IRRIGATION, POLITICS, AND SECTIONALISM 105 



with Southern life that gave any idea of the 

 life as I knew it, and my home had been in 

 Virginia, with Virginians, for a long term of 

 years ; and I went on to mention in par- 

 ticular the works of a noted authoress, whose 

 writings are accepted by Northern people as 

 absolutely realistic in regard to life in the 

 South. My somewhat hesitating remarks 

 were greeted with a perfect storm of approval 

 and agreement. 



And when I speak of part of the blame 

 for inaccurate representation lying with 

 Northern publishers, I have in mind the 

 case of a friend who wrote a novel, of which 

 the local colour was Southern, the author 

 having the best of rights to be familiar with 

 that colouring, and which was warmly com- 

 mended by Southern friends for its accuracy. 

 It was submitted to a well-known Northern 

 publishing firm, was read and passed with 

 favourable comments by four of the firm's 

 readers. The fifth, however, drew attention 

 to certain * inaccuracies ' in dialect and local 

 colour. Now, as no * inaccuracies ' existed, 

 according to the best Southern judges, it was 

 impossible for the author to make the de- 

 sired alterations, and the manuscript was 



