The New South. A desription of the Southern States, etc

Preface

. This book represents, in a measure, aspirations long cherished by the author to do something of service for the South— his adopted, loved home. The name "New South" is one as much my own as it is that of any one, as it was used by me in a pamphlet published some eight years ago of much more limited scope than this work. So much as to my right to use a title quite hack neyed of late. It is a friendly criticism of this book, that so little of it is my own, and so much that of others; but the intention of the book was to convict and persuade, and not merely to furnish a vehicle for my thoughts. The labor has lain much in research and selection. There are some great results certain to be accomplished by the use of the subject-matter of others. It will be observed that much of the material is taken siom the reports of the last (tenth) census of the United States.

There are two facts about this report. It is a work of experts, is thorough, and commends itself to the scientific. Fol lowing it, one is sure to be correct, or, at any rate, to have for the topic the best judgment of the day. In the ne.xt place, the United States Government has set the seal of its approbation upon its pages. This makes it, to the last degree, authoritative and current with the world. No higher sanctions are to be expected. Foreign peoples can desire nothing more. The people, outside the South, of the United States cannot consider the views as sectional and biased in favor of the South. As to the use of material gathered from the books issued by some of the Southern States, there is this advantage: I cannot be said to have misstated matters as to anything or section I have noticed.

In quoting I have constantly felt embarrassed by the difficulty in selecting now little to insert. Doubtless my sense of proportion at times (and may be often) has been at fault. There is more said about one locality than ought to be, and too little or nothing about another. This last stale of affairs (which inheres in the magnitude of the subject) has been a source of pain all the way through the preparation of the book. But there was nothing sinister about this, and it must pass with the above explanation. Another difficulty has been in the necessity for compression. The material has swollen far beyond any expectation ; the use of it beyond the original design. In my appreciation of the style and subject-matter of those I have quoted, I have often been beguiled beyond limits compatible with a just allotment of space.

Some States have not had the same space as is given to others. I have often failed, through lack of space, to quote from authors who have given much to the world, of value about one and another Southern State. In the handling of the geological features of some of the States, I have fol lowed, or at least tried to follow, the work of eminent geologists. Throughout the book, wherever has been found any subject-matter which could be used, I have preferred to give it, rather than to write of the topic myself. But there can really be no good excuse for a bad book ; and I can only hope that

PREFACE.

. my good intentions may make this not utterly contemned by the critics, if any one should condescend to notice it. To be sure, I would fain plead many excuses ; but what has the world to do With that? I have dared to print a book. It has no excuse for being but in the fact that it is something. Certainly no one will be apt to find in it as many defects as I. As I have gone along, the disproportion between my conception and execution has caused many regrets. But, in one sense, I owe no apology or excuse for this business. My intention has been to do " the State some service." It is my hope that I have done it. This aspiration for usefulness sanctions and even dignifies the work. This book had much of its suggestion in my own wants. Having studied the South for a number of years, and having traveled over much of it, I was con stantly reminded how little I knew of it.

Often wishing to know of one and another thing in the South, I found that I had to hunt it up. This was suggestive. I thought that if I, who was somewhat conversant with the South, had to study in order to discover thus and so, how must it be with those who had never studied the South at all ? Who had never even thought of it as a field for capital or enterprise, a home, a resort for health ? Then I was struck with the fact that there was no one book (according to my information) treating of the South as a whole. Here, it seemed, was an opportunity to serve the South, and meet what I regard as the great need of the time — accurate, unbiased information about the whole South. Any one appreciating the largeness of the aim, the pressing needs of the occasion, can see how poorly the work has been performed.

But I have given the cue to book-makers, and think I have said something that the world wishes to know. The South is now exciting more interest than any other quarter of the globe as to its mineral resources. It has other claims upon the world's attention, and I have tried to portray some of them. The aim of this book is to show what the South is, how she has progressed, and to conjecture somewhat what she may he. The introduction is mostly my own. Most of the matter about the States is a compilation. I have always tried to give due credit to all from whom I have quoted ; always aimed to give their sense ; have never garbled. It is my offering of love to the South.