The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-02-11

as we have seen, the south formerly hau
 monopoly, and through which she huu
 managed to largely run things from holN town to Sumpter With consclous reee' fer her effort to break ID the govern
 ment, the south was above the Wlinins 'is !
 protestations of ardent love she then ieif either for It. or for the men who con
 troIled it. Run 1t as they might. al si's asked was that it be not ruthiessi!. anu in violation of the constitution run oNe. her in which petition. to the disgrace or American civilization she was turhen doun She trusted in God and found refuge in a silence from which she was half aroused by the call of the northern democracy in 1888 to join in the pursuit or ,he first of those ''forlorn hopes, whose nhantom she has been idly chasing win a pitiful and troubled dsinter-regnum rom Seymour to Bryan. The south had neither enthusiasm nor hope in the campaign for Seymour and Blair Her heart was in the grave with the dead Confederacy and her need was beyond the things that the miracle of a party victory might bring But it was proper that she should have forgotten her wrongs and wounds to seize the first opportunity of reassertlng her purpose in formal, political effort, at 1 least, of some day resuming business at the old stand.
 | Four years later she swallowed, masti- cated and half digested Horace Greedy in | heroic proof of the sublime qualities of en- durance that war and reconstruction had ! taught her.
 | In 1876 we had not progressed sufficient | ly far from the war to nurture in the | minds of those whom the war had de- velpped as leaders a respect that could ] save the constitution from disgrace, when 1 the alternative presented was the up- holding of that instrument or the re- l enthronement in power of the political l party of the south. It was a case of l turning the rascals. out or letting the rebels in, and notwithstanding definite 1 settlement of the question in the election l by the American people of Tiden and | Hendricks the south with accustomed, yet defenseless hands, added anoth ghostly figure to the pale dynasty Of
 her phantoms of defeat. Then came olr truculent bid to a sentiment of the north which demanded "a sign" of us that in cur unreconstructed minds there was yet ! a feeling of love for the old flag of l the union-some noble form of penitential confession from the south that the war was really over. We answered the de- | mand by adopting outright the uniform in
 blue. Hancock, the Superb" became the | chosen leader of southern brisadiers and in the democratic design of counterpart Ing in politics, the episode of Gettys- burg we succeeded in pulling off less tragic performance. and in 1t initiated the quixotc evolution of the King of France by marching bravely up the hull and as bravely down again.
 The election of Cleveland and Hen
 dricks in 1884 was brought about by q solid south and four northern and west ern states assisted by the mugwump els- ment of the republican party. It in- volYed no recognition by the country Of any material southern claim and was the result of no popular desire of other sections to see once again the south in the saddle. There was little in the event-memorable as it was in party his tory-to iatter the political pride of the south, or to swell us into conceit that interpreted the affair at the time as a renaissance of southern prestige and pow CT. That there was nothing in Cleveland's s election of permanent significance regard ing the country's demand for leadership is proven by the early collapse of that administrati ton and the speedy rejection of it's policies by the people of the east and vest zSThe reactionary stage of a feel ing which had since the war prescribed southern dominance in national policies was more than manifest in the election or Benjamin Harrison after four years reign or copperhead statesmanship and rebel brigadiers. It is something, however, to the cause of truth and to the credit of
 
 proved winner in weaving claim that stamps Mr. Cleveland's first administra- ton as the country's widest and best since. the Civil war.
 The second and last break in the uni !. forrnity of republican national supremacy came at the end of Harrison's second term and in the recall of MT. Cleveland 10
 the presidency. He was the choice for second term upon issues that involved the ,,ar,oaoapcx and SoupdpeSS of the natiOnal 1 currency and voters of all parties forgot their old alignments to enlist In a con- test which was little later to usher in a reign of fanatcism that has from the days of Cleveland till now changed the character and personnel of southern pa-
 litical leadership. AS find in this change a partial if not entirely reasonable. cause for the failure of the south to
 score more heavily in the quest of tIi- umphs and ideals dear to her heart, am reluctant to push further in a vein of reproach. my protest against the inius- tjee that has withhol den her as section rom a larger and fairer portion in the lenown of national governmental leader- ship.
 The south could hardly have expected | to win the presidency ia the three con- tests in which MT. Bryan was by her sanction and consent democracy's chosen leader And the trial for it she risked four years after Bryan's second defeat through Judge Parker was fatalzed in l the conviction that the New York states man was a Bryanized makeshift for req sons of party expediency. Tn the painful consciousness of this fact. let us not se- riously quarrel with the rest Of the coun- | try for at least 12 years of our long d- vorcement and banishment from the home of our fathers.
 This limited grant of absolution Tor wrongs committed against southern re- sumption of suspended political privileges does not mitigate the fullness of my claim | for a justice that has been denied the | south as an integral part and power Of | the republic. If she Is really such part of the nation as, her past history rro- claims. and her present contribution to the sum of it's might and glory attest it is fair to ask: Why should she stil;
 remain bound and fettered in bonds of national political prescription? Why should not the south with at least an equal share in national achievement be
 deemed worthy of alternating with thc east and west In serving the country's de- mand for executive leadership? In my own way and fashion shall endeavor to return an answer to these questions and through 1t serve the real purpose of this review To this end I affirm that the war operated as a natural and inevitable estoppel of the predominance of southern political power for period measured tn the after effects of that stupendous and all pervading event in our history So long after that event as the bloody shirt was gruesome. if senseless, issue could influence an intelligent sentiment, that demanded of the south an, apology which was neither in her heart nor consisten. | fo1n nf poltticS Qfyo tf