New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1892-08-30
ON THE WAY TO GUATEMALA.
A NEw-ENGLANDER SEES HOPE BUT NOT
REALIZATION IN THE SOUTH.

the cosmopolitan city OF the Gulf States is SURPRISE
A delight and n revelation. Touching or CROSSING rs
I did seven States on the route conversine more OF
Iess with gentlemen from each, las opportunity
offered and watching with eager interest every
appearance Of prosperity and progress. CONFESS
that entered the City Of New-Orleans with mingled
feelings of disappointment and pleasure.
The bright expectations to the present prosperous
condition OF this Southland excited by newspaper
articles and land advertisements which filled my mind
nnon leaving the North have not been fulfilled, out
the hopes for the future are, II possible brighter As
T realize after personal examination how rich the
South is in possibilities, and how much capita ana
rightly directed effort can accomplish In the deveop
ment of diversified agricultural and Manufacturing
industries.
Inclination led me through Virginia by the way OF
the Shenandoah Valley, every mile OF winch is coheu
IN a mantle OF historic memories. expected TO see
uttle to remind me OF sold Virginia" but instead
expected to find the Valley and the state throoolhe
with new nfe induced by new enterprises ana
biossomng with the activities Of new Industries puseo
IN success BY something like New England ambition.
Outlines Of towns l did see, broad streets staKeo
out through grassy fields in which unsghtly stumps
were still standing waiting for decay or dynamite
10 remove them, and In which pigs ana COWS "ere
freely pasturing. These ! noted In my diar! as
"dead towns Apparently they had been laid out
nv professional boomers and land SPECTATORS not l
the purpose OF making them the centres OF huccessin
and permanent industries Of which the founders ana
organizers should be the owners ana oirectors' our
Tho shops hotels ard public buildings standing idle
ara vacant evidently intended to catch crcduouS
investors upon whom the organizers could unload
These dead or boom towns are slndwiched between
other and older towns, which lend TO them somewhat
~ an air of respcctablllty but TO who cares but
little f6r cmpty wallis and who is expecting to near
the whirr Of revolving wheels and to see such busy
hives a. the North show at every corner these
emmy buildings and silent shops are surprise. Inc
l,oly 90 antnr :
not hard to discover. The peculiar institution has
left mMew and blight upon the South and upon
Southern springs OF action. hard to remove.
The pride of birth and contempt for labor Is sui
n dominant element among southern wmes' ue De-
lief that acricu Is the only proper INDUSTRY lor
the Sonth and the only proper employment Iof gentle
men. and that the mechanic and the grease which
brcates his machinery too fragrant of the North
undoubtedly have much to do with the failure OF many!
~ these new enterprises which, in the masnatlons
Of their promoters, to make the South again pop
ulous and prosperous.
AT every station through which we passed crowns
Of Iistess. waiting loungers black and white hung
unon fences leaned against posts, Topped upon one
log or Law upon the grass mastcating huge Quids OF
Virginia plug ard watching the train with an expires
sion of lstess curiosity, their sloveny dress ana eA
pressonless faces indicating their lack OF energy WHO
the countless children swarmng around them as surely
indicate the industry which continues the vaueess
limo NJ an unbappy and equally ambtonless posterty
~ II were possible to induce this mass OF shftess ana
unemployed humanity to work, the problem OF the de
yelopment Of the South would at once be soiVed' ;
political and race problems would, IN busy COM
munity take care of themselves and the New south
politically and industriously would be accomplished
fact.
A how before the war; knew something OF slave
life and habits especially in Virginia. Since the war
various duties have detained me close at home ana
have known the colord people only as have seen
them through the changeful light OF the pubic press
That has taught IIe 70 believe in their gradual bu'
sure advancement, and as l tourneyed looked
an xiousy to see the signs of that awakening ambition
which was Hitting them out Of the depths OF leio'i'
br7tishncss into which centuries OF slavery had desu
them and was fitting them for the higher lie vi to
sponsbility which emancipation and the Hanchlse iau
placed upon them. The 1act Is j saw little OF the
kind but instead clusters Nttie capns fainar III
.nt.bellum DAYS and now apparently occupied by the
children Of former slave occupants The air Is sur
cha ged with the signs OF servitude, ana ali te ei
vironmcnt echoes the days OF slavery. 10 KIP van
Wrinkle awakening from thirty-years steep lncie -
little to indicate that the Of the colored people
a, the sou,h have merged into freedom, are the
ar.c,ors of their own civil and political destnes ana
in the possesson Of the rights OF nfe liberty ana the
pursuit of happiness.
Passing through Alabama, Mississippi and Louis
apa We see each the same earmarks OF the ou save
life only II possible, intensified by greater distance
Crescent follows unfortunate route, ana that the
traveller over II is not taken through the portion
Of cxlntry where coored or white life shows 10 'he
host advantage but certainly through the Agricultural
and mining districts OF Virginia and Carolina the
,urpeutine and lumber districts Of Georgia ana MISS
slpni and the cotton and sugar districts OF ALABAMA
and Louisiana there is nothing to Indicate 'hat
freedom and the elective franchise have accomplished
for the negroes what hoped and expected oy
those whose blood and bravery conferred those o'e
t,rs ,non Them As waited In the hotel or stroiieo
through the dirty street Of Meridian, In mississippi
whose history is fragrant with recorded ana unre
corded negro outrages the reason for this lack OF
advancement was somewhat apparent and converse
tion with Southerner OF different classes fully solved
the problem for me. That the South Is rich In AL
the sources for abundant agricultural, mineral anu
manufacturing prosperity Is certain us hiils are
fun OF iron and the more precious ores us V"'io''
TEEN vsth the fatness which, by labor can De De
yeloped into abundant harvests, or mahuiactureo o
articles which the World Is demanding FROM us se'
tl.n.nt until the war OF 61 the South was an
agricultural country strictly 1t is now III It's 'riS
ton state, and manufacturers meet WIFI oo'"e "
enlargement, but its raw material Is so aounu",''
and nroduced with such facility, that the wonder
s that mills and factories and shops are SO rarely
net The theory OF encouraging manufactures "h,cn
employ large numbers OF laborers, and thus proVu-
ing home market for the produce OF the ,ar'rn
does not seem to have occurred 10 S e' niehtmare
of the south. Anything which brings WEALTH WEALTH u, Da
education or social elevation TO the negro must o.
avoided even n II continues the sagnatioh Oh Dus
ness or tends to the degradation OF the "S'c pop''
ton. o, ,Aor,o of convcr-
war Of races Is common theme era OF sch
sstlon and the belief is that the only way sucn Ia
var can he ayertcd is continue the ignorance anu
degradation and dependence OF the col0rH ointment
insure this object Legislation ana puDnc tiu ~
combine and the result Is that the large majority VI
the colored people of the south are tgnora.' po1h,
and dependent upon the VIII oi mi'o' ID III WV
days OF slavery. 90. o ,tro ploucbing
From Virginia TO the Gulf some wire pou e'
others uniting In the seed for crops OF corn cotton vi
cane In Louisiana | asked gentleman VIM u
colored man could earn patch OF co'toi SUN if
lrinn,