Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1902-11-06

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hoard of education in recommending the
e~clnston Of John Flsk's History of the
TTnited states from our public schools was
disa nnroyed by only one paper In virginia.
w. have as fine a set of gentlemen on
N, + hoard as could be found in virginia,
they are perhaps. as fair-minded as any
nf our citizens, yet they allow influences
r. prevail with them which urged the re-
Iection Of one OF our very best text DOORS.
This is not the place to advocate tue
merits of F'isk's book, especially SINCE li.e
hoard did not SO much as say II nau ar. ~ !:
Tho question was rather, Who 10 eAe
author?" This being answered, -.
kee," the matter was seetieo s''io
nublic made no protest.
poD ,rHE PATRIOTIC SOCIETIES.
"a this introduces the third ana last
,,oi,,t> of This letter The tendency OF our
nstriotic societies is to retard progress.
All sorts of clubs, unions. dauSn'eis,
sons and memorial associations plssa, .
amongst us, and with noble and unsei1sn
motives theoretically; but IN tneir pEae
tical workings many OF them nlhdei ou'
DEVELOPMENT by constantly calling upon
us to look backward to the glorious pas.
Now the study of our past is quite an
other thing from it's contemplation ana
anotheosis. II we knew the realities OF
that past we should not go so readily INTO
ecstasy over it; we should see 1t was
made ,,p of men and women animated by
selfish and narrow motives to the same
extent that we of the present are, or 10
the same extent that they of the North
were in ante-belum days. Our patriotic
societies might do our people an everlast-
ing service If they would but concentrate
their energies upon the improvement OF
our present condition-say. the wipiug ohs
of illiteracy in Virginia. Why could not
some of the money and energy thus eS-
pended be applied to the investigation OF
our history and its publication by scholars
of fairlyNunbiased minds? No one honoTs
the Confederate veterans OF the South
more than the writer, who is the son.
grandson and nephew of men who fought
and bled under Lee and Jackson; yet 1t
does seem that some of the effort expended
by their organizations to eXpel the north
ern writer from the sought might be
better applied TO the training our
public school teachers. 70 the raising OF
their salaries. to the betterment or our
colleges and to the endowment of some
university. where the verities of history.
both northern and southern. might be
taught.
We as southerners, have nothing to
fear from any investigation of the mo-
mentous epoch OF 1S6i-'65. Why should we
so anxious about it? Every true man
honors him who gave himself up to that
mistaken cause: but no wise citizen OF.
the South fails to recognize that he is an
American now, that future generations
must look upon the efforts of our great
war as not only futile, but as having
been opposed to the progress and develop
ment of American civilization. So let us
honor The past, erect monuments to 1t;
but not if this is to retard DIR present
advancement and to cripple the future.
THE SOUTH AND THE BOOKS.
Statistics have been published recently
which show that only one book of each
100 published in the United States comes
south Of the Mason and Dixon's line.
Our population amounts to about one
third of that of the whole .Jnion; we
ought to read one-third of the books pro-
duced in this country. his is q portentious
condition: it calls more loudly for remedy
than our sacred cause (already vind-
cated) does for vindica, Ion. The world
says what do you know, what can you
do? and leaves the past to take care of
itself Had we not best build up and
modernize our university, our colleges;
set higher standards for our press en-
courage them to educate us: and unite all
our clubs and pedigree-hunting associa-
tons into one grand order OF progress
and rapid growth.
WILLIAM Z. DODD.
Randolph-Macon College, Nov t. 1sy.