The Jackson standard. [volume] (Jackson C.H., Ohio) 1847-1888, 1888-06-07

We must not forget the fact thai
before the war there were no public
schools in the South as in the North
and the great body of Southern peo.
pie were ill1terate, ignorant beyond
what we of the North can easily con-
ceive. Ignorance was the rule, educa-
tion the exception.
Then there were two great social
lines, dividing the people Of the South.
The one was the line between bondage
and freedom, the other between wealth
and poverty, the slaveholding and
non-slaveholding people.
The poor whites, living in a land of
unpaid labor, had no destiny before
them but certain poverty and igno-
rance to the latest generation. The
slaveholding autocrat looked upon the
''po' white trash" uneducated and
helpless as they were, as but little bet
ter than the rich mans slave. They
allowed him liberty, it is true; per-
mitted him to own and control prop
erty; permitted him to testify in
in courts, and legalized his marriage;
all Of which rights and privileges were
denied the black man. But as they
never paid an honest days wages for
an honest days work, the path Of the
poor white man tended ever down.
ward.
One other matter, to be thought Of
just here. The South had always cul-
tivated spirit Of chivalry. "The
pomp and circumstance Of war" had
certain charms for the Southron, not
found in the North, and this spirit
pervaded the whole people, although
the poor whites were seldom permit
ted to enjoy the ''spangles and dis
play" of military organizations.
But the war, terrible and cruel as it
proved to be, came to the braver and
better class of poor whites as great
social lever. It lifted them up to the
plane Of the rich and gave them a
chance to stand side by side, upon the
battle line, equal with the sons OF the
high-born slaveholding autocrat. To
the meaner class of poor whites it
came as shower of mamma in their
social, industrial and financial wilder
ness. It gave them employment, in
spite Of slavery, with the promise
barren as it, proved to be-of pay,
clothing and rations. So when the
rebel leaders sounded the tocsin of
war, all classes responded-all, save
the poor slave, who was left on the
plantation to ''hoe de corn and pick
de cotton"
The great mass Of the Confederate
army had but dim comprehension of
what it was all about, or what they
were fighting for, but they had been
taught to hate and despise the North,
and instinctively the y knew chat they
were there to whip the Yankees"
And right hard they fought us, my
comrades. /, for one, am ready to ad-
NIT that their unhinching nerve in
battle, their endurance on the march,
their fortitude on poor rations and
ragged clothing; their faith in ulti-
mate success, in the midst Of over
defeats, their pluck, energy
and zeal, in a cause which Heaven
could not bless, challenges my admi-
ration for them as body Of soldiers,
much as | despise their wicked, reck-
less leaders, and the cause, so treason
able, for which they fell.
But we must not forget that they
we're Acknowledgements, misguided
and blinded by prejudice as they were,
'hey yet had preserved, as by tradi-
ton, the example Of the American
fathers. They looked upon the bat
;lefelds of the revolution as the bat
;lefelds of their fathers, as we looked
lpon them as the battlefelds Of ours.
The monuments, erected by American
lands, to commemorate American
1alor, they regarded as their monu-
nents, and they claimed a peculiar in
crest in and near kinship to some Of
he brightest names that adorn the
arlier pages Of American history.
They were animated by State pride,
,loried in State sovereignty and
ought for State supremacy. They
laimed that the States had rights and
unetions superior to the Nation. We
laimed that the Nation was greater
han any Of its parts. They fought |
o free themselves from the jurisdic-
ion Of the law and the obligations of
he constitution, established by the
athers Of the republic. We fought
o maintain the union Of the States
nd the supremacy of the National
government throughout the length |
nd breadth of the whole land; they
ought for slavery, we for freedom of |
and when the battle was
one, the war was over, the clouds
we saw, in the bright morn
1g of peace,
The flag of the free hearts, hope and home,
By angel hands TO valor given,
Waving, triumphant, from every hill
nd mountain-top-on every plane,
nd by all the waters of the land,
Iorth and South alike-waving over
reemen, nor shadowing slave.
The rebel army laid down its arms;
ut not until thousands Of its soldiers
nd Of ours had laid down their lives.
surrendered, but only after shot
nd shell, disease and suffering had
ecimated its ranks and it had been
eaten at every point on land and sea.
he final victory was ours, but it was
urs at a fearful cost. The Nation
we'd; but it lived watered by the
lood Of patriots, loyal to It's flag.
The fearful struggle had tested
lost thoroughly the experiment of
,lf-government, and settled forever
lie question as to the ability of re-
ublic to carry on a war for its own
but the land was filled
ith mourners, and thousands of
ONES were shadowed by a deep, dark
,rrow. Yet the law had been upheld,
lie right maintained, the Union pre-
rived, and the shackles stricken from
'ur million of slaves.
God in His providence thus wrought
1t for the Nation highway to a no.
er national life, and for the people
highway to a better, higher and
lrer civilization.