The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1904-06-03
nay be viewed as the last measure OF

uldy Ue NleWeG dS lue ldSl measure OF
an exhausted goyernment-a cry for
help; the government stretching
forth its hands to Ethiopia, instead
OF ETHIOPIA stretching forth hel
hands TO the government and 1T
would be considered last Shrek
on the retreat. Now. sir, while |
approve the measure. suggest.
sill, that you postpone it's issue until
you can give it TO the country sup
ported by military success instead OF
issuing it, as would be the cast now,
upon the greatest disaster Of the
war
Said Lincoln: 1.-The wisdom OF the
view taken by the secretary OF state
struck me with great force. 1t was
an aspect of the case that, In all my
Thought upon the subject | had en-
tirely overlooked. The result was
that | put the draft Of the proclama-
ton aside, waiting Tor a victory"
In September came the somewhat
doubtful victory Of the national arms
at Antietam, but il was a victory,
and Lincoln decided to wait no long
er, and Immediately the proclama-
possibilities, was issued. 1t met
with varied reception, especially in
the north, where the aiders and
abettors OF secession assaulted it with
maddened frenzy, denouncing it as
one Of the most cruel and outrageous
acts which despotism ever perpetrat-
ed. melting insurrection and indis-
crlminate massacre. But the nation
at large endorsed the measure.
Secession trembled under the blow.
Freedmen t1ocked beneath the folds
OF the Star Spangled banner and it
soon became manifest that slavery,
like a hideouS monster. wounded,
bleeding. bowling, was sinking into
a grave whence there would be no
resurrection. Maryland, Delaware,
Missouri and Tennessee Immediately
took steps to emancipate their
slaves, and even before the war
closed all our people were living ssln
the land Of the free, aud the home
OF the brave"
And still the war waged fast and
furious, but discerning men all over
seemed to see that from the very
moment the Emancipation Proclaim
alton was issued a change cane, that
augered we'll for the final and com
plete triumph Of the union arms. In
fact il seemed as though the great
Jehovah set the seal OF His high
approval upon the act, and from
that time forward HIS omnipotent
arm gave strength and courage to
the Union cause, and victory fol-
lowed victory until finally we reached
Appomattox.
The proud and naughty Lee sur
rendered the flower Of the southern
army to Grant, and shortly General
Joe Johnston, one or the brightest
soldiers in the rebel army, asked for
terms from the gallant Sherman,
who offered terms unsatisfactory TO
the federal authorities, and with all
haste Grant was sent to Raleigh.
and on April %, 1865, the surrender
or Jonhston's army was made at
Durham, and this practically ended
the rebellion.
General Grant, with great mag
nanimity, had arranged that the
surrender Of Johnston should be
made to General Sherman, although
his was the master mind that pre-
scribed the terms on which the sur
render should be effected. General
Hardee, n of the very able rebel
officers, is reported to have said: 81
accept tins war as the providence
OF God. He intended that the slave
should be free and now he is free"
In the meantime jeff Davis, the
president of the disrupted confeder-
leaving in disguise shortly be-
wards captured and confined for
years as a military prisoner. He
never was reconciled and never re-
newed bis oath OF allegiance to the
union he had sought to destroy, but
died-as he had lived-disloyal to
tine land that gave him birth.
After the war closed, through the
magnanimity Of the federal con-
gress, universal amnesty was offered
all who had borne arms against the
government or aided and abetted re-
bellion, and nearly all accepted the
olive branch, and Don the work Of
reconstruction Of the seeding states
people Of the south accepted the Sit
uation and gave reasonable support
to the constituted authorities.
But the scars of a costly and djsas-
trous var were deep, the losses to
the south monumental, and it viii!
require more than a one generation
OF time to entirely obliterate the
bitterness Of their great defeat. But
time does heal the wounds Of ma
tions. as we'll as individuals and even
recently we have seen the blue and
the gray ma1eh:ss. side ly side under
the inspiring solds Of cold Glory
vieing with each other i'm patriotic
devotion to our common country,
and from Porto Rico and Cuba to
far away Manila each has evidenc ed
that this Is n country. and that
there is but one flag.
l now quote from one who wrote
strongly at the close Of the war of
the rebellion, but what he then said
applies with equal force today, even
though partial fultilIment has come
Of his almost prophetic vision:
The great nilsson Of the United
States now is to build up here the
most majestic empire on this globe
with every mar inspired by all the
energies of republican freedom, and
our whole magnificent domain from
ocean to ocean, and from Arctic ice
to tropic sun. smiling with happy