The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1916-05-26
HON. A. H. STONES ADDRESS.

Delivered at the dwelling of Memoria
Drinking Fountain in Greenwood
May 18th, 1916.
Ladies and Gentlemen:
| am very glad that the Master o,
Ceremonies did not introduce me as al
orator. l am very fond of oratory
particularly of the kind of which Mrs
McClnrg has just given US a sample;
take my hat off to that kind every
where I hear it. But. l am sometime:
suspicious of the man who is held on,
to US as being an orator, end who :.
nothing more. This recalls to my mine
hearing the speech of old Senator
Pettus, which was provoked by some
remarks of Senator Beveridge, of In
diana. Beveridge spouted oratory just
as this artesian wellspouts clear water.
| remember old Senator Pettus got up,
stroking that Goatee of his; he wen,
back into Biblical history, and said tina,
when Moses was called to lead the chill
dren of Israel into the land of plenty,
Moses demonstrated and told the
Lord that he should be accompanied
by an orator, a speech-maker. The
Senator said the Lord told him to take
Aaron who is an orator; and, like most
orators, good for nothing else. Moses
took him along as his orator. But the
first time the Lord told Moses to go out
and take the ten commandments, he
took of the people all their gold and
made golden calf. ! am not an orator,
and lack a whole lot of possessing the
qualifications Of the orator: as my friend
has told you, l am a farmer.
l was born in the city of New Orleans,
but l was reared in the, Delta. MY
earliest recollections are of malaria,
calomel, quinine, swamps. l lived on
Deer Creek, and we were at that time,
a back-woods people. l remember
when it was a habit of the people of
this section, as well as the rest Of the
Delta, to get up and take a handful of
quinine before breakfast. l believe,
outside of screens, water has been the
greatest factor in stopping this. l
wish on this occasion Il wish l could
command the language of a speaker who
as I remember, took q single drop Of
water and talked on it for an hour and
a half, and everything he said was good.
| think if he had had an artesian well
full he would not ever have stopped.
I think we are indebted to Mr.. Wright
in spite of all the biologists say, that
he found he. could get an overlooking
well in the Delta of Mississippi.
It seems hatthere are some things on
which we might very proftably reflect
this afternoon While among the school
buildings and atmosphere; some things
that are most important. l believe in
We are a peculiarly self-satisfied peo-
pie in the South: but I'VE have been able
to learn a great deal, and will still be
able to learn a great deal from the
other sections of the United States.
When / hear someone talking of the
achievements of the Southern States, l
think of the people on the rocky shores
of New England, their Universities and
achievements. l can find only one
answer as to why those people of Mas
sachusetts haye been able to impress
one thing upon the people of the Unit
ed States as they have. Daniel Web
ster was twitted with the reply that it
did not produce anything in food or ag-
products. He replied that
they furnished educated men and wol,en
to the country. Continued applause,
It seems that we have not grasped, as
New England has grasped, the fact that
there is a great deal not contained in
the entire curriculum of our schools,
and you know it. The people of the
South have probably made as much his
tory, if not more, than any other Sec
ton in the United States. But they
have written less than most any other
section. We have been willing to make
and let other people write it.
VIZ have committees from our Daugh-
tiers of the Confederacy and from the
Sons of the Confederacy to go over the
text books used in the schools, but we
have no means of reviving and keep
ing alive the history of our own sec
ton; and there is sufficient material
at our command in our own section of
the State for numberless histories.
There is more to be found of interest
in the single building of the Wisconsin
Society than in any two
States.
At the recent session Of the Missis-
sippi Legislature we had up a bill for
an appropriation to carry on the work
Of the Department of Archives and
History of the State. / recall that the
very fewest number out of the hundred
and thirty-eight men who composed the
seemed to have any idea of
what the Department was meant for
and Of the work it did, and it was only
with a.great deal Of difficulty that we
secured the continuance of the scanty
appropriation that it has had for the
loe+ niUht mr. fon voars IN carry II IN