The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1903-07-10

OF course. and naturally, when our
civil war occurred and the southern
states withdrew from the union. (and
for some years afterwards, during the
Reconstruction" period), the obServ-
ance of III Fourth Of July in the south
eased-fr because there was no in
clination towards celebrations of any
kind in the depressed condition Of The
people. and. second. because it was re-
garded as a glorification Of the union
which they had r~epudiated, n a SYM
Dol Of their OWN degradation.
Gradually, however, under the influ-
ence of the better understanding and
the kindlier feeling between the sec
tions that has occurred, the ola senti-
ment has been slowly revived, and to-
day there is a growing disposition 30
go back to the old custom, and to hail
the arrival of the day with the old spirit
of n~ationalism.
Intense as is my devotion to the
memory of the lost cause, n strong
as are my feelings in regard to every
thing connected with it, l confess that
my judgment approves the revival of
interest in these national festivities. l
realize that the youth of the south can
not be expected to fully sympathize
with all the sentiments of their fathers
who fought for the south, or to par
AXE of their feelings about that strug-
gle. and l would have them manifest
their f~aithfulness to the duties of CIti-
zenship in every respect to the fullest
extent.
But right here l wish to repeat a pro-
test which ! never lose a public oppor-
tunity to make, and which cannot be
too often repeated to a southern audi
ence, and that is: a protest against q
tendency which exists, even among the
Younger generation of llr own DpODlS-
to accept as true the stupid f~alsehoods
which have beer diligently taught
about the inferiority of the former civ
ilization of the south. 1t is astOnish-
ing that these misrepresentation
should have secured UGH a hold upon
the minds of the people, at a time
when education is farther advanced
than ever before in our history. and
when the most superficial study Of the
conditions then actually existing, and
of the facts recorded in the census re-
ports of the government would expose
the gross libel. And, yet, after all, IL
is not so much to be wondered at when
some southern educators themselves
have helped to give credit to it by
speaking in a plying, if not a con-
temptuous, manne of the civilization
Of the south before the war. One IF the
most distinguished Of them in a Splen-
did grafton recently spoke Of thar civ
ilization as "a picturesque and gracious
MediaeValism" out of which the south
has emerged, and, again, that the south
has now entered upon its probation as
a member of the modern world" The
inevitable tendency of this SORT of tes-
timony, experimenting n ~corroborat-
ing the original SANDER. is to degrade
in the eyes of southern youth the r1k0r
Dry of their fathers NJ to provoke
their contempt for a civilization which,
so far from deserving o~pprobrlum,
did, in fact, produce the noblest men
and women that ever walked the earth.
and under which existed brilliant
statesmen with clean hands, a learned
judiciary whose robes were spotless,
military skill ~unriValled, and industrial
energy n enterprise unsurpassed.
The evidence to sustain this assertion
is overwhelming and '~ndisputable. In
deed as to all but the industrial energy,
it is universally admitted, n as to
that. it is equally true, for the proof,
contained in the official records of The
government. establishes forever the
truth that the south, instead of being
inferior, was, prior to 1860, in enter
prise and industry fully abreast o., and
in actual wealth per capita ahead Of
any part of the union. 1t is an insult
to common sense to make a COMPARE
son between the north and the south
dIlEr lle war, lOT lHe one was 'OIlIIlS III
wealth produced by the war, and the
other was stripped naked Of all she
possessed; but, taking the period from
1880 to the present hour, the history of
the world can show no parallel to the
achievements of the south in every field
OF endeavor. Let not their great work
be falsely attributed to others, and
never forget that if there be a e
south it is not the new south that was
sought to be created by others, but is
the product of the same spirit that
made the old south dominant during :
the first sixty years of the life Of the
republic. and crowned her with glory
on a hundred battle fields. There Is u
new south, as there is a new north, but
ii is new only in the development Ct is
unparalleled by the brains
and energy and pluck Of the southern
people. and it will continue undec the
same forces, to be newer and lever
every year until it is ~eVeryWhaG4 re
OgniZed to be one Of the richest and
trust that its industrial development
most favored regions on earth: but l
and material wealth, however great
they may become, Will never constitute
its only claim to the admiration Of the
world. or be priced by its own people
as such. l pray that the virtues which
have marked its civilization in the last
m never be sacrificed OF the altar CT
a Sordid commercialism. or disappear
before the insidious advances of a low
socialistiC spirit. but that with every
step in its industrial those
virtues may shine with brighter lustre,
even TO the end
l trust that what l have just said
may not be considered inappropriate to
this occasion, but. if so, the only apol-
ogy l can offer is that it is a subject
upon. which l feel very strongly, and
one about which many of our own peo-
pie are strongly uniformed. If il ,ay
in my power to do so, l would make it
the positive duty of every teacher in
the public schools to instruct the youth
under his charge correctly in regard to
this matter, and thus destroy a source