The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1902-05-16
" CONGRESSMAN T. G. CATCH
ings, as orator for the day for

Vicksburg, May 4, 1900, delivered most
appropriate oration, reviewing at length
the causes which led up to the
great struggle between the States The
distinguished gentleman spoke in well
modulated, clear and distinct tones, and
his every word could be easily distin-
guished by the great assembly gathered
about the speakers stand. Gen. Catch
ings said:
Comrades, Ladies and Gentlemen:
Once more we have gathered togeth-
er to pay grateful and loving tribute to
the memory of the brave soldiers who
went to their death in the brave and
heroic struggle to uphold the banners
of the lost cause. Although more than
the full span OF generation has been
measured since the star of the Confed-
eracy went out in the gloom of utter
and irretrievable defeat, our remem
berance Of their supreme sacrifice
is tenderly and sacredly cherished.
The great majority of their comrades
who strove and battled with them, and
yet who, in the Providence of God,
were spared their fate
Luster have since crossed over
of the the river to rest with
COnfederacy them under the shade of
the trees. Their survi-
vors have passed the summit of the
mountain and are fast making their
way down the other side into the shad-
ows of the valley. Those of us, who
with these brave men, essayed to es-
tablish a separate and independent re-
public, which in the pride of our hearts
we hoped would find an abiding place
among the nations of the earth, and
there endure, a shining exemplar 0 f al
the civic virtues, have taught our chill
dren that no stain of treason, or blight
ed faith or broken vows, tdims the lus-
tire of their fame or soils the escutcheon
of their honor. The task will soon be
theirs to defend from all imputations
of crime the nation which died in its
infancy, and yet lived long enough I'd
illustrate all the glories of human en-
ueavol; which, with all.its institutions
and circumstances and power, utterly
perished from the face of the earth, and
yet left behind it the remembrance of
valiant deeds and noble performance,
which will be reverentially celebrated
in song and story as long as time shall
last. The great civil war, which was
the most stupendous drama of all the
ages, did not find its genesis in criminal
conspiracy or reasonable design. The
Southern States in withdrawing from
the Union, were exercising a power
which had been claimed from the very
adoption of the constitution. Indeed,
the early days Of the republic, the the
ory was recognized by American states
men with substantial unanimity, that
the constitution was but compact be-
tween sovereign states entered into for
their common welfare; that by this
compact they surrendered none of their
attributes of sovereignty; that because
of this sovereignty, any state could law
fully withdraw from the compact when
ever in its judgment its interests re
quired it to do so; that the government
created by the constitution was feder-
alton possessing only delegated powers;
that it did not possess the power to CO.
erce the action Of the states, and that if
a state chose to withdraw from the un-
ion, it was entitled to do so without
control OF question. At the date of its
birth. the hearts of the American peo-
pie were yet attuned to the joyous song
of newly acquired freedom, and patri-
otic ardor was still ahame from the re-
membrance of the great triumph which
had crowned their endeavors. AT such
a time and amidst such influences nei-
ther treason nor sinister design could
have discovered even a momentary
abiding place. The proceedings Of the
convention which framed the constitu-
ton, those of the states in ratifying it,
and the luminous disquisitions Of dad
isOn; Hamilton and their contemporaries
show that at that period there was lit
tie or no difference of opinion on the
subject. 1 think it may safely be af
iImed that if the trainers Of the con
stitution had avowed that their pur-
pose was to create a supreme central
government which would bind the
states beyond all power of revocation,
or withdrawal, it would never have
been ratified.
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