News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1890-08-07
The Boycott Again in Politics.

Probably the most foolish thing
which the opponents of the Election
bill have done thus far is to threaten
men from the North who have invest
ed money in business enterprises in
the Southern States, and to couple
with this, as the Atlanta Constitution
has done, a threat to boycott North
ern merchants and business men gen
orally. There is not the least danger
that either threat will be executed, or
that any Southern business man will
have the least sympathy with 1t.
The plain truth is that Southern men
who are earning an honest living and
making money by application to bus
mess, have outgrown the provincial
and intolerance of Southern Demo
cratic politicians and have begun Sc
riously to doubt their wisdom. So
strong has become this doubt that
the prospect seems fair that a number
of so-called statesmen who for years
have occupied seats in Congress and
spoken and voted "agin the Govern
ment,' will be sent to the rear next
fall and compelled to earn living by
honest work
The "boycott scheme has been
preached before. In 1888 it was adj
vocated by the most popular editor
of the most popular Democratic
newspaper in Virginia-a State in
which more Northern dollars are in
vested than in any other state South
of Mason and Dixon's line. Nobody
responded favorably; on the con-
trary, every honest business man,
merchant, manufacturer, ETC., frown-
ed upon it. At that time the protest
urged was that Northern manufac-
turers, merchants, etc, had contrib
uted money and influence to the sup
port of the Republican Presidential
ticket. The crusade did not result in
the loss of single dollar to the men
and interests against which it was di-
rected, and it was speedily abandon
! ed
Northern capital and Northern bus
mess men have nothing whatever to
fear from the revival of the "boy-
colt" threats at this time. All OF
them who are at all familiar with
Southern business men and affairs
know this to be a fact. They know
that the Southern man who devotes
his time to politics and office-holding,
and whose sole political capital is
prejudice and provincialism, is stead
lily losing ground; that the lustre OF
an aristocracy based on office-holding
is rapidly waning, and that the pow
er of the sentimental politician is de-
parting. To the honest, conservative
business men of the South a fair cleo
ton and an honest return of Repre-
sentatives in Congress have no ter
rors. They are the men whose opin-
ion Northern capitalists consult. As
matter of business, as well as of
fact, any Northern capitalist would
intrust more money as an investment
to any one of thousand non-office-
seeking, office-holding Southern men
than he would to the entire body of
Southern Democratic Representatives
in Congress and their army of news
paper and other parasites, both
North and South.
In Richmond, two years ago, one of
the advocates of the "boycott
scheme, it was said on good author
ity, had impaired his credit at one of
the local banks by his loud advocacy
of the scheme, from which it would
appear that Southern capital is as
sensitive and hostile to Southern par
tisan foolishness as Northern capital
could be. That was reasonable.
Southern men who possess credit or
money, or desire to acquire either,
will not be found saving off the
branches upon which they sit for the
benefit of Southern office-holding pol
iticians who possess neither credit
nor money.