The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1901-10-06
Spirit of the Press.
DOWN EAST WARRIORS ALARMED

DOWN EAST WARRIORS ALARMED.
Baltimore Sun.
A part at least of the Grand Army of
the Republic views President Roosevelt
with alarm. Two of the Presidents ma
ternal uncles-his mothers brothers. who
lived in Georgia-were in the Confederate
States navy One of them was an admir-
al, the other an officer on the Alabama
who fired the last gun on that vessel be-
fore it went under the waves The Presi-
dent, in referring to these gallant men
the other day, remarked that he was
proud of them proud of the fact that
they We're in the Confederate service in
stead of being non combatants at home
when their native State was at war
proud, the President meant, no doubt, of
their courage and manic d. If Mr.. Roes :
welt had been citizen of Georgia in those
days, can any one who knows him doubt
that he would have been in the forefront
of the battle. fighting with and for his
people? But this view of the matter does
not please the Grand Army post at Man
chester, N. Fl. The other day at a meet
ing of the post Frank H. Challs past
national commander of the Sons of Vet
Grams, said:
sivings that l read the letter which Pres
ident Roosevelt wrote to a Southern
friend, in which he said that he was
proud OF the fact that two of his uncles
served the Confederate cause, one as an
admiral in the Confederate navy, while
the other had fired the last gun on the
Alabama. | have some misgivngs as to
the future. l don't like to see the pen
dulum swing that way
To this expression Senator Burnham
added the following observation:
1--WE sail not yield one jot or title of
the principles that we fought for during
the civil war or abandon the idea that
we were right and that the South was
eternally and wickedly wrong.
Such expressions as these should not
be taken seriously. 1t would be hard to
find man in his right mind, even in
New England, who would seriously con-
tend that such soldiers as Robert f. Lee,
Stonewall Jackson, and Albert Sidney
Johnston ere "wickedly wrong" That
idea was abandoned when Northern men
ceased calling the Alabama pirate" In
connection with this subject the Chicago
Record Herald asks: Are not the vast
majority of us proud of Gen. Robert E.
Lee?' Indeed, there is but little division
of sentiment on this point. Boston has
always been one of the most ultra loyal
OF our cities. And yet in no city of the
South is Confederate veteran more GER
tain of kindly reception than in Boston.
The Rev. Dr.. Lindsay, a Virginian and
brave Confederate soldier in the war, is
now, and has been for many years, one
OF the most beloved and influential pas
tors in Boston. The population of Boston
may think he was wrong in fighting for
his State but it would probably be a
hard matter to find any one there who
believes he was 'wickcdly wrong" The
discordant cries. therefore, of these two
Grand Army men in New Hampshire we
cannot believe reflect Northern sentiment
1t is only the voice of the pensioner. the
man who wishes to fan into flame the
embers OF hate which have been long
since extinguished, in order that he may
make money out of it and get increa sed
pensions. Could there be a more I'M
worthy motive?