The Chickasha daily express. (Chickasha, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1899-current, 1904-08-03
The Lost Cause
Extracts From Address of Hon. II
+. Furman at Shawnee
Reunion.


union of confederate veterans in
Shawnee.
There are those who oppose
such occasions as this. They are
opposed to such organizations as
the Confederate Veterans and kin
dred associations, and the Grand
Army of the Republic, claiming
that these organizations tend to
keep alive memories that stir anew
the smouldering embers of section
al feeling; they assert that the past
should be forgotten. / desire to
enter an earnest dissent from any
such views. On the contrary | as
sert that people without a history
and who take no pride in that his
tory are unworthy of freedom and
cannot long maintain it, None but
towards and knaves should seek TO
forget the past. Brave, honest and
intelligent men love to look the
truth squarelyin the face. They
gain strength and courage by do
ing so. We can learn wisdom from
our mistakes in the past, as well as
from our triumphs. There is no
reason why either side in the war
between the states, should be
ashamed Of or try TO forget that
contest. The South does not ask
or expect any apologies from the
brave men who fought her then.
We certainly are not ashamed Of
and have no apologies TO make for
what we did. While we have ac
cepted the results Of that war in
good faith, and are now as loyal to
the Union as any other section, and
as really TO shed our blood in de-
fense OF our country and our flag
as we were during the Revolution
ary war, the war Of 1872 cr the war
with Mexico-as was proven by our
late war with Spain-yet we stand
by and are proud Of the record that
we made during the dark and
stormy period Of the confederate
war. We cannot forget or apollo
gize for what we did then without
sacrificing our self-respect and dis
honoring ourselves. Should we do
this we would be unworthy of and
could not maintain the respect Of
others. We did nothing then that
should bring the blush Of shame to
a manly face. We would not change
our record if we could. 1t is true
that we did not gain the cause for
which we fought, but we did prove
our courage and sincerity; we
vindicated our honor. This is Of
greater value 10 rs than anything
this side OF the grave; more sacred
than life itself. We gained the re-
spect and won the admiration Of
those we fought. Our cause lies
buried in the grave, but no taint Of
cowardicc or dishonor rests upon
IL. il is enshrined aud imperishable
glory; il will be bequeathed to our
children and to our children's S
children as a sweet, precious and
sacred memory. The entire world
freely concedes that for devotion to
conviction, self-sacrifce, gallantry
and heroism the peopleof the South
are surpassed by none in the his
tory of the past and can never be
surpassed by the achievements Of
the future. Why, then, should we
seek to forget that which we and
our fathers aud brothers did2 Why
should we blush at or attempt TO
conceal the past2 Such conduct
would be evidence of base degener-
acy. It is far better 10 have made
this record and to have been out
numbered and overcome in the con
test. than il would have been to
have abandoned our conviction S
without a struggle, and bought
peace and safety at the sacrifice Of
manhood and the loss Of honor. /,
for one, glory in the record Of the
South. II is an inspiration to fu-
ture generations.
If our people will maintain the
high sense Of honor and devotion
to duff that characterized the Con-