The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1907-03-13

generosity of hundreds of generations
could never in full repay To them we
owe the large measure of happiness and
prosperity the south today enjoys
The men of the south laid deep and Sc
cure the foundations Of this prosperity,
while their sons are today. with equal
industry and skill, carrying the super
structure higher and higher, until they
will again make the south the richest
and greatest part of our country.
Who Are These Sons?
They are sons of those mothers who so
nobly and devotedly supported their IA
theirs in war and in so-called peace-sons
of women who in the bitter troubles Of
war. learned those lessons which enabled
them to rear a generation worthy to sue
coed them and their fathers. The son
learned at those mothers knees those
strong lessons, which have made him the
vigorous. progressive man of whom his
country is today justly proud.
They Owe All This to Their Mothers.
Only from morally and mentally strong
mothers could so vigorous a race have
sprung. The rearing these sons received
was not an accident, but came from
mothers, who had been taught in the
hard school of bitter experience-an ex-
perience which the ante-bellum life of
the south. with its gentle softness, never
could have given and which could only
have been gained by the terrible expe-
rience of the war The SONS, who today
are the active workers of the south, owe
, their training owe what they are today
not to ordinary mothers, but to mothers
tried ir the school of adversely. who were
true to the Confederacy and true and
/ rtr in, nI1f ~ Init nd Iat inns
Is it wrong then, to say that those who
are today building the present splendid
prosperity OF the south owe 1t all to these
women--that the south owes it all to
them?
Some few comparatively few. of our
people. were not blessed with such glo-
rous Confederate mothers. But they
live In a prosperity largely made by
these women, and enjoy the same, equal
ly with others. and as largely share In
the obligation to these women.
1t is an admitted fact that the south
has fan more than reganed in material
wealth all that II lost by the war. Such
is an evidence of greater comfort and
happiness. This was regained by the ex-
Confederate soldiers, backed and en-
couraged by the Congederate women, and
by their sons. trained and their char
acters formed by their Confederate moth
ers These Confederate mothers were the
helpmate of the one and the guiding par
ent of the other Their gracious influ-
ence Is shown on both generations. With
out them, without just such women, the
south never could have reached its pres
ent zenith of prosperity. The sons and
father, owe this solemn debt to these
noble women. 1t is "A holy obligation
which the entire people of the south owe
these women Let us pay 1t, not alone
with the gratitude of our hearts, not
alone with our appreciation. however
high but in so pronounced manner that
generations yet unborn shall forever
know that in the crucial hour of the su-
preme trial. the south produced women
i'm comparison with whom the historic
Spartan mothers sink into utter inslg-
nificance.
Is the South Willing to Pay This Debt
Are we willing. out OF the millions. the
influence of these Confederate mothers
has given and the benefits of which we,
today enjoy. to give paltry sum to
honor and to recognize her glorious wo-
manhood? Are we willing that the finger
of scorn should be pointed at US. ana that
! we should be adjudged bankrupt in the
court of human equity and gratitude?
Shall the draft upon our gratitude be re-
turned marked no funds"
We ALL every man. woman and child
within the south. whether born to the
soil or foreigners. all who enjoy the pres
ent prosperity which these women have
| made possible. owe this debt. Even il we
do not honor these women. let ms be
chary of our own commercial reputa-
ton and never have II said that we failed
to meet Il fair obligation Even n re-
spect for their forttude. admiration for
their support or love for their God-like
devotion does not move rs to honor their
glorious memories, let us at least dis
charge our just debt.