Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1889-08-29
The Mighty Fallen.
a ApHoUGHTFUit5 q EoRd1AN ANALYzEs
THE DECAY OF IssTATEsArAN NsfiIp
IN. THE SOUTH,

THE DECAY OF TATEsAfAN NsHIP
IN. THE SOUTH E5
70 The Editor of Tie .Neao FORK
Herald: Thirty years ago the South
was conspicuous for the number and
the abb 'ty Of her statesmen. To-day
there is hardlya man in the South
who deserves that title. II
The reasons for this falling off are
evident. @
Before the war there was on call
ing for the giioed and ambitious
young Southerncr comparable to
that which he could find in the field
Of pohiisios. iie might iDo aiawyer, a
physician or q planter, but If he
sought power and distinction in his
community or state he looked for it
not in the line of any other profession,
but as the result of his labors and
triumphs in politics.
The South held a disproportionate
power IN the Union, and she offered
her highest honors to him who would
help to maintain her predominant in
fluence in federal affairs. The South
had cherished instruction against
which she saw tho conscience of the
civilized world was set and she sum-
moned her brightest and strongest
intellects to its defence. Under
such system the genius of the
South was attracted to politics, and
from great host of politicians arose
those Southern statesmen whose
names have passed into history.
sUBORDINATIoN OF POLITICS.
They have no SUCCESSORS. Of all
the changes that have come over the
South none is more striking that the
subordination of politics as q profes-
sion. The average voter III this sec
ton knows almost nothing of the is
sues between the great parties the
average so-called leader is a mere
figurehead. Except in Virginia,
North Carolina and Tennessee To-
cal election usually amounts to little
more than scramble for office. No
principal is involved, no issue is at
stake. 1t is merely personal choice
between two ambitious politicians.
In federal elections tho most pow
erful influence is race antipathy.
This is the force which keeps the
South solid, ,iot conviction on any
question of national policy. How
far sectional prejudice has been ef-
fective in the creation of a well nigh
solid North | am not prepared to
say, but it will hardly be denied that
it has been considerable factor in
Northern politics. This force has
been felt in the politics of the South,
though it is inconsiderable in COM
parison with the dread of the negro
equality and negro dominion. The
most effective political rallying cry in
the South to-day is, "This is white
mans government" 1t brings to-
gether the most incongruous ele-
mcnts among the whites and makes
them deaf to all discussion of the is
sues between the parties as defined
in their so-callcd declaration of prin-
ciples. cannot see that this race
feeling has weakened materially in
the twenty-four years that have
elapsed since the negro became citi-
zen. 1t is about as strong in the
young white voter who was born
since the war as it is in the old man
who was "ruincd" by the fall Of Con
federacy. 1t seems to me that poll
tics in the South is doomed to be, at
least for a long time to come, ques-
ton not of reason but Of race.
The invitable result is already ap-
parent. It is the decline Of states
manship and the triumph of dcma-
gogy. To the young man of fine
natural gifts, high ambition and in
dependent spirit there is little temp
tation to enter politics in the South
He cannot fail to prcccive that should
he do so his success would be depen-
dent upon his complete submission
to the dictates Of n majority Of his
white fellow citizens.
Such thing as independence is
sheer folly, because it can accomplish
nothing where averagepolitical afiilia.
tions are fixed by influences beyond
the reach of reason and the indepcn.
dent is considered an enemy to the
best interests of the community.
There is small opportunity in
Southern politics for the development
| of StrOnsr leaders