It would not be surprising if the best part of Mr. Plant’s work should fail to be recognized. People see the material progress of a State, the things that can be measured, weighed, and valued at a price; the subtle forces that produce the material are often overlooked. The intellectual, moral, patriotic, and philanthropic spirit that moves the man and diffuses itself throughout the State or nation is not the first thing that arrests attention. Yet this unrecognized force is the great uplifting power of a people in all that is best and noblest in their onward march of progress. It is now an axiom that the North and South did not know and understand each other previous to the late war; that if they had understood each other, a war such as the revolt of the Southern States would never have occurred, would, in fact, have been impossible. The facilities afforded for travel and the superior hotel accommodations which have been provided by, and have resulted from, the Plant System, have brought North and South together in mutual interest and friendly accord to such an extent that a war can never again take place, for these two sections of our country are so interlaced, interdependent, and identified in interest, and withal in such friendly association, that the misunderstandings of the past can never again arise. It is a fact of history, that in proportion as nations, races, and religions come closer to each other, the causes of conflict are, to the same degree, lessened. A homely illustration of this fact is contained in the story of the Irishman who was walking along the Strand in London one morning, when through the fog he discovered a monster from which, at first, he was going to run away; then, grasping his shillelah, he came close up to the monster intending to kill the “baste,” when “lo and behold,” said Pat, “it was me brother John!” So it often comes to pass that the monster in the distance to be annihilated, in closer proximity is a brother to be loved. [Illustration: text decoration] CHAPTER XIII. Plant Day at the Cotton States and International Exposition of 1895 at Atlanta, Georgia--Preparations for its Celebration--Impressive Observance of Mr. Plant’s Birthday at the Aragon Hotel--Mr. Plant’s Remarks in Acknowledging Presentation of Gifts. The Atlanta Cotton States and International Exposition was created through the zeal and enterprise of a number of the patriotic citizens of the city of Atlanta and of the State of Georgia, and, on the 18th day of September, 1895, when its doors were opened to the world, naught but words of admiration and praise could be spoken for the men, who, through the devotion of their energies, time and money, had made it in every way a success.