The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1872-06-21
Honors to the Dead.

rats.aeaaswhex fsllsats ottssbasg tMere yes'
tcrday conveyed through this city to ING
graves prepared for them y Ho'lywooq
Cemetery. Evsfyapprpptia'c mark OF non POI,
and respect was paid on Che occasion " WV
citizens. lrhe display was shonor,ble to 'hose
who Joined IN It. Never was there more
sincere demonstration Of pious reverence eA'
h;h;tcd nv people. The poor bones OIL the
..i,ya,t Confederate boys who left the'r
homes full Of hope and courageous aevetfo'f
10 tho cause TO which they had, consecr,Iea
| tbcir lives were looked upon as precious
memorials Of deeds which the world ap-
plauds, act,lated by motives which none can
ecns,tre. Pride walked arm in arm with
Grief in the ranks that did honor to these
dumb relics of those whose hcroism had
filled the world with praise. ~ %, ri. .
In rejecting upon this interesting ana
melancholy proceeding we cannot but ae-
plorc the policy of the Government winch
has prolonged distinction between the
Union and the Confederate dead oil the iate
war; 1t was civil war, engenderlng pas
siots incompatible with the union OF states,
which, by the result of the,war, is continued
10 ass,lage those passions and i,dispcrsc the
r7ncors OF sectionalism should have been
the object Of every patriot and statesman III
the land. Instead Of that we behold the
Government gathering up the, "Union dead ;eDl
and burying them in orderly cemeteries,
where officers keep the graves comcly ana
where the United States flag ~ daily waved
over them. The, poor Confederate dead
were left to the fields az outcsssts and crlml"
mails that did not merit decent sculpture.
This was the work of parlisanry--fhe work
| OF politicians, whose hope of remaining iii
Office rested upon the perpetuation OF the
prciudces and alienation Of sections which
originated the war. They built monuments
to discord, and put the South, by contrast,
under an enduring humiliation, the charges
for keeping up which, by refinement OF
cruelty, the South was compelled i'll part To
pay. ...... ......... ..
What could the South do but gather W
her poor dead and dispose Of them in the
hest manner she could in her poverty! After
years of delay she brings back the bones OF
her sons who fell at Gettysburg and gives to
| them decent burial.
There is something horrible in pursuing
the dead. Had the Government feIt the
true impulses of humanity, and been con-
trolled by an enlightened policy Immediately
after the war. the dead Of that war would
have been regarded as Americans who had.
on both sides, illustrated their faith Will
their lives. No distinctions would have
been made, and they would have been ali
claimed as honoring their country and illus
trating her history by their unsurpassed
heroism. That would have united the living
in bonds of friendship. But this was not
done. The distinction was drawn, and
malice followed the southern dead and
doomed them to exclusion from the care and
decorum with which the "Unon dead y
were treated. i"' :...'.
It would be hard to inflict sharper wound
upon generous hearts. 1t still ranklcS i'll the
Government wipes out the OdiOuS distinc-
ton
We believe there is day near at hand
when better policies will prevail, and when
the dead of the war will rest without dis
honor anywherc--whcn such views aud
policies will prevail as would, if they pre-
vailed now, have saved the necessity of the
translation of the Gettysburg Confederate
dead to the South. Gettysburg would do i'll
such case as well as elsewhere, and the
dead of the lamentable war would every
where be treated with care and respect as
countrymen. This is according to the spirit
of the armies on both sides.
As it is, our people have done proper
thing, and they will feel the satisfaction of
having discharged a public duty in a be-
coming manner. -. 81.