The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-04-03
WHAT NIGHT HAVE BEEN.


 Under the heading. Ignorance as motive power the Indianapolis Star has an editorial from which we copy the first paragraph. as follows:
 If the men who rushed to arms on either side of the great struggle Of 1s61-65 had known more, they might not have rushed so eagerly to the fray. In the South they did not know that they were being played upon by skill full conspirators. or that free labor was better for them than slave. or that some day they were yet to rejoice Tn the preservation of the Union. Numbers of Northern men, moreover, were restrain ed from radical action because study and reading had led them into grave doubt of the constitutional power of the Federal Government either to coerce the South into the Union or to interfere with slavery. We have the thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth amendments now, but the amendments were not there in 1861. If every man in the North had thoroughly apprehended the constitutional arguments of Calhoun, numerous. perhaps, and it is certain they would not have been so religious ly jealous. The brave fellows on each side saw only one side of the shield. therefore they were unkesitattng as we'll as unrcasoning in their devotion
 Douhtless the star is to a considera- ble extent correct in it's opinions as to what might have happened under different conditions and circumstances though it Is as difficult ., say what might have been" as it is to tell what will be. The people of the South firmly and sincerely believed that the aim an intent of the abolitionists was to de prive them of property to which they had always beca taught they had as much natural and constitutional right as the men of the North had to their personal prope .ty. They further believ- cd that the object of the war was to de- stroy the institution of slavery and thus rob them of large portion of that which they had always held under title which they cnsidered invulnera- ble.
 And our people had good grounds for both beliefs. They knew that the ex- treme wing of the abolition party was coming into power and that 1t was coming under the domination of lead CTS who had no more respect for the constitution than they had love for the shareholders. Firmly imbued with this conviction they further believed that secession was the only way by which they could maintain their constitutional rights and save themselves from a gi- gantic robbery under form of law and they withdrew from the Union that threatened them and took up arms to make good their action. Their object was not to destroy the union but to defend themselves and their property. As for the Southern people being play ed upon by skiilful conspirators" thu is very largely untrue.
 It is quite probable. also, that the great masses of the North were deceiv- ed and misled. They were led to be- lisve that slavery in the Southern States was in no danger and would not be interfered with, and were further taught that the only object the South ern people had in view was the destruc- tion of that union which Northern peo- pie believed was the greatest of all earthly blessings. Thus kept in ignor- ance or wilfully deceived, and with the extremists of the North playing on their love for the union the Northern CTS also took up arms-not to free the slaves but to save the union. A ma jority of them would not have wasted an ounce of powder if they had felt su,e that the hidden design of the war was to destroy slavery.
 Thus the masses on each side were acting under a delusion, and thus they hocked to their respective standards and engaged in one of the mightiest struggles of modern times. We re- peat that is not safe to say what might have been. but we do think that if both sides had been fully informed re- sarding the other the war might have been avoided. That much seems safe to say. looking backward and judging by what we do know: