Recently I made the acquaintance of Trotwood’s Magazine, and, believing that I noticed in it a strong and sincere inclination to be original, the question arose in my mind, Why should not this magazine, already in actual operation, become a forum for discussing Southern problems? So, if this be Trotwood’s purpose, to it I say, may you succeed; and to Tennessee and the South, give Trotwood a chance. It may prove to be what you have long needed. J. G. SIMS, JR. Nashville, Tenn. Editor’s Note.—Trotwood’s thanks Mr. Sims (who, so far, like many of our readers and contributors, is a stranger to us) for his kind expressions. We learn that he is a graduate of Princeton, and a teacher and writer of reputation. We agree with him that the South has problems peculiar to itself, and that the proper place for their discussion is among ourselves and in a Southern journal. It is the aim and ambition of Trotwood’s to be the medium for this as well as for the development of the South’s great resources. We welcome such communications as the above, even if some of his plain assertions do grate somewhat on our nerves; for only by a calm and fair discussion of the problems which confront us can the truth be ascertained. Some of Mr. Sims’ assertions above are plainly open for discussion, and some are plainly ambiguous. For instance, what does he mean by “As to the code of social relations, there are some sections fertile and penetrated by railroads which are in vital respects half a century behind the advance guard of Anglo-Saxon civilization?” Social relations and civilization are two different things, and as to the former, it is our opinion that the South, in her fight for the purity of her race, the integrity of her morals and the hospitality of her people, surpasses all other sections of this country. In proof of this I will call our esteemed contributor’s attention to the following facts. 1. The white population of the South, never having been augmented by foreign immigration to any appreciable extent, is more purely American than any other section. It is to-day as it was one hundred years before the Revolution. I am not asserting that it is better for this fact, but as a matter of “social relations” I am claiming that it is purely American. 2. The religion of the South is in keeping with the Anglo-Saxon race; it is the simple religion of the Protestant peoples of England, Scotland and Wales, the Huguenots of France, and the sturdy, honest Catholics of Ireland. There is less skepticism and less materialism in the South than in any other section. I consider the above statement appropriate, under the head of “social relations.” 3. There are fewer barrooms in the South than in Greater New York alone—about 35,000. The South is essentially temperate. This, too, seems to Trotwood too, under the head of “social relations.”