The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-09-07
AN ourRAeEoUs PRosrcr.


 cult for himself or any one else to jus tify. He is reported to be preparing to demand of the State of Missouri some of the aged members of ouan- trelps band, in order that they may be tried for murder on indictments ! found by Kansas courts in 1863. Among \ the other acts of that band of raiders was the burning of the town of Law
 renee. Kansas. and the killing of g number of the inhabitants. For this number of them were indicted, and as some of them are still living in Mis- souri. the Kansas Governor proposes to ask for their extradition and have them put on trial on the charge Of murder.
 Recently the survivors of Quantelfs band held a reunion at Independence, Mo, and it is said that some of the speeches were not of the kind to please those who were on the other side. either during the war or since Some of them not only boasted of their raids, but expressed regret that they did not do the enemy more harm than they dia. It was the overdowing of the enthusiasm that frequently boiis up when old Confederates get together and in this case some of it may have been of nature well calculated to | arouse old antagonisms and revive old hatred.
 It is toN be regretted that this was done. Some of the acts of that band | cannot be excused by any true confed- crate, but if we cared to use the "tu | quoque" style of argument we might remind our Kansas friends that deeds were committed by Federal troops in the South that were little less damn able than anything that has been charged against ouantrelrs men. and which had not the same excuse alleged by the Missourians.
 But all this Is somewhat ancient his- tory. The acts complained of were done more than forty years ago. and might we'll be allowed to remain un- disturbed. And in the words of The Kansas City Journal. Republican pa per. "it Is we'll to remember the fear full condition of anarchy that existed along the border of the two States dur ing the closing years of the Civil War l In the riot of passion growing out Of misunderstanding prejudice. injustice. murder and the implacable spirit of re- venRe for real and fancied wrongs that pervaded the homes of Missourian and Kansan alike. grew the outrages known as the border warfare. Broth- CT fought against brother and fathers were aiienated from sons, In that frenzy of hate that swept like a bosom | of fire over the borderland." And that paper adds;
 More than a generation of men and women have lived and great cities have | grown up since the days of the border l struggle. Thousands of children of those participants have commingled in happy concord since the days their srei 9Fs of each esaoe e'ns sad pR6S healed the ancient wounds and the softening years are ever bringing about a better understanding in a once tur6- of Quantrell's band are old men. and, ls usual with age, they are inclined to l live over again the days of their lusty they get together that these men bestir the ashes of their vehemence and give forth the "rebel yell.'' The sons and daughters of many of
 those who fell in Lawrence live on | neighbor1y terms with the sons and | daughters of the men who rode with Quantrell Among these men and wo- men there is no bitterness. In Kansas, splendid and great, there Is people generous enough to forgive even those pitiless raiders who rode Into Law former foes are now marching together to a common camping ground. They are at peace one with another and the benign tranquility that they struggled | for should not be disturbed.
 That Is a better way to look at 1t. It should not surprise us If there may still be some bitter feelings among the old residents of that borderland. The men and the women on each side who personally experienced the bitter enmi- ties, some of them of long standing,
 which were intensified by the war, might not be too harshly criticised if they nurse hard feelings. but than can be forgotten or forgiven It would be human, and as The Journal says, the border warfare, with its cruelties and
 hArdships. was participated in by both sides. and neither has a right to cast
 stones at the other.
 And so the individual aninosities on each side may be forgiven and allowed
 to die with those who caused them and
 be buried forever. What cannot be
 justified Is the effort of a Governor to
 make a State affair of 1t. to rake up
 the old embers of hate and bitterness,
 and to endeavor now to punish those
 whose heads are white with age and
 whose lives cannot be much longer ex-
 tended in the ordinary course of na-
 ture.
 Governor Hoch ought to be able to
 see and know that If he insists on car
 rying out his reported intention he is
 bound to stir up the bitterest feeling that has existed in the Union in a gen
 eration. These old veterans, as The
 Journal says. are peaceful. law-abiding
 citizeAs, respected and loved by their
 neighbors, and doing no harm except by occasional bursts of old time en-
 thusiasm. Does any one believe that
 these friends and neighbors will quiet
 ly see the old men taken from their
 homes to be tried for their lives in an-
 other State? tried, too. among those who
 may still feel enmity towards them.
 The Idea is absurd. If Governor A1 hAN rk.a fAv