Arkansas true Democrat., 1862-01-09
Yankee Ingenuity.

>JThe operations of the patent office at hich~
 mond, show that the southern raiad is fully as
 ingenious and inventive as that of the North The people of the South were almost entirely
 an agricultural people, and left manufaetures to be done for them, while the people of the North had their attention turned principally to trade and manufactures. There was no call upon the inventive genius of our citizens; no stlmu-
 Jus to call forth the mechanical talent among 1 us, and we quietly allowed our Yankee ne'sh>
 bors to do all these things for us. The inven~ 1 tive genius of the Yankees was ever on the
 stretch, and in order to live, they were compeli- ed to originate something new. The nuwber of novelties they presented us with, led us to l form an idea that they were the most ingenious people in the world, but this generally received l opinion is most erroneous one, as we will see if we take the trouble to think moment.
 All our novelties and inventions came through
 the North, built by no means followed that they l originated there. The Yankees were in con 1 stant communication with Europe and the rest of the world. If they sawa new invention n l Eng and, France, Germany, or even in Japan l or China they brought home model, duplica- 1 ted it, and took out a patent. Thus all the in ventions of the world reaching us through Yam kee land, were credited to them, when in point of fact, they were the results of tae genius ot l foreign nations. Again, many of the artisans of the North are foreigners; in truth, their best workmen are from Europe. In order to com ! pete with foreign manufacturers, the most in renious and skilful mechanics of the old world were brought over to the North, and very many | of the inventions attributed to the Yankees, 1 originated with the imported workmen.
 1 We are aware that we shall be pointed to l particular instances such as Morse's telegraph | McCormick's reaper, and Goodyear's india rub l Der. If these were Yankee inventions, they l would only be the exceptions to a general rue 1 But Morse was not the inventor ot the electric l telegraph. Both the French and English com l nunicated by wires before he saw telegraph. | He may have improved machine, or made
 better one than the one then in use, but the iaea of electricity in connection with telegraph
 had been put to practical use years belore.-
 McCormick's reaper is simply combination of l several previous discoveries. Goodyear, who l ye beiieve is an Englishman, obtained patent l or methol of preparing india rubber, when
 vas known for dozen years previous, and l specimens of it, in the shape of toys had been common in Paris as early as 1920.
 Indeed, the Yankee mind is not creative CT
 inventive It is capable of making the most Of what it possesses and adapting things to pre- ent uses. It can combine and fit, but not ere ".te. No error is so wide spread among the
 outhern people as the one that the Yankees
 Ire the inventors of the useful or ingenious
 hings brought from there. The most ,ot them
 Ire copies of foreign inventions, or mads by
 Europeans in this country.
 Whenever necessity shall force any considera-
 le portion of the people of the South to turn
 heir attention to manufactures and the me
 ,hanic arts, it will be found that they can in-
 rent. create and make discoveries in science
 nd art, in all respects equal, if not superior, to
 heir discarded neighbors.