The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1875-02-20
Written Tor tIe Free TT
THE SUNNY SOUTH.

/ In the good old democratic days not many
Years ago the boys used 10 sing:
| al wish I WAS in ,he land of cotton,
Where all kind hearts are nccr forgotten,
Away-away- AWAY down south in Dixie"
But how few there were that sang that song
wbe realized the beauties of the sand they
were wishing to be in or even imagined what
a lovely country the Sunny South" was
what beautiful homes, lordly mansions and
lovely cottages are To be found among the
orange groves and palm trees of that sunny
land what delightful climate its inhabit-
ants enjoy, where the mercury never goes
below Twelve above zero, nor above ninety IN
the shade.
Now while the people Of the North are
enjoying "the beautiful snow and are tanned
by the "balmy breezes" from the "Norlhcrn
regions" the people down here are basknE
in the sunshine and enjoying such weather
as you would have in the tlowery months Of
May and June.
How much pleasaner il Is to hear the birds
| singing in the nOCnday sun; TO see the ivy
and the myrtle In their bloom, the magnolia,
| palmetto and orange trees In blossom, and
view the entire country clothed in lis mantle
of green; at evening to witness the brilliant
sunsets which this southern country is noted
for, and sit by the open window while the
soft, sweet breezes come caressingly around
us and fill the air with the fragrance Of orange
blossoms, water lilies and thousands of other
flowers which are just beginning to decorate
every dooryard. With such attractions we
cannot wonder that every southerncr would
weep for his southern home, or that the sweet
est OF singers would sing
20, give me Il home in the south,
The sweet, sunny land Oi my BIRTH
For indeed its beauties and virtues have
been but slightly told; and now that the roar
of artillery and the smoke of battle have long
since died away, and peace, like IA Gllead
balm, reigns throughout the land, save the
outrages of our corrupt administration to-
wards the Louisianians, and little negro
disturbance once in u while, famed by some
defeated politician or contemplate carpet
Dagger, with these exceptions, the busy hum
her people, and if "let alone" ere long the
skeleton CT want Will be driven from every
hearth stone. Her hills ant lOw.lands will
begin to bloom like the garden fields of old,
under the manipulatOns of scientific culture,
while the commercial and mechanic arts
will move with new inspiration to the music
Of remunerative mills and factory spindles,
Colleges, public schools and institutions of
learning are beginning to revive, but are yet
ia q weak state, owing to financial cmbar.
easements Of the people; but if allowed to re,
main untouched by Civil Rights bills and
such hndrances, they will advance so rapid.
ly, and have such thorough system of edu.
cation that will make them equal to any state
in the Unisn.
If the Civil Rights Bill! should become Il
law, the first thing il will do will be to kill
the entire public school system of the south
The southern people will not stand 1t, and
every ardent friend Of the schools of the south
will array himself against it with all the force
that he can bring to bear In talking with
several Of the southern people on this qucs.
ton (my present business is dealing with col
leges, schools and educational institutions,
and up to this period | have visited eight
tcnths Of the schools in twenty states) they !
say that its operation would be to extinguish |
the last remaining spark of the fires of lib.
erty on the continent and insure the radicals !
the plunder of the people for an indefinite
period of time. That it would place the .
southern country entirely at their mercy, and
hat few of her people would live to tell the
story of the next grand swoop of universal de.
'truction. Every motive of party and policy
would drive them TO make clean sweep of
he southern whites, which they coIld under
Ter the excuse of the war power, for the south
,rn people, while they live, will never be
luct and content under the loss of the great
heritage of freedom bequeathed them by a
patriotic ancestry.
The passage OF the bill will raise question
If duty, prudence and responsibility among
ommon school managers in the southern
tates, What are they TO do? Are they, by
claiming office under this law, practically to
i've assent TO its monstrous pretensions? Are
hey to admit that congress has the right to
Ontrol the disposition of school tax money
aised by the authority of any single state or r
ounty? That the colored people are entitled
, one-half of 1t, when they hardly pay cent :
n the dollar Are they to submit to the ieal. ,
us espionage of pprsOnal and politicol ono ,
lies an every question of equal adminisra. +
Ion-to complaint, prosecution and convic-
ion by colored jurors-damages by fines and C
9
They would as soon admit that the federal =
government can as rlghtfully regulate our own d
rivate funds as that of our states and coun f
les. 1t is true that, as private citizens, the i
adicals, after the war, rubbed all our noses in y
nt,nl s,arl ,,.. -. -