The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1895-12-18

are stamped with more purity than he
has stamped the lily; they are stamp:
ed with beauty than he has painted
the rosebud, and, sir, when I stand in
the. presence of these holy creatures
when I stand here and contemplate
my own miserable self, I can only ex-
claim, GLOW unworthy e creature you
are of one of these lovely women. {"
(Applause.) That is my appreciation.
Not lack Of appreciation; though pos
sibly some may say, too great an ap-
but it cannot be. p
South Carolina is proud of her wo-
men; she is proud of what they have
done in the past; she is proud Of what
they represent in the present; and she
feels safe in what they will accomplish
and speak for her in the future.
This day has been set apart as a day
of Thanksgiving by the President OF
the United States and by the Clover
nors of the separate States in the Un-
ion. We have much, fellow citizens,
to be thankful for, but South Carolina
and Georgia stamped by their indiyid-
uality can exclaim without any de-
gree ofhypocr1sy of spirit of the Phar-
isee, 1--WE thank thee, oh, God, we
are not as other people are. !"
There is characteristic individual
ity. of the South Carollnian, that char:
acteristic is not SO great between the
South Carolinian and the Georgian
because we are people, and although
divided blythe Savannah, in the. words
of your own immortal Grady, 'That
is more of a bond than a boundary"
(Applause.) III.
! We cannot forget, ,as your Governor
has said, you cannot forget, South
Carolina cannot forget that when she
was oppressed when the heel of the
tyrant bore heavily upon her, it was
the strong arm of the Georgians that
came to her rescue in 76. We thank
you for it. We thank you for what
you have done in the past and we
thank you for giving us this opportu.
nifty of coming here and showing to
the world the superiority OF South
Carolina. applause and cheers.)
Why, the other day I saw an inter-
view from 81 Yankee General, IN
which he stated that the South was
progressing; that the South was i'm
proving, except poor South Carolina,
and she was still feeling the effects Of
secession. Yes, she feels it; she feels
the effects of the tribute she pays to
the national government for being
whipped; but when she pays it, she
pays it with a protest, and when it is
stated that she feels the effects OF. Sc
cession it is true; but today, fellow
citizens, we stand and proclaim as our
own Pinckney did, that we still have
millions for defense but not cent
for tribute" South Carolina pays tri-
butte to no man and no State except
that imposed upon her by force of Law
and of a strong hand; but we pay it,
and as we pay it we do not murmur.
But the time has come for the South
Carolinian and every Southerner to
think for himself and to speak for
himself and in the halls of Congress
let it be known that these Southern
States are in this Union, q part of this
Union and by the grace of God we
propose to control this Union. "a
voice, That's rightly Why should
it notbe righta (Applause.) Was it
not right in the paste Was it not
ri yht under the training of your faith
ersa The training of craftsmanship
that you received, the principles they
in you, are they not just
as dear as they were before 1862 And,
fellow citizens, this Southland will
bloom in spite of the remarks of gem
erals, in spite ofthe remarks OF judges
hostile to us. It seems now that every
candidate of the Republi-
can party feels it incumbent upon him
to hit South Carolina lick. But, fell
low citizens, the result is that South
Carolina never has to 60 out OF the
conflict for repairs. Great applause
Now, fortunately, our works are
here to speak for themselves; we are
not a people to herald our virtues be-
fore the world; we are not people to
proclaim what we are doing. We are
not a people possessed of two MUCH
brass. We have always had brains /;
we have always had integrity; we
have always had statesmen. (Great
applause and cheers.) That speaks
more and sounds louder than the
beating of cymbals of past triumphs.
That is where she stands today. She
apologies for nothing she has done in
the past; she apologies for nothing
she does in the present. She is today
the leader of the South in industrial
enterprises. She spends more money
in proportion to her wealth than any
State in the Union for the education
of her children, and we do it without
a word. 1t is not necessary to blow
trumpets. We stand, fellow citizens,
in this position, our industrial pro-
eress lies in the manufacture of cot
ton in that she comes first; we cannot
expect to be anything more. That
comes to US naturally. But we stand
realizing that grand principle of gov
ernment that South Carolina has al
ways recognized, that true Democracy
dwells only in The hearts of the agri-
culturist. Sir, what concerns us to.
day is, that what was once a solid
South is now dismembered, and we
have a solid North confronting us.
Where is Democracy on this Thanks
giving Day4 We can only say, Thank