Staunton spectator and vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1896-1916, 1903-03-06

| pected of us than of those who come
not of such sturdy stock. Let it, there
fore, not be imputed as fault, to tht
Southern people, that they are prone
to dwell with proud and loving mem
Ory upon the great things their fore
| fathers have done; for this is but a spul
| to their generous ambition. that they
may again and ever stand among the
first, as the hardy upbuilders, the wise
and safe counselors, and the heroic
champions and defenders of our be-
loved and united country.
| But, Mr.. Charm IN. while we have
this admiration and reverence for the
great men who lived before us, we are
not their mere strviIe imitators. They
indeed served nobly and well their OWE
day and generation; but tempora mu
tantur, and the Southern people, act
ing and thinking in the living pres
| ent, receive the doctrines of their
fathers with discrimination, accepting
| those that are suited to present cOndi-
tlons, and rejecting or modifying
| those, that additional experience, or
altered circumstances, have shown to
be unwise or inappllcabe. They have
not the Athenian Graz for everything
new, or the oriental worshipof all that
is old; but, like their great Anglo Sax
on forefathers, holding fast to the
things that are good, and ever reach
ing out for those that are better, the
Southern people are, at once. both con-
servative and progressive.
With this prudent discrimination,
we of the South recognize, in those
vast engines of modern civilization and
progress-the public service corpora
tions and the so called trusts '-neith
er unqualified good uor unmitigated
evil; we. therefore, equally oppose
those who would confer upon the Gov
ernment the functions of a business
corporation, and those who would sur
render to such corporations the legitf-
mate powers of government, leaving
them practically independent OF the
laws. Public regulation and control,
rather than public ownership, is the
dominant idea in the South. But, Mr..
Chairman, we believe in regulation
which regulates, and which. therefore,
is varied in character and degree, in
accordance with the strength and pa-
ture of the thing to be regulated and
with its power to injure or Cypress the
public. We do not believe in nurse
ry governess to control an elephant,
nor do we dose giants with catnip tea.
We believe that monopolies are bane
full, particularly in the necessities of
life, and should, therefore, be discour-
aged; when impracticable to prevent
their existence altogether, we believe
that they should be placed under the
Strictest supervision and regulation,
to prevent imposition and abuse We
believe that no institution should be
tolerated which the Government is
unable to regulate and control. and
that the possible existence. in this land
of a power greater than the Govern
ment, is the doctrine of anarchy itself.
We believe in a sound and stable.bu
elastic, currency. which cannot be
monopolized.
We believe that labor has as much
right, and as great reason, for Organi-
zarion and cooperation, as capital; but
that disregard of law is equally repre-
hensible, and none the less demoraliz
ing and injurious, in each.
We believe that in all matters, do
mestic as well as international, power
and responsibility should ever go hand
in hand.
We believe that large army is un
necessary, oppressive, and dangerous
to our free institutions; but we advo-
cate a large and powerful navy. which.
never imperilIng domestic liberty, is
necessary for the protection and exten-
sion of our commerce, the acquisition
and maintenance of foreign markets
for our surplus products, and, like
faithful watchdog, is dangerous only
to our enemies
We believe that many of our manu-
featuring industries, which the Nation
so tenderly nursed in their infancy,
and supported in their youth, having
now arrived at man g estate and ac-
quired fair round bellies with good
capen lining, should be fired out of the
nursery, and made to shift for them
selves.
We believe that the greatest human
agency for the moral growth of the in
dividual, the prosperity of our coun-
try, and the preservation of our Gov
ernment, is popular educat1on-theO one
good thing of which it is hard to get
too much-and that, therefore, the
State should do it's utmost to encour-
age and advance it, with all classes OF
her citizens, regardless of race or color.
Finally, Mr.. Chairman, we believe
that America is the greatest country
that God ever made, that here the
torch of liberty is never to be extln-
guished, here the human race is to
reach the utmost pinnacles of it's per
fection, and that we and our poster
itv. linked to it's fortunes by indlsolu-
Bile bonds, are, as one family, with our
brethren of the North, the East and
the West, to contribute to its great
ness, and participate IN its glorious
destiny, till human government Shall
have perished from the earth.
These, Mr.. Chairman, are among the
dominant ideas today in what some are
pleased to call the fashioned !"
South: and if the holding of such doc
trines justifies the term, we welcome
it, but if "old fashioned means only
''living in the past, then we repudiate
the epithet. The young eagles OF the
South feed not upon dead issues but
the new generation of that section
supply their own intellectual meat by
pursuing, graphing. with, and over
coming, the living issues of the day.
Those great principals, so dear to
our fathers, but last settled adversely
~
aud tender memories; but they are
none the less dead and buried Peace
be to their ashes; the day has passed
when fair minded men Can be found,
to impugn the motives, or question the
sincerity, of either side in that mighty
war. The cohesive power OF evil could
never have sufficed as an inspiration
for such armies as both North and
South sent forth. The sword OF civil
war did but cut the GOrdiad knot OF
an otherwise iEsolvable controversy,
| which the trainers of the Federal Con
stitution itself merely tempOrized with,
evaded and postponed. The secersion
question could never have been settled
by mere argument or discussion, fol
it is certain that each side coulfclte
historical precedent, and bring loglca
deduction to support its theory. Ii
the final arbitrament. each consclent
lously and heroically fought for the
right, as God gave them to see it, anc
those who feel need no column point
ing to the HEAVIER, ,,they sought, to tel