Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1921-10-19
Miss Florence Minis Makes a
Comparison Between the
West and South.
Dear Advertiser:

Comp arson Between the
West and South.
Dear Advertiser:
The South has some priceless
things that the West does not possess,
among them, certain allegiance to
1.-THE religion of its fathers.
3 Religion and culture are found at
their best in long established COM
lniunities and cities.
The West is new, The trade mark
1of cattle brands is on it.
The West is commercial. 1t shines
with the ear marks of recent manu-
facture. If one listens intently, he
may almost hear the echoing battle
cry Of the last Indian wars.
sit is as though a new civilization
were growing within the old, as
though the South were Greece, pass
ing its legae- its heirloom of mental
and spiritual riches, to Rome, the
i;West.
THE West is in it's infancy forming
| a eivilization founded on aggressive
mess and progress.
The South is aged, now, having
built its foundations on conservatism
and conventionality.
Imust confess, that until recently,
IShave prided myself on being ga
free lance," doing what might seem,
to be without precedent, and having
no scruples about being different
from other people.
The West has made me change
my point of view. The lack of con-
|seryatism and conventionality as 1
see it in the West makes me miss
the effects of these qualities, and in
duces me to put price on them be-
yond the worth of rubies.
One appreciates qualities by COM
parison. Blessings brighten as they
take their flight"
The Southern child is taught to
Say Eyes, Ma'am." The Western
Echild says eyes, Mon," and there is
mo authority for this crude pronun-
81 s is q esternz
|er does nut understand, he says, not
tsWhat?" but .How?" OF course, the
former is not the proper reply, but
Lit is better than the latter.
The West accepts slang and inter-
|sperses it with the accepted English
of the East.
:. The West does not have the person.
al and racial pride of the South,
the kind of personal responsibility
to uphold certain standards that were
necessary, because they keep the
light of civilization burning, the un-
written law of elegance.
Do not misunderstood me to infer
that since have travelled hurriedly
through the West and lived in Okla
homa for short time, that I think
my knowledge great enough to per-
nit me to state facts and have you
accept them as authority. Only a very
ignorant person would do that. I
merely have observed a few things
in comparatively few people, which
are slight index to the Western
state of mind, to the undercurrent of
its thought.
In the South, intangible attributes
of family are the password, the key
which unlocks the door to social in
tercourse. Here, it is the dollar, or
the lack of it if there is any aid or
barrier which makes or mars mans
companionshi.p
think the Westerner has cruder
voice than has the Fastener (and by
east / mean all that territory not
west of the Mississippi River), be-
cause of the rugged, pioneering state
of mind and thought which is back of
lit.
The voice is very often the re-
fiection of ones background. Contin-
ued meeting of physical hardships,
endurance Of prairie privations, has
blunted the fine, keen edge of the
once Eastern nature, and with it the
soft flowing tones Of the cultured
tongue.
These are generalities, but at any
rate, long established communities
practice courtesies, and settled life
is conducive to nature that express
es itself in smooth voice.