The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1866-05-20
KEoKuK. IOWA
n...anmnna Prenieeueusness.

pc.enumous PromiscuOusness.
= discussion hos been .raised in tho South
ern nress by a statement in the Columbus
miss Inder, that in the ceremonial Of strew-
;nc flowers on the graves Of the dead Confed-
~re,a soldiers, mo distinction was made be-
tween our oxn dead and about forty federal
soldiers who slept their last sleep beside
them The Meridian Messenger thinks
that IL the Hover strewers know--no dis
t;netion between the National and COnfeder-
ate dead, it was an unmeaning ceremony. II
proceeds to give its idea of the meaning Of
the thing:
Endorsement Of their noble services in \
cause the Southern women had at heart, and
\ tender Of respect to the dead whose graves
are neglected by the Government which
smooths the graves and rears the monument
for the Union soldiers who ba{fled the very
cause which was SO powerfully upheld by these
same noble hearted woman. Forwhat should
they strew flowers upon the graves of Federal
dead? For the desolation they made of their
homes. and the misery they brought upon
this once happy land? No distinctionl Sup
pose murderer and his victim were buried
side by side when the daughter comes at stated
seasons to lay floral Offering upon the grave
of the murdered father, wonld you not deem
it false or sickly, diseased magnanimity
that would lay the same offering upon the
grave of him whose bloody crimes have
tinged her whole life with sorrow? There is
no fitness in the action; it is falsehood in
deed or else the manifestations of respect
for those who died for southern liberty pro-
$ ceeds from false hearts which never loved the
South and its lost cause
The Columbus Sentinel Endorses this, and
casts a severe reflection upon its neighbor,
the Under, which had approved the indiscrim-
mate Rtrewing, by remarking
'We have no doubt that a majority of the
press of the so-caled United States will agree
with the lndex y
But it extenuates the apparent looseness oil
the female ceremonial by d statement Of
facts. No battle was fought near Columbus
1t was q place Of hospitals, and the dead
were only those who died in hospitals:
Briefly this. Amongst upward of four
teen hundred graves here. were inferred thu
remains of some Federal soldiers, who dice
in or hospitals. Their graves were no
designaiad-and on the solemn day of com
memoraton, our women of Columbus strewet
flowers over them, rather than by possibility
the grave of Confederate dead man shonl,
not have flower upon it!
So it was strewing OF gar1ands hit or miss
The graves CT national soldiers were below
cred lest some of the Confederate deat
should remain unhonored The flower
we're placed by the tender hearted female
with the following mental formulas eff thi
is the grave of Lincoln hireling-a hate,
ankee, spit upon it; but lest it be tn
grave of a Confederate, place these flower
upon it, which are to be taken with that un
derstaudingi
This plea in mitigation takes away all tina
character Of touching tenderness and mag
nanimity OF the Southern woman toward tn
soldiers who fell in defense Of the nation
that Northern Democratic papers have mag
ni6ed on the strength Of this performance
and have compared with the rindictivenes
of .Ihe Radicals. to their disadvantage
Southern patriotism is indicated at Iii
sacrifice OF the claim of the generosity of til
Southern temper, which was set up on tn
report of this promiseuous dispensation O
posthumous honors.
Inasmuch as the sentiments Of the press O
''the so-called United States in this thin,
are referred to, we remark that it is prope
that the Southern women should preserve th
distinction between the graves of these VIII,
fell in war to defend the nation, and
those who were slain in a criminal attempt I,
destroy it. The cause in which the nationa
soldiers fell will always honor their graves
Every turf which marks the burial place o
an American soldier will be monument o
death to save his country. Stored marble
can give no more honorable ipscrip1oe.
The memories of the soldiers Of the national
cause need no such theatrical ceremonial as
this, which is simply desperate effort to
save criminal and defeated cause from ig-
nominy, and its leaders from the execration
of the people they have ridden 10 ruin.-Ca
cinpafl f,urg{ie