The day book. [volume] (Norfolk, Va.) 1857-1867, 1866-04-27
TRUE INTEREST OF THE SOUTH

TRUE INTEREST OF THE SOUTH.
1t must be evident to every rejecting mind,
that II the Southern people, in times past,
had spent as much money in real improve
ment, as they were forced to spend upon the
war, the acme of the highest prosperity which
nation can reach, would have been attained
by the fifteen States. The principle for which
we commended remains, although the war re-
suited unfortunately for us, and has buried
for long years our dearest hopes of constitu-
tional liberty. Upon our children's children
will probably depend the assertion and main
tenance Of the great principles of Southern
rights which, in our day, have been crushed
out by the overwhelming force of numbers
Perhaps, if we were to admit that the war
came on prematurely, we would not be far
wrong. But we wish to enforce now, what
is palpable truth, that, if all the war cost
had been spent to prepare us more adequately
to enter upon and prosecute it, the combined
armies of all the peoples brought against us,
could never have conquered the South
The war has cost us more than enough
money to have set in motion all the improved
machinery now used all over the North for
manufacturing purposes; more than enough
money to have bought aohite man to work
that machinery; more than enough money to
have filed every Southern harbor with lines
of ocean steamships; more than enough
money to have laid down railroad to every
village in the Southland thereby have Gre
ated state of prosperity unequalled in the
world.
The land of the Southern States was crea-
ted by Providence endowed with nature to
bring forth those products most necessary to
the wants of mar, and most valuable to the
commerce of the world With climate va
riable, from the high to the low temperate,
everything for food, clothing, and other ne
cessaries, everything for luxurious living and
elegance of attire, are attainable by human
skill and labor. Corn and wine, fruits of
every description, cotton and woollen and
linen and silk textures, are equally within our
reach; and the many and complicated wants
of humanity may all be supplied in this gar
den spot of the world.
They wait, they only wait, for development.
Could we but make this plain to our country
men had we only the skill ana uDr''.,
force, in a truly abs and practical manner,
the views we entertain upon this great sub
;sc4 re might hope, more fully, to enlighten
our readers, and guide their minds Alright.
But, standing on the shore Of the vast ocean
of truth, we can only, as the great Newton
said, "gather pebble here and there" These
we shall cast before the people from time to
time, in the hope to awaken practical thought,
and lead to new sources of industry aud
wealth .--....- ...-
1t is obvious, now, to remark that if we
have gained nothing else from the war, aoe
haze gained experience as to what we ought to
do in the future. Let us not throw it away.
Let us determine, to manufacture everything
we need at the South, and eight it out on
that line" We have only to do this, and we
shall the more speedily recover from the dis
astrous losses of the war
Our next inquiry is, as to our capacity to
do this. Why, necessity is the mother of in
vention," Among all the lessons of the war,
none is more palpable than this. Thrown
suddenly upon our own resources as manu-
facturers and producers of all that was neces-
sary for peace and for war, the advancement
made by the South was prodigious, and I'M
exampled in the history Of the world. The
inventive power of our people, being taxed,
came forth with a fertility and strength
which astonished themselves-nay, which as
tonished the world; and that expansion of
intellect, under circumstances 50 unusual and
adverse, proves the capacity Of our people,
under happier auspices, steadily to advance
in the pathway of material prosperity, until
we reach that point Of independence and
honor, when nation becomes truly great, in
the magnitude of her national and intelec-
tual proportions, before the eyes of an admir-
ing world.
The ability of the Southern people has been
proved; because, when occasion came, inven-
ton, skill, and productiveness, to large ex-
tent were developed during the war. It is
the earnest, but modest desire, of this paper
to indicate the right direction in which our
skill and labor should be exerted.
The LODGE OF SoRRow.--In Columbus,
Mississippi, on the 18th instant was comemo-
rated by the Masonic fraternity, the death Of
,nanh ,,f that fro torrity ,yh,, ELI la th, LOT