The Atlanta constitution. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1885-19??, 1900-05-28
THE SOUTH OF TO-DAY.
Changed Conditions Are Seen from
a Northern Standpoint.


Chicago. ILL.,. breeders Gazette: The interest
ing experience Of the man who went across
the street TO interfere IN family row awaits
every northerner who ventures 20 obtrude upon
the lethargy OF the agricultural south. In di-
recting prominent attention TO the redeeming
work being done by Edwin Lehman Johnson in
behalf Of cotton seed food stuff, The Ga
zette DID not imagine that it would escape that
fate. II was, therefore, not surprised when
even Mr.. Johnson himself resented its plainly
spoken words-words mildly tempered compared
TO those with which he Is endcavorins 20 lash
his Indifferent fellow southerners into an APP
probation of their neglected opportunities Nor
IS IT other than natural that such communion
ton print from W. Iverson Warner. of
Arkansas. should be provoked by our structures.
We all know what IS the matter with the
south. Volumes have been written that dag
nose no more clearly the disease than does
Arkansas correspondent IN his succlnct state
ment Nor does his occasional asperity OF ex-
preston need comment. 1t IS merely a mani
festation Of human nature. The south IS sick
II knows It. 1t laments II. But II has been
told so often by outsiders Of It's hapless condi-
tion that resentment quickly kndles at fresh
mention of the fact.
But there IS a new south. Hope has sprung
from the ashes of despair. The bIghting Of
fects Of an awful war are only too wei known.
hut the resultant paralysis Is surely tending
TO resolution the currents Of new life blood
NiAANeattA
UNDERSTOOD; they are nearly third Of a CEN
fury old: they have been the theme Of econ
omsts and the subject OF bitter political
examinations and their restatement has been
admitted to our columns because necessary TO
an understanding OF the situation today. But
with the new blood the folding sof hands in
despair I'm the face OF these problems has
ceased. Lamentations over altered conditions
are changed 70 words Of cheer. Walls are
hushed in trumpet calls to action. Doubtless
our correspondent represents certain element
when he terms our advice insolence and calls
10 leave the south in silence and sorrow.
But he does not speak for all
Our correspondents have clearly diagnosed
the disease which holds that magnificent land
gifted above all sections-in its paralyzlng
grasp. Let The Gazette prescribe: Energy.
industry and capital from outside; education
from inside Is this an aIopathic 'gunshot''
prescription? Mistake not. Each ingredient IS
absolutely essential The energy and industry
OF new blood viii avail little against the inbred
southern inertia. Capital would be worse than
wasted unless its distribution and use were IN
hands other than those content with the sloth
that characterizes the SOUTH
Education from within is the keynote Of ag-
ricultural advance. Is 1t Utoplan? The mule
be educated; why not the negro? But
neither can be moved peg higher IN the scale
leads the way in education. All hail then the
jonnsons Of the SOUTH the Soules the Scovells
the Coopers and the long list of scientific agri-
cultural educators who laying deep the
foundations Of agricultural prosperity that
will Cutrank beyond compare the wealth of that
fair section when 1t measured in human
chattels!
only one obstacle looms omniously up. Our
Arkansas correspondent puts II IN It's most
forebodlng form;
''Yet It Is Il fact that too pTodlgal OF
the great natural advantages OF Cur cline and
country: have not cridicated our expensive
ways Of living; are too negligent of our oppor-
tunities. Still the style suits us!
In this spirit Is rooted the poverty of the
south. Physicians abandon hope when patients
cease 10 struggle for Improvement. The case
indeed would be well-ngh hopeless If the senri-
ment of the south Is thus fairly stated. But
an awakening long since came. The giant
southland is struggling to shake off his sloth.
The call to action has been heard; the pulses
of industry and commerce have been quickened
and life has begun to throb anew through the
agriculture of that great land. Diversified
farming andd live stock husbandry have begun
the redemption OF the agricultural south. A
mighty movement is under way that will event.
ually sweep despair into the sea and flood the
land with Industrial light even II is
bathed in the beams of the life-giving sun. Ii
is a warm cline and tends TO the Incidence of
the tropics; hut heat transforms into energy
and revolves the wheels of the universe!
The south clothes the world in cotton; let II
cease its sinful waste of the seed product of
this plant and grow the meat to feed the
bodies il has clothed. Let the dead past bury
its dead. With face toward the future let the
new south grid up its loins and move with
steady, resolute tread toward that prosperity
vouchsafed by indulgent nature for its sunny
tempered, whole-souled people.