The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1904-05-22
The Soutl1,s "Intolerat,ce.,

Professor William u. Dodd. Of RAN
dolph Macon College, tells the South At
lantic Quarterly that in the South, and
particularly In the older sections Of, IT.
public opinion Is so thoroughly fixed that
many suggestions which como every day
into the mind of the historian may not
within safety even so much ms he dis
c,isscd
'ro suggest" he goes on, THAT
the revolt from tlte Union In 1860 was not
justified. was not led by the most lofty
minded of statesmen, Is to invite not only
criticism, but Nh enforced resignation.
According to Southern public opinion,
the whole race question Is finally settled.
never to be opened again, and In matters
further removed from the field of politics,
such as literature and art, 1t is extremely
dangerous to give voice to adverse criti-
cism Of the South's attachments In the
past or of her present status. a.
10 speak boldly means in many In,
stances, to destroy ones power Of useful
ness
"To make conditions worse, our grand
Confederate camps fear that what they
call false history may be struggled IN
from the North, and have history COM
mttccs, with representatives In every
Congressional district, whpsc business Is
To keep watch and put out OF the schools
any and all books which do not come up
to their standard OF local patriotism.
. have seen the very best books
we have in American history ruled out
of the South by these committees
and as a rule the very poorest books to
be found anywhere are the favored ones
ON our index expurgatorius. The Confed-
crate veteran works almost as great
havoc in the field of history, though he
does some good, as does
the Union veteran in the neighborhood Of
the United States treasury"
This extract from Professor Dodd's
article is reproduced in the Independents
rs fair presentation of conditions in the
South. But 1t Is not fair Southern mon
are careful about tho histories used In
public schools and do not propose that
these histories shall be written from a
Northern point OF view. They are per-
fcctly willing that their children shall
be taught tho facts Of history, but they
are ,mwillL = to have them taught that
when tn. Southern States seeded they
acted without their constitutional rights
and were rebellous and that the men
who took up arms in defense Of South
crn rights we're rebels and traitors.
Therefore, they have discarded Northern
histories from the schools and have
writer's. 1t may be that some Of the
Southern histories lean too far the other
way and are partisan, but the choice Is
between the histories Of Northern authors
and the histories of Southern authors,
and OF course histories written from a
Southern point of view are employed.
This paper and other papers in Virginia
have urged that partisan Southern MS
tories arc only less Objectionable than
partisan Northern histories. We have
urged that the children be taught his
tory and not fiction, and we have never
been condemned for taking that stand.
1t is not fair, therefore. for Professor
Dodd to make 1t appear that the South
ern people are unwilling to have their
children taught the facts of history In
relation to the Civil War.
What he says on the negro question IS
also misleading There Is one phase OF
this question that Southern people will
not discuss, and that is the question OF
social equality between the races, 1t
is not debatabo question and there
Is no sense in debating 1t. Southern
whites have long since determined that
the line OF separation must be sharply
drawn, and It Is quite true that South
ern sentiment will not tolerate any
departure from the rule and that the
Southern people will not tolerate any
man who Is in favor OF oblitcrating tho
Hnc. Southerners Will not permit the
doctrine of social equality to be taught.
any more than they would permit men to
teach treason and lnsurrectlon
Southern whites have also determined
that the negro shall not rule over them
and they are ntoerant of any man
who is. in favor Of putting the negro
into prominent political position.
But other phases of the negro qucs
ton may .be discussed and are discussed
nd libitum. This Is abundantly proven by
the files of the Tlmes-Dispatch, We have
published In our news columns all sorts
Of articles from correspondents both
white and black on the education OF
The negro. on negro crime, on lynching,
and there have been views in eXtenso
oro ana con. In the editorial department.
We have discussed the question time and
again, even to wearlsomeness, perhaps,
md we have often been on tho unpopu-
ar side. But while our views have not
,een popular, there has been no endeavor
o mu2zle the paper and no general con- ,
iemnauon of its course so far as we
Snow, The editors of the South deal
continually with the public, and we think
that all will bear testimony that they
have as much freedom. of speech as they
desire.
E===.-==s=
Village Fires.
The Clarcmont Herald. which by the
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