The daily citizen. [volume] (Asheville, N.C.) 1889-1890, 1889-11-13
OUR WEST
YINDICATED BY A TENNES.
SEAN WHO KNOWS Us.
A '''rue People, "a brave People.
"a Moral People, not ObnO NI IOus
tO the ISLANDERS or the RiCIICuIe
of ThOnghtless sscribbIers.

A "rue People, "a Brave People.
81 Moral People, not OOnO n iOus
tO the ISLANDERS or the RiCIICuIe
of ThOnghtless sscribbIers.
The following extracts from an able
communication to the Nashville Herald,
we take much pleasure in reproducing.
They are from the pen of Mr.. ]. \. Irvine,
of Columbia, Tenn, for the last eight
years engaged in this section in the
lumber business. He knows thI people
well, he understands them, and he APP
prcciates them. We thank him for his
manly vindicaton. 1t is truthful. We
also know the people of Western North
Carolina. Wehave mingled freely among
them. They are true people, with brave
honest, unsophsticated hearts, it may be,
with unsophisticated ways, but a better,
more law abiding, more temperate, and
more relgiouslv inclined people nowhere
exist.
We omit part of the communication
in this ISSUE on account oIits length. We
will publish a portion Of the omitted
part hereafter CITIZEN.
The mountains of North Carolina have
within the last year or two become Il
fruitful theme for the writers ui character
skC lchcs, and quaint and old fashioned
stories, and of various descriptive articles
of Il more or less sensational character
The state, although one of the original
thirteen, has not kept it's pace in the line
Ot progress, wealth and general pros
pcrity with many of the others in the
union; but i'll spite of alt this it certainly
does not deserve the evil rcpute it has re.
ceivcd through the many articles written
about it, some false, some malicious and
Others, while true as far us the facts re-
lated, are calculated to leave an entirely
erroneous impression with the reader.
The scenes described and the dialects
used are such as to convey to the mind
a picture of unCouth and primitive life,
CmbelliShcd by acts of barbarity, sui
hcient to disgrace any civilized com
munity. The people are pictured as
speaking an almost unintclligiblc jargon,
of which "vouuns" and "wcuns" forms
an important part, Their homes, mere
hutS: their ambition, to live without
work or worry; their desires, moderate
and easily satisfied. They are described
as the ideal Of a primitive man, good
naturcd, but lawlesS; content i'll Squalid
poverty and most revolving ignorance; !;
generous and hospitable to strangers,
but cruel and even brutal to supposed
enemies; to be free from the vices of civ
ilzation, but to know none of its bless
ings; to be happy with enough to satisfy
their hunger and roof to cover their
head i'll bad weather
| am Tcnnessean, and for eight years
have roamed DER mountain and valley
buying walnut timber. Local pride has
not blinded me to these peoples short
cOmings and cannot be accused OF not
being thoroughly familiar with my sub
ject. The counties of Buncombc, Hay
wood, Jackson, Swain and Macon are as
familiar to me as was to me in my boy
hood days the Tennessee farm on which
| was raised. A desire to do justice to
these people prompts me to write this.
The mineral and timber wealth of these
mountains are inviting fields for capital;
but alas capital is at aid. 1t fears Tor
its safety and that of its possessor in a
land described only as the home of the
hunter, the moonshiner and the beasts oil
the forest, a land where the murder of an
officer is considered a iustitiable homicide,
land where barbarians live, surrounded
by our civilized communities.
The timber wealth of this land is great.
To-day it forms the chief product sent
out to the outside world. Walnut,
cherry, poplar, ash and oak are shipped
out by the millions OF feet, and there are
still billions of feet to be shipped. rcnneS-
scans were the pioneer lumbermcn of this
region.
rhe farmers here arc not rich, bu,
PROSPEROUS They raise large and di
vcrsitled crops on their mountain slopes
and bottom lands They are iHdcpcnd-
cnu, free from debt. They raise and
manufacture all they need. Money has
iost many of its charms here, because
the want of it is not SO keeniy felt i'll Il
land where the people live well upon
what they themselves raise. Each tar
mer is a little monarch, his farm his
kingdom, and he has none but ms God
over him as long as he violates no law.
A trip to this much abused section would
be a valuable object lesson to many a
southern planter especially i'll the cot
ton states, where he is tn" slave OF his
merchant, of whom he buys all he CON
sumes and only raising one crop and
that cotton. Here the farmer is king
and not the exhorting merchant.
Education, too, is on higher plane
than commonly supposed. All have the
clements of a rudimentary education.
School-houses are very numerous; far
more so than in the rural regions of Ten
nessce and Alabama. Churches and re-
Iigious assemblies are common, and, as
general rule, the people try to live upI
to what they hear on Sunday for the re-
manning six days of the week.
Scenes ofignorance and poverty and
lack of ambition and thrift do exist, but
where can they not be found Go to the
slums of our large cities. Look at the
notorious old BLACK Bottom" of Nash !
vile; but still it would be manifest i'll
Justice to give scene from any of these
localities as typical of an entire city, or
conveying the impression that they were
the rule, and something better were an
exception. Illicit stills are very rare on
this side of the mountains. The people |
are law abiding and even exacting IN the
execution of their laws. To prove tins
will cite an instance. Two weeks ago at
the court at Webster a person was on
trial for resisting tax collector with
grubbing hoe. The jury, after being out
five minutes returned a verdict of mot
guilty" Sheriff McClain had allowed
tae accused to leave the court house
before the verdict was returned. On the
strength of this the sheriff was indicted,
tried and convicted on the charge OF
allowing a prisoner to escape. Cases OF
similar stringcncy are very common.
Killing or personal violence is nearly an