The Washington herald., 1909-01-18
By HAxxIs TAYLOR.


In the current number OF the North
American Review. under the title The
Solid South a National Calamity have
undertaken 10 state within narrow limits
the vital questions arising out Of the con
fict now existing between the political
South and the industrial and commercial
South. As the Boston Herald has re-
stated my position:
~The political South to-day stands in
opposition 10 the Industrial and CONNER
ciaI South. Manufacturing and mining
developments unite Georgia and Alabama
with Massachusetts and Pennsylvania in
a common interest in the tariff problem
Commercial expansion following terri
toriai extension has bTOught-Lhe develop
ment OF Southern commerce
The Panama Canal. says Mr. Taylor,
viii drop fifty dollars into the tiIls OF
New Orleans and Mobile where It drops
one into the TIL OF Boston. With the pol
lev Of the national government in the far
Pacific the South IS as intimately con-
eerned as is any part Of the country
Period of Development.
The next eight years viii be an In
portant period in national development.
VIII the South continue 70 maintain It's
attitude OF iSolatiOn2 What response vii
Il make 20 Mr. TayIoT's sppealT'
In the issues Ghus presented BY these
practical and concrete questions. with
which the future Of the South Is vitaIly
involved. my friend, the brilliant editor
Of the COuTier-Journsl, can see nothing
more substantial than the 'yagary'' OF
dreamer OF the clOlsIer. He IS good
enough to say;
Mr. Hannis Taylor IS the abIest, Z not
the latest recruit. 70 the vagsTy OF trans
ferring the allegiance OF the South from
the Democratic party 20 the Republican
party IA delivers in the North Ameri-
can RevIeF Tor January an zrsume
which. II II were less visionary. might z
described as ingenious. As il Is. il re-
minds one OF those closet-dramss which
are said 20 read vel, but which viii not
act when put upon the stage"
Three Pertinent Questions
The essence OF the .-vagary.'' or dream.
in question when precisely formulated is
this:
Cd Shall the South. which has always
prided herself upon her political genius
and independence. be content 70 remain
the pocket borough OF one political party.
with her eyes and ears closed 10 al Grgu-
ments which nav Re addressed 10 heT BY
the other, no matter how deeply they
may affect her political and economic
future2
90 SHAH the South continue TO adhere
to and uphold d set Of economic princi-
pies advocated in the past by her states
men when. as a section. she vas almost
entirely agricultural now that her inter-
ests have become seriously diversified
not only by manufacturing and mining.
but by the growth OF foreign commerce.
81 Shall the South continue her politi-
cal solidity, and consequent political fso-
lation from the rest OF the Union, now
that the reason for that soIidity has, BY
reason Of the practical settlement Of the
negro question, passed away2 The rhet-
orleans who propose 70 make the pOiiti-
cal isolation OF the South from the rest
Of the Union. IN defiance Of her vital ma
terial interests, eternal, cannot hope 10
maintain their cause by evading the real
issues involved
Those issues are too clean cUt and de-
cisive 10 be put aside. They must be
either answered or confessed They can
not be submerged beneath a Bourbonism
/ that learns nothing and forgets nothing.
Growth of Industrial Life.
What were the economic conditions at
the South when that section. as an agri-
cultural community. stood forth as the
! typical opponent Of the free trade or
anti-tarff policy
In $50 ne total values q the fsrn
Tro,iucts Of the States of Alabama
Arkansas. Florida, Georgia. Louisiana
Mississippi North Carolina South Car