Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1903-06-27

command the imperial eloquence of Henry
Clay in the illustration and enforcement
- mighty argument: He was the hrst
southern representative after the war to
rift the darkness Of our national skies and
bring light into the despairlng parallels,
The voice that spoke over the dead sum
ner, like another prophet In the wilderness,
proclaimed the day-daWn Of our national
pcace-the cloudless sunburst Of our Fed
eral Immortality. Well has he been called
the inspired paclfcatOr.'
But time would fail me to tell of David
Holmes, Missssippis first and one Of her
greatest governors Of Maj Thomas Kinds,
for whom this capitol county was named,
who was as confidently trusted In civil HE
as he was proudly followed by his brave
Dragons Of George PoindeXter, the irst
codter OF Mlsslssippis laws a great gov
ernor and greater senator, a figure Of
massive and majestic mould, the hero Ot
ChapultepCc an accomplished gentleman
and capable general Of armies; OF william
II; Sharkey, the Chief Justice Marshall OF
Mississippi Jurisprudence Of Edward &.
Wathall, the Cheyalier Bayard Of the
Southwest a brilliant cavalry commander
and an ideal senator; Of Ethelbert Barks-
dale. the Sir Robert Peel of Mississippi, a
leader in any host, q premier in any CaDl-
net, peer In any realm, who in all bis con
spicuOus political career never COmpru.
missed a principle or betrayed cause or
fed a field or deserted a friend OF James
T. George the great COmmouer and able
stitutiOns: Of John Marshall Stone, whose
granite character was as majestic In the
councils of peace as in the storm of war
and hundreds Of others, In church ana
State, who are worthy to be held In high
and everlasting honor Theirs are the
deeds which should not pass away, and
names that must not wlther though the
earth forget her empires.
Through all the eyentful years Of our
history Mississippi manhood has stood
many severe tests and vindicated every
high confidence As another Is to speak
especially of that conclusive quadrennium
which began with the bugle blast Of 1861,
| am only permitted to say that the bril-
liant courage Of our heroic legions was the
astonishment Of one army and the admlra-
ton Of the other. And for the brave souls
who bore the flag Of their faith, with un.
faltering steps, over every Deleaguered
height Of battle plain, we have II reverence
that Is little less than alteration. Veterans
of the grandest battalion In all history,
now war-Worn and growing old We uncover
in your august presence and crave from
each a herOs blessing.
The final test Of Southern character was
not displayed in laying the broad founda-
/ ton of a new civilization not in the sol
emn but tumultuOus councils out OF which
was evolved our great system of govern
ment; not in the historic halls OF State
| where Thans struggled for the mastery
over national principles and policies; not
/ in the splendid yalOr Of her sons In the
! storm and red rain of terrific battles; not
| in the military genius of her peerless cap
! tains, pronounced by critics to be the great
/ est marshals of modern times. but in their
serene fortitudc and unyiclding hcrolsm
/ and uncOnquprable spirit after the storm
Of battle had ceased and they wae left
with only "the Scared and charred remains
Of the fire and tempest Surprising the
| spendOr of their courage In battle was tie
| grandeur Of their fortltude In defeat The
subimcst hour in the Southern soldier S
n 1. kft
coming ] have seen paintings representing
! the returned Confederate soldier, which, in
my Judgment, is not true to the facts Of
/ history. He stands in tattercd garments
amid the ruin of his home, the gate fallen
from its hinges, weeds covering the door
step leaning upon his old musket, with a
dOwncast look and broken heart As u
matter u fact he only waited long enough
to greet the faithful wife whom he had
| not seen for four stormy years and kiss
his recollection. and then with grim deter.
| minatiOn put his hand to the stern task OF
| rec0nstruCting his once beautiful home and
rebuilding his shattered fortunes on other
and broader foundations, Men Of principle
never falter, though they fall. They felt
the bitterness Of defeat. but not the nor
rors of desualr. How these brave men, the
sons Of atiuenCe, addressed themselves
to the grinding condition Of sudden and
humiiatng poverty, can never be described
by mortal tongue or pen.
And oh, those pltlless years of recon.
struction Worse than the calamitles OF
war were "tha desolating furies of peace
No proud people ever suffered such indig
mites or endured such humiliation and
| degradation. More hcartlcss than the rob
Der bands that infested Germany after the
/ Thirty Years War We're the hordes of plum
derers and vultures who fed and fattcned
| upon the dlsarmed and helpless South
Their ferociOus greed knew no safety, and
| their shameless rapacity sought TO strip
us to the skin. As Judge lcre Black, with
characteristic vividness and visor, said
"Thelr felOnious fingers were long enough
to reach into the pockets Of posterity
They coined the industry of future genera
tlOns into cash and SnatChcd the inherit
ance from children whose fathers are un
born. A COntagratlon sweeping over the
State from one end to the other and de
stroying every building and every article
Of personal property, would have been a
visitation of mercy in comparison to the
curse Of such q government"
But no brave people ever endured Op
preston and poverty with such calm dig
nit and splendid self,rcstralnt And by
dnt OF their own unCOnquerable spirit ant
tireless toll they saw their beautiful lane
rise from the ashes intO NliucncC. The
South no longer speaks with pathos OF
sighs the mlserere." She has risen from
poverty and smiles at defeat out Of tn,
fire and tempest and baptism Of blood oul
State has come undaunted In spirit aud u
{
that the green grass peacefully waving
over the field Of Waterloo the summer attic
the famous battle suggested to Lord By
ron, In his "Chlldc Harold" to excla'm
How this red rain has made the harVes
grow -
So every battle plain that was once fur
rowed by shot and shell and wet with tn
blood of brothers, now waves with the abun
dant harveSts of new and larger life
The reduent wave has set in, After lonl
and bitter night the morning dawns "I
is daybreak everywhere
The total taxable property In Mississippi
is S24t 100000, and the rate of increas
never had such an accelerated movement
Even within the past three years the az
sessed valuation Of property, real and per
priations for education in the same periol
advanced S642, 79S. The bonded indebted
ness of the State has decreased 100000
while the tax levy has been reduced from
6la to q mills on the dollar. The tota
amount from State county and city taA
alton, devoted to education is 81 l63I0S,9 ,9I
The educational history of Mississippi
Is worthy of the highest honor DrMay'
of Boston, distinguished authority y
such matters made this emphatic state
ment: mo other people In human histor.
have made an effort so remarkable as tn
people of the South In establishing thel
schools and colleges. Last year, he said
speaking as far back as 1883, these six
teen States paid nearly Sl,OOO,0OO eacl
for educational purposes, a sum greater
according 10 their means, than ten time
the amount now paid by most of the New
England States" According to per capiti
wealth, Mississippi ranks first among tn
States of this Union in her contribution
to education, and In the amount devoted
to this great cause, out Of the states tota
appropriations, she has no equal In tn
whole world Mississippi has been gen
uine friend sound learning from tn
days of her territorial minority. Her frs
legislative act was to charter college
She built school houses in the footprint
OF the retreating savages, and hns tralne'
and sent out into the various walks %
life some of the noblest names In ou
national history.
And believing 1t vital to the very exist
ence of democracy, there will never b
any abatement of patriotic laws. and work
ing out the mighty problems OF a govern
the people. From these basal and eterna
principles let us pever be severed or allen
ated.
The wisdom of our great national com
pact, said by Mr.. Gladstone to be the mos
wonderful unlnspired document ever struc
from the human brain, is evidenced If W
study political history The French peopl
had Ave written constitutions in ten year
the constitution Of 1901, Of '93, Of '9s
of '97 and Of 90. One In every two years
"nNssing through the revolution like IN
pictures In a magic lantern. Ours has stoo
the test of the worlds most eyentful Ger
tury and has become the model for o.
modern republics.
And in this connection l will farthe