The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-04-15

dlBdAin OF the masses anu tney ueNoiopoo
a party selfishness which they wished others
to believe was patriotism. They broke
into factions and dreamed mad dreams OF
expansion, till, at last, they gave the mas
terly leader Of men who opposed them an
opportunity to organize a majority OF the
people against their supremacy. 30 much
did they bring into contempt the idea OF
government by the superior classes that no
capable politician since 1900 has dared to
place his cause on any other ground than
the will o. thepeople.'
The chapter on Economic Conditions
ia easy to read but must nave been very
hard to write, for 1t presents the distilled
outcome Of q vast amount OF Investigation
The capital point keep in view with regard
to the economic situation Of the American
people in 1889 is that more thar n~ine-tenths
Of them were engaged in agriculture. Ham,
ilton realized the disadvantage OF this con-
centration Of interests on tflage, a conoen-
tration which cauaed the country to be de-
pendent on foreign markets for manu-
featured commodities and kept up that
bucolic cast OF thought which is the weak
ness Of an entirely rural people. In his
famous report on manufactures he pro-
pounded a plan for the artificial encourage
ment Of town building by protective duties
or bounties, the chief purpose OF which
was to bring about a better distribution OF
the population among rural and urban
communities. The programme, however,
was in advance OF his day; the mall duties
which Congress could then be induced to
propose ave only incidental protection,
and that did little toward developing manu-
features.
Food products, tobacco and lumber were
the chief articles then marketed by the rural
communities. Wheat was raised every
there, except in the coast plains OF the far
South. The farms Of New England were
not rich enough to give the world much
surplus beyond home requirements; but the
forests there were still abundant and slaves,
masts, timber and boards were still ex-
ported. Fishing was also an important
industry. for the West India market was
ALWAYS open, though not for American
vessels, except occasionally n partially.
The best wheat lands were then In the Mid
die States and in the upper parts OF Maryland
and Virginia. The tobacco industry OF
the Old Dominion suffered severely from the
duties which 1t now had to encounter in
England and from the exhaustion Of lands
where tobacco grew. The Virginians. who
saw the Of the North encouraged
by the national Government, raised many
complaints that nothing was done to pro-
tect their ancient industry; but Prof Bas-
eett does not see clearly how the Govern
ment could have found a remedy for the
evil. Naval stores and pork were the chief
exports from North Carolina, a rich agri-
cultural region, the development OF which,
however, owing to the lack OF harbors,
was to be retarded until the days OF rail-
roads. South Carolina and Georgia were
raising rice and indigo with great profit.
The South, as q whole, stood only at the
beginning Of it's cotton cultivation, the ex-
mansion of which was to be the most striking
phenomenon In the history Of American
agriculture. 1t is true that the raising OF
cotton had passed the experimental stage
before 1889, but the expense OF removing
the seed by hand long constituted an al
most insuperable obstacle to the extension
of the industry. 1t was not until 1893 that
Whitney patented his cotton gin.
In the North free hired labor was now
generally employed. THE old system OF
indentured servants had not entirely dis
appeared, but 1t furnished only an incon-
siderable part OF tn, labor supply. There
ia some reason to suppose that 1t was used
frequently in bringing skilled lsborers into
the country OF such laborers the country
had very few. The p~redominanoe OF rural
life was not calculated to develop artisans,
and many such workmen who came to the
country were drawn of into agriculture
by the ~cheapness Of land aud the uncertain
demand for their crafts" In the South
slavery had already in 1859 disr laced all
other forms Of hired labor, The new
negroes" fresh from Africa, tended to keep
the standard OF efficiency among the slaves
at a point lower than that attained fifty
years later. The newcomers we're unac-
customed to the work they were expected to
perform, and frequently intractable. Some
OF them pinned away for their African homes.
a few OF them ran of to the forests, but the
ma we're absorbed into the mass Of
the black people among which they were
distributed, acquired gradually the habits
~ their associates and their children be-
anna like other slaves" Our author points
| out that, at lite best, slave labor was rarely
more h three-fourths as efficient as
white labor. Among the small farmers OF
the interior OF the South slaves were at first
found only in small numbers, but the ex-
tension OF cotton cultivation in this region
WAS marked by a rapid increase of the slave
population there
Some commerce, OF course. existed in
eyary part Of the country, but in the South
/ there wa but little Of II. Slavery pre-
Guided the existence Of a wage earning
class. and thus nightly leesened the pur-
chasing element. There was also a ten
dency to make the plantation system sup
ply many Of It's wants from its " resources.
The money Of the planters was ~customarily
spent in large orders, which could be filled
most proatably through commission mer-
chants in remote seaports. Local trafhc
was thus reduced to trifing proportions in
the South. In the North. on the other hand,
trade proceeded in the normal manner.
Retail traders looked to large commercial
centres. sending thither the products Of