The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1898-07-22
Grams in Attendance.

the delivered by Mayor Collier. Rep
resentative Thomas b. Fielder, Colonel
VIM. A. Hemphill, and Governor At
kinson.
The Governors address was heartily
received. After extending the free
dom of state and the executive man
sion, the governor said: "A great
many people have misconceived our
relations to the national government.
When we surrendered to the opposing
forces we granted two things-the ne
gro as a free man and the adjustment
of the doctrine of secession. But the
states never did surrender the strict
construction Of the constitution of the
United States. Whenever this great
question which divides northern and
southern statesmen is submitted to the
supreme court it has always decided in
favor of the southern position"
General Gordon was next on the list
of speakers. AS soon as the governor
had concluded the impatient veterans,
unable longer to restrain themselves,
began to shout Gordon, Gordon"
From all parts of the building the
name was k up n the greeting
was assuming vociferouS proportions
when the general rose and raised his
hand. The audience was stilled in
stantly. General Evans then introdu-
Ced Genera Gordon. The general, not
Wi~thstanding his recent illness, the eff
fectS of which was plainly visible, was
surprisingly strong in voice, and his re-
marks were heard in every part of the
auditorium.
The GRAFTON of the day was delivered
by General Charles E. Hooker, of Mis-
| siSSippi. General Hooker was intro
| duced by General Gordon. He said,
| when the surrender was made the con-
federate soldiers separated with arms
in their hands. He said it vas a "a
pitulatiOn, the confederates being al
| lowed to depart in peace, unmOleSted
so lOng as they observed their parole.
There is not one confederate but has
kept the terms of his c~apitulation,'
said the speaker.
Referring to the surrender at Apo
mattOx, General Hooker stated that
some of the federal officers desired to
fire a salute in honor of the victory.
Everything was in readiness for the
salute, when General Grant, learning
of it, said: stop that firing. We
have no great victory to be proud of,
for We have been four years capturing
these 5000 men who have laid down
their arms"
General Hooker was one of the coun-
sci appointed by the state of Misssis-
sippi to defend Jefferson Davis wher
he was charged with treason. He
spoke feelingly of the way in which the
president of the ~Confederacy with SUI
preme abnegatiOn took on himself the
side of his people. Only one reason
said the general, could be assigned fo1
the failure to convict President Davis
His prosecutors knew he was not gull
ty. They knew his allegiance wa
first due to his state and as a lOya
citizen of Mississippi when she sece.
ded, it was his duty to espOuSe he
cause.
In ~cOmenting on the fact tina tn
sOuth'S representatives were taking
prominent part in the war with Spain
he took occasion to attest to the bra
very and galIantry of General Wheel
err.
They may beat him for congress il
Alabama" said he.
They'll lever do It." shouted a scOr
of voices from the audience.
They may eat him for congress il
Alabama" continued the speaker. "bu
we will erect a magnificent
to him"
General Hooker referred in tn
course of his remarks to the fact tina
at the graves of the cOnfederates in tn
national cemetery at Arlington wer
headstones bearing the Inscription
Rebel" He told of a visit to tn
cemetery with some ladies, who sal,
it was an outrage hat such a thin
should be.
1T is eminently proper said tn
general to them, that these poor boy
who wore the ragged confederate Goa
of gray should be buried here on tn
ground which belonged to the secon
greatest rebel this country ever pro
duced, Robert E. Lee, George Wash
ington being the first. Yes, they wer
rebels-rebelled against what they be
lieved was wrong and asserted wha
they believed was wrong and asserte
what they thought was right"
The chairman announced tina
committee on resolutions would be an
nOunced tomorrow and each state wa
requested to send in a name.