The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1877-08-06
AN OPPORTUNITY FOR THE SOUTH

cit is an i'll wind that blows nobody
any good" is an old saw that may find
application even to the labor strikes
that have recently occurred throughout
the North. Had these outbreaks been
confined to any limited section Of the
country, or to populations engaged in
any single industry. 1t might be as
sumed that they were provoked by
special instances Of oppression on the
part OF employers, or of discomfort
among the employed.
The trouble would have been local
and the sources OF 1t easily discovered
and remedied. In that case the dis
turbance at any one point would simply
have been local and limited manifesto
tion that would constitute, in case of
violence, nothing more than riot,
which could be summarily treated and
disposed Of by the local authorities,
aided and sustained by the we'll regu-
lated elements of society. But the wide
extent of this disturbance, reaching into
almost every important community in
the Northern States, and involving al
most every character of industry, proves
that the malady Is anything else than
local, and that 1t can be reached only
by thorough and constitutional RENE
dies. 1t is not Pittsburg nor Hornells
vile, nor Buffalo, that Ia failure, that
has accumulated an immense popula-
tion which its industries and commerce
cannot employ; nor Is there any reason
to behave that spirit Of communism,
or any other hurtful doctrine. has af-
fected these communities more than
others.
Were this the cause and extent of the
trouble, the results would be quite diff
ferent. Pittsburg, Hornellsville and
Buffalo would be deserted and their
populations would seek more fruitful
fields Of labor, or, In the latter event,
the Calling "Moral" force could be very
quickly and successfully applied by the
local and State autorities. This, then,
Is not correct diagnosis Of the case.
1t liz neither local nor confined; 1t ex-
tends throughout the whole land and
permeates the whole fabric Of society.
The causes which lie at the bottom of
it are just as far reaching and radical as
the evils that have sprung from them.
It Is the organization Of society that is
at fault, and all its economies, social
and political, are perverted, wrong and
baneful. Out of corruption, the first
and most formidable enemy of republics,
has sprung Its legitimate offspring,
gross and fragrant inequality In the
fortunes and power Of individuals, till
now all men are equal only In the wild
est figures of speech, and these are
Figures that always lie."
We have engrafted upon a republic
the fragrant inequalities that exist
among the subjects Of a monarchy, till
the character Of citizen Is destroyed
and all of Its distinguishing traits lost
and obliterated. The manners and Gus
toms OF nation are SO intimately and
indissolubly intermingled with the
elemental principles OF the political
system of government that the
two are of necessity mutually de-
pendent. The social condition of
q monarchy cannot exist as a
republic-one or the other must be de-
stroyed. Either the social institutions
must undergo a change or the govern
mental system will eventually conform
itself to them. Statecraft is science,
whose laws are not the mere dogmas
and postulates Of theorists, but are rules
and often axioms, based upon positive
and authentic data derived from the
actual practical experiences Of man
kind. These laws admit of modification,
but Of nothing more; they cannot be
abrogated with impunity. The ele.
mental principles peculiar to any Of the
varied forms of government must be
preserved in fact, and when they become
mere fictions there must be q cor
responding alteration in the govern
mental establishment.
The vast accumulations of corpora
tions and monopolies in the North, and
the consequent inequality in the division
of wealth, constitute one Of these radical
divergences, and from them result
social and political economy that is alb
normal in a republic. Such things may
exist among subjects, but not among
citizens. These immense accumula-
tions of capital may be protected and
but they must be done by the
and SO long as the people
are the government they cannot be eX-