Goldsboro semi-weekly argus., 1909-06-16

Inc mOnOtOuy vi uODdtO 1A LAC
House of Representatives on the sub
ject of the tariff was relieved, some
time since, by certain charges against
eEhe South's thrift and industry, on the
sRay't of Mr.. Calderhead, of Kansas, and
athe reply thereto by Mr.. T. U. Sis
: sols, of Mississippi.
1t lbs not too much to say that a
more crushing rejOinder was never
made in fthe halls of Congress, and all
!, the more so because the argument In
] behalf of the South consisted of cold
: facts and figures, taken from the Off
4. cial records, presented in calm and
e. 1ispassionate spirit in which there
xwas no trace of bitterness.
The heart of the Southern people
may well glow with pride when they
iread the record of their achievements,
:and reflect that they were accom-
plished in the fase OF the most tre-
mendous odds with which a people
ever had to contend.
These facts and figures should be
preserved and should be given the
widest possible dissemination, SO that
when next a flippant critic assails the
industry of the South, the sons of the
South may be prepared to make an
swer.
Mr. GaAAeFhead glorified the
achievements OF "frost-bitten New
England" and asked sarcastically
what the South had dope with it's rich
inheritance 'It is time" he said
"for the children of a rich land to
take their traditions in hand and go
t9 the fields of toll and begin to pro-
dtlee and manufacture for them
selves"
A more baseless and unhappy blum
der was never made on the floor Of the
House than this public utterance.
We shall not pause to develop the
argument presented by Mr.. Sisson, in
which he showed that the South was
true to her traditions" pFeferripg to
stand by them rather than to go oyer
to the party whose policy robbed the
poor in the interest of the rich and to
build up one section of the country at
the expense of the other. 1t was one
of the most powerful arguments In
favor of a revenue tariff ever made in
Congress.
But it is our present purpose mere
ly to preserve the facts as to what the
South has accomplished. in spite of
her triple handicap OF war. recon
struction and protection. not to speak
s-of the Infamous pension system.
Mr.. SiAson drew a graphic picture
sof the South's supremacy before the
war. He showed, in the first place
tthaf in 1860 the population Of the
country was approximately thirty-one
millions. The population OF the South
aat that time was but little more than
ttensandsa half Epillions. of which num-
Eher sbut little more than six and one
half millions were white.
Bear in mind, throughout, therefore
tnat she had but 20 per cent. OF the
white population Of the country.
The South was not grain country
and yet In 1860 she raised forty-f1ve
million bushels OF wheat. while the
rest OF the country raised but one hun
dred and twenty-five millions. Sh'
raised three hundred and fifty-eigh
million bushels OF corn, while all th'
rest of the country raised but fou
hundred and seventy-two million thre
hundred thousand bushels.
In 1860 the value of the livestocl
In the South was four hundred an
..sixty-eight millions, and In all tn
rest of the country only six hundre
and forty millions, and yet the Sout
never claimed to be livestock coun
~try.
In 1860 the South raised twelve an
"a half million pounds OF wool, and a
the balance of the country only forty
eight millions, and yet the South wa
not q wool country.
In 1860 the value of the animal
slaughtered in the South was eight.
five millions, and In all the balance I
the country only one hundred ar
twenty-eight million Ave hundrt
thousand, and yet the South was nj
an animal country.
In 1860 the South raised three hui
dred and fifty-one million five hui
dred thousand pounds of tobacco. al
all the balance Of the country on