The record-union., 1894-06-25
GOOD TO LAUGH AT.

General Rosser rallied at Yankees, and
the Rev. R. c. Cave of st. Louis declared
at the unveiling Of a monument last
month at Richmond. Va. that
1.-THE world shall yet decide
In truths clear, far-of light"
that the South was right; that her cause
was just; that the men who took up arms
for her were patriots with better reason
for their action than had the men who
fought at Concord, Lexington and
Bunker Hill.
When these and further remarks of the
reverend rebel were flashed over the
country and sent to print, Indignation,
hot and impetuous, kindled in millions
of breasts, and the thought of the hour
was bitter and revengeful. But cooler
Judgment prevailed and no expression
was made except that which is the only
desert of the malI-minded-the ex-
preston of piteous contempt, that single
American Of average attainments should
be.so far behind the age, so far to the rear
in the dust and gloom of the past.
Now, however, it appears that some of
the Southern press is behind Mr.. Cave;
that there are public prints to commend
his silly utterance and applaud the declar-
ations of this lingering fire-eater. The
Richmond CVa.) Times declares, for in
stance, that the deliverance was that of
constitutional law and historic fact; the
Richmond State says Cave spoke the be-
lief Of the Confederate soldiers, and that
because the South is an inviting field for
capital, and wants capital, its ex-Confed-
crates are not for sale. The Petersburg
I1adec-ADpeaI says: ''They reckon i'll
who believe that the sentiments of Mr..
Caves address are not the sentiments of
the Southern people,"
On the other hand the Atlanta Journal
declares that Cave di6 not speak for the
South, and did not represent the opin-
ions of any section. The Chattanooga
Times declares the speech an incident
marring the observances of Memorial
Day. The st. Louis Republic says: "Dr.
Cave is mistaken" and the Louisville
Co1rierJoa0maE speaks of Cave and
Rosser as of class of orators to be rid of,
and who are In disrepute.
It is probably true that very many
Southern men of the eldest generation
believe that the cause Of the South was
just; to hold to the contrary would be to
asperse the sincerity behind the valor of
their fighting. But the great mass of
these men realize that the cause of the
war was by the war removed, and can
never be restored. They entered into
contest of which battle was the arpiter
and they lost, and they accept the judg-
ment The war is over, and they know
that only i'll can result from raking in its
embers.
AS for the younger generations the
first had no part in the war; to them it is
a tradition; they would not do battle to
restore the conditions that created it;
their interest lies in the fraternity of the
whole American people. The youngest
generation is not to be taken into con-
sideration at all in the sentiment of the
matter.
Here and there are some few, feeble,
lingering malcontents at the South whose
hatred survives ali else, and whom the
world will complacently see 60 down to
the grave grumbling at fate. They speak
for themselves only, precisely as do
few rare. strange radicals in the North,
whose mean suspicion and narrow faith
in men lead them to believe that the
Caves and the Rossers stand for whole
millions of the South aiming to precip-
itate the nation into another fratricidsl
war. The two kinds of men are off of the
same cloth and are only useful to laugh
at.