The sun., 1907-08-04

transformed the nation, considered as a
whole. from what it was in 1895 to what il
was IT, 1877.
At tine close of his first chapter Prof.
Dunning brings home TO the reader hov
the progress of the American nation in the
decade succeeding the civil war was to be
involved in tho solution of as complex
problems as ever taxed the capacity Of a
government. In the North the dangerous
encroachments of militarism on the domain
Of civil polity were to be terminated and
the tremendous financial burdens left by
tie war were TO be diminished and read
iusted 20 rs TO be bearahle. In the border
States the passions and feuds of a divided
society we're to he curbed till time should
bring tolerance and reunion. In the South
q wholly new social and political structure
was 10 be built out of the wreckage of that
which conquest had destroyed. and tho
foundation had TO be made by some distinct
determination of the rights and duties Of
the freedmen and by the construction of
State governments.
Our author adds that by the side of these
problems Of internal policy. though some
what in the background, lay certain ques-
tions of foreign relations which now and
then were forced ominously To the front in
the surgings of public opinion. Great
Britain had won no high favor in either
the North or the South by her wavering
policy during the war between the States.
and the presence Of French soldiers in
Mexico was an incontrovertible expression
osLe-::s Napoleon's malevoent disposition.
After the fall of the Confederacy it became
a question seriously debated in all the
political circles OF the North whether il
would not be well before reducing the mill
tary and naval establishments to have q
settlement Of the grievances for which the
European Powers might Justly be held re-
sponsible, Only the imperative and absorb
ing demands OF the home situation averted
an immediate crisis in foreign relations.
and at each particularly troublesome period
in the process of reconstruction there was
9 renewal of urging on the part OF innuen-
tial men that the President should find a
way out Of internal difficulties through an
aggressive movement against Great Britain
or against the French in Mexico.
In his second chapter Prof. Dunning re-
calls that throughout the Northern section Of
the country during the summer and autumn
OF 1895 the railway and steamboat lines
were taxed by returning soldiers. Into
every hamlet however remote. came soon
or late some narrator Of personal experience
In the great conflict now seeking TO assume
or resume some vocation in civil life. The
-old soldier" became a significant social
type and left sharp impress on the popu-
lar life and character of the times. Yet
our author notes that il was difficult To
detect at the North any economic influence
OF the great and sudden change during the
middle of 1885. The abrupt transfer of
nearly a million ablebodied men from de-
structive to productive occupation, with
the simultaneous curtailment and extinc-
ton of many large war feeding ind dustries.
might have been expected TO make itself
felt conspicuously in business and finance.
As a matter of fact hardly a ripple was
visible on the placid surface of the Norths
econoS,ic life. In that section the read
justn.sut Of forces proceeded for a time
30 peacefully as TO leave no sign.
Our author goes on 10 mark the striking
difference between the prosperous and
cheerful milieu to which the Northern SOL
der returned and the hopeless conditions
which his late antagonist of the South
encountered. While the veterans OF Grants
and Sherman's armies we're being trans
ported to their homes with every appli-
snce and provision for their comfort that
o high civilization and sympathetic fore
thought could supply, those who had fol-
lowed Lee and Johnston were slowly and
painfully making their way, chiefly on foot.
through ravaged and poverty stricken
regions that offered them little cheer save
the benedictions of the inhabitants. Some
ia, 900 surrendered Confederate soldiers
were paroled by the Union authorities
and over 90 900 more were discharged from
Northern prison camps during the summer
Prof. Dunning points out that these men
represented in a great measure the most
useful elements of the Southern popua-
lion. but the situation which they found
when they reached their homes was as q
rule. destitute OF all opportunity for use
fulness. Capital. labor. currency-all were
sither lacking or so transformed and tram
melled as TO require unfamiliar methods of
employment. Many a Confederate officer
whose word in March, 1885. had been law for
thousand men was toiling in the following
May at the hmblest manual labor in order
70 procure the little United States currency
that would command the necessities OF
ife for his family.
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