The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1879-03-16
THE SOUTHERN PARTY.

The New York Times is frank enough to
concede that the speakership Of the incoming
Congress belongs, of right, to the South
Heretofore the Times has been a stalwart
supporter of RandalPs claims to reelection,
and, for this reason. the concession comes In
all the better grace. AS matter of course,
the Times undertakes to make all the capital
1t can out Of its concession. It Is not made at
all In an amiable mood, yet we see no reason
able objection to accepting all It says and
electing Blackburn on the strength Of 1t.
The position OF the Times which paper, by
the way, we regard as. at once, the fairest
and ablest Of the Northern Republican
press that the Democratic party IL essen
TALLY the advocate and champion OF the
South. 1t Is divided ON the currency ques-
ton. on the question of comm cree, as between
free trade and and protection, on internal i'm
provements, mail subsidies and such like ques-
tions OF polity, but on the Southern question
1t is unit. We see nothing derogatory to
the Democratic party in this. This is not an
issue for the party to shrink from. When we
this time, there can be no objection to the
alignment Of the Times.
1t has been insisted upon by the extremist
Republican journals OF the North that the
North Is not less interested than the South
In the repeal of the Election laws. The Times
itself urges this view. The action OF the
Democrats in the last Congress, then. which
was compelled by Southern Democrats. is. by
this confession, robbed of all suspicion OF
sectionalism. The measures they are forcing
through against the reluctance OF partizan
administration are not less in the interests
of New York than Of Louisiana
These recitals Of the Times we are perfectly
willing to accept and. accepting them, we
see no objections to its conclusions that the
South has the right to assert itself by the
election Of Speaker and the assumption Of
q full responsibility for all that may be done
by the incoming Congress. Indeed, we have
urged with the utmost persistence this very
view, and we are delighted at the frankness
Of the Times.
The sam has. OF course, cautioned u.s. in the
interests of the peculiar money power Democ-
racy it represents, to beware, under penalty
OF firing the Northern heart. Yet we are dis
posed to pay more attention to the sugges-
LlOuS vi Juc ItWgS. ub tunes says uDe
Democratic party is peculiarly Southern
party. We do not object to this distinction,
now that people take time to think and do not
act entirely in obedience to feeling and pref
udice. They can readily understand that all
the South asks is vindication OF the consti-
tuition, return to constitutional methods,
and the repeal Of laws that are utterly repug-
nant to such methods These obnoxious
statutes affect the North not less than the
South; yet their repeal is called by the Times
a concession to the South, and makes OF the
Democratic party a peculiarly Southern
party.
We cannot object to this. In the meanwhile
we see that Democrats are voting down
peculiarly Southern appropriations, such
as the Brazilian mail subsidy, the Southern
Pacific Railroad bills and other measures OF
a similar character. There Is abundant proof
in this distinction which we draw to show
that there is very little money or material
profit, and, therefore, a great deal OF principle
In the distinctive Southern bias and proclivity
OF the Democratic party. It Is to the honor
OF the party that, declining all temporal and
selfish and sectional issues, 1t stands by the
South In Its vindication of the constitution
and the demand for return to It's methods
from the passion Of prejudice-born Iegisla-
ton Of civil strife.