The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1883-10-17
The New South.

Henry Watterson addressed the Amer
lean Bankers Association at its recent
meeting in Louisville. His remarks were
in characteristic vein and will be read
with interest for their assurance and pic
turesqueness, if not for their accuracy of
statement in some very notable particu-
lars. Even if it were not strictly true
that the South ono longer has any debts
the manner in which many southern states
have reached that desirable financial con-
summation would hardly be proper SUBJ
iect of feicitation before o convention,
many of whose members were representa-
tives of communities where large quanti-
ties of repudiated southern bonds are
held. The claim that the blooming con-
dition of things in the South, as por-
trayed by Watterson, has been achieved
without the powerful aid of northern
and eastern capital, is hardly more credit
able than the assumption that the South
"has no debts" of which fact the Atlanta
exposition, itself the conception of an
eastern political economist and the child
of northern capital, gave abundant evil
dence. However, the speech is very
readable one, ard here is its essential
part, which was freely interspersed with
laughter and applause from good natured
audience:
81 am told that you are to-day considering
problem which has attracted the attention of
the South, and that you wish me to talk about
the South. The South; the South; it is no
problem at all. thank God that we can at
last say with truth it is Il simple geographical
expression. The whole story of the South
may be summed up in the sentence, She was
rich and she lost her riches; she was poor and
in bondage; she was set free and she had to go
to work; she went to work and is richer than
ever before You see 1t was ground hog
case. So 1t was here. The climate WAS here,
but along with 1t was the curse Of slavery
God passed his rod across the land and smOte
the people. Then in his goodness and mercy
he waved the wand OF enchantment and 10,
like flower his blessing burst forth. The South
never knew what independence meant until
she was taught by subsection to subdue her.
self. We lived from hand to mouth, we had
our debts and our Niger. Under the old sys-
TEN we paid our debts and walloped our mig
ger Under the new we pay our niggers and
wallop our debts 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 the Lord, I'm
| getiin fatter and fatter. The truth is THAI
| behind the great ruffls the South wore to its
shirt there lay concealed superb manhood.
| That this manhood was perverted there IL no
doubt That it wasted its energies upon trifes
| is beyond dispute. That it took pride in cult
waiting what it called the vices of gentlemen
am afraid must be admitted, but at heart il
was sound. From that heart flowed honest
| Anglo-Saxon blood and when 1t had to lay
aside its broadcloth and put on its jeans it was
| equal to the emergency (great applause). and
| the women of the South took their place by
| the side OF the men of the South and with the
spinning-wheel and plowshare together they
made stand against the wolf at the door
| is not a reward offered in a single southern
state for wolf skins. The fact is that the very
wolves have got ashamed Of themselves and
| gone to work. You can see for yourselves in
Louisville what the South has done-what the
South can do. II all this has been achieved
without credit aud without your powerful aid
! Il am now addressing myself to the North
| and East which have feared to come South
| with their money-what might not be achieved
il the vast aggr egation of capital in fiscal cen
ters should add this land of wine, milk and
| honey to their fields Of investment and give us
| the cheap rates enjoyed by nearer but moi
| safer borrowers. The future of the South Ii
not a whit less assured than the future of the
West With you the South will bloom as
garden and sparkle as a gold mine. You tickle
! her fertile fields with straw or apply more
violent Utilization to her fat mountain sides and
she is ready to laugh with the heartiest Of I'M
| told riches"