Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1901-11-20
MIR. Henderson and Mr.. McLaur1r

full synopsis Of a speech that Mr.. d.
s. Henderson, candidate for the United
States senate, delivered in the court
house last Monday.
The speech, as will be noted, Is d.
rected against the issues that have
been raised in South Carolina by Sem
ator McLaurin, and to people who are
still willing to take such matters
strictly on faith, it is strong presen-
tation of Mr.. Henderson's side Of the
case. AS a genuinely instructive edu-
cational effort, however, 1t Is some
what Of failure, not only because OF
centain inaccurate statements Of facts;
but especially because it puts Senator
McLaurin in positions that gentleman,
has never occupied, and in which, had
he been present, he would have only
remained long enough to reiterate what
he has said time and again before.
Although quite interesting, Mr.. Hen
derson's differentiation between Re-
publicanism and Democracy is tri-
f1e confusing. One Of them, he says,
controls the people and the people con-
troll the other If this Is all the differ
ence it would seem very like a case of
tweedle dunn and tweedle de, and the
man who would undertake to identify
the Republican government at Wash
ington and the Democratic government
at Columbia by this test alone would,
we think, find himself up against some
what of a puzzle. Surely the contrast
must be more marked than has been
indicated.
Also, Mr.. Henderson leaves us in
doubt as to where he stands on expan-
sion. Although condemning the acqui-
sition of the Philippines, which fell in
to our hands through the chances of
war, because they are ten thousand
miles away, and the people desire no
affiliation with us, he approvingly sug-
gests the annexation of Canada and
Mexico. 1t is by peaceful means of
course; but who thinks that either of
these countries want to be annexed ?
Referring to Louisiana and Florida, he
speaks Of the annexation having come
about at the request Of the inhabi-
tants; bat he does not tell us which in
habitants, and neither does he have
anything to say about the Indian pop
ulation into which we had to shoot
good behavior as we are doing with
the Filipinos. Had he. desired, he
could have told us truthfully that a
handful of whites also requested the
annexation Of Hawaii. and that there
are more annexationists in the Philip
pines today than there were in Florida
and Louisiana at the time they were
annexed. If Mr.. Henderson really
meant what he said, he is more Of an
expansionist that Is Senator McLau-
rim. Senator McLaurin was an expan-
sionist in the case of the Philippines
because he did not believe the govern
ment could afford to let loose, and in
suggesting the annexation of Canada
and Mexico, Mr.. Henderson would take
in territory upon which we have not
the slightest claim and which has no
claim upon US.
The reason given by Mr.. Henderson
for the decline Of our merchant marine
sounds plausible enough; but Is 1t cor
rect? 1t is true, that from about 1850
to 1860, we had about the finest mer-
chant marine there was in the world,
and that the American flag was to be
seen in almost every port. 1t Is also
true that those were good old Demo-
cratic times, and that although there
there was a tariff, 1t was not what
would now be called protective tariff.
But let us look a little further. The
principal item Of export in these good
old days was our southern cotton,
practically all Of which went to Eu-
rope, and the balance of the freight
cargoes was made up of articles man
ufactured in Europe for export to
America and elsewhere. We had a
good freight business all right; but
otherwise we did not amount to much
commercially. However, what ended
this epoch? The protective tariff idea
did not begin to attain full sway until
after 1865. The merchant marine, how
ever, had begun to disappear as early
as 1861. If Mr.. Henderson will brush
up somewhat on his history, he will
probably come to the conclusion that
the Alabama and certain other Confed-
crate cruisers and privateers had more
to do with the matter than did the pro-
tective tariff. American competition
having been removed, foreigners were
not slow to take advantage Of the stu
alton, and they promise to hold that
advantage until we come down with
liberal subsidies.
Somehow, we are not much impress
ed by what Mr.. Henderson says about
possible appeals to the Negro. Since
1876 the white people of South Carolina
have shown that they can abide the
will of the majority as to almost any
kind of a man, and it does not seem
less difficult to yield on a question Of
measures. The very fact that the Ne
gro scare Is so frequently used, as in
this case, in the hope of accomplishing
a kind of political intimidation, is
about the best possible evidence that
it will never again materialiZe in fact.
The thing is too horrible for contem-
plation, and the white people Of South
Carolina will not put up with it again.