Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1886-05-14
ANOTHER LETTER FROM THE SOUTH.
THE wAR-TENNEssEE AND ITS PEOPLE.
-. ILL. !. ...-...... tI...,, Mn,. 1909

"Hurrah, hurrah, we bring the jubilee,
Hurrah, hurrah, the flag that set us free
Twas thus we sang the chorus from Atlanta
to the sea
While we were marching through Georgia."
These sounds rise now from the parlor
and fill the whole house. They are be-
ing sung and repeated again and again
by members of the Ohio legislature, some
10 of whom are here on an excursion
from Columbus.
And they did bring the jubilee. To
the millions of slaves upon whom hither-
to had fallen nothing but injustice they
brought the year of jubilee. The great
laws of God through all these years had
been silently working, and, finally,
through the passions and the crime of
such ignorant and narrow and foolish
leaders as jefferson Davis the great war
was set in motion that with terrific pow
er, with sure and certain action. brought
the year of jubilee. The shackles drop
ped from those millions of slaves and they
were free. And they are free. There
was no fraud in that year of jubilee. They
are free today, and the most of them
worthilv doing their work. They are
great section has been overturned. a new
one has been formed. The powers
that made it are beyond the control
of men. The sentiment of the past. in
spite of all the hullabaloo now being
made by Mr.. Davis and those with
him. is of the past. y newer and
stronger is growing; the feeling that the
South is part of the nation, which is
shown in the excitement of the hour by
the mingling of the Union and Confeder-
ate flags. by the almost complete absence
of any disloyal utterance and the report
ed loyal words of Gen. Gordon and other
speakers. Exactly how this eXtraordin-
AIRY ebullition of fancy may affect the
Democratic party is another and far less
important problem. Sentiments. like
strikes may he catching. Perhaps the
North will wake up to the idea that Gen.
sherman was something of hero when
he made that march to the sea and signi-
fly it with Il spontaneous uprising that
will boost him into the presidential chair.
almost without opposition. at the next
election. A. prominent Southern citizen.
one of the most so of all the business
men of the South. said to me lately:
The civil war was war for slavery.
They can talk till doomsday about it. but
that's all there was of it," l. there
man in the South so great fool a not
to know this: We don't believe that
there is; but there is nothing more easy
than lying, especially when by it we ap-
pear To relieve our faults or our failures.
My last was dated from Asheville. |
have but little more to add of that locali
ty. The day broke away at one time, so
that could see nearly in full the West
ern mountains, from 10 to 20 miles dis
tant. There is quite fine display of
them, but the fact remains that Asheville
in itself and immediate surroundings is
not inviting. The French Broad as far
as "AleXander's, ten miles. has very lit
tie of interest and no beauty. From there
for ten or fifteen miles more we could see
it but dimly, as it was growing dark.
There seemed to be something more of
scenery, but most of it pretty bleak. At
ter that for the next forty miles ii was so
dark we could not see at all; but | have
found ont i'm oil Snuthnrn dacoriptionS of
anything, when they let their fancy play
YOU want to discount at least 80 per cent.
| stopped at Morrisville over night at
poor hotel, though it might have been
worse. Morrisvile is scrub town, of
little promise; but after leaving it the
next morning soon we struck a magniti-
cent farming country, by far the best of
any have seen since leaving Washing
ton. This is in Eastern Tennessee and
the valley of the Tennessee. 1t is
strictly grazing country. Thoroughly
fenced, and with thousands of cattle and
horses at pasture as far as one can see on
each side of the railroad. it is fertile.
Knoxville, with a population of -. 200 to
10000. is the principal city and looks
from the cars to be very fine one. The
country changes at about 30 miles before
reaching Chattanooga. becoming rougher
and poorer. The population of this part of
Tennessee is mostly white and is strong
ly Republican in politics. Indeed, the
whole State gave but some 1000 Democrat
ic majority mt the last election. The con-
tinuation of this valley between noun
tains up through Virginia is also Repub-
lican, and am told the mountain region
of North Carolina is. This is as it should
be, and if the Republican party could
keep honest North it would soon win in
these States.
stop here at the Stanton House. a very
excellent hotel that cost over 100000
went on a mortgage at $4,000, and is
dead property at that. Chattanooga