The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1899-02-01
THE RACE CAR QUESTION
CAN THE LEGISLATURE BETRkY ITS
TRUST.
Let US have Southern Text Books. A Forgotten
Hero. Nsrth Carolina Owes Lasting
Debt to Josiah Turner.
Kittrell. Y. c.. Jan. %.

10 the Editor: North Car)ll 10 after
| being stirred to its depths as never
but once before, if then, has sent her
strongest and worthiest sons 20 Raleigh
10 execute her unequvocal maudatc.
| That mandate is to establish in all its
bearings white supremacy. One Of
these. second only in Importance to the
| franchise question, is that of separate
accommodation for the races in railroad
cars.
| Mixed cars ana waiting rooms lave
caused more friction between the races
than, | think l might say all other
| things together. The people are deter
mined on this p3lnt. TIE Leg ;lqturc.
and through it the Democratic party. j.
now on trial. Public Interest
aroused as never before is now fl
cussed upon this body Of men.
Their mission is more momentous
than that of any of it's predecessors.
The peace and quiet of the Sta1e for
generations, to all appearances, depend
upon its action being sure and true
The times are ripe. The tide of world
| affairs is eminently propitious. Woe he
to us if we lose that tide.
There must be action, 1air and Just.
have in this connection an opportunity
to largely rehabilitate. themselves with
! the people; TO remove much Of the
prejudice for years accommodating To their
debit. If they are wise. if they are
not purhlind, they will read Alright the
signs of the times, and yield a ready
| and gracious acquiescence. me day
! is pregnant with good or i'll to them
fn oh
| Woe be to them and to the Democratic
party, now omnipotent, if there is q
! shadow of a suspicion of collision to
defeat the public will and the ublic
veal. which thanks to the inherent man
hood of our race, are now one.
Another important point which all
thoughtful people are united on is the
necessity of the Introduction of Southern
textbooks in all the schools, public and
private, of the State. American bis
| tory has been and is yet being per-
sistently falsifed by Northern, mostly
New England, writers. The books there
written and now in general use, have
not escaped the infection. They are
warping and perverting the plant mind
of the coming generation.
The South with her love of liberty,
her high ideal of what the relations of
man and woman should be, is destined,
| il she be but true to herself, t. re-
come the saving influence in orr ciy;liza
| ton. She can be true to herself Gniy
by rearing her young with a Just appre
citation Of those who have shaped her
destiny and made her what she IS.
Knowing the imporfance of tins qrcs-
ton / have taken the trouble to look
| into the comparative cost Of Southern
written, Southern printed cext books.
and | find that they are not o1ly better
but also cheaper than the 4,or.hem
ones / hope that the Legislature will
adopt them for our public schools. Pri-
vate schools would follow suit and She
effect for truth and for good would
| be immense.
But to turn from the present and
| the future to the past. / never eX-
| pected to see the day N which NTH
Carolina should need to De told who
Josiah Turner was But ;n"l IS the
| sad fact as evidenced by recant ut
| terance of the News and Observer.
| North Carolina owes more 10 Joe
| Turner than to any other m9n OF the
post-bellum period, Zeb Vance not eX-
1
nay, more than the Patrick Henry of
that pregnant period, for 20 4 icl and
tongue that fired the souls of men
against wrong and oppression, he added
the courage of a hero. When the doors
Of Federal prisons yawned for our man
hood; when Holden backed by eGeral
bayonets, and impelled by Satlnic
malevolence, against our truest and
best. held the State in the hollow of his
hand, it was Joe Turner, and for 1t
long time Joe Turner alone. that bore
the brunt and with natehleSs CO
quence, invective, sarcasm and iron res
Olution and courage beat back the foe
and nspirited his despairlng followers.
For months, between the halter of d0l-
denis drum-head court martial, an' the
bullets of the mob, his life was not
worth a moments purchase. hen
many. afterwards held in nigh Aontr,
were weak-kneed, he stood like rock
| With his old Colts SiX,Shoote" | have
seen him standing alone and unaided
put his back to a tree and defy sea
of cGrpet-bag, scallawag scoundreldom,
and their negro miniOns, seeking TO
take his life or brighten him into silence.
But his courage and genius rose with
the danger, ana H0lde 'nS!a' th@ Sreattst
peril that has ever menaced the State,
met its Waterloo.
The war fought and won, white ST.
Ipremacy established, the old warrior
cast in heroic mould, lacked the tact aud
suppleness to walk the primrose paths
of peace. He saw wrong where perhaps
it did not exist and attacked those
whom probably he ought not TO have 1T
tackled Men forgot his great service
to the State, and left him 10 MS bitter
ness.
But more fearless, heroic soul than
Joe Turner's never animated r1rtal
clay. If his ways were not the ways
of other men, so much the worse in
many respects for other men.
The State owes him a debt It owes
to few. He was our prime champion
in the great struggle for white suprc-
macy. | wish that the present Legisla-
ture, created by and symbolic Of this
great cause could in some marked and
unique way, show its honor and respect
for this man, but for whom North Car
DINA history could not have been the
same and must have been darker. In
little while he must in the :. ursa of
| thn IopInpc cf