The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1905-05-21

my right hand, just as lne Impulse
stirs me to speak.
1t is a book which in my mind was
pre-judged. 1 did not expect to like
it. Had read but one criticism of it
though / knew the press of the land
had been teeming with comment con-
corning, it.
| had seen the author in the pulpit
and disapproved of his theatrical air.
his consciousness of self. To me 1T
seemed that his message was not the
great overpowering thing that makes
a man forget himself and all the world
If SO he might help TO purify a sin
sick soul. Tom Dixon was young
man then, and perhaps he was nos
sessed of his share of that egotiSm
which SO often belongs to youth. An
egotism which is not without it's charm
for the very fact that it makes pos
sible much of the enthusiasm and hope
and courage of the youth. And thus it
is the bedrock of achievement for
him.
Withdrawn from the busy current Of
life. without the strength to do the
work l had planned for myself. there
was long time in which | had quietly
watched the tendencies of our day and
our State. To me it was a grievance
that in the Southern re-awakening to
the things of the mind, our own North
Carolina should be a laggard. The
power of money was waxing too great.
You're men were making the teacher
desk a stepping stone to other work
having greater prospect of money
making
In our new Industrial life with its
quick visible results / saw that we
were in danger of making god OF
success-always counting success to
mean a thing of dollars and cents. of
SNOWY houses and expensive clothes.
Within the last few years there has
been a distinct change. The "educa-
tional governor" has done much TO
bring the change about.
Numerous forces some of them
working in unobtrusive ways, have
helped. The leading daily papers of
the State have taken new lease and
a larger hold on life. Men and wo-
men among us are beginning to look
for a fine article or real poem :s
anXiously as the South once listened
for the voice of a new orator.
In this eXpectant mood there comes
the news to me that a North Caro-
linian had written one of the great
sellers of the season-The One Wo-
man. / have no words to express my
disappointment on reading the book.
There is a certain crude strength IN
it. 1t is not lacking in power to hold
your attention. yet you are fully aware.
in spite of your interest. that this is
not real literature. The true note is
not struck.
The bells are out of tune. and more
than all is the undertone of coarse
ness.
SO, this is our new light. This our
North Carolina writer who has caught
the attention of the American public
Is our new intellectual life to be OF
a piece with this? Will it be of equal
tawdriness? OF the same cheapness?
Shall this depicting of the rush of
brute passions pass among us as art?
viii the woman-club movement cult
vate the girls of our homes to an APP
probation of work like this?
Perish the thought! Rather let the
maiden go back to her old pursuits.
fiirt, eat bonbons, and dream of the
time when she shall have a husband
and home of her own with no intel
ectual aspirations to bother her.
"The Clansman" had its grip On me-
Far into the night l read. scarcely
conscious of times passage. The hush
of sleep had fallen on the house. Now
and then there was a gentle stir of
conscience. This would not do. For
the little child's sake the mother
should have rest and sleep.
OF late years there have been very
few books that could hold me thus in
thrall | am reminded of the time. in
my girlhood, when a fine story or
poem would make me forget the apst4
of time. There was Adam Bede. the
reading of it finished toward the morn
ing hours after a charmed night.
There had been my favorites among
the novels of Scott and Dickens Dored
over by the light of the midnight
oil" If one may use so hackneyed
L.
awake and athrill for hours. Here
was a new force in our noble English
literature. Another. George Eliot per-
hapS, pays toll to us with her magic
pen and woodworking brain.
But the years weaken ones enthusi-
asm Eleanor" is read without any
absorbing interest. and other books Of
wide fame can be closed decorously
at the hour for the old school prep"
bell.
Now, however. I am Sitting un'
over q rough -and-ready kind of book.
one with no mark of painstaking
about it, one which lacks the perfec-
ton of finish that Mr.. James conn
mands, book that has no such poetic
stvle as James Lane Aliens. one that
has erudites which Mr.. Page has
never been guilty of. What is the
secret of it? 1t is not In the love
story-that is inconsequental 1t is
not in any character-study from Its
simpler beginnings to a tragic finale as
i'm Tito Melema. 1t must be in its
dramatic energy, the tremendous
swing and pace of its movement.
Mr.. Dixon has made a long stride
forward since he wrote The One We
man.
Whatever criticism may be made
of his book and his methods this man
is a force to be reckoned with.
l do not believe Mr.. Dixon wrote
his story i'm order to appeal to section
al prejudice or to revive any dead Is
sues 1t is an arraignment and de-
fence. An arraignment of what the
better mind of the North must see
was a blunder and wrong-the
methods used toward the South lust
after the war. 1t is defence OF the
Ku KluX Klan. its origin and purpose.
Those of us who have lived long
enough to have heard. in childhood.
the stories of these ghostly visitors as
the tales were told by participants in
their acts. will know that Mr.. Dixon
has told the truth when he represents
the best men of the South as being
privy to the secrets of the organiZd
ton. many of them active workers IN