The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1903-06-18
NORTH CAROLINA
MaIigned and Misrepresented,
Yet Not Cast Down.
The Poor Old State is Receiving Some
Hard Knocks in Public Addresses,
Newspaper and Magazine Articles
and Statistical Information C9) Now
So Popular With a Certain Class,
Some OF Them Her Own Sons.
DR.. kingsbury, in News and Observer.

~ - III .'fNb anu ciSFi WI
North Carolina is having "a hard
time OF i'll he public addresses, notes
of statisticians, and newspaper and
magazine contributions. 1t is dense
ly ignorant, tremendously and scan
dalously behind the great North, but
partially civilized, and has not yet
learned how to read and spell or how
to work with profit 1t is a dreadful
old State to be born in, and if so
unfortunate rs to be so born, then
get away so soon as possible, and
forget your beginnings" where you
were born and who were your for
bears Be ashamed Of the old State
as unworthy of your birth, your ia
vors or your faith. When an old
"THr HeeP' who is unfortunately
''native here and to the manner
born, glanceS at the speeches and
scans the statistics, and then sees
the tremendous glorification of edu-
cation and money getting-the now
one test OF personal worth, useful
ness and character, he hangs his
head. and eXclaims why did he not
leave his native North Carolina and
go to Massachusetts or Iowa or New
York and take to Northern ways and
ideas and manners and pre- judices
and ingrained dislikes of the South?
When one is assured over and over
again how poor, ignorant, unworthy,
destitute, behind-the-times a State
this old State is. and how great and
prosperous and highly civilized
Northern States generally. including
Iowa, he must wonder how it is that
any one who can get away prefers
to remain in such a blasted, poverty
smitten, ignorant, uncivilized old
thing of a State as our own, and
why any man with IL hoe and a grain
of sense does not make for Iowa
There is seemingly nothing in North
Carolina to commend it to men in
the North, and nothing worthy and
sufficient to prevent all North Caro-
iinians from emigrating at once even
if they have to walk and carry their
hoes on their shoulders. North Car
olina is a hard old State to dwell in.
That is clearly the proper deduction
to be drawn from educational enthu-
siasts, and the manipulators of fig
ures But is the dear old mother
really so seedy, so contemplate, SO
unworthy? Are her sons and daugh-
ters really SO very inferior to the
Sons and daughters of boastful Mas
sachusetts and far-away Iowa?
| see no statistics as to religion
and crime when the spouters spout
their fervid denunciations and North
Carolina is put on the rack. l have
impression is that North Carolina
can show as low a record of crime
among it's whites as Massachusetts
or Iowa can show My further i'm
preston is that there are more men,
bers of Christian churches in North
| Carolina than there are in Massachu-
setts or Iowa in proportion to white
population. If in error | would be
pleased to have it corrected. \
smaller number of criminals, edu
Gated and others. and Il larger mum
Der of protesting Christians should
be Il good Offset to the illiterate sta
tistics, and the superior profits O
| the man with the hoe in Iowa. Mora
| character, Il religious life, Il sincere
| acceptance of the Bible as the true
Word of Jehovah, and fixed belief il
the Christian religion, in Jesus Christ
as the Son of God, go very far in re
deeming people from swift anC
scornful criticism and injustice. The
truth is. am proud of my dear ole
native State in spite of all her faults
shortcomings, sins of omission anC
hardness in many things. Before
1860 she was not behind in educa
tion other Southern States, and not
behind some in the North She ha.
borne Il superb record for honor, con
servatism, patriotism. love of liberty
| the chastity of her women, self-sacri
flee and devotion to sound principles
OF government. Look at her RECORD
in the greatest of all modern wars
| Voting 112, 800 whites and sending
to the armies of the COnfederar,
10000 fl ghtcrs. losing over Al 200
in the mighty conflict. How can ;
State be SO inferior, so degraded a.
the "witlings' proclaim her to b,
when she bore herself SO grandly il
the first conflict in 1771; at Mecklen
burg May Goth, 1775;in the first wa
for independence with England; il
the last war for independence will
the Observation-Disclosures since
1t would seem that n State whicl
produced General Davidson, Genera
W. r. Davie, General Nash, Genera
James Graham, in the Revolution
and others of merit; that gave to tn,
country such able, upright, nobl
men as Judge A. ID. Murphey, Judg,
William CASTOR. Judge and Secre
tary of Navy and L. S. Senato
George E. Badger, Governor, Secre
tary of Navy and L. s. Senator vii
liam A. Graham, Senator Willie p
Mangum, Senator W. H. Haywood
Governor and I. S. Senator Thomas
Bragg. Governor and L. S. Senator
Z. B. Vance, L. S. Senator Thoma!
Hart Benton. President Andrew
Johnson and James X. Polk, Gener
al W. d. Pender, General Leonida.
Polk. General Braxton Bragg, Gen
eral J. Johnston Pettigrew, Genera
Ramseur, General Bob Johnston
General Junius Daniel, and many
Others of splendid courage and merit
Chief Justice Henderson, Archibald
Henderson, Judges Nash, Battle, J
J. Davis and others, and Chief Jus
tices Smith and Merrimon, Hon
George Davis of President Davis
Cabinet, Secretary of Navy J. c