The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1910-08-09

80
Bryan vote Almost any man one
meets south of Washington has voted
three times for the same candidate.
But there has been a falling of OF
the Democratic strength Yes. but not
a change Of votes. In 1Sa6 in nearly
every Southern State the negroes still
voted en- bloc for the Republican can
didates. both local and national.
which meant that nearly every white
man went TO the polls to offset this
and TO secure Democratic control A
large Bryan Vote was the result. Since
that date. however. nearly every
southern State has "~elimlnated' the
negro vote: consequently white men,
VINO know there is no chance Of a Re
puDllcan victory, go 10 their cotton or
corn feidS on election days and eXpect
10 read IN their mex weeks paper that
the Democrats won. "as usual The
vote OF Virginia. which fairly repre-
SentS the South. has declined from
30e,O00 IN 1896 to less than 40. 600 in
1903; but there was not a change OF
as much as me per cent in the totals
Tor tarker in 1903 and those for Bry-
an In 1908. And there have been no
gains Tor the Republicans during the
whole period OF transition from uni
Versal TO a sharply limited suffrage.
But finally the South is becoming
lnduStrlallZed. II was becoming indus
trialized in 1869. Between 1850 and
1860 the cotton manufacturing Inter
estS of the South increased a hundred
per cent, and without the Civil War
there would AVE been a greater indus
trial revolution there than we have
witnessed during the last two decades.
The only differences would have been
its earlier appearance and with Il n
continued Southern influence in Con-
greSs out Of proportion to its wealth
or voting strength. Old families Of the
manufacturing area have not been
l. a N6rSG to receiving vyhotpNor- hon Otis
that came from Republican policies,
but they have never gone over to lie
party OF protection: on the other hand
they contribute a large share OF the
support which the party Of tree trade
or at least of the lowest possible tariff.
receives in that section. But they
lave not longed for an overwhelming
Bryan victory; they are the conserYa-
tive Democrats of whom Mr.. TAFT
spoke when he said theN vote
one way and pray the other"
This element has been slightly
strengthened by the southwark rnigra-
ton of New England manufacturers.
Representatives of the new cmen
and of the old find places on the direc-
torates of railways, the subsidiary
companies of the tobacco trust and Of
other corporations, managed in the
main by Wal street. These are the
men who ought, according to Mr..
Charlie francis Adams. to lead the
South out Of the political woods"
they control one or two leading pa
pers" in each of the old South
ern States, whose opinions are
Wall street as the "oracles Of the
quoted in turn in Wall Street as
the "oracles of the South Some
of these e~minently respectable
gentlemen are always TO be
found in the legislatures and they are
thought to represent ''priviIege' rath-
er than their constituencies. If the
activities Of these leaders Of a small
group deceives any one into beiieV-
ing that the South is not really a part
of the radical, or Bryan Democracy it
must be the man who desires to be de-
ceiVed. 1t would be quite as correct
to suppose that the following of La
Toilette is whipped into line by the
authority Of a LaIEollette machine as
to say that the Bryan strength in the
South is only nominal. Whenever the
issue has been made in a Southern pri-
mary the result was overwhelming de-
feat for the protesting element.
The South remains solid and it is
likely so to continue for a generation
to come. The reasons are plain. The
people Of that section are the real
Democrats Of our day and their faith
in Democracy is much like that which
underlay the Puritan democracy Of the
Revolution, not Of Federalism; the aV-
erage man Of that section IS frmiy
/ convinced lHdl liz idS RttI A8SNiH
treated and that the solid North must
be defeated if we as a nation are ever
again to get back to the Ideals OF the
great Declaration; he believes that the
South and the West are natural allies
and that it is only a matter Of time
when the men of the West viii see this
and do their share to bring the nation
al government to its proper junction:
the guaranteeing to every one the eS-
sentials of democracy, a square deal
and a fair chance"
VIM. L. DDDD.
University of Chicago.