The Tupelo journal., 1903-02-06
RIFFS In THE CLOUDS
Bill Arp Despairs Of Any Justice
from the North.
BUT He Receives Three Letters from
Union Veterans Tint Seem to
Point to a ChanEe-Rufus
Choate's EIOquence.

tAdU Will IlClCdlbCl oS u AlOlh III
putting negro officials over southern
communities. That the New York
Herald has opened a rift in the
clouds by rebuking the president,
etc. We hope SO, but now that
Roosevelt has appointed a Boston
coon to a high office, the Herald may
change front and say he is consist
ent. That growing sense of justice
is a chameleon of many colors. 1t
was quite visible a little while after
Grady made his charming speeches in
New York and Boston, but the
preachers withered it and Mckinley
made more appointments and kept
making them is long as he lived
This growing sense does not seem to
flourish in many places. The fact
is, we have almost despaired of ever
seeing justice grow at the north.
Lately l have received three letters
from up there that indicate the
growing sense, and / have read and
reread them with comfort. One of
these is from an old Mexican vet
eran who says that of the 2,700, 900
soldiers who fought against us,
1000, 900 were from the east fighting
to free the negroes, Grants included.
One million from the west fighting
for the union and the other zoo, 0OU
were the riff-raff and scum, the fiot-
sam and jetsam of all nations who
Joined the army for bounty and
booty and beauty, and they were the
element that Sherman employed to
make war hell. He speaks of the
war as unholy, unrighteous and IN
just. Another letter is from Port
Gently got hold of one of my letters
which said that Gen. Grant was u
slave holder and hired out his ne
groes up to the close of the war
and lived off of their hire. He says:
Il didn't believe it, but was induced
to examine his biography and | found
it was So" He says that nobody in
that country ever heard of it and it
is amazing and astonishing hat Lin
coin would appoint a stakeholder to
be the head of the army. The writer
of this letter was brought up to be-
lieve that the south brought all the
negroes from Africa. Another letter
is from a New Hampshire man, a vet
eran, who says that he and seven
others from his town joined a COM
pany in 1862, and only one besides
himself got back. Ever since then he
has been reviewing his folly and the
folly of the war and is ashamed of
his people and says that l do not
score them in my letters as hard as
they deserve. He has Hinton Rowan
Helpers famous campaign book, in
which he says:
I'VE are going to free your slaves
and arm them with pixies and torches
and butcher your families and burn
up your homes"
This book is indorsed by 81 mem
bers of congress, including John
Sherman. Appleton says hat 1914 0
copies were sold in three months and
it precipitated the raid of John
Brown, at whose execution all the
church bells of New England tolled
a requiem. And so l have found
three northerners who have this
growing sense and l have heard of
one more who is a suspect. l am
keeping a tally sheet and as soon as
l hear of any more growing sense :
will record it. My Oregon friends
generation came up since the war
and never had time to bother them
selves about the history of the war
or slavery. The south was outside
of their concern and jeff Davis was
the arch traitor that Roosevelt told
about in his history. That is all he
cared to know. But he says your
late letters have excited our curiosi-
ty, and if when your book is out
you will let me advertise and sell
it in my w way, l will sell 100, 900
copies north of the line. This man
is a big advertiser with headquar-
tiers in Chicago and sent to me a.
big lot of his cards and literature.
Well, Mr.. Byrd will see about that,
but to my opinion his northern Gus
toners don't care a baubee about me
or Grant or his niggers. They re-
mind me of two fellers who went off
to camp meeting, and as they were
standing by a tree one of the breth-
rem came up and invited them 10
go up to the altar and jlne 'em in
gittin' religion. The men seemed
somewhat indignant and replied:
you must excuse US, sir, we don't
live in the county"
But 1 did find a rift in the clouds
that gave much comfort. In the
twelfth volume of John Lords "Bea-
con Lights of History" l find a
sketch of Robert E. Lee by DR.. E.
Benjamin Andrews, that is a loving
tribute to that great soldier. Such
a glowing tribute was hardly to be
expected from a northern source.
Especially from one born in New
Hampshire, educated at Brown uni
versity and who joined the army
while IS years old and who lost an
eye at Petersburg. As an educator
he rose rapidly in his profession and
became president of his alma mater.
Next he was called to Chicago to
take charge OF. her public schools and
later on was chosen as chancellor
of the University of Nebraska, where
he now is. Since the war he has
frequently championed the cause of
the south and became unpopular will.
our malignant enemies. Of course
as he joined the army so young and
lost an eye, we must let him keep