The age-herald., 1900-03-13
GENERAL SHAW VISITS ATLANTA Blue and the Gray Forget Days
 of Strife. RECEPTION MOST CORDIAL Commander of the G. A. R. Made Notable Speech, in Which He
 Praised the Heroism of
 Both Sides
RECEPTION MOST CORDIAL

Atlanta, Ga, March 12-The visit to Att lanta today of General Albert E. Shaw, commander-in-chief of tlTe Grand Army of the Republic, has done much to advance the spirit of conciliation between the north and south, and his speech tonight before large crowd in the ball room of the Kim ball house was strongly reminiscent of the | sentiments expressed by President McKin- ley in his notable address to the Georgia legislature one year ago. General Shaw arr rived this morning, and during the day was shown the points of interest in and around Atlanta. He is making an official tour of the southern Grand Army of the Republic camps, but the attention shown him was | equally divided between the confederate veterans and the men of the G. A. R. The reception a t the Kimbal tonight was under the auspices of the Confederate Veterans, and several of them, including Colonel w. A. Hemphill and Colonel A. J. West, made speeches. In his speech General Shaw said: 'It is proud distinction for the surviv- ing wearers of the blue and the gray to witness in their lives the complete and commanding unity and concord of com mon country-one in the love of the flag of Washington and of Lincoln, and one of in- spiration for higher civiHza tion-with the old sectional lines obliterated forever. l say this because feel it in my heart and the time has come when the truth can be plainly spoken without arousing prejudices born of the hates and revenges of brutal war days. The soldiers of the south match ed those of the north in lofty heroism and the willing spirit of sacrifice from first to last.
 The Matter of strife
 "The one great lesson learned by tIhe na- ton at the cannons mouth, was that a divided national sentiment is the fruitful mother of strife, and that to insure lasting peace a common brotherhood is absolutely essential. And so l plead for reconcilation. based upon the fullest and strongest plans of fraternity, charity and loyalty, without any distinctions of past sections or serv- ices, as measures by the present happy sen- timent of a common American citizenship In this light we can enter upon the twen- tieth century under conditions of national progress, at once the wonder and the ad- miration of mankind.
 ''The Grand Army of the Republic, like the camps of Confederate Veterans, stands for former comradeship, and to perpetuate a period ill their lives devoted to military service on either side and to keep alive the memories of a struggle honestly engaged in by former wearers of the blue and the gray. The picture presented to-day by the fra ternal fellowship of brave men, who op- posed each other on bloody battlefelds, is both pathetic and beautiful. It is proof that the better elements of our nature yield to the unfolding achings of peace and good will under God, and that reason and fel- lowshfp and twin forces of reconciliation of commanding power. I trust that the time has come when the brave veterans of the north can meet the equally brave vetrans of the south on the common plane of Amer ican citizenship as joint heirs of precious new destiny of inestimable glory for the fu ture."