The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1898-12-16
Mckinley at Atlanta.

rhe speech of the president Of the
United States delivered before the
legislature of Georgia on Wednesday,
which received such emphatic applause
and approval from the assembled aud
itors representing with peculiar ar-
curacy the predominant public feel
ing of the South, deserves to be- per-
petuated. 1t was as follows:
Sectional lines no longer mar the map "f
the United States; sectional feeling no
longer holds lack the love "" bear one
another. Fraternity is the national am
them. sung by "a chorus of ioriy-iive
states and our tcrriturits at home ana
beyond the seas. The Union IL once more
the comomn altar of our low" ana loyalty,
our devotion and sacrifice. The old nag
again waves over us in peace with new
glorcs which your SONS and ours have
this year added to its sacred folds. What
cause we have for rejoicing. saddened
only by the fact that 80 many OF our
brave men fell on the field or SiCkcncd AMI
died from hardship and exposure, and
others returned bringing wounds and dls-
Casc from which they will long suffer!
The memory of the dead will hc Il pre-
cious legacy. and the disabled viii he the
nations care. a nation which cares ior
it's disabled soldiers as We have always
done will never lack offenders The nH-
tional cemeteries for those who fell in
1attle are proof that the dead are cared
for. and ths living have our love. What
an army of silent SentnelS we have; and
with what loving care their graves arc
kept! Every soldiers grave made during
our unfortunate civil war is "a tribute To-
American valOr. And while. when those
graves We're made, We differed widely
about the future of this government,
al
by the arbtramcnt of arms. and the time
has now come. in the evolution of Scn!i-
ment and feeling, under the providence OF
God. when, i'm the spirit of fraternity, W
should share with you in the care of the
graves of the Confederate soldiers. Thc
cordial feeling now happily existing he
tween the north and south prompts this
gracious act, and if it needed further
justification ii is found in the gallant
LOYALTY to the Union and the flag, 50 con-
spicuously shown in the year Just past hN
tho sons and grandsons of those horol3
dead What glorious future awaits as
If. unitcdly. wisely and bravely we face
the new problems now pressing upon as,
determined to solve them for right and
humanity
II is the testimony of all who We're
present upon this occasion in the cap
acity of reporters that the president
spoke with unusual and almost over
mastering emotion; that all the hu-
manity and good will in his nature rose
to his aid III giving the STAMP of sim
ccrlty and emphasis to his feeling ref
cronces to the Confederate dead. and
that the welcome accorded to the sem
timcnts thus expressed was epochal in
its significance.
And why not? Is il not true that the
American people have by the last wal
been baptized into a. new birth which
opens up new relations. new oppor-
tunities, new responsibilities, new is
sues? If there was before that time
any reason OF any imagined reason foI
a Southcrner 10 feel less direct and
personal interest in the affairs of tn,
federal government than a NOrtherner
would feel; IL the temptation there.
fore had been in certain localities tC
abstain from public activity outside tbs
field OF local and state politics and tC
affect a disinterested and a critical
point OF view concerning affairs of ma
tional administration, surely such con-
ditions are now gone. forever. Their
is absolutely no visible or tangible line
of separation and there can be no ten,
able suppositlon of one between Norti
and South when veteran soldiers arC
their sons from both sections are serv
ing alongside, in the same uniform, FOL
the same flag, equal in patriotism, IL
heroisnl, and in the common affections
of the people.
The president has repeatedly elaine,
as the greatest glory of the war will
Spain that for the first time in Ameri
can history it made our country trul!
one and indivisible. His Atlanta speecl
and reception are simply a corrobora
tion.