The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1911-04-12
FIFTY WARS AGO s>p NOW.

morning Of April IL. 1Ssl-&hera doomed from
Beauregards guas a; FORK Johnson. ) C., shot
which crashed Into the battlaIuepts OF Fort Sum.
ter and precipiJated that gigantic internecine
strife which racked the North American States
for four desperate and bloody Years and which
illuminated in the welding Of a greater union OF
the CommouVeaIths of this nation. This shot
fired at perhaps the most tense moment in
this eountry's history and It's echo viii be heard
SO long the nation endpres.
Three days after sumter Was fired on, Presi-
dent Lincoln issued his call for troops to all the
States in the Union, southerners could no,
strike against their brethren, and thus South
vas arraSed against North.
OF the beginning of the War Between the
States an historian says, The guns Of the Sum
ter bombardnlent woke the country from the po-
tical nightmare which had so long tormeuted
and paraiyzed it, The lion of the North was
fully reused. War sermons from every pulpit
war speeches in every assemblage. tender OF
troops, offers OF money; every city radiant with
bunting; every village green a mastering
ground; war appropriations in every legislature
and in every city town council war prepare
tons in every public private workshop;
camps and drills in the fields: parades drums
flags, and bayonets in the streets. and lint
scraping in nearly every household. Before the
lapse OF forty-eght hours regiment armed and
equipped its way to Washington: within
a month the energy and Intelligence of the
country were almost completely turned from the
industries OF peace 10 the activities of war
While this written of the North the same
was true in the South. with the exception of the
marching TO Washington. The South was firm
in the position It had taken. aud if the defense
of that attitude meant war welcomed,
Numerous reasons for this war-perhaps the
greatest in the history of tho human family,
and certainly marked by greater slaughter than
all others at certain places and times-but a
difference Of interpretation Of the Constitution
was really responsible for it, The South always
has and ever will insist on States Rights, II is
gratifying to Southerners now to observe that
what they fought for in Gigs is being accom-
plished In the various States of the Union, in
perhaps a modified form and accepted by the
people throughout the United States,
It is not of the that people of the United
States would deal now fifty years after its close.
Every sane man must realize that the War Be.
tween the States had to be fought that there
was practically no escape from 1t in view of the
times. conditions. stress and tense feeling and
deny that this nation is "a world power
to-day because the fought and terminal
ed as it did. The South gave It's blood. it's he
roes Its all to that war and it has nc. regrets
for the giving. II established new aud higher
standards OF manhood. valor courage, endur,
snce. and generalship than the world had ever
known before. or probably viii know again The
South was covered with glory In its defeat The
close Of the signifed that one starving man
could not successfully combat thousand well
fed. perfectly equipped soldiers, bat nothing
more
Left impoverished and practically barren at
the cessation OF hostilities, the South faced the
awful problem of rehabllitating itself and the
struggle for food clothing and shelter was hard
and bitter especially when the strugglers had
been crushed III heart by the sad and unsuccess
full termination OF the war, Their spirit and
manhood unimpaired BY the four years Of
strife. however, and they set about rebuild
the South and restore 1t to its position of indus
trial and agricultural leadership. For forty
six years they have labored increasingly and
trelessiy for the restoration Of the once proud
South, and the world knows with what success
their endeavors have been crowned Throaga
the trying days Of reconstruction which were
bur little better than those Of war and through
entirely changed conditions. they have labor.c
always with the idea of rebuilding the South
not only To what II was before the Fort John
sons gun report rang around the world but far
beyond that
To-day the South is III its glory. II has al,
ready developed such All extent that IL can
make the price of many commodities which the
world needs. It's manufacturing plants a-e Ie-
sien it's farms the beat ON earth, it's men ths
most enterprising in this country, and ITS pos
sbst!ea greater than those of any other section
Of this nation. The South Is a reality to-
day. and now always, the Industrial snd com
mercai ba,tle-cry is, "A Greater Nation Through
Greater South"