Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1881-01-29
Foo Many Doctors for an t'nap-
preciatIve Patient.
Nashville Advocate.

1t is the fashion to assume tha
the south il sick. Everybody want
1 to play doctor. The politician i
ready with his prescription Of specia
| legislation. The phiiantbropist in
sists on thrusting down her throa
theories never put into practice any
| where else. Advice and reproof arr
1 offered to her without limit by ths
! political economist. The sensational
/ pulpit uses the south for striking
| illustration and disparaging al
lusion. The. novelist, when Other
topics pail upon the popular taste
/ has only TO go on a fools errand tC
the south to get Il hearing and turn
a penny. Every quack has his own
diagnosis and mode of treatment.
The bewildered and obstinate
patient is denounced because She
| does not swallow all the medicine
prescribed by these self-appointed
doctors. tits in vain that she as
sures them that she does not feel SC
very sick after all, that she is pretty
comfortable. and hopes to do very
| well. They insist that she is very
sick, and that unless something is
done quickly she must die. On the
one hand we have any amount OF
gratuitous advice, and on the other
invincible obstinacy.
Now, a patient is not always a
good judge of his own condition,
but usually a sick person knows he
is sick. What about the south, what
is its real condition?
1t has been asserted that the south
was being depopulated, and that
nothing but immigration could save
her. The revelations Of the late
census dispelled that illusion. In
stead of being depleted the south
has grown rapidly in population
during the last ten years. The en-
migration-doctors were wrong in
their diagnosis.
1t has been said that the south
was periShing for the lack OF a re-
liable labor system. 1t has been
charged that the whites were too
proud and the negroes too lazy to
work, and that both races We're in
danger of starvation. That illusion
was dispelled by the annual exhib-
its of the agricultural bureau of the
government, showing increased pro-
duction and heavier exports than
ever before.
With more plausibility, it has
been said that ignorance is the dis
case that is killing the south. The
census of illiteracy is paraded, and
we are told TO swallow the new ed
acatiOnai nostrums prepared for us.
or die. A comparison of criminal
statistics, which is the. true test of
social soundness, shows that the
south is in as healthy a condition
as her sisters. There is no ground
for boasting anywhere on this score.
But these statistics strengthen the
opinion long entertained by many
in all parts of our country that mere
sharpening of the intellectual facul-
ties is not the only condition neces-
sary 10 the stability, prosperity, and
happiness of Il state. A more inn
portant factor is the religious belief
and moral stdtHs of the people. The
plain tiller of the soil, who signs his
name with cross-mark, aud yet
believe in God and in Immortality,
is safer depOsitary of the liberties
and happiness of state than the
graduates of any system of educa-
tiOn that attempts moral culture
without a recognition of God and a
sense of accountability to him. AT
this point also the diagnosis is not
altogether correct, and the proposed
treatment is of doubtful efficacy.
Too much doctoring will make a
well person sick. 1t is not wise to
go to taking medicine for every
slight disorder of the body. A
healthy boys "growing-pains" are
not dangerous. Leave him alone,
and let him grow. The south is
growing in all the elements of ma
terial and moral progress. During
the last fifteen years she has suffered
more at the hands of her volunteer
doctors and nurses than from all
others. Under carpet bag rule she
was bled within an inch of her life;
but she survived, and is now doing
well. Her appetite is good; her
sleep is sweet; her lungs are sound;
her limbs are strong; her eye is
bright. Let her grow awhile. Do
not waste so much advice where it
is not needed. Don't discourage a
brave and struggling people with
this unceasing clamor of censure or
evil pr0phesying. Before the war
the southern people, in dealing with
difficult and peculiar inherited con-
ditions, acted their parts as well as
any of their censors would have
done under the same circumstances
Since the war they have shown
great adaptability, and they have
exhibited in a marked degree the
qualities requisite for political or
ganization and self-government.
They are not an effete race. They
are not barbarians. They are not
sick or dying people. They have
given many names to the roll of
illustrious men whose lives are the
glory of our country, and they will
add many names to it in the future.
There is life in the land yet. Let
there be a stop to croak ing at home
and of nagging from abroad. The
last ten years was a period of mar
velous progress to the south. The
next ten years will be still more