The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-05-30

| Gives His Reasons why the Confed-
| crate Flags Should Go BacIx Into
the Hands of Their Original
| Owners-The Stars and stripes
Now Float Over a United and Pm
triOtfc Nation,
Senator Joseph Benson Foraker, of
onlo, mas written a letter strongly
urging the return Of the captured Con-
federate flags. He gives his reasons as
follows:
ao Inc IN dpropriety OF returning the Confederate
nags depends almost entirely on the circum-
s Stances %, attending the transaction. Wto?
to do with the case. Ae
-, When Mr.. Cleveland undertook to return
t t IN 1857, his action excited a storm of pro-
their opposition then favor such proposition
nov now Inis IS not due to change or sent ment
WIN h respect to the abstract question. but 10
d., cnange or conditions and circumstances
Inere were many reasons why Mr.. Clsveland's
ae eal was unpopular. In the first place, It
was unWarranted. The flags had been taken
IN battle; they were the property of the a.
ton, and only the congress had authority to
dispose dispose -, OF them 1t was therefore, gross
:and's record exceedingly offensive Personal
ly, he had not had anything to do with tie
capture cap OF the flags. His sole contribution to
iully Or not, he was generally regarded as not
having been in sympathy with our cause dur
Ing the war.
he had done number of things after be-
coming president that confirmed this opinion,
ana made him obnoxious to the soldiers and
the masses who felt as they did
His vetoes OF private pension bills were so
ilequent and often couched in such offensive
language as to show unmistakable hos iiiity
H Iaaf bs eiaZ vs o. salms regardess of merit
there in an official capacity, and greeted by
the governor of Pennsylvania and thousands
a word or to formally participate in the
exercises in any manner, and had acted in
SUCH way as to show that his emotions
historic fields and sacred memories about
him. The graves Of the heroic dead, the
scenes OF their bravery. the inspiriting words
of Lincoln. carved the monument be-
lore him. all alike were without effect. When
the president of the nation thus stood sullen
and dumb on the greatest battlefield of the
republic he gave effense that deep and
lasting, but he had done something to yet
more seriously wound patriotic sensibilities.
He had gone fishing on Decoration day. This
action seemed so inexcusable and so out of
place and unbecoming in the chief magis-
trate that it was everywhere considered a
deliberate attempt to show his contempt for
the most sacred sentiment of the American
people. When, therefore, following after all
this, without any action of congress to au-
thorize it and without previous sugges-
ton to pave the way for such a step, he
bluntly ordered the trophies of the nations
struggle for existence to be returned to the
late Confederate states" it is no wonder
the people were aroused and angered for
they could not feel otherwise than outraged.
His action was not only unwarranted, but it
was impertinent, indecent. unpatriotic and
, indicate in the highest extreme, Men who
cared nothing about the retention of the
flags by the government felt, and justly so,
that if they were to be returned at all the
congress and the men who captured them
should be consulted and have charge or
the transaction.
But there was another feature OF Mr.. Cleve-
lands proposition that condemned it more
than anything else, and that was the fact
that his action was taken at time and in
a manner and with spirit, that made it
ical triumph of the cause that arms had
failed to establish. For the flags to go back
in that way had tendency to create the
impression that the cause they represented
had not. after all, been lost. and to revive
hope with respect to 1t that was calculated
to make further ultimate trouble.
But now have an entirely different t.
uation. The president of the United States
was not only in full sympathy with the Union
cause. but he fought for it with distin-
guished bravery and devotion from the gin
ming until the ending of the conflict. He
bore an important part in the captures. His
in
could be attached to it. All those who OPP
posed the proposition when advanced by
admiration for the wisdom and patriotism
of President Mckinley, and therefore Know
there could be no other purpose in it all than
to subserye our common we fare. 1t gould
not be connected in any way with political
success defeat. 1t could rot in the silgh-
est affect the verdict that has been rendered
with respect to secession and disunion.
But in another respect the situation is ex-
ceptionally favorable. We are at war with
foreign nation, and no section of the country
is more patriotic and jealous in the support
of cause than the South Those who
bore arms against the Union have by thou
sands engaged in its service. Some of the
most iCtiD 1tShp off, In he q
army marching generals at the head of
our columns. They are now as conspicuous
for the flag they were against it. In the
congress every war measure has been patriot
ically supported by all the representatives,
of the seeding states, and the admin stra-
ton relies upon them with entire confidence
and in the belief and knowledge that sectional
lines and past differences have been effaced
for the purposes of the pending struggle, ard
that to the end CT it all alike will remsm
Der only that they are Americans There
has been a new dedication to the cause OF
liberty, humanity and free institutions. 1t
embraces all the people of every state and
section. To the men who fought with Grant
and Sherman nothing could be more graft
flying than the realization that they have
lived to the day when the Union they
upheld is defended with all the ardor of
sincere patriotism by the men who fought
with Lee and Jackson.
1t is pre-eminently a time for unity of
sentiment. harmony of action and aG-pTeva /
ing friendship and good fellowship. Not only
are Lee and Wheeler and the men of the
South marching abreast with Wade and
shafter and the men of the North. but the
sons of all the states side by side in our
navy. In the harbor of Cardenas Ensign
Bagley, of North Carolina, and John B. Meek
of Ohio gave up their lives together on the
deck of the Winslow. In the bombardment
of San Juan the battleship Iowa was cgm-
manded by Fighting Bob Evans Of Viz
GINA. and in the PARKWAY harbor of Manila
the great victory of Dewey was achieved by
the heroic representatives of almost all the
states of the Union, those from the South
and those from the North wing with each
try and to add glory and renown to the f g
of our fathers. In the presence of such acts
we can well afford to turn our backs on al
but the lessons of the past, and, blotting out
the bitter memories Of estrang sment and
strife. press forward to the future with
common confidence and pride in the destiny
Int ifS rs