Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1891-06-13


ite valor, frightful carnage and matchless
strategy he surrendered his sword to
Grant.
The numper of men who have led their
generation and whose fame will grow with
lime is very few in any nation. Their un-
,pproachable position has been reached
because no one else could have done their
work They appear only i'm those crises
when the life or future of their country is
1T stake. The United States Is surpris-
ngly rich In having possessed three such
exalted intelligences i'm their first century
Washington, Lincoln and Grant. The
,ather of his country stands alone among
ihe founders of states and defenders of the
iberties of the people, as pre-eminently
ihe chief in both war and peace. IL Is the
| Judgment of his contemporaries and OF
posterity that none other Of the soldiers or
statesmen of the revolution could have
won the war for independence as comman-
Ter of armies or consolidated jealous and
warning colonies into nation as the first
| president of the republic. In our second
revolution the administration of the gov
| ,rnment and the conduct of the war equally
required the supreme ability and special
| adoption for the emergency. For the one
vas found Abraham Lincoln and for the
! ther Ulysses >. Grant. As we look back
through the clarified atmosphere of quar-
ter of n century of peace, congresses and
cabinets, with their petty strifes and
wretched intrigues, are obscured by the
wisdom and work of the martyr president.
He was n man of the people and always in
| .ouch with them. He strengthened the
wavering, lifted up the faint hearted and
| inspired the strong
From him came the unfaltering patriot
| Ism and unfailing confidence which re-
| ,ruited the depleted army and filed the
| exhausted treasury. Lincoln's faith and
power protected Grant from the cabals Of
| The camp, from the hostility of the secre-
| tary of war; from the politicians in con-
| gress and from his constant and extreme
| peril, the horror Of the country at n method
| IF warfare which sacrificed thousands of
| ives in battle and assault for immediate
! ,esults. But time has demonstrated that
| shis course was wiser in tactics and more
| merciful to the men than Fabian policy
and larger losses from disease and expos
| ure. Without this impregnable friend
Grants career would, on many occasions,
| have abruptly closed. without the gem
eral in supreme command, upon whose
! genius he staked his administration and to
whose skill he intrusted the fate of the re-
public, there might have been added TO the
list of illustrious patriots who have fallen
victims to the unrcasoning rage of IL de-
feated and demoralized people the name of
Abraham Lincoln.
The most signal services rendered by
Grant to his country were at Appomattox
md in his contest with President Johnson.
| The passions aroused by the civil war
we're most inflamed when the confederacy
! collapsed. Grief and vengeance are bad
| eounselors. One serene intellect was pos
| sessed of an intuition which was second to
prophecy, and was closed with power. He
| saw through the vindictive suggestions of
| the hour that the seeded states must be
admitted to the union, and their people
vested with all the rights of American citi-
senship and all the privileges Of state gov
frnment, or the war had been fought in
| vain. He sternly repressed the express
sions of JOY by his troops as the vanquished
enemy marched by, with his famous order,
| ''The war is over, the rebels are our coun-
,rymen again, and the best sign of rejoic-
!ng after the victory will be To abstain
from all demonstrations in the field He
gave to the confederates their horses and
belongings and told them TO go home. cul-
tivate their farms and repair the ravages
Of war. He assured ALL from Lee TO the
private soldier, that tlGcy would be safe
and unmosleted so long as they observed
,heir paroles.
To enter Richmond, the capital Of the
,onfederacy, whose spires had been in
| sight of the besicgers so long, would have
| oeen a resistless temptation for weaker
nan. But his mind was not on 81 ectacular
display or triumphal marches over humili-
lted foes. 1t was bent upon peace and
| oacification. know of no scene in our
| history so dramatic rs the meeting be-
tween Lincoln and Grant at the White
House three days after the surrender at
Appomattox. The president, who had so
| ,oyally sustained the general, and the gen
eral, who had so magnifcentlv responded
20 the confidence of the president, met for
the last time in their lives. Grant re
turned with deep emotion the fraternal
grasp of the only man in the country who
fully understood and was in complete ac-
| .ord with the policy of reconciliation and
! - 'ri --i f .I,s s,,arr;ar WAS done
and the labor of the statesman begun.
Yesterday ii was destruction, tomorrow il
must be reconstruction. That night the
bullet Of the assassin ended the life of our
greatest president since Washington and
postponed the settlement of sectional
difficulties and the cementing of the union
for many years. 1t gave the country the
unfortunate administration of Andrew
Johnson with its early frenzy for revenge
and determination TO summarily try and
execute all the rebel leaders, and its later
effort to win their favor by giving them
iheir states without pledges for
he unionist or the freedman and the
government without evidences of re-
pentance or hostages for loyalty.
The one sent CONSERVATION through the
south and helped undo the work at Apo
nattox, and the other unduly elated the
controlling powers in the rebel states, and
aecessitated measures which produced de-
plorable results. Grant stood with his
honor and his fame between the raging ex-
rcutive and the confederate generals and
prevented reopening of the war; he
stood with drawn sword between the chief
magistrate and revolutionary congress,
and stayed another rebellion.
There have been many presidents of the
United States and the roll will he indefin-
ltely extended. We have had a number OF
brilliant soldiers, but only one great gen
sral. The honors of civil life could add
aothing to the fame of General Grant and
& has been often argued that his career in
,he presidency detracted from his reputa-
lion. Such will not be the Judgment of the
impartial historian. He was without cx-
perience or training for public life and un-
familiar with politicians and their meth
DDS. The spoils system, from which he
could not escape, nearly wrecked his first
administration. His mistakes were due 10
quality which is the noblest of human
virtues, loyalty to friends. Even at this
short distance from scenes SO vivid in our
memories party rancor has lost
is bitterness and blindness. The
president will be judged not
,y the politics or policy of the hour, but
according to the permanent value of the
,epublic,. of the measures which he pro-
noted or defeated. The fifteenth amend
nent to the constitution was sure of adop-
don as one of the logical results of the
war. By it the declaration of independ-
.nce, which had been glittering absurd
ty for generations, became a part of the
fundamental law of the land, and the sub
ect of pride and not apology to the Amer
can people. The presidents earnest adj
!ocacy fastened its ratification. On great
questions affecting the honor and credit of
;he nation he was always sound and EN-
phatic. A people rapidly developing their
material resources are subject to frequent
6nancial conditions which cause stringsncy
,f money and commercial disaster. TO Sc
cure quick fortunes debts are recIxlessly
incurred, and debt becomes the author of q
currency craze. President Grant set the
wholesome fashion of resisting and reas-
oning with this frenzy. Against the ad-
vice of his cabinet and many Of his party
admirers he vetoed the imitation bin. He
had never studied financial problems, and
yet the same clear and intuitive grasp OF
artificial situations which saved the country
from bankruptcy by defeating fiat money,
restore public and individual credit by the
resumption Of specie payments. The fund
Ing of our war debt at a lower rate of In
terest made possible the magical payment
Of the principal. The admission of the last
Of the rebel states into the union and uni.
versal amnesty for political offenses quick
ened the latent LOYALTY of the south and