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WAR'S AFTERMATH

STORY OF THE BIRTH OF A NATION

THE TRAVAIL OF AMERICA

* Out of the travail of wars are great nations born or reincarnated. The Franco-Prussian war of 1870 welded in a composite aggressive force an hinipire which to-day in the mightiest conflict of history is menacing tliu civilised world with the. tyranny of the sword. From this great war will undoubtedly be created new national, forces in the future government of tho world. Even so it was with the great American nation that has just thrown the gauntlet to Germany. Within the memory of cur fathers and mothers the United States of America were •embroiled in a fratricidal war that cleaved family ties with the sword, and sent lather and son, brothers, cousins, into .opposing ranks of the Northern and Southern armies, .the one into the blue uniform of the Federals, and the other into tho gray of the Confederates. That, terrible cunllict is recent enough to be well remembered—the first gun at Fort Sumter, the sanguinary decision at Gettysburg; Leo, Grant, Stonewall Jackson, Sherman, all tiieso are familiar names—but the bitter aftermath of tho years that immediately followed lies further in the In. these dark years, as the grey dawn struggles Into tho pall of the night, was born a new nation.

Mr. A. L. Grey, who is at present in New Zealand watching his brother's interests in D. W. Griffith's historical spectacle (The-Birth of a. Nation,'), belong to the South, and knows all about tbcfc horrible aftermath. His father was * brigadier in the Confederate Army, and fought at Cliancellorsville. Tie and D. W. Griffith are brothers "bofo' the-war, sir," the family had a big plantation down in old Kentucky, and kept about a hundred and fifty slaves. "A.L.G." changed his name mainly for business reasons. Ho and "D.W." being both in the picture business, were always getting mixed up. "D.W.," who handles the artistic side of th,e game, didn't 'want to be bothered by contractors', lawyers, billcollectors, shareholders, and representatives of the big money ring. A.nd, likewise, "A.L." got. tired of being held up by enterprising scenario writers, movie

"stars," and camera men out of a job. So. "A.L." changed to Grey, merely retaining the identity of his initials, leaving "D.W." to embellish the lustre of the family name with his fame as a director par excellence of Napoleonic conceptions in nlmdoiu; In these he is an acknowledged genius. Now, let Mr. Grey tell the slory of the '.'lnvisible Legion" of the South. "Of course, as you know," said he. "the war ruined thousands of the Southern families. But that was not the worst thing that happened. The freed nigger of those days was fifty times worse. You see, when peace was declared, Northerners used to coiuo down/ to the South and treat the niggers as their equals, slap them on the backs, tell them what fine fellows they were, and pnt them in office in various capacities. That was utterly wrong, as they found out after the mischief bad' Veen done'. The nigger wasn't educated then. He was illiterate, ignorant, menially inferior to the white race. What happened followed as a matter of course. The nigger thought, that freedom meant social equality, marriage with white women, and all that sort of thing. He became arrogant. Then, when he found that the whites wouldn't stand for his social ideas he turned to hating ns, and the real trouble began. Our women were mover safe. Then came the "Invisible Legion," the "Klu-Klux IClnn. The Southerners, finding that the Federal Government couldn't protect them and their womenfolk from the savage excesses of the niggers, decided to protect themselves. aiuVthoKlu-Klux JC'liin mis formed. 'If there's one fhinft a nigger fears more than anything else it's ghosts. The Klu-Klux Kian played on tho superstition of- the niggers till they broke them in sheer fright. A few white-robed horsemen dashin/up in the moonlight were quite enough to settle any demonstration by the- .niggers. If you want to get the'whole story of tho Klu-Klux Klnn read Dixon's book, "Tho Clansman." 11, was this book that gave my brother Iho idea on which he built up his big picture, "The Birth of a Nation," which gives you a very good idea uf the KluKlux Kian and their methods.

"AVc bad mote trouble than enoug with that film, especially the Klu-Kin. Klan section. Wo had to Imvo niggerhut we couldn't tell them what wo want cd :them for, or they would not h:iv come near us. The nigger upends mos of his time hating the Klu-Khix Klanwheu he's t'hiong'h with being- scared o it. ■ Well, it took us three months to ge a satisfactory reel of that part of tin business. First of all we got the nigger together to mako a demonstration iiki Southern scene. Then at the proper mb ment tlio clansmen in their white robe were to charge down on t.ho mob iron over tho crest of a hill. No good. Tin first clansman that showed himself set tied the demonstration. We. never sav thoso niggers again. So 'we tried it ii a different way. This time my brotbe 'hit on tho idea, of fixing up tho demon stratum in front of a swamp, with plenl; of rough country about.. We got a fresl lot of niggers, got them going in an ex cited demonstration, and then passed tlv word for. the night-riders. Believe mit was some panic. Some of the nigger, waded into the swamp up to their necks One lot got clear-I think they must b "oiii" vet. Anyway, wo got a good reel. " "Then we started tho picture- on it travels. Kace-hatred showed up whereve we went, though of course it was wors in some places than, in others, as youi cai understand. Wo "had. fiitcen Pinkertoi detectives on tour with us, and so were wise to any trouble that was being framed up for us in the next town. ho night, we opened at Boston wo had tho ■police throe-deep inside the theatre from one side of tho stage, round tho back ot the audience, and down to the otber side. If you, real.lv want to know how the nigger hates the white in the htatcs you want to go to some (own whore Tho Birth" is being shown, "ion 11 w the hatred there M right. It's here all the time, and it's /lug problem in America.

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/DOM19170806.2.55

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3155, 6 August 1917, Page 8

Word count
Tapeke kupu
1,071

WAR'S AFTERMATH Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3155, 6 August 1917, Page 8

WAR'S AFTERMATH Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3155, 6 August 1917, Page 8

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