Evening journal., 1913-06-28
AN AWAKENING.

II is as though we had Just attended
a religious revival and had been born
again.
All Of a>sudden. the editors Of this
entire Peninsula, consisting of IA
counties, all of one State and parts Of
two other sovereign States (Which all
ought to be one State in facU have
come together, looked each other in
the face, have shaken hands and have
awakened to a realization that there
is more to live for and work for now
than ever. We have found each other
and in doing so have discovered our
selves. We realize now that there is
nothing in a tug-of-war over the
trade and politics and petty antagon-
isms of the couuties and of the towns
as against each other. We realize that
there is heavy work ahead, and glo-
rious york ir reaching out further and
getting trade that none of us now
have; in abandoning the strife for
the other fellows subscribers for the
far better method of going out and
bringing in new people to help us de-
velop this Peninsula and then getting
them to subscribe.
The realization has brought to us
a still stranger fellow feeling. The
meeting of the editors-the men be-
hind the guns, day in and day out,
in pushing the Peninsula's develop
ment-has joined US in one big fam
lily, with the palatial Hotel DUPONT as
the home and with county and sec
tional lines all obliterated.
We never thought that all the edi-
tors of this Peninsula could be
brought together for a common pur-
pose. But the Chamber of Com
merce has done that very thing. We
would like to speak Of it as the Cham
ber of Commerce-not of Whining
ton; not OF Delaware; but simply as
our Chamber Of Commerce.
When the fifty or more editors we're
brought together there was no soft
soaping Editors can nearly always
be relied upon to speak out in meet
ing and call a spade a spade. From
the first the city men we're told that
they must abandon the idea forever
that because a man was a farmer or
a country editor or brought his stuff
to market, he was not the equal of a
boiled shirt Office dude. They were
told that Wilmington is asleep in
many things and one plainly said he
would not bring his boat to trade
there until a river wharf was pro-
vided where he could land and get
away the same day.
point that was not brought out
is where we have all been asleep in
that of some 100000 very desirable
srr-a 70 INV
In 1912-substantial, thrifty white
men with families-all the States but
ours went after them and got them.
little Rhode Island getting 800.
Where we're we?
Once getting down to brass tacks
the Peninsula editors and the Will
mington business men seemed to un-
derstand each other. And with that
understanding came light, resolution
and an indescrible happiness. Edi-
tor Spencer F. Rogers of our Vir-
ginia county Of Accomac overcame
the sectional and State line barrier in
this way:
"As we look at surroundings and
consider some facts that present them
selves from a geographical and bust
ness standpoint we find our section
more directly connected with eastern
Maryland, Delaware and other near
by points than with our home State.
And I most highly appreciate the op-
portunity to unite in an effort to ad-
vance the material interests Of the
Delmai via Peninsula"
Warmed to each other by the lead
ership and magnetism of the splen-
did George Gray, the editors respond
ed to the task of aiding the Cham
her OF Commerce in doubling and
trebling the resources of this State
Peninsula
Prodigious or wonderful develop
ment may not come out OF that
memorable Monday meeting in VIII
mington, but somehow we think II
will.