The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1900-07-15
nRS. NJ. SUMMERS, Box 43S, Notre Dame Ind u. s. A

ever, that with Hampton and Lee he Is
the last of the great cavalry commanders
Of the Confederate army. Alas! How the
gallant cavaliers Of that bloody strife have
''dismounted' into the silence of the grave.
The dashins Stuart and Forrest and Nor
gan ana Young and Anderson and Allen
and other gallant comrades nave passed
over the river That Wheeler was
truly great cavalry general admits OF no
doubt Cen r. Z. Lee and Gen. Jo-
seph +. Johnston settled that question be
fore they died. Ny claim that he is modest
and has been duuful and patriotic is
brought out by an extract from a letter
now lying before me from the late Maj.
Gen. Lafayette McLaws, who says: Gen.
Joe Wheeler, our cavalry leader, was, l
think, take him all in all, the most able
and reliable cavalry leader we had in the
Confederacy. He always did his duty, and
cared not to make cavalry raids just to
get his name in the newspa pers, but went
straight 10 do as he was ordered. He car
red no brazen trumpet to blow whenever
he moved 10 announce to the world that
Wheeler was there"
The advocates of peace are not always
fair in their quotations. An example is
seen in the frequent publication by the
editor Of our Dumb Animals, who OPP
poses all wars of Washingtons declara-
ton against war: MY first wish is 10 see
this plague to mankind banished from the
earth, and the sons and daughters of this
world employed in more pleasing and in
nOcent amusements than in preparing i'm
PIGMENTS and exercising them for the de-
struction of mankind" This is a very
proper wish for any lover of peace and
concord but it does not follow that Wash
ington, the famous warrior, was a be-
, lever in the modern farce of arbitration
that the Pen is mightier than the
Sword 10 settle international disputes.
In his last message to Congress, Dec. Z,
1896, this is what he had to say about
establishing national military academy:
However pacific che general policy of
a nation may be, it ought never to be
without an adequate stock of military
knowledge for emergencies. The first
would impair the energy of its character,
and both would endanger its safety, or
expose il TO greater evils, when war
could not be avoided. Besides that, war
might not often depend upon its own
choice. In proportion as the observance
I of pacific maxims might exempt it a ma
ton from the necessity of practicing the
! rules of the military art, ought to be it's
care in preserving and transmitting, by
! proper establishments, the true knowl-
| edge of that art. This, therefore,
ought to be a serious care of every gov
eminent"
Were half the power that fills the world
with terror;
Were half the wealth bestowed on camps
and courts
| Given to redeem the human mind from err
ror,
There were no need of arsenals and
forts
This is another sample of the sophistry
! of peace advocates. What have all the
, ba int If he
pei of peace, and humane men and women
the world over been doing the past cen
I turtles to redeem the human mind from
error?" Certainly, they must have accom-
/ phshed something in that direction. And
yet forts and arsenals have multiplied
and camps and courts have fourshed the
world over. This is true simply because
the nations of the earth have not been
willing 10 arbitrate their differences and
/ settle their disputes, as a general rule, ex-
cept by the sword. In time of peace pre-
pare for war" is the motto of every ma
ton. Not because the people are blood
thirsty or lack Christian virtues, but be-
cause self-preservatiOn requires the fort
i and the arsenal and the camp and the SOL
der War is never desired and peace is
always welcomed by any Christian people.
Gov insolvency of South Carolina, in
welcoming the National Educational Asso-
cia ton 20 Charleston. is reported as usina
! the following language: THE soldier
| is abroad even in this day of civilization
and enlightenment. There are those who
claim tina it is our duty to carry civiliza-
ton and Christianity to the heather, even
though we have to open the way with
leHden bullets. 1t seems that we are about
on the verge of another war. 1t may be
The hand of providence to carry our civil
III ton to the uttermost parts of the
earth. We have with us, however an
other parsonage more important in main
tanning our CiviliZati than the soldier
the school master"
Now I beg to differ with the Governor
as TO the teacher being more important"
I than the soldier either in preparing the
way for or maintaining our civilization"
Where, I ask. would our Pilgrim Fathers
have been with schoolmasters and no SOL
diers? What would Oglethorpe have ac-
| compshed in Georgia without soldiers
first and schoolmasters later on? Take
! GOV. McSweeneY's own state, and see
which class, schoolmasters or soldiers
gave to that struggling colony the civil
izntion' that has become the light of
/ the world and the proud boast of our ex-
panding republic. No man honors the
professional teacher more than the writer.
| himself once an educator, but who had
| to become a soldier to save the life of the
Nation. The blessing of God rests up3n
every church and school house but the
smile of the Almighty also falls upon the
| fort and the arsenal, and on the soldier
rs on the teacher and the preacher. In
al the history of the world IL is the
fort and the arsenal. and the soldier thar
figure in the work of opening up the way
for. and then 'maintaing our civilization. -"
and giving full protection to the teacher
ana the preacher. Sidney Herbert.