The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1901-06-19

eous view of patriotic duty. Was it strange
then that in the halls of national Iegisla-
ton the constructive influence of South
ern statesmen was as effective in results
as they themselves were conspicuous for
the possession of every quality which
doth master, sway and msve the emil
hence of mems affections" Is this true
now? In our abnormal and unhealthy po-
litical methods have not the chicane and
cunning of the slate-maker and wire
puller intended to control the small poll
ticians who dawdle about court house
towns, supplamed appeals to the masses
which made every heart glow with pride
in the consciousness of that high respon-
sibility devolved by political freedom?
Have not the arts Of machine politicians
been substituted for eloquence like that
which 'shok the arsenal and fulmned
over Greece from Macedon TO Artaxerxes'
throne?" The theory of our constitution
is that every American citizen is sOver-
eign. How long shall these sovereigns
CULVER under the party lash? Shall we for
ever support a measure because 1t is SAID
to be to the partys interest, or shall We
inquire in the words of Henry Clay, rs
the measure right, will il conduce to the
general happiness, to the elevation OF
national character" Shall We forever
vote without regard to the character or
CdHdNAll Oh a GdiQludlG btNaahSC AN AoG
secured a party nomination. or shall we
again recur to the test of Thomas Jeffer-
son the founder of Democracy, lis he
honest, is he capable, is he faithful to
the constitution?" We are sovereigns, 1t
is true but are we not sovereigns in ex-
lie? Oh. when shall the king enjoy his
own againl Here the old English
strain saturated with the principles of
individual freedom and popular sovereign
ty is preserved in all of its pristine purity.
II this be- and It must be, en- average
Southern audience. more than 80 per cent.
of my hearers are lineally descended from
sages or patriots of the Revolution, whose
heroism and consistency made the nation
possible If the roll of this mighty gath
ering should be called almost every name
might be found in the register of births
and deaths in the parish churches of the
British Isles. Southern men of the hom-
ogeneous. American stocks were the chief
architects who builded the nation The
eloquence of Southern man in the House
of Burgesses in Virginia stirred the spirit
of resistance to the tyranny of the Brit
ish ministry A Southern man drafted
the Declaration of Independence. A
Southern man led the armies of the Rev.
olution, presided over the convention that
framed the constitution and was the first
President of the United States, and after
the organization Of the government, save
for one term, for more than thlrty-siX
years Southern men occupied the chair
of the executive? A Southern man was
the chief justice who found the consti-
tuition a skeleton, and whose majestic
decisions clothed and vitalized II with
life and beauty A Southern man was that
far-sighted political philosopher who add
ed the territory to the westward of the
Mississippi comprising the states of Ar
kansas, Colorado. Iowa, Kansas. Louis
lana. Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Ore
eon North and South Dakota,
Montana Washington. Wyoming, Ida
no. the Indian Territory, and
Oklahoma. to the beauteous sisterhood
which now forms the fairest and most
hopeful government on winch the sun
has ever shone. Southern man, con-
tributed by our own beloved Georgia, that
incompatible diplomat. John Forsyth,
added to the Union the peninsular Of
Florida. am empire in itself. A Southern
man announced to the Holy Alliance.
then in oil the insolent flush OF its power
that we should consider any attempt on
it's part 20 extend its system TO any por-
ton of this hemisphere as dangerous to
our peace and safety. This was the Mon
roe Doctrine. Il was Southern Presl-
dent who in the language of modern his
torian put fire into those few momen-
tous. though moderate sentences ana
made them glow like the writing a.
Belshazzars Feast" 1t was a Southern
President who annexed TO the Union the
great empire of Texas and who crowned
the standards of our victorious armies by
the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo com
pletinG and expanding the symmetry OF
our system by the territories Of Arizona,
New Mexico, Utah and that magnificent
DOMAIN now comprehended in the great
state of California. Thus 1t seems, save
in the purchase OF Alaska and the recent
acquisitions. every step of American ex-
pansion has been accomplished under the
administration OF Southern Presidents.
such were the principles of Southern
men, such their effective, constructive
craftsmanship, such their conceptions OF
national power when Southern men
thought for themselves How long now
shall we surrender our own conceptions
of our own interests our own convictions,
upon the wisest policies of the nation in
internal affairs. our views of that world
policy which the country must pursue TO
insure the salvation OF the South and Of
the Union.
There is a New South, 1t is true, but
the Old South is here. 1t is here In It's
homogeneous American population. IL u
mere
those men who made II the synonym of
all that was courageous and lofty in
statesmanship. II Is here I'm the stern
ighting qualities of those armies or
the GRAY who for so long and
against such fearful odds upheld
with their bayonets the fall
ing fortunes OF the Confederacy
men whom the greatest military critics
of modern times have declared the most
uncomfortable soldiers the world has ever
Soon men OF whom our Vice President
has declared. THE world has never seen
better soldiers than those who followed
Lee. and their leader will undoubtedly
rank as without any exception the very
greatest of all the great captains that
the English speaking people have brought
forth. and this although the last and
chief OF his antagonists may himself
claim 10 stand as the fun equal Of MARI
borough and wellington" They were
men OF whom the greatest OF all their
foes, Gen. Grant. declared in that volume
which he penned IN his dying hours that
they were as sincere as we're his own
gallant troops in their convictions Of the
right OF the cause for which they fought.
Their military power. and martial spirit
Is here. Ii lives in the sons Of the blood,
ave IN the survivors themselves. II Is
estimated by the scientific military men
OF all nations as one OF the chiefest
sources Of national strength. II went TO
the front with Wheeler, that noble Geor-
gian. when with all the experience OF
more than a hundred BATTLES oil careless
OF the shected hail OF death which poured
from the machine guns ana Mauscre Of
the spaniard. he led the regulars up the
hill and through tho barbed wire Of san