Oxford eagle. (Oxford, Lafayette Co., Miss.) 1876-current, 1903-06-25

and not mere ob1ectors-tne MANNER strohe
instead q the bugle note. We want com
manders who will not only give warning
of the dangerous course to be summed bul
will point out the path OF progress 10 pc
pursued The destructive critic mas MS
place and is not without dehbnite value,
but he leaves no monuulente-oniy ruins.
Criticism. when discriminating and sincere.
is wholesome and necessary, but beccTes
perniciols when 1t hardens Into haDit;
My ardent ambition for the South is that
she will not sit forever In the opposftioii
mighty leaders of creative and constructive
genius, each with, all the seven lamps OF ar
chitecture in his strong. brave hand build
better the altrulstit spirit of the old petri.
arch who dug a well in the wilderness az
which a thousand generations nave Deen
refreshed than the violent @ +eo eomWmgndn.e Wendame
column and gloat over Its magnificent Irag-
ments.
matter Of vital and far-reaching concern
to Mississippi most delicate and yet
stupendous task has been imposed upon
task Of growing d ons OF Od 0dr non rela'tbe tbe
right perfoHnance of which our material
prosperity and even, the ,sscbritf OF eur
civilization largely depends; 49,. ,Riio
sophicai foreign student Of our civil and
social Institutions, In his American com
monwealth" has yentured TINS canoe 9ts opjn, I'M
South is one of the gredtest secular prop-
lens of the world presented here in form
of peculiar difficulty. The present an- a1,
ropean race are the product Of thousand
years while one race was advancing IN
the temperate zone, and the othef remain
ing stationary in the torrid zone and cen
turtles must pass before their relations as
fellow-citizens and neighbors can De prop
erly adjusted in America Ihat, non
esfly believe, is too somber view. 1t dls-
counts those great redemptiye and eievat-
ing forces that give meaning and fnsplra-
tion to our Christian civilization.
But Ii is a momentous fact that the full
force of that perplexing problem Is most
keenly felt here in Mississippi, where the
races are so evenly divided. l make no
part, but believe the dominant, desirf q
our people has been to deal justly ana 90
right And wherein We have failed the
fault has not been all our own.
While gratefully according the purest
motives and largest benevolence to many
friends In the North, | am constrained to
been dangerously aceentuated and made
perilously perplexing by policy OF mtrn,
Sion and hasty criticism And IA although .lss
kindly meant and even well deserved, yet
their necessary effect has been to hinder
| rather than to help-to hurt and not 20
pecially every legislative and political eff
| fort-based on nistrust and censure of the
resident, white people, has tended to put
ruthlessiy asunder what Providence has
That man was an unwise champion of
| the negroes who, allowing his indignation
| at the real or supposed wrongs to permit
the statement that in a conflict of races
the black man will be no unequal antag-
| onist, because box of matches VIII pc
equal to a hundred Winchester rifles. The
| very suggestion must strike every humane
/ give it, fellow -Mississippians, as my de
| liberate Judgment, that there can never f
this stupendous problem that does not
enlist the cordial and enlightened coopera-
tion of the white people with th whom no,ine the
which tends to infame prejudice and widen
the racial chasm. postpones indefinitely the
final triumph of the Son OF Man among
never to have a friend and brother In his
Southern white ne!ghbor; one or the other
must move out: Enemies cannot liye on
| adjoining let's without perpetual conflict.
And now that the matured and, best
sentiment of the North has reached the
conclusion that past policies having falled,
this grave problem should be left to the
eDis eraeial taa test. TRaf Ne Viii disappoint the
not indulge fear. What the future of
the American negro Is to be | do not pre-
sumo to predict. believe in doing imme-
diate duty and leaving results to Him who
knows the end from the beginning But
do insist that the negro should have equal
opportunity with every American citizen
derful valley Will be the pgslng center. qQf
great nation. Mighty possibilities sleep
AWAIT ifS us s"esSa when SOB brilliant liar pfopheey shall
| be converted into heroic history.
1t is said that Henry Clay, ,wnei cross
ing the submits Of the A,eghany a ~, moqm the
| stage coach and stood. silently, reyerentiy
for some minutes if listening for dis
| can't echoes. Friends at length asked, MI
for w Hetenln0s
great tribune of the people replied, Il am
listening for the footsteps of the coming
that was not all dream. No doubt that
prophetic genius of craftsmanship and lotty
patriotism, heard the thunder of the mighty
millions moving VI, and down this valley
| of the Mississippi from its source to the
sea. and from the Rockies to the Allegha-
nes, building and extending civilization
that was to be the glory OF America-the
MIRACLE of history-the wonder OF the
| world.
| You will pardon me on this day of our
rejoicing, II l make earnest appeal to Ms.
our constitutional fathers SO devsatly
walked. While. adopting new methods to
| meet the changing conditions OF the siren
uous years. catching the spirit and keeping
step with the commercial and industrial
| genius of this restless age-let us hold with
an unfaltering grasp the great basal prin-
4 built and put restored emphasis upon an
4 unselfsh and untainted patriotism deAl
4 GUS and tenacious adherence thereto is
| the condition of national integrity and
! progress. We must ever keep in mind the
fact so eloquently stated by another. that.
"the stones upon which the temple of
| American liberty was built are the only
stones upon which it stall ever be able TO
stand
These great political verities so admira-
bly, summarized by Thorsas Jefferson in his
first inaugural address in 1901, ] crave
the privilege of repeating aad commend
Ing: !,
whatever state or persuasion, religious or
political peace, commerce and honest
friendship with all nations-entHngling al
lianees with none the ,p s,nppor5 q me sta,e fhe
most competent administration of sur do
\ nestle concerns, the preservation or the
Federal government In its whole constiIu.
i peace at. home and safety abroad; 1eal-
| Gus care of the right of election by the
people; mild and safe correction OF
abuses. which are Topped BY the sword
of revolution, when peaceabe remedies are
unprovided: absolute acQnieseence In the
decisions of the majority, the vital princi-
pie of the republic, from which there is no
appeal but to force the vital lfinciple and
Immediate parent OF despotism. well dis
cipiined militia our best reliance In peace
and. for the first moments In war, until
regulars can relieve them: the supremacy
of the civil over the military authority
economy in the public expense. that labor
may be lightly burdened; the honest pay
ment of our debts and sacred preservation
of the public faith; encouragement OF ag-
rieulture. and of commerce as It's hand
maid the diffusion of Information and the
arraignment of all abuses of the bar Of
public reason freedom of religion. freedom
of press freedom of person under the pro
lection of habeas corpus: and trial by ju-
ries impartially selected.
BY these fundamental principles the ma
tion has been wonderfully guided. Let them
continue to be the creed of our political
faith. the text of those who occupy public
place. Guard them with the reverence of
a religious faith. q s
There Is urgent demand for the re-en-
thronement Of the lofty political ideals OF
our fathers in the South. Some things in
that old civilization are happily gone never
to return others should outiast the splen-
dor of the stars. The standards of per
sonal and political honor which were EN-
| braced with the sacredness of a sacrament.
should be preserved in their integrity and
entirety. Any slight departure therefrom
was visited by firm. swift, social and po-
| liticaI condemnation from which there was
neither pardon nor repfieve. The states
men of those halcyon days may not have
been practical politicians, as the phrase
now goes: they cared little for great wealth
and deplered the spirit of the gross com
mercialism but they we're men of sensitive
honor. distinguished courtesy and high born