The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-11-18
Those "Iudolont southerners."

Icatio1. but as an evidence OF good faith.
Those "Iudolent Southerners.
is rot an uncommon thing, says the
Mobile Register, to hear southern people
assert that we have in the broad belt of
country living adjacent to the Gulf of Mex
leo one of the finest agricultural regions in
the world, all things considered, could it
onlv be properly developed, but that this
nesded development never can and neve
will be brought about by native southern
ars The country must be settled up by
northern men, they say, for the southern
man has no enterprise or push about him,
and until such a condition of things is Sc
batter stats of affairs here than has an ex-
istence at ths present time.
The position is quite commonly taken in
the presence of tourists from the north who
are down here looking over what we have
to offer in the way of encouragement to
farming immigrants and while it may pos
siblv be correct to some extent, for it takes
population to develop country, it is GER
tsiuly very much too broad. And in de-
cidedly large per cent. Of instances 1t is not
honestly taken. People nowadays build a
great deal on the effects OF ''taffym as we
say, and hence the leading object in this
case is simply to make the stranger feel
proud of his supposed-to-be characteristic
enterprise and push, with a view to pleas
ing him with us on account of our expressed
opinion of him the which is expected
I'D, 70 III t.
lot among us. But it falls far short Of al
WAYS having that effect-iu a great ma
iority of cases the effect stands directly to
the reverse. Men of push don't relish the
idea OF bringing and rearing up their fami-
lies among a hopelsssiy indolsnt and char
actertis5ically on-progressive people. Their
children will want life-partners after
awhile. and the people among whom they
are reared will be expected to supply them.
We have good reasons for believing that
this very kind of thing works stronger for
LIS against northern immigration than al
most anything else we could do. On ac-
count Of the impression it creates northern
people are found talking up the necessity of
moving to the south as large communities
or colonies" as they are usually called,
ana since such q move is practicable onIyin
comparatively rare cases the people, who
might come under other circumstances, do
not come at all. We cannot settle up ex-
clusively by colonies, bat the immigrant
additions to our population must come
mainly by families dropping in here and
and there with the intention of becoming
one Of uS-with what they hear of our in
dolence and lack of enterprise generally,
they do not feel disposed to do it, no matter
how much the more might otherwise be to
their advantage, and no person in his right
senses can consistently blame them under
the circumstances
In our extensive experience with northern
''prospectoTs" We have found this idea OF
universal southern indolencs, etc, wide
spread and deep-rooted. People have passed
through our country and heard our stereo-
typed story ofswant OF push, and returning
whence they came have spread the sad It'd
ings. The next to come are "all heeledn on
the subject, and SO, of course, see every
thing exactly in the same light. adding to
the evidence when they get back, aud so it
goes, and thus it keeps up. Less than one
month ago we met on Mobile and Ohio
railroad train a gentleman on his first trip
down from Iowa. He expressed himself as
liking the general appearance of the coun-
try very well, but our lazy people, he
couldn't bear the thought of them, he said.
1t was almost enough, he added, to make
one murmur against power whose wis
dom was above reproach, to find SO excel
lent country in the hands of such hopeless
dolts. OF course that was the way his ed
ucation had prepared him to expect it, and
now, when we tried to undeceive him, he
was willing to see things in no other light
That we have many INDECENT and nom
progressive people in the south cannot be
denied, but it is by nomeans sure that we
have IN proportion to population, more,
outside OF a certain element not necessary
TO name, and not much rep resented in other
sections, than they have at the north. Our
;ndolent people may be mo re indolent than
are the indolent people up there, owing to
the fact that our climate aud other natural
advantages enable them to be SO, and live.
but doubtless they are mot more so than
that class Of people would be up there, if
they could. The person who has been over
the north as much as we have, aud has
made close observations in both sections,
cannot help knowing that this is literally
true.
10 credit us as Il whole people with being
INCIDENT ann wanting in enterprise is en-
nrely wrong. Many of the best and most
progressive farmers and Gardeners we have
aefe are native southerners, and not a few
Vi our most pushing manufactu ring enter
enterprises are run and managed by south
erh people. And this is saying nothing
sgalnst the northern people who have es-
'9tLshed themselves among US. They. as
rue are all pushing people, fact well cal
'ulaeed to build up the conclusion that all
aOfVnern people are strictly of that charac-
Ser But before jumping entirely to such
conclusion it would be well to reflect that
people OF the most INDECENT character sell
a0ui get away from the home of their ma
qVl0y-they are not able to go, and they
roulo seldom want to go if they were able.
tne people with enterprise enough to carry
'aefn down here are very apt to be people
Ool'nglng to the pushing classes. hence we
"no nave been here all our lives have been
Saoroed an opportunity of seeing but one
side of the case