The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1885-03-05

The erection Of JeG Davis into . god,
now going on 20 rspidly In tho South. IL
enough to make even . Coppsrhesd diszy.
saying nothing Of those who arc not yet
done laughing at tho fleeing President Of
the Confederaoy being captured In wom-
ans dress and h0op-skirts at the close Of
tho war. The Southern press and the
Democratic leaders in the United States
Senate got the old traitor up to an altitude
Of loyalty but two weeks ago. which they
claimed made him as great patriot as any
in the country. Then the Liberty Bell was
sent South, and old Je6, as the Souths
greatest man and first citizen, called out -
welcome it and escort it to the New Orleans
Exposition. Ever since the Southern press
has been layishly at work to show that not
only is he as great man. and as loyal cit
izen, as the nation affords, but that heis the
greatest patriot Of all, and also--may all
the gods defend us--also the greatest
Union man of all. and indeed the only
American statesman who Is really true to
the Union.
IL is not merely the tar-heeled press OF
cheap papers of the South that are thus max
ing Davis into hero. The leading and
more conservative papers of the South are
doing it. too. The st. Louis Times Demo-
crGt. the most moderate aud tolerant Of
Southern papers. in its issue of last sunday,
comes mp to make the astounding claim that
Davis is not only patriot but the best and
chiefest of good Union men. Quoting and
growing very indignant over paragraph in
which the st. Louis Globe Democrat criti-
cised the action of the Southern Democmts
in the United States Senate, In defending
Je6 Davis as being loyal man one day.
owx1 o,xl<< al Al
next. the Times Democrat says:
We are not quite sure in what the little
difficulty of our contemporary consists
whether il is found in reconciling the
honor md patriotism" of jefferson Davis
with the culture Of silk, or with the Ameri-
can flaR. or with womans work. or with the
making of q present to Congress. The
honor and patriotism Of Mr.. Davis are not
in antagonism with any of these things,
that We are aware of. Certainly not with
the American flag. if the luster shed upon
its folds and the blood she'd in its defense
at Monterey and Buena Vista count for
aught, or If q lifelong advocacy of the
principles which ii is supposed to symbol
lie means anything. In the sense of de-
termined and unwavering opposition to Sec
tionalism, Mr.. Davis probably carries
more genuine American feeling-more
true unionism-in his wounded heel, than
his defamers carry in their heads and
hearts. No nobler protest against the
sectional spirit has never been made than
that to which he gave utterance in Congress
almost forty years ago. His career
has been SO grossly and persistently mis-
represented that there are, no doubt, many
who will scarcely believe that we have
really been citing the record of Jefferson
Davis, or that he was in heart, in speech,
and in conduct to the very last, consistent
and genuine devotee of the American flag
and American Union, in the only sense in
which q State Rights Democmt could be
such--and that far higher and truer
sense than his calumniators can COM
prehend. That is what puzzles the Globe
Democrat. Happily, the time has come
when it has ceased or will soon cease to
puzzle right thinking and patriotic people
of any section or party
In other words, the Times Democrat
thinks the time has already come when
everybody accepts JEFF Davis as being the
greatest opponent of sectionalism." and as
having more true Unionism" than any
other man now living
What may not be judged as TO the feel
ing. expression, and intentions of the
rabble and the rabid elements of the South,
when such q moderate paper rs the Times
Democrat thus exalts the arch traitor,
whose bones should now be rotting under
the gallows tree, as the greatest of patriots
and the truest of Union men now hving?-
Dee MOinea Re0isfer