The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1918-03-16

A'No III IL ioVeS IL, tnOSe VINO visit IL,
IN many instances return to 1t to re-
main and to become SOutherners.
Many more Of those who do not set
tie among us are fortunate enough to
persuade some Southern woman to
cast her lot elsewhere and perhaps
In years later to teach some youngster
that Robert Lee would, above all men
on earth, be the one to leave a blazed
trail from Nancy in France to Ber-
lin.
We come now to the South of the
present day. The United States as
battle ground will never exist eX-
cept in the minds of some of our ar
dent pacifists, who oppose war in
many cases, from a very unworthy
motive. So we see, or at least we
nope that We see where the South
will be very much different in this one
respect at least, from what she was
in 1855. With the conclusion of hos
tilities, U-boat warfare will Of course
conclude. With the conclusion of u
boat warfare the insurance on trans
continental and oceanic shipping will
drop to a bagatelle as compared with
what it now is. With the decrease in
this insurance it will certainly be a
much cheaper matter for bale Of
cotton to travel from Wilmington,
Charleston, or Savannah TO Liverpool,
Bremen, or Havre. and of course the
chances of that cotton reaching it's
destination would be practically as
sured. I am confning myself to cot
ton because it, is our principal pro-
duct, the above Of course applies
equally to any product in our coun-
try. The entire world will need cot
ton and need it badly when hostilities
do end. This applies more particular
ly to Russia with her $50, GOO, 900 peo-
pie and to Germany with her 80, ,OOO,-
600 and to all others of the central
powers whom we cannot and would
not engage in commercial intercOurs
with at present. We do not know how
long the war will last but it seems
reasonable to suppose that within the
course Of two or three years at most
a civilized world should be able to ar
rive at some kind of conclusion and
not permit the present condition Of
affairs to continue. If they do, can
we supply TIE cotton and other pro-
ducts to all the world which they
will demand from us? Perhaps we
can but. the supplying Of them should
be source of revenue, in a perfect
ly honorable way,>to the South which
will leave her in financial condition
just the opposite of what she was left
in at the end of our Civil War. l
don't mean for one moment to imply
that our dear Southern people are SO
cold blooded and mercenary as to be
willing to profit financially by this
terrible conflict now waging. On the
other hand they are the least desirous
of amassing wealth and the warm
est hearted people on earth. But the
above condition will most likely pre-
vail whether they are desirious OF
profiting by it or not. The South is
making her sacrifice all right and it
took no passionate appeal to her pa
triotism to send hundreds of thou
sands Of her best and most substantial
citizens into our governments fight for
democracy and the abolition of mill
tarism as advocated by the Prussian
element of the German empire. Many
of these sons are not going to return
to their beloved Dixieland and in SO
far as this is true we will be unfor-
tunately like the South of 1865. We
have been called on to adopt and to
foster many thousands Of the boys
and men from the North and West,
who are established in cantonments
throughout the South awaiting the
final call to arms. These no doubt
Will carry back with them lasting
impressions Of the South and very
possibly their influence will be felt
around the communities in which
they are training. This of course is
as diametrically opposite to the state
Of affairs In the South in 1865 as it
could very we'll be and l am sure that
all of us welcome the change. 1t is
easy for us to draw conclusion as
to what our condition will be, but
what will be the state of affairs in
the European countries on the soil
OF which the battles are now being
fought. In countless instances homes
are completely destroyed, families