The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1882-06-08
Southern Sentiment.


its readers several pages of letters from
Democratic editors in the Cotton States,
as to the drift of political sentiment in the
extreme South, and the feeling towards the
present administration. There seems to be
a concurrent opinion as expressed in these
communications that the South is still sol
idly Democratic; that it is mistaken, in
a comparative sense, in its devotion to free
trade, and with one or two exceptions, the
administration of President Arthur is not
regarded in favorable light. A good deal
of gush is expressed in the letters over the
late President Garfield. and the bright
hopes which were encouraged of what be
would have done for the South had he
lived.
1t may be assumed as reasonably true. that
the writers speak their individual sentiments
and do not reflect those of the masses
Generally speaking, rural Democratic edi-
tors in the South know very little about the
people there. They are the representatives
OF the little court house rtngs-the trading
politicians, and either have NO inclination
or no capacity to guage public sentiment or
understand the current of public thought.
There is very little independent thought
with the class of politicians the Times ad-
dressed. They work by the machine-are
run by the machine and not unfrequently
belong to the machine. That they have
misrepresentedt the sentiment of the South on
the tariff question is very apparent. In
Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee and Lou isl.
ana there is a decided disaffectioa on this
question, and well conducted campaign
by parties capable of discussing the two
systems of free trade and protection, would
give results that would astound the fossils,
who live and breathe in the atmosphere of
the machine. The industrial enterprise
that are springing up in each of the States
we have mentioned are telling arguments
in favor of the policy that encourages them,
and the political disquietude being mani
tested with old party arrangements, indi-
Gates very plainly that forces are at work
which mean mischief to the methods whic
heretofore have prevailed. AS to the late
President the kindly sentiment expressed,
grow oct of the fact that he is dead, and
that it would be more becoming to tread
upon the tomb softly than to tear it open
with uncouth hands. The falsehoods which
were greedily circulated during the con-
test of 1880, are evidence enough of what
partizan hate will do, and that nothing
has been learned for the better by these
writers since then, is demonstrated by the
views expressed about President Arthur,
who has shown nothing but kind consider,
ton for the South in everything that he has
done since his Inauguration that at.
fects the South. So longas President HAYES
allowed the Bourbon Senators from the
South to control his appointments and shape
his policy, there was a luxuriant flow Of
tender feeling for him. But so soon as he
understood the motives and the purposes OF
those who were pouring affect ionate terms
into his ears, and determ med to show some
regard for the Republicans of the South
he was set upon by the same vicious spirit
that has assailed every Republican admin.
istration that the people have placed in
power. 1t would have been this way with
President Garfield had he lived. 1t will be
this way with President Arthur and with
the Republican President who will succeed
him. If a Republican adm inistration
should prove itself to be so misgu ided and
so weak as to allow Bourbons to suggest and
direct its policy in the South, Bourbon
But when well defined national line of ac-
tion is marked out, and proper men entrusted
with power to give it effect, then the same
old methods of denunciation and vilitica.
tion which are the stock in trade of Dem.
ocratic speakers and writers will be adopted
and the same enginery of opposition put
in motion.
But the people are awakening to the folly
of this. They are cutting loose from the
little courthouse rings; encouraging
broader and more practical ideas and in
viting more manly and self-respecting
methods. The fall elections for Congress
will show this, and it will be emphasized in
1884 by Republican electoral votes being
cast for the Republican Presidential nom l.
nees, from what have been solid Demo.
cratic States. The solid South is broken
already, and the elements are at work
which will still widen the breach and shatteI
the columns of the solid South. Virginia
will cast her electoral vote in 1884 for the
Republican nominee. North Carolina
gives promise of following in the wake
There is hope of Tennessee, and there is
strong probability that Alabama, Florida,
South Carolina and Louisiana, will range
under the same colors. The fall elections
will give assurance of this, for unless all
present indications prove deceptive, there
will be large increase in Southern Repub-
lican representation in the next Congress.
1t would be about as wise to consult the
stars as to the political revelations of the
future, as to expect to get a correct reflec-
ton of public sentiment in the South from
the machine rural editors. That class of
men never seek to know or to make public
sentiment. The nearest ring leader is the
embodiment of their knowledge 1and their
inspirations, and when they assume to
speak for the South, due allowance must be
made for the relation that a courthouse
ring may bear to the great mass of the
DeOn1e