The sun., 1909-02-27
The New south, FOrsooth !

Why should Mr.. j. G, WILLETT of
Anniston, Ala, go forth into the wilder
nesses Of Chicago and like places and
prste loudly Of the New South and re-
instated harmony and all the rest OF
The unmeaniDg yum-yum which plays
a part at modern banquets? We have
been hearing this folderol for more than
thirty years. There was a time per-
haps when the North didn't understand
the South and when the huttering Of the
bloody shirt by such professionals as
kEIFER, GRosvENoR, &c, fairly smoth-
cred the hustle Of the New England
and middle Western pioneers then set
thug down to Southern enterprises and
building up the waste places with their
Drawn and brain and duly financed
ehergy. In those days HENRY GRADY
OF Georgia made a specially of Northern
banquet halls and floated pearly songs
of thingumbob across the nuts and
wine He told us of the New South,
Of the fratricidal struggle which had
passed, OF the harvests smiling over the
once angry scars of war, and of gulps
and ecstasies in general. Why prolong
this flood of nonsense?
A month or two ago there was Gen
erai" RUFUS \. RHODES OF Birmingham,
who went to Augusta at the head of a
delegation and there delivered himself
Of such slush as this:
Judge TAFT. II you knew the heart and the
ttsd OF the men OF the South. and particularly Of
birmingham. you would know that they regard
the result OF the last election as benediction
from GOD Almg ghty Himself to the people OF the
south over their own protest, l am Democrat
most OF these gentlemen are Democrats, but We
all welcome your advent into the South. because
you want the South once again to hold her place
n the councils OF the nation. You viii md no
more fertile held for the planting Of your seeds OF
patriotism, independence of thought. lndepend-
'pce OF political action, than among the represen.
,1tHe men OF Birmingham. Alabama.
We want you TO help us strike Oh our hands
the sbackles OF an ignorant political system
which does not do the most to develop our re-
sources or to prosper and safeg guard our happi-
meas. We promise you real, genuine. tangible
results for the greatness and the glory OF this
section"
Sound and fury, sgnifying nothing;
and when did RUE RHODES become
a General?
II is all rot and rigmarole. Northern
and " estcrn men are swarning into the
South and have been for many years
The cotton mills of the Carolinas, the
steel, coal and iron mines and manu-
factories Of Tennessee and Alabama,
the sugar and rice fields of Louisiana
the lumber industries OF Mississippi and
Florida, these and hundred other pur-
suits have absorbed the immigrants;
intermarriage and community OF inter-
est have drawn fasteners and middle
Westerners into the local civilization
aud identified them with the destiny of
the section. The Southern boom was
born of its own natural resources, not Of
maudlin mouthing over dinner tables or
AT the head of visiting delegations,
WiLLETT of Anniston and RHODES
of Birmingham are merely tiresome
huckstcrs Of fapdoodle.
Outsiders have seen that the South
offers them many fattering opportuni-
ties. They have gone there with their
money and their activities and have
been assimilated That's all there is to
II, The New South" be blowed!