The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1895-04-25
TRAITS or SOUTHERN CHARACTER
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Washington Post

aS!lIngton Post
An ohservaut Nol ltheru.r has been
travelling leisuyely n the South and
10 somewhat lengthy ard alto
gether inter esting letter TO the New
"rk Sun, gives some of the re
suits of his observations. H. calls
special attention. for instance, To
the dis'inctively American character
of the people:
1T is remarkable that Populism. with its
doctrine of dependence on yaiernal GOV
eminent. should have gained any fooihold
among this proud and self reliant Iopuia-
iion. now the most peculiarly American in
the whole | Mon The faces of the crowds
collected AT the railway stations are almost
wholly Of distinctly American type and
indicative of long American lineage ex-
""pt where thew exhibit the African features
They are strong AMI weli-modeled faces, and
the physical development generally j. Wig
or Us and enduring. Seeing them, nobody
need be surprised that the rebellious South
vas ablc To gather together armies incom-
parable in their fortituie. If there l. any
where a notion th-t this climate tends to h,
enfeeblement Of the peop'e, the eXperienc.
of the civil war and present ob7ervation ia
all parts of the So0th proves 1t TO be utterly
haeeiees. The young men OF the country
districts are almost invariably notable speci-
mems of athletic manhood. Their grasp is
st ong and firm. their movements are
much fieer and more graceful than we are
aC, u>tomed to in similar regions at the
Norlh. and they give all the evidences of an
enduring and commanding race Their
habit OF riding and of pursuing the chase
of hunting and shooting gives them a set
up which we do not see among tie young
fellows in our Northern farming communi-
lies 1t also makes them bold and self-re-
liant. accustomed To surmount physical
obstacles, and Injured to hardship. They
constitute superior examples of the English
race. for. in general, the Southern white
popu alton is made up of the old American
stock of English descent, strengthened and
enlivened by strains of the Irish, Scotch
Eeutoni1san Huguenot blood of colonial
times The later admixture of foreign ele-
ments has been comparatively titing."
The writer then refers to one So
cial aspect which invariably arrests
the notice Of intelligent strangers
and which constitutes perhaps the
most attractive feature of Southern
Characteristic kindness of feeling
and the good will that prevails with
out regard to worldly conditions:
The Democratic character of society is
North. certainly than in the more Eastern
States. Ehe malignant envy and jealousy
of prosperity which has been imported into
the North during the last generation, a vile
exotic, does not exist here, so far as concerns
the feeling of the Southern people toward
each other though 1t may be that there is
some such sentiment regai ing the superior
material wealth of the North. Usually the
relations of the people in their social and
business intercourse are distinctly and, to
me, charmingly democratic. Even when
the old Slave-holding aristocracy existed, its
members were without arrogant aSSump-
ton. No ostentatious display of wealth was
made. and really there vas no wealth. a.
measured by the Nor ,rn fortunes of the
present time The people We're then, and
they are now, without the cautious reserve
to which we are accustomed to at the North
with its heterogeneous population. They
know each other as people who have been
raised in these communities from fami-
lies long established here, and they meet
Oh terms of equality, every one respectful
OF the rights and regardful of the dignity of
his neighbor, though they may be widely
separated in material condition. Nobody is
afraid that he will compromise himself by
being too civil. So long as they are fellow
SOutherners there is a bond between them
which cannot be broken by any accidental
| and artificial social classification. In this
| respect the tone of Southern society reminds
| fore the great flood of INN igration began To
| pour in, and when every community was
| made up of American born people, all
speaking the English language. homo
geneous, and of kindred spirit
The Post has frequently adverted
to these typical Southern pecuiari-
ties as representing the real Ameri
canism that has survived foreign
admixture and the artificial develop
me ut of modern times. The South
is now the one section of the country
in which one hears only the Eug
lish language, sees only American
fac s, and encounters distinct ant
homogeneous people. No prophe
is needed to tel! us that when thu
day comes-as it surely will-ir
which our institutions must fight f.,
existence. their safest reliance an,
their most ardent and spontane ou
championship will be found IN the
South.
Speaking Of the relations betweel
the races, the Suns correspondent
affirmS the proposition so frequentl
made in these columns:
Il find the relations between the two race
more harmonious than when | was her
lasr. They are altogether friendly and cor
siderate, so that now there is no other Ii
boring population i'll the world which. o
the whole, is on better terms with its Ell
plovers When | went to the ticket office q
Richmond on my way Southwark, a typic;
Virginian of the kind naturally addresse
hereahouts as colonel was buying a secon
class ticket which admitted him TO III
smoking car. Going into the car afterwarC
to smoke a cigar, found him sitting yer
ccntente1ly by the side of negro, wit
whom he occasionally spoke in very plea
ant manner; and | observed several e.
amples of the same sort of relations betwee
the races, the occupants of the car beir
/ about equally divided between whites al
3 blacks. During my whole trip have see
. no indication of unfriendlv feeling on eth,
0 side OF course, the sort of equality whic
t many of the negroes expected to enlc
y when they were first made free has n
o come to them and they have now learnt
y that it will not come; but they are treat.
by the whites of the more intelligent kir
d with an indulgence and considerable
$ which they do not receive at the North. al
: which the laboring population generally
: not obtain"