The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1906-11-02
DIXON CALLED TO CURTAIN.
Says That 1.-THE Clansmann will
Live as Long as Negro Problem
Exists.

At the close of the third act Of
"The One Woman" at the Grand last
night Mr. Thomas Dixon, Jr., was
called before the curtain by the audi
encc with loud and insistent applause.
Ills appearance was the signal for
another outburst, after which Mr..
Dixon said:
"Ladies and gentlemen: I thank
YOU for your kind appreciation of my
play. | wish to express to you my
peculiar joy at revisitng the scenes
of my childhood. have never for
gotten that l am Il North Carolinian.
| first opened my eyes to the world
on the glorious mountain peaks
around this town. Whatever l write
must reach men because the teach
in"s which prompt them were rooted
i'll the soil of the Old North State.
Pays Tribute to The Citizen.
81 wish to express my gratitude to
the press "f this city for its kindness
I" me. and one of your papers wish
t" thank particularly for magnih-
cent editorial on "Thc Clansman,''
which came tn me at Il time of need.
That editorial was copied by many
"i the great papers Of the North and
East. and still more in the South. l
needed encouragement then, and /
wished | could stretch my hand across
the great distance which separated
me from North Carolina and shake
the hand of the man who wrote it,
Uncle Tom S Cabin.''
81 count it the highest honor OF
my career that | have written the
first play in the history of America
10 powerful That lrgal steps have been
t@krN t. stop il. Not because. mark
you. il Is false or immoral, but be-
"au>r it Is pvcraStinglv true.
Ladies' and gentlemen, you can
not suppress the truth: crushed to
earth it will rise again.
:" Uncle Toms Cabin has been
played for fifty-four years. More
than one hundred companies are now
playin" it in every tongue of the civ
ilized world. Wherever it goes the
name of the Southern white man is
helm" covered with immortal infamy.
Ten years apo | saw this play in New
York. | sat through the three horri-
able hours and saw my mother and
father and all my people of the
Southland covered with unspeakable
shame | leaned over on the seat in
front Of mo and burst int" tears. Then
and there | promised Almighty God
that II lie gave me strength | would
tell the story of my own silent people
and give to the world their side OF
the darkest problem that ever shad-
owed the life of the nation.
81 wrote 'The Clansman' and pro-
duced it North and South.'
Clasped His Hand.
:" In the North, thousands of good
Yankees have clasped my hands and
thanked me for giving them the real
knowledge they had never received
on this question. If l cannot produce
it i'll the South. I will not produce it
in the North. The truth is it's own
vindication, North, South, East, and
West.
"A group Of little scaiawag news
papers in the South are now demand
ing that both my play and my book
shall be suppressed. Think for one
moment of the insane infamy of such
demand, that we return TO the cor
dltlons Of the suppression of free
speech Of the darkest Russia, with
her Car and her censor. These same
little papers print the advertisements
Of Uncle Tom s Cabin and coin money
ont Of the shame hcapcd on the MEM
"rlcS Of their own fathers and moth
rr&. I" such traitors have no apollo
'irS t" make. They have my undyins
contempt.
" The ClanSman will be played as
long as the negro and The white man
lace each other on Il square mile OF
the earth 5 surface. You can't sup
press it because it is the truth. The
next great problem this nation must
Face is the advancing wave Of radical
socialism that has reached our shores
from the sewers Of the Old World.
This poison has begun slowly to eat
the heart out of our national charac-
ter.
"Thc 'One Woman treats this