Martinsburg statesman. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1869-1906, 1906-05-04
The Confederate Reunion.

The annual reunion OF the United
Confederate Veterans begSn In New
Orleans last Wednesday. The enthu-
siasm was unbounded and the crowd
very large. Judge James II. Can't Of
Jefferson City, Mo-, commander OF the
Missouri division Of the Confederate
veterans was the orator Of the reunion
and delivered a scholarly address, Civ
ing q resume Of the war and its causes
He said in part:
sour citizenship fer 40 years since
that great struggle has stood every
test that could be expected, whether In
peace or war have said on other oc-
casions, and repeat II now, thst the
Spanish War was wcrth every life that
was lost and every dollar that was
spent; If for no other reason, than that
1t taught the Northern people that the
South and the old Confederatss an d
their sons were as jealous of the honor
Of our national nag, and would fight
and die for 1t as readily as any other
section Of the country.
"The North knows. az we know,
that 1t was Ensign Bagley, the son OF
a Confederate soldier of North Carolina
who gave his III, as the FIRST sacrifice
OF the war, that Hobson, OF Alabama,
the son of another Confederate, braved
the Spanish guns in the harbor Of San
tiago and added iuster to the Ameri-
can Navy; that ii was glorious jos
Wheeler, in whose honor the veterans
armies and the survivors Of the Span
ish War met at Atlanta month ago
to pay their tribute of love and admir-
alton, who held the American lines at
Santiago, and when our relations with
Spain over Cuba became critical the
honor Of the United States and the
protection Of American citizens was
committed by Northern Presidents to
that other splendid Confederate, Fitz-
hugh Lee. SO that, thank God, the
day of suspicion and distrvst Of our
fealty to our country has forever passed
away, and no sane man, North or
South, any longer sees aught to con-
denim or criticlse in our reunions.
"rhe x-Confederates and the South
are glad that peace once more broods
over our entire land, and that out Of
the sectional wall that once divided us
have sprung the flowers OF peace and
fraternaI feeling. 1t was a grace
fulsact on the part of President
Roosevelt in appointing Stonewall
Jackson's grandson toa cadetship to
West Point and in detailing Fitzhugh
Lees son for service at the White
House. In so doing did he expect
these young men to cease TO cherish as
their richest heritage l.he names OF
their immortal sires? II ever the honor
of our flag should be impsriled, does
any one doubt they Will remembe r
that ct is theirs not only to defend their
country, but to prove themselves
worthy Of the names Of Jackson and
Lee?
"But we hear every day from we'll
meaning people that no good can come
from these reunions and the perpetu-
alton Of our organizations; that we
but 0dslay the scsming Of that day
Of universal fraternity that In essential
to the welfare Of our common country.
We deny 1t. If the union 10 to be per
petuated 1t must be a union Of indie
structible States, each Of the same dig
nifty with the other under the Consti-
tuition and laws. We insist that truth
il eternal. We submitted our differ
ences with our Northe I'm Brethren to
the arbitranent Of arms-the emily
eou 1T to which sovereign states can 20
when all argument and peaceful over
lures fail-and we lost, and have In
perfect faith accepted the consequences
but it can never be matter Of indif-
fe renee TO any self-respecting, honora-
BILE people that history shall record
that they are traitors. We are unwilI-
ing that our children shall rest under
the stigma that their fathers were
guilty Of treason--the most despicable
Of crimes.
"A calm and dispassionate discus
sion now, 40 years after the last gun
has been silenced, can hurt no one; but
10 demanded for the truth Of history,
and surely no section ought to be afraid
Of the truth. We feel that the time has
come when we may vindicate to our
children, to the world and to our broth
rem Of the North the p urity Of the mo-
tives which led to our action in 1881,
and of the cause for which we made
such supreme sacrifices"