Centre Democrat. [volume] (Bellefonte, Pa.) 1848-1989, 1879-11-20
VIEWS or A STATESMAN.

A correspondent of the Philadelphia
Times reports for that journal II
lengthy interview with Senator Thomas
+. Bayard, who has returned to his
home ut Wilmington, Delaware, from
his recent visit to Europe The Sena-
tor in replying to interrogatories of
the correspondent said that the late
election in New York turned on local
issues, and he found no fault with the
people Of that State because they pre-
terrcd to give attention to their own
domestic affairs rather than to nation
al politics. 81 am great believer in
local sclf.government," said Mr.. Bay
ard, and continued 81 think that is
the only condition of the pcrpetuty of
our Union. | do not believe that this
Union can he successfully governed un-
less the people of each State are al
lowed to control their domestic affairs.
That is the school of the American
citzen-local selfgovernment. 1t is
by means of blunders that We learn.
If children are forbidden to try to
walk they will never kearn TO walk.
| If YOU would teach your child to walk
he would not be forbidden to take the
first steps inside his own nursery.
Therefore | think these people must
be left TO control their own local af-
fairs in order to make them fit To take
part in the grander and paramount
government of the whole country aud
in the control of our finances and our
country On the subject of the atti-
tude of the Democratic party on the
! financial question he said that only in
certain localities had the party pro-
! nounced in favor of an irrcdccmablc
paper currency. That the idea of in
hation as remedy for the bankrupt
cy which followed the decline of the
| price of land in the west, was adopted
by many who were willing to accept
any theory which promised to restore
the lost prosperity. That the western
people took of the limit upon the rate
Of interest in order to buy land and
that the interest on mortgages in the
western States is 10 per cent. per an
mum while in nearly all of the eastern
| States it is only six. In his opinion
| money was not worth more than six
per cent any where and that Il man
who is compelled to borrow money at
| ten per cent had better abandon his
enterprise. In reply to question OF
his interlocutor on the subject of slave
labor, Mr.. Bayard said slavery is
in itself rcproach to laboring men,
aud that class OF men felt it, and did
not choose to engage i'll any labor III
/ the fields side by side with boudmcn.
| believe that feeling existed. There
were comparatively few agricultural
white laborers in the South prior 10
the war There were a great many
mechanics. and they had social po.
sition much higher than the mechanics
of the North ever knew. Anybody
who has ever been in the South must
have noticed that when white mechan-
les came to work at the house OF a
| planter they came to the table with
him and his family, and were always
addressed as Mr., and never by the
first name. But there were very few
white men in the South comparatively
who worked in the field with black
/ hands OF course there were some,
! but | think there was certain re-
proach to manual agricultural labor
that slavery caused, and ! think men
felt it and it kept them away. | do
not think there can be any doubt now,
even if there was ever any about the
false economy of negro slavery.
think it was a false economy. ! have
never heard one at the South who was
not glad slavery was at an end" In
regard to the Republican idea of the
necessity for troops at the polls, Mr..
Bayard gave it as his opinion that
free elections are the only safety for
the republic; that the army is the
creature and agent Of the people and
to employ troops in the exercise of q
political surveillance at the elections
is to make the servants of the people
superior to their masters. The remedy
for fraud or violence at congressional
elections Is n constitutional one and
consists in the power Of each House of
Congress to purge itself of members
whose certificates are stained by fraud
or force With reference to the tariff
Mr. Bayard enunciated these views +:
IL have no doubt at all that with the
other economic questions to which the
the question of protection is one. That
seems pretty well settled. The capac-
ities of the country are unlimited for
production, but the great question that
arises now is as to distribution. The
question of distribution is one of enor-
nous importance The manufacturing
capacity of the United States is twice
as great as our native market needs.
We can supply the whole demand