The sun., 1895-03-29
SOME oBsEnrA11oxs IN TEE 30 UTE.
The Tone ard Characteristics or scuthern
Society ns They Appear to = Traveller.


Society ns They Appear TO = Traveller.
RICHMOND. March 2G.--I have reached hert
on my way back to New YORK. after hayina
| travelled through three or four OF tho Southern
| Statee, along tho coast line and in the interior
l cannot say that have found gratifying evil
dcnccs OF q full tide OF prosperity, for they ar,
dscoverablo nowhere In this country at the
| present tirne: but general indications OF healthy
activity and substantial progress have appeared
| Doubtless tho improvement since was in the
South seven OF eight years ago has not been SO
great as II would have been II Its continuity had
not been broken by the depression OF the prices
| OF Southern staples and by the checking OF en-
terprises because of tho retention at home OF the
| expected Northern capital on which they de-
| pended. Everywhere you arc told OF the enor.
| nous and almost illimitable resources of this
favored region. In which now. in the past, The
spirit Of local pride 10 strong; and 1t needs only
q cursory examination 10 SET that the natural
wealth is not boastfully exaggerated. Even
under present conditions there Is Observable
advancement, and the people arc ranguinc in
| their expectations of future prosperity IN its
largest measure.
1t 10 remarkable that populism. with its doc
trine OF dependence on a paternnl Government.
should have gained any foothold among this
proud and sef-rcliant population. now the most
peculiarly American In the whole Union. The
faces Of the crowds collected st tho railway sta
tions are almost wholly OF a distinctly American
type and indicative OF a long American lin
cage, except where they exhibit the African
features. They arc strong and wel-modelled
faces. and tho physical development generally
10 vigorous and enduring. Seeing them. nobody
need be surprised that the rebelious South was
ablo to gather together armies incompatible
In their fortitude. II there is anywhere q no.
tion that this climate tends to tho enfseblsment
OF the people. the experience of the civil war
and present observation In all parts OF the
South prove it to DO utterly baseless. The
young men OF the country districts are almost
invariably notable specimens OF athletic man
hood. Their grasp is strong and firm, their
movements arc much freer and more graceful
than we are accustomed to SEQ in similar re-
g!ons at tho North, and they give all the evil
denccs of an enduring and commanding race.
Their habit Of riding and OF pursuing tho chase.
of hunting and shooting, gives them = "set-up'
which we do not see among the young fel-
lows in our Northern farming cotnmuni-
ties. 1t also makes them bold and self reliant.
accustomed to surmounI physical obstacles, and
Injured TO hardship. They constitute superior
examples Of the English race, for. in general,
tho Southern white population is made up OF the
old American stock of English descent. strength
ened and enlivened by strains of the Irish.
Scotch. Teutonic, and Hueuenot blood Of colo
nial times The later admixture of foreign ele-
ments has been comparatively trifing. Tho
vast immigration OF recent years which has
pcopled great Western States, so that frequently
other languages than the English are the more
prevalent. has not reached the Southern States
They have grown almost exclusively by the nat
urRl increase of their own old-time population,
and. to a considerable extent by immigration
from the North since the war. The fraction Of
the foreigners who have come to tho States OF
tho South along the Atlantic coast line and in
the interior is too small TO have produced any
decided impression on the character Of the pop
ulation, save, perhaps. hero and there in few
particular communities. 1t Is generally and OBJ
viously . purely American population. the like of
which once inhabited New England. but now is
outnumLered there by recent immigrants from
Ireland and from Canada more especially.
The democratic character of society Is also
preserved here more fully than the North,
certainly than in the more Eastern States. The
malignant envy and jealousy Of prosperity
which has been imported into the North during
the last generation. vllc exotic. does not exist
here so Tar as concerns tho feeling of the South
ern people toward each other, though 1t may
be that there i. some such sentiment regarding
the superior material wealth of the North
Usually the relations of the people In their So
Cial and business Intercourse are distinctly and.
to me. charningiy democratic. Even when the
old slave-holdinG aristocracy existed its mem
bers were without arrogant assumption. No
ostentntious display Of wealth was made, and
really there was no wealth. as measured by the
Northern fortunes of the present time. The
people were then and they are now. without the
cautious reserve to which we are accustomed at
the North. with its heterogeneous population.
They know each other AS people who have been
raised In these communities from families
long established here. and they meet on terms
OF equality, every one respectful OF the
rights. and regardful of the dignity OF
his neighbor, though they may he widely sepa-
rated in material condition. Nobody is afraid
that he will compromise himself by being too
civil. So long AS they are fellow Southerners
there 10 n bond between them which cannot be
broken by any accidental and artificial social
classification. In this respect the tone of South
ern society reminds one OF New England in my
early youth before the great flood OF immigra-
ton began to pour in. and when every commu-
nifty was n ade up of American born people, all
speaking tho English language. homogeneous,
and OF a kindred spirit. This condition of So
ciety is the moro interesting to observe in tho
South. because 1t will not long remain. The
immigration which the labor unions Of the
North would check or absolutely bar out as in
Producing element OF competition which
makes lutlo tnelr eUOrts 10 control the
labor market, is now invited by the South as
n means necessary to the larger development of
its resources. and in due time and in accord
ance with the law of supply and demand 1t will
tend hither as it has tended in tho past to the
West. So soon as tho South really needs these
laborers In great numbers. and offers them op:
portunities for advancement superior To those
they can find elsewhere. the current of inmi-
grafton will turn thitherward, and tho whole
face OF Southern society and Southern life will
be transformed. Undoubtedly this change will
be mncl moro gradual than 1t has been at tho
North, because here the labor market 10 sup
piled with negro labor, with which white labor
10 either loath TO compete, or with which. undor
present conditions, II cannot compete.
This leads me to say that find the relation:
between tho two races more harmonious than
when was here last. They are altogether
friendly and cOnsiderato. 40 that now there 10
no other laboring population in tho world which,
on the whole. in on better terma W ith its am