The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1850-1873, 1870-08-05
East, West and South.

per1OQ OI peace lDe CELSIUS VI lou
will make large addition to the po-
litical weight of the West, and add
something TO the political weight OF
the South. In all matters in which
the West and South agree they will
control the Government; and they
are very likely to agree on the tariff,
the currency, and questions of finance
that is, on the leading subjects OF Fed.
eral legislation.
1t may seem odd to expect tho
South to gain any advantage by the
next census, as its population mas un.
dergone the wasting effects of war
and has not been recruited by i'm.
migration. But the abolition o
slavery has added much larger pei
cent. to its Representative population
than immigration has added to that
Of other parts ofthe country. In the
apportionment of Representatives af.
ter this census, all the people of the
South will be fully counted, instead OF
all the white person ands only three.
fifths of the negroes. If there are
four millions of Southern negroes
this change in the mode of counting
will be equivalent to an addition Of
100000 to the population of the
South, which is out of all proportion tc
the increase of any ether part of the
country by immigration. 1t will
more than enable the South to recov.
er its former relative strength in Con.
gress. Although slavery was abolish.
ed several years ago, the consequent
addition to the Southern representa-.
ton cannot be made until after the
census. There has been no past, and
there will be no future census attend.
ed witch such great gains to the South
Besides this increase in the number
of its representatives, the South will
make rapid gains in political influence
within the first few years Of the open.
ing decade, by a full resumption Of
its former business intercourse and
connections with the North. Before
the war the South was, and very soon
it will again be, one of the most pro.
fitable markets for our merchants and
manufacturers. Before the war these
business relations with the North
were source of great political
strength. At the outbreak of the war
and during the first year of It's con.
tinuance, large and influential por.
ton of our Northern business men
openly or secretly sympathized with
the South. They would have been
willing to make almost any cOnces-
sions for the sake of keeping or re-
covering their Southern trade. About
the second year Of the war the tide
turned, and thenceforward the pre-
vailing tone among the business men
of the North was one of zealous"lcy-
atty" This was chiefly due to the
new fields of enterprise opened by the
war. The Government had become
a better customer than the South had
ever been. To supply its vast armies
with food, clothing, arms, ammuni-
ton, tents, wagons, medicines, etc.,
taxed the energy and resources of the
country. The great profits of army
contracts and the spirit of speculation
which dominated in all the walks of
business, consoled our merchants and
manufacturers for the loss of the val
liable Southern market, and caused
pretty complete transfer of their
political sympathies. This grea
change will soon be reversed. The
Government is no longer an extensive
purchaser of commodities. With the
reviving prosperity of the South its
trade will have more than its former
value, and our active business classes
will rapidly exchange their fierce
'1oyalty," for tolerant spirit to-
wards that section.
Their is already quite a change in
this respect; but during the first
three years after the close of the war,
it was impeded by several causes.
In the first place, the South had sue
cession of bad harvests, and the con-
fiscation laws and the prevailing pol
itical uncertainty paralyzed enter.
prise, and prevented capital from
flowing into the South. The conse-
quence was that the section recovered
slowly and heavily from the desolat-
ing effects of war. Another thing
which has operated against the South
in the investments, made by our bus
mess classes in the public securities.
They have feared that Southern in.
fluence would favor the reputation
of the national debt and that the Gov
eminent bonds would depreciate OF
become worthless. The fear of repu-
dition is allayed. The cotton crops
of the last two years have put the the
South in a condition Of comparative
ease and prosperity and rendered its
trade richly worth cultivating. The
full renewal of the old commercial re.
lations between the two sections will
do much to restore the former poll.
teal cordially. In year or to more
the prevailing tone among our influ.
entail business classes will be similar
to what it was before the war, when
the South, by the aid of its Northern
connections, exerted an influence in
the Government quite out of proper
ton to its population.
The growing preponderancc of the
West will tie illustrated by the census
of this year. Most of the European
immigrants proceed Immediately to
the Wes:s, and the migration from the
Eastern States continues at such Q
rate that the rural population of the
East remains nearly stationary. The
census of this year is expected to show
that the West has been Outgrowins
the East more rapidly for the last ten
years than during any former period
All this Western growth will SOON
be represented in Congress. 1t will
enable the West to dictate the policy
of the Government upon all subjects
on which the West is united, and can
command a moderate reinforcement
from some other section of the ceun
try.
We conclude therefore that the
legislation Of the present Congress is
no index to the future policy of the
Government. The present Congress
is an effete body, the organ of expir
ing passions and the representative OF
constituencies which are about to be
remodeled in harmony with the al.
tered distribution of population. The
reapportionment of Representative!
on the basis of the new census will
mark the dividing line between thu
effete political era that is going out
and the new era that is coming i'm.
Flinders Of R0Shfu1ness