Warren sheaf. [volume] (Warren, Marshall County, Minn.) 1880-current, 1898-12-22
THE SOUTHERN TOUR.
Pr.aldent's Trip Has Strengthened
the Tie Between the North
# and South. #

- h .S g - #' -sGee I
Savannah, Ca, Dec.s19.- 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
overshadoved 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 so remarka Bile. 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 tina t the chief trend
| of speechmakingi 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 ;toethe south the oppor-
tunity to. express. sen timents ofsloyalty
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
aame of Davis is sacred memory
| 1.-The frank references to and the dis
scussion of the civil war6have led to
many delicate situations that were only
saved from becoming Irritating diem
mas BY the tact OF a, president, who
fought against the southern troops Or
blythe graceful utterances of the con
federates who years ago opposed him
on. the battlefield. . The marvellous
scenes of an audience in the aold con-
federate capital cheering the stars and
stripes until they grew hoarse, of con-
federate veterans struggling to grasp
the hand of a north ernrepublican pres
ident. of Gen. Wheeler leading the ypeo-
pie of his state in cheers for William
Mckinley in the place where Jefferson
Davis once urged the south to fl ht for
separation, are all redeemed from the
suspicion of fulsomeness or the faint
praise of politicians by the blunt truth
fulness of the men who led in these
new and tremendously fervcnt decla-
rations of loyalty.
Gov. Johnston, Of Alabama, said at
Montgomery: 1--WE 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 if
any man now said: els Alabama loyal
to the union?" he asked an absurd ques-
ton, because Alabama's loyalty las
been proven by Wheeler and Hobson,
and that there were hundreds of 9TH
ready to give equal proof of Ala bama'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
forsenlisting 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 republican
president urged the people Of the north
and south to honor the confederate
dead. zg ~, i, A. Il, t.Ys,.E y ID s5ts,,sE ;
| Int latter reason lies the main in
centiye to the intense and almost un-
expected enthusiasm with which the
presidential party has been greeted
since Mr.. McKinley's first speech in At
1anta. Scarcely speaker or paper
in Alabama or Georgia has made ref
erence ,tc the president without men
Joining on every occasion his tribute
to the confederate dead. This utter
ances 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 OPP
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
Eneace with Spain has become almost en-