The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-06-11

union stopped at noon touay @ne .sS slS- was solemnity in the great auolenee when .he veterans paid tribute to their dead chief of which was Generai The speakers were General Clement A. Evans of Georgia, soon to pc eject ed to succeed General Lee as Pmtnane- aH. ! erin -cfief, and General w. "A. Mont somery of Edwards, Miss
 At the conclusion of General Mont gomery's address resolutions on the death of General Lee were adopted by q rising vote.
 lowed closely by his comrades.
 General Evans Speaks.
 General Evans said:
 ssThis Assembly is representative of the people of that part of the country commonly called The South. It stands. as q body for the true citizenry or \ nowerful section of the United states. The people thus represented have views of true civic virtues. and {, Of the true social status, and the dis tinct responsibilities of the American people which are shared by the great CT number of our countrymen every where.
 k Tt cannot be suspected without a shudder that their ideas and ideals are scornsd by majority Of the peopie of the Union. In fact this truly grand gathering represents the intelligence and the energies, the traditions and the history, the intense patriotism and the exalted hopes of a chivalric people whose ancestors were leaders of great prominence in the founding or our Constitutional Republic.
 The Special Objects
 'srhe special work chosen by the great soldiers organization here In an- nual session is purely patriotic peace making beneficial to the whole country 7 and valuable to posterity forever. It's principal objects are to preserve com radeship; to establish justice and pur- ity in all literature. specially in his- tory; to abolish sectional discord; to promote genuine and generous cour- fesies among the people whose fathers nearly half a century ago strove for the mastery with bloody severity four years upon many historical battle fields.
 "In proper furtherance of these grand designs. heroism is being also commemorated by durable monuments as well as by every other token that ran inspire men with the true heroic spirit and the love of truth which makes a people free indeed, and 1t must be further stated that among this cluster of starry guides to Ma tional glory it has become necessary to place Southern and National insist ence that the reasonable claims Of the South for better recognition should be allowed; that its local problems should be more fairly considered. and that if should be unhindered in its efforts to maintain under existing embarrass- ments. the social and racial integrity of all that people who developed and civilized North America, and establish ed the Democratic republican govern ment which we enjoy.
 The sOutb,s History.
 ''The people of the South have made history which teaches moral and civic virtues by example, and they are greatly concerned in the true narration of their deeds and the fair statements of their motives.
 'Tn beginning to discharge this duty as to their own recent history, the Southern people were startled by the discovery that the youth of the coun- try were threatened with a perpetua- ton of sectional strife through the evil influences of sectional literature. History books were complacently pre- scented for adoption by school boards although infested with sectional un- fairness. Statements were printed in such books which were but half truths. while truths were so adulterated with errors as to be no longer true and pure, while paragraphs were adroitly constructed so as to carry concealed the deadly dagger of misrepresenta- ton.
 v It was evident that QuIy uSmdnueu resistence to this corruption of a liter ature pretending to be historical truth. and 1t is gratifying to know that the efforts to strike down the pernicious evil has been rewarded by considerable success, but the strict exclusion of all unfair publications must be vigorous ly enforced, and the books themselves must be consigned to the flames of pa triotic indignation.
 "Southern authorship is winning high appreciation by the public. The South is rich in talents, experience and other wealth to enter the fields of lit- erature where the greater success awaits only the greater endeavor to achieve 1t, Glaring wrongs can be best remedied by the Southern writers doing their part in the literature re- formation.
 If the youth of the South shall not hereafter know the splendid history of their own section. and the true value of Southern history, that priva- tion will be the fault of their fathers. The fact is lamentable that the pass ing of forty years has been required to satisfy the public mind that broad generosity and not a narrow animosity should be the pervading spirit of Amer tcan literature, that praise and not ob- loquy. fair play and not foul play, should distinguish signally and spe- cially the permanent narration of that mighty struggle between the sections which closed without the loss of even one essential principle and Iessened the rights and duties of our people our states. and our general govern ment.
 Wtn Preserve Pr0sperlty
 'The Southern people of 1881 did not finger long at the tomb of the Confederacy. Their brave soldiers garIanded the ideal sepulchre with their own chivalric glory and com mitted the Confederate movement to the memory of what 1t was. and what it's defenders did to sustain it. The South would not live in the past alone It's people gazed awhile sadly on the rich and radiant glow of the setting sun. but they firmly gaced the duties of the coming day.
 'HThe severity of the new conditions were appalling, but in battling bravely ly with their obstacles this heavily burdened gallant people are achieving well deserved success. Out of ex- treme desolations the hopeful south land citizenry has risen majestically by their own splendid achievements without capital except a credit good as gold, and a land that responded to the enterprises of its owners They had & genius for honesty in business and fidelity by the laws of true trade which so directed their financing that they have never in all history produced a financial panic. Their energy in