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GOVERNOR, 1905

and then we returned to Savannah, having made a round of about twenty miles.

I ventured an interview on the negro question, which was published and kindly received.

The solution of that question is to treat the negro kindly. Give him a chance to work. The rest will come along. Development will come soonest and best from the exercise of such faculties as he has. The negro ought to be at work. It is a mistake for him to try to grow too fast. All substantial growth is slow. The Southern people can best solve the question here where conditions are fixed. The old Roman thought that there were no noble men but Romans, and yet the Germans poured in upon them and taught them a far different lesson. Modern Italy is the outcome. So is France. You people have to take what there is about you and make the best of it. Greece did not kill the Helots. She accepted them. That hardy race of tillers of the soil, known as villains in England, are today the backbone of that country — the English people itself.

From Savannah, through a country apparently not very thrifty, we went to Atlanta, an enterprising modern city exemplifying the new life of the South. There Governor Joseph M. Terrell and Mrs. Terrell gave us a reception at the executive mansion. A young lady about nineteen came up to be presented and the governor, introducing her, said:

“This is the most beautiful young lady in Atlanta, and I want you to kiss her.” Southern hospitality grated a little on Northern phlegm. The girl stood blushing before me. I said to her: “That is not the first time I have known a man to try to give away what does not belong to him.” I did not kiss her. Possibly it was a mistake.

At Atlanta I met the state treasurer and this colloquy occurred.

I.—“What is the length of Georgia?”

He.—“About four hundred miles.”

I.—“A hundred miles longer than Pennsylvania. What is the breadth of Georgia?

He.—“About three hundred miles.”

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