The Columbus weekly dispatch. (Columbus, Miss.) 1902-1905, 1903-06-04
From Wednesdays Paper.
DR.. Wards Tribute to Gen. Sharp.

notwithstanding the crafty
ing evidence that there are many
men ia every State capable of
creditably and efficiently dis
charging the duties Of any off |
cial position within the common
wealth; yet there are occasional
conditions in which it may be
peculiarly appropriate to bestOw
upon some one citizen, some par
ticular place of honor and trust.
The events of a lifetime not fire.
quently eliminate in cOncentrat-
ing public opinion upon the wis
dom and equity of rewarding a
certain citizen in a certain way.
In other words, the man, the
hour and the official duty meet
and blend in perfect harmony
under the approval of an almost
unanimous public sentiment. 1t
is earnestly believed that such a
condition will suggest itself to a
large majority of the voters of
Mississippi to-day, in the OppOr
tunity which presents of tender
ing to Gen. Jacob H. Sharp the
Office of State Treasurer.
Gen. Sharp's age and expert
ence, his uublemished and ex-
emplary life, his fidelity to every
trust as a patriotic citizen, his
record as a legislator, and his
four years of unfaltering chival-
rOus devotion to his flag as a sol
der, and his brilliant achieve
ments as a commander, all con
spire to elicit from the generous
Democracy Of Mississippi this
feeble tribute to a long, worthy,
useful life and a gallant old age.
Gen. Sharp'S company was one
of the first to enlist in the Con
federate army. He received his
baptism of fire and blood in the
battle of Belmont and from that
time on through all the cam
paigns of the Army of the Ten
nessee" he stood on the front
and surrendered with the army
in North Carolina. having risen,
through merit alone, to the rank
Of Brigadier
Gen. Stephen d. Lee said if
Gen. Sharp had no other war
record than that which he won
at the battle of Franklin his rep
utatiOn would be secure. His
Brigade charged through that
almost impenetrable locust thick
eli, locked bayOnets with the enc
my across the breastwOrks and
brought off three stands Of colOrs.
General Sharp is the only sur
viVing leader of that famous Bri-
gade Differed by E. G. Walthall,
Patton Anderson and w. T. Tuck
er.
This is the first recognition Of
his meritOriOus career which his
friends have asked for him at the
hands of the State he has served
so long and so faithfully, and il
will be the last.
Macaulay said that "a people
who do not venerate the memo
ries nor honor the heroic achieve
ments of their ancestors, will
never themselves accomplish any
thing worth recording or remem
bering. While this is true.
the reward Of merit should not
always be delayed till the last
battle of life has been fought.
General Sharp was a delegate
to the National Democratic Con
ventiOn at Baltimore that nOmi-
mated Horace Greedy for Presi-
dent and when the Democratic
party. in its anxiety and bewild-
erment, adopted as it's declara-
ton of principles, the platform
Of the Republican party upon
which Gen Grant had just been
nominated, Gen. Sharp was one
of the men who refused to accept
it. He did not believe then. has
never believed through all the
years of unequal contest in which
the Southern people have been
involved, and does not believe
now that any permanent good
can be accomplished by a com
promise of principle
He stands and acts upon the
rational and logical conviction
that the perpetuity of Demo
cratic, representative. constitu
tional government, the vigor and
purity of the Anglo-Saxon civil
zation and the ultimate welfare
of the African race depend upon
the determined, persistent and
unqualified assertion of white
supremacy in the South e n
States.
Mississippians would do a
graceful thing by unanimously
rendering the office of State
Treasurer to the modest old Vet
eran. b. f. WARD.
Winona. Miss.