The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1898-12-22

President's Trip Has Stren9tAened
the Tie Betveen the North
and south.
Savannah, Ga, Dec. 1s.-The original
object Of President McKinley's visit to
the south has been entirely lost sight
OF. The unprecedented outbursts Of
loyalty to the union have completely
overshadowed the rejoicing over the
peace with Spain, though the participa-
ton in the latter was the avowed object
OF the presidents southern trip. To
thoroughly explain what is going on
in the south to-day It is necessary to
not only record the continuous enthu-
siasm and hospitable receptions, but
also to recount the causes that have
made the trip 80 remarkable. II all
the speeches and in all the demonstra-
tons which have marked the presi-
dents visit to Atlanta, Tuskegee, Mont
gomery and Savannah there has been
the tacit admission that the war with
Spain was the great factor in achieving
the result, but it is to the result and
not to the factor that the chief trend
OF speechmaking and of enthusiasm
has lent itself. Political influences seem
to play no part in the reception of Pres
ident Mckinley. On all sides there is
an eagerness to publicly express the
loyalty of the southern states and to
admit that the war with Spain not only
helped to weld the compact of the Sec
tons, but gave to the south the oppor-
tunity to express sentiments of loyalty
that have long lived but which have
lacked opportunity of expression, and
this has been done chiefly by demo-
Gratis, many of whom fought for the
stars and bars, and to all of whom the
name of Davis is a sacred memory.
The frank references to and the dis
cussion OF the civil war have led to
many delicate situations that were only
saved from becoming irritating dilem-
mas by the tact Of president who
fought against the southern troops or
by the graceful utterances of the con-
federates who years ago opposed him
on the battlefield. The marvellous
scenes of an audience in the old con-
federate capital cheering the stars and
stripes until they grew hoarse, of con-
federate veterans struggling to grasp
the hand Of northern republican pres
ident, of Gen. Wheeler leading the peo-
pie OF his state in cheers for William
Mckinley in the place where Jefferson
Davis once urged the south to fight for
separation. are all redeemed from the
suspicion of fulsomeness or the faint
praise of politicians by the blunt truth
fitness of the men who led in these
new and tremendously fervent decla-
rations Of loyalty.
Gov. Johnston, of Alabama, said at
Montgomery: I'VE Of the south have
nothing to regret except our Dead"
but he at once went on to say that he
rejoiced in the United States, with a
strong accent on "United," and that II
any man now said: Els Alabama loyal
to the union ?" he asked an absurd ques-
ton, because Alabama's loyalty has
been proven by Wheeler and Hobson,
and that there were hundreds of 9th
er Wheelers and Hobsons in Alabama
ready to give equal proof of Alabama's
glad fealty to the union.
Such utterances as these have marked
the trip with more frequency than it
has been possible to report. On the
part of the former confederates who
have made addresses of welcome to
President Mckinley there has been no
eleventh hour of confession of sin. In
substance they have all said that they
fought for what they then thought was
right; that they neither blame them
selves nor their dead fathers or sons
for enlisting in the cause of the confed-
eracy, but that they accept to-day the
changed conditions with gladness and
sincerity they never felt until the war
with Spain knit the nation into COM
mon cause, and until a republican
president urged the people of the north
and south to honor the confederate
dead.
In the latter reason lies the main in
centive to the intense and almost un-
expected enthusiasm with which the
presidential party has been greeted
since Mr.. McKinley's first speech in At
]anta. Scarcely speaker or paper
in Alabama or Georgia has made ref
erence to the president without men-
tioning on every occasion his tribute
to the confederate dead. This utter
ance represents a host of public and
private speeches that have been made
since the arrival of the presidential
party in the south. It is the consensus
CT various opinions expressed by state
officers and citizens of Georgia and
Alabama, nearly all of whom are op-
posed to the president in politics, but
who have welcomed him right gladly
in his capacity of chief executive, and
who have given vent to wild enthu-
siasm over his utterances regarding the
confederate dead. In this way what
was planned to be celebration of the
peace with Spain has become almost en-
tirely a genuine practical ratification
of the peace between north and south,
epoch-making in its significance, thrill
ing in its details and pathetic in the
countless memories that it awakens.
Indian Appropriation Bill Passed.
Washington, Dec. 19.-1n the house
Saturday the day was devoted to the
Indian appropriation bill, which was
passed substantially as reported. This