The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1912-07-19
southern men will appreciate their
own kith and kin.
That is all.
THE DECAY OF sEcTIoNALISM


In the course of his speech at Balti-
more, Senator Ollie James, the per-
manent chairman Of the democratic
convention, said:
And coming from the south as
do | can say that if Abraham Lincoln
were alive this night there is not a
foot of soil under Dixies sky on which
ne might not pitch his tent and pill
lowing his head upon a Confederate
soldiers knee, sleep, and sleep in
safety"
This sentiment from the speech of
the permanent chairman is not a
mere flight of fervid fancy. 1t is the
statement of a sober fact-of fact
to- which the proceedings of the Bal
timore convention bear striking wit
ness. Whatever may be thought OF
that convention as proof of the dem
ocratic party's ability to rule itself
and to rule the nation it unquestion-
ably testifies to the decay of section
alism.
For the first time since the war OF
the rebellion we have a serious can
didate for the presidential nomination
of that party from a state as far
south as Alabama. What is more,
that candidate received a vote in the
convention which showed that his
presidential aspirations had the APP
prevail of a goodly section of the par
ty
Even fifteen or twenty years ago
the candidacy of distinguished
democrat from a southern state
would have been regarded as folly.
No one, not even the delegates from
his own state, would have considered
his claims for a moment. The spec
ter of sectionalism stalked abroad in
the land, and it was instinctively rec
ognized, north and south, that the
nomination of even the most distin-
guished of southern democrats would
be party suicide.
Today, however, the sectional note
is not sounded, or, if sounded, it is
SO faint as to be hardly recognizable.
The candidacy of Mr. Underwood pro-
vokes neither surprise nor private
protestation from democrats north of
Mason and Dixon's line. The fact
that Speaker Clark, the leading can
Missouri, which is still counted by
many as a part of the "solid south"
to all intents and purposes, has not
been urged for an instant as an argu-
ment against his availability
Sectional lines there are at Balti-
more, distinctly visible, but not Sec
tional in the old, familiar sense. We
can still trace the line of cleavage be-
tween the conservative east, the rad
ical west, and the south, instructive
ly inclining toward it's ancient victo-
rious alliances with the conservation
of the middle north and east, but still
feeling the impulse of radical tenden-
cies unknown in former days. These
lines are natural, of no sinister sig
nificance, and they will no doubt con-
tinue to be discernible in democratic
conventions for years to come.
But of the ancient feeling of the
south as we'll as the north that the
southern democrat of ability was de-
barred from seeking the highest hon.
or in the gift of his party, there is no
evidence at Baltimore. In all the pro-
ceedings there the observer or the
reader will look in vain for recogni-
ton of ancient animosities as an i'm
portant factor in democratic presi-
Dental calculations.
This is significant circumstance
about the Baltimore convention that
patriotic citizens, democrats and re-
publicans. will rejoice to note. Such
evidence of the decay of sectionalism
means that the ideal of a common
country united on basis of national
patriotism without reserve, reigns
sole. serene, august, triumphant. We
hail the omen, no matter whence it
comes.-Chicago Inter-Ocean.