The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1910-03-08
BUST OF RANSOM IN STATE
CAPITOL
CONTINUED from Page T~NelNe.)

bitter troubles through which we had
TO pass, / should have despaired of
the fate Of my country and regarded
the continuance Of life as a doubtful
blessing. A people exhausted by war
and broken down by anguish were to
try again the experiment of Self-GoT-
for themselves They were to
test the capacity OF a new race for
Self-goyern1nent, they We're to deter
mine the question OF labor in all its
forms, and they were to c0nduc these
trials at the same time and on the
same field with that other
city of different races to live to-
yether III harmony as political equals.
These were some of the difficulties the
South had to confront. And, Mr..
President, had You then done as YOU
ought to have done-and ] must say
right here what ! do think-had you
extended your right hand to the South
in this hour Of sorest trial. had YOU
treated her people with maSnaninlity,
had you given them your confidence
as c~ountTynen n brothers, the at
tachment and the gratitude OF that
people TO you and the Union would
have been boundless.
But Senators remind us Of the
~magnanimity of the Government.
Holding that quality to be the crown
Of all the virtues, J should be pleased
to recognize it in the conduct of the
Government toward the Southern
States. 1t has been exercised in All
our relations with others, it has been
manifested toWard the Indians: it has
been manifested toward all our fcebler
n~eiShbors; it has expressed itself III
sympathy for all the oppressed people
of the earth. But VAS it magnanim-
Gus, was it wise or polite, when the
South was i'll the condition ] have
just described, to extort from her
poverty q cotton tax OF $4,000, 900,
now almost universally admitted to
be Unconstitutional? Was it magnanr-
nous wise or polite IN your
amendments to the Constitution, while
you bestowed all political and civil
rights on those who had been our
slaves, to d~isfranchise without dis
elimination every human being in the
South who had ever been trusted by
his people? And, let me ash The
Senate Of the United States il il Is
m~agnanimous, grateful, patriotic. o.
honorable to deny 70 the surviving
soldiers OF the war OF 1872 who live in
the South the pension Of the Govern
ment. Sir. in this debate We have
heard much OF Jackson and the glory
of New Orleans. and the heart OF the
nation swells with gratitude and pride
when the Stn OF January, 1915, is
mentioned. Is il possible tia tho
~ q - >'@HA NC'
glorious day, now past four score
years, tottering to their graves, are
d~ishonored 10y the country they gave
their blood to defend? senators, let
not this reproach longer dishonOT the
justice, gratitude, and glory Of the
American people. This IS not the
magnanirnity that conquers hearts.
But let it be recorded to the i'm
p~erishable and transcendent glory or
the South that amid all this ruin, reyo-
luton, eclipse, and darkneSS her
great people, as q people, never once
lost their s~elf-controi. forgot their
duty, violated their moderation or
broke anv Of the restraints Of law or
honor. But Let it also be written to
their undyjng and supreme renoWh
that amid these speeches. calainities
they have cherished and preserved in
| unuuenchable light their love OF liber-
| ty and constitutional freedom. Sir, II
all history has there been any
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