The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-03-19
the brunt of reconstruction upon their

the brunt of reconstruction upon their
The south was poor. and these knights
of peace brought treasures to lay at ner
feet. Never did slave render more ardu-
Gus service. All honor to the men of
wealth in the north and west VINO at
season such as this turned loose their
wealth in the construction of railroads
through the south and sent these messen-
gers down with their tldings OF brighter
days to come. The locomotive was an ed
ucator He gave instruction to the people
of the north about the simple customs
and faith of the people of the south and
in turn taught the people of the south
to terms of friendship with the people OF
the north based upon the principle OF
better understanding. The two sections
had been standing toward each other in
enlargement because the people of the
two sections were not better acquainted.
The stage coach could not make them
acquainted but the locomotive did.
Taking the chilled mortal from his snow
clad home in New England this giant Of
civilization brought him down to the gar
den gates of that bright land of the
south and bade him enter therein. And
what a field there was here opened. Here
in this land of Dixie, the faireSt land and
the best Gods sunshine ever warmed or
his sweet breezes ever cooled; a land
where grains and grasses catch sunshine
and dews in sheaf and stalk for the sus-
tenance of man and beast; land where
fruits ripen wild in shrub and tree; where
corn grows sweet and sound and cotton
blossoms into glory as the seasons come
and go-here in this land of peace, plenty
and cOntentment should men render rich
est tribute of praise to our fellow citizen,
the locomotive, and the men who owned
him and sent him to us in our season of
distress. How. .ungrateful must be that
human soul who would go about the
persecution of such friends as these have
proved. How deplorable, should the day
ever come, when their civil liberties shall
be more keenly restricted. How essential
that the people benefited by such force
full powers should give the locomotive
ready passport in this land of liberty; and
when / say give passport to the locomO-
tive 1 mean give lenience to the man who
owns this valiant servant, for after all,
it is the masters part in our Industrial
progress the slave typifies. If we can look
with friendly and grateful interest upon
the locomotive, the same spirit must needs
be extended TO him to whom it belongs.
This line of argument, however, would
lead into the mysteries of politics, a field
not contemplated in the purpose of my
discourse, 50 will pass on with the
simple statement that. the locomotive as
a citizen has rights which should never be
restricted by legislators blinded TO the
very interests Of the people they repre-
sent in the halls of national and state
legislation. / have already said enough
to show that the interests of the railroads
and the interests of the people are iden-
tical-a fact that needs no argument be-
fore all fair-minded men. The citizen
should treat the locomotive and all that
he typifies and stands for just as though
he were one of the body polite.
In treating the subject before me-the
locomotive as a citizen--it is needful to
point to the marvels of modern travel
which he has wrought. What world Of
interest lies mere. Pictures formed in our
minds In the early days of travel in the
east of dark-exed Sultanas clothed in the
beauteous fabrics of fine satins riding in
golden chariots and speeding along as
fast as animal flesh could tilt them fade
into ridiculous insignifcance now at the
vision of our modern gilded palaces fairly
flying through this land of wonders max
ing a speed OF over sixty miles an hour,