New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-09-06
TIE snLrH,S GRE4T HANDICAP.

rho onrious blindness the South has always
shown in politics TO its own material and indus
trial interests has hopelessly puzzled many
Northern observers Whether struggling 10
maintain the outworn and wasteful institution
Of negro slavery. 70 overthrow the system oi
tariff protection which has given the United
States its unhindered economical developm"nt
or 10 debase the National currency and farnish
tho National credit by the issue OF cheapened
silver dollar Southern politicians have mani
tested an unconsciousness Of thc true welfare o1
their own section rs singular rs II has been Sus-
tanned and persistent Doubtless the very IN
tensirv Of political feeling in the South has had
much 20 DO with the chronic suhordnaion 10
mere political distractions Of It's material needs
and interests Nowhere has the pursuit OF poll
tics pure and simple been exalted more com
pletely 10 2 ruling passion, and nowhere has the
POLITICAL spirit dominated The commercial and
Industrial spirit more unqueSiionngY man IN
Southern life. The development Of political
rather than material and Industrial power has
been the aim Of Southern craftsmanship. and
the accomplishment Of that comparatively par
ron nurposo has absorbed for years the most
couspicuous talent in many southern states.
II IS not often that an organ of Southern opin-
ion turns the mirror canddly and couragoously
on sectional errors and failings We can APP
nlaud the more heartily then the recent ont
spoken declarations OF two representative South
ern nowspapcrs that the South has suffered and
IS still suffering from an excessive diversion or
IFS energies from industry 10 politics. "Ihe Ar
kansas Democrat" of Little Rock. and The
Commorcial-Appoal" Of Memphis. seem 10 have
reached the conclusion simultaneously that the
"hane Of the South is too much politics and 100
many politicians 50 says the Arkansas jour
nal with laconic effectiveness, and # adds:
"Vhat most Of the southern States need Is
"more farmers conventions. more industrial
"meetnes. more educational gatherings. more
cuisines mems associations and fewer political
conventions" The COmmercial-Appcal Is
equally emphatic in IT'S judgment ''all mass
"meoting" il saws. TO discuss ways and means
"of filling a village office and every able bodied
"Inale citizen I'm the community will answer the
"rou Call n mass meeting in the same village
"fo discuss an improved method Of agriculture
cor WAYS and means Of securing a manufactur-
"ine plant. and the meeting could be held in
sentry box We forget that this IS material
age. an era Of copper iron. electricity coal and
"ras and that In material development are to be
"found the trumphs of the century The rapid
growth of cotton manufacture In the Carolinas
| and in Georgia is highly commended by the
| Menphis editor. who urges that a similar indus
! trial awakening should be attempted In MsSis
| slppi Arkansas and Tennessee.
Signs such as these Of a growing conviction In
the South that Office seeking and office holding
are not the first ana most engrossing aim Of
life are to be sincerely welcomed. Concentra
ton of Southern effort in the single field Of pol
! itics has led TO vicious exploitation of political
10 the dotrimont Of social, commercial and ma
tcrial interests Sacrificing all other considcra-
tons TO those Of solidarity and power in Na-
tonal politics the people of the South have
failed conspicuously to keep step with the in
dustral advances recorded in so many other
| sections Of the Union. Blinded by habit, they
have yielded 10 the leadership OF cheap dcma-
| eorucS" as The Commercial Appear calls
them until these dcmagoguos have come 10 the
conclusion that they are in fact statesmen and
"savors Of their country. when they are worse
ethan the plaques Of Egypt and nuisance 10
| "ihe community they infest." The public opin-
ION which susiains this leadership may De hard
10 move, but II cannot long Withstand such
shocks as are given II in the candid and forceful
declarations Of these two influential Southern
newspapers.