The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1894-05-16
THE coNFEDERArE RENAISSANCE.

There seems to be an intimate connection.
a sort of umbiIical cord. as it were. be-
tween the extinct Confederacy and the
Democratic party. Physicians may. criti-
else this figure on the ground that there
could not be an umbilical connection be-
tween a dead and a living object. but 1t
must be remembered that the Democratic
party is almost as dead as the Confederacy.
and it seems determined to spend the rem
nant Of its days trying to carry out the prin-
ciples of the late Confederacy.
The Confederacy made protection uncon-
stitutional. Under the Constitution Of the
United States 1T had been recognized as
constitutional from the foundation of the
government and had received the sanction
of all the Presidents. The confederate Con-
stitution contained the following provision:
No bounties shall be granted from the
treasury, nor shall any duties or taxes on
importations from foreign nations be laid
to promote or foster any branch of ndus-
try.
Thus the position of the Confederacy on
the tariff question was defined from the
start. 1t was the present Democratic posi-
ton. Under the Constitution there could be
no protection and no tariff but for revenue
only. No doubt Southern Democrats would
be glad to see a similar provision in the
Constitution of the United States. but as
it is not there they have done what they
n0rlI 20 rf.o1 A. s-of-1 L~-..L IT.
Democratic party. The Chicago platform.
which denounces protection as unconstitu-
tional. is simply an echo of the confederate
Constitution.
The tax law enacted by the confederate
Congress contained the following:
Section 10. That each farmer and planter
In the confederate States shall pay and de-
liver to the confederate government. of the
the wheat, corn, oats, rye, buckwheat or
rice, Irish potatoes, and Of the cured hay
and fodder; also one-tenth of the sugar.
molaSSes made of cane, or of sorghum,
where more than thirty gallons are made,
cotton, wool and tobacco; the cotton ginned
bacco stripped and packed in boxes; the
cotton 10 be delivered by him on or before
the frst day of March and the tobacco on
their production. Each farmer or planter
shall deliver to the confederate government
for its use one-tenth of the peas, beans and
ground peas produced and gathered by him
during the present year.
OF course. it would be impossible to get
such an act as this through our Congress-.
but the Democratic party has done the
next thing TO it. BY its threatening atti-
tude on the tariff question, thereby causing
hundreds of thousands of persons TO be
thrown out of employment and depriving
them of the ability to buy farm products,
1t has crippled agriculture along with other
industries. The reduction in the value Of
farms. farm animals and farm products
caused by the Democratic party has been
fully 10 per cent. What difference does it
make to the farmer whether he is required
to pay one-tenth of all his products to the
government, as was done in the Confeder-
acy, or whether the value of his products
is reduced one-tenth by unwise and unpa-
triotic legislation? The Confederacy was
the elimination of Democracy. and the
Democratic party of to-day is trying very
hard to perpetuate its principles. The pres
ent administration is a renaissance of the
Confederacy.