The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-10-24
LEE AND THE MAIL or FAME.
Col. A. r.. Lawton Of Georgia Resents Remark,
Of ,,Ihr Sunn on the subject

of The sun" on the subject,
To THE EpIroR or THE SuN-Sir' Your
issue Of the 18th contains an editorial on tho
right OF Gen, Robert +, Lee TO a place In tho
Hall of Fame. ! have read many comments IN
! him from all sections Of tho country, but this Is
the first time | have ever seen sectional bitter
! ness 60 40 far rs TO attack HIS character
To any argument on this subject from a
Southern man who had near relatives "a father
and two unclea) In the United States Army who
did as Gen. Leo did and nobly sacrificed their
interests for their principles, you would
promptly reply by charging him with the same
biased sectlonallsm which prevents you from
Judging the character OF any man who differs
or has differed from you on Constitutional or
other questions. 1t Is easy. however, to quote
high authority whose standpoint OF construc-
ton is the same as yours. Tho late John Cod
man Ropes Of Boston. a New Highlander OF New
E~nglanders. stands first in the list OF careful
and thorough students and critics OF the Civil
War and all questions growing out OF IL. In hi+
STORY Of the Civil War" Vol, l.. page ios, no
says
The night OF an onNcrr In The regular army or navy
to resign his commission and take service under tho
flag OF his State. as so many Of the ofrcets from tho
seeding States did, has been very often questioned.
II has been urged against their conduct that they had
sworn allegiance to the United States. and that what
ever mlRnt " mlkut not DC ptIWlNolpc U 'ii'ohs
they, at any rate. were bound In honor to stand By the
nag of the United states.
But when IL Is recollccted that each OF these men
believed that his State was his country, and that tho
United States was only a number Of separate nations
tof which his State had been one which had united
themselves together by a treaty which one
Of them had as much night 10 terminate as any
natlon has to terminate any treaty. It Is plain
that he was Justified in regarding his obligation to
remain In the service Of the United States as Dc.
terminable BY the decision OF his own state 10 remain
IN or withdraw from the Union. II his premises were
correct, It was surely not TO be expected that tho
States which chose to remain should retain the entire
military and naval establishments Of the Union, or
should expect the continuance In their service Of
citizens u States witch had seeded from the Union.
and we're carrying on an Independent political ~.
istence. In fact. on the theory OF the separate ma
tlonaIty Of each State. the case Of an Oficer In the
service Of the United States was precisely like that Of
any officer In the service Of a forel On country. There
have been many such cases within our expert
enCe. English officers have entered the service OF
Turkey: American officers have entered the service Of
the khrdiyc Of Egypt No one surely would expect
these gentlemen TO remain In the service OF these
foreign Powers II their own nations were likely TO be
come engaged In a war against those Powers Every
one would eXpe Ct them, IN the event OF war becoming
imminent. promptly TO resign: and every one would
admit that II they. on teslgning. turned over all tn
men aud material under their control TO the GoSeu-
ments under which they had been serving, they had
done their fun duty a. honorable men.
We may remind our readers, although II Is hardly
necessary ~ do 50. that the view maintained In thcNt
pages IS thr opposite Of the one which was held so
GENERALLY throughout the South la our Judgment
there never has been more than one nation In I'll,
country, and the Inltel States has been that nation.
But however tue this may br, We must. when we are
considering the conduct ot individuals look al the
questions decided BY them rom the standpoint from
which they viewed them; IN no other way can We de-
termlue whether they dd or did not adhere to the
standards of duty which they accepted-thGt is.
whether they did night or did wrong.
The same volume can be quoted many times
TO similar IMPORT, but the American people 10
longer need argument on this point, and your
intolerance precludes the possibility OF oonvinc-
Ing YOU. Gen Lees reputation is beyond your
reach. The verd ct of all peoples has placed his
name in the front rank Of the great aud tho
good.
Taking previous communications OF mine on
the pending election as a text. you have re-
Gently urged Southern men to join the men Of
the North and abandon old traditions and anilia-
tion=. The greatest obstacle in the path of any
Southern man who believes that the election Of
Mckinley l. best for al, sections, and that our
interests and thoss OF the North are Identical.
Is the demand which you and a few others
- very few make OF them. that thew
shall diShonor the memories and blacken thF
characters OF their fathers by af1linting AMI
sympathi2ing with those who attack them az
you do. Did they comply with this demand,
hey would merit the contempt Of all %sclf-re,
sp,cting men and the scorn OF all posterty.
Might is not right. and never will be-. The re-
suit of the war settled the secession question for
the future. but the right of the question as ID
stood in 1891 cannot be settled by the ancient
and barbarous trial by combat"
The dying words OF Gen. Grant, your former
leader. are a rebuke 10 you. The acts Of Major
Mckinley, your present lender. in giving COM
missions 10 Wheeler and FitzhuGh Lee and
other Confederate soldiers. rcpudiate your sem
timents. The unanimous confirmation Of these
amendments by the Senate and the approval
bv the whole people Of their action are a
mighty protest against your cherishing for
forty years the h1te and spleen engendered by
tho passions OF 1851. We're II not so. Southern
men would stand together forever, and MoKin
ley would not receive n vote from them. But
we know how widely he differs from you. and
that THE Sun stands almost alone in Its intol-
erance.
Is it possible that you do not desire Southern
mon TO vote the Republican ticket: that you
prefer for political reasons. that the solidity o.
the South should be maintained? Are your
recent editorials written with this object in
view?
You are certainly making IL as difficult as
possible for n Southern man 70 vote
the Republican ticket; but. in this campaign We
must stand for the right, no; because Of your
views. but in spite Of them
ALEXANDER Il LAwros,
SAVANNAH. Ga. Oct 20
hinnca polls DressmaEers on Strike,
Ero,p tIr ntppco p1ys Tim.