Daily press. [volume] (Newport News, Va.) 1896-current, 1907-06-01
the South fought for what he !. knew

Jihe. t Soutu iousnt lOr Wndt ene KNEW
81 On the expression OF. these sontii
nielits the gray,clad audience stood on
aud handkerchiefs, Seheered until
lhoarse. At the conclusion OF Colonel
Lees address the Whole body of vet
Grams pressed forward to shake hands
With the grandson of their old COM
itlander. the peerless Robert u. Lee,
and order was obtained on the prom
Use that at tho close OF the session
Colonel Lee would shake hands with
all.
VIII. Meet In NASHVILLE Next Year.
4 letter WAS. then read from Gen
erals NV. Ii. ,Gabell, of Texas, who, on
account of illness, is unable to- be
al the, reunion, and General Lee stat
ed that the letter was written from
whht. I'D pbahlSl the death of General
Cabell and Would probably be the
last communications from that off.
CO. = y % s. y s,
q enef.ll Lee then announced that
the coIimittee which has the matter.
la cha rye will announce the next plnce.
at noniitonlorrow. The Indications
are that Nashville, Tenn, will be the
choice of the majority. A
At half past twelve O'clock the con-
vention adjourned for the day and
the whole body of veterans advanced
to the speakers stand and with much
feeling shook the hand of Colonel
Bob" Lee, who had SO thrilled them
with his speech. 8
Col. Lees Speech.
In his decidedly able speech which
is tho most important feature of the
reunion thus far, Colonel .rBob'' Leo
said in part: '.There never has been
q more critical period Of American
history than that which ushered the
year i SB0 upon tine worlds stage OF
action: The trouble was not OF Elc-
cent ,oEigin,fit was not tho spasmoSlic
Eoutbpfst OF an hour nor the stubborn
and senseless resistance ola factious
maiite naDee of groundless opinions,
zbut was the. result of the existence
Of anita senizing force operating for n
long Jimeitn the country. the seeds
being first soWn I'm the fortile valley
OF 4 The James. Ind some fell down on
the rockboiInd Coat of New England
S oct onRt d ffefefces exhibited them.
selves long bel Sfe the adop tion of the
Fedora cons u ution. i F'oiss the ,purs
pose OF This occasion we care not how
the African slare first placed his mn,
|hallowed feet on. Southern soil, Snf-
tfiGeiit to sag that although the South
had at one time no inconsiderable
Icnrees Of mari inc atlyenture M
| ship or :shfpmnsfer OF hers has ever
lin n single case been implicated In
the illicit African slave trade. Her
greatest mon always maintained
slavery to be the most dangerous ele-
ment In the country. From the be-
ginning tho statesmen of the South
scented danger in the great race prob
lem with which they were being sad
died, and tho question that was up
permost in their minds was, what
shall be done with the emancipated
serf? Much as ! deDlore slavery.
said Patrick Henry, i sec that pru-
dcnce forbids It's abolition Henry
Clay asserted that The evils of slav-
cry are absolutely nothing in com
parison with the far greater evils
which inevitably ensue from sudden
and indiscriminatc emancipation
And again he says, If we were to in
yoke the greatest blessing on earth
which heaven in its mercy could be-
stow on this nation, 1t would be the
iseparation of the most numerous
races of Its population and their COM
Portable establishment in distant and
distinct countries. Mr.. Mason, OF
Virginia, went farther in declaring
THE traffic is Internal. To permit 1t
is against tile principle of honor and
safety Mfr. Calhoun was for the
lopinion that the existing relationship
between master and servant cannot
be destroyed without subjecting the
two races to the greatest calamity
and the section to poverty, desolation
and wretchedness.' Virginia in Oc-
tober, 1878, and Georgia, in 1898,
passed acts prohibiting the importa-
tion of slaves. The former act pro-
vided for penalty of one thousand
pounds, and also every slave imported
contrary to the true intent and mean
ing of this act shall, upon such i'm
portation, become Free. thus, to the
everlasting credit of the South, upon
whose devoted head the walls of holy
wrath have been uniustly and brutal
ly poured out for propagating, nour-
ishing and harboring slavery, she
leads the world In an earnest attempt
to prevent the very thing (which
Ishe Is accused
During the fight of 1S2O-21, which
resulted in the Missouri compromise.
so little had slavery become politi-
cal question and as further proof
that the Southern States had not at
that early period banded together In
support Of the system the States of
Virginia. Kentucky and Tennessee
were earnestly engaged in practical
movements for the gradual emanci-
pating of their slaves. and this good
work continued until 1t was arrested
by the abolltionists. who insisted up