Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1881-08-02
The New Sonfh.

AhC ANCU OOaNAA
The above phrase, though oft abused
and misapplied, should, nevertheless, be
the shibboleth of Southern hope ana
advancement. For to the South OF today
there opens a future as bright win
promise as her past is glorious In the
light of achievement. Content with the
Weld of the soil, those who went before
us devoted their leisure to the arena Of
politics. and in all the great questions
that came up for settlement they were
ever at the front, and the pages of our
political history bear constant witness to
the scope Of their influer ce and the ex-
tent of their work. Wing and Demo
crat differed in matters of detail, but
when the foundations of our great fabric
were menaced, they We'd with one another
in defense of the structure, and
when the final struggle came they stood
shoulder to shoulder in that long and
gallant fight. 1t has become habitual to
speak of il as the "lost cause" Lost 1t
was so far as it aimed at the realization
of Southern hopes, but it served the
cause of freedom IN its failure just as all
the protests that were made in its behalf,
and as the martyrs death nerves his
fellow believers in devotion, so the loss
of that great cause nerved its advocates
and their posterity In devotion to the
principles it aimed to maintain.
Some Will say: ''The past is dead; let
it bury its dead" Not so. We cannot
blot out the memory of moment OF our
past without blotting all. The blood
and thought and effort that were ex-
pended to rear this proud republic com
mand that the memories of the men who
framed, elaborated and maintained it
should be ever cherished, and on the long
roll there are no names brighter than
those Of our fathers. Their teachings
were not transitory; their wisdom
was not of a day; their counsels were
not temporary, nor their example fleet
ing. They worked, and built for pos
terity, and posterity should revere them
and heed their behests. There are those
who would throw their records aside as
so much waste lumber, and who tell our
young men to forget them and look to
the future They affect a contempt for
"BOurbOns," as they style all who
cherish our past. They urge politi-
cal creed that can adapt itself to the
pocket and cite precedent and prescrip-
ton as satan cites Scripture. Such
counsellOrs are dangerous.
The young men of the South can have
no better mentors than they from whom
their fathers learned the lessons of politi
cal duty. They never counselled dis
honesty, waste, lOoseness, or corruption.
True, the issues that they fought with
knightly power have vanished forever,
but the truths that underlie the fabric Of
Democracy are eternal, and there lives
not a man who can add one title to the
legacy Of counsel and political integrity
they have bequeathed US.
Our tears have long since dried, and
repinings over the might-have-been have
hushed We stand on the threshold of
a grand future. The wheels Of progress
are revolving and we must follow. But
there is no need of headlOng rush. He
who builds slowly has the surest struc
ture. Every plan that gives assurance of
material development should command
our support, but not every scheme that
is preached should receive our approval
on its simple announcement. Man should
not reject the aid, counsel or support of
friends, but that which he makes himself
is his own, and its glory is his own.
There are multitudes of schemes for
Southern development that are inviting
cOuntenance and support. There are
those who would exact both. 1t is well
in dealing with these, and even with the
most promising, to reflect that franchises
are valuable gifts and should not be Law
ishly disposed of, and that what may
yield a harvest to one generation may
prove barren TO posterity.
The new South will prosper, but she
will build most surely where she builds
on self-relIance. Her young men will
rise to influence and power, but they
will reach the places their fathers held
only by loyalty to their faith and obedi-
ence TO their cOunsels.