Hot Springs weekly star. (Hot Springs, S.D.) 1892-1917, 1899-06-16
IRONY OF HISTORY.

SOUTHERN DEMOCRATS FACING
TOWARD PROTECTION
They Arc Urged to Forget the Free
Trade Follies of the Pnst and to
Avail Themselves of the Foley that
Brings Prosperity.
Between prosperity and tradition
the choice should be prosperity" Such
Is the closing sentence OF an article OF
exceptional interest which lately APP
reared in the New Orleans 'States." Il
Democratic newspaper. over the sigma
ture wv. II. r." 1t is a conclusion full
of force aud strength. Well indeed it
would be for the South if it had long
ago chosen for its motto, prosperity
rather than tradition" The tenor of
the article printed by the States is
Protectionist. Obviously written by a
Democrat and IL former frec-trater, it's
argument is all the nlorr effective in
favor of the support of protection by
the people OF the Southern States. He
says:
Ii the South forces the tariff issue to
the fiNnt again it will be detrimental to
the best interests of this section. = = y
1t is an memorable fact that the South
now needs u protective tariff more than
any section of the Union. With cotton
and its other agricultural staples at pres.
c1rt prices there is no apparent possibility
in this section of rivallng the North in the
accumulation Of wealth as long as the
chief local interest is agriculture. The
South is naturally the best manufacturing
region OF the country. 1t has the ores, the
COAL. the timber and the intelligent popu-
lation to compete in industrial enterprises
with any portion of the world, and It's flu
turc prosperity depends more upon the
number Of factories that are bcilt here
than the quantity Of cotton which can be
raised to the acre.
The south for years has borne what
was 70 this section no doubt Il burden in
the form of q protective tariff. and at this
hour when its industrial development: has
just begun it would indeed be syperlativc
folly to cast aside what in the future will
not bc a load, but a fostering influence in
the development of its resources.
What the tariff has done in the past for
tho North it is calculated To do in the fu-
ture for the South. The infant industries
of the present are located below the Ma.
son and Dixon line, and it is a question
If Il large percentage of Northern manu-
facturers would not soon be better Off
with free trade and unrestricted European
competition than with protection by tariff
and the South doing as much industrially
as its resources warrant.
Then follows n stirring appeal to the
Democrats Of the Southern States TO
follow Samuel ]. Randllls advice and
get together" But 1T is to he Il lew
sort of getting together. Instead of
maintaining an unbroken front for free
trade, as they have done for nearly
rhreeQuarters of Il century, they are
now urged to get together" on the
tariff question and concentrate their
strength for the continuation of the
protective policy. Perhaps the oldest
feature of this rslllying call is the rca-
son cited in support of the plea for
prompt acdon-namely. the possibility
that the flourishing industries of the
North may, IN Il few years time. de-
eide to abandon protection rather than
see its aid extended 10 the establish
lnent OF powerful competing industries
in the South. 1t is the dread of such
an event,ialtty that impels the writer.
tn the States to say to his fellow Demo-
Gratis:
The Republican party is not so welded
to the protective tariff Theory that it will
seek to- perpetuate the Dingley or ans
other variety of the article Il day longer
than it serves the mercantile interests of
che States it controls. 1t would be the
irony Of fate, indeed, if tariff for revenue
only, or free trade. became a national pol-
fey ut the hour when it would Sght the
infant industries of the South like Il Da.
knta blizzard.
Whatever the irony of fate may have
in store for Southern Democrats in the
far future, 1t is the irony OF history to
find so queer a turn as this in the me-
audertng ways of polirics-to find the
party which followed Ca1houn's lead
into the ranks Of free trade chiefly be-
cause protection was building up New
England and the Eastern States into
great manufacturing comnonwealths
whose potency in national affairs men
aced the South's supremacy, low CON
templating a swift rght-about face to
protection lest that policy should be
abandoned by the North through fear
or jealousy of Il great industrial rivalry
from the mills and factories which the
South shall build up by the aid of pro-
lection. Politics has furnished few de-
velopments more unique than this. In
my case, however. it is to be construed
as q cheering Indication of the dawn of
better things in the South. That por-
ton of our commo country will pros
per nightly when its people shall once
for all turn their backs upon Il past
full of mistakes and stand with their
faces toward a future full of promise.
AS "hetween prosperity and tradition
the choice should be prosperity" In
Observation-Disclosures Economist.