The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1900-05-20


cursory examination of its resources
and industries can possibly deny. But
to the careful student of Southern
civilization there comes a deep sad
ness along with the conviction that
the life of the great masses of the
people, including nearly all of the
farming classes, is duller and drler
and harder than it once was, or should
be, in a land where nature is SO
bright and beautiful and the people
are so deserving.
All of our Southern people-and
this is especially true of our farm
ers-have worked harder during the
past ten years than they have ever
worked before. they appreciated the
gifts of nature to the South and the
opportunities of the times, and they
felt most keenly the necessities of
their situation. For them during re-
cent years it was work, steady and
hard work, or all was lost. They
have accomplished much in the gen.
eral development of the South. in the
building of numerous towns and fac
tories, in the construction of rail-
ways, in the utilization alas!
too often the wanton destruction-of
the forests. in the opening of mines,
and, best of all, in the introduction of
new crops and the great diversified
ton of agriculture. At last work has
been accomplished in the opening
and preparing the country for the de-
velopment of the highest arts and in
dustries. Our wealth-producing re-
sources have been scarcely more
l1,t hoe
done to show that they exist to an
almost boundless extent for the use
of every art.
While this has been accomplished,
the Southerner has not failed entire
~, either, of his pecuniary rewards.
He received fair prices for his agri-
cultural products, and in most de-
partments of manufacture the earn
ings have been as good as in any
country. Considerable money has
come into the South to be invested in
railroads, mines. forests, farms, town
lots and manufactures. The South
erner has not been idle; he has i'm
proved his opportunities and used his
resources where he could. He has
earned some money and reinvested it.
In short. his situation is greatly inn
proved in material way. but the
thing which disappoints and saddens
the thoughtful student of the South
ern society at the present time is
that the intellectual and spiritual
life of the people, comprising all
those things which make life higher.
holier and happier, has not improved
in proportion to the improvement in
material conditions. This is especial
~ true of the social life and all those
things which make home attractive
to young people.
This fact must be recognized by all
who are old enough to be able to COM
pare country life in the South i'm the
old times with the life of the same
people at the present time Doubt
less great improvement has been
made in some section, as in the noun
tain regions and other sparsely set
tied neighborhoods, but in the old
farming sections, which represented
the best there was of Southern life
IN 1860. all dat belongs 10 the higher
civilization has stood still O. gone
back. The charming hospitable old
homes are abandoned, the classical
academies are closed and the church
es where once a cultivated audience
assembled each Sunday to hear a
learned discourse from a scholarly
minister are now opened to a very
different congregation only once
month; this is especially true of the
cotton country. The descendants of
the lordly old planters have removed
to the cities and towns, and. to a
great degree. these sections. once the
most civilized and enlightened in the
South, are left now to small farmers,
new corners and negroes. who. though
fairly industrious, live very lard and
have very little desire or Eope for
anything better. 1t is t. this condi-
ton that | would call attention. in
troductory to "A plea for the encour-
agement in the South Of the things
which support the intellectual life
and the improvement of country life.
1t is easy to account for this sad
change. The civil war overthrew the
industrial system of the South and
started a series of revolutions in
every department of business life
which have only recently wrought
their complete work To lesser de-
gree the South has suffered from the
great changes in the methods of com
merce and trade which have so pros
trated the western farmers and so
reduced the earnings of agriculture
in all old countries the world over
Along with our Western States the
South has suffered grievousiy from
vicious and selfish legislation adopted
in the interest of other classes We
understand the causes, though we
may not all agree as to the relative
effect of each one. 1t is not proposed
at this time 70 discuss any remedies
of a political character. This is a
strictly industrial article. and it is
the purpose of the writer to urge the
introduction of educational and in
dustrial agencies for making brighter.
better and happier the life of the
country people of the South. The
means to be used are of a wholly diff
deterrent character and lie closer to
the lives of the people than any mere
political or financial scheme however
important and true it may be. and
must form a part of every plan of
social development under whatsoever
government and economic system it
may be projected. This work is aim
ed at the minds and hearts of the
people. 1t is the work of saving them
from the awful errors of ignorance