Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1904-06-23
CONFEDERATE
VETS REUNION
Fourteenth Annual Reunion of the
United Confederate Veterans
at Nashville, Tenn.
STEPHER D.LEEI Is CON WANDER
The Session Covered Three Days, Winding
Up With q Great Parade Through
Densely Crowded Streets.

Nashville, Tenn, June 14.-Under
every condition tending to a successful
reunion, Nashville to-day officially
welcomed the United Confederate Vet
Grams and their friends, constituting a
host conservatively estimated at 3d.
600 people.
The exercises of the day took place
In the tabernacle, and every bit Of
space Was taken long before the vet
Grams were called to order by Gen. G.
W. Gordon, of Memphis, commander
of the Tennessee division.
1t was the first convention in the
history Of the organization that the
Sons of Veterans sat with their IA
theirs. California was represented on
the floor. From far-off Montana a del
egation was sent, and Ohio had four
delegates.
1t was the fourteenth annual meet
ing. The convention hall was well
filed by II o'clock. The long wait of
an hour and a half before the gather
ing was called to order was enlivened
by the arrival of the only surviving
drum corps of the confederate hosts,
a band of four men from North Caro-
lima. AS they marched down the long
aisle to the tune of Dixie" escorting
a North Carolina camp, the enthusiasm
Of the old veterans was unbounded.
A few moments later the Seventh
cavalry band, U. S. A, stationed at
Fhnttannn0 aor,a intn tho hn11 n1oJr-
ing q spirited march.
After Gen. Gordon had called the
veterans to order, Chaplain Jones de-
livered the invocation.
Gov. ]. B. Frazier welcomed the
delegates to Tennessee. The appear
ance Of Stephen D. Lee as the perma-
nent presiding officer and commander
in-chief was the signal for a remarka-
BILE outburst of enthusiasm. He adj
dressed the veterans as follows:
Gen. stephen ID. Lees Address.
II wonder sometimes whether, when
the great balances of the universe are
ancient days are rendered, whether
even when the last human history is
written of the war between the states
and the slow verdict of remote posterity
is taken, the cause We loved will seem
as lost as it once seemed to us. 1t may
be that, in the providence of God and the
development of humanity, the fearful sac
ritices were necessary for the highes
good of this nation and of the world
Truly, In human experience, without the
shedding of blood, there is no redemption,
richer and better, purer and greater, for
the tragic story of 40 years ago, and that
the shed blood has brought blessing, hon
1lrpc Of which a brave and noble npOn1p
can never be despoiled.
1T is a source of joy to every one of
US when we see how prosperous our
WINGED now that the south is fully on its
feet again. In material prosperity we
have not only reached but surpassed the
achievements of our fathers.
II hold no view of southern degeneracy,
but 1 deplore the irreparable loss to my
country and the coming generation when
those splendid men, the bravest and the
best the world has ever held, went down
in death. But it is a great comfort to
know that the south had sue men to
lose, 1t was a revelation to the world.
1t was a revelation to ourselves.
"As the close of our days draws near
and the work of upbuilding our country
passes into younger and stronger hands
let us make it our mission to tell the
story. Do not let our children and grand
children forget the cause for which we
suffered. Tell it not in anger; tell it
shame in all the history. Dwell on the
gallant deeds, the pure motives, the self
dured, the battles fought. the men who
bravely lived, the men who nobly died.
Your dear comrades shall live again in
your words.
The cause in which the blood was shed
will never be lost to us, and the love we
gave it will not die till the last gray
Jacket is folded, and the last gray head
is buried beneath the sod"
Gen. Lee then announced the stand
ing committees.
Gen. Lee then introduced Rev. DR..
Randolph H. McKim, of Washington,
D. G., as the orator of the occasion,
who spoke, in part, as follows:
Rev. Randolph H. McKin's Address.
'"There are two unique features which
must arrest the attention of every OBJ
is the fact that all this p%ageantry, ali
this enthusiasm, is a tribute to a lost
cause. The SECOND is the fact we as
semble under the Stars and Stripes (the
homage to the conquered one. A stranger
coming into our midst and observing this
vast assemblage might suppose that we
were met here to celebrate the founda-
ton of a state or to acclaim the triumph
of armies, or to exult in the victory of
a great cause; but not so. Our new re-
public sank 40 years ago, to rise no more.
Our armies were defeated, our banner
went dow in blood. What then? Are
we here to indulge in vain regrets? To
lament over our defeat? Or to conspire
for the re-establishment of our fallen
cause? Not so. The love and loyalty
which we give to the lost cause, and to
the defeated banner, is demonstration Of
the deep hold that cause had upon the
hearts of the southern people, and of
the absolute sincerity and of the COM
plete devotion with which they supported
L. p,,t ~ 10 M aVidpnnn Of nOman1V and
f~ruitless repining over defeat, nor of any
lurking disloyalty. to the union In which
now, thank God, the southern states have
other states of our broad land.
w accepted the results of the war in
good faith. We. abide the arbitrament
Of the sword. We subscribe as sincerely
as the men who fought against us to the
sentiment: One flag, one country, one
constitution, one destiny This is now
structible states. We are loyal to that
starry banner. Strange. as 1t may seem
to one who does not understand our peo-
pie; inconsistent and noomprehenslpi as
banner the banner of the Stars and
Stripe--as the symbol Of our reunited
20 \ mt Som and at It the the m ssme m OF tbe g tnss
and bars. There is in our hearts double
loyalty. to-day, a loyalty to the present
and a loyalty to the dear, dead past. We
still love our old battlefag with the
southern cross upon its fiery folds. We
nave wrapped it round our hearts: we
have enshrined it in the sacred ark Of
our love: and we will honor it and cherish
it evermore-not now as a political sym
Dol, but as the consecrated emblem Of
an heroic epoch; as the secred memento
Of a day that Is dead; as the embodi-
lnent Of memories that will be tender and
holy as long as life shall last; The peo-
pie that forgets its heroic dead is al
ready dying at the heart, and we believe
it vii, make for the strength and the
glory of the United States If the senti-
n.cnts tina animate us to-day shall. be
perpetuated generation aftor generation,
1--WE thank God that to-day the sun
shines upon a truly reunited country,
Sectionalism is dead and buried. A great
destiny opens before America. Tbs GOD