Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1890-04-17
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1887.

federates marched through a desert. IS
Fair cities like Columbia and At-s
lanta, and numerous towns and viii iss
lagos had been licked up by the fam
ing tongue of war, and only ash
heaps and blackencd walls remained. y
Great industries and transportation 4
systems had been wrecked, and the q
plantations had been given up to #
weeds. Battle-felds, fortresscs, III
trenches, graves--these met the eye
at every turn, and back of them
were millions of women and children
on the verge of starvation, and other
millions of lifelong slaves rioting in II
their freedom, and half ready for
another revolution.
But the soldiers of Lee, heart-sick #
and foot-sore, marched bravcly back s.
to their starving families, and went
to work in their faded jackets Of
gray. All was gone in the shape OF
property, except the bare land and 81
few old houses. Three billion dol IS
lars in property had been destroyed,
and these moneylcss men had to buy
their supplies on credit at sixty per J:
cent interest. They were denied
even the privilege of governing
themselves. Many lived ip military
districts, under bayonet rule. Negro s
soldiers swarmed over the land, and
rapacious aliens filled the offices and a
plundercd the people. S
All this was only quarter Of \
century ago. 1t is we'll nigh impos-
sible, as the cheer Of this April
morning thrills our pulls g. and stirs
our blood, to recall the terror and
gloom of the dark days thatfollowed
the meeting between Grant and Lee
at Appomatox.
In less than a generation the y
dauntless gray veterans have turned !
the old battlc-ficlds into smiling
farms. Stately cities rear their tur-
rets and spires whore once stood red
rcdoubts, and tho busy hum of peace- Is
ful industry makes music whore once E
the wclkin rang with the clash of N
steel and the wild shouts of charging
lcgions.
The rising South to-day grccts the "
world, and points with honest pride
to tho results of her work. No
trace of defeat, Of dcsolation re-
remains. Prosperity has taken the
place Of poverty. Tho land is grid
ironed with railroads. New cities
and town surprise the traveller every y
where. Progress is written all over
the map. The cotton crop has
jumped up to an annual product D
worth S35o,OO0,000. Thirty million
dollars year has been paid by these
toiling Southcrncrs in pensions to
Northern soldiers, to say nothing Of
; 1922, 100000 for the free education
, of all, both white and black.
Despite the wreck and ruin Of
twenty-five years ago--the robbers
that plundercd us, and the drain upon
our life blood and our hard earnings,
the rising South has struggled up to
: vantage ground again. With a
monopoly in cotton, supremacy in
iron, and the coal and timber to sup
ply the public in future, she now
occupies commanding position
: among the nations. Diversified
crops, and great manufacturing ms
dustries have wrought revolution.
Outside capital is rushing in. ,,E'iho
world has its eyes turned this way.
he great world supply of cotton,
iron, TIMBER coal, marble and granite
must come from our fields and moun- 6
tains, and the worlds great fartories
must do their work in our midst
When we think of this disastrous
chapter of Appomatox let us not
forget to look at the shining record
unrollcd to-day. God rcigns, and
the South livcs--livcs rcgenerated,
redeemed and discnthralled, her.
brow re-crowncd, and the scptelas
again within her grasp. In His own
good time, and in His own mysteri-
ous ways, through the storm of bat 4
tic and the humiliation of defeat and
poverty the Almighty has led the
South out of the darkness into the
: light, and showercd His blessing upon
I her.
This anniversary brings no gloom
with it. The South looks forward
and not backward. Hcnceforth her
career will be one of peaceful con.
quest, under no moro war-lke ban.
ncr than that of King Cotton.
T,cisuro for man of bn.;noeo l,,s; 5a