of this Southern district, I will confine myself 

 today to the coastal plain. I do this because I 

 was myself so surprised by the magnitude and 

 extent of the opportunities for the work in hand, 

 that it may be profitable to here consider how such 

 a condition of affairs came to pass. 



Psychology of the Trend in American Colonization. 



The American people, like all others, have their 

 actions largely determined by ideas generally 

 current. In other words, they, like other human 

 beings, tend to follow like sheep the way they 

 get headed. Since the Civil War the trend of 

 emigration has been westward; it is still; and it 

 will continue to be so for a considerable period, 

 unless it is broken up by some very decided and 

 spectacular activity. The colonization movement 

 southward up to this time has been relatively- 

 very small indeed. 



The chief reasons for this are: 



1. The generally accepted expression — all but 

 a proverb — "Go West, young man, and grow up 

 with the country," coupled with enormous areas 

 of free government lands in the Western States. 

 The part which the existence of free government 

 lands played in starting the trend of emigration 

 westward was set forth yesterday by the Hon. 

 Clay Tallman, Commissioner of the General Land 

 Ofhce, and set forth very clearly indeed. The 

 practical result of the expression "Go West, young 

 man, and grow up with the country," is vastly 

 greater than people generally realize. It is a part 

 of what might be called the psychology of the 

 times and situation. This psychology involves 

 a number of other things, but really comprises 

 habits of thought. 



To digress a little at this point, it may be proper 

 to point out that the habits of people very often 

 profoundly affect the prosperity of a region. An 

 excellent example of this is the continuation of 

 the South in raising cotton, corn and tobacco until 

 the lands are so impoverished that poor crops become 

 the rule, instead of practicing diversified agricul- 

 ture. Another instance is the psychology of the 

 German people, which throughout the past three 

 or four years, has been a constant source of amaze- 

 ment to America and a great part of the rest of the 

 world. Illustrations like these could be given 

 almost without limit. 



