Omaha daily bee., 1898-12-18

WHOM THE NATION SHOULD HONOR.
The merited compliment paid by Pres
ident Mckinley at the Atlanta peace
jubilee to the valor and patriotism OF
the south, coupled with the expressed
hope that in the near future the nation
| would bestow the same affectionate care
| upon the graves of the confederate dead
as upon those Of the fallen union SOL
diers, has naturally created a profound
impression upon the southern people.
The presidents utterances are inter.
preted not merely as an acknowledge.
ment that in the late war with Spain
the south has completely dissipated all
suspicion of lingering disloyalty, but
also as an assurance that henceforth the
memory of the confederate who fell
while fighting to destroy the union in
order to p%erpetuate slavery shall be
hOnOred equally with that of the soldier
who fell while fighting bravely to pre-
serve the union and maintain the in
tegrity Of the nation. In other words,
President McKinley's eulOgy Of south
ern courage Is taken as a pledge that
the bloody and costly struggle to pre-
rent the ACKNOWLEDGMENT of the republic
shall be put down in history as a sec
tional conflict in which there was no
right nor wrong on either side and the
triumph Of the stars and stripes was
only an accident registering the su-
premacy of might but not of right.
While the country, from Maine to
nraunn md f,n~ Tnvo, IN Tho (Non,lfo>
border, r~ejoices over the complete rec
onciliation Of north and south and the
determination of the blue and the gray
In maintaining the national honor
against a foreign foe, those who have
never wavered in their loyal devotion
not reconcile themselves to the idea that
men who voluntarily bore arms against
their country, eve though educated as
soldiers at its expense and sworn to
defend and uphold it's banner on all
occasions, shall be given the same place
every sacrifice to safeguard the union
and hand down to posterity the precious
legacy of human freedom.
1t is divine to forgive, but impossible
to forget. No nation has shown greater
%magnanimity and generosity to the van
quished than the United States. No
other nation has ever restored to power
and place the men who plotted it's de-
structiOn. No other nation has ever al
lowed monuments to be built within it's
borders in commemoration of the hero
ism of its enemies. No other nation has
strewn with flowers the graves Of men
who fell in armed rebellion.
But the line must be drawn some
where. The compatriots Of George
Washington never proposed to honor
the memory of Benedict Arnold or to
reward with pensions the tories who
fought in the ranks Of Burgoyne and
CORVALLIS. Nobody within the life
time Of the revolutionary soldiers ever
proposed to take into the fostering care
Of the republic the men who bore arms
against it when it was fighting for in
dependence.
The proposition to open the doors of
the nations homes for the dependent
uulOu NetcIuuS W Surviving cA-COultu-
crates will not elicit popular response
from people who believe that the coun-
try owes more to its defenders than it
owes to its destroyers. While disposed
to relieve the distress of INDECENT ex-
confederates individually, they would
seriously doubt the propriety or justice
Of such a course and entertain grave
apprehension Of the moral effect of
such an example. Admission of ex.con-
federates to the soldiers homes would
be simply the f%orerunner of their en-
rollment on the pension list whose
privileges are already sadly abused.
There is room for doubt, also, whether
President Mckinley entertained any
such idea when he intimated that the
graves of fallen ~confederates should
share the nations care, which alone
would not encounter opposition or OBJ.
lection in any quarter.
"A COMPLICATED PROJECT.
Nh -w~N