The Daily Missoulian. [volume] (Missoula, Mont.) 1904-1961, 1909-02-13

l
subject on either side of Mason and
Dixon's line" Secretary Wright said
that slavery was not alone the sin of
the south although its oxpiation fell
| heaviest upon her people"
No Malice.
In speaking of the work of Mr..
| Lincoln, he said that through 1t all
| he uttered no word of ill will or mall
| ice toward the southern people: that
when Lincoln saw victory resting up
on the northern arms he showed no
feeling of exaltation; that If he had
, lived there would have been speedy
union of hearts between the north
and the south; and that "reconstruc-
ton did more to postpone reconcila-
tion than did the war itself"
Alas" Exclaimed the secretary IF
war referring to Lincolns first in
augural address, that the still small
voice of moderation and reason was
drowned in the angry cries of deter
| mined men marshalling for conflict,
| the magnitude of which few. if any,
| appreciated and the consequences of
which few, if any, foresaw And yet
| there were among the combatants tens
of thousands of men who felt the sweet
reasonableness of his dspassionate
| statements, whose hearts were
touched by his pathetic cry for peace,
and yet who. caught up in the ris-
| ing excitement of the time. aligned
| themselves under the stress of cir
cumstances on the one side or the
| other, tens of thousands OF men on
both sides deploring war, yet when
war seemed inevitable ranging them
| selves with their neighbors. 1t seemed
| the very irony Of fate that so gentle
a spirit, so sympathetic and kindly
a nature should be forced by the
| stern logic of events over which he
had no control and for which he was
in no way responsible to assume the
| role of commander-in-ch in a
| sanguinary civil war between men of
| the same blood and the same tradi-
| tions.
| Times Of Care.
The years of war and destruction
| during which he was president, whilst
| they plowed deep lines of care and
| grief upon his rugged face and Wrung
| his gentle heart, provoked no express
| sions of bitterness from his lips His
| many acts Of personal kindness to
! southern prisoners and southern sym
pathizers demonstrated how free from
| the spirit of malice or vengeance he
| was. AS in the progress of time it
became evident the Union arms
would triumph he evinced no feeling
| nf 10 nf nnI
| triumph, but only an anxious desire
| to restore the southern states to their
former place in the Union and to heal
the wounds of civil strife. That he
| would have succeeded in carrying
| with him a great majority of the
| people of the north in his beneficent
purposes, does not, to my mind, admit
| of doubt and that there would have
| followed speedily the union of hearts
| is equally certain. 1t was, indeed
| cruel that at the moment when he
| had reached the point which he had
| striven he should have died at the
! hands of a hair-brained actor who
| was in no way identified with the
south or her people. They shuddered
both at the dastardly act of his as
|
| consequences to themselves which
they knew would follow. The desire
| of reconstruction was the inevitable
| result and reconstruction did more to
| postpone reconciliation than did the
i war itself. 1t was direful in it's
! results to both sections and to the
negroes in greater measure if pos
| sible than to the whites"
For All Alike.
| In referring to the public utterances
| of Lincoln during the period of dis
| cussion preceding the war, Secretary
| Wright said that nothing had i'm
| pressed him more than the singular
| clearness OF Lincoln's perception that
| the responsibility for slavery rested
| upon all our people and was bur-
den which should be borne by all
alike. There was a temperance of
| statement, respect for the opposite
point of view, and a moderation in
his positions, which, when the ex-
| citement of the time is considered is
most extraordinary and must COM
mand our admiration, And Well
would it have been for all our people
had they been able to approach this
burning question with the same con-
versation and good sense. l have
sometimes thought that this was to
some extent due to the fact that his
birth and early youth were in a slave
holding state and that he understood
the attitude and feeling of its people
to degree not possible for one born
and reared in community where
slavery had long been unknown. He
sincerely believed in an indissoluble
union. He sincerely believed that
slavery was curse and great moral
wrong; and in believing thus he was
right. He was opposed not only to it's
extension but believed that gradual
emancipation was a possibility worth
II striving for. and vet he resneCted the