The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1876-06-29
WILL THE SOUTH LEARN I

That staunch friend of the South,
and sound Democratic paper, the Balti-
more Gazette, not long since uttered
the following words of wisdom, sober
ness and truth. Read, mark AMI digest:
THE DUTY OF SOUTHERN MEMBERS.
The Hon. r. NJ. T. Hunter, of Viz
GINA, has written an able and interest
ing letter to Representative Lamar,
which every Southern man should read
and study. Not merely to the South
| however, is the letter Of value, but to
men of every section and portion of
the Union who desire to see the integ-
rity of the Republic maintained forever
each State and Commonwealth an
equal sharer in the blessings and bene-
fees the Union was formed to foster
and confer The contrast between the
| two sections to day is a painful one
| The Southern States are fully fifty years
behind those of the North in internal
| improvements and material develop
ment, Territories which wore but
Yesterday the wilderness and the great
| American desert are almost as far adj
vanced as States which a hundred years
ago were preparing to declare war
| against LllS HlOSG pON OF AIt II III
| the world The late rebellion has had,
to be sure, a great deal to do with this
| backward condition of affairs, and, what
was worse than the rebellion, the So
called reconstruction era and the bar
| barous rule imposed upon the South by
! the carpet-bag element, supported and
sustained by the bayonets of the Fed
| eral army. But, powerfully instru-
mental as these causes have been in
| keeping the Southern States backward
| in the race of progress and development,
there Is still another cause more potent
than either Of these we have named
which has aided in bringing about the de
piOrable results we see upon every
hand. 1t lies in one woTd-policY. The
policies of the two sections upon all
this class of subjects have ess entiallY
differed. The South, through her Rep
| resentatives in Congress and IN the Gov
ernment, has always contended for a
strict construction Of the COnetitu ton.
The North has always given it the
v idest' and most liberal interpretation
1t has been the policy Of the one to
! take nothing from the General Govern
ment 1t has been the policy of the
other to take everything she could get
| At the end of the first hundred years we
| find the account between the two sec
| ti1ns standing, as stated IN our columns
| few days ago, thus: For internal I'M
provements North, Sl90,000,0o0; inter
nal Improvements South, SI9,000,000.
In other words, four or five Northern
-and western cities during the last five
years have obtained for the erection Of
post-ofices alone as many millions of
| dollars as have been expended in a CEN
fury in works of every description in
all the Southern States.
| To this material, important, and prac-
| teal point Mr.. Hunter addresses him
self. And when we consider his posi-
sition and his services to the State and
country, his great ability, his devotion to
| the Democratic party and ali its most
! cherished ideas and traditions, every one
will eoncede that his words are entitled
! to the most sober consideration. Mr..
| Hunters letter is long one, but the
point of it is an abandonment of this
| ruinous and suicidal policy. The old
gentleman is for the old flag and an APP
| preparation for the two, one and, as far
as possible, inseparable, not from any
selfish and purely sectional motive, but
| because of the needs and necessities of
| the present and the great and important
demands and possibilities of the future.
The things the State cannot do in this
way he would have the United States
do, provided always they are public
necessity and of public use. This does
/ not destroy States rights, and it pre-
vents States wrongs. In the opinion of
Mr.. Hunter, the past policy of the Dem
Ocratic party of the South must be
abandoned if she wishes to maintain
her place and rank ia the Union. This
is so obvious that we do not Sc e how any
one can dispute or contFovert it. The
one hundred and ninety millions of dol
lars expended in this way in the " est
and North have largely contributed to
swell Its numerical majority, and are
every day contributing to the same result.
| Tear after year the interest is com
pounding, and there is nothing left to
| the South but barren, worthless ideal
ity. Along the line of the Pacific rail.