The National tribune., 1908-03-04
Ief Us Have Peace,

(From the Atlanta Constitution)
Inaccurate accounts of the inscription
said to have been selected for the mon
| ument to be erected to Maj. Henry
Wirz, Confederate Commandant at An
dersonville, have been the means of
creating a needless furore and a meas
ure of unnecessary recrimination here
| and there IN both North and South.
In some manner the impression WAS
Confederacy, Georgia Division, had al
| ready agreed upon an inscription for
the monument to Maj. WirZ, which re-
ferred to his trial as IAN illegal court
| martial and his execution as Judi
| cial murder"
The impression thus conveyed is er-
roneous. Capt. Louis G. Young, of Sa-
vannah. makes the statement that the
expressions that have given offense
| were merely a suggestion; that they
have yet to be passed upon by the
Daughters of the Confederacy, and that
| it is probable the proposed inscription
will be materially modified.
No student of history can now Ques-
ton that the trial and execution of
| Maj. Wirz took place under abnormal
and inflammatory conditions At the
was no more qualified to judicially de-
termine the merits of such a case than
would have been the South under SINH
lar circumstances. Rancor. born of
death and suffering, were rampant in
both sections.
Men We're blinded by prejudice and
| bitterness yet raw, and their minds
were quickly susceptible to narrowing
| recitals. 1t is unfair and illogical to
judge the effect of evidence in those
days by the cooler and calmer stand
ards of our times. The assassination of
Lincoln had added further fuel to the
| fire. and it would have been indeed
| strange If the viewpoints of the most
| reasonable men had not taken their
color from the exciting influences of
| the moment Boo .-.r.. ref
The people of the South have an in
alienable right to their innate convic-
| tionS regarding the nature of the SER
vices of Maj. WirZ or any other South
erner. while a similar right extends to
the people OF the North with regard
| to their heroes. Yet when an inscrip-
| ton is to be chosen for the Wirz Monu-
ment, we believe that one can be Sc
lected that will be more pacific and
| less provocative than that suggested,
and at the same time do full justice to
| the fidelity and achievements of the
man whose memory is to be honored.
Some years ago devoted Northerners,
who cherish their traditions with an
| equal fervor distinguishing those of the
South, began the erection of monuments
to their dead at Andersonville The in
| scriptionS, in some instances, were of
| a blunt and passionate nature which
gave offense to Confederate veterans.
A protest was entered. Without hesi-
tation the offending phrases We're re-
moved or satisfactorily modified. And
| yet in no single instance were any
| changes made which prevented full
honor and credit being given the mem
DRY of the men thus distinguished
Can the South afford to be less gen.
| erous?
From the days when Grant uttered
his kindly and meaning phrase, Let
| us have peace" and Robert L. Lee set
| the South an immortal example of for
titude and gentle forbearance the men
who did the actual fighting and who
endured the real suffering on both
sides have been working by word and
deed toward brotherly reunion and a
| reconciliation which forgot the embit
| tering asperities of the SOS in the
greater heritagle of an evenly-Shared
National destiny.
We are indebted to the propitiatory
| utteranceS and actions of such men as
Gordon and Wheeler and Clement
Evans and William Mckinley for the
closing of a once wide breach. If the
men who knew the full tragedy and
! who sustained the heavy burden of
those days could exhibit such forbear-
ance and breadth of spirit, cannot we
of the generation that knows the de-
| tails of the strife only thru history
emulate their superb example?
The legacy of their great-heartedness
lays on US an even larger obligation
| Let us do full justice to the men who
did their duty as they saw the light;
but let us, in the wisdom and the toll
| erance of this far-removed day. lay for
| ever the sinister ghosts that would
prompt us to rekindle the animosity and
the bitterness of the past.
Let us have peace!