The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-04-10
THE BRAINS OF THE SOUTH.

S-SN N-"o5S was anu now IS luGelleC-
tually inferior to the north has induced
me to make a careful investigation of the
matter. The result furnishes an array of
faetsat once startling and convincing,
that S, convincing to any one not hide
bound by sectionalism and prejudice.
DO not pretend to cover the whole
ground, but hope that the instances enum-
Grated may tend to a settlement of the
NeNed question, or, at least, induce those
VINO make such statements to consult his
tory before giving them to the public
The south, although in a numerical
minority, controlled the general govern
ment for the first eighty years of its ex-
lstence. Eight out of the thirteen Presi-
dents were from the south, four of them
serving two terms.
OF twelve Vice Presidents, four were
from slave states. Under eleven admins
tratlons the south furnished fourteen
Secretaries of the State, eleven Secre-
tarles of War, six Secretaries of the
treasury, nine Secretaries of the Navy.
and eight POstmasters General. OF fifty
hve Presidents pro TEN. of the Senate,
thlrty-nine were from the south OF
thirty-One speakers of.the House, twenty
two were southerners OF five chief
justices, two of the most eminent were
from the south. OF twenty-nine associate
justices, seventeen were from the south
OF twenty-one attorney generals, four
teen hailed from this section.
THE first resolutions" saws B. F.
Warde, of Mississippi, declaring the
rights of the colonies to be free and in
dependent, were introduced into a south
ern legislature by a southern man. The
first resolutions to the same effect were
presented in the colonial congress by
another southern man, and took form in
the Declaration of independence, under
the matchless genius of still another
southern man. A southern man led the
patriot armies to victory and estab-
lished the possibilities of the proudest
nation on earth. A southern man was
the prime mover of the convention that
framed the Constitution When the
government had been created it's
organic law was still an
unexplained book, a ponderous oar in
unskilled hands 1t was left for the
greatest legal mind of the age, a southern
chief justice, TO analyze and stamp upon
1t the construction which will be accepted
as long as the constitution is respected.
\ southern man framed the ordinance for
the organization and government of the
great northwestern territory, an instru-
ment second only in Importance to the
constitution of the United States. A
publican theory of popular government
which prevailed during sixty years of our
greatest prosperity, peace and happiness"
OF lo5 foreign ministers, 80 were south
ern men.
The south furnished the most brilliant
officers in the revolutionary war and The
war with Mexico. 1t was during the ad-
ministration of southern President that
the war of 1912 was inaugurated and
brought to triumphant conclusion. The
master spirits of the great struggle were
such men as Clay, Calhoun, Monroe,
GrGndy, Lowndes and Crawford, while
only five senators north of the Delaware
voted to sustain it. Florida was acquired
from Spain and Louisiana from France by
southern President, through the skill
and courage of a southern diplomatist.
The pluck and patriotism of a southern
President gained the independence of
Texas and added New Mexico to the na-
tional domain, thus extending the
boundary line to the Pacific, and opening
to the world the golden gates" of Cali
fornia.
Coming down to moro modern times,
we find Matthew f. Maury a southern
man, holding the proud title of "Philoso-
pher of the Seas" He it was who
mapped out the geography of the seas, ex-
planned the secret phenomena, blazed out
on the trackless ocean the shortest and
safest highways for the commerce of the
world, and by his wind and current
charts and his sailing directions saved
the United States millions of dollars an
nually on outgoing tonnage alone.
Where shall we find another Admiral
Semmes who with a single ship swept
from the seas the commerce of a great
nationl
The medical records show that two of
the greatest surgeons that the world has
ever known were j. Marion Sims, of
South Carolina, and Ephraim Mcdowell,
of Kentucky Theenlightened world re-
cognizes them as leaders n the realm of
surgery.
Another southerner, Judah P. Benia-
min, went to England after the meridian
of life, and became one of the queens
councillors and the leading jurist in that
land of great lawyers, having on his
docket at one time half Of the appeal
cases in the kingdom.
The first steamship sent across the At
lantic, May 20, 1919, was the Savannah,
equipped and sent over by a few public
spirited and practical men Of Savannah.
The first railroad in America was q
short track in Broad street, Charleston,
simply to demonstrate the idea.
The first canal in America was the
Santee, in South Carolina
The first patent for a steam plough was
granted to a Mr.. Bellinger of Barnwell,
S. c. The first fire alarm telegraph,
patented by MIR. Gameweu of South Caro-
lima, was erected and tested in the city of
Charleston.
1t is a well established fact that Ogden
Holmes of South Carolina, and not Eli
Whitney, was the inventor of the cotton
gin.
Indigo, rice, and cotton were first in
troduced and cultivated in the state of
South Carolina.
South Carolina was the pioneer in silk
culture. In the year 1855 Mrs. Pinckney.
the same lady who ten years before had
introduced the indigo plant, "took With
her to England quantity of excellent
silk, which she had raised and spun in
the vicinity of Charleston, sufficient to
make three complete dresses. One of
these was presented to the Princess
Dowager, of Wales, and another to Lord
Chesterfield. They were allowed to be
equal to any ever imported"
The first use of tidewater to run heavy
machinery was in South Carolina in 1863.
In 1855. the State Agricultural Society
for the best cottonseed oil and other oils
produced in the state. Yet MIR. Edward
Atkinson. of Boston. stated recently that
"a smart yankee went south after the
war and taught the people the use of
hitherto useless tton-seed."
Years before the war South Carolina had
been shipping cotton-seed oil to Italy by
the thousand tons for she purpose of max
a.