Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1911-05-05
By JAMES A. EDcERTON.

copyright by American Press Associa-
tion, 1911.l
Ut is a fitting suggestion that the
fiftieth anniversary of the civi,
war should be q celebration of
peace 1t is to be hoped that
none of the hatred or rancor Of half
century ago will enter into the event.
The nation has never been so firmly
united as now. Out Of the ashes OF
the old south a new south has sprung.
Factories dot her pleasant lands; her
cities are growing with the same mar
velous swiftness as those Of the north
and west, and everywhere she is keep
ing pace with the material, political
and intellectual progress of the whole
nation.
The severity of the war itself was
one of the contributing causes to this
happy outcome. Each side tested the
metal Of the other and learned to re-
spect the other. The contest was
fought to such a complete finish that
nothing like it can ever again occur
in our history. The extra ordinary ex-
ertion then called forth begot an en-
ergy that has since made for national
progress. Thus was taught an i'm
portant lesson in democracy. In that
supreme conflict we had to depend
upon ourselves, thus developing our
own inherent powers, which when the
war was over could be turned into the
avenues Of material advancement
A man admires a brave and honor
able foe. Frequently when two manly
men have misunderstanding and fight
it out they become the best Of friends.
They have tried each other, and hence
forth their affection Is founded on the
rock OF mutual esteem. 1t is even so
with the north and south. The vet
Grams on both sides can meet. take
each other by the hand and say, "Well,
it was a good fight" After all, both
armies were made up Of Americans,
and each of us can be loyal to the
memory Of his own side and yet feel
a glow in thinking Of the bravery Of
the other. In the result the victor had
no cause for undue pride or the van
quished for shame. Today it Is safe
to say that not one soqtherner in ten
thousand would have the result differ
ent
"Let Us Have Peace"
Something of this spirit animated
Lincoln in the beautiful second in
Rugural address and stirred Grant
when he said, "Let us have peace
And we have peace as wide as the ma
ton and as deep as the hearts Of the
people, peace so profound that never
again can we have conflict, at least of
that kind In this spirit let us remem-
ber the struggle and let no word fall
that will wound the sensibilities of
either side. This is the way big and
brave men remember. Only weak or
malignant natures seek to relight the
ashes Of dead hate.
The nation is one. AS it was in the
days of the Revolution and Of 1872, so
Is it now. AS husband and wife, once
estranged, are reunited over the grave
of a dead child, so are we reunited
over the graves Of fifty years ago.
Without abating one jot of our con-
victions as to the right or wrong OF
the conflict we all Of us know that
peace and concord are right for today.
And in recalling the struggle let us
include all that is brave and noble on
both sides, now the common heritage
of q united country. Sorrow is dem
ocratic Grief is not factional. Let
our verbal flowers be like the flowers
of nature, knowing no section, ceas-
ing at no imaginary line.
They Danish our anger forever
When they laurel the graves Of our dead.
That is the true spirit In the broad
er sense their dead are also our dead.
foI
we happen to live, for this is ma
tional celebration.
On the Battlefield Of Nashville.
Several years ago I attended the
Nashville exposition and while there
accompanied a party Of distinguished
men to the scene of the battle fought
near that city. In the party were two
United States senators, one from the
north, the other from the south. Both
had participated in the battle, the
northerner as a private, the southerner
as q general During the trip each
pointed out the ground that he had
fought over and told Of the struggle
in way to bring it to life before the
eyes. The two were at the time vot-
ing on the same side In the senate and
were warm friends. To my own mind
the incident threw a revealing light
upon the stupendous change that had
come over the country.
Such a scene would scarcely be pos
sible In any other land on earth. The
beauty of it was that the incident
typif1ed a thousand others which have
occurred in meetings between the blue
and the gray. There is no pretense In
the reconciliation. These strong men