The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-10-20
PIVOTAL FACTS IN THE MA TIoNAL LIFE OF THE CON-
 FEDER.ATE STATES.

rsmn Hardee. United Confederate Vet erans, headquarters at Birmingnanh, iaS az. spring paseo resolutions regre.,tihs c,nii rn War" War between the States, etc'; and condemning their use as iiloslca. and contradictory of the true cnarae@eei @ of the great war in which they hau e 1She conoueror writes the history oi ms ms conquest. We of the South are unoeL i,aJ n obligations to lapse to the ignonie atves aTwes of this tradition. we s,Se %o.e our cause fell with our exhausted physlcal fe sources, wept, honored and suhs'
 ''No nation rose so white ana ia"'
 Or fell so pure of crime
 The better to show that the great Wal, to which two Contederaeites ,m nation sole parties, was net wanting III sSross iia al characteristics, the inaugural aoui .E SsS of President Davis delivered Iroi" Eeh porch of the capitol of Ala Aiaoanno, nro,nriety. is. 1861, may be cited with pIpeht The orator did not doubt his tnous"'' The President said: ,,,o ,o which I have been chosen with the nop that the beginning of our career. % u Confederacy, may not be obstructeu py hostile opposition to our enjoyment VI the separate existence and lnoepenuen'ce we have asserted and which. Witn tne blessing of Providence, we intnd to main- tain We have entered upon Ca reer of independence and 1t must pc intiexibly pursued AS neSsss. ,o the remedy of separation and henceIor- ward cur energies must be diretced 10 the conduct of our own affairs ana the perpetuity of the x Gonhe1eracSS beys cSanged % the constituent parts, but not the system or government. The Constitution formed py our fathers is that of these Confederate TRise and Fall of the Confederate States. volume IL
 Tn perfect acord with this initial dec. laration from the Chief Executive oI permanency in the scheme of Confeder- ate States sovereignty among the na- tions of the earth, an army and navy was raised by act of Congress ana on May l. 1861. Congress formally declared war against the United States. Taxes to equip and feed a great army were col lected, Federal judiclary was created. commissioners were sent to Enrops rihed ed negotiate treaties, flag was prescribed by which the sovereign power was to DC recognized, and each and all acts con sstent with the active life Of natlon at home and abroad were entered upon to the full measure of the power of the sovereign. The Presidents pledges or complete and permanent sovereignty Tor the nation were sustaine by the adop- ton of a Federal Constitution, with the one distinct characteristic that it was A timely, prudent and circuTnspect enlarge n.ent and amendment Of the Constltutlon 
 the old. The national character of the Confederate States was virtually acceded to by the nature of the correspondence between the Generals of both sides in negotiations for the surrender of its HrmieA
 The fact that there was no war between any of the States nor prospect of War, emphasizes the error of familiar mis- homer. war between the States: the fact that the only Southern flag known on the battlefields numbering more than. two thousand. covering four years of time was the flag established by law of the Confederate States Congress; the fact that prisoners were exchanged alone by Confederate States authority and sur render of armies alone made by com rlandeTs, holding theiI commissions from the Confederate States Civil Government, and that England and France formally srecognized the Confederate States as belligerent, while Engishmen and Frenchmen bought the bonds of the Con- federate States as valid securities-these facts are ample testimony to the legal validity and historical accuracy of the appeliation war between the Confeder- ate States and the United States, as alone adequately descriptive of the event known in the premises.
 Disaowlng the remotest purpose to en- gage here in hypercrlticisTn, 1t becomes nevertheless convenient. for the purpose of illustration. to cite an extarct from an eloquent tribute from the pen of q distinguished Alabamian to the extinct Southern COnfederacN, so Ralldntly SerV- ed by himself The gentleman said in his Huntsville memorial letter of Novem- Der, 1900:
 War was not declared, but after a brief period of hostilitics, open, public war was accepted by both sides. civil war between the two considerations of the States "
 As to literal accuracy of this express sion the declaration of war by the Con- fcderate States was both positive and early. cite the caption to the act in full
 "Ar Act recognizing the existence of war between the Confederate States and the United States and concerning letters oI marque. prizes and prize goods. :"
 Approved May 6 1861
 The act opens with q preamble thus.
 Whereas, the earnest efforts made by this Government to establish friendly re- lations between the Government of the United States and tn" Confederate States had failed, etc. that the Presi- dent of the Confederate States is author ized to use the whole land and naval force of the Confed2ra States to meet the war thus commenced" etc.
 Confederate States Statutes At Large, D. 10O.l
 There was no formal, or technical rather, declara ton of war on the part of the United States. for the very obvi. ous reason that it was necessary to the Northern Confedcracv to maintain tho attitude of conquering 8 rebellion" sup pressing a civil war" But when tho United States disoslved all of its exist ing treaties of commerce with the civ illzed world in order to blockade bS force the Southern half of it's stipu. lated ports of entry, and England and