Morris tribune., 1890-03-05
The Young Men of the South.

note of preparation for future work. |
Does he see and appreciate the move
ment going on around him, which |
means immense development and future 1
wealth? Does he feel the stir and
movement of the day? Will he be
quick to perceive and seize the oppor-
tunities of the hour? And will he |
measure UP to the demands and respon-
sibilities 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 men of the South,
and let them answer the questions.
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
a rich meadow well coated with clover
and grasses, and garden showing at
the same time the most beautiful flow.
ers and the most noxious weeds. Be-
fore the war society was divided into
two classes; viz; the poor whites; with.
out education and refinement, almost
without the common decencies of life,
without 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
| important business men, was fairly
wealthy, with the means of wealth al
ways within their reach; they were able
to give their children the best ed4ca-
tional advantages, and to surround
them in their homes with comforts and
luxuries. Both classes reproduced them
selves 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 prosperous re-
manned rich and prosperous, and the
sons succeeded to the advantages OF the
| fathers. The sons of the lower class,
| without education, still were educated 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. Fhe
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, were swept into its
destructive current. The existence of a
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. SINH
lar influences were at work at home too,
during the progress Of the war. A COM
mon cause and common suffering were
breaking down social distinction, and
were drawing together those who had
lived apart. The close of the war left
all alike poor, and face to face with the
solid fact that henceforth they must
work for o living. Labor had been
menial; the fortunes of war made it
necessity; its pleasures and its gains
have now made 1t honorable in all. The
conditions forced upon all classes of
people at the South, still continue,
though modified in some degree. AS a
result of those conditions q new social
life has been evolved, and is now quite
we'll established. The upper class has
lost it's opportunities and means for ed
ucation, culture, refinement and luxuri-
Gus living. The lower class has gained
greater opportunities for acquiring edu-
cation and wealth. The children of the
upper class have manfully accepted the
situation, and by labor of hand and
head are working out their own support
and the support of those dependent up
on them. The defendants of the lower
class, working side by side with the
others, are forcing themselves into the
avenues of wealth; agriculture, bust
ness of all kinds and the professions.
The present generation of the two
classes associate and intermarry with
out thought of former distinctions; the
physical types of personal appearance
are rapidly vanishing away; and within
few years it will not be possible to find
proof of the existence of such former
types, except in those districts most re-
mote from all changing influences.
Social equality exists nowhere. There
are social distinctions in the South as in
the North, but they are formed in diff
ferent manner, and rest on different
basis from those of days before the war.
AS was stated above, the young man OF
the South to-day is the product of the
tremendous changes which we have
briefly described. He recognizes social
distinctions; lives in them; but not with
social classes. He is doing all kinds of
manual and mechanical labor, and push
ing himself into all classes of business,
into all the professions, politics and leg
islative bodies. He is ready to do any
work, engage in any business, or hold
any office. Whatever he does he does
cheerfully and hopefully. Young men
descendants of parents who were rich
before the war, may now be found
cheerfully and uncomplainingly per-
forming hard manual labor as neces-
sity of living. They may sometimes
speak of the former times and say they
wish they had them back; but seldom in
that tone or manner which constitutes a