The Skyland post. [volume] (West Jefferson, N.C.) 193?-1988, 1938-02-03
Southern Press Playing Vital
Role In Progress OF Southland

| press gives evidence of being no
longer free within itself, Of being
conducted without regard to the
public for whom it has been made
free.
"As in literature, so in journalism,
the South is today the scene of a
Notable renaissance and flower all
over this region now there are edit
ors and publishers, who, by their
fairness and efficiency and patriot
ism and forward looking, are lift
Ling their part of the country to bet
ter levels. They are heaven-sent,
for this is the South's witching
hour. It is in the political saddle
at Washington as never since the
Civil War. 1t is in the national &C.
, onomic spotlight as never in its his
tory. It is full of problems, full of
promises, and with all the problems
and promises it is solid no more.
Only in sentiment and history is
there such thing as the solid
South now We disagree on every
Immediate question that concerns
us.
eve can't agree, for example, on
that root question of whether pros
perity is a thing which trickles
down from the top or one which
distills up from the bottom. We
can't agree on that other root ques-
ton of the extent to which our gov
eminent may properly and hopeful
ly interfere in our affairs. We can't
agree on the manner of obtaining
for our Southern labor the maxi
mum return possible to it without
which gives it the return. We
can't agree on education's ideal,
whether it should be for teaching us
to make living or to live, or to
let live We can't agree on the best
solution of the problems of tenant
farming and share-cropping. We
can't agree on the right way to OBJ
tain for our negro population that
better place to which its better edu-
cation and sense of responsibility
entitle it. We can't even agree on
the tariff any more. But here and
everywhere else in this storm
tossed world, the greatest need of
all is coming to be better tech
nique of disagreement. It isn't our
disagreeing that hurts, it is the
manner of disagreeing. The play of
opposing ideas can be- the most pro-
ductive thing in the world if it is
directly undertaken by educated,
generous-minded sporting, law
abiding people. The press job, it
seems to me, is to civilize disapree7
ment, to improve the temper and
nature of those who disagree. We
have lately the sorry spectacle of
a great slump in business because
of the maner in which Washington
and Wall Street disagree, because
each in it's frenzy of hate for the
other tried to scare the country to
death about the other, and the coun-
try finally became scared, and Wall
Street and Washington with it.
II have said that we are an un-
solid South. But there are some
first principles upon which I hope
we can agree, surely, upon our
place today in our history, that we
are no longer captured province
or high-hearted colony, but self
possessed and selfpossessing region
of America, making our own way,
ashamed no longer to speak of our
many virtues, Indifferent no more
to our equally many vices.
"We can agree, too, upon an eco
nomic program, even if we can't
agree upon its performance. We
can agree that our three-fold task
is ID To create more wealth in the
South; (2) to retain in the South
more of the wealth created; and
(3) to distribute better in the South
the wealth created and retained. IT
has been said that all the wealth
that comes into the South isn't
enough to maintain a civilization
there must be more. It has been
said that river of gold flows out
of this region each year, a billion