Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-05-23
LICKED OUT OF A RUT.
The DisintegratiOn of the South a
Certain Result of the War.
STATES RIGHTS NOW FORGOTTEN
In the Mad Rush of Southerners Toward
the other Extreme
P4TERNAIISM is THE PRESENT PET
IrroM A STAFF CORRESPONDENCE


NEW YORK, May 22.-'The evidences oi
disintegration are everywhere apparent il
the South, " said the distinguished editor O.
Charleston, S. c., paper, to me the Other
dav. ''The situation is to be regretted, but
it cannot be ignored
When we talk of political disintegration
In the North it is usually in immediate
view of local differences, or in connection
with the struggle of powerful factions
between ambitious leaders. These are mere
political ebullitions and do not touch the
more vital principles of government The
situation in the South is of an entirely dit.
terent character.
While in South Carolina, recently, ]
talked with good many politicians of the
ruling class. Conservative men there view
the outlook with much concern. An over
whelming majority of the Democracy of
South Carolina have identified themselves
with the Alliance movement The same is
true of the Georgia Democracy. In both
States the local governing element is strong
Iy for free coinage, but coupled with it are
the political idiosvncrasies of the Alliance
OF the West and Northwest
From States Rights to Paternalism.
One of the most interesting phases in this
situation is the remarkable evolution of great
peoples from the condition of radical States
rights TO the most radical paternalism with
in quarter Of a century. 1t is interesting
in the first place because of the suddenness
Of this transformation of Calhounism into
Pelferism. In the next place, because these
Southern people cling to many of the earlier
traditions of home rule while joining hands
posed new order of things. The distinguished
South Carolinian himself admitted that
he could nct understand it. Hence he looked
upon it as the sign of party disintegra-
tion. From his point of view the dissolu-
tiOn of the political particles means a new
political alignment. But whether that new
alignment would take place Immediately, or
whether it would be the slow process of
years, was something beyond him.
It would be singular thing in our ma
tional political history if the States that
were for many years the most rabid adher-
ents of the doctrines of States rights should
be the first to make a material outbreak for
paternalism. Yet these evidences of disin-
teGration" plainly point that way. The
Farmers Alliance movement is away from
democracy as defined by the words and acts
Of the fathers of the Republic, and toward
agrarianlSm-awayf from the strict constitu-
tional construction school of which South
Carolina was long the embodiment and
toward 4 nateTnal system of government
GOOD Many steps In One Direction.
1t is not the entire distance, it is true; but
Alliance success would mean a good many
steps in that direction. Two members of the
Supreme Court, in conjunction with those
who Joined in the recent O'Neill opinion,
could move us along toward the Alliance
goal with scarcely more accelerated speed.
We are wont to sneer at a third party
movement because of the incongruous ele-
ments that go to make it up and the appar-
ent hopelessness of its prospects Nobody
can study the character of the Alliance in
Southern States and sneer at it. This for
the reason that it embraces the best ele-
lnents of the locality wherein it thrives and
because they represent an entire revolution
OF local governmen tai ideas You there find
men on every hand who fought or whose
fathers fought, for the supremacy of the
State authority over national authority, but
who are now willing and eager to throw
down all the barriers erected by the Consti-
tuition for the preservation of the autonomy
Of the States and rely upon one general gov
ernment to maintain their local and indi-
vidual rights. There are plenty of believers
in paternalism in the North and West. and
they do not strike peculiar. But, dear
me! when We encounter such men in the
South and in such numbers that they prac-
tically control State affairs-what then?
Permanent Dissolution of Principles.
The South has been the bulwark, the shield,
the bomb-proof of Democracy, both in the
limited party and in the broader sense. If
the south gives way to this modern pressure
of nationalism, who will have the courage to
stand firm?
The evidences of disintegration" in South
Carolina are not the evidences of the disin-
tegration of a local party organization "to
be. regretted by my South Carolina friend
but the evidences of the disfntegration OF
governmental ideas that seriously affect the
whole people of the United States. If it
were a mere wrangle of warning factions,
such we have here in New York, the pro-
cess OF disintegration might be regretted
by the politicians, but it would be of no
material importance to the people at large
only SO far as it might affect the choice of
President. The Southern disinterration
however, is in the permanent dissolution of
fundamental principles, and as such is
worthy of the careful study of the political
economist. 1t is especially important in that
il is going on in the States where those priu-
ciples were the strongest and were adhered
TO from generation to generation most tena-
ciOusly. 1t is not an ebullition-it is revolu-
tOu.
/ know the general impression prevails
that the Farmers Alliance movement is but
temporary craze, and that it will pass way
a the Greenback craze and the Granger
movement passed away. No matter. But
viii II follow that the ruling classes OF South
Carolina Who have abandoned their time
hOnOred Democratic principles will return
70 their former way of thinking.
Merely Process of Education,
This is n process of education. Men do
not believe in States rights to-day abandon
that Tor nationalism tomorrow and return
TO States rights next week They NAV vote
with this party or that while in a minority.
but il Is generally with the party that more
nearly represents their way of thinking 1t
is therefore immateriRl to the present issue
whether or not the Alliance movement
peters out now or next year. The material
fact remains that the cisintegration of DO
litiCal particles and lines of traditional |
thought if l may apply that process to |
other than a substance, has taken place. 1t |
can be no more undOne than you can spill |
water on the ground and gather it up again
Let Us grant that the Alliance is epheme-
raj These men will assist in forming new |
parties in constructing other platforms |
With the fOOdgates of liberal thought /
thrown wide open they will not be likely to |
curb the expression of their preferences
A. strong minority party they already ex- |
CIt a mighty influence upon national affairs !
Political leaders are in haste to cultivate |
them and to cater to them. They are the |
prey Of all demagogues. No eXtrem-
ltE 'S too extreme for men who want office
The influence of the South upon national
governmental affairs has hitherto been of a
Southern statesmen has been until quite re-
Gently 70 conservatism. They have uni
lormly been arrayed against change They |
have been the breechng to the Democratic
harness ana have held back habitually from |
the disposition to run the governmental
machine out OF well accepted roads.
A Change TO BE Anticipated,
The rise OF Western influence and the in
creased rate Of speed consequent upon
Western domination left them little else but
breeding. Now that this breeching is on
the point of giving way what NAV we not |