Newspapers / Wilmington Morning Star (Wilmington, … / May 8, 1910, edition 1 / Page 9
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" V i u 4 SECOHD SEGTIBH Mft PAGES 9 TO 14 i i . t "1 VOL. LXXXVI-KO. 41. CONSTRUCTIVE AT WORK St. Louis, Mo., May 6. One of the principal addresses delivered today before the Farmers' Educational aftd Co-Operative Union of America was by G. Grosvenor Dawe, managing di jvitor of the Southern Commercial Congress, Washington, D. C, which i3 conducting the most far-reaching com mercial, movement in the history of the South. Mr. Dawe in addressing tho convention said: Forty-five years ago the South was stricken and afflicted. Her counte nance was scarred and changed. The fair prospects of her youth were hid den beneath dreadful clouds. Upon her rested the agony of wounds, and jet greater agony from the blind but j;ery of so-called reconstruction.. She was smitten within and without; for millions of her strong sons who, might have actually reconstructed her for tunes wandered forth tp challenge For tune on new fields. That is nearly half a century ago. "We have got some fool , fellows among us yet, who don't realize that the war is over, and that the same fas and the same Congress, and the same President are as much 'ours as anybody else's. I want to see this country completely one in thought and sentiment and enterprise, as God. Al mighty intended it 'should be. I want it to be the re-United States." These are not my words. They are the words of Senator Gordon, of Mis-sipsippi-a man of simple faith and .uood will towards men who fought, bled, bowed In defeat and rose again. When his voice was lifted in farewell to his peers in Congress, he did more than speak to the nobler sentiments of a great undivided Nation; he for ever made ridiculous the ruthless men who. whether North, or jSouth, seek to climb to power or to hold it by, stir ring up passions that belonged to our youth but have no place in our ma turity. The Nation is One Body. Viewing our Nation as if it were a human body "we see that a struggle of readjustment was absolutely necessa- j ry. just as tne ians ana experiences oi a tottering infant, ultimately lead to tho correlation of functions and of powers. We see that our great Na tion grew fast and was scattered thin over great areas: that the population of different sections . differed in their I UlJltl t llfc jwwwww - w -miM undemanding of 'national life; that Uu social ideals of the landholders Vof I the South were not the social ideals of the settlers of the North; that the people of different sections, owing to meagre communication and slight so- ial ininglirg. grew up Ignorant of one , another and quite blind to the kind of courage, the loyalty and the splendid ftualifioations which each possessed. This condition and the life of the Na tion could not continue together. Somewhere along the way of our his tory there had to be a struggle to de cide once for all whether this was a Nation indissoluable or whether it was a federation terminable to the de struction of those who departed as well as to the weakening and possible destruction of those, who remained. The question has been settled for all time. .But; until this question was set tled the present-day greatness of our Nation was Impossible; since a great Nation must rest upon a fully estab lished basis of union. Still likening our great Nation to a body, we can apply the question voic ed by one of old "Shall the eye say to the body, 'I am not of thee?'" If each member can act without thought of every other member then there Is confusion in the body and not pro gress. Each member has its own du ty, yet each member is of the body . ihe body is many in one. The mem ber has its Importance because it is "ne of many, whose functions and powers are all needed though all"dif ler. No.wher'e in the whole country I care not where you search nor how loud the protestations of reverence tp the Nation are there men who recog nize more clearly than the strong men of the South, the value, the glory, the future of the Interminable compact which makes us the Nation of today. The Broader States' Rights. This does not mean that there has disappeared from the Southern mind, r should disappear from any State in Hie Union, a jealousy regarding a Slate's rights. It actually means that There is a broader vision of States' rights stimulating the South. It is Hie most important constructive I "ought making itself felt in Southern a H airs of the present time. It is alrea dy having its effect and will have a .Vf,t stronger effect In raising the stan 'laM of our public service; for if each ii ' inber has in truth its own func tion, each State as a member of the f'ffly must come to a higher and broad er sense of State duty as our share in National duty. We see that this full performance of State duty can. only he brought to pass by placing In pub lie office and elective seats broadmind ed men who serve the State well be e'msp of their Increasing nationalism, -t will have its effect in raising the standard of argument upon which iien shall be elected to. office, small or K'eat. It will have its effect in send ing up from the South to the Nation's M'airs, an increasing number of those who, reverencine both State and Na- tion. will give to public affairs a more serious, significance than merely a druggie between the "ins" and "outs' ff it is nossible here and there, both North and South, to point to some notable exception, the very fact of Mic h a character being regarded as an exception shows our increasing reali Zftion that men in public life must be hroad in sympathies and just in per formance of "duty, since the questions fhey are called upon to settle in State and Nation, are those that call' for FORCES IN THE SOUTH calm, constructive purpose. This broader view of public duty leading individual States to partici pate in similar prdblems affecting sev eral States and to participate without sacrificing any individuality whatever, is shown in such movements as tho Southern Appalachian Good Roads As sociation, embracing five States, which met last year in Asheville. It is shown in such an agitation as is now going forward in States along . the lower Mississippi, relative to a union of ef fort in draining wet lands on the lines of a survey to be undertaken by the government itself, so that no partial effort may fall short of fitting in with the whole plan. It is shown in the se ries of enabling acts for the creation of the Appalachian National Forest which were passed in 1901 by the af fected States. It is shown, in the in creasing tendency towards uniform legislation on matters that have na tional significance though left to the States. New Social Adjustment. This present-day view of States' rights and duties, as binding States more closely together, rests upon a superb unification that has been going forward in the South since 1865 and is Only now becoming ready to give the Nation its full benefits. Prior to the war there were practically' three classes in the South; the landed gen try, the slaves and those who were neither. When we realize how large a number of the first class withdrew from all public life after the war, how large a number of their children went far away to conquer in fields of busi ness, we must credit an important part of Southern rehabilitation to the inborn genius of the race latent in these of the third class. Before the war these held a questionable posi tion. It needs no argument to support the statement that the mental giants who ,in National and State govern- ment, gave such preponderating influ ence to the South in . the formative period of the Nation and the States were superceded by lesser men. The sudden withdrawal of these trained publicists from public life left, as it were, a vacuum into which wpra drawn ' inexperienced men men of good intentions and of real devotion but lacking in that statesmanlike eru dition which floMered so brilliantly in the transplanted cavaliers. Notwith standing their lack of experience, the genius of the race kept them from fatal errors. Now they, their sons and llXJACJt i.LLJf UUCil DUUO Chilli the descendants of social-leaders of old, are to be found hand in hand and side bv side in the broader sense of devotion to the State for the sake of the Nation. Thtre has actually taken place the rise of a submerged white population possessed of racial in stincts that are absolutely needed in national growth and strength. This phenomenon has demonstrated that, while family characteristics are vital- ly important in maintaining noble ideals, the race, nevertheless, is more important, than the family. . . The Value of the Halt. We are able now to- see that the halting time in the history of the South rendered it impossible to credit solely to Virginia the motherhood of Presidents or to ascribe to men from Southern States the steady balance of purpose and of patriotism which led to the great national expansion in the years between the war and now. This halting time has been of vast ultimate benefit to the South; for it has remov ed from both thought and utterance the pride of intellect which argued that no good thing could come out of the North. We are all, therefore, by the development of our history, swept into pne great equality of purpose and of contribution. I have first referred to the construc tive thought of the South as affecting statesmanship, since all else is in volved in this thing; no great progress can be made in any material direction under our form of representative gov ernment, unless it takes form in legis lative enactment, either State or Na tidnal. By the majesty of law were we called into existence; by law do we survive to this day; and by law must our civilization prescribe the re lation of a man and his affairs to the day in which he lives .and the nation of which he is a part. Preparing for Victory. Uo from the shock of the great re verse of '65, despite the loss of wan dering sons, and through the sugges tions of men who see resources and understand them, there has gradually come to the Southern mind a realiza tion that there lies before it. a greater victory than war could ever have brought the victory of peace. The constructive thought of the South was never more earnestly 'aroused than at this moment in planning, hoping and working for a victory whose results shall make "A Greater Nation Through a Greater South.", A great Nation, In Couch with an tne other Nations , of the world, must have ease of access to the commerce of the world. In this respect the States called Southern lead the whole United States. Nowhere along the vast littoral of our great Union can there be found such indentations, such natural ports, such protected harbors; such . vast mileage of navigable streams as in the South. Nowhere in our great Union, except in the extreme northwest, can there be found such untrammeled power In mountain tor rents, in swelling streams, in migthy rivers as In the South. Nowhere in Lour great Union can there be found W J J. 1 I A, u as advantageous a comuiuauyu ui in mate and rainfall, of growing seasons' and agricultural possibilities as in the South. Nowhere In the heart of the Union can there be found such riches in minerals, iron ore. coal, lumber, etc. within easy reach of the coast and of navigable streams as in the South. A Peaceful Conquest. Coming., v These great irrefutable 'facts have WILMEN'GTOK, been understood individually and in part ,for a long time. They explain the recrudescence of the South here and there in remarkable growth as at Birmingham, as at Memphis, as at At lanta, as at New Orleans, and as at wave-destroyed Galveston, rising from the wreck to become the second ex port city of the United States, and in much other notable growth. But it has remained for our immediate day to reveal to thinking and unselfish men a sudden and realizing sense that if all these great truths reeardine Southern resource are capable of proof J In hn ii , j ii . 1 uiiuu ui iut; wunu, iueu since time began there has rested in the hand of the South a sceptre of con quest under whose sway shall be bles sings and glory and growth for the entire Nation of today and for all com ing generations in our Nation's histo ry. The constructive thought .of the South, as applied to this line of argu ment, is that the greatness of the South's contribution to National devet ment does not rest alone in coUon, nor alone in iron, nor alone in lum ber, power, rivers, coast line, but in all of these together. In one State may be leadership in one line, in an other State leadership in a still differ ent line, but when once the full signi ficance of all these great possessions is actually realized and interpreted In to the daily actions and hopes of men, the South, as a great integral part of a great Nation, must come rapidly into its own and rise to a new sense of na tional dignity and comradeship. The Real Conquerers. Right here must we pause for a new adjustment of view. When some of .us were boys our studies of history led us to think that history was made by a few great characters, by fights.' bat tles, victories and defeats. Probably it is! But not all history is made that way. History is made by the change in men's minds, by the change in hab its, by the unseen and unnoted activi ties of men whose names will never appear on the rofl of fame but who ac tually do more to build the State and the Nation than do some who are cred ited with being great and important. The vast constructive transition going on in the South cannot be altogether credited to partisan leaders, important though some of those men are. There is moie being done for the develop ment cf the South by the .researches of geologists, ot chemists, of hydro gvaphers, of surveyors, than is possi ble at present by the entire represen tation of the South in Congress; for the blindness of partisanship relegates most of our men to ineffectiveness, ex cept as messengers for their constitu ents a condition as irritating to them as it is unsatisfactory to us. On the other. hand, the work of our geologists' shows us where we may find the bases of manufacturing wealth: Our chem ists show the farmer the road to great er success. These and other scientists enable us to correlate the opportuni ties of the South and out of them to demonstrate a coming commercial lea dership National Stocktaking. . fn no other portion of the Union has there been on the part of thinking men a more hearty mental approval of the national stacktaking brought to pass tnrougn tne nrst Governors con ference under the leadership of for mer President Roosevelt, stirred to It by the arguments and genuine patrio tism of Gifford Pinchot; for national bfsln ss, like individual business, can not be carried on to success without a full understanding of the resources available, the demand for products and the possibilities of- distribution. Consequently the constructive thought of the South is distinctly on the side of waterway improvement. In fact, has not the great leader in waterway agitation been a son of Louisiana, Con gressman Joseph E. Ransdell? The constructive thought of the South is ivlso strongly on the side of legisla tive enactment, State or National, or both, that shall conserve for all time, unwasted though prompt use, the pow ers of streams that permit economic extraction of minerals, the preserva tion of forests, the extension of the life of coal. You will find, if you search the records of the War Depart ment, that from the South came first an expression of willingness, on the part of those who proposed to develop water power, to have those water pow ers carry with them ultimate reversion to the people. This is an outcome of the great conservation thought, and it was shown by such men as Wash burn in connection with the Mussel' Shoals enterprise, and Cobb in con nection with the development of the Coosa. It Is the first step towards a safe method of hastening the develop ment of water powef. There is a de cided impulse among earnest thinkers of the ' South to deny that any man, simply through commercial foresight of today, ought to be able to lay all future generations of human being in, our country under contribution to hi 3 descendants in the way of dividends," taxes, rentals, etc. We see that the social danger of gambling in power sites is utterly different from the so cial danger of gambling in food stuffs. Each year sees a new crop of food, and no man or group of men can con trol every acre of the United States and decree its crop value; but any man who sits down and binds to him self a water power site has possession of that which, as long as the clouds. let down rain and until the mountains are uprooted and cast into the sea, will be one unfailing physical source of power in the world. Coal, oil. lig nite, will all utimatey pass away; but unti the energy of the solar rays is chained, water fand its ability to manu facture electricity will be the Nation's enduring source of power. The Southern Commercial Congress. The Southern. Commercial Congress, by authority of whose Executive Com mittee this statement of the construc tive forces of the South is brought be fore' you, stands as a natural out growth of the organizing' effort of re cent years. Its duty fs not to attract attention to . any particular portion of the South, nor in any sense to inter fere with local organized effort. Its duty. Is to Inspire each organization N. C, SUNDAY MORKHNjGr, MAY 8, 1910. Investigating Charges in the State of Illinois States ATfn yjq y II ? 1 kwTttcEml . Ill Springfield, 111.. May 7. Governor Deneen, Attorney General Stead and State Attorney Wayman. of Chicago, promise to make a complete investi gation o fthe charges of Representa tive Charles A. White that he was paid $1,900 to vote for Senator Wil liam Lorimer, White Illinois is doing BOta4 Investigatlrtgthe Seifate hai al-T " ' so taken the charges under considera tion, and a second Senator Clark scandal may result Senator Lorimer has issued a statement in which he enters a general, denial to all the points made by White and declares the case is an effort on the part of a Chicago newspaper to injure him in a political and financial way. Senator Lorimer has just opened a bank and trust company in Chicago. with a sense that the progress of each locality is of interest to every locality since the progress and recognition of the whole South depends upon locality development. The duty of the Con gress is to inspire the young to tech nical preparation for the great devel opment of the South to inspire men v.ho are already in business with a new sense of earnestness ana aevotion each to his task since the carrying on of each mans' task to success means the success of the whole. Its duty also is to break down all misun derstanding in the mind of the Nation and of the world regarding actual con ditions and opportunities in the South. It has lived but IS months and yet in Send nnr i in f? "The About f J GOVZRHQR that time, because it is needed in the rounding out of Southern effort, it is credited with bringing to pass the enormous publicity regarding South ern progress which has appeared Nation-wide since December, 1908. It may rightly be referred to as one of the "constructive forces of the South affecting the Nation"; for at no time has it had any other purpose than has tening the development of the South, and this not in order to weaken other portions of the Union, but in order that a "Greater Nation may arise through the strength of a Greater South." It is a cooperative effort of organizations and of men who, reallz ( Continued on Page 12.) It refreshes mentally and physically and quenches the thirst. Wholesome water and lots nicer to drink. 5c for nte rest- .. . bookfet, Truth Coca-Cola' ' 2-b EXPERT INVESTIGATION OF CITY GOVERNMENTS Early last Fall the wide interest in'i the plan to revise the charter of the city of Baltimore, led the News, the leading afternoon paper of that city, to engage Dr. 'Horace E. Flack, of the Bureau of Municipal Research, to pre pare for it a series( of articles ori the charters of other cities whch had re cently revised their basis of govern ment. The articles are popular in character, free from technical terms, but showing clearly the lines of ad vancement that recent charter com missions have found most desirable. Through the courtesy of Dr. R. C. Bunting, a native of this city, now a resident of Baltimore, The Star has received the numbers of the Baltimore News containing the series, and in view of Ihe interest here in an im proved system of municipal govern ment, they will be reproduced from time to time as circumstances will permit, and it is believed that the articles will prove not oply of Inter est but of profit to all who care to read them. The first article in the series treats of the drastic innovations in 'the municipal government of Gal veston and is reproduced for what it may be worth: GALVESTON. By Horace E. Flack. Galveston was the first city to adopt the commission form of government. The direct cause of this was the great disaster of 1900, which left the city facing bankruptcy. It seems that un der the . old system of government, with a Mayor and 16 Aldermen, the finances of the city had been badly mismanaged. The Legislature was ap pealed to, and the result was that the city government was put in charge of a commission of five men, three of whom were appointed by the Governor and two elected by the people. The constitutionality of the measure was called in question, and the court decided that certain functions exercis ed by the commission could be exer cised only by elective officers. Conse quently, in 1903 an amendment was secured making all the commissioners elective, and,the five original commis sioners were -elected. ; Election and Powers. -"Under tMr flw chartefrthe frrc commissioners .-are elected every two years from the city at large. The Mayor-President is the presiding offi cer and has no special department un der his control, but exercises a gener al influence over all. The other com missioners are assigned by a majority vote to serve as the heads of the fol lowing departments: Police and Fire. Streets and Public Property. Waterworks and Sewerage. Finance and Revenue. The commissioners, by majority vote, enact all. ordinances and make all appropriations. The commission, as a whole, prepares and passes the annual budget, awards all contracts and makes all appointments. The Mayor-President Is given no veto pow er whatever, though some of the more recent charters embodying the com mission idea have not followed Gal veston in this particular. All minor departmental appointments are made Hard Work "Spring Fever" Weather "Weariness and thirst follow, do there's a Bracers won t come back. Water doesn it's not "wet" enough. DrinK nF.T.TCIOUS RErKESMliSvi THIRST-QUENCHING Everywhere THE COCA-COLA CO. Atlanta, Ga. iWHOLENUMBEE 13,289., by the commissioners in charge of the respective departments. Location of Responsibility. An examination of the charter shows that there is a complete central ization of all powers in the hands of the commissioners, but there is also a very definite location of all responsi bility. Of course, the concentration of legislative and administrative pow ers in one body runs counter to tie generally accepted idea of American institutions, but many writers and stu dents have contended that there was really no reason why the State and Federal governments should be copied by municipal governments, and that the effort to do so had been one of tho hindrances to efficient government. At any rate, Galveston cut loose from the idea that the city should mo del its system after that of the Stat or the United States, and it seems to be the consensus of opinion there that the experiment has worked success fully. There is a provision in the charter requiring all moneys received by any officer of the city to be deposited dai ly with the treasurer. The treasurer is required to give duplicate receipts for all money received, one to the par ty paying it -and one to the Auditor. After the assessment rolls are pre pared, the commission is required to sit as a board of equalization. The commission can create or discontinue offices, and may, by majority vote, re move any officer for incompetency, in efficiency, corruption, malconduct, malfeasance or non-feasance in office, or such other causes as may be pre scribed by ordinance, after due notice in writing and opportunity to be heard in his own defense. Any person may prefer charges in writing under oath, and it is made the duty of the com mission to have the accused duly serv ed with a copy of the charges and to have a hearing. The commissioners are given power to license, tax, regulate and prescribe the location of all places for the sale of liquors; to make and enforce all laws or regulations for the preserva tion and promotion of health; to con trol, open, close, alter, widen, extend, construct, establish, regulate, grade, cleanse, pave and otherwise improve and ornament the streets and high ways of the city; to pass and enforce regulations for the inspection, etc., of all buildings; to prescribe street rail way fares and transfers, etc. - s In fact-tbe commissioner are given very wide powers in regard to all sub-( jects of local legislation. There is a specific grant of power to the effect that the city may tax all franchises for the use of the streets and public grounds within the city. It seems of sufficient importance to insert the following provision: "No error or irregularity in any assess ment roll, tax book br other document relating to the levy, assessment, equal ization or collection of the taxes of Che city shall In any manner affect or im pair the validity of any . tax or affect the proceedings for the collection thereof; but every assessment shall be liberally construed to affect the purposes and objects of this section in determining the validity thereof." The city is also empowered to li cense, tax and regulate all trades, oc cupations and professions. An investigating committee from Topeka, K"ans., visited Houston and (Continued on Page 11.) t satisty relieves fatigue as the purest r - Whenever you see an Arrow think of Coca-Cola t It i , if .1 . V r I i r ' - ; 'V, ' .... ' T : 4 v. ' 'VSyv.1" 'VVfV-.'N'v :.: ' - '.7 1 .'r-j;: ;V 4 'r.
Wilmington Morning Star (Wilmington, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
May 8, 1910, edition 1
9
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