Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1875-07-06
The Public Ledger for Absentees.
D THE OLD FLAG.


The welcome which Boston gave Fitz
hugh Lee and the Southern military
companies from Charleston, Richmond
and Baltimore at the anniversary of the
battle of Bunker Hill was not more
electrical and spontaneous than the
Fourth of July celebration yesterday in
Memphis. The people of all classes
C olors and conditions, by common con-
sent and without preconcerted effort,
suspended business to take part in the
observance. The colored population
turned out en- masse and held barbecues
or picnics at various places. The most
notable event Of the day and the one
most significant Of peace and fraternal
relations and prosperity occurred at the
Fair Grounds, FIVE miles from the city,
where at least FIVE thousand colored peo-
pie assembled to attend the Pole Bear
ers' barbecue. The officers Of this
famous organization had invited Gen
erals Forrest and Pillow, Colonel NJ. G.
Galloway, editor Of the Appeal, and a
few other gentlemen of known Southern
anteeedents, to address them on this
occasion. What changes in one short
yearl These distinguished gentlemen
went as well as others who were included
in the invitation, and they feel, one and
all, that great good was accomplished.
In the FIRST place it is evident hat the
colored race of this community is max
ing rapid progress in the ways hat lead
to intelligence and responsibility and
good citizenship. The order that pre-
vailed yesterday was highly creditable.
No white crowd could have behaved
better. We call attention to their i'm
provement and their desire to improve as
n of the most hopeful signs of the
times. General Pillow made them an
address replete with common sense and
practical wisdom. Iii is published in full
by our morning contemporaries, and de-
serves a careful reading by both races.
BE talked plainly to them, told them
that lie once owned a million dollars of
property in slaves, that he was no Office
seeker, and all that he could give them
was sound advice, He urged them to
secure homes, take care Of themselves,
exercise their best judgment in politics,
and told them many things they will
remember. General Forrest was pre-
sented a bouquet as a token of reconcile
alton and an offering Of peace and
good will, to which he responded in
a plain, straightforward manner as
usual. Other speakers followed and
the most liberal and harmonious SEN
timeRts we're expressed by both white
and eolored. All this occurred yester-
day, and yet the heavens did not fall,
but on the contrary, looked in a material
and essential point Of view all the
brighter. Verify, the, world moves, and
those who still cling to the impractical
bic armor Of prejudice will find them.
selves left far behind the procession.
All this means here just what it meant
at Boston; as Fitzhugh Lee said, the
politicians having failed in the matter of
reconciliation for ten years, the people
have stepped forward to take it out of
their hands. The demonstrations on
our streets yesterday, aud especially at
Court Square last night, awoke emotions
of national pride that have been dor
maut these fifteen long, weary
years. There is life and patriotic
blood in the old land yet. We feel that
there is a return to FIRST principles and
old landmarks, ard that the new genera
ton coming on the stage will have more
aus Of JOY and hope than auy who
have gone before them. The fraterniz,.
ton between the blue and the gray aud
the black and the white, to the extent it
goes, is upon a true and enduring basis.
Yesterday was a day to be remembered
in our local as well as national history.
The celebration was not a mere civic dis
play or an idle pageant, but spontan,-
GUS expression direct from the people
a response to Boston's greeting and the
guns of Concord in a fraternal spirit.
Henceforth let US hope that all dead
issues will be excluded from the living
present, and that every citizen, however
humble, will do his part toward building
Up our common country.
---
The Fourth OF July demonstration al
Court Square last night, under the man