Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1900-11-21

| two factions. One Of the candidates
a Northern man, and The old sectional
prejudice had come to the front to de-
feat his nomination.
At the urgent request of the dele
gates, Mr.. Davis appeared before them
and delivered the last public speech of
his life. He threw the weight of his
influence to the Northern candidate,
securing his nomination, and in his
concluding remarks he said:
THE past Is dead; let it bury its
dead, it's hopes and it's inspirations; be-
fore you lies the future-a future full
of golden promise; future of recon-
pense for honorable performance; fu-
ture Of expanding national glory, be-
fore which all the world shall stand
amazed. Let me beseech you to lay
aside all rancor, all bitter sectional
feeling, and to take your places in the
ranks Of those who will bring about a
consummation devoutly to be wished
a reunited country"
This speech gives us glimpse of the
real Jefferson Davis-the statesman
who saw the folly of sulking and
mourning over the dead issues of a
lost cause when it was possible for the
loyal South to regain in the union ev-
erything that she had lost. with the
exception of her old institution Of
slavery.
The Confederate leader was a man Of
fine sense and lofty motives He had
fought for the stars and stripes in the
Mexican war, and when the flag again
waved over his native South he felt
that it was his duty to urge the young
men around him to be ready at all
times to uphold and defend it.
With prophetic vision, this old man.
on the verge Of the grave, saw before
him "a future Of expanding national
glory"
He foresaw the world standing amaz-
ed at the spectacle of the triumphant
arts and arms of our reunited country,
and he begged the young men of the
South to clay aside all bitter sectional
feeling" so that they might share the
glory of the golden future.
Since that speech the spirit of Sec
tionalism has been alternately dor
mant and active. Eloquent and patri-
otic leaders have fought it, but the
years rolled by and the same old bad
feeling between the North and the
South made itself felt from time to
time.
Some good men began to fear that
sectionalism would never die. They
despaired OK the republic.
Suddenly an unexpected incident
plunged us into a war with Spain. It
lasted only a little over three months,
but in that short period the last ves-
tige Of sectionalism was wiped out and
destroyed.
Hosts Of men thousand miles apart
who had been holding aloof and dis
trusting, If not hating one another,
rushed to the front side by side in a
generous rivalry to see which section
should do the hardest and the best
fighting for Old Glory.
In a very few weeks millions Of peo-
pie, North and South, were singing the
praises Of Dewey, Shafter, Schley,
Sampson. Bagley, Hobson, Wheeler and
many others-hailing them as heroes
and patriots, without once asking
whence they came.
The revival of genuine Americanism
has swept all opposition before it, and
the demagogues who have heretofore
made sectionalism their sole stock in
trade. are now wondering where they
can find a substitute. They begin to
fear that their occupation is gone.
The bright dream Of the Confederate
president has been realized, and In
way that would have thrilled his SOL
dier heart with that stern JOY which
only a warrior can feel. The reunited
country has leaped into existence
through the flame of smoke and battle.
and in this conflict with foreign foe
the men of the North and the men Of
the South have stood shoulder to
shoulder like a band of brothers.
Already, in the language Of Mr.. Da-
Wis, "the world stands amazed before
our future of expanding national
glory"
The great republic Of the west has
humbled the red and yellow flag of old
Spain and has forever shattered her
power. The vast colonial possessions
of the vanquished are now among the
spoils of war, and the victors may seize
and hold the fairest and richest Islands
of the world, scattered over the globe
from the West Indies to the Philip
pines.
Wise men have said all along that
sectionalism would never entirely dis
appear until the North and South
marched shoulder to shoulder under
the old flag against foreign foe, ana
they were right.
Men Of blood and iron tore the Sec
tions apart in the old days, and now
our new men of blood and iron nave
brought them together again, proving
to the world at last that this is one
country, with one flag and one destiny
Wallace P. Reed.
-e-o-t--