Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1899-06-03

the skies of the south were lUrld with
the blood stained flames of treason.
when the American Rachael mourned
for her children and would not be
comforted.
The causes of the war were many,
but / think that the philosopher of
history will some day reduce them all
to one. There were two contending
civilizations in this country, the civ
iliZation of Massachusetts and the
civilization of Virginia. 1t was the
old, old story of round head and cava-
lier, of puritan and royalist. of whig
and TORY, of the New England doc
trine of democratic liberty to all man
kind as opposed to the Southern doc
trine of caste privileges of race and
color. and the train of conflicting
opinions that followed in their wake.
The north and the west believed that
\ braham Lincoln's Emancipation
Proclamation represented the most
advanced truths of modern democrat
ic government. jefferson Davis yOic-
ed the sentiments of the south when
in a message to the Confederate con-
greSS he said of that proclamation
that lit was the most eXecra bic docu-
ment ever recorded in the history of
guilty man" The civilization of
Massachusetts and the civilization of
Virginia and their two points of view
The fathers of the republic compro-
/
because they could do no better, and
left the removal of wrongs they could
not remedy to another generation.
And, in the rapid building of empire
from New England'S rocky sleeps to
the sunset shores of the Golden Gate,
men forgot the disease that was sap
ping the nations vitals none the less
surely because still and unseen. And
not wholly unseen either, for Thomas
Jefferson. in his old age. said tha the
slavery problem alarmed him like a
tire-ben in the night. and that he
trembIed for his country when he re-
membered that God was just.
A long period of false teaching on
the one hand and false security on
the other. the presence of an un-
American Institution whose fostering
roots and cancerOuS growth permeat-
ed every tissue of our constitutional
fabric, sitting sceptered in the coun-
Gil of state, ermined and Sabled on
the judicial bench. and braZenly def
ant in the halls of congress, culmi-
mated when the red hand of treason
took the range of Fort Sumpter and
pulled the lanyard of the Charleston
gun.
Then there was a rude awakening.
Then il was that the loyal north
shook off its lethargy, and answered
the call for $4,000 volunteers with the
swelling chorus. .'We're coming.
father Abraham. 800. 900 strong" And
more were to follow. The farmer for
sock his crops, the Stockman his cat
tie. the miner his AK, the clerk his
yard stick. the doctor his patients,
the lawyer his books, the preacher his
congregation. the teacher his pupils.
the editor his desk, the banker his
checks. from every vocation, the rich
and the poor. the high and the low,
such a tidal wave of patriotic feeling
had never been seen in this or any
other country in any age or time.
Abraham Lincoln feared, as he said,
that peace and union would not re-
turn to this county until all the
wealth and riches, wrung by tears
and blood and lasheS from the CULVER
ing flesh of the African slave had
been wasted by fire and sword This
atonement was made. Two million
three hundred thirty-nine thousand
nine hundred and fifty-nine Union
men and boys left their homes to
fight for the land of Washington.
Warren and Montgomery: $50. 900 of
these sleep the last long sleep of
death in national cemeteries. This
includes those who died in battle.
hos spitals, bv roadsides, in prisons, or
of wounds. disease. hardship, expo
sure. and maltreatment- No estimate
can be made of the number who sur
yiyed the war who subsequently died
VI IttldUieS COuOTStCUeu III Tue SeTNlCo-
It must be remembered tnat the mil
itary examinations precluded sickly
and uiSeaied persons from enlistment.
so that the accepted men represented
the flower of the country'S manhood
who might reasonably expect to live
to a good round old age; and yet over
a million and quarter of these have
fallen into the abyss of eternity be-
fore their time since Lee laid down
his sword at AppOmatOX.
These figures are appalling. If you
can let your fancy picture our own be-
loved state, with all its clustering
martS of industry, its our beloved
state, with all its clustering martS of
industry, its commercial centerS, its
thrifty farms, its fertile valleys. its
schools and colleges and churches and
hospitals and shops and factories aud
railroads, and all its people. blotted
out in one fell swoop of desolation,
fire and blood. you can form a proxi-
mate idea of what it cost this nation
TO throttle the red fiend of treason
and set the bondman free
We sometimes complain about our
taxes and lay the blame on this ad-