The Atlanta constitution. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1885-19??, 1898-08-22
Bill Hrp's letter

Dill Hfp , Aoe'oi
The aftermath Of war. The veterans and
their wives and many of their children re-
member the struggles the humiliauOns and
the bitterness that followed US in the wind
up of our civil war. l will not speak OF
that now Let the dead past bury Its dead,
If it be possible But / was Illuminating
about what IS to become of this ole-thlS
little one that has taken only few months
to fight and to conquer a peace, but has SO
changed our national domain that it viii
require wears and the best craftsmanship
to adjust and control. Just THINK or II
Cuba, Porto Rico, Hawaii ana the idr-oL
Philippines being suddenly thrown on our
hands and all without expectation or De
sign We have got the harness upon an
these horses. can we make the teams pun
the loaded wagons up hill without baking
and hold back down hill without wearing
ont the brceching. l reckon we can, Tor
this nation has fine tcamsterS and plenty
of them 1t takes great occasions ana OPP
portnitteS to develop great men 1lau y
not been for this war with SPAN we "o"'4
never have heard OF Dewey or SchIeE or
SAMPSON or Hobson, or of scores OF otherS
who have made themselves famous ana are
now c,assed among the heroic spirits VINO
were not born to die. Generally the AFTER
math Is a feast to the Vlctor5 ana d IditiI''
to the yanquishcd. but as to TINS one lIo
city of Snushan is perpleNcd, ana az mo
world wonders what VIII we 90 WIN Iio
elephant. our greatest Slate9il0" :"
in accord about the Philippines ana mo
press partisan and non-partisan, are Woo
anart in their advice. MIR. Carnegie mas
written the ablest articles against our &c
curing those islands and John Sntililtth
has Endorsed his sentiments MI IatIci-
son. of Hartford has written IN inc II"E-
oilers Record the ablcst argument IN FAVOR
Of IT, Mr. Mcclure wants the cafth an"
,ha lTonroa doctrine Is now dead thAilS'
VIII hu0nc 50 poor as to do II reverence
nae only question is one OF eApeoeHtS
AZ for cuba and Porto Rico / believe lLaI
everybody has settled down III approval
though we are still smiling at the l"Hs Ih
of time it has taken to Ieeu the "N''I N'l'S
Cubans. .1
A,d now, comes the political aftermath.
pairing and contemplating for the presi-
dontfaI succession Already the question is
whose war was it, The revolution OF 100
hid it's opponents and they were called
tories They were loyal to the hllS an"
their fatherlaud The war of lSl2 had us
political enemies and 50 did the war WIN
Mexico Even so great and good a man rs
Daniel Webster opposed the latter ana the
wing party generally were against it. But
after 1t became fact Webster was CON
strained TO fall into line and repeated the
patriotic motto: my country right or
wrong" My friend, Mark Hardin, tells
good story about that war. Our eminent
jurist Judge Trip, of this county, made
political speech at Carrollton and denounc-
ed the Mexican war and all those demo-
Gratis who brought It on. Yes said he,
this cruel and unprovoked war has cost
us the lives OF 1o,oQo good men and $5OoOo,-
coo and all we have got to show for it IS
land, more land, barren wilderness peo-
Piled with savages. wild hogs and rattle
snakes. Fellow citizens, the war with
Mexico was a sin against heaven. IT was
conceived In sin and brought forth in in
EQUITY and all for 4 political purpose. L
challenge any democrat to answer my ar
gument or give an excuse for this useless
and costly war, this expenditure Of blood
and money"
Old Squire Latham--Tom Latham-was
always ready to defend his party. My par
ty, right or wrong" was his motto. When
Judge Trip closed and sat down. Tom
mounted the rostrum and without apology
began a furious TRADE upon the Judge
Tom was large. broad-shouldered big
mouthed yolumtnous man, and pointing
MS big finger at Tripp, vehemently ex-
GAINED: What do you know about this
any other war? Whar is your en-
sign. your scars or your crutches-I say
WllHf. W mar was you Wflcn w aShingtOn
was crossn' the Delaware and the mornin'
stars sang Yankee Doodle together-whar,
/ say?' Trippe smiled and said. II wasn't
born. sir" The dickens you wasn't. No,
you didn't want to be born while there was
any fight EWne on. Whar was you, sir,
when Andy jackson cut old Packcnham's
head off at New orleans with scythe
blade and stuck it a fodder stack pole
and let il stay there until the buzzardS
pccked his eyes out, Whar, | say? Why
didn't you git often that old Whig bench
volunteer under Jeff Davis and go to Mex
leo and serve your country and Kill old
Scantyana that old, Onc-legSed Mexican
cuss? And here you are taltin' about our
l0sin ten millions of men and a thousand
millions of dollars just like you was thar
and knowed all about it. Land, land, more
land you say and it's peopled with lnjuns
and snakes and wild hogs and Whang-a-
doodies and that's what's the matter with
YOU and your party. You don't want land.
but YOU want office and money and Sard-
toga carpets and yailer watches and Il
fine carriage with steps 10 shut up and let
down. and a little niger standin' the
hind platform to wait you. That's
like q porpose Judge Trpp was fine
old aristocratic gentleman and dressed and
Travelled in aristocratic style. and Latham
knew that the boys didn't think any more
of him for it, and so they cheered him at
every jump, and when he was through they