, 1886-07-22
Sherman's Good Sense.


'allS 1t 4 wicked. caUSpless contest or
'he part of tho leaders of the encas-
sion conspiracy. ur. as he said We'd
0esday in San Francisco. "one of the
worst of wars" When Sherman tell
the G. A. Il. that every member
should become a teacher II instil ir
the hearts of your children the prln-
"iples for which You fought" hs
-neaks timely word. for some good
Union soldiers occasionally try to
wash th" blood spots ont OF our han
Hcr with the soap of sentimpntaIism
Standardization never saves a state.
It l. belief in the immuiahie timcli~
ness of eternal Justice that does that
aud q handful of flowers won't soak
ND a river OF blood. Because Davis.
Lee and ToOmbs escaped through
wise clemecy. the gallOws, Is no rea
son why they should expect Il mOnu-
ment. erected by Union hands. or
have their graves decked by Union
Soldierz To die for error is manly.
hut to die for truth is more thar
manliDess; it Is manhood instinct
with clear moral sense. Martydom
is no proof of morality; many 2
martyrs ashes are the serpent seed Of
m evil church. There Is freedom Of
speech for heresy. and there is free
lom Of denunciation for error. For
The Southern soldier, who is a good
citizen today, in sickness or in health.
in sorrow or in mirtb. the Union
soldier shCnld have an open hand, ar
open heart and an open door, but for
the idea for which they so heroically
fought the Union veteran should ever
be as cruel and inhospitahlc as that
vast grave their foolish hands filled
with our precious dead. Under any
other view how sharp is the sting of
the loyal death; how barren the vic
tory of the loyal grave. No honest
thoughtful Union soldier can honest
ly couple 4 confederate and a Union
grave az equally worthy of honor and
worship. Rev Phillips Brooks once
said on this point:
Il stand with as much reverence as
any by the grave of a man who laid
down his life for a mistake, but /
cannot feel the same sense of graft
tude which animates me when / stand
by the graves of men who laid down
their lives for what we know today.
as then, is absolutely right. We
must not keep silence then upon our
eommemoration day, upon our creed
that which the men in our war died
for is the everlasting necessity OF our
nation"
1t is not human nature for an hon
est Confederate to decorate Il Union
grave, il is cot honest human nature
for Il Union soldier to decorate a
Confederate grave The red coats,
who charged Prescott's line at Bunk
er Hill were brave fellows, and were
of our English blood, but what are
their graves TO us today? It was q
brave fight on both sides, but both
sides were not right, and the quiet
common sense that accepts the arbit-
rament of the sword, as Lee and
Longstreet did, is worth n thousand
years of insincere sentimentalism.
There are enough left on both sides
to do our own honest mourning. Let
Us do 1t like men, and let us be hon
est at the funeral The Confederate
soldier IS not expected to cherish the
Union grave, and the Union soldier
does himself no credit by affecting an
interest la the grave of stout. brave
Confederate that he don't feel.
We are prompted to say this much.
because 1t is within our recollection
THAT printed circulars was once dis
tribnted. signed by a member of Far
ragut post, department of the Poto
man, asking congress to enact a law
for the establishment and support of
soldiers homes for ex-Confederates.
The circular was endorsed by a letter
from w. D. Wylde. commanding the
u. a. X. department Of Texas. OF
course 1t died in birth. 1t was ab-
surd, If sincere, as the rebelling states
are amply able to provide by taxaiIon
for their pauper veterans, and it
would be a sentimental premium on
rebellion for q government to con-
done instruction by adding n pen
sion to the grace of amnesty. 1t IS
legitimate IN nation to grant am
nesty. 1t is legitimate in u nation 20
grant amnesty for rebellion, but it
would be immoral to vote it bounty
IN shape of a soldiers home. This
circular was probably part of a con
spiracy of claim agents to persuade
the South to vote solid for extrava-
CANT pension Legislation for Union
soldiers, by promising government
consideration for Confederates. The
late Charles Sumner was sentimental
rather than statesmanlike when ne
graYely urged that we omit to mark
the great historic battlctields with
becoming monuments. This sickly
sentiment was akin to his stupid
speech that the most touching Incl.
dent on either side OF al tie history
OF the war, full as it was of heroic
s'erlfice, made with blood and
tears, was the spectacle of Gen.
Banks during his retreat lifting
little footsore fugitive negro girl to
Il place of rest on one of his fyipp
cannon. This refusal to favor anv
public recognition of cur great war
for the Union was absurd, for pushed
to Its logical conclusion, the Sumner
sentlnentalism would grind Ply
Mouth Rock to pow der and SOW the sea
with its dust, would level Bunker
Hill monument and fling it in Boston
harbor, lest the sight of it should
make some Engishman suik, sneer,
or scOld when he visits America.
Ben Butler is another statesman who
saw no reason why a confederate
soldier shoWld not lie pcnsioncd. The
/ premium on the rebellion IS already
sufficiently high.
I 1t has been tiled for the future
that III the United States = number
Of men may iucite, GrsaEize and wage
war against the government :or scy-
eral years at e.:ormous cost Of blood
and treasure 10 the nation with cn-
tire impunity, so far as loss of life,
liberty or properly Is concerned. The
government hung nobody for treason,
it exiled nobody, imprisoned nobody.
it permanently deprived nobody Of
suffrage or civil rights. it confscated
no estates after the war. We do not
say the governments NvsE not rDfiyaly