The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-02-16


the same reason. Our statecraft is south
problems are our own and not anothers.
Without our statecraft the model OF this
republic would be lost. Abraham Lincoln
was great, chiefly because he foresaw
that the southern states would not be
spared from the federal government with
out the sacrifice of the government. its
utter disintegration and extinction. He
made war to destroy the Confederacy
and to restore, not reconstruct" the
union. He spurned reconstruction.
\ The New South is not the product of
Red Mountain and General Grant. That
which is new with us is normal adj
vance upon the foundations that were laid
in the beginning.
Know then thyself, presume not
| God TO sean,
The proper study OF mankind is man."
The south must be southern or hide
| Its talent. We are competitor with the
majority section of the unions for in
f1uence in the government of both sec
| tions. We compete all around the earth
as the south. Not as other peoples and
other nations is our competition forced
| but as southern.
| No population Is as ours. Mixed races
| In on the western hemisphere to the
| south of us are a hindranee to the ad-
| yaneing age. We of the south maintain
an interdependence of the purest bred
| Anglo Saxon race in the United States
| with the lowest race of the genus home
| and yet our character remains firm upon
| the ancient ideals. Despite the active ef-
| fort of the government at Washington
g., t...- H..
ousy OF the north and the suspicion of
| Europe we have made history Illus
trious in our deeds.
| We need this that is wantng-we need
to know that the history of the south,
| when written that the world may read
| is necessary to our development of the
! power within US. We need the respect
sister nations. We need to be known
by the other members of the family
for what we are and ever have been.
Achilles was great, but Alexander said
of him: 20, fortunate man; who found
a Homer to sing thy fame
The fine enthusiasm and masterful tact
thrown into the critical situation by
Chairman Bragg at once bore fruit. A
subcommittee denominated the Central
Committee" was selected from the state
committee. Messrs Thomas H Watts.
p. J. Sayre. II. c. Sample and j. B. Be-
thea composed 1t. They were citizens
of Montgomery, whose presence might
be readily obtained by call from the
main office.
Besides the leader possibly the most
potential influences of the field work were
the Montgomery Daily Advertiser, the
Mobile Daily Register, the Southern
(Selma) Argus, a weekly General John
t. Morgan and Colonel John w. A. San
ford.
IIo,,eto,, ,,a..o ,~,o~4 90 hss a++antio1 a,
the white counties General Morgan
opened his campaign at Decatur and i'm
mediately followed with a speech at sew
eral other points in the same county. His
personal popularity was unsurpassed. His
oratory not equalled except by Yancey.
1t was an example of lofty patriotism
with him. He had a large family to be
educated and supported, and dependent
wholly upon his labor. He had already
been four years in the war of recent
occurrence, practically without pay. Now
he closed his law office to engage in
filling appointments over a large area,
made for him by the party authority.
He did not desire the reward of office.
There was no other compensation poss-
BILE The habit of the orator may be
found in this trifling incident: Riding
alone among the hills, he came upon a
building little off the road. about which
numerous horses, some with mems sad
dies, others with side saddles, were tied
to the trees The house proved TO be a
church and the occasion a "protracted
meeting common after crops, were laid
by in summer The traveller was on
his way to an appointment. The OPP
portunity here offered Unexpectedly to
mingle with the people and he was a
good mixer
Tyeing his pony to a limb, the orator
| slipped through the open to a back seat.
While the sermon went on undsturbed.
The preacher finished and then an elder
rose near the pulpit, saying: General
| Morgan is in the church and he is in
vited to move up higher" The preacher
next exclaimed. II invite General Nor
gan to take the pulpit and address the
| congregation"
General Morgan, took the pulpit without
hesitation. He opened the Bible, that
lay before him, read a text and spoke to
| ii for an hour Afterwards he let fall the
remarks; THAT was the best speech I
ever made" Time after time. he en-
| joyed a joint debate with Governor Par
| SONS.
of the Montgomery Advertiser ard Rob-
ert Tyler was editorial writer. The make
| up of the paper was most judicious for
the event and the editorials admirable.
| A feature assiduously cultivated was
| correspondence on the campaign from all
quarters OF the state, cOntrlDuteu pH
| citizens gratuitously. The letters were
lengthy, describing public meeting and
| defining public opinion. They were of
| incalculable effect in other communities.
| Every meeting became Jealous of re-
| port in the Advertiser and thus a steady
! current of sympathy was maintained be-
tween remote localities.
| Mr.. Forsyth was at his best on the
| Mobile Register. He was positive In ex-
treme. He was eloquent, polished. incis-
| i've. He held Mobile compact In the cause
| and all through the lower counties and in
the great plantation region the Regis
| ter exerted a powrful effect.
Robert Mckee, a young Kentuckian,
| came to Selma in 1865, without friend
or money. He brought reputation as an
| editorial writer. for he had held that
| position on the Louisville Courier. the
democratic daily of that city. He was
employed for two years on the Selma
dailies.
In 1868 he set up the Southern Argus,
office fixtures. A job printer turned out
| the paper. The editors office was a
scanty space, cut off by boards, in the
second story of Robertson's drug store.
| His desk was dry goods box nailed to
the wall. His bed, a cot, sat in the 'of.
] fce.''
| BY 1874 Colonel Mckee had become
known in every part of Alabama as
newspaper editorial writer without a su-
perior. Into the pending campaign he
| entered his paper, now well grown, with
startling energy and dauntless audacity.