Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1902-03-24

daughter.
In many communities voluntary fund
is provided with which history from man
uscripts is taught, so wretchedly false and
preposterous are the so-called histories
used in their schools. We have seen his
tories which. children had so thoroughly
scarrified with pencil and ink that the
type was illegible If children in their
tender spirit so resent the insults thrust
upon their forefathers and country, now
infinitely greater should be the indigna-
ton of mature men and women IN tnelr
treatment of the affront!
One of the leading statisticians of the
south has asserted that we have today one
hundred capable writer's in the south, 10
one half a century ago; and as we guild
ed the national thought at that PERIOD
could our writer's of ,le present hnd rec
ognition, through some great pubhsnihg
house, we would again enjoy the enVieo
prestige.
south, and the pitiable lack OF apprecla-
ton Of the efforts of southern writers, Is
due to the fact that the manufacturing
and publishing of books is almost entrely
controlled by concerns outside OF the
south. These concerns accept only such
manuscripts as commercially ana, worse
still, politically, conform to their views.
Then, too, the copyright laws are
strained to cover the mercenary lncllna-
tons of publishers, and often, southern
writer's are denied the most trivial priv
ileges; families of deceased authors ana
poets are put off with mere pittances IN
the shape of royalties, and are frequent
Nv refused any courtesies in the way OF
REPRINT privileges, etc. These conditions
aggravate the condition of literary e1ort'
and relief must be found for southern
writer's.
South Ignored in Books.
When we consider that the biog-
raphies of our great men are mainly writ
ten by those who edit to the puohsher'
rather than to faithful chronicle, that en-
cyclopaedias and the mercantile aggrega-
tons called libraries" clubs, circles
and so on, select only such subjects, cnar-
acters and objects, so far as the south Is
concerned, as the promoters deem mar
ketabIe and inoffensive; that copy DOCKS
used in schools recite only deeds of men
other than southerners; that readers make
such scant reference to the south that
their patronage amounts to parody; that
Biographies misrepresent the souths I'M
portance; that histories refer to southern
ers as aliens, and distOrt facts ana de-
vote pages to certain men, giving merely
a line or so to the immortal Lee ana
Jackson; il is but natural that revolu-
ton of the whole system is imminent and
the necessity of vigorous measures abso-
lutte.
A SOP to Cerebus by way of parenthet-
icaIly soliciting manuscripts of southern
men and women, not so much for their
fitness and ability as for their popular
ity in a trade sense, is q means TO the
end used by many publishers.
The patronizing of few novelists by
some of the great publishers" is a fad,
created for mere gain rather than rec
ignition of merit-treated as a harmless
sarcasm to vanity.
The south has produced over 10000 wri-
tiers, orators and statesmen, physicians,
divines, artists, musicians, lawyers in
ventors, financiers and other men and wo-
men Of conspicuous talent, ability and
genius; but we seek in vain to find any
considerable number Of them included in
the list of eminent Americans in any line
of achievement. The persistence in ignor-
ing the south by the publishers in COM
mon merits the rebuke of the entire coun-
try, and that it will be properly dealt
with there can be no doubt.
At last the southern people are begin
ming to realize their true condition,
wrought by an inexplicable neglect of
the educational interests Of our children
as applied to textbooks, the ignoble plight
Of our literature and the grave danger
confronting us If we longer fail to heed
the signs of the times.
A half century Of abject dependence, SER
vitude, and tribute, has finally brought
the people to a revolt that no power can
stay. Neither the cry Of sectionalfsm nor
the transparencies of a few subsidized
newspapers and retainers, win affect re-
suits other than to more completely unite
the people in their determination to
throw off this burden and assert their
right of selection, independence and de-
velopment.
Fifty years Of southern effort will now
take the place Of the lost half century
III hxrf dlnuaGa ond HUOrGa-npprIopf N
1850 those who are so fortunate as to
live in the south will enjoy the distinc-
ton of possessing a literary and educa-
tional excellence equal TO the superlative
of any people on the globe. All lands
will be honored to have in their. homes
and schools books written and published
in the south; compare such a brilliant
qualification to the dismal gloom of to-
dayl
We have in the south the necessary
brains, money, patriotism and courage to
execute the requirements and demands of
this Undertaking; and by the concerted
action of the people, a glorious consuma-
ton of the devoutly wished purpose is as
sured.
Southern men have over billion of dol
lars invested in successfully managed
manufacturing enterprises, and 1t is man.
ifestly certain the people will put a few
millions of dollars into book manufacture
NIB Win SAudAiJ SSSSASA1StoAJ ASSuAtSt AOA
with the sentiment of a justly indignant
people resolved to protect their rights and
we'll being, the combination is invincible
and success certain.
This movement is the cause OF the whole
people, and it's success means suprema-
cy, while failure would mean certain de-
struction to all possibility of permanent
progress in the south. A land without a
literature is land without hope.
"
Find Bostrom's Improved Farm Level
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