The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-03-31

other place would not be more suit
 able for such testimonial While
 we ali appreciate and sympathixe with
 the generous impulse that promtps
 these noble women to vindicate the
 memory of a much injured man, there
 is considerable divergence of opinion
 in our organization ss to tn advisabili-
 ty of placing the proposed monument
 at Andersonvi1ie.
 Tn the first place, the site of the
 famousamousshrelu uan uashrdl uan T
 famous prison is, practically, now no
 en over by the United Statts govern
 ment and we q use the pronoun ad-
 visedly, for I as a daughter of Geor-
 gia myself and every clod of her
 old red hills is as dear to me as my
 own flesh) could not place monu-
 ment there without its consent Even
 if this should be granted, would 1t,
 in view of the prevailing sentiment at
 the North, be in the best of taste;
 would 1t, in fact, be consistent with
 our own dignity and the dignity of our
 purpose, to intrude ourselves and it In
 to company where we are not wanted --and where tell the truth, there seems no especial reason why we should desire any memorial of ours to be7 On the great battle fields, where the men of both sides fought and fell together, 1t is all right to mingle the memorials of our dead. The glory and the tragedy of those great fields be- long to both alike, and we have a right to raise our monuments there as high as eaven, if we can.
 But tere are spots in theakeeping of either side where the other ad best not intrude. How should we feel, for | instance. If some zealous daughters Of
 New England we4b to propose the erection of a mohument to Grant or Lincoln in the Confederate cemetery at Richmond? And yet there is nothing invidious in the feeling: we all honor
 and respect Lincoln. but there Is an eternal fitness of things which should preclude even his statute forever from l certain spots peculiarly sacred to the Southern heart.
 In the same way, Andersonviile Is a I spot consecrated to the Northern heart by the memory of great tragedy in which we had no part, except as the we were powerless to relieve, and for which, as Mir. Galloway has plainly shown, i've were in no way responsible. But aside from these reasons, the se- | lection of Andersonville as the site of I a monument for Wirz would be likely to defeat its own object. Ever since the war it has been the Mecca of | tHTOuBS OL ncBTO OXCufSfoulSto on 1cC~ | oration Day, and neither they nor. the class of whites who consort with them
 would be able to appreciate the mo- 1 tives or respect the object for which 1 the monument was placed there, and even if 1t were not mutilated, the sur 1 roundings and associations of the spot are such that the mere fact of it's pres- ence would be more likely to create l irritation than to carry conviction. Hence. all things considered. 1t seems that some other place-Macon. Albany
 or Thomasville. for instance, would be more suitable for the monument con- | templated than a spot where it would
 meet the eyes of those only whom no | argument can convince. The cities l mentioned are visited every year by | thousands of Northern tourists of a l class more likely to be free from prej- ' udice, and therefore more open to req son, than the feeting and often un- 1 thinking crowds that flock to Ander- sonviIie. Many of them stay for weeks
 and months; there is nothing in the | surroundings to stir up unreasonfng g
 animosity, and the lesson of the mon- ument would stand at least a chance | of being attended to.
 l E F Andrewa