The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1868-09-14
The s.PoIitical Sense" at the South.


From The ". Y. Nation.
The performances of the Southern orators
and editors continue to furnish atriking illus
trations of the extent to which their troubles
are due to their bad political habits, and of
the large part which time and restraint from
without must play in Southern regeneration.
When we have been looking, as most of us
have, to some particular measure as "sure
and instant cure" for Southern ills, We have
forgotten that hardly any Southerner of this
generation is familiar with the practical work
Ing OF free government; that the very basis
OF free governmental general faith in the
power OF discussion, as expressed by the vote
has been wanting at the South for thirty
years; that none of the young or middle-aged
men are any more familiar with the process of
forming opinion by talk, and of listening to
talk that they do not like, than Frenchmen or
Russians-in fact they are not nearly SO fami-
liar with 1t as Frenchmen. =. ......,J ,J.4.r.,
1t is over thirty years since the place of the
negro in society became the vital question of
Southern politics. The question OF secession
was merely an accessory OF that of slavery
The people have. during that interval,
G thought, spoken, and written of little else
all other subjects-theolegy, political eco
nomy, moral philosophy, the natural sciences
even-have owed large part of their interest,
in Southern eyes, to their bearing on the negro's
origin and destiny, and have been cultivated
mainly with reference to slavery. Now, touch
ing slavery-that is, touching the matter
which most occupied mems thoughts and
about which mems passions have been most
roused-the expression of opposing opinions
has not been permitted in any part of the
South within the experience of the present
generation. No man has dared to present to
the public, either in the press or on the plat
form, more than one side of the great ques-
tion of the day, or, latterly, to introduce from
abroad any expressions OF dissent from the pre-
vailipg doctrine. The cOnse quence has been tn at
there is no native Southerner under the age of
forty five who can be said to have any political
training, or to possess the political sense,"
as that phrase is understood at the North. He
has never witnessed free debate; he has never
seen political changes accomplished by debate;
he has never seen minority submit to the
legislation of a majority without losing the
hope of converting them or desisting from its
-efforts to do so. In short, he feels very much
about dissenters from the prevailing political
creed as pious Catholic of the twelfth CEN
tury felt about heretics, and looks on orators
who declaim against his theories on the stump
very much as Austrian politicians, about
1870, might be supposed to look on an Italian
exile, newly-arrived from London, to edit q
paper of extreme views at Milan.
Now, what Is the ''pelitical sense 7" It is
not that acquaintance with history political
economy, jurisprudence, and human nature
| which is called political knowledge; nor is il
the shTeWdness, aouteness, and skill in the
art OF persuasion which makes the successful
| political manager There are countries in
the world in which political knowledge