The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1890-05-17
SATURDAY. MAY II, 1890.
MrcmANIoALAGE IN THE soUs"

ON "Nossefr,cai Developments in The
delivered by Roosevelt Page, ESD,
on Thursday night, on the occasion OF TIE
closing exercises Of the Night school oil
Technology Of the Virginia Mechanics In
stitute. n theme was discussed by INN
which is now Of paramount Smporiance 10
the Southern people. Never before III inc
history Of mankind was so profound ana
radical a change worked in the spirit OF
people. as in that Of the Southern white
population by the economic revolution
which followed the war. The Old south,
which should never cease 10 receive our
homage. was greater in its social and intel
lectual character than in its purely ma
terial. Year by year, decade by decade
generation by generation, it was falling be-
hind i'm the race in which all the nations
were seeking to win the great prizes OF ma
terial achievement. In spite Of the bounty
of nature in the matter Of soil. production.
mineral resources, and climate, the South
ern States were languishing a. compared
with the States Ofthc North, or France, or
England. The plantation system, resting
upon the foundation of slavery, was out Of
sympathy with the economic forces that
were moving the world. There was an IT.
repressible conflict between the two, and a.
surely a. the night succeeded the day, or
dav night 80 surely in the modern age
when distance had been annihilated, and
all men were drawing ncarerto the commu-
nifty Of one family. the economic system
prevailing in the south before the collapse
AT Appoma4toX was doomed 10 inevitable
extinction.
That forcshadowim- Of the future mate
rial greatness Of the Southern people. So
powerfully drawn by Mr. Page in his adj
dress, was not exaggerated. Indeed. II
would be difficult 10 oyerestimate the pro
portions of this greatness. As the past Of the
South is illustrious in social and personal
sense so the future viii be ilustrious pre-
emincntly in an economic sense. The south
ern people are upon the very threshold Of
the mechanical age. They are hardly yet
fully conscious Of their destiny in this IT,
spect, but il can De outlined even now with
fair degree of accuracy. Broadly stated.
every year will see the spirit Of the south
approximate the spirit Of the world al large.
In the pursuit Of wealth, in the eXaltaton
of material achievement, the special char
acierisfics that have distinguished The
Southern people immemorially will fail
away. The people Of the North and the
people Of the South will crow more and
more homogeneous in habits Of life and
methods Of thought, until in time there Will
be no boundary line Of substantial import
ance between them. There is no a~simi-
lating process SO powerful rs pursuit OF a
common object, especially when that OBJ
iect is the accumulation Of wealth. For a
practically indefinite time. this will be the
absorbing aspiration Of the great body Of the
Southern people; already the fever is upon
them, stimulating them, exciting them,
urging them on with a force which they
cannot resist. The spirit that peryadcs
the world has been suddenly planted in
their breasts, and the result will soon be so
clearly illustrated in every section of the
Southern territory that the southern states
will not be recognized as being the same
that they were even decade ago.
We are not disposed TO condemn this
spirit in the present age. An untiring pur-
suit Of wealth, vulgar and contracting as IL
is for nations as for individuals is now the
first duty which the Southern people owe TO
themselves and to their section. Nature in
yites them 10 the task; the unrelenting
hatred Of sectional party warns them To
increase their powers by the development
Of every resource. Material progress il an
object Of legitimate ambition and to it the
r. Southern people should devote every energy
at their command. The field before them is
unlimited in its possibilities, and the prizes
10 be secured in it by enterprise, assiduity
and sound judgment are of unryalcd value.
The South promises TO become the seat of
the greatest industrial activity on the con-
tinent, and her sons 10 Dee the leaders in the
yastest industrial enterprises that have
been known in American history. Her
destiny is manifest, and no combination Of
events can obStruct her progress.