The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1899-01-12
THE NEW SOUTH,
Its Problem and How to Solve It,
Southern Pines Free Press. !

Southern Pines Free PRESS
For many years | have been espec-
tally interested in the South, and my
face has long been turned toward it.
am much better pleased here than
1 expected to be. There l. much here
that like better than the North. Tie
hospitality, social level, simplicity of
life, free, genial, polite and refined
manner among the people. a willing
ness, even desire TO Obl@e and ac-
cOmmOdate and h implrt information.
And, more than all else, the climate;
soft, sunny and baImy; it is a pleasure
to live. 50 unlike the sharp, harsh
climate of New England, where it is
simply the survival of the fttest and
the fittest is usually the climate. for that
alone survives.
do not expect to do this great sub
iect Justice, but | have few thou .htS
which may prove interesting
the war impoverished the South, which
is no doubt true, but think that out
side of slave property, she was never
rich and had not nearly so much wealth
as Northern people have supposed. |
am informed that at the beginning Of
the civil war there was not million
aire ia the whole South At the close
of the war, no doubt she was poor, but
in my opinion, the great trouble was
paralysis rather than impoverishmeut.
The emancipation of the slave para
lyzed her industry. Without the slave
the master was helpless. The slave
without the master mind to direct him
was equally helpless. Derelicts they
drifted hither and thither upon the sea
of life. They did not 90 to work; the
white people would not work because
they did not know how or were too
proud; the freed slave would not work
because, to his mind. freedom brought
support without labor. SO they sat
down and let things drift until the boys
grew up, when they began to awaken.
But there is no progress in a country
of servitude. Only free labor and in
dustry bring progress, and 50 the boys
found a great drawback in their coun-
try's primitive condition. They had
to begin where New England began
one hundred years before. | think
they have made good progress.
New England thinks the South is
slow, but she either torgets or does not
know her own history. The South
cannot be expected to march as far in
thirty-three years as New England
has in one hundred.
Nature has been generous in her gift
of resources, but to develop these a
great work must be done. There are
great problems to solve. What are
these problems and how shall we solve
them?
The most important, perhaps, are the
political, social. racial, commercial and
educational problems. The first three
are closely related and intermingled.
In the political question there is
great friction which is brought about
by the political trickster and office
seeker, who TO gain their ends appeal
to the lowest passions aud preiudices
of both whites and blacks The great
bugbear to the whites is negro domina-
ton and social equality. and to the
blacks it is subjugation, coercion. and
Acknowledgement. The whites are led
to believe that the blacks desire erea
deal more than they would desire or
expect if let alone; and the blacks are
led to think they ought to have much
more than they would expect or desire
if they were not appealed to prejudic-
tally. The result is injustice, strife,
and bloodshed. The remedy is politi-
cal demagoges and office seekers to the
rear and the best and ablest men and