The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1898-05-05
BLOOD THICKER THAN WATER.
Opinions Once Divided But Now
United.
Wilmington Messenger

he war beng i 1IX"d TACT, con
"rcss having declared war, it i, the
part Of patriotism to make the most
Of it. 1t is absolutely true that there
is really but little enthusiasm in the
South over it. One dav in 1861,
showed more intense excitement and
enthusiasm than a week brings forth
now. The reason Of this is that the
Southern heart is not in it. The
Maine was forgotten and the war
prccipitatcd upon commerce and
sentiment. That disgusts men who
believe blood is thicker than watcr,'
and honor nobIcr than dollars and
cents.
We notice that the old Richmond
(Fa.) IlowitZcrs refused to Il man to
volunteer while declaring they will
do their full duty if called out. One
Of the captains pronounced the war
both "unholy and unrighteouS.
The New Orleans PicayuHc takes a
view held by hundreds of thousands
of brave Southern men. that ..such a
war, qulXoiic. unnecessary as 1t Is,
becomes a binding obligation upon
first hostile gun fired ut an American
ship by the Spaniards compeIs every
patriot in the United States to range
himself under It's flag and against its
foes
The Mobile RcgiStcr. one of the old
est Southern newspapers. rs is the
Picayunc. says that 1.-THE Southern
representatives in congress, who
were unanimous and enthusiastic in
their support of a war measure will
not be able to find in the whole of the
South any war enthusiasm to support
their cXuberance." These views
effect no little of the thinking of the
people. We do not believe. take the
whole State through. that one-fourth
of the DemocratcS favor war if the
Maine is eliminated and the war is
waged for other causes. The Macon
(Ga) TclcgraIh takes this view, and
it is the right view. the Messenger
holds:
The hour is gone for discussion as
To the righteousness of the wal. The
American people are now united
upon the only proposition remaining,
the proposition to compel the with
drawal of Spain from Cuba. We
must now stand shoulder to shoulder
and make good the resolution of the
American congress-
We find similar views set forth in
many southern leading dailics. They
condemn the policy pursued or OPP
pose the causes of war as adopted
but they are for fighting now and re-
buking Spain; they are for pressing
the war with intense viwor and using
such resources as may be necessary
to secure victory and an early peace.
The Augusta Chronicle periodically
says: We do not believe that the
policy pursued was the wiscst policy,
but having been adopted by our
country, it is now our policy. and we
face the issue of war with absolute
unanimity.'
The people are not lacking in pa
triotism ever. There are no traitors
in the South when the country
honor is involved. They know how
to conquer peace by fighting steadily.
fighting hard The New Orleans
STATES takes IN the following. the
view of hundreds of thousands OF
people of the South:
Thank heaven. in this awful hour
we can feel that no word of ours
helped to stir up this wicked ant
bloody folly. Our voice has been al
along for peace: for arbitration: fol
magnanimity. in dealing with :
feeble. bankrupt and foolish antago
mist. But the war is here: and. o
course, we are for our country. an,
we hope To see the war terrible an,
swift. and ended with glory to on,
flag. if there can he any glory won b,
seventeen men thra>hing one
1t is too late To halt between tw,
questions. 1t is to lick Spain or h,
licked 1t is to prolong the war b,
divisions ut home. or to win swift
victory by hravelv fighting. As tn,
war will be mainly on the sea prob
ably the advantage is not very grea
now in favor of this country.