The people's journal. (Pickens, S.C.) 1891-1903, 1903-02-12
THE LEE STATUE.
Interesting Discussion In Virginia
Legislature.

| Rlcnmond. SDccial.-rhe bill to place
a statue Of Gen. Robert E. Lee in Stat
nary Hall in the Capitol at Washing
| ton was the special order of the Elr-
gnia Senate.
The discussion indicated that there
| is q division OF sentiment among the
Virginia lawmakers as to whether this
| action shall be taken. Senator Dan =.
| ITalsey, the patron of the bill. made an
eloquent speech in favor Of the passage
| of the bill. In the course of his speech
| Mr.. Halsey said:
'ln presenting this bill diu SO from
no desire to offend Northern sentiment
| o" to reopen old wounds. now hapDil
| healed. Rather | did so from entirely
/ opposite motives. for. believing that the
| feeling OF good will between the sec
! ton is now greater than ever before
! considered this an oppOrtune time for
Virginia to accept the invitation SO
| long held out to her by the Federal
! Government, and place i'm the national
Nalhalla, by the side OF her Washing
! ton. the figure Of him whom she deems
| to be his peer, and the fittest Of all her
sons for this high distinction. thus
showing the good feeling of Virginia
toward the nation Of which she is IL
part.
who are the trnrSt eXponcntS of the
sentiments of the North sustain H." in
my belief that in this era Of good feel
ing the statue Of Lee may be thus
placed without exciting passions of soc.
tiOnal anlmOSity or TRADES Of bitter
comment. | did not hope. Of course.
that the idea would meet with the ap-
provai Of everybody.
lNDORSED BY BOTH SECTIONS
Il recognize the fact that there are
those in the North who are still IT.
rccOncilablc as we'll as those in the
South who are still "unrcconstructcd.
to us" that word in it's Northern sense;
but take it also that the irreconcil-
able of the North are no more repre-
sentative of the true sentiment Of that
section than the mrecunstructcd are
representative of the true sentiment OF
the South. and therefore ] believe that
the great heart Of tho North beats in
unison with that Of the South in hon
OriHg the memory of the great expo
ncnt OF the chiralry and the glory and
| the truc manhood Of the South. Just
as | know that Tn, South delights to
honor the memory OF his great advcr-
sary. who WAS too rhivalrnuS to ac-
ccpt his sword at AppromattoN. and
whose words. Let us have pHacr. fell
like DenedictiOn upon her sore and
wounded spirit in the hour Of her great
lribulation and distress.
1T is not as a representative Of tn"
spirit Of secession that Virginia will
offer the statute Of Lee. nor as insist;
ing that the right Of secession now eX-
lists. Lee was never a secessionist, but.
| on the contrary. he called Scccs sion
anarchy, and said that if he owned
the 10000 slaves in the South he
would give them all to save the Union.
II is only as her Superbcst example Of
manhood that his statute will be
chosen by her, believing that in per-
fcction of character. as tested by strug-
gle. victory and defeat. he is uneQualcd
in history and that therefore he and
no other should be placed by the side
OF her majestic Washington. that to-
gethcr they may stand through the
centuries as chiefs OF our grand army
Oi immOrtalS.
WHY LEE IS PREFERRED.
"Ncither do We offer Lee because we
have not others worthy to stand in that
congregation OF the natiOn'S great. 1t
is rather from such Il wealth Of mate
rial that we must draw that II c0nSt!-
tutCs AN embarrassment Of riches. Our
Jefferson, our Mason. OR Henry. our
Madison. our Monroe and our Mar
shall. all Of these any many others arc
worthy Of that great company. but as
the statue Of Washington is already in
place as our representative OF the rcV0-
lutiOnary time, ii seems that the most
fitting selection we can now make is
TO take the other from Il later time
and that most stirring period Of our
history. and surely none can be found
! more worthy of this national commcm-
| Robert Edward Lee.
"Of the absolute legal right OF Wiz
| ginia to choose whom she will to rep
resent her in statue in this national
pantheon there can be no doubt what
ever.
IN THE HALL or FAME.
"In New York the picture Of Lee
hangs on the walls Of the Hall Of Fame,
and the statue Of one eX-Confcdcrate,
that OF Senator John T.. Kcnna. Of
West Virginia. already stands in Statu
ary Hall The portrait Of jefferson Da
Wis, for a time disappearing. has reap
peared in the War Department, among
those Of the other cX-SecretaricS. with
out creating any hySterical excitement
In the army, and so that of Gen. SamU-
cl Cooper. a New Yorker. who became
Acknowledgement and ranking General
~ NhS SollitNlcldlG Army iloo hdilt,S III
the War Department.
MIR. ROOSEVELTS HIGH PRAISE.
These are the words OF President
Roosevelt. uttered on the 9th of last
April, the anniversary Of the surrcn-
der OF Lee. at the Charleston Exposi-
ton. where he said:
1--WE are now united people; the
wounds left by the great Civil War. in
| comparably the greatest war Of mod
ern times, have healed, and its memo
| ries are now priceless heritages OF
honor alike to the North and to the
| South. The devotion. the self-sacriflce,
| the steadfast resolution and lofty dar-
| ing. the high devotion to the right as
| each man saw ii. whether Northern or
| Southern. all these qualities Of men
| and women OF the carly sixties now
shine luminous and brilliant before
our eyes, while the mists Of anger and
hatred that once dimmcd them have
passed away forever. All Of us, North
and South, can glory alike in the valor
OF the men who wore the blue and the
| men who wore the gray.
! "Mr. Roosevelt has also written such
| high praise Of Lee as a soldier that