The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1906-08-07
A YANKEE IN THE SOUTH
Mai. Chas. R. Evans, Dean Of Grant University Law De-
partment in Florida, Defends the South Against
the Charge Of Unfair Treatment
of the Negro.

y Ears III tIIF s~&dtH - Il - 80
4s.s youth i'm the great northwest, VINO
VAS enjoying his first trip to Dixie,
called 10 see me. We were driving
around viewing the sights when his
attention was attracted by a man
working a field with a mule anneXed
10 IL "bull-tonguc pIo#. fof th'
enlightenment Of the unfnitiated q
b~uH-tonguc pillow has a share about
fhc size of the ham of a full groin
man ana to the denizen Of the fertile
section Of Wisconsin, or Iowa iooES
like something made for Christmas
This sight was a revelation TO my
friend whose agricultural knowledge
was limited 10 q regiOn Of rich corn
and wheat lands. ana he exclaimed.
that's what's the matter with you
Southern people. You are a nun
dred years behind the times. Sec
that man %fooling with that toy. That's
but little better than the cropIted
stick8 used in Bible times. Why don't
he get q move on himself and use
ono Of our big Northern ploWs and
do something? He's not blowing, NE
only thinks he's blowing. He's just
like the rest of your people down
here. You on do things right.
Why don't he wake up and get next
1 replied. THAT man is nearer
next than you think. The productive
so.l IN that field is only four or five
inches deep and the kind of pillow he
IL USING is tflt pest IIlidt y IIlC MIL
Of ground he is working. If he were
to use one Of your big ploWs ne
would turn the clay on top and ruin
his farm. He might raise dog fen
mel on it afterwards, but as there IS
no demand for that crop he is after
something there is more money IN.
That mar has lived in this country
all his life and the probabilities are
that he knows more about it than
YOU do. who first arrived here on
yesterday mornings train. Now you
are thinking of changing your domi-
ciIe. Well, if You do, and as [ am a
lawyer, | want to give you q piece
of advice. Wherever you go, North,
south, East or 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,
that these things are wrong and That
it is your mission to reform every
thing that doesn't harmonize with the
ideas that are prevalent in the neck
of the woods you broke out of.
"The world is bigger than any one
mans horizon and You are no ex-
ception to the rule, You cross
ed the Ohio River two days
g 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
popular by virtually telling these
people that they are fools and that
YOU are the one who knows how to
do it. Don't criticise methods until
YOU master conditions. Several years
ago I was in Il city near the Quato
and began in my mind to criticise the
narrow streets l found there. I
thought. why don these n~eighbors
of the FURNISHED sun have some
sense and build wide, airy streets, in
stead Of these narrow alleys? Here is
plenty of outdoors and these people
are fools for not utilizing it. [ was
there but Il few days When l found
myself seeking the cool shade of the
dcspiSed narrow alleys rather than
the vide piazzas where one imagined
himself walking on top Of Il red hot
stove. The idea daWned upon my
intelligence that a narrow street shad-
owed at all hours by the adjacent
buildings was Il pretty good thing
after all, especially in a country of
chronic ninety in the shade. 1 then
realized that the natives had been
smart enough to find this out before
| did and my respect for their archf-
tectural common sense correspond
ing increased.
"There is more than one way of
doing q thing and the way the other
fellow does it may be worse than
yours or it may not. depends. We
are creatures of habit and after i man
has done a thing in one way many
thousands of times he is prone to be-
lieVe there is no other way. A man
once offered to bet me a dollar that
he could button up his coat and take
it off without unbuttoning the but
tons. | was sharp enough not to bet
on another man. game, thinking he
had q trick coat especially made for
the purpose. | noticed that he was
about my size and offered to make It
live if he would use my coat, let me
hJ1ttnn and COW tho n u ~ tnDntbn, IN
front and no harm to happen to the
coat. He snapped at the bet with an
alacrity that alarmed me for the SAT-
tey of my five, but still | failed to see
how he could win. The conditions
were complied with and he then
reached over to the back of his neck
grasped the oat by the collar, jerk
ed it off over his head just like I
had been taking shirts off all my life.
He had noticed that the neck OPEN
ing was large enough to permit the
passage of his head and that was all
he needed. | am your friend and tell
You these things to keep you from
making a big mistake. You find
things different here. but don't be-
Gin by criticising people and their af-
lalrS until you can make good. hen
don't fail into the error of thinking
that one section of our peOple is
smarter than the other section and
'hlt thc SLID Secllbl Is your section.
If you do you will find yourself I'M
popular in the South not because you
are from the North but because you
have mad a brass band fool of your
self. But you don't need to come
South to lind that out. You follow
the same plan anywhere and you
Will find it equally efficacious. HI
reason that YOU northern people are
more apt to err as you did just now
when you come South than when you
3" west is that you fail to consider
IN" rapid changes that take place
when you cross parallels of latitude
~ tead of following them. The Yam
Eee from Maine who migrateS t.
Seattle inds but little change from
IT," customs around East Port. He
meets lots of down east people there
Ih'Y wear the same kim of clothes
eat the same things the old folks a
nome do, and he approves and in hi,
mind things are all right. But if he
""i the same distance south he find.
himself on the equator between Col
n*"bla and Ecuador. different climate
"''"rent pepole, different language