The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1904-01-24

, him." he remarked, when later present
ed the blushing child.
General Longstreet was suffering great
| " from an affection of the eye and it
was two days before l saw him again.
Then finding him pleasantly situated in a
shaded corner of the verandah | caught
up the end Of his ear-trumpet and ven
tured:
General, 1t would be nightly inter-
estng to get your views on the negro
question"
The statement was evidently surprise
and not over pleasant.
Question? know of no such question.
There has been too much said on the
subject already While there are doubt
| less a few who will enter the profess
sions, the great majority will remain just
where they are, happy in the friendship
and guidance of their white brethren"
| 1t didn't occur to me that any fur
| Their comment on the subject was neces-
sary. For while we sat In silence. 1t
was the generals delight to sit quietly
alone Perhaps I didn't give him that
pleasure as often as I should. At a hotel
this is an achievement for a great man,
the butt Of idle curiosity. the target for
/ the most trlfing questioning. 1t was truly
surprising to see the graciousness with
which he received every one. His courtesy
was unfaing He was a true southern
gentleman.
Some regulars bound to Fort Nc
Pherson passed through the village. From
where we sat their khaki uniforms were
plainly to be seen at the windows of the
train. The sight brought to mind the
boys in the Spanish-American war. knew
of course that comparisons were obvious
| ly not In order, so / merely remarked
something about that little difficulty with
| the Castilians, in the hope that he would
venture some opinion. Not a word
| from the general.
Must seem rather tame to you after
| the fighting you have seen?" I hazarded.
Yes. There was not another word,
but the infection of his voice supplied the
deficiency. Then / turned the conversa-
ton.
DO you not think that sectionalism is
rapidly disappearing? That there is
really no north or south today? and the
song ran through my ears,
There is always a west,
| There is always an east
Where the sun does rise, they say;
But they're marching abreast
| From the east to the west,
| For there's no north or south today
Most decidedly so,'' he said "The
! ties that bind us, social and commercial,
make us one country and time will fur
Their cement the bond. Nothing can pre-
vent our fulfilling the prediction to be-
come the greatest power in the world %
! To the average reader the name of
Longstreet is to be found In the roll of
military masters. The world at large
does not fully appreciate the heartburn
| ings the general suffered long after the
=, arms were stacked and the smoke had
cleared. After both sides had gone to
dream of war no more"
| To quote from history In substance:
| zone OF the conditions of peace was the
eniranchisement of the negro fact
naturally most distasteful to the south
| 1t was. however, not a matter OF choice.
and TO resent this provision was to disre-
| gard thefr paroles. Longstreet was with
| Lee and Davis the only man refused a
| pardon by President Johnson. and it was
! only at the earnest solicitation of Cen
| eral Grant that his was finally granted.
| To him as to other Confederate gen.
erals, was put the question, Shall Louis
| lana accept the rulings of congress-
| In other words. should Louisiana abide
| by its promise given to respect the laws?
| General Longstreet. bitterly reviewing
the suffering of the four years past. real
( izing the utter llopelessness of further
resistance and above all. knowing his
sacred promise to the United States gov