The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-11-10
The south Is stin SOLID.


1t has been the ambition Of the Repub-
lican party for a number of years to break
the solid south. l. believes that il it could
do that it would have little or no trouble in
controlling the government Tor a quarter Of
a century or more. It does not have a
great deal of confidence in its ability to
keep enough OF the northern states repub-
lican to insure its ascendency. If it could
make the north solidly republican it won d
not bother itself about the south. 1t would
be satisfied to eljoy the power which such
a condition Of affairs would give it.
1t ought TO be satisfied now, however, that
it cannot break the solid south. It had a
stronger hope of getting control Of Vir-
ginia than of any other southern state. The
election OF last Tuesday demonstrated pretty
clearly that Virginia is democratic by
safe majority. The republican party, there
fore, must depend wholly upon the north to
keep it in power, and it will undoubtedly
redouble its efforts to array a solid north
against solid south.
Is the prospect good for the republican
party to strengthen its hold upon the
north? 1t is safe to say, in the ligat of the
recent elections. that it is not. The fact
that the south is solid is not without its in
fiuence in the north. At one time this in
fuence tended to make the north solid for
the republican party, because that party in
sisted that the south was solid because it
was not loyal, and was unwill-
ing to accept the situation. The
northern people are beginning
to understand, however, that this explana-
ton of the solidarity of the south is not
true. They are beginning to believe that
the south is solid for good local govern
meut, for an honest and economical admin
istration of national affairs and for tariff
policy that is in the interest of the people in
stead of monopolies and trusts The influ-
ence of the solid SOUTH therefore, in the
north now tends to weaken the req ublican
l arty.
The democratic victories last week mean
that the solid south is approved and that the
political methods of such men as Dudley
and Quay. the bloody shirt politics of For
aker and Malone, and the purposes of the
Republican party are condemned. Public
sentiment is turning against the party that
seeks to array one section of the country
against another with the hope of prolonging
its lease of power.
If the Democratic party had been de-
feated all along the line in last Tuesdays
elections the south would have received a
set back from which she would not have
quickly recovered. She would have ex-
pected hostile legislation from the present
congress, and that expectation would have
caused an unsettled and an anxious feeling.
Enterprises that are now being pushed for
ward vigorously would have languished
Capitalists would have felt the lack of conf
dence and would have hesitated to make
investments Indeed, it is not too much
to say that the south would have been in
jured to an iucalculable amount. Happily,
there were victories instead of defeats, and
the prosperity Of the south will be greater
than ever before The Republican party
will not solidify the north nor break the
solid south. 1t looks as if the influence of
the solid south in the north would prove
eventually to be greater than that of the
Republican party.