The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1882-02-17
Davis and the South.
i" History is philosophy, teaehih,

" History is philosophy, teaehin,
example" and one of its manifest
sons is the danger of excessive terrific,
to the integrity of a republic. When
Rome had conquered the world she dis
covered that even the consolidated
character of its republic was incompe-
tent to control the magnificent distances
of her territory, and, under the infu-
ence of private ambition and public cor
H1ption, her Government became con-
centrated into single imperial hand
That was not the day of telegraph and
railroad with network of iron nerves.
easily connecting the uttermost ends of
o continent with the central
administration, and therefore the
parallel with our Government does
not exactly obtain. But in one
particular does similarity exist. The
especial defect of such an enlarged
jurisdiction is the necessary Ignorance
of one part of the country concerning
the habits and ideas of another. En-
crossed with their immediate interests
and enterprises, the people have little
time to consider the sentiments or
prejudices OF those who live hundreds
or, as with US, thousands-of miles
away, and are surprised to discover, upon
some unexpected occasion, that they
know so little of each other. This was
entirely exemplifed in our late struggle,
and we find further evidence in lead
ing editorial of the Philadelphia In
qtirer, commenting on therecent speech
of the ex-President of the rebel Con-
federaey. That paper quotes these
words of Davis:
1.-THE cause of secession is not lost,
but only sleeping. You have done your
duty in the past, and may God spare
you to do it in the future should ever
the necessity again arise"
The Inquirer makes this comment
That Northern men take no stock in
Davis, except to pity his stubborn stu
pidity; that his talk is "nothing but
voice" and observe that he is only
wreck left by the retreating tide of Sc
cession. "He simply denotes storm
that once ragged, but which, subsiding,
has left him to indicate its fury" There
are very many who think with the In
QAirer that the South has repudiated its
chosen chieftain, and is deaf to
his utteTances. Nor is this the
only matter in which the North is
wofully Ignorant of Southern sentiment.
When Joe Johnston casually connected
Davis with the disappearance of the lost
Confederate specie, how quickly the
Southern press and people defended him
and forced Johnston to O retraction
Davis was not a great man, hardly
great failure, but he surely is not an ar
rant fool. He knows the South with the
sure instinct of his Southern head. He
is too wise to speak often, and too wise
when he does speak not to say what his
audience will appreciate. When he says
that the lost cause is not dead but Sleep
ing, and that the South expects every
man to do his duty when the time
comes, it is reasonable to suppose that
he means what he says, and that the APP
plause of the people means that they
agree with him. It is the dangerous fol-
ly of false security to urge that Davis
is petrified fossil, ignored and repudi'
ated by the South. 1t is lamentable nom
sense it borders upon recklessness to
apologize for sullen soldier who laughs
the good-natured excuse to scorn. Davis
was prominent man among eminent
men. He is yet sound in mind and body
so far, we mean, as his inner sense
goes. Why should not he mean what he
says Has the South forgotten the lost
cause? If so, what mean those move
ments, parades, memorial days and the
steady increase of military schools, with
the military feature in all of them
There is scarcely Southern youth who
has not some military training and does
not know the uses of weEfike service.
Read their school books and see if they
are not written by tho ehUst OF the Re-
beIlion, walking in arms. with its visor
down, ON the shadowy platform of the
lost cause.
The wish is the father of the thought,
and we are apt to believe what we most
desire. Beside, prosperity and strength
incline us CT the North to peace and
amity. And it may be that Davis does
not understand his people as well as the
Philadelphia Inquirer, and is merely a
melancholy old man, garrulous of the
past and wandering in quest of some
| thing-he knows not what-he cannot
find" Perhaps so; but it Is at least the
part of wisdom to keep our Republican
anchors firmly rooted in the firm bed of
the Union, and occasionally to let our
glasses sweep along the Southern hor-
| lion. omaha ReDubticG1e.