Goldsboro weekly argus. [volume] (Goldsboro, N.C.) 1885-1909, 1902-05-15
tiers of the Confederacy are strewing
HnMars on the GRAVES of OIr h0nnred

| w O1l LIZ S1dNO O1 ~ "a
dead and erecting monuments to
p~erpetuate the memory Of their he
role sacrifices, we should not forget
the other debt we owe them. They
have been denounced as rebels and
traitors, and a generation of unscrup-
ulous authors have been s~uppressing
or misrepresenting the truths of his
tory to justify the pitiable malignity
which applied these false epithets to
US, and more than this, they have
been stereotyped in the records of
the Federal government for the en-
lightenment of future students of
history.
Bear with me then, if you please,
while I recount a few decisive facts
in the history of the United States.
Before. doing this, however, it may
be proper to disclaim any purpose to
revive sectional bitterness. The long,
selfish and shameful contest in Eng
land known as the War of the Roses
a forgotten in a generation, and
the descendants of the warning fac
tons were all equally-proud to vie
with each other in promoting the
welfare of the country. Not many
decades after the struggle between
the Puritans and Cavaliers their sons
stood shoulder to shoulder fight
ing for the glory of England. And
we may be assured that in q few
more years the men of the South
will not bedistinguishabIe from those
of the North i'll pride of country or
in devotion to the best Interests of
all sections.
But no righteous cause can be afraid
of the truth, and no real patriot will
ask for the perpetuation of historical
faisehoods to stand as obstacles in
the pathway of the North and the
South as they + marching to COM
plete reconciliation and sincere de-
votion to their mutual welfare.
Hence [ do not feel it a duty to of
fer an apology for laying before you
the proofs I find in the irrevocable
records that the Confederate soldiers
were not rebels nor traitors, and the
same evidence will set aside the
Judgment of the gentleman in the
White House that we were anar-
chists.
/. The first fact in the chainof evi-
dence is that the exalted sense Of
justice and the detestation of oppres-
sion which distinguished the old
South from other sections impelled
her men and women in the days Of
the Revolution to lend a helping
hand to Massachusetts, when hel
| British masters sought to stife in hel
the spirit of liberty and to impose
unjust burdens on her. This gener
Gus and uneXampled conduct, un.
1ynnxE-r, on inr1Gpnl nv, 4hA nnan1a VIII
! wrote our school books, has been re
Gently brought prominently before
the public, and a new chapter is tt
be added to the historyof the United
States, setting forth that the Soutl
, made generous contributions in pro
visions and other necessaries for thu
support of the poor of Boston afte
her port was closed; that the Soutl
:. furnished the military skill, courag,
and zeal to conduct the colonies t.
final victory; and that Virginia
North Carolina, South Carolina ant
/ Georgia sent more soldiers to the wa
:, in proportion to total military popu-
lation than the New England States
: New York and Pennsylvania: Soutl
: Carolina, the special victim of New
r Englapd's spite, contributing So pc
!, cent. of her military population
while Massachusetts, the starter G
I the conflict, contributed only 7f
\ These generous Southerners, as Ser
+ atOr HOar admitted-and / wish yo
: to bear this in mind-Ethad not tn
Z, lightest particle OF personal interes
: in the struggle; their trade was nc
: affected; their commerce did not SUI
+ fer; they we're not at that time en-
n gagged in manufactures, which Ems
y land was s~uppressing; and the
+ would probably have found it MOI
: for their advantage to buy what the
a had to buy of England than of Mas
= acllusetts''.
This is a remarkable admissions;
carries with it a whitening CONNER
v on the base ingratitude of that Sta
. when she acquired the power to o.
# press the South; and it ought to briT
a blush of shame to thepeopIe Of tn;
= State when they reflect that she w
the first to rush troops Southwark
1861.
e p. The second fact in the chain
L. evidence is that after the ReVoIutie
al tad ended, a formal union OF tt
a States was entered into t'to eStabli
Of justice, insure domestic tranquilit
y provide for the common deiens
st promote the general welfare, and S
r. cure the blessings of liberty'' to {
generations of the people of Il
I'd States. To conduct the affairs of Il
l. Union a government was created
D. which the States entrusted certa
well-defined powers, and denied
~ others. It was to be the agent of t
er States; not their master. Such W
he the understanding and the intenti
to of the States, about which there W
RI no dispute at the time; and the &C
,r- federate soldiers were the sons of t
men who carried their States into t
se Union, and the heirs of their poll