The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1912-01-11
SOUTH CAROLINA.
The Proud Old State as Seen by
ThOS. F. Mellow, Esq.

Mr.. Thomas F. McDow, of York
Vile, was one of the speakers at the
banquet of the St. Andrews society
in Charleston, Thanksgiving night,
He responded to the toast ''The
State of South Carolina" and his ad-
dress was one that should set the
people of this commonwealth to
thinking. Recalling the great state
of our forefathers, he compared it
with conditions that are prevailing
in it now. The comparison is pa
thetic.
After recounting some history and
achievements of old South Carolina,
Mr.. Mellow exclaimed:
"Measured by this standard, the
past of South Carolina is secure.
The opinions of the judges have been
quoted with approval in Westminster
hall; she has given to the medical
profession Marion Simms, to theology
the great Thornwell, to literature
Simms, Legare and Timrod. The roll
of her distinguished statesmen is too
long to recall. Suffice it to say that
the heart of every true South Caro-
linian thrills with pride as he remem-
bers the conspicuous part played by
his people upon the battlefelds of
America, and by the representatives
of South Carolina in the golden days
of the Rutledges and the Pinckneys,
Lowndes and McDuffiie''
Then, after hesitating for a mo-
ment, the speaker proceeded:
"The old order has given place to
the new; what was Goose Creek once
is Tiber now. The tidal wave Of frat
ricidal strife broke upon our beloved
State. The men who had made South
Carolin the admiration of the world
were retired to the seclusion of pri-
vate life, and every little hungry
manikin began a mad struggle for
the seats of the mighty. The strong
man of character and ability has not
found the field of politics in South
Carolina of late years an inviting
one. The captains of industry, ia
tally bent upon heaping up riches,
where moth and dust doth corrupt.
have devoted their great abilities
with marvellous success to the indus
trial development of the State, and
the demagogue has devoted himself
with equal, if not greater, activity to
the task of fooling majority of the
people all the time.
''Mr. President, 1 am not a pessi-
mist, nor am I a Bourbon, who looks
backward to the glory of an age
which has departed, rather than to
the pride of achievements in the re-
turn, but when think of what we
are and read the comments of the
press of the country upon what we
are, 1 think of the old darky who
had buried his fourth wife. His pas
tor asked him how he felt. He said:
eMr. Johnsing, feels like am in the
hands of an~all-wise and unscrupu-
lous Providence
POLITICALLY, South Carolina is
sick. Whether she has pellagra or
rabies I am unable to say, but I do
know that she needs the service of
physician and surgeon, and not
quack. Her citizens have so long de-
voted their thought to the best solu-
ton of the whisky question that the
moral vision of our people has be-
come somewhat obscured. 1t is true
that the old State has had a few
lucid intervals, but the places of dis
tinction are not regarded as high and
honorable as they once were. The
man who offers for a position of hon
or and trust in these days must be
what Is known as good mixer,
which, being translated, means that
he must be hail-fellow-well-met
with any sort of a rascal, and drink
corn whisky and branch water, and
be the proud possessor of an elastic
conscience. He must possess the
further qualifications of being high
up in the noble Order of Striped Ze-
bras and Worthy Past Moguul of the
Wild Wolves of the Canebrakes and
kindred orders.
''Mr. President, would not be un-
derstood as Understanding the i'm
portance of developing the resources
of the State and making two grains
of corn grow where one grew before,
but what / do wish to emphasize is
that it is more important and neces-
sary for us to grow men than grain