The independent., 1903-11-26

come very intelligent citizens! why,
then. move backward instead Of for
ward? If we should attempt to 60
backward, would it not produce an
other civil war? If the determination
on the part Of the north TO restrict
slavery to the states where 1t was,
produced civil war, why would not
a movement to revive slavery now
produce another civil war?
In the old ante-bellum days the
slave owners who ruled the south,
preached and believed in free trade
Tor tariff for revenue only. This
was caused by slavery. But the time
is coming when negroes and white
folks will preach and believe in pro-
tective tariffs. They will see that the
backward state OF manufactures In
the south will need protection, whe-
ther the north needs 1t or not. And
they will be as determined In favor OF
protection as they were once In favor
of free trade. The same men or their
descendants who once talked free
trade will be found to talk the oppo-
site doctrine. This we are certain to
see. And, If we see this, we shall only
be seeing what we saw in the south
before slavery became prominent
issue, because it is fact, that previ-
GUS to 1920, when slavery became the
paramount issue in our national poll
tics, and to large extent In state
politics, the south believed in prOtec-
tion much more than the north did.
/ 1t is also fact that after 1920 the
south became more and more In favor
of free trade. while the north be-
came more and more in favor OF pro-
lection. The cause was slavery. The
south found, or thought she found,
that wealth could be increased more
rapidly under free trade than under
protection, while the north found that
wealth could be produced more rapid
ly under protection. The, cause Of this
change of opinion was slave labor in
the south and free labor in the north.
The south found slave labor profita-
BILE; the north did not. The climate Of
the south demanded negro labor;
and, inasmuch as negroes could not
exist in the south without being de-
prived=.of' citizenship and reduced to
slavery, slave labor became neces-
sity. The ruling class there, the land
owners, who were the only wealthy
people, demanded slave labor, because
it was about the only labor they could
get-and it was the cheapest labor in
the world Instead of this the north
invented machines and in this way
partly did away with the necessity of
slavery. The northern machines
proved little cheaper than the south
ern machines.
1t is fact that manufactures In the
south are in their infancy, compared
with the north. This will make pro-
lection much more necessary for the
south than for the north. The south
will have to travel over the same
ground industrially that the north has
been travelling over. In the south la
Dor is cheaper than in the north This
will make capital more profitable
there than in the north for many
years to come, If the policy of protec-
ton is continued. This will cause
capital to leave the north and go to
the south. The great and growing
country OF the future. then, is the
south, provided only the policy OF
protection. is kept up; IL not kept up.
slavery will be restored: IL not re-
stored, progress of the south, In
wealth and intelligence, will be slow.
The new party. then. must go for
freedom and protection II 1t would
find favor In the south.