New-York tribune., 1909-06-16
4 TnICE FROM TIE PAST.

| The comments of the Hon Roger O. Mills on
/ the degeneracy Of Democratic leadership in Con-
gress are weighted with all the melancholy of p
nroDhet no longer honored in his own party. Mr..
MillSs voice is a voice from the past, recalllhS
what he considers days OF Democratic vigor and
! triumph and testifyng 10 the humilia1ons or
! new order Of decadence and defeat II is the
voice of one mourning for what is lost and refus-
ing TO he comforted. To the fiery anti-protect1on
radicsIsm of the Trainer of the Mills tariff bill
the insincerities and inconsistencies Of the pres
ent Democratic leaders in Congress offer a con-
/ trast so depressing as 10 kill faith and ban1sh
/ hone The Sage of Corsicana never had much
! patience with what he regarded as tmldity or
/ indrection. The readiness of the representa-
| tives Of the Democratic party at Washington TO
! grasn at any excuse for repudiating the tarlH
! declarations OF the last half dozen national
| nIatforns moves him 10 this cynical description
! of the low estate to which the party has fallen:
The present exhibition IN the Senate by Sena-
tors calling themselves Democrats and assum-
ing TO read out Of the party those VINO 90 HoL no,
bear the mark of their approval Is shameful
In fact it is difficult matter in these degenet
ate days for real Democrats who heionseG 70
the party for the sake of the principles Nhlch
II rapresented TO have any idea as 10 what a
Democrat is. The party as now represented dI
washington might as well pass out Of existence
for il has survived its usefulness and only serves
now as humiliating spectacle to make honest
Democrats hang their heads in shame
1t may he said. and said with justice. that Mr..
Mills's view is too narrow and prejudiced. His
own retirement from public life and the gradual
disannearance in the South Of the school of
anti-nrotectionists of which he was so distn-
e1lished representative Indicate that Southern
opinian has changed and that the South is ready
to cut loose from the doctrine of low tariffs
taught by Calhoun and other statesmen. whose
single aim was to foster national policies CON
sistent with the perpetuEhon Of the system or
slave labor The South Is beginning to see that
a reasonable degree of protection will greatly
benefit its own industries, and Southern Repre-
sentatfves and Senators are trying to adjust the
political traditions of the past TO the economic
necessities Of the present. The process is not
easy 1t involves apparent inconsistency and a
disregard for professions once made with pas
sioDate conviction. II entails a reputation or
the labors of a group of statesmen Of as marked
ability as any which ever represented the South
in national councils. That is what touches the
pride and provOkes the pessimism of those who
still cling TO the older order and are unable to
realize that its craftsmanship cannot proftably
serve the South of to-day.
The South furnished for the anti-prOtectiOn
crusade of the SOS and COS men like James e.
Beck. George G. Vest, Zebulon B. Vance. James
h Jones John G.. Carlisle Roger Q. Mills, Cliff
ton r. Breckinridge. William c. P. Breckenridge
and William l. Wilson-spokesmen with in
tellectuaI sagacity and unity of purpose which
made them formidable as the representatives OF
a section and the leaders Of a party. They had
a programme which was ineligible and positive,
and they failed Of writing their policies into
legislation only because the Democratic major
ify In the Senate of 1893 % was so narrow that
Mr.. German and few other survivors Of the
Randall school of protectionists able to
dictate the terms which a tariff measure
should pass that body Compared with the anti
protectionist Southern leaders Of fifteen years
ago. the SoutI's present spokesmen in Congress
certainly lack brilliance, energy and power
For that reason they seem 10 Mr.. Mills and other
members of the disappearing Old Guard degen-
crate and invertebrate. Yet the degeneraCy is
more apparent than real Southern opinion has
changed, and the leaders of today merely reflect
that change. They seem TO be vacillatng and
uncertain of themselves because they have not
yet become accustomed to the economic ideas
which have altered the South's attitude toward
the policy Of protection.