is no prosperity ut the South, will
there he prosperity at the North! What
rejecting man does not anticipate the
answer to such questions
The political aspect warrants the ex-
pectation that we shall have year or
more of commercial gloom, depression
and disaster. Prudent men villas all
should-take warning, and he setting
their houses in order. They are now
al the mercy of men, who, in aiming
at the destruction of constitutional gov
crnment and republican institutions,
would laugh at the ruin of the whole
mercantile class as the merest baga-
tUe.
Such thoughts as these may well fur
nish food for reflection to every business
man in the land. They should be pom
dered in the counting-room, the work
shop, the factory and the mill. They
plainly point out the inevitable effect
of that ruinous course Of action which
mas already darkened the sky Of our pO-
itical future.
The Pandemonium policy Of the Rad
zeal party is susceptible of but one in
serpretation. Its authors have deter
mined upon the destruction Of the pOlit-
itcal power of the white men Of the
the South. For this purpose they are
10 be disfranchised, and negroes invest
ed with all the privileges Of citizenship.
No government but negro Government
will he tolerated at the South. That
class will legislate for the regulation Of
property and business; the industrial
energies of the South will be placed
nnder their coutrol, and all laws for the
government of labor will be Of their
enactment. Cnprincipled speculators,
reckless adventurers aldilliterate freed.
men, all ready to sacrifice future sub
stantial prosperity for temporary pres::
-nt profit, will supervise the great in
terests of that vast region, and make
laws to affect and govern the product
ion of cotton. sugar, rice and all othel
Southern staples. What kind Of labor
system can be matured and put in
operation where negro ignorance is en-
franchised and white intelligence de-
eitizeuized and degraded: 1t cannot
be expected that the negroes, en-
abled under the Radical policy to out.
vote the whites, will ever consent to
the passage of such laws in relation to
labor and laborers Us the altered
condition Of affairs in the South impera-
lively demands, -.
The entire destruction, then, OF
Southern business Of every kind, will
almost certainly be the result OF mill
tary reconstruction. And yet, in spite
of its damaging effect upon industrial
and commercial interests, the pro-
gramme must be carried out. Political
advantages cannot be sacrificed for
mere business considerations. Mean
while, says the Philadelphia Age, "ths
planters and merchants of the South
are afraid to embark in business whom
they are threatened with negro rule and
domination. Capitalists will not invest
their money in States where the legisla-
ton is controlled by negroes. The
blow aimed at the South thus rebounds
and strikes the North in . most vital
spot. The diminution of products in
the Seuth is followed by shorter de.
nand for articles produced here, and
that fact operates upon all the business
interests Of the North" -,
"The political ruin of the South will
certainly bring with it the commercial
ruin OF that section Of the country. II
therefore, the Radicals are determined
upon the first, as it is proved by theil
acts. they will be responsible for ths
latter, with all its attendant conse
quences upon the business. of the North
1t is fears of this kind that are making
stagnant the stream Of trade ut thi!
time in all portions of the North. Basi
ness is waiting upon reconstruction
The labor and capital of the nation ar'
enslaved by . few ambitious men in ths
Radical party, who, for the sake Of sue
cess, are willing to overthrow the wholl
commercial and industrial fabric Of thu
country, and produce general distres'
among all classes" ,,,7,s aiaI, ID
The Lecture NJ the CsshedralS; a
Father Curley's lecture At the Csthe
dral Last evening was very we'll attend