National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1874-10-01
THE SOUTH AND THE CENTEN-
MA

THE SOUTH AND THE OENTEN-
MAJ.
In few days, comparatively speaking,
we will begin to speak of the Centennial
as an occurrence to takeplace ''next year,
and after it has passed we may rejoice in
the possession of q new period from which
to reckon dates. Instead of referring to
the war as marking an epoch in our coun-
try's history, we may be able to say ''since
the Centennial. We say this may be the
case and we may rejoice over it; and we
add that it should be the case; but it is to
be feared that the continued recurrence of
| disturbances in the South, which find their
only motive in the desire of the discon-
tented element of that section to destroy
the practical results of the war, will serve
to prevent that obliteratiOn of sad memories
which is required to make the Centennial
a celebration of peace as well as of the an
niversary of our country's birth. When the
project for the celebration was first made
public it was accompanied by the sug-
geStion that citizens of every section of the
country should embrace it as an oppor-
tunity to meet each other on terms of
Cancellation and in the temper of forgive
ness. 1t cannot be truthfully denied
that this suggestion or invitation came from
the Northern people as an earnest of their
sincere desire for the restoration of the
closest and warmest ties of national friend
ship. The arguments, addresses and the
correspondence of the friends and pro-
moters of the project go TO prove this as an
unmistakable fact. 1t was not to be ex-
pected at that time that all of the Southern
people would accept the proffers rendered
to them in this magnanimous spirit, but it
was believed that due regard for the ma
tional dignity, as well as for the material
interests of their section, would induce
them to join in the effort to promote the
commercial welfare of the country. The
merest tyro in business must have known,
and must now know, that, although great
profits will certainly follow to the Phila-
delphlans, because the celebration is to be
held in their city, the Exhibition will re-
suit in untold advantage to the people
of every section of the Union. The
comparison of products, and the com
petition between manufacturers and
producers of all kinds, will serve to
bring before the public the good and bad
qualities of new as we'll as old articles. In
this comparison and competition the South
will have its opportunity with the rest of
the world. It's naval stores, sugar, rice,
cotton, tobacco, minerals and manufactures
will be subjected to rigorous test, it is
true; but their excellence, acknowledged
by those who are competent judges, and
Boosted of by others, will be demonstrated,
and the result will be that immigration
fSom abroad will follow, as well as an in
crease of commercial exchange, and the
establishment of a wider market for the
farmers, planters and producers of the sec
ton.
But since the project has assumed def
mite shape, promising ultimate and unquali-
fed success, there have been practical de-
velopments in the South which suggest
not only the impossibility of a peaceable
reunion, but a certainty that the South
errors, as people, will not cordially par
ticipate either in the celebration or the ex-
hibiuOn. The bitter feelings of the war
have been revived. The old Confederate
yells have been heard again and again, and
their reverberations find echoes in nearly
every news dispatch from the Southern
States Instead of devoting their entire
energy to a restoration of business rela-
tons with the rest of mankind, many of
these people have made use of the profits
of their labor since the close of the war in
the purchase of arms, in the organization
of military companies in the support of
seditiOus political associations. The pro
gress which the people of the West have
made in the past ten years finds no
parallel in the South. While the latter
have been, to great extent, occupied with
vain repinings or with more useless
schemes to regain lost political power, and
have been as consequence torn and dis
tuTbed by violence, the former have steadily
gained in wealth, in population, in the
growth of their manufactures, and in all
that goes 10 make up the material prosper
lD Vi great DuI IL Is uOJ 100
late even now for the South to recover its
lost ground. The thoughtful people of the
section, those who think deep enough to
discover in material advancement a graft
fication which cannot be found in the pur.
suit of political success, should take the
matter in hand. They should begin by
aiding in the restoration of order, and by
impressing upon the discontinued element
the necessity Of good behavior asa prerequi--
site of general prosperity. The teachings
of the incendiary press should be rebuked,
and the mouthings of fre-eating stump
speakers should be squelched. The indus
try and energy of the people should be
concentrated upon the single object of
seeking that physical comfort which can
only be secured by prosperous business
condition, and which is always followed
by political contentment and social quiet.
This done, the Centennial will certainly
mark an epoch from which we may in the
future reckon dates. Let US hope that all
this may be realized, and that we may one
day be able to say ''since the Centennial,
when the aspiration, Let us have peace
twas fully realized"
THE POSTMASTER GENERAL.