The Lexington dispatch. [volume] (Lexington, South Carolina) 1870-1917, 1902-03-19
Wednesday, March 19, 1902!
rs TT DEMoCRACY?

the United States Senate, after va
rious wholesome amendments had
been made to the original bill. The
final vote on is passage stood 42 for
to 81 against. Several Republicans
opposed the bill and so voted against
it's passage. Senator John L. Nc
Laurin, of South Carolins, as was
expected, voted for the bill. A line
of steamers, controlled by American
capital, from Charleston to various
foreign ports-the Philippines and
China, for instance--are some OF the
great possibilities of the future.
The vote of Senator McLaurin on
this measure is entirely consistent
with his position as announced time
after time on various public and pri-
vate occasions.
He may or he may not be right.
Time will tell this. On general
principles we are opposed to the sub
sidizing of one branch of industry
to the neglect of another, yet circum-
stances very often alter cases and the
subsidy of ships may be one of them.
But be this as it may, We Of South
Carolina have been practicing The
doctrine of subsidizing, in one form
or another, since the memory of man
runneth not to the contrary. The
State, under both Democratic and
Republican administrations has from
time immemorial been subsidizing her
institutions of learning, mainly on the
contention of their friends thst.thein-
stitutions could not possibly compete
with denominational and private
colleges without material assistance
from the State, and at every sitting
of the General Assembly large appro-
priations have been made for them
to the injury of her denominational
sisters. Be it understood that We by
no means oppose the system Of State
aid to her schools and colleges which
she has subsidized, nor do we claim
that the State has been the loser by
making provision for their mainte-
nance, for such a contention would
do violence to our convictions and
would not be in accord with the teach
ings of history. South Carolina, the
Citadel, Clemson and Winthrop have
each contributed men and women
who have made her history illustri-
ols in times of war and of peace.
The point We wish to bring out is
whether the theory of subsidizing is
Democratic doctrine or not? If it
is not, then the Democrats of this
State have for years been rolling un-
der their tongue as sweet Uorsal a
Republican principle which they now
condemn others for doing, by pro-
winding the means for literary and
professional training for her youth,
and until very recently Withholding
aid from those of her sons who de-
sired to learn the science of tilling
the soil Again under Simon pure q
Democratic Administration the State
subsidized her cotton manufacturing
industry to the extent Of rebate OF
taxes for 10 years simply to encourge
this infant industry, when she denied
the same encouragement to strug-
Cling and down trodden agriculture
and her other dependant industries.
Yet, under our Southern political
teaching itrcan be possible that for
Congress to subsidize ships is the
essense of Republicanism; and for
South Carolina to subsidize her col
leges, her cotton factories and her
railroads, may be unadulterated De-
mocracy, but where the difference
comes we acknowledge our inability
to comprehend.
There is good argument both pro
and con, but if it is true, as contended
by its advocates, that the subsldlzlng
of steamships by the national gov