The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1894-03-02

/ pigr4es compared with the intellectual giants IF
that time. The statesmen Of to-day show li,;.e
| signs Of aav.Rg studied the great economic CUES
/ ton affecting the interests Of the country
| This l. very common belief and a
very common error of old men. Be-
ing on the western slope Of life them
selves, and leaving the word behind
them, they think all greatness lies
in the past.
But if tree il To be judged by its
fruit the South was never 80 great as
al the present moment. Indeed the
| Southern statesmen Of ante bellum
times did not deal with industrial and
| economic questions and their repufa
tons were built up on entirely differ
ent lines. State rights, the restric-
tons and limit tions Of the constf tu-
ton, slavery and secession, were the
matters that engaged their attention
and upon which their craftsmanship
must rest, with but rare exceptions.
Ii must be remembered also that it
was much easier to build up reputa-
ton then than il il now. The ends of
the earth were not then connected to-
gether by railroad, telegraph and tel
eph0ne lines and the MASSES were not
nearly 20 well informed, but now the
masses are engaged in the study of
economic, industrial and abstract
questions, as never before in the
worlds history, which brings the
people and the statesmen Of
the present time more nearly on u
level, but the craftsmanship Of the
present is none the worse for this.
Where all Is darkness little light
will penetrate 10 great distance, but
where ali is light the same candle
power will be totally unobserved.
The statesman Of the past could de-
liver a well prepared speech ia ali the
principal cities Of the country and it
would be a. new and fresh at the TN
ish as it was at the start, but the
statesmen of the present hash that
advantage and he must have fresh
theme for every audience, and yet
the oratory Of the present will not suf-
fer IN comparison with the oraJory Of
the past if We are to judge by the
speeches that have descended 20 US.
The speeches Of Garfield nominating
Sherman, and Ingersol nominating
Blaine, and Dougherty nominating
Cleveland, and Cochran nominating
Hill, are unexcelled by any Of the
speeches that have come down 10 us
from ante bellum times.
The craftsmanship Of Mr.. Hewitt.
giants plunged the nation into war,
the genius of the men he refers to as
'pigmiesn have retrieved the fortunes
shattered by that event. In indus
prises the "Old South" bears no com.
parison to the New" The school
system Of the present is far III advance
of the school system then; the press
of the South Of to-day il far ahead of
the press of that period and wieIds d
far more potent influence; the mer-
CATTLE, banking aud other business
enterprises are conducted on a safer
and much broader scope than in for
mer years, and farming, fruit and veg
etable growing are operated on a much
larger scale and more skillful methods
are pursued.
The South's recupei alton from the
desOlauon of war and her struggle for
commercial supremacy since, have
won for her the homage and admira
ton of the world, and if in the WON
derful development of her resources
she has been aided by Northern cap
ital she has given that section brains
in exchange for this loan.
The New York World, admittedly
| the greatest newspaper of modern
times, is controlled and guided by the
genius of a Southerner; New YORK
district attorney is Southern man
and Southern brains adorn her judi
eial and municipal bench, and even
the arbter of fashion in this great
metropolis, Mr.. Ward McAllister,
halls from the South. Indeed ii was
Southern man, graduating from a
country cross roads store, who startled
the business men of New York the
other day with the proposition To con-
struct, operate and equip an under
ground system of rapid transit 10 cost
| e45, Coz, 600 and To furnish swift trains
| capable OF carrying passengers from
City Hall to Harlem in 20 minutes
and to the utmost boundaries of New
York in half an hour. AS a guaran-
tee of good faith he backed up his
proposition by "a deposit OF one mill
lion dollars. This man, a type of the
New South, was r. /. Wilson, who,
not a great many years ago, was a
clerk in country store in Georgia
which was conducted after the most
| approved cracker" fashion.
So the Southern man, whether in
he North or in the South, We see him
with his face well to the front and his
steps upward. There are no signs OF
decay nor decoration from the time
of Jefferson and Washington to the
present moment, and despite the ef-
forts OF 'sordid capitalists" and ''ag.
grsgatsd capital" Mr.. Hswitt's "pi