The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-06-11
VETS PAY TRIBUTE
 TO THEIR HEROIC DEAD
Speeches at Birmingham by General Evans and General Montgomery Resolutions Passed
 on Death of General Lee.

 vicious natural resources. Hear with 1 gladdened hearts the music of Us l mills and mines, its commerce and US fields and forests singing in harmo- nious chorus-Hurrah for the sunny 1 Southl
 Has Its Own Problems.
 There are conditions existing at times, in special situations which pro duce problems for people to solve anu l in our country there are varfepes oI | local problems which can De soiveu only by local wisdom. But our form or Government is better adaplea .o Se'sis sp, such problems in the interests oI aiI the people than any other government | on earth.
 Tn our Union the responsibilities for good government are shared among the people. the states and the general GOV ernment in such manner that eacn I has sufficient authority to do the du- l ties required and therefore when spe- l cial local problems arise the task or | solving them presses first upon tne locality most concerned.
 l @The Southern States have their own problems which they desire to solve for the common good. It Is true also that there are other questions not ex- clusively Southern in which the peo- | ple of the South are concerned equally with all citizens--such, for instance, as | the general questions of the just rela- tions between the states, and between l any state and the general Government. But even this problem was made | local as to the Southern States and l became acuteiy sectional in the years l between 1850 and 1861 when the cir- | cumstances that African slavery had become an institution was used to create a dangerous Southern problem
 'After many unsuccessful expedients' the states in the South lied for refuge to secession, and that being denied they were forced to fight; and having failed l in that, they surrendered without any settlement by negotiations or war. Hence, the old disturbing presence in our country of people of Afican de-
 scent became more serious than ever
 because the problem was loaded from 1865 with new and insupportable con- ditions.
 "These negroes in the Southern States were merely turned loose with nothing but the power to vote and hold office without qualifications They were not offered homes anywhere except In
 the South. and they fell as a load on the Southern people But the South assum-
 ed the burden; and the assertion Is here l made that no body of people in any l age of the world has treated this negro
 race with real kindness except the peo- l pie of the Southern States.
 "All nations have enslaved them, and
 
 physical. intelligent. moral manhood
 which is the indisputabie qualification
 of a valuable population
 sFor example, consider the negroes l in Africa under European race. The Southern States have over 6.000.000 l of this race to care for, and the | Southern people are qualified to exe-
 cute the trust justly, benevoiently. and I for the general welfare. It ts, there l fore, insisted that the hindering inter meddiing with the purposes to righte-
 ously solve this problem shall ceasei I for whatever the motive may be, such 1 interference Is misdirected, hurtful and often open to suspicion as being accom- l panied with insincerity selfishnesss or
 ignorance of Southern conditions. I The Patriotic Spirit.
 @The mere argument on certain de-
 batable questions of great importance | has been exhausted. These Issues have been ably discussed in conventions like this for many years with clear ness, truthfulness and power by the I most eminent men of the country. l None of them need further discussion at this hour before this well-informed assembly. The South rests its reasons
 and its acts in the effort of the States l to form a separate Government on the | law and the testimony with absolute | confidence in the justice of its cause
 "The Southern people stand upon the firm basis of their sound and solid char acter. and upon the principles of con stitutional law. civic right, and moral l duty which ruled their actions with profound satisfaction they con l template their history from the first settlement in Virginia centuries ago and | their immense contribution since then | to the greatness of our country. With the purest spirit of patriotism they | are yet devottnE tn cir energies to the moral. the educational, the industrial and the financial uplift of all the people | to those lofty civic conditions which alone truly exalt nation.
 This attitude of the South thus | firmly taken on questions formerly de- batable even by war, permits in present conditions the fair concession on all sides that points of view may be con | sidered, and honest difference of opin- | ion may be indulged, provided neither side will do the other any harm.
 "The remark has been prominently | made in praise of the soldiery of the Confederate and Union armies that each fought for the right as he saw | the right This favorite fraternal | phrase may be accepted to mean that | honesty in opinion, as well as valor in action may be found on bothe sides.
 "Take as illustration: that one man l could see from his one point of view that the saving of the Union is his su- | nreme obligation, while the other saw clearly that saving the Constitution
 was his supreme duty but each may 1 now see that there is an honest way | to keep both the Union and the Con- l stitution in perfect safety--and may it | not be urged incidentally that as the | Union is safe from danger of secession, let us save the Constitution from the | danger of secession. let us have the l Constitution from the dangers of per- | version.
 For Union and the Constitution.
 'It will profit our statesmen and all other students of our Government if | they will fully consider the estimate 1 nlaced by the citizens of the United | States on the present value of the Union together with the intense devo- | ton of the people also to the consti- | tuition as the protector Of their per- | sonal liberties, and the savior or the
 powers and dignitles of their respec- tive States from a possible ruthless | ravaRe. These two potent, popular es-
 inmates of the Constitution and the
 Union are consistent and cooperative.
 They are the indissoluble components
 of a good government, and both are
 sentiments very dear to the American heart.
 we remember the power of the mas
 terful Union sentiment when the appeal
 was made to save the imperiled life of
 the Union, even by war. It was
 feeling inherited from our ancestors of
 the American Revolution, and had been
 at various times displayed throughout