The National tribune., 1910-09-01
"sPECIoUs AND SPECIAL"

"sPECIOUS AND SPECIAL"
A Desperate Case-So Past Rear-Ad- |
miral Foss Stigmatizes Gen. Tor
RANGES Plea for Lee-Others Open
Their Gatling Guns.
Editor National Tribune: have read with
interest the article in your issue OF Aug;
il, entitled Torrance praises Lee and
would ike to submit few thoughts on the
'other side: for, coming as 1t does from
Past Commander-in- Chief Of the Grand
Army of the Republic, readers of this gem
Grafton may feel justified in assuming that
veterans of the Union army and navy ap-
prove the sentiments expressed and admit
that they are not sure that they acted right
ly in offering their lives and services TO
help preserve the Nation that II. f. Lee did
his utmost to destroy.
Belonging to the same Post as does Judge
Torrance, know him to be one of very
kindly impulses. and very tolerant. else
could readily imagine him a criminal lawyer.
shown by this interview, making spe-
cious and very special plea in what he knew
was a desperate case.
He says, .'The war being over. the first
duty Of every patriot North and South was
| to forget as far possible the bitterness
of the strife, to bind up the Nations
Good sentiments in the abstract but even
he somewhat limits their adoption by saying
as far rs possible" TO which, in my hum
| BILE opinion, he would have added. without
waivfng principle or belittling loyalty
1t strikes most of us that there was
principle involved in that struggle; that the
whole Is greater than part; and the differ
| ence between loyalty and treason Is rs great
| rs between sunshine and the blacknesS of
! night; and. consequently, National hOnors
ana rewards are not justly for the diSlOyal.
| Otherwise, we have no common rallying
| point, and the Nation that does not discrim-
| mate between its loyal and disloyal sons will
! not have the nerve to expect volunteers in
| time of danger, prompt response to the
call when made. Look at few facts, de-
| void Of sentimentality:
In the war of the rebellion the Govern
ment spent the gigantic sum of S6,O10.O00.
| 900 for war purposes; G7,OOO loyal defenders
were killed in battle; 2sO00 were wounded
! in battle: 43O12 died Of wounds; 224. $50 died
of disease: 2I,S72 died from other causes.
| The physical and material welfare Of
| many thousands was wrecked by taking
| these years from their lives. Homes were
| shrouded in mourning, countless widows and
| orphans were made subjects of charity.
| This much on the Union side as the pen
! atty for loyalty. On the rebel side. cas-
| uaties of like nature were in proportion.
| If these Union defenders were right. then
they were everlastingly right; and If they
/ We're then. the other side WAS wrong, and
! everlastingly wrong; and the faneied pOliti-
| cal exigcncies of this day, or sentiment. or
| special pleading. cannot change the fact.
! All this sacrifice of human life, sorrow,
misery and suffering of Innocent ones was
caused simply by the armed assaults by. the
! seeding States on the Lawful authority OF
/ the Nation organized and led in person by
| Jefferson Davis and his military right arm.
! Robert f. Lee. As the two great leaders of
| the rebellion. these two men,. in the sight
Of God and man. are chiefly responsible for
| the horrors Of that war and the casualties
on both sides -
| Robert E. Lee was educated at the. 'ex7
| pense of the United States at the West
| Point Military Academy. When his State
| Joined in the rebellion. he. knowing full well
| the import of his act Of his own volition,
and plunged his sword into the very yitais
! Of the country he had sworn to defend.
Eulogy Of his professional attainment per-
s3nP habits or private rharastef ;s approval val
| Others-when he was generously allowed the
| life he knew he had forfeited, all combined,
| cannot wipe out his treason.
| Like Macbeth's. the damned spot" will
| not out" Sentimentalists send the Grim
inal in his cell beautiful flowers and choice
| viands while the honest man out of jail
| goes hungry; but 1t does not change the
! question of guilt.
Does Virginia meet the views of Judge
! Torrance in the way of binding up the Ma
! tiOn's wounds when she thrusts in the face
| of loyal Americans n statue of Robert E.
Lee clad in the uniform typical of treason? !?
Who is the offender who tears open the "Na-
| tion's wounds" but Virginia?
And If this does commend itself to Judge
Torrance as ''binding them mp does it fol-
| low that it shall be allowed without the most
pronounced and indignant protest?
If so. the thousands of martyrs for the
! Union cause in their graves are better
| Off than their surviving comrades. who live
|
| If this is right. then are wrong. and
rs honest men should at once disband the
! Grand Army of the Republic and so apollo
/ Judge Torrance asks: "But in placing his
| lees statue in the Hall of Fame. does not
Virginia renew her pledge to hereafter de-
| fend that Capitol and the Flag of the re-
! united country that floats over it every day
in the year,
Since one has been found to actually ask
this question in apparent sincerity, ques-
tiOn silly and so far-fetched in the con-
clusions it is meant to convey. as to be most
uncOmplimentary to the intelligence of those
he questions | answer. fatty and unre-
servedly: ''Noi she does not: and nothing of
the sort is contemplated in the transaction -
/ heard the following words few weeks
ago in Chicago. spoken by a very intelligent
and well-educated Virginiah. one much bet
ter qualified to speak for Virginia than is
Judge Torrance or any other Union veteran:
| "You Northern people might well un-
derstand one time onther that We of the
South have no apologies or regrets to ex-
press for trying to break up the Union; and
you Will take the statue of Lee in Confeder-
ate uniform the best form know In
which to express our attitude and opinions
| on this subject: and 1t will stand in the
National Capitol as Virginin's tribute to the
cause we love and fought for. If Lees
statue can't go. there. then we won't put
ANYTHING there"
Not every virginian would speak so hon
estly. and I said The reply was, I'm
no doilgh-face. ! want no office. I can
sneak the truth without any mans permits
speak the truth for himself and Virginia as
la whole.
Imagine the return from the grave of the
hundreds Of thnusands of dead Union veter-
ans to receive three items of information:
| I. During the Spanish American war
three ex-Confederate Generals-Wheeler.
| FitZhuSh Lee and Rossef-were given high
rank and commissions in the U. S. Army
over the heads of abler who were
officers of absolute loyalty and faithfulness
| for years.
2 This Government allows the battleship
| Mississippi to carry silver service bearing
a medallion likeness of that arch traitor,
Jefferson Davis.
g. Virginia proposes 70 put in the Nation
nj Capitol statue of r. f. Lee in rebel
uniform, and Judge Torrance, Past Com
mander-in Chief of the Grand Army of the
| Republic. publicly approves of 1t.
| Wouldn't those loyal Americans ask to be
put back in their graves with last look
of contempt at their survivors who let such
things be done by these later-day polti-
cians and remain silent at such an insult
to their memory?
1t is worth thinking of in this light In
order to be consistent, Judge Torrance should
Ritual so tina: in closing the Post the
officer of the Day would say:
'The penalty of treason is
Generals commissions in the Army with
rank and pay above loyal officers for the
small fry. and statues in the National Capt.
tOl in their uniform of treason for the lead
ers who do the most mischief"
| 1t Is fact, that Nations. like individuals
can make ''all kinds of fools of themselves
in a thousand ways not forbidden by law
also, that some OF the most foolish and