The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-08-28

remuneration, ana bestowed Dountilul charity when needed. And yet, that charity for which we all hunger who would rise above our present condition, the charity of ready and generous ac- knowledgement that the door of oppor- tunity is open to all, and that he who enters and wins. no matter how humble his origin, is fit to stand before kings this, which seems to me the greatest of all charity. was. I daresay seldom, If ever, offered by the proud planter to the "po' white trash.'
 What future did such conditions hold for the development of our magnificent native resources? From beneath and against such mountain of indifference, contentment and seeming security, Vul- can, whose name is now forever linked with Alabama's-all honor and praise to the enterprise and generosity of the city of Birmingham-must long have ham mered with his mighty sledge before the blaze of his forge could have burst through and cast .es ruddy glow of cheer and prosperity athwart the length ana breadth of our good state.
 Industrial Progress.
 How long must 1t have been under those conditions before the rattle ana chatter of the car of progress on It's triumphal way would have mingled III our lana with the drowzy buzz Of the planter bees and the yodel songs of his saves! All answers to these queries would, of course, be purely speculative. And yet from the lins of Confederate veterans who knew and understood conditions as they existed then, and who know and appreciate con- ditions as they are today, 1 have heard it declared that under the regime of the old south industrial progress would have moved at a snails pace. The eloquent and ilustrious Grady expressed it we'll when he said, "The negro was a slave to the south and the south was slave to the system"
 Much as this feature of that period in our southlands history was to be depre- cated, there was another, and to my mind much worse hindrance to it's great est development.
 History shows in no uncertain manner that that nation only will reach the limit of its possible greatness which offers to its every citizen the widest opportunities and the strongest incentives for individual development
 There was not, so far as I know, any caste written in the laws of the old south. l have never heard that her aristocratic churches closed their portals 'gainst the 'po white trash" No one has ever told me that the money of a poor tenant of 
 value to that of the proudest planter I may be mistaken in this opinon which am about to express, but from all l have read, heard and seen of the old south, have reached the conclusion that the att titude held by the aristocrats towards their poor white brethren was far from that which is calculated to inspire in the humble a desire and determination to be- come great.
 
 ambitions struggling blaze that fortunes favorites should stamp upon 1t with the stifiing tread of one who says, You are not worthy; you shall not enter here" It is enough to chill to death the aspir- ing hope of an humble heart, to face day through day, year through year, the icy winds of a naughty condescension. To meet from childhood to maturity that spirit, hard to describe, and yet, my God, how keenly felt, which makes on the youthful mind the impression that it has no right to cherish a desire to live and move in a loftier sphere, but Is only fit to move and forever there should serve among the beasts of burden.
 The Picture.
 This picture I attempt to draw may be overdrawn. It may be a distortion alto gether. And yet-and that from no par ticular source but from all sources to which 1 have had accessible unwelcome conviction has been forced upon me, that such a spirit, casting its blight over the humble, existed to greater or less ex- tent in the old south.
 If I am correct in this, then 1t was worth all the priceless blood that was shed that such a damnable condition should be swept away forever. If this was true then with shout of joy I cast across the years that have passed a glad fare- well to that old south, however grand, stately and magnificent she may have been, the glory and glitter of whose proud aristocrats but served to deepen the shadow and gloom of her despairing humble. If this was true, then with all the zest of my soul I cry, "Adieu, adieu, to the Old; all hail, all hail, to the New
 But who can pass from the old to the new without marking the bridge which connects them? Its approach coming from the side of the old, was built of the ever lasting pillars of honor, courage and love of home and family; its body was con- structed of bravery that knew no fear, a fidelity that knew no wavering, and skill and glory of arms that knows no parallel; leading down into the new, It's hither side rests on the granite founda- ton of loyalty and patriotism and on hon. or whose spotless escutcheon still shines with undiminished lustre. Beneath it flows the blood of thousands of heroic martyrs and every drop is sacred. Would you learn the lesson of faithfulness, come kneel at the brink of this river of scarlet. Would you walk in the paths of glory, come follow the footsteps of Lee, Jack son and Wheeler, and their vast multi tude of untitled soldiers, who, though their names be not graven on history's page, are, for their fortitude, fearless ness and sacrifice, deserving of all honor and praise.
 Cross from Old to New.
 We have crossed from the old to the new One of the humblest of all the cit- izens of this great section of ours, this deep admiration for this new south and her people, animated with strong desire for the highest possible development in the future of all her resources, whether men or materials. I can yet say that I know my love for the present, my hope for the future, has in no wise moved me to crticise or disparage the past. With my hand on my heart, 1 swear to you that every opinion have expressed, every sentiment I have uttered, has been in- spired only by a fixed conviction of their truln and in no mean spirit of carping criticism.
 I would be untrue to myself, however, and thrice unworthy of that glorious her itage shared in common with all young southerners, if I held before you today only the dark side of the shield. Cross with me for a moment, and before we say farewell to ante-belum days, let us glance at the bright side of a picture, IL. T I