The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1891-10-30

HAL pUeScSSlug any kQOWleuge OF LQe
suEaeeb wffftiisp THAT the hacks
bone OF the Southern Confederacy was
broken, that the cause was hopeless
~ and irretrieTably lost in 1863, when
the Confederate armies aggregated
between 600, 900 and 100000 lighting
men-almost, if not altogether, equal
in point OF numbers TO the Federal
forces 1t was in 1863 that Vicksburg
fell, that Grant tore the Confederacy
in twain, that Lees magnificanta army
was rolled back wreck from Gettys-
burg. With those reverses the South
ern people became discouraged, and
thencf0rth gave TO the new govern
ment but a half-hearted support.
Naturally the Confederate armies rap
idly dwindled. while the Federal gov
eminent continued to push men to
the front TO hold the conquered terri
tory and oyerawe the people, as well
as TO speedily crush the decimated le-
gions of Lee and Johnson and end the
war Practically it was man to man
in 1863, when the Contederacy received
its death blow. Furthermore, we were
acting chiefly on the defensive. We
were in our own mountain passes, be-
hind our own magnificent fortifica-
lions. 1t was the business of the Yam
KEGS TO dislodge US. How in the dev-
| lis name they managed to accomplish
| it matters not: they did il. Really
the wonder, if wonder there be, is not
that we held out so long, but that
those despised Yankees busted US
so quickly, and then magnanimously
turned US loose to give the world our
own explanation of how it happened.
These may be unSavory truths to
some OF the chanticle ering swaShbuck-
lers and Tuning Falstaffs, but truths
just the same; obvious to all the
world. Southern chiyalry rolled up
against Northern valor and got the
worst of il. That is the whole story.
1t was not that the former lacked
courage. No Drawer men than those
who followed the stars and bars ever
won the mural crown. But they were
opposed TO men equally fearless, ofsu-
perior physical strength, Injured TO
toll and hardship, and who knew how
TO use tools, to bridge rivers, make
roads over the mountains and crumble
bulwark and bastiOn into dust. 1t
was a contest of lower with a higher
civilization. and the former had to
down. The naughty but INDECENT
Shareholder and the 'poSsQm-hunting
poor white struggled desperately but
vainly against men whose heads and
hands were educated in the eXacting
school Of Northern industry. The
men who had outstripped US in the
field of labor fairly OutfOught Us on
the field of war.
1T were well for Us now TO cease
our foolish b0asting and consider well
the stern lessons taught at the can
mons mouth. The first and the great
est of these is that only by honest la
Dor, by earnest endeavor, can people
become truly great. The war swept
away the curse that was our weakness,
negro slavery. It broke in upon our
old eXclusiveness, shattered the fool
ish caste that held US in iron thrall;
made labor respectable and progress
possible. 1t brought energetic North
ern people among US TO teach US that
the way TO greatness lies through the
workshop; TO incite Us TO shake OFF our
Incidence and enter the race for pre-
ferment. Grants red-thrOated bat
teries did more than break the shack
les from the wrists Of the blacks. They
tore the cursed fetters of caste and
custom from the minds Of the whites
"a nobler emancipation. They set
the heart of Southern chiyalry to
beating with truer, stronger life.
In the mad tempest Of battle the New
South was born. The crash of arms
were the groans of maternity; the del
uge Of blood her baptismal rite. The
emancipation proclamation was a bow
of promise that never again while the
world stands and the heavens endure
will North and South meet in battle
shock: that the greatness OF the one
shall become the proud heritage Of
the other: that the grandeSt section
of the American Union shall yet, with
Gods blessing, produce the greatest
people that ever adorned the earth.
THE war is long past: we fought
and lost. Our triumphant foe extend
ed to Us a brothers hand, accorded Us
the honor due brave and spirited
people. That we should suffer recon-
structiOn pains was TO have been eX-
pected. That they were unneceSsar-
lily severe was due chiefly TO the greed
Of a clique Of politicians: partly also
to the fact that the North misunder-
stood US and our black wards, even as
we persist in misunderstanding the
Yankee But no gibbet rose in that
st0rm-sWept waste: our very leaders
now occupy positions of honor and
trust under the flag they def1ed. Let
Us not requite the generosity Of our
erstwhile foes by base attempt TO
tarnish their well-earned laurels.
Rather let us praise and emulate
them: strive with them in a nobler
field than that of war When the
North and South blend in one homo
geneous people, as blend they must,
when the blood of the stern Puritan
mingles with that o. the dashing cav
alier, then, indeed, will we be nation
and a people at which the world will
stand agaZe."