The National tribune., 1894-07-12
THEY STAND BY CAVE.

Ine S0n1ederate OrganlZauOnS IL
Richmond have shown much temper il
replying to inquiries from Posts of th'
GAR. as to whether they indorsed thu
utterances of the Rev. Mr.. Cave. Wher
the matter was discussed In Lee Camp
hot speeches were made, in which The
Posts were denounced as "impertinent,
insulting" aliens" foreigners" etc
Col. Pollard said he would as soon SET
a member of Lee Camp sink through
the floor as to vote against indorsing it.
Col. Gary said: "No Confederate sol
dier can fail to indorse the utterances Of
Mr.. Cave. To do so would be to damn
himself as a traitor"
The general feeling was for an en-.
thusiastic Endorsement of the speech
though Col. Murphy tried to stem the
current by reminding them that the peo-
pie of the North did not object to utter
anees of praise of the Southern soldier
made by Mr.. Cave, but to the statement
made by him that the army of the North
was largely composed of hirelings.
1t was also pointed out that of the
$4,000 raised for the Confederate Home
ia Richmond, $4,000 had been con-
tributed by GAR. Posts.
The Endorsement was carried unani-
mously, and committee appointed to
draft suitable letter. This reads in
part as follows:
He (Cave) spoke of the past, not of the
present; of the Constitution as cur fathers
framed it, and not of that Constitution as
amended by the mailed hand OF war, and
Lee Camp emphatically answers that it in
dOrses the statements made in his Grafton in
Justification of the course of the Southern
States when in 1861 they took up arms 10
maintain the rights aud liberties guaranteed
to them and their people by the Constitution
as then framed.
We believe, with him, and with him we
maintain, that Robert e. Lee and the brave
and noble men who fought under the flag
that was furled forever at Appomattox were
PATRIOTS as pure and true as was the truest
and best of the soldiers who carried TO uti-
mate victory the flag that we all now gladly
and proudly hail as the flag of our glorious
country, este perpetua.
According to the people of the North
perfectly honest motives III the views they
entertained and the course they pursued,
we claim for ourselves motives as honorable
and as pure The differences between us
were submitted TO the stern arbirament of
war. We lost and we have in good faith
accepted the result, and we propose to abide
by IL More than this we cannot say or
do, and more brave and magnanimous men
should not and will not ask of u.s."
1t was this infammatory ftlstian that
the comrades very rightfully objected
to, and it is this that Lee Camp tries to
obscure by a mass of rhetoric about the
virtues of the rebel soldier.
This is careful evasion of the main
question. The Union soldiers have never
hesitated to give the highest praise to the
courage and devotion of the rebel sol
diers, and to agree that they believed in
the Justice of their cause. Nor is the
fact that Lee and jackson were men of
high personal character and very able
commanders ever been disputed by
Union veterans. All this is outside of
the dispute, and the reply of Lee Camp
has No more pertinence to it than would
be declaration that there are 13 stripes
and "A stars on the United States FLAG.
Mr.. Caves address went far beyond
being a mere eulogy Of the virtues and
valor of the rebel soldiers and leaders.
1t went beyond asserting that there were
logical grounds prior to the war for be-
ieving in the right of secession. 1t was
a distinct assertion that the defeat of
that attempt was merely an overthrow
of a sacred right by overwhelming num-
bers of mercenary, selfish men, actuated
by no principle, but hating sacred
right and all who maintained it: that
Appomattox was a triumph such as sent
martyrs to the stake, heroes to the seat
fold, St Paul to the headsman, and
Christ to the Gross.
THE comrades of the GAR. of Chi
cago have done themselves credit and
greatly aided the authorities by offering
themselves in body as a special force