Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1875-05-04
KELLEYs RECOSsTRUCTE0S

~ ~ AZ III 1N+AAAea "a .N9S@
ted inHationists and incurable jobbers,
as Mr.. Halstead imagines?
kELLEY'S DEMONSTRATION.
"Pig-iron" Kelley, as he is Familiarity
known, was smong the loudest Of the
last Congress in denouncing Southern
"~outragos" and demanding the enact
ment Of relentless force bills. The re-
suits of isrecent jncogaito trip through
this section may be best judged from
the following editorial remarks of the
Philadelphia Inquirer, which has been
itself ultra Radical until very recently;
Judge Kelley has lost all faith IN the
stories Of Ku-Kiux and Southern out
RACES, having personally proved them
to be the myths of mere partisan male
Violence. When a Republican Of such
eminence as Judge Kelley gives testi-
mony such as this, 10 would seem as il
it were time indeed for Mr.. Williams
to retire to his native wilds Of Oregon,
and for the super-serviceable organs Of
the carpet-baggers TO learn new tuues
to stir up vindiCtive feelings against
the South. 1t would also appear 10 be
time to Withdraw u army from those
places where II is Tot wanted and t.
send it to the Texas frontier, where It
is wanted very much.
We suspect that Kelley is partly in
Huenced by a belief that the depressed
conditions OF the South affords a stri-
king argument IN favor OF his financial
theories. But the depression Of the
South Is not due exclusively to bad
financial legislation. As the Chicago
Times argues, one Of the most active
causes in producing depression is the
system Of Plundering, that has been
going IL since the war. INSCRIPTIONS
offce-holJers, both Federal and State.
have thought the people fit subjects for
pluudcring, and 10y a systematic
onslaught upon their pockets have sue
cecded In Tobbing them Of the greas
bulk Of IL r property This has de-
press6dv --ggs. dscouragel enterprises,
made money scarce, Sd that If q million
Of -rsenbarks were issued from the
Washington mill every day, few
or none Of them would be attracted t.
the South. Some things that Kelley
saw tried his Radical stomach wonder
fully. In the capital # South Caro-
Ina he was especially disguised with
the raPaei-y and greed Of the State
Legislature buC the hardest sight Of al
was the contemplation Of the darby
Lieutenant Governor Of South Carroll
ma. SAYS be, TO see that man Ia that
office, when Ir,membar when lie was
discharged from "a city restaurant in
Philadelphia forsteaHng was very hard.
To see him in his rulHes and his dia-
mouds, ggelIing around il Columbia,
was "a melancholy sight"
Commenting On KelIey's revelations,
tie Republican Chicago Tribune
premises that the Southern people Do
produce "a large surplus over their
wants. and shows in a very clear man
neI another system Of stealing by
which they are deprived Of its benefits,
.hus.
Afta meeting the demands Of our
hou. market. the South IN ISL had
cotton t9 the g3IBc Jf S2l2 600, 1000 to
sell. This was a handsome income. II
was that much money with which t.
buy other articles; the production Of
that cotton ought 10 have required the
transportation of aE equal amount of
exchange commodities. and given 10
merchants the sale OF both the surplus
cotton and thereJUru Goods. But. OWING
to our system of legislation, this was
not possible. Our tariff law imposes
upon those who produce more than
they consume an oppressive tax.
Where a man has SIS worth Of the
product Of his own labor beyond his
own wants, and wishes to sell il for
other things which he needs and does
not produce, the law confscatcs 50 Of
the proceeds in order to give it to some
privileged paupers, who produce no
surplus, and are ~pcnsioned upon the
country. These privileged pcnsioned
paupcrs + the protected classes. For
the support Of tits class the Govern
meut mterpOsGi Its authority and thus
divided the proceeds of the surplus
cotton Of the South in 1874:
Deduc~uelvc per cent. for the d.
ureciaieu currency .-.-".-.--.- e-5GH1,uGH
Deduct protective bounty. ........... FZ.uu.urU
Value OF exchange commodities. .--- lZ5y UpU.ull
Total value Of surplus cotton crop. .S2I2, oo1 ,u0o
Before the war, cotton sold at 81 to 9
cents per pound; in 1874, it sold at
about l. cents per pound. But under
the protective system the advantage
and profit Of the increase in price is
taken away from the producers, who
get but Sl2J, 000,0 geo in exchange pro-
ducts for the S2I2, 600, 900 Of the cotton
they produced.
II Mr. Kelley wiI take another trip.
and study these stunning facts, he
might. make his conversion complete by
abandoning his advocacy Of a pro.
tgctive tariff.
THE first estimate Of the suns dis
lance, computed from last .Docembcr's
observations of the transit Of Venus,
comes from II. Puiseux, Of the Paris
Observatory being based On the notes
taken at Pehing, China, and on the is
land IF S. Paul IN the Indian Ocean
afgrding a base line Of IS degrees.
The solar PaTallax between Jhese two
is given .s $50 seconds, indi-
eating that the mean distance Of the
SUI from oar planets about 9l,9OO,G0O