The Montgomery advertiser. [volume] (Montgomery, Ala.) 1885-1982, 1902-02-23
South with new and improved machinery
and manufacturing the finer grades of

South with new and improved machinery
and manufacturing the finer grades of
cloth.
You, ask mo the cause which produced
these results? 1t is the old story of the
struggle for existence and survival Of
the httest. Did you ever see beehive
when the hive was full Of honey? How
lazily and slowly the bees go in and out.
1t has been stripped of its honey? How
increasingly and industriously the bees
work until 1t Is full again. So 1t was with
the South. Until the Civil War, slavery
and agriculture were so profitable that
nearly all the South's earnings were in
vested In slaves and land, while our min
erals and other great natural resources
remained undeveloped. but when by the
Its honey. and slavery was no longer
possible or even desirable, it became
necessary for US to develop what we
had hitherto neglected. and we are mere
learned from the bees The young men
IN the South today are not seeking
to know what are the rights Of the
States. as did their fathers. or even what
are their individual rights. for they have
been long since defined. but they are
seeking to know what are their oppor-
tunitieS and how they can best improve
them. To them 1t Is Of more consequence
to know how to locate and mine iron and
coal, or how to construct and profitably
operate a manufacturing establishment.
than to know the history or terms of the
Wilmot Proviso or the Missouri Compro-
mise. To them the building of the Mica
ragua Canal. which would cgonnect the
two oceans at our doors and make q
Mediterranean of the Gulf OF Mexico in
Its shipping and commerce, with Its re-
sultant advantages to our Gulf ports and
inland manufactures, is Of vastly more
Importance than the Hampton Roads Con-
ference or even than as to who was In
command at Santiago. There Is no part
OF this country which Is living more in
the future than the South, and there Is
no part for which the future holds out
greater promise of usefulness and devel-
Opment.
But. gentlemen. the future. while full
of promise, also holds great questions to
entered upon contains within itself the
problems of the future. What has been
settled In the past century Is scarcely
now OF more than academic interest, and
It Is burning. living issues which engage
the greatest thoughts Of mankind. AS
Americans we are.no longer deeply inter-
ested in the rights of man in his indi-
vidual capacity as vital question. They
have been SO firmly established by our
Federal and State Constitutions and by
the hundreds of decisions OF our highest
courts that no one now doubts or dis
putes them, nor have We the slightest
idea of reliquishing any one of them. 1t
Is natural. however that when a queS-
ton is settled finally and conclusiveiy 1t
ceases tn be absorbing. One of the great
questions of living interest just now Is
the right of property and its right to
contract-and over against this is the
equally II not more important question of
the rights of society or man in his coll
iectlve capacity. To the solution of this
great question. the South with its homo
geneous and conservative yet progressive
people can. must and will contribute its
full share. Other questions will crowd
upon as. How shall Nc, without sacrl-
ficing our race, discharge the full meas
ure of our duty toward that unfortunate
race who are H. our midst without fault
on their part-to whom this country has
SO long been home and who were false. |
w taught for so many. wears that they |
were wards of the government? How |
shall the individual be preserved in the |
mass and be made to feel his RESPONSE |
bility for government and the duty of
public obligations? How shall
corruption in private and public life be
These and similar questions
must be answered and they will be by
the countrymen of Washington, who, |
whether In success or defeat, haYe eyer
held to high ideals. And so we enter
the new century in that spirit OF optim- |
ism which Is essential to progress and |
the natural result of trials and dangers
successfully encountered and with self
confidence arising from experience We
sing. not the Miserere. but the TIE Deum |
as we proceed to take our place among |
the peoples of the earth and to fulfill a |
DESTINY vouchsafed to us .by merit and |
by inheritance.