The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1897-06-27

TWO STRIKING STUDIES ON GOVERNMENT.

TWO STRIKING STUDIES ON GOVERNMENT.
The current number of the Atlantic
Monthly contains two articles that will
give pause to the optimist who sees no
weak places in the structure of our gov
eminent, and much for reflection to the
pessimist who sees no hope for its per-
manency. In no single issue of maya
zine have we seen two studies of such
value and interest. They are from the
pens of two of the ablest writers in Am
erica, men whose knowledge and accur-
acy are such that when they have writ
ten upon subject it can be truly said
that they have exhausted it. This can
be said of so few men that it is pleas
ure to read after Mr.. Woodrow Wilson,
who writes on 1.-THE Making of the
Nation" and e. L. Godkin, whose paper
is on 1.-THE Decline of Legislatures"
These articles are more than the ordina-
~ magazine articles. They are able,
succinct and clear studies upon our gov
eminent, going to the very basis of ques-
tions that underlie the fabric of our
Federal life.
Mr.. Wilson gives a graphic picture
of the making of this nation which seems
to have taken place under our own eyes.
Some historians hold that a nation was
made when a federal constitution was
adopted; some tell us that it was not I'M
til the war of 1912 that we grew fully
conscious of single purpose and des-
tiny and began to form policies as if
for a nation; others see the process COM
plete only when the civil war struck
slavery away, and gave North and
South a common way of life that should
make common ideals and common en-
deavors at last possible. Mr.. Wilson
does not agree with either of these
theories, but shows that the history of
our making as nation is not over, but
the history of the United States has
been one continuous story of rapid, stu
penduous growth, and will so continue.
Mr.. Wilson treats of the differences
between the EAST and the 'sWest"
with breadth not usually found, we
regret to say, among the scholars trained
in our Atlantic slope institutions. For
example we quote:
'sThere is an unpleasant significance
in the fact that the East has made
no serious attempt to understand the de-
sire for the free coinage Of silver in the
West" and the South. If it were once
really probed and comprehended, we
should know that it is necessary to re-
form our currency at once, and we should
know in what way it is necessary to re-
form it; we should know that a new
protective tariff only marks with a new
emphasis the contrast in economic inter-
est between the EAST and the West"
and that NOTHING BUT CURREN-
CY REFORM CAN TOUCH THE
CAUSE OF PRESENT DISCON-
TENT"
Mr.. Wilson declares that it was true
instinct Of craftsmanship which led
Henry Clay to couple policy Of internal
improvements with policy Of protection.
Internal improvements meant in that day
great roads leading into the West. While
a protective tariff was building up special
industries in the East public works
would make an outlet into new lands for
all who were not getting the benefit of
the system. The plan worked well for
many day, and Mr.. Wilson observes
that it was justly called American"
but he adds:
1.-THE other side of the policy was left
for us. There is no longer any outlet for
those who are not the beneiciaries Of
the protective system, and nothing but
the contrasts it has created remains to
mark it's triumphs. Internal improve
ments no longer relieve the strain; they
have become merely a means of lar
CESS"
Mr.. Wilson notes that the South "has
fallen into new economic classification.
In respect OF Its stage Of development
it belongs with the "West," though in
in many points of practice and detail, it
keeps it's own individuality, and though
it has in it's peculiar labor problem a
hindrance to progress at once unique and
ominous." He gives no clear view Of the
way the Southern problem is to be solv-
ed, showing that he understands it, saw