The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-05-28

perialism by way of an apprehended use of the big stick and war and on one occasion I undertook to describe the horrors of the siege at Port Arthur. Here 1t was manifest the story sounded | of
 Old. unhappy, far-of things, And battles long ago.
 After a few intellectual attempts at l arousing interest in extravagance ana corruption at Washington-taking no stock in the Cortelyou charges, l was debarred from using them-I turned to
 what was and is, my own strong per
 suasion as to the natural line of differ ence between the two great parties, namely, the tariff. l confessed l | thought the evil of a protective tarin had been exaggerated; not that considered protection Tn any instance | q benefit, but so enormous Is the area and volume of our internal trade, so varied and boundless our own re- sources, so energetic and skillful our own people that we have gone forward
 by leaps and bounds and would so con tinue to go forward, tariff or no tariff
 our vast industrial life has not cus-
 tom house for It's foundation. I instance
 ed the South itself, promising that no
 Southern man regretted the abolition
 of slavery, that when the black was
 emancipated. the white was emancipat-
 ed also; nevertheless. with desolated
 homes and farms, state and society dis
 organized, we had entered into com petition under system of absolute free
 trade within the Union, with one of the
 richest, most powerful and most highly | organized communities in the whole
 world, the North, I recited some of
 the achievements of the South showing
 Its wonderful growth and predicted a
 nobler career in commerce for the
 whole country, if we were wise enough
 to break the tariff shackles that hinder
 our freer, better and sounder develop ] ment. Will it be believed? So deeply
 have many American minds been infect
 ed with the notion that one country's prosperity is necessarily at the expense
 of some other, that my story of South
 ern progress was not acclaimed by any
 means-I half-fancied the audience
 shivered-and thereafter I advanced 1t
 in a emi-apologetic way. So used it
 aided me in pointing out what were to
 my own mind the needless exactions
 and burdens of the protective tariff sys-
 tenn and especially the wrong inflicted
 upon the great body of the people by
 Legislation that sheltered certain man.
 ufacturers in a manner to permit them
 to charge much higher prices in the
 home than in the foreign market. As | to the trusts themselves. my own ideas
 were so vague and confused that
 never in any place ventured to dis
 cuss their relations 10 the general in-
 dustrial organization. In all that said in tariff speeches. I had a sense of | impressing the audience with being im-
 practical and abstract. It was diffi- | cult enough in the midst of a generally | prevalent prosperity to argue that cer- tain changes in the customs laws would
 make the country still more prosperous. | IyYN.- En arAf
 vinced a hundred changes could be
 made for the better and yet realize un-
 mistakably his audience looked on his suggested remedies as too conjectural in their effects, hazardous.
 At the very close of the campaign upon sight of a displayed advertise
 ment of the National Republican Com
 mittee, hit upon the idea of denounc- | ing the impudent pretension of the party that as a party it had fought the
 Civil War and the Spanish-American
 war There was a certain novelty in | hearing a Southern man defend North ern Democrats, and contend in their be-
 half for a goodly share of the credit for preserving the Union and destroying slavery, and with equal warmth de- manding a like credit for the South in fighting under the national colors in 1898. So far as could judge what
 was thus prompted to say won heart fer reception than any previous ad- dresses l had made; and yet l recogniz- ed that after all it was but species
 of mouthing, not going to the merits of the issues at stake and so, little likely to influence votes
 had never before attempted to i'm fuence opinion through public ad-
 dresses in so many places. and in such
 widely scattered sections and as the campaign progressed I found myself looking to that body of opinion that should determine the result as crea- ture of flesh and blood, a being to be talked with, reasoned with, appealed to
 with passionate vehemence, if need be,
 and finding this embodiment of counsel. now listless now attentive; at one time
 swaying hither and thither and yet
 again rushing fiercely along drawing swiftly the observer, momentarily pow erless to resist, only to halt fluttering,
 wondering where steps should next be
 bent, yet by every movement, approach ing nearer the goal of a calm and pas-
 sionless decision.
 Looking back it is cIear that tho
 Democratic party was battling for a change of administration among a peo-
 pie well satisfied with existing cOndi-
 tions; as clear that within their own ranks there were enlisted such a heter- | ogeneous body of men representing
 such wide varieties in opinion that the majority of the electorate had no fam
 cy for commissioning them with the
 execution and legislative power to com 1 pound broth. financial fiscal or other 1 sort; as clear there were tens of thous- 1 ands of Democratic malcontents who remained away from the polls; and that powerfully concurring besides to aid ! the Republicans was their leading can didate who had taken a biting hold on | the imagination of the American peo-
 pie.
 One instruction I brought back with
 me to the South founded on my expe- rience So much of what is hidden and sinister in our public life and more es- pecially, in our legislation, State and National could be possible and could be
 so laughingly endured alone by reason of our stupendous reserve in natural resources and the essentially sound and
 sweet nature of the people themselves Have 1 permission to say I did not find
 my respect for politics as politics en- hanced by what I saw and heard, but my respect for the American people
 was unmeasurably enhanced? The per- 1 feet courtesy with which I was treated always, the fairness with which I was listened to, the pervading good humor, the abounding good sense, constituted a
 revelation and an inspiration. Repre- 1 sentative institutions took on for me a higher significance. I was happy to think whatever difference in opinion
 might finger and divide, 1t was an hon. l or to be one of such a race.
 NEW PROGRAM TONIGHT