The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1874-12-17
The Return of Prosperity Lies in the DE.
velopment Of the South. -. - -. -

J1lCS httuTu VI TIVSpCA1ty AAOo AAA oN-o
velopment Of the South. '"' " -
THE Overwhelming i;e defeat of the Republican
party i'm the late Congressional election is
hailed as the dawn of 2 new era for our great
Republican era marked at the outset by b
"oreturn. of confidence" "7confdence in the sta
bility of, the. government. and in, the future
policy of. the, Observation-Disclosures in the
peo,pie and among The people. confidence as
to the affairs of public economy, and confidence
as to the affairs of social economy, and conf
dence in all matters that, the interest or
engage the attention of the nindlylduat citizen
It cannot be denied that the: effect. has been bee
magical swift as the electricians. touch 1t lS
none the less potent because the result Is from !
an: uprising Of, the people, despite the luripg
schemes and artful plans of designing politl-
clans, and despitet tfie power ora party winch
controlled every avenue to- place ana position,
and guarded every approach TO honor- ana
emolument by the active vigilance OF an hun
dred thousand Office holders, ,...-. -...l =.
From all parts of the country the same testl-
mony comes, expressed in the never varying
fornula-"The Return of Confidence" In
the East and in the West and in the North dis
trust vanishes in we'll founded hopes for the
future. and the declaration goes forth that the
triumph Of the Democracy is recognized not
less as an overwhelming condemnation OF the
Republican party for: its great and manltold
abuses of power and trusts for its misrule and
corruptions for its grasping centrailsm, and
its vampire Radicalism, than as an imperative
demand from the great heart of. the people for
a, return to the ancient and. honest, landmarks
of civil liberty, which in past days made our
common country great, glorious rand prosper
Gus. The South rises as on, the wings OF the
eagle to meet the bright ray which beams in
the future. Even liz sinking Carolina and
chaotic Louisiana the 'desparing look UP and
take heart again with the first streak of the
dawn of the day of deliverence. Not single
threatening element appears. upon the political
horizon. It was predicted that the paan of a
Democratic triumph would swell with the
thunder of reputation. No such terrible note
of anarchy, disgrace and political degr -lation
is heard. 1t was said that the bonds of the
Federal Government would weaken in value at
home: They strengthen and grow stronger In
our money markets. 1t was predicted that our
national credits would fall in price abroad:
They rise in value at European money centres.
1t was claimed that in escaping from the
shameless corruption of Radcalsm, we should
fall into the Agrarian depths of illimitable
imitation. 1t is conceded that one of the great
est evils which can afiict, a government or
people is the delusive promise of an irredeema-
bic currency. "' ''''' - .''..'
In word, ali the prophecies of violence of
political charlatans have come to naught. But
better than ALL that want ofpublic and private
confidence which prevailed SO universally and
so alarmingly under Republican policy, and
which has such an immediate and direct ten
dency to depreciate property and enhance to
the debtor enormously the rates of interest,
disappears. And while Government credit is
being more firmly established, private credit
is being more completely restored.
But the tendency of the public mind is to
outstrip events, or, to borrow the language of
the Band Parlor, to discount the future. The
return of confidence by no means commands
the return of prosperity. Something more
than mere confidence, however strong and we'll
founded, is necessary to re-estabish Its Jcondl-
tions This is obvious. We have an apt illus:
tration at our doors. About the beginning of
the Second Punic War Of Reconstruction, some
leading Northern capitalists undertook projec-
ted enterprises in the South of great magni-
tHdei What has been the result? E:r '1tao
disco omnes. We take a notable example:
Mr. !Thos. Scott, of established fame in railroad
matters, with strong body of associates, essays
=
Atlantic by an iron highway, on a Southern
parallel Of latitude. An alignment is made
through a fertile territory The project is fully
canvassed. Seven hundred miles Of friendly
interests, from the Atlantic to the Mississippi,
appear to stand ready'to yield active co-opera-
ton. a large amount of'capital is expended.
THERE'S no doubt about either thenational i'm
portance of the enterprise or of its public utii-
ty,- nor of its ultimate reward of remunerabve
traffic. But the enterprise languishes. The
Southern interests and the Southern people fail
in their support, because their capital accumu-
lated since the war is not up even to that stan
dard which is absolutely necessary for their
own wants, much less equal to the support of
great and important enterprise. What the re-
suit would, be under the. powerful stimulus of
Government encouragement may be readily In
ferred. The Federal Government gave liberal
aid to the Union Pacific. The result is great
highway between two great oceans and pros
porous and prospecting people carrying ciyiliza-
ton into a vast wilderness The Northern
Pacific will not fail Of like aid forming in like
manner new chain between the great lakes
and the Northern Pacific coast and secure like
results. 1t is fact indisputable, that the rapid
growth in population and prosperity at the
North and at the West is due in greatest degree
to aid from the National Government direct ana
indirect.
The basis of Northern prosperity is activity
in commerce and facility in inter-communica-
tion
From earliest history down to the present
day, mere local causes have determined the
preference .of the South for policy which
would give an unlimited scope to all nations
to be the carriers and the purchasers of her
productions A public policy which will give
to the South but tithe of the benefits that
have been conferred on the North would over
come the preference and contribute largely to
remove that antagonism in ideas which for 50
long time has prevailed, and which in later
years has produced so much evil. At the
North the power and the dignity of the Gov
ernment are visible and felt in the magnitude
of its operations and in the efficacy of its ben
efts. In the South the power of the Govern
ment is reflected solely by the dignity of an
ebo-shin mail clerk or the authority of an
epaulette-in humiliation or exaction. But