Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1910-08-24
Land OF DIXIE IS GREAT
Sentiment of Roosevelt, Greatest
American of Modern Times

New York. Special.--In response
to an invitation to address the South
ern Commercial Congress, at Atlanta,
in the spring of 1911, Theodore
Roosevelt has sent a letter to Mr..
Charles Hall Davis. chairman Of the
congress, at Petersburg, Va, in part
as follows:
"A.ugust 16, 1910.
"My Dear Sir:
SIT is not possible as yet for me
to answer definitely; but I believe
that, on my trip to California next
March, I shall pass through the
Southern States; and I hope that it
can be arranged that the Southern
Commercial Congress then hold its
meeting in one of the cities through
which I am able to pass.
"More and more, the former mis-
understanding about the South IS
tending to disappear; and you and
your associates have set in molten a
force that will have much to do with
the complete dissipation of this mis-
understanding. You are working for
a stronger South; and you SHOW your
wisdom and foresigbtedness in the
way you realize that this movement
for a stronger South, to be enacsive,
must really mean a stronger national
cohesion; for the other South of yes
terday is being lchangad into the
Young America of today. Every good
American must hope to see a real
solid South, in the sense OF solid bust
ness prosperity in the South; for all
good Americans now realize that the
prosperity of any part Of the country
helps the prosperity of the whole and
the prosperity of the whole will grow
faster and stand on the most durable
foundations only when We effectively
realize that the words South
North EAST and west have only
a geographical significance. |
earnestly hope that the young men
of the South will never forget the
past glories of the South, because |
earnestly hope that the Young men all
over. America today will keep ever in
mind these glorious memories OF
every section Of our common country;
and that the men Of the North and
of the West will remember the
South's past with the same pride
that the South itself does; for the I'M
dying glory won by the men who so
valiantly aid with such sincerity
fought for their convictions whether
they wore the blue or the grey, is
now a common heritage of all of us.
"The statute of General Lee in
Confederate uniform stands in the
halls of Congress today and his MEM
DRY is honored no more by the South
than it is by the North and in the
North as in the South alike. [ think
we are now learning to apply abso-
lutely in good faith the great words
of Grant. Let us have peace
"The part played by the South in
the constructive craftsmanship of our
nation during all our earlier years
was of incalculable weight and val
ne. / firmly believe that the time has
now come when the South's influence
will again be felt, mot only in con-
structive craftsmanship, but, IN the
enormous field Of constructive bust
ness endeavor.
"You need more people, but. like
the rest Of the country. you need that
those people should be of the right
sort. Feeling this way, I naturally
sympathize most cordially with every
purpose of the Southern Commercial
Congress in its efforts to make both
the South and the nation realize that
a greater nation will be developed
from the development of a greater
country. In your membership no
political lines are drawn, your effort
is to strive for the advancement of
American citizenship; and all broad
minded men throughout the nation
sympathize with you in what you are
doing, both to develop and increase
the power of the South and at the
same time to arouse therein a keene1
national sense.
"With hearty good wishes,
"THEODORE ROOSEVELT"