Thomas County cat., 1890-03-06
THE YOUNG MEN OF THE SOUTH.
BUREAU OF SOUTHERN News.
J. r. PATRICK, General Manager,
Dolo:rl,

d. N,
Raleigh, N. G.
1t has often been said that the young
man is the hope of the Nation. If this is
| true in general sense, it is forcibly true
in the case of the young man of the
South. Does he hear and consider the
sound of going among the trees; the
note of preparation for future work ?
Does he see and appreciate the move
ment going on around him, which means
immense development and future wealth? ?
Does he feel the air and movement of
the day? Will he be quick to perceive
and seize the opportunities of the hour?
And will he measure up to the demands
and responsibilities of the times? If so.
then is the young man the hope of the
South. We will not give direct answers
to our own questions, but will try to
show to our readers the young man of
the South, and let them answer the ques-
tions.
The young man of the South to-day is
the product of one of the greatest social
revolutions which ever affected civil
lied nation. The present condition of
the social structure, and its condition
before the civil war, are as unlike as
clover and grasses, and a garden show
ing at the same time the most beautiful
flowers and the most nOxious we eds. Be-
fore the war society was divided into
two classes; viz. the poor whites;withOut
education and refinement, almost with
out the common decencies of life. with
out wealth or the means to acquire. and
yet counting in the census and in the
political life of the people. The other
class. consisting of planters and impor-
tant business men, was fairly wealthy,
with the means of wealth always within
their reach; they were able to give their
children the best educational advantages
and to surround them in their homes
with comforts and luxuries Both classes
reproduced themselves as the generations
followed each other, almost without
change. The poor whites remained poor
whites, and the young men grew up to
be like their fathers. The rich and pros
porous remained rich and prosperous,
and the sons succeeded to the advantages
of the fathers The sons of the lower
class, without education, still were edu-
Gated to believe that they were to be
nothing more than their fathers, and
that they existed mainly to fill the gap
between the negroes and the ruling
whites. The sons of the other class were
educated to and with the idea that they
were TO be the future business men, law
makers, governors and presidents of the
land. The two classes lived side BY side.
yet far apart. They did not intermarry.
and they were socially separate and dis
tinct. More than that. Generations of
such life and conditions had made them
almost two distinct types of humanity in
personal appearance.
But the civil war came. and all the
men of the South of every condition and
almost of every age, was swept into its
destructive current. The existence of
common belief in the Justice of their.
cause; the common discipline of the
camp: the common necessities of the
march: and the common dangers of the
battle field, leveled all distinctions. Then
the drawing together process of the two
classes of people began. Similar influ-
ences were at work at home too, during
the process of the war; A common cause
and common suffering were breaking