The Chapel Hill weekly., 1931-01-09

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I',-az8 GRATED Norshcrn pss
re~ complained tr
~e so ain-a
Is have n u.efe~s IN we c-s~r
snaes,ery North and Soa.-. / mercy
wonder whether Souiherners DO not
CUT themselves off from q deal Of
WARM human kindliness by this COM
mon lnsistence upon knowing where
yoo were born before considerifS
what you are"
DO not know what city ne alludes
70. but ] suspect II is Charleston.
Charleston does have reputation for
exclusiveness-or, at least, it did have
but my information is that its ex-
cluslveness has not been directed
particularly al Northerners. South
erners without the qualifications,
whatever these qualifications are.
| nave experienced just as much diff
Guilty IN getting in" there. Anyway.
do no, believe that throughout the
South as q whole there is any such
bar agains. N6rtherners as Mr.. Jones
/ found or thought ne found. OBJ
viously this is not question that
can be settled. one way or the other.
( Each person makes his observations
and draws his own conclusions. /
simply think M Jones is wrong about
4 u.
Z One error find in the article is
that, while Mr.. Jones says that merits
il Southerners are ike the same
merits elsewhere. when il comes %
certain defects in Southerners he ap-
pears TO forget the fact that these
too are common the world over. II is
true that the North could not produce
just the same piece Of dlscourtesy
that Mr. Jones suffered from the NO
man who reminded him that me
! Yankees had stolen most Of the an
cestral spoons, for our Confederate
/ Northern spoons falthough / have
been told that Wheele,s cavalry, not
being able 10 penetrate into the North,
did the best they could In the way u
foraging right here in North Caro-
/ linaD But out Of my own experience
! could match the spoons story with
reports Of dscourtesy in the North
growing out of the precisely same
Circumstance, namely, the presence If
stranger from the South. For in
stance, have met Northerners whose
! comments upon Southern characteri-
stics have been anything but in good
taste But | do not ascribe this dis
courtesy TO any peculiarly Northern
trait or prejudice, for ! have seen
TOO many Northerners who would
never exhibit such bad manners.
| agree with Mr.. Jones in the point that
! he holds 70 in parts Of his article, and
| appears 10 forsake in other parts,
| that there is no geographical division
Of courtesy or discourtesy, hospitality
or inhospitality, Or other merits or
| demerits 1t must be said in justice,
! however, that if he errs in lmputlng
a Southern character 10 Incidents of
unfortunate behavior, he also i'm
| putes Southern character TO
generous words and actions such as
are encountered in every country in
| the world.
! AS 10 what is said in the article
about Southern inertia and shiftless-
| ness, ] believe it is correct. Inasmuch
as | am conscious Of being rather
shftless myself, and Of the wish that
conditions enabled me to be still more
SO, it pleases me 10 see that, before
he gets through, Mr.. Jones erects
shiftlessness into sort Of virtue.
More than any other Of his lines,
like those in which he says that the
lief that better times are just around
the corner, and that, if they are not,
it does not especially matter"
The conclusion Of Mr.. Jones's COM
ments upon the South is az follows:
"You either fall in love with it or
you do not. If you do, no amount of
inconvenience in the practical affairs
Of living, no tenth revealment Of the
capacity Of its people for illogical pre-
judice, will remove the virus from
the blood. And if you do not,-well,
there is something wrong with you,
and you had best get your blood pres
sure taken. For, despite concrete
highways and country clubs and mass
production and the worst agricultural
economy in the Republic, there beats
at the heart of the South an eternity
of youth. 1t is at once the oldest and
the youngest part Of the nation, old
est in its tradition, its unhurried
reverence for the past, its quiet will
ingness to be taken for what it is;
youngest in it's eternal optimism, it's
IL kn1,nf kat hot