The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1912-01-09
ROBERT l..
CALL OF THE SOUTH
An ~Appreciatiye Editorial fie\icW
Which Recently Appeared in u Del
aware Newspaper.

one Of the most powerful books
ever written in the South. worthy to
rank with Harry StillWell EdWardsS
Sins of the Fathers is the book
written by Mr.. Robert Lee Durham,
OF North Carolina, called 1.-THE Call
OF the SOUTH 1t has not at home
( been appreciated at its rue worth, for
it is an exceedingly strongly written
and absorbingly interesting novel.
The Wilmington, Delaware, Star Of
last week has the following appre-
ciative editorial review Of Mr.. Dur
hams book which deserves q wider
reading:
\ Book Worti, Reading.
1.-The Cali of the South is a book
that should be read by everybody who
wishes to understand one of the dam
gers that menace the people Of this
country through the efforts that are
being made noW and then TO deal sen
ti"1nentallS with the negro problem.
The book is by q Southern man, and
it is an irrefutable argument in favor
Of the strictest social segregation OF
the races. Yet it is written in no
rahid, or morbid, or fanciful Vein.
The action Of the story is projected
into the future, bat not too far to
place it beyond the limit of the init
taate personal interests Of those now
living. Indeed. it IS plain that the
time OF the story is IN this decade,
and the incidents which serve as the
basis of the narrative might easily
happen st the present time. The
: writer has skillfuily, bait not unduly,
accenjuated the horrible results of
$ what may Well be regarded by those
4 of Caucasian BLOOD as not only re-
pul9iNe i'll itself. but Of the direst i'm
port to this Nation III its inevitable
/; finaIity.
The recent tragic death III Phila-
s dolphia Of q young girl Who committed
q suicide when she discovered that her
f blood bore a hybrid faint is only an
: other phase of the question so power
. fully treated in The all of the
: South And one of Harry Stillwell
e EdWards's most dramatic and absorb
ing stories, Was 1t an Exceptional
Case?' deals graphically with the
t same fascinatingly horrible theme.
THE Call of the South is by
Robert Lee Durham, and it is issued
from the press Of L. G. Page & Com
e pany, Boston. It should be read by
every one who is a real friend Of the
negro and who believes that the bes1
way to help him materially and up.
lift him morally is to protect thu
white race from deterioration anC
abasement.
And the negro should read it too
for While there is no possibility o
% miscegenation becoming the rnle
~ every exception to race purity onl,
adds to racial friction and impair
ia the power and the Willingness Of tn,
white race to give that assistance t,
m the black ace which the latte
stands SO greatly in need Of at thi
time, n which it will still need 70
many years to come.
=. And even II INSTRUMENTATION cbo1I
ever receive popular tolerance in thi
of Ountry the negro would be tn
greater sufferer thereby, for only tn
y worst strain Of white blood would O
y choice mingle with his own. and tn
-, result would be the dangerous com
-, bination of increased mental an
physical powers with lessened mora
~, and spiritual stamina. Only in rar
~ instances has the mixing Of whit
~ and black blood had other than
= deleterious moral effect upon the vic
e tim Of the mixture, which account
for a common saying in the Sout
's that a yaller niger is the Wors
U uigger.'
For the whites. m;scegenatio
~ would mean degradation for only
- comparative few, of depraved taste
ue and tendencies; the race would SUI
III vive. For the negro it would mea
race obliteration, followed by a nor
"a, grel breed whose hereditary instinc-
70 would be weakness on the one han
las and vicious sensuality on the other.
~ But these are our own obsery:
ie- tons, prompted by reading 'The ca
of the South. Mr.. Durham. is not r,
sponsible for them, except indirectl,
las he Simplv tellc his ctorr IT,
% dldactic, nor intolerant; he is mere
'Ch informative on a subject that shou
hh- command the most thoughtful ate,
IS ton from all classes Of enliehtenf
and humanitarian persons in II
lille instructiye is ;nta,cal o celi
eSs ~ StiAS
lhlnk st thou existence doth dene,
te0 on tilneo
ter tt doth. ho+ acti