The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-09-21
Glowing Tribute Paid by Lead
ers to His Courage and
Devotion.
COLONEL OATES GREAT GRAFTON
Closing Exercises In the Dedication
OF the Chickamauga Military
Park.


nights meeting of the survivors of the
Army of Virginia and that portion of the
Army of the Potomac that fought at Chat
tanooga brought to a close the programme
arranged by the National commission in
connection with the dedication of the
Chickamauga and Chattanooga Military
Park.
The meeting was held in the tent and
was presided over by General E. c. Wal
thall, Senator elect from Mississippi, who
fought against Hooker in the clouds on
Lookout Mountain. Addressing his re-
marks to "ladies and fellow-soldiers" he
delivered glowing eulogy on the Southern
soldier, who, he said, sym holized courage,
constancy and devotion in war, self-respect-
ing dignity in defeat, and in peace the
same fidelity to this Government that the
Southern soldier bore to that for whose
permanent establishment he fought four
years in vain.
Colonel Lewis R. Stegman of New York
followed. Colonel W. c. Oates, the one
armed Governor of Alabama, better known
for his long Congressional career, was the
next speaker. Governor Oates, addressing
his remarks to ''the soldiers of the lost
cause and successful defenders of the
Union" made some exceedingly pointed
comments upon the causes of the war.
Among other passages were the following:
"Let the blasphemous mouths of the
bloody-shirt shriekers be closed and the
truth be told and our cause and the hero
ism which sustained it for four immortal
years will illuminate the brightest chap
ters of the true history of that great con-
flict. There never was a war wherein the
object of the invader was anything short
of determination, in which there was more
involved, or the result of which was
fraught with greater consequences; nor
was there ever a war the real cause of
which was so imperfectly understood by
other nations and many even of the Amer
iCan people. One of the underlying causes
of the conflict of arms was that in our cit
izenship there were two distinct types of
civilization-the cavalier and the Puritan.
The intermeddling Of the Puritans and the
hot-headed impuIsiveness of the cavalier
leaders, notwithstanding they were largely
in the minority, stirred up the strife, set
fire to the forest and caused the great con-
flagration and suffering which ensued.
THE presence in our midst of the
African race, for which they are in no
wise responsible, has ever been the Pan
dora's box of our American politics.
Slavery it must be conceded, is contrary
to natural right, but it was lawful State
institution and was so recognized by the
constitution of the United States Being
a State institution, it was the right of the
State in which it existed to continue or
abolish it. The responsibility, moral and
otherwise, for its continuance belonged to
the people of the State wherein it existed.
1t was abuse, threats and impending as
saults upon the rights of the State to
regulate its own local and domestic
affairs voiced by the leading men of the
Puritanical type who abused and traduced
justices of the Supreme Court for deciding
that slavery was lawful, and who de-
nounced the institution of slavery and
polygamy as twin relics of barbarism, as
the sum total OF all vlllainy, as a league
with death and covenant with hell until
their doctrines melted band of fanatics
to believe that they were inspired by
heaven to light the torch of revolution in
Southern homes and to invade Southern
State for the purpose of inciting the slaves
10 insurrection, arson and indiscriminate
murder of white people, and when the
chief of these malefactors was executed
church bells were tolled in some of the
Northern cities to canonize him as a
martyr.
"These were the irritating causes which
aroused the feelings of indignation and
prepared the Southern people for secession
from the Union, Then when a great and
growing political party, confined alone to
the Northern States, whose slogan was
hostility to the institution of slavery and
whose orators were full of intemperate de-
nunciation of the Southern people. sue
ceeded in electing their President, who had
proclaimed irrepressible conhict-that this
country must all be slave or free labor-the
apprehensions of the Southern people were
awakened to a common danger-not about
slavery alone. but that their ancient and
well-defined right to govern their own in
ternal affairs in their own way would be
denied and destroyed, not directly, but by
attrition under the guise OF law and con-
stitutional administration. Thus was pre-
sented great issue which, unfortunately,
our constitution provided no umpire to
peaceably adiudicate, and hence the ques-
ton was necessarily submitted to the ar
bitrament of arms-the court Of last resort
among nations.
1T was not for slavery as such, for the
majority of our men never owned a slave.
A large majority of our soldiers were poor
laboring men. They were Mortified at the |
idea of our emancipated slaves being |
turned loose in their midst, raised to their
equality of citizenship, invested with the |
elective franchise and brought into COM |
petition with them as free laborers; the |
pride of race superiority and the usurpa-
ton of their right of local or State govern
ment offended the dignity alike of these
men and the slave-owners; they stood
united and fought like devils, as every
Union veteran will testify and their flag
fIoated triumphantly ON nearly hundred
fields of battle We fought with the same
spirit of our Revolutionary sires, who
bought with their precious blood the liber-
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