Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1883-11-10
a GOOD SPEECH.
Henry Watterson Before the Bankers Con-
ventfon at Louisville.

vention at Louisville.
Mr.. PRESIDENT AND GENTLl
MEM assure you that considt
this a very great occasion. / migf
call it an event in my life. 1t
true that my intercourse with bank
and bankers has ever been ofa plea.
ing and satisfactory character-an
L hope exactly so on both sides {
the counter-but / never did eXpeC
to catch the whole banking system
of the country "on the wing" as
were, and to s'get the drop on it !!
Laughter.1 The temptation t,
proceed to business is almost IRE
sistable, and if my friend Halde
man who has a turn, for thes
things, and is "A magician in ex
changes, renewals and discounts
were only here we might pool tn
billions which you represent, ge
up corner on the national debt
and take out post-obit on the pub
lie credit! Laughter and ap
plause.
There is something exhileratins
in the mere act of rubbing agains
so much money laughter, and
for the first time l can realize th'
full meaning of the immortal Sci
lers when he said: "Millions OF it
millions of it! floating about in the
air." Great applause.
Being provident person, and
not without a certain prudent sa
gacity, / have always been friend
to the banks. A man may quarrel
with his wife; he may sometimes
venture suggestion to his mother.
in-law, but he must love, honor
and obey his banker. prolonged
laughter and applause.
1t was not, however, to hear oil
banks and bankers and banking
that you did me the honor to call
me before you. am told that to-
day you are considering that prob
lem, which has so disturbed the
politicians-the Southland that
you wish me to talk to you about
the South. The south the South
1t is. no problem at all. l thank
God that at last we can say with
truth, it is simply a geographic eX-
preston. Applause. The whole
story of the South may be summed
up in sentence; She was rich and
she lost her riches; she was poor
and in bondage; she was set free,
and had to go to work; she went
to work and she is richer than ev.
er before. [Applause. You see it
was ground hog case. Laughter.
The soil was here. The climate
was here but along with them was
a curse, the curse of slavery. God
passed the rod across the land and
smote the people. Then in His
goodness and mercy, He waved the
wand of enchantment, and 10, like
a flower, His blessing burst forth.
Applause. Indeed may the South
say, as in the experience of men it
is rare for any to say with perfect
"Sweet are the uses of adversity."
Applause.
The South never knew what in
meant until she was
taught by subsection to subdue her.
self. We lived from hand to mouth.
We had our debts and our niggers.
Under the old system we paid our
debts and walloped our niggers.
Under the new we pay our mig
gers and wallop our debts. Laugh
ter and applause. We have no
longer any slaves, but we have no
longer any debts, and can exclaim
with the old darkey at the camp
meeting, who, whenever he got
happy went about shouting, "Bless
he Lord, Pm gittin' fatter an fat
.er!" Laughter.
The truth is that, behind the
great rufffe the South wore to its
shirt, there lay concealed superb
That this manhood was
there is no doubt. That
t took a pride in cuItivating what
$ called "the vices of a gentleman"
am afraid must be admitted.
But at heart, it was sound from
hat heart flowed honest Anglo
saxon blood and when it had to
ay aside its broadcloth and put on
is Jeans, it was equal TO the emer-
tency. Great applause. And
he women of the South took their
,lace by the side of the men of the
south, and with spinning wheel
nd ploW share, together they made
stand against the wolf at the door.
That was fifteen years ago, and to-
lay there is not a reward offered in
single Southern State for wolf
kins. The fact is, the very wolves
ave got ashamed of themselves
nd gone to work. Laughter and
pplause.
| beg you to believe that, in say
ng this, my purpose is neither to
muse nor to mislead you. AL
hougn my words may seem to
AIRY with them an unbusiness-
ike levity. / assure you that my
esign is wholly business-like' You
an see for yourselves here in Louis
lille what the South has done;
What the South can do. If this has
een achieved without credit, and
Without your powerful aid-and l
m now addressing myself to the
North and East which have feared
0 come South with their money
What might be achieved if the vast
ggregations of capital in the fiscal
enters should add this land of
vine, milk and honey to their fields
f investment and give us the same |
heap rates which are enjoyed by |
carer, but not safer borrowers ?
he future of the South is not
Whit less assured than the future of |
he West. Why should money |
5hich is freely loaned to Iowa and |
Illinois be refused to Alabama and |
/ perfectly under
land that business is business, and |
hat capital is as unsectional as un-
l am speaking from
either spirit. You have money to
,an. We have a great country to
evelop.
We need the money. You can
lake a profit off the development.
When l say that we need money,
do not mean the sort of money
nee demanded by an old Georgia
lrmer, who in the earlier days,
anne up to Millidgeville to see Gen.
,obert Toombs, at the time a di-
ector of the State Bank. "ROb-
IT." says he "the folks down our
,ay are in need of more money!"
he profane Robert replied
Well, how in the h are they go
lg to get it?" "Why," says the
lrmer, "can't you stomp it ?"
Suppose we do stomp it, how are
'e going to redeem it 2" EXACT
,, Robert, exactly. That was just
hat l was coming to. You see
he folks down cur way are agin
edemption." Laughter. We
ant good money, honest money,
ard money, that will redeem it.