The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1885-06-17
Old Eogics In the SOUTH.

Old FoSicS IN the SCUM.
RALEIGH. y. e., May 29.-"Old
southern civilization ; : a topic that n
now lacks contemporaries, hu-
nan interest: but in il. aud especially
n its traditions, ty which i projects
.tselfinto the present, are to be oundt ne
explanation OF the present state O. south
ern thought and suggestion tor It's oroaH-
Every community has us Ola
focies. In most communities they are
very useful persons. because they AFFORD
a wholesome check - the violently pro-
pressive. But 10 most communities
they are a minority they may RESTRAIN,
but they cannot direct, the community.
The popularity Of Southern society
consists in this, that the old iogles are
in the majority. Progressive men have
TO consult them, have 10 obtain Their
permission to do anything, and a hope
TO do nothing until they have even ca
ioled the old fellows into believing that
they are doing it that they are pro-
gressive; that they are The salt OF the
earth, the earth itself, the atmosphere
and, liz fact. the whole solar system.
When, therefore, in most Southern COM
munities a practical step onward IS TO
be taken, the practical men, II they are
shrewd. "organlzer some sort OF a body
and elect a dozen or W prominent
citizens Vice-PresiGents. This Is SIM
Div a way of saying. "By Your gracl-
Gus leave gentlemen, we hope to sue
ceed.' The Vice-Presidents are not
expected to perform any service
except TO allow their names to ap-
pear in "a circular or a prospectus,
or to grace a public meeting with Their
presence ON the platform. But tins
pleases them, and when the little piece
of practical work is done they, o. course,
take the credit to themselves. In such
manuuvring as this the practical men
are dealing, not only with the 'dlstln-
puished citizens themseles, but also
with the mass of the people for the
distinguished citizen is a necessary
bait to catch popular approval with. A
project that has nc distinguished y
backing viii not be regarded with res
pect by the average couutryman.
This is humorous, but it is also dlshon
est. 1t i. a confusion, too, tina; the com
munity is traditiou-ridden, and, when
you come to religious matters-prlest-rld.
den. The 1ignitaries themselves could
be easily disposed of if it were not for the
effect that respect to them and their
methods and to a bombastic way OF doing
things has on the people. The misfor-
tune is that the masses OF the people
have by reason of The traditions OF the
old times become accustomed to these
methods. Men who wear homemade
shirts and homespun trousers and wool
hats that have a hint OF three generations
Of use In their appearance DO not IKE TO
vote for a candidate for Congress who
does not wear a silk hat aud dress like
a gentleman" Your candidate for Con
gress always plays On this tribute to Is
greatness, you may lie sure. Five miles
from town there lives a man who for 10
years has followed the same pillow handles
in the same fields, and his experience IN
iite has been the humble walking ir III
one end of his burrows to the other. Hl-
creeter (in English, horse) has been as
fast as his desires; SO he has never ridden
on the railroad. His soap is home made,
but the old lady has a notion, which has
long been becoming more nearly j settled
conviction, that the I've that she gets
from the ash barrel is not as strong now
as it used to be. The good old couple
have new r beef half a hundred miles
away from home, and they know nobody
who has. The old man thinks he has no
respect for traditions, and he is sure he
has none for any sort OF arlstocracy. Yet
if the State exposition had been conceiv-
ed and carried out with no name associ
ated with it but a few business men he
would have suspected that it was town
Job" Some of the business men he did
not know; the others he habitually sus,
poets of schemes to make money in some
imaginary way at his expense. But when
IA Colonel with whose name he has beer
familiar since the act of secession appears
as a sponsor for the enterprise, the old
man gives his acquiesccnsc, aud 1t may
be he even spends half a dollar to see it.
The progressive men, therefore, are at
d prodigious disadvantage. The whole
organization Of society Is uuwittinglv
hostile to improve nents, because the old
tradition has decreed that all innovations
are heresies. Any other argument is
easier to refutc than the stolid argument
that my daddy done mighty well, and
his daddy a!Ore hun, and Jane aud ID,
have managed TO git long, and the chill
dren mus do the same MIX content
ment with ignorance aud tivor 1t witt
trad ton, AXE It IL orr :, noon and even
ing, especially at church and during :
political ampalgn, and You Lave tae SUI
est preventive OF new Ideas of any Othel
modern disease that could be devised
This is what too many of the people take.
and this is the key to a proper under
standing of the whole problem. The gen
e~rations of men who found it necessary tt
praise the old Southern life as an idea
lie in order to defend slavery have much
to answer for 20 years after slavery has
been abolished. The ultra-conservativt
mass Of the people nave all the virtues
that they claim. They are as conscien'
tious, 10 a certain measure industrious
law abiding, and religious; they have al
the domestic virtues, and they have tina
love Of the soil which is the browning
viltue of all They are as intelligent a
any other agricultural people. They ar,
loyal tofthe Union, too, a. everybody nov
knows, and their sense Of Justice is keen
The ungodly and the desperadoes and tn,
political trick-ters have never had thei
approval or e c,ped their censure. Tn
land they possess, too, is as fertile as gu
orators aud panplleteers have sworn i
is. Ia fact, You have every element, DO
only OF a contented, but also of an ad
'anclng, ~life-except a willingness to ad
vance.
Every advancement that has beef
made in this kind of a society has beel
made by the minority of the progressiv,
men by c~ajoling the old fogies. Thes
two classes, therefore, are yet very ami
able in their ann to one another
The line of division is not sharply drawn
But everybody knows where it ought t,
be drawn. In every town the wide -awak,
men and the dead men are as we.
known as the Democrats and Republi
cans-hetter Known. in fact. because Ii