The farmer and mechanic., 1907-09-10

true inwardness Of the inspiration OF
most OF the talk about the South TAX
ing charge OF the Demo Nanon-
al Convention. There are strong ana
good men in the South and else" here
who believe II would be wise to name
Southern man Of ability and national
reputation for the presidency. but
they do not accompany their sugges-
Ition with insulting and unworthy refer
ences 10 the attitude Of Southern De
mocracy. Its leaders are not spine
less" they are not afraid OF Their
shadow" and they have taken no
second place in the national gather-
ings Of the party. Indeed they nave
been leaders in those gatherings. the
equals OF their honorable associates.
They have recognized that no Confed-
crate soldier could be elected 70 the
presidency, and Ransom. Vance, Cor
don, Hill George, Money. Black burn
Vest and the other great leaders -
the South have refused 10 permit the
name of one TO be seriously placed :
fore the convention. This was
due to no lack Of faith IN
themselves and their devotion
to the Union. but it was a
recognition Of a condition that could
not with good Judgment be ignored
If any Confederate soldier should be
named as a candidate. he would get
thousands OF votes in the North and
the best class of Republican papers
would not raise objection, but the
bloody shirt Wavers, who are still alive
and who still have influence, would
use the fact to injure the Democratic
candidate and reopen the old wound.
Practical statesmanship has dictated
the course which the solid South has
pursued in the past. and II has been
a policy of honorable and yirile lead
ership by Southern men who are done
a grievous wrong by the suggestion
that they have been a ''voiceless, if not
a spineless quantity" In it's leader,
the Star says:
wall Street and the South.
The few Southern newspapers
which have fallen into Wall streets 5
trap and are urging the South to
break away from Mr.. Bryan and put
up a man of her own for President,
indulge i'll language too extreme for
the occasion. BY overstating their
case they weaken it. They are alto
gether too severe in describing the
situation.
THE Charleston News and Courier
is of opinion that if there was
single Southern leader who was not
afraid of his own shadow the problem
would be solved. Under the banner Of
such a man the South would rally and
put Mr. Bryan out of business. And
yet q section SO described by one OF
its prominent newspapers is asked to
take the lead in the reorganization Of
the Democratic party!
The Lynchburg (Va.) News says
that, as the result of forty years of
subserViency, the attitude of the
Southern Democracy toward the ma
tional political situation has become
"a practically voiceless. if not a spine
less quantity
And yet this voceless and spineless
Dem ocracy is the pretended hope Of
Wall Street in it's warfare on the most
eloquent and aggressive force the par
ty has known!
Equally severe. too, is the language
of the Charlotte On. c. Observer,
which says, speaking of the South:
This section has too long
come in at the back door and
taken its scanty meals in the
kitchen. 1t has not only made
respect of the. public by its ex-
hibition of servility which could
not be construed otherwise than
as confession of inferiority."
And yet the Observer is appealing
to men who for more than a genera
ton. as it alleges, have been swapping
up crumbs in a kitchen chimney
corner, to shake off the ashes, wipe
their fingers on their shirt sleeves, and
shoulder their way to the parlor and
preside over the banquet!
'All such talk is of course a silly
sort Of eXaggeration. 1t lis a mistaken
effort to get the South's mad up
There are lots of Southern leaders who
not only are not afraid Of their own
shadows, but are as little disturbed by
anybody else's shadow. They are very
able and courageous men, although,
perhaps, not the best of politicians;
and while the South has for too long
followed a New York leadership she
has not done so with the air of a
SculllOn or q beggar.
advice to the South to assert her
self in matters of national moment
did not originate with the men who
are now In full voice ON the subject
but from those VINO had IN mind see
ing her change her policies. What
would it profit her to break with Tam
many Hall only TO throw herself into
the arms of Thomas F. Ryan. Bel
mont and company? The alliance with
Tammany never meant more than Of
fees for her, and the proposed alli-
ance with Wall street would, if sue
cessful at the polls. bring her nothing
else. She would find herself still very
far from leadership. Wall Street
would ins st on doing the leading
The South has always asserted itself
and there is no room to think it will
fail to do SO now. but it will not
do so under the lead of the New York
Sun or other capitalistic organs that
may assume the appearance of Esau,
but with the deceitful voice of
Jacob. Southern Democrats are in
deed, discussing the ability and avail
ability of men for the presidential
nomination. and if Williams or Cul-
berson or Folk or Hoke Smith or
Robert B. Glenn or some other man
of the South seems the best and most
available man they will not be de-
tered from favoring the best man,
whether he comes from Texas or from
Minnesota or Nebraska or New York
or Ohio. But it will be on his
merits, availa ability and proven capaci-