The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1903-07-14
Spirit of the Press.
THE ABILITY or THE SOUTH.

THE ABILITY or THE SOUTH.
New York Sun.
In an address on The Old South and
the New" delivered a few weeks ago at
the commencement of the Alabama Poly
technic Institute by MI. Richard II. Ed
monds, Of Baltimore. he referred to the
heavy white mans burden" which must
be borne by the Southern people. because
of the heritage left by slavery, and inci-
d~entally he called attention to a fact the
Importance of which we have never before
seen recognized so fully.
ITO the SOUTH said Mr.. Edmonds,
slavery was a curse without one redeem
ing feature. It enslaved the white man
more than the black man. 1t Wa the d.
rect cause of a vast emigration which
drained the South of a million or more Of
strong, sturdy people. who sought to es-
cape from competition with negro labor
and "in this loss by emigration and tho
loss by war the negro has. indeed. been 10
the South the white mans burden TO an
extent which no other people has known
In support of this generalization Mr..
EdmOnds cited the facts hat In 1860 there
were $50, 900 Southern born white people
living elsewhere IN the Union, in the
Northern and Western States, and in 1909
the number had increased to $1,000 600
AS a partial offset to this loss by emlgra-
ton, 25O, 900 white people from other
parts Of the Union were living in the
South in 1860, and according to the last
census their number in 1900 was $50, 900.
This loss of white population to the
South has been relatively very large. ard
it has not been made up by foreign immi-
grafton. During the period from 1920 to
1900 there came to the United States
about 30, 600. 600 foreigners, but very lit
tie of this alien stream entered the South
ern states. Therefore those States arc
now the one remaining seat OF a dIstlnC-
lively American population.
In the whole eleven States Of the old
Southern Confederacy. with a total popu-
lation Of about 5000. 600, there We're IN
1900 only about $50, 900 people of foreign
nativity. anG more than one-half of these
were in the single State OF Texas; yet
even there they were less than 6 per cent
of the total population. In the State Of
Georgia, with a population of 2,216,3"1,
the foreign We're only -, 403; in Mississippi,
wlCh 1851, 270, they We're only 1881; in
North Carolina, with 1893. $40, only 4.492;
in South Carolina, with 1,34O, 1916 only 5,52S.
That IS, the South has received from
foreign immigration only a small number
Vi Whites III liz Ndy VI Oh ohSC ~ 10
loss of 1900. 900 by white emigration-a
loss equal to about one-tenth of it, total
white population in 1900. Meantime on
Manhattan Island only about one-sixth Of
the inhabitants are Of native birth and
! p~arentage, and q very large part of these
are grandchildren Of foreigners. OF the
| foreign born alone there are now in New
York at least four times as many as there
were in 1900 in all the States Of the old
Confederacy.
OF the 737.477 native whites Of native
parentage in New York IN 1900, only 137,-
ass Were born elsewhere than IN the State
of New York, and of these, the greatest
number from any group Of outside States,
with the exception Of New England ard
the neighboring New Jersey and Pennsyl-
vania, We're rom the South-23. 549. The
New England States furnished 1852; the
Western States only 0,24.
It may be said, too, that the profess
sional and commercial Importance of the
Southerners in New York exceeds that Of
the emigrants from any other part Of the
Union. unless it be New England. In
law, medicine and the church our South
epn-born inhabitants have won distinction,
and in business they hold q foremost place.
Our Indebtedness to the intellectual vigor
OF the South is great and obvious, and gen
orally the emigration thence to other
parts of the Union has been remarkable
for the high quality of ability it brought
Mr.. Edmonds is justified in saying that
measured by whatever standard you may,
whether by mere numbers or by material
! accomplishments. whether in the past OF
the present, the South has given to the
upbuIlding OF the nation far more in mum
hers, in energy, in brain and Drawn, than
it has received from other sections" But
that this loss from the South's capital
OF ability has not prevented it from max
ing astonishing progress during the last
generation IS proved by a few statistics
we gather from the address Of Mr.. Ed.
monds. Very many more sta
~tistics Of this astonishing progress might
be cited, but they would only overload thi,
brief discussion, for we are concerned
rather with the question of the remark
able ability of the Southern population
Mr.. Edmonds proceeded to point out that
for the great Southern development which
they Indicate the Southern people them
selves must receive by far the larger part
OF the credit. + These are only 4
few illustrations Of conspicuous Southern
accomplishments, but they are enough to
indicate that. great as has been the draft
by other parts of the Union on the South
1t still retains sufficient masterful ability
IN It's almost undiluted American stock f
proceed successfully to the further and
complete development of one of the mos.
Dps0npnpfDI raoInnC on tho f1aa Of ~,