The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1903-10-10
ANOMALOUS POLITICALLY.
Cusious Features OF the Political sit
uation I'm the Southern
states.


Discussing the political outlook few
days ago a member of congress said the
southerners In politics are study. and
he explained his remark by adding:
They will accept any man a demo-
cratic convention hands them, and will
take any old platform 1t promulgates.
the only thing they insist upon being
that the democratic label shall be affixed
to all goods" That this should be SO
nearly 40 years after the war is one
OF the curiosities of politics, says
the Indianapolis Journal. The term
solid south" originated so long ago
that the younger generation Of voters
now on the stage are ignorant Of its
origin, and almost of its significance,
yet the condition continues long after
the causes that gave rise to 1t have
passed away. 1t Is an unfortunate thing
for the country and especially for the
south. 1t is the more surprising, be-
| cause, while slavery existed, the only
institution or issue that differentiated
the southern states from those Of the
north, there was no solid south. Even
the long-continued agitation Of the
slavery question and the determined OPP
position to its extension did not drive
the south together politically until a
few years before the war. AS long as
the whig party existed It's nominees for
president always carried some southern
states. In 1910 William Henry Harrison
carried eight southern states. in 1874
| rrto Aun nd of
1852 Gen. Scott, the whig candidate, and
man of northern birth, carried Ten
nessee and Kentucky, and received a
large popular vote In several other south
ern states. In 1856 Willard Fillmore, an
other northern man, received p large
popular vote In every southern state,
though he did not carry one. The civil
war made the south solid, and 1t has
continued so ever since as far as electoral
votes are concerned. The unfortunate
experiences of the reconstruction period
increased the political solidity of the
south, and the Withdrawal of union
troops during the Hayes administration
did not help matters particle. For the
last rs years every southern state has
cast it's electoral vote for the demo-
cratic candidate, without caring much
where he came from, or what kind of
platform he stood on. There were, how
ever, unmistakable signs of disintegra-
tion In 1896, when Mckinley received a
very large popular vote In several south
ern states, and again in 1900, when the
republican vote in the south was almost
equally as large.
The most curious feature of the situa-
ton is that the south should have con-
tinued for nearly 40 years so unswerv-
ing in it's political devotion to party
| that has never brought 1t anything but
| disaster, and which is to-day opposed to
| all the national policies that have Gre
| ated the new south, and its unexampled
| prosperity. For all the progress the
south has made since the war, and 1t has
been very great, 1t is indebted, under
Providence. to republican policies and
legislation accomplished in spite Of
steady and determined democratic OPP
position. Yet, as the congressman above
| quoted said, the southern states will
accept any man a democratic conven-
ton hands them, and will take any old
platform 1t promulgates." 1t is a re-
markable case Of people subordinat-
| ing their moral and material interests to
a political sentiment, which. IL 1t ever
had any reason for existing, has become
| only the shadow of a shade. In all other
respects the southern people are intel
! ligent, progressive and accessible to rea-
son. They are thoroughly posted as to
the resources OF the south, and have
shown keen appreciation of and great en-
| terprise In utilizing the opportunities
which republican policies and legisla-
ton have placed within their reach; yet
they continue to vote for the party that
has done absolutely nothing for them,
and whose success in a national election
would have blighting influence on every
southern industry. The condition is so
anomalous that 1t would seem 1t cannot
| continue permanently. and the sooner It
ends the better for the south and the
whole country.
Republican Policies sound.
Advocates of republican policies are
| sometimes rebuked as being unfairly
partisan in claiming material progress
| and prosperity as natural results Of the
enforcement of such policies. The demo-
| cratic free trader does not like to face
the figures which show how the country
has gained in wealth and general well
fare under the wise protective system
which originated with, and has been sus-
tanned by, the republican party, and that
fact is not surprising, since the proof
is overwhelming Of the fallacy of his own
impracticable and disastrous theories.
Likewise the results of republican ad-
ministration in imposing judicious re-
strictions upon the liquor traffic, and in
devising ways and means Of taxation
which vastly tighten the burden upon
the people at large while apportioning
the expense of maintaining the govern
most eQuitably among those who re-
ceive its benefits. do not furnish inviting