The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1902-02-23
SOUTHERN SOCIETY
ANNUAL DINNER At THE WALDORF
ASTORIA.
JUDGE VAN WICK PRESIDED.
EDITOR RICHARDSON'S PICTURE
OF FUTURE SOUTH.

Hon. Joseph WilIet of Alabama
Gave nm Eloquent sketch of
George Washington and Augustus
Thomas, President of the Mis-
souri, Society, Spoke of "The
south as CustOdinn'-An EIo-
quent Welcome by Judge Van
Wyck, TOastmnster of the Oc-
cRsiOn.
New York, Feb. 22.-The sixteenth
annual dinner of the New York South
ern Society was held at the Waldorf
Astoria tonight. President Augustus
VanWyck was POSTMASTER. With him
at the guests table were Judge Joseph
Willett of Alabama, who responded to
the toast George Washington" Au-
gustus Thomas, president OF the Mis-
souri, Society, who spoke on THE
South AS a Custodian" and F. III.
Richardson of Georgia, who spoke on
THE South of the Future"
Referring to the small percentage of
| foreign born citizens in the South, Mr..
| Richardson said:
There is no probability of an inva-
sion of the South by those unsympa-
| thetic and unassimilable elements
| which have created new and perilous
problems for the nation at large to
| deal with: there is no prospect of the
| debasement of the pure blood which
| is the strength and pride of our people;
| no possibility of domination, or even
| serious interference with our plan of
| salvation, by the inferior race which
| Providence has thrown so largely into
association with us and dependence
upon us. To those who complain that
the negro is repressed, If not actually
oppressed. in the South, there is the
| sufficient answer that nowhere else in
| the world are his opportunities so large
| for the varied and profitable exercise
| of whatever capabilities he has been
| found to possess.
Never before since emancipation
| have the relations between the white
man and the law-abiding negroes or
| the South been so cordial as they are
now. or the confidence of the negroes
in their white neighbors and employ
ers so strong"
The First Great President.
The story of Washington was we'll
! told by Hon. Joseph Willott, who
| spoke in part as follows:
The story of Washington, however,
| will never grow old or cease to be in
teresting. While he was living in re-
tirement at Mount Vernon, after his
terms as President had expired, Bona
parte, who was just entering upon his
meteoric career, upon being presented
to our Minister in Paris, asked, How
is your distinguished countryman, Cen
eral. Washington" Upon being in
| formed that he was well, replied, YES,
and it will always be well with him,
for Washington's fame will be secure
when my name shall have been forgot
ten" The most durable monument
r.iea harf h.
nature nor any crime of man can ever
mar or mutilate a great example of
public and private virtue. AS Bancroft
has we'll said, But for Washington
the country could not have achieved its
independence, but for him it could not
have formed its Union, and but for him
it could not have set the Federal Gov
eminent in successful notion" what
can 1 say, what can any man say of
| him which has not been already rem
dered as familiar as household words,
not only here but throughout the civ
ilized world? How can l add anything
to what has been said by Guizot, John
Marshall, Jared Sparks, Edward Ever
| EFT, Washington Irving, Bancroft and
Lodge? While Washington was a true
type of the South, his fame does not
belong to her alone, nor does she so
claim him. His part and her part in
| the Revolution would have been of no
avail but for what was so gloriously
done in council and in arms by brothers
in the Middle and New England coll
onies. Nor does his fame belong to any
nation or any age. Wherever human
| beings throughout the world have
erected an altar and set up a govern
ment dedicated to liberty, regulated by
law, these may claim Washington for
their countryman. The majestic story
of that life, whether told in the pages
| of history or in the verse of Lowell
and Byron never grows old and will
| never cease to claim the attention of
the sons of men.
! The South has played no small part
in the formation and settlement of our
| great country, whether in furnishing
leaders or acquiring or settling terri
tory. writer in the Century has re-
Gently demonstrated what was well
known to many before, that in the set
Element of this country civilization fol-
lowed the water courses and that the
| great West is the true daughter of
the South. 1t is we'll known that the
vast domain known as ME Louisiana
| purchase, and all of the other country
which has been added to the original
thirteen states, making it extend from
the Atlantic to the Pacific was ac-
quired through the influence of South
ern leaders who were then in control
at Washington. True, some territory
| has been recently acquired, which we
of the South do not claim the credit
for. and which time alone can tell
whether or not it is a credit or debit.
The great majority of the people o.
the United States, in their knowledge
OF and attitude to our foreign possess
sions are very much in the position
of a Confederate soldier in the Civil
War who was captured by the Fed
erals. One of the Union soldiers asked
aim what he was fighting for He re-
piled. "Squatter sovereignty" What
in the hell is that?" asked the Union
soldier; Damned If l know" replied
the Con ederate, but it's ours; we paid
for it and intend to keep it," We have
taken the Philippine Bull by the horns
but the thought sometimes occur
whether or not it were better If we had
taken him by the tail instead. since we
could hold on by the tail just as well
and let go a great deal easier.
But l hear someone say, What of
the future of the SOUTH" The primal
law of existence Is work Like a crew
capslzed in water. people must either
struggle or sink. None appreciated
these truths more than the Southern
people. and they had not been true de-
scendants OF the brave and gay hearted
cavaliers had they been appalled, or
discouraged at their great poverty and
the disasters resulting from the Civn
War Nor were they 80. generous
10. r..gguf1fnu dghs had l.,an