Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1894-07-03
LCoNIMuNIcArEp.
Ice ". Cave.

notice that you object to Mr.. Cleve-
lands calling the war rebellion" and
say that Mr.. Ran. Tucker says the
South fought in defeuse OF local self
government. / thought the South al
ready had it under the Constitution
before secession-and has ii now.
Where's O'Farrell ? Men usually fight
for something they want but haven't
got-or for something they have that
somebody is trying to take away. The
Southern Confederacy was organized
at Montgomery during Buchanan's ad-
minstraJinn. What had old "Buck
done If | am told that the South
went to var for local sclfgovernment |
ask what local institution was in peril,
unless ii was slavery; that was the only
one abolished by the war. Why then
attempt in a cloud of words to conceal
the fac that slavery was the cause OF
secession and the war. The Rev. Cave
declares that ii is 'slanderous accuSa-
ton TO say that the South fought to
perpetuate slavery. 1t had, he insists,
The constitutional right to extend slave
~ TO the Territories, which Lincoln de-
MED. Hence the war According to
the pious orator then the South seeded
and went 10 war not to peIpetuate
slavery as it existed in the States, but
to extend ii 10 the Territories where it
never had been. This seems to be a
distinction without difference. Why
didn't he deny that there had been any
war?
Why isn't it Just as much q SANDER
to say that the South fought for the eX-
tension as for the perpetuation Of
slavery. A difference in words makes
no difference in the substance. When
it is said that certain charge AGAINST
a man is a SANDER ii implies Il at he is
charged with some criminal or disgrace
ful conduct Now, if it was dishonor
able to fight for slavery ii was dishonor-
able to own slaves so, according to
Cave, ii was a great disgrace to have
fought ior slavery. ! don't think so
neither 60 | think it any disgrace to
commit treason or rebellion. The rev
erend gentleman has been the dupe of
his own rhetoric: 1t is to be hoped that
the southern cause will have no more
such dcienses. Calling thing by an
other name does not change its charac-
ter. Mr.. Madison objected to the word
slave" being put into the Constitution
and substituted for it persons held to
service" But did that phrase make
the oeggo any the less slave or Tighten
the burden ofslavery? Not much. In
the Old day the pulpit orators us;l to
defend ii by calling it "a patriarchal
Institution. forgetting that the patri
arcbs practiced things that are peniten-
tiary oilenscs now. Ian Tucker show
ed very little respect for Abraham in
his bill 10 punish polygamy and confis-
cate the property Of the Mormon
church Poygamy was patriarchal
institution. He didn't think local
seli-government good thing for
Utah. If You will examine the
files Of the GAZETTE for 1860
81 YOU Will find that the sole cause Of
quarrel be wcen the North and South
VAS slavery ! always thought they
fought about the same thing they quar-
relied about. So did Gen. Lee. In let
ter written from Arlington the day he
resigned from the I. ). army he said
that he Wo I'D have been wiling TO ll0'
crate the four million slaves in the
South to save the union aud preserve
peace, ] ant see how setting the ne
@roes free could have saved the union,
unle.s slavery was the cause OF the
breach f',inl General Lee knew
more than Cave. Unlike Cave, l do
not think it any reproach on the
southern soldier that he fought in de-
fense OF slavery, or any other estab-
lished institute II of his country. The
South for four years was his country
1t Is no business of a soldier to inquire
in;o the politicll merits of cause for