The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1906-08-10
"A YANKEE IN THE SOUTH

University Law Department.. Defends
the South Against the Charge of Tn
fair Treatment OF the Negro.
Maj. Charles r. Evans in the Wtsco2-
sin Alumni Magazine.
| had been living a number of years
in the south when a friend Of my youth
in the great northwest who was en-
jOying his first trip TO Dixie" called
to see me. We were driving around view
ing the sights when his attention wa
attracted by a man working a field with
a mule annexed TO a "bul-tongue plow.'
For the enlightenment of the uninitiat-
ed a bull-tongue plow has a share about
the size Of the hand of a full grown
man and TO the denizen Of the fertile
prairies of Wisconsin or Iowa LOOKS
like something made for Christmas.
This sight was a revelation TO ny
friend whose agricultural knowledge
was limited TO a region Of rich corn
and wheat lands and he exclaimed,
That's what's the matter with YOU
southern people. You are a hundred
years behind the times. See that man
fOOling with that toy. That's but little
better than the crooked sticks used in
Bible times. Why don't he get a
move on himself and use one Of our
big northern plOWs and do something?
He's not blowing, he only thinks he's
blowing. He's just like the rest of you
people down here. You don't do things
right. Why don't he wake up and get
neXt?"
| replied, That man is nearer next
than you think. The productive soil
in that field is only four or five inches
deep and the kind of plOw he is using
is the best made for the kind of ground
he is working. If he were tO use one
of your big plOws he would turn the
clay on top and ruin his farm. He
might raise dog fennel on it afterwards
but as there is no demand for that crop
he is after something there is more
money in. That man has lived in
this country all his life and the proba-
bilities are that he knows more abou-
it than you do who first arrived here
on yesterday mornings train. Now
You are thinking Of changing your dom
icile. Well, if you do, and as | am a
lawyer, | want to give YOU a piece of
advic. Wherever you 90, north, south,
east OF west, you will find some things
different from what you have been used
TO. Don't jump at the conclusion, as
YOU did just now, hat these things
are wrong AMI that it is your mission
to reform everything that doesn't har-
monte with the ideas that are prevail
ent in the neck Of the woods you broke
out Of.
The world is bigger than any one
mans horizon and you are no excep-
ton to the rule. You crossed the Ohio
river W days ago and are now among
a people who with their fOrbears have
lived here for more than a century. Yet
you are trying to make yourself pop
ular by virtually telling these peOp.e
that they are fools and that YOU are
the one who knows how to do it. Don't
criticise methods until you master ON
ditiOnS. Several years ago | was in Il
city near the equator and began in my
mind to criticise the narrow streets |
found there. | thought, why dom
these ~neighbOrs of the FURNISHED sun
have some sense and build wide, airy
streets instead of these narrow alleys?
Here is plenty of outdoors and these
people are fools for not utilizing K. |
was there but a few days when | found
myself seeking the cool shade of The
deSpiSed narrow alleys rather than the
wide plaZaS where one imagineS him
self walking on top of a red hot stove.
The idea daWned upon my intelligence
that a narrow street shaded At all
hours by the adjacent buildings "a 4
pretty good thing after all, especially II
Il country OF chronic ninety in the
shade. | then realized that the natives
had been smart enough to find this out
before l did and my respect for tAeiS
architectural common sense cores
pOndingly increased.
There is more than one way OF do,
ing L thing and the way the other fe!-
low does il may be worse than yours
" it may not. 1t depends. We are
creatures of habit and after a man has
done i thing in n way many thOus-
ands Of times he is prone to believe
there is no other way. \ man once Of
fered to bet me a dollar that he cO1ld
button up his coat and take it off With
out unbuttoninG the buttons. | was
sharp enough not to bet on anOthe!
mans game, thinking he had a trick
coaJ especially made for the purpose
noticed that he was about my size anG
offered to make it five if he would use
my coat. let me button and sew the
flaps together in front and no harm L
happen To the coat. He snapped 1t the
bet with an a~lacrity that alarmed me
for the safety of my five. but still
failed to see how he could win. TIL
conditions We're complied with and he
then reached over to the back of his
neck. grasped the coat by the collar
jerked it off over his head just like
had been taking shirts off all my life
He had noticed that the neck opening
was large enough for the passage 81 hi:
head and that was all he needed.
am Your friend and tell YOU thosf
things to keep YOU from making Z
big mistake. You find things different
here. but don't begin by criticising peo-
pie and their affairs until @ ear