The Portland daily press., 1894-05-04
THE SOUTH AND THE DEMOCRATS

The other day we reprinted from the
Manchester Union, one OF the most
prominent Democratic papers of New
England, some caustic criticism of the
dictatorial and selfish spirit manifested
by the Southern Democratic Senators in
insisting upon amendments to the
Wilson bill to meet the wishes of their
section, regardless of their effect upon the
business and industrial interests of
Northern DEMOCRATS. In its article the
Union gave strong voice to a feeling
which is beginning to manifest Itself
quite frequently among the Democl ats
of the middle and eastern sections of the
country In the same line is the remark
of the New York Times in speaking OF
the income tax, that I" if the Democratic
Senators and members from the South
and West are determined to levy the
tribute of this sectional tax upon the
North and East, they ought at least to
employ some competent person to revise
and amend the present BILL" These ex-
pressions of Indignation at the selfish
ness of their Southern allies by Eastern
They indicate that it is being ascertalned
in the industrial section of the country
that the men who control the legislation
of the nation under this Democratic
administration are men who come from
a section where industry is in very low
state, and who are utterly ignorant OF
the needs of the Industrial section of the
country, and are as careless of them as
they are ignorant. But does it not occur to
these complaining Democratic organs
that they have helped to bring about
this condition of which they complain, by
persistently aiding the South to gain an
ascendency in the councils of the nat on
which it is not entitled to and which it
would not have if constitutional
rights were secured to all the people OF
the South as we'll as they are secured to
all the people of the North? BY the
operation of force and fraud, OF tissue
ballots and false counts, in which the
Northern Democrats indirectly. yet none
| the less effectually assisted, it has come
to pass that Thousand white voters in
| the South exercise twice the power and
| influence in the councils of the nation
| that the same number of white voters do
| at the North. 1t has come to pass that
thousand Democrats in South Carolina
| get double the representation in Congress
of thousand Democrats in New York,
and are therefore twice as potent in for
initiating aud determining the policy of
the Democratic party as double the num-
Der at the North. For the sake of secur-
| ing the control of the national govern
ment to the Democratic party the
Northern Democracy has given to the
Southern wing of the party in some
States, fully twice as much power pro-
portionately as it is entitled to, and an
excess in every State. We're the Northern
Democrats SO simple minded as to think
that when their Southern brethren had
the opportunity to exercise their power
that they would refuse to do so? Did
they imagine that when the control OF
both houses of Congress passed into the
hands of the Democracy the Southern
wing of the party would modestly steI
to the rear and allow the Northern wing
to determine the policy of the party and
what legislation should be put upon the
statute book? If they did they must all
of them be disabused of that notion
now. The Southern Senator or Repre-.
sentative of today is the same dictatorial
and selfish creature that he was in
ante bellum days. He has the same
feeling of contempt for his Northern
allies as the Sou them Senator or Repre-
sentative of those days In his opinion
the Northern Democrats are in Congress
merely for the purpose of helping his
section get what it wants. The Northern
Democrats before the war used to protest
a little occasionally against the dost
prepared .for:them, in the same melancholy
and despairing way that the New Yorl
Times protests against the income tax
but they generally had to take it, The
Northern Democrat of the present day
will probably fare no better. While thu
Democratic party holds possession of thu
government it is inevitable that thu
South shall dictate it's legislative policy
The only way for the North to get rid O.
that Glictation is to get rid of the party