Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1909-05-21
A narrowing Experience.

l.
hatred. that grew out of the Civil war
| is to be deplored. Rather should it be
the effort of every good citizen to pro-
mote a feeling Of amity and co-opera-
ton between all sections. No element IN
the country is more anxious that this
should be done than the brave men who
fought the great battles of the rebel
lion-both those who wore the blue
and those who wore the gray. We are
TODAY ore country with one destiny and
one flag. There is no reason to believe
today that the people Of the South are
any the less loyal to it than we of the
| North. Under sucn circumstances any
thing that would tend to stir up the
dying emhers of sectional differences
and resentiments may well be frowned
upon by all good citizens.
Not long ago a Congressman from
Ohio made the mistake of introducing
a bill to prevent the placing of a por-
trait of Jefferson Davis upon a
silver service to be presented to
the battleship Mississippi. The
question was one that could only
arouse sectional differences and ami
mosities, and should not have been
raised. If the people of Mississippi in
presenting a silver service desired to
put upon it the portrait of Mr.. Davis or
any other man who had once been
prominent in their life, it was their
matter. and they should have been left
to settle in their own way. They were
paying the bills. 1t is never good taste
to look gift horse in the mouth.
Naturally after he had introduced his
bill Mr.. Hollinsworth came in for some
decidedly acrid criticisms from the
Southern editors-criticisma that were
quite in keeping with the climate down
that way The average Southern edi-
tor is royal good fellow. IL very loyal
friend, and a crown prince of hosts.
When, however, he gets his dander up
more liquid lightning and essence OF
vitriol can flow from his pen in forty
seconds than would be possible to q
Northern editor in a month. On such
occasions he let's himself out to the full
length of the traces and simply tears
up the earth. His adjectives are weird,
lurid, awe-inspiring. 1t was not sur
prising therefore that Mr.. Hollins-
worth soon found himself in the midst
of a con.motion compared with which
seat on hornets nest would have
been a summer picnic.
Naturally Mr.. Hollinsworth was dis
pared to defend himself He arose in the
House for the purpose and prefaced
the speech he was about to
make by reading the designations of
himself that mad been used in num-
Der of Southern papers. 1t was hot
stuff The House was impressed with
it: but not exactly as Mr.. Hollinsworth
had anticipated it would be. Instead
of exploding with righteous Indignation
it greeted the reading of these peppery
Southern editorials with howls of APP
preciative laughter. They were genu-
inc literary cocktails and charged the
very atmosphere with a spirit of exhil
aration. Having finished his reading
Mr.. Hollinsworth started out to charge
the enemy; but, alas! he was rudely
shut off by Speaker Cannon and the
speech he would have delivered was
lost to posterity. All he succeeded in
getting into the record were the charac
terizations of himself he had read from
the Southern papers. Among them
were the following designations: con
temptible little whelp"; "a political
nonentlty from Ohio: "a pale-faced
lulninary'';; "a pusillanimous pigmy
from Ohio" etc. etc.
There is lesson to be learned from
this narrowing experience. 1t is this:
Don't monkey with the buzz saw. The
great Civil War closed nearly half a
century ago and it is not wise thing
in this day and generation to do any
thing to keep alive the resentments it
engendered.