The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1910-05-26

efOuS w carer OF the Blue.
Communication in New York Evening Post
Although, temporarily absent from
New York | have read the letter Of
Thomas Sturgis upon he Lee statue.
| wish to say something on the other
side. which have an equally COOL
right to do. as an old soldier and OF
firer in the Union army from 1861 to
1865. Although | was old enough
to vote for Lincoln in 1864, | still
consider myself as belonging to the
present, and not to the past, and |
have written from that standpoint.
The student of history who seeks
the causes which brought on the war
clearly sees that it was the final and
inevitable elimination of a cOntrO-
versv which originated when the Con-
StitutiOn of the United States was
being formed in committee, II qups-
ton over which men honestly differ
ed and which came near defeating the
adoption of the Constitution. The
question was whether, in ratifying
the Constitution, the State finally
and irrevOcably surrendered its SOW
ereignty The most of the OppOsi-
tiOn was from tie Northern States,
the State of New York carrying its
opposition so far as to refuse to vote
| upon it. This question continued un-
settled, and was constantly debated
in the halls of Congress, the State
Legislature, and in debating societies
both North and South. Under the
| leadership of Webster on the one side
and Calhoun on the other, the States
| finally aligned themselves, the North
on one side, the South on the other,
with such zeal and acrimony that
even an appeal to the Supreme court
would have failed to settle it, for
neither party was prepared to accept
an adverse verdict. There was but
one way in which such a question
could be settled, a question in which
| abstract right and wrong did not en-
| ter, and upon which men could hon
| estly differ, and that was by force,
| and by force it was settled, finally
| and forever
With true Anglo Saxon manliness,
| CIiC ANblSiOlI w CbISCP'-
ed by the vanquished. Who can now
say that the people OF the South are
less loyal to the Union than the peo-
pie Of the North? That the people Of
Virginia have less love of liberty and
union than the people OF New York?
What wonder is it that the South
ern people should love and honor
their heroes who, firmly believing
that their first allegiance was due to
their native State, offered "thf fir lives,
their fortune, and their sacred hon
or" in answer to her call! "They
fought like brave men, long and
we'll" Their cause was lost, but
their country remained. Still loving
and hOnOring their native States,
they who fought so we'll and so vain
| ly, turned to instruct their children,
who are the present generation, to
love and honor their country the
more. Though they may gather to
do honor to their heroic dead and
the few who still survive; though their
tattered battle flags may still berev-
emily kissed and wept over, there is
no tear for the lost cause, no sigh OF
regret over its failure.
The State of Virginia in accordance
with the law of Congress which as
signs two inches in the Statuary
Hall of the House of Representatives
to each State in which the citizens
may erect statues to their most hon
ored sons, has selected George Wash
ingtOn and Robert E. Lee for the
honor. TO the Eirginian no names
are dearer or more hOnOred. Wash
ingtOn belongs to the nation, but
Lee to his State alone, and to him
his State: Cannot do too much honor
For her he sacrificed everything-his
high life position in the regular army
which he had gained by years OF en-
deavor, and his hopes for the future
for he clearly realized the doubtful
issue of the struggle upon which be
entered. His sense of the duty he
owed to his native State alone con
trOlled his action, which has beer
cOntrasted with that of his compa
triot, George II. Thomas, but eacf
acted in honest accord with his con
victions OF duty. To Lee the call o
his State was imperative; to Thomas
with his wider view, the nation was
paramount.
The purity OF Lees character, hi:
unselfish devotion to what he felt tC
be his duty, and the manliness will
which he accepted defeat and acqui
esced in the result, entitled him tt
the respect Of every honest man. ant
no American need be ashamed OF hin
or cavil at the honor given him b,
his native State. Certainly Virginia
intends no affront to her sister State
in her selection. Her tribute is to tn
man and not to the cause; the mem
ory of the man as an American j
worthy to be perpetuated, although