Daily press and Dakotaian. [volume] (Yankton, Dakota Territory [S.D.]) 1875-1880, 1879-11-12
GEN. eERsHAm's SPEECH.
Continued from FIST page.]

Continued from first page.]
draw from the union, and upon the failure
of this effort the confederates surrendered
something more than their arms and their
bodies. They surrendered what was far
more important to the victors and to all
friends of constitutional liberty they sur
rendered that theory Of our government
which from its very foundation has been the
convenient pretext and apology fof every
formidable resistance to its laws, and under
the specious name of Estate rights" is its
most subtle and dangerous foe. By their
solemn capitulation they renowned it for
ever, and they agreed to accept in lieu Of it
the theory of the government for which our
armies fought and which was verified by
their victory. The two theories met upon
the battlefield, and theirs succumbed TO oura,
and they cannot again promulgate the van
pushed theory and teach it to their children
and descendants. Had they not intended
to abandon it finally and forever, it would
have been more honorable in them to have
gone resolutely into their "last ditch" The
union army and its supporters, the loyal
people Of the land, understood, and they
had the right to understand, that the over
throw of the rebellion established the su-
premacY of the nation, and that their OPP
ponents at the south, by the surrender of
their armies, acquiesced in this result. The
southern people are precluded by their own
acts from the further advocacy and propaga.
tion of that theory Of the government which
was surrendered by them as the price of
peace and personal safety.
1t is now more than fourteen years since
our opponents sued for peace since they
laid down their arms and returned to their
homes on terms which involved neither
hardship nor humiliation. The soldiers of
the union applauded the generous and mag
unanimous conduct of their illustrioue com
mander toward their PROSTATE and helpless
foe F; they shared his desire that all obstacles
to lasting peace aud harmony between the
alienated sections should be removed. Like
him they came out of the bloody conflict
harboring no revengeful feelings toward
their vanquished enemies. During the
fierce and sanguinary struggle they were
actuated by sentiments more noble than
malice and hatred. They fought for the
union and all benefits and blessings which
it represented and assured to themselves and
their posterity. The fruitful scource of dis
turbance-"the baleful comet Of fire and
blood" which had 80 long threatened the
peace of the country, having disappeared
beneath the horizon, they gladly returned
to their. homes and the pursuits Of peace
desiring and expecting that mutual
distrusts and sectional jealousies
would soon and forever give
way to reconciliation and friendship. But
those patriotic hopes and expectations bave
not been fully realized. The late warning
sections, instead of being united in sympathy
} | and Eoo1inn az fhow opo IN intoronk M M
towards each other: even at this late day
the attitude of nations between which ,her,
is an armed truce. This condition of thing
! must be deplored by the thoughtful ant
J. patriotic men Of all sections, and they VII,
exposed themselves to the multiplies
dangers of the camp, march, siege and battle
: field are deeply sensible that happiness an,
I prosperity will not make their home Will
u lpAtil the passion e~ngendered BY GU,
stfHsa are %extinguished, and the people nortl
know, that it is time for passion to give wa
: to Interest and duty ; they feel that interes
and duty alike require that We should N
e longer treat each other as enemies. The,
are rs responsive to the demands of peac
: as they were to those Of war, and they hav
. not stood, and do not stand in the way q
. fellowship and fraternity. But it is still
proclaimed overth graves Of the confederat
dead and elsewhere. BY those who have bee
treated with unparalleled leniency by til
national government, that the rebellion v,
y right, that the canse Of the south was jos
D. and that it was crushed by the weight
overwhelming numbers. It is natural On
n. reasonable to infer that persons VII
!, cherish these opinions and sentiments do n
:. harbor an abiding love for the union and i
y defenders. 1t also necessarily follows,
40 their u%tterances be true, that the soldiers
70. the union were on the wrong side in Il
Of war; that they fought for oppression and d.
potism /; and this, it is almost unnecessary
add, they cannot be expected to admit ~,
~ to gain the goodwill Of the south. 1t v
&c. also proclaimed within the last few weeI
tar by one who led the south into rebellionls,
ruin, that the constitution is nothing mo
than a Compact between the states, p which
20 only another expression of the right to sece
'as and = attempt at its justification. 1t v