Okolona messenger. (Okolona, Miss.) 1900-current, 1902-12-17

k9EHk'|tES to do the very thing Whlch ht
ENf1 1R would wish is likely to cause more
w .~5ltl disturbance than it is to effect
Ssl VIII good, the smOOthest way out of his
embarrassment is to back out Of it and pass around
the object The Mr.. Rowland, director Of the
Archives Of Mississippi, who made such a mess O
his popular vote for the names Of ten prominent
figures in the states history whose portraits tC
sdOrn the Hall Of Fame in the new capitol building,
seems to hop from one blunder to another. His
latest Is to declare his intention to add to the gal
lery In the hall Of fame the portrait OF Abraham
Lincoln, and let it be placed beside that Of Jefer
son Davis. For this declaration Mr.. Rowland hal
brought down upon his head the wrath Of q good
portion Of the press OF the state, and rekindled
fire Of sad memories which the South has been try
ing to lay aside and relegate to oblivion as far al
possible. There is perhaps not paper in the state
better prepared to speak without prejudice in this
matter than is THE MESSENGER. It's editor from
earliest childhood was surrounded with all the
Environments calculated to cause him to revere the
very name Of lincoln. Yet, we can say without
hesitation and without blush that we do not believe
Mr.. Rowland could have made a more serious mis-
take than be has in this suggestion.
The Hall Of Fame in the state house at Jack sOr
is designated as place calculated to display to the
visitors view the portraits OF men famous in the
history Of Mississippi. Jefferson Davis was a resi-
dent Mississippian. His portrait could not bt
omitted from the display. In all the trials through
which the state passed in those dark days that car
never be forgotten, though perfect recovery in
material way may sometime come, Davis was the
idol Of this people During those same dark days
the iates SO adjusted issues that Abraham Lincoln
was the rOntispiecs Of that section and the director
Of those people whose stubborn purposes and great
numbers enabled them to not only humiliate, but
to crush, for the time the state of Mississippi and
its people, together with all its sister states of the
South. While the hate so naturally engendered
against that force and the man who directed it, may
soften the years roll by, it is not probable that
during the lifetime Of any one now living in the
state, will the people of Mississippi be ready tC
adOrn their Hall of Fame with the portrait Of any
one whose hand they felt so strongly during his
life.
There are certain social and sectional opinions
held by every Southern man, and in no state are
they more fixed and imperishable than in our OWL
Mississippi, which are dramatically opposite tC
the views held and cOntended for by Abraham Lin
coin. It is not only folly to think of such move
as that suggested by the Custodian Oithe Archives
in the face Of these differences, but silly It could
not have been more out Of taste If, acting upOr
the personal Wishes of the present Governor and
his brother-in-law Wilson, Mr.. Rowland had sug
gested the displaying Of the portrait of the present
miscarriage occupying the seat once filed by Mr.
Lincoln, far as cOunter tastes and preiudces GO
It matters not that the circumstances Of the hour
may have caused Lincoln to oppose the South on
the question Of social equality, and that it e
have been matter Of taste with the present execu
tive the effect is one and the same to q people who
do not believe there can be any such order estab-
lished on earth for both were and are Of the same
party against which the South has always been
forced to contend and suffer because Of the great
odds 10 its favor
What does the Custodian at jackson suppose
would be the result II the historian Of Kansas plac
ing the portrait Of Jefferson Davis in the Hall Of
Fame at Topeka, its state capitali How long does
be suppose such portrait would remain there side
by side Of the life size picture Of John BrOWnf
The ruling spirits Of the party Lincoln gave this
country to dominate it nationally pretend to be in
favor Of social equality Mississippi and the entire
South are and ever win be opposed to it.. without
regard to political Affiliations.
This is great country Of ours. It is big enough
and strong enough and grand enough for each and
every one Of its states to have their own private