The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-03-23

this work As the structure and arrange ment of this industry determined ante bellum civilization so its reordering in the rew age is the most potent factor in de- .ermining the social structure of the ne~ times. The following constructive changes are coming about, tending 10 modify the conditions of rural life and to give t) southern society certain uniformity and likeness to the rest of the nation, which are the conditions of real democracy and nationality.
 T. The great plantation has been sup- D.anted by the small farm, constantly fn- ereasing in number. The oluer rural gentry and their sons have gone to the cities. forming very formidable ele- rent in New York city itself. including Wall street. A new and potential citizen ship has taken posses ssion of these snalt farms. This new citizenship Is demand ing educational facilities good roads, frte mail deliYef telephone sysleins. trolley lnes ana an era Of diifused intelligence must shortly appear, assuring fulids- mental change tol the better in the a. tractlvouess ana the general social anl material opportunities of county hfe. These are men whose needs anu whosf influence VII modify the old and mold the character of the future leadership in southern politics. One wno knows their spirit has recently put their creed into tris form: T Will never vote again for any candidate for a state oice who does not have some we.l-worked-out pro gramme for conserving and developing our rural communities, for constructing good roads throughout the state, for placing d respectable school house and good school in easy reach of every child for placing Ill every one Of such schools wel-tralneu and amply paid teachers, and Tor making our institutions or charity and higher cdu- cation equal to any. l am tired of hea-- ing men talk, and of voting for men merely because they supporl a certain man for President and for reward for party service
 "2 The unit of ..e small farm neces- states intensive and diversified produc- tiol Intensive and diver sified productioa p1esupposes u knowledge os scientific ag- Ilculture. Scientific agriculture does not demand hords of untrained labor in or der to reap it's richest rewards. What ever labor is employed must devel oD skill and power, or be driven into tle cities to factory employment or house. hold labor. The society necessary to the successful conduct of the small farm unit will furnish d new backbone to our structure, based on responsibility simple thrift, and contented intelligence. The new rural population will for gen. erations lack the charm of the old, bat DJ means of It's very diffusion and it's manifest possession of a certain general level of sturdy power and freedam ot opportunity, 1t will contribute strength to the life blood of the whole organism.
 Southern Politics.
 southern politics Is permeated with this thought of social progress and com munlty of effort. One often hears with regret that the supreme question of the of f1nn, .l,TF about political conditions in which only one party exists. But this is not quite true. Internally there are two parties under one name: both standing In vary ing degree for growth and progress in community life though relying for diff lerentlation too much on personalities ana non-essentials very much as our national parties today. The ante-bellum southern voter was perhaps the best in- formed man in America Oh national poi- ties and decidedly careless as to the needs of his own township. He knew all about the Kansas and Nebraska bill, and did not poster himself about the local school house, Now, Kansas, like the primrose on the river bank is just the plainest sort of Kansas to him, and Nebraska Is chiefly interesting as saving him the trouble, every now and then, of deciding for whom to vote for President Now his interest in the Phil ippines or even the presidency is mild as compared to his zeal for the schools and roads of his county. It is the ear of domestic politics and of absorption of the people and the politicians in the welfare of the masses at home. Consul ships and ministers plenipotentiary are as remote to his political taste as old wine or cavare to the palate of the working man. This detachment from national politics is an abnormal and a temporary political condition. For the south's sake and the nations sake this condition must pass, for the southerner is healthy minded political animal, who enjoys having a hand in his country s government, and his country will be lacking in good sense if she doesn't find a way to make use of his kind of strength. The reuniting of southern po- litical ability to national service must wait upon time to free it utterly from hesitation and fear arising out of the issues due to the presence of the African in our society and the influence upon our nerves of old horrid memories. When a perception of actual conditions and the spread of intelligence has swept this fear out of the minds of the masses of the people they will also sweep out the reign of any leadership dependent on that fear There will be a rebirth of party government, and two more parties representing the intelligence and patriot ism of these states will divide, debate, and consider issues on their merits. An inherently capable and pure political ge- nius will be unloosed and freed to play upon complex and vital national ques- tions. By that time there may be a rebirth of real parties in the nation itself real parties with definite issues, instead of old names with the same issues.
 Just Principles.
 "Neither solid north nor solid south can then obtrude their opaque masses between just principles and the vision of patriotic men. Southern men, neither better nor abler, personally, than some now timdly and in desperation men tioned for the presidency, will naturally win the presidency because they will incarnate the things the people desire a President for. After & half century of national effacement, the south is cool headed enough to know that the regain ing of it's prestige in federal politics will be brought about in no frantic, hysterical way. but by educational influences and profound changes in point of view When some strong southerner, like Daniel or Culberson, or Williams. or I1oke Smith. harnesses himself to the idea of tariff reform or to some potent. just scien- tihc method of establishing sympathetic relations between industrialism and de- mocracy and drives these ideas into the minds of the American people, no out 1yAo, 1rh man II