The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1903-10-13

loves heroic sacrifice and daring deeds
! Her men won for humanity still higher
place for stubborn courage than had
heretofore been gained. They went into
the fight reluctantly because of their deep
love for the Union which their fathers
had cemented with their blood. They
went to the front well clother, well fed,
N high spirits, certain of success. They
left at the end in tatters and rags, foot
sore and hungry, but their tears watered
the ground where the greatest leader OF
soldiers, the highest type of Christian
manhood, the purest and truest and the
best of men, General Robert E. Lee, sur
rendered his sword. They came back to
the State weary, worn and sorrowtu..
They found the population depleted. Their
farms had gone to ruin, their fences were
down, their bitches were filled, their stock
weer slaughtered, in too many instances
their houses were burned. But they did
not sit down in the desolation OF their de-
spair. With a courage worthy OF the
great men who fought during the Revolu-
ton they turned their faces to the morn
! ing, rut their trust in God and resolutely
determined to build again homes and do
| honor to their mother for whom they had
| suffered so much. And right well hay G
! they wrought. Today our fields abound
with harvest. From the mountain to the
seashore there is abundance. There is
not, from Hatteras to Murphy, from Vir-
| ginia to South Carolina man. woman or
child who is hungry today. North Caro-
| lima and South Carolina manufacture sixty
per cent. of all the cotton manufactured
= IL. l., onr1f
| this State claims over half. Within this
county the forty furniture factories giving
employment to thousands of skilled labor
ers, sell their furniture in Grand Rapids
and take tribute to their superior work
manship from every State in the Union.
The Census shows that we more than
doubled our investments in manufacture
in the last decade. We grow more cotton
on less acreage than ever before, Th.'e
our tobacco crop III value exceeds that
of any State in the Union Our vegetable
gardens have grown into fields and We
feed the crowding multitudes of the East
ern cities In every department OF human
activity your brothers here are forging
to the front. We stand in the morning
with our faces to the light and gladly
hear the command that 1--WE go forward. >
1 have tuohgfdv7adlh6H etaoin shrdlu
/ have thought it not inappropriate to
tell YOU these things on your return to
your old home for it is the right of one
who has gone out from underneath the
shade of the family tree to hear when he
comes back what the folks at home have
been doing Above all it is your right to
know what we are. Whether we are sus-
tanning the ideals of the past, what sort
of structure we are rearing upon the
foundation laid by your ancestors. In
your travels you may have run across
1.-The scorners who scott at and the Writings
who defame" this State. You may have
heard that she is ignorant and provincial,
but l have the pleasure to inform you
what your affection already knows, that
there can be found nowhere within her
borders man known out of his town
ship ignorant enough to JOIN with the fool
in saying There is. no God" There is
no man amongst us whose had is so I'M
trained that it does not instinctively seek
his hat in the presence OF a woman. There
is no ear so untaught tkat it does not
hear the cry of pity, and 10 heart so UNI
tutored that it does not Beat in sympathy
with the weak and the distressed. Hit
crate we have been, but ignorant, never.
Books we have not known, but of men
we have learned and of God we have
sought to find out. "A gentle people and
open," frank and courteous, passionate
when aroused, and dangerous in conflict;
capable of sacrifice, among warriors the
first-praised by me as warriors only be-
cause of the high courage manifested
there giving promise of the wonderful
achievements which lie before us in peace.
These are your people, they are my peo-
pie. | am proud of their history; proud
of their character and glad to introduce
you to them again. Your brethren all
wish you to stay among us to the utmost
limit of your time, to see us and know US
as we are If you find our material con-
dtion better than it was when you lett
US, we claim no praise for 1t. Ii we have
done well, it is because we were taught
Alright by those who went before us,
taught at their expense and credit belongs
to them alone We think we hold on to
the truths which our fathers taught us.
We believe that we still maintain a pas
sion for liberty; that we love independ-
ence and set more store by honor than
by wealth, and that we seek wealth only
in order that the kind promptings OF our
hearts may find better way In which to
express themselves; that our deeds may
keep pace with our wishes and that the
earth may grow better by what we do.
In log cabin, in frame house, in modern
mansion. each and all of you will find a
welcome. The latch string hangs outside
the door but not for you. The latch string
is for the stranger only; the door stands
open for you.
To the representatives OF those cities
whose North Carolina population Is large
enough to justify the organization of
North Carolina Societies, I am directed
to express the appreciation OF my people
for the manifestation of your continued
affection which has brought you together
in your distant homes under the name of
the dear Old State 1t is delightful to us
to be thus remembered by you. 1t in
spires us to our best efforts to MAINTAIN
that affection which is so beautifully ex-
pressed in your act 1t deters US from
doing anything to bring dlshonor upon
that fair name in whose honor you asso-
ciatp If has heen nv Measure once since