Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1882-08-30
The Boosted Superiority Of the North
Over the South.

Over the South.
Hon. Cassius NJ. Clay, of Kentucky,
recently remarked in substance that the
South was in no special need of ''Yan-
kee push and Yankee brains" Mr.. Clay
was right, but the assertion to the contrary
has been made so often at the North, and
of late years certain Southern journals
have so rung the changes on this catch
ing phrase that the Northern people
are, in measure, excusable for thinking
themselves our superiors, and regarding
our people as indolent plodders content
to live but with little thought for the
future. A brief glance at the record Of
the South, however, will show that if
there is any superiority between the men
of the North and South, the advantage is
with the latter.
Northern capital recently has done much
for the South, it is true, but the prosperity
that our section enjoys is of her own
creation, and it's accomplishment affords
a splendid vindication of Southern tact
and pluck. The South of 1866 and the
South of to-day form a contrast such as
only a land laid waste by war and
a land filled with plenty can present.
Great as was the ante beLlUm past of the
South, the years spent in the task of her
recuperation are the brightest in her an
mails. Almost entirely unaided her people
rose from poverty to contentment, and
now look forward with proud confidence
to a splendid future.
Wherein, then, lies the North's supe-
riority? If it can be found anywhere, it
is in the alleged fact that the aver
age Northern man is better supplied
with the worlds goods than the average
Southerner, and so has possessed the
means for developing his section and
benefting himself. Probably in the
past this was in the main true, hut that
it is true to-day may fairly be disputed.
Granted that the millionaires of the
North outnumber those of the South by
long odds, the farmer, the laborer and
mechanic of the former section derive
but little benefit from the disparity. The
Southern planter has the same OppOrtu-
nifty to maintain his family from his land
as the Northern farmer has, and be-
sides has in his cotton and tobacco
surplus crops far more profitable than
the latter can possibly produce, while it
is a conceded fact that the laborer of the
South is much more contented with his
lot than his fellow workman of the
North. Wherein then is any supe-
riority of the latter over the former in
any respect manifested?
From another point of view, too,
Northern superiority fails to appear.
The Southerner who goes North to
improve his fortunes, as a rule,
fares as well, and often better, than
the NOrtherner who comes South for a
like purpose. The representative men
of either section are balanced in intelli-
gence and capabilities, and are only dis
tinguished by traits of ancestry and
habits acquired from social sources.
If the South can strictly be
called poor, it is not from lack
of natural facilities or the capacity
in her people. Her resources are mani
fest. The ability of her people to de-
velOp them has been proved. All she
needs is capital, and with the induce
ments she offers she will not have long
to wait for it. Already it is being at
tracted by the splendid opportunities she
offers for investments, and while brains
and energy of the North will be welcom-
ed just as the brains and energy of the
rest of the universe, it will not be because
of any alleged superiority of that section.
Neither mentally nor physically, nor in
any other respect, then, can this Wanted
superiority be proven, and. its assump-
ton is purely gratuitous, while its recog-
milton by our section is absurdly belit-
Ting. The theory that zone Southerner
was match for five Yankees" was ex-
ploded long ago, but that the average
SOutherner need yield in nothing to the
average Northerner is a 'frozen" fact.