Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1895-06-20
From the New York Daily News J
A GENEROUS OFFER.
c. 8. RoUss WANTS A CONFEDERATE ME-
MORTAL BUILT.
He is Willing to Contribute S 90, 900 IT the peo-
pie Of the South Will Raise Like Amount.

Every rich man has his own Parllc-
ular hobby. Some devote themselves
to yachting and others to the breeding
of running and trotting horses, while
still others derive their chief pleasure
in life from travel, books, the erection
of magnificent mansions.
Charles Broadway Rouss does not
differ from the other wealthy men OF
his time. He too has hobby. 1t Is
to establish National Confederate
Memorial Association, which shall
have the custody of all the relies, val
liable papers, etc, Of the late war,
which are now scattered over the
country. Perhaps the word hobby is
not strong enough to express Mr..
Rouss' sentiments in the matter, for
it amounts TO a passion with him, and
he regards it as sacred duty to do
all in his power to preserve the tradl-
tions of the South. For this purpose
he is willing to contribute literally
from his large fortune.
Mr.. Rouss has already done great
deal for the South and its people, and
is prepared to do still more. He
thinks that the Civil War will 90
down into history as one of the great
est military struggles on record. He
believes that the armies and the gen
erals on the Southern side have not
been treated with justice or fairness,
and that in the time to come the war
will take rank with the wars of the
ancient Greeks, the Romans, the Mac
edonians or the Persians. There Is no
better way to accomplish this, he
thinks, than by the establishment of
the Memorial Association. His idea
is to erect museum where the scat
tered relies and records of the Con-
federacy can be gathered together and
preserved for the future historian.
AS it is now these relies, important
records and documents are being ex-
hibited and offered for sale in all parts
of the country. By collecting them in
one museum this would be prevented,
and the people of the South would
have something of which they could
be Justly proud.
Mr.. Rouss says that there Is no
doubt that the Southern people will
take kindly to the idea Of the National
Memorial, and that it is only ques-
ton of short time when work on the
museum will be begun. He has gem
erously offered to contribute 100000
toward its erection, making only one
condition. That is that the people OF
the South raise like amount. He says
that 100000 will be sufficient to
build a museum and leave a surplus
for the purchase of the widely scat
tered relics.
In futherance of this idea Mr.. Rouss
wrote the following letter to General
Stephen D. Lee, which was read at
the recent Confederate reunion at
Houston:
New York, May ll.-My Dear
Friend and Comrade; AS l have been
in correspondence with many Confed-
crate veterans in relation to the estab-
lishment of a National Memorial AS
sociation. and as the matter has been
called officially to the attention Of the
United Confederate Veterans by the
two department commanders, assume
that it will be the subject of discussion
at the Houston reunion. Should this
be the case, l beg that you will fur
nish the Veterans with fuller partlcu-
lars than | have been able to convey
to them by circular or letter. The
following statement will explain the
reason that induced me to interest my
self in this memorial movement, and
why l felt warranted in calling upon
my comrades for cooperation.
Shortly after the termination OF the
war l became thoroughly impressed
with the Importance of the South
taking up the work of vindicatiOn.
saw that Northern writers, imbued
with partisan feelings, stimulated by
sectional animosity, and posing as his
torians, were falsifying history; that
they were misrepresenting the causes
that forced the South to take up arms
and the manner in which she had sus-
tanned the conflict; that they were
reviling our domestic institutions I'M
pugning the courage and devotion OF
onr soldiars making our trusted leaders