Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1912-10-17
STORIES 81
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VETERAN MAKES A PROTEST
jefferson Davis Silver Service Re
minds Him of Eloquent Silence
of Civil War Events.

The New York Sun publishes the
following communication from Theo~
dore RetIaw Of Brooklyn, n. Y. which
is selfexpIanatory:
My attention has just been called by
a Congressional medal of honor man
to a letter in The Sun of May Is,
signed r. E K" about the ''Missis-
sippis Silver" In my opinion justice
should be done to the loyal man be-
fore honor is done to the disloyaL
Inside the magnificent dome of the
Capitol at Washington there have been
painted by famous artists from time
to time allegorical pictures ilIustrat-
ing the history of the country-foT in
stance, The Landing of Columbus
DE Soto Discovering the Mississippi
River" William PENIS Treaty With
the Indians 80 The Surrender of Corn
wallis" The War With Mexico" The
War Of 1912" and so on. depicting the
cOuntry's history up to the time of the
War of the Rebellion, and then there
is a space which is blank It has been
blank for forty years at least, and
there is no prospect that it viii ever
be filed in as it should be. I see by
a recently published statement that It
is the intention of the Government of.
ficiaIs to ignore everything that has
happened in the interval and resume
by illustrating incidents of the late
war with Spain.
In the chapel at West Point belong
ing to the United States Military
Academy and attended by cadets from
all parts of the United States there
are tablets of polished metal and stone
set in the walls inscribed: ITO the
memory of the soldiers and sailors
who fell in the war for independence"
TO the soldiers and sailors who fell
in the war with Mexico" "To the
memory of the soldiers and sailors
who fell in the war with Spain,' etc,
but to the memory of those who fell
In the war for the preservation of
the nations life there is not a word
recorded.
Virginia proposes putting statue
of Lee in our statuary hall in the
nations Capitol. The SouthernerH
raise monuments to the memory of
the Confederate dead, including that
to Captain Wirz at AndersonviHe late
ly; fiaunt their flags in the faces of
loyal men all through the South, and
in every possible way glory in trea-
son, while we stand mute and our
apathy and generosity is construed as
cowardice.
Small wonder that an old Union
soldier says:
Comrades, I'm getting old and
things seem mixed tell me, was I,
were you. on the right side from 1861
to 1865? Is there no difference be.
tween the Union and secession, be
tween loyalty and treason? Are late
rebels more deserving of honors and
emOIuments than men who counted
not their lives dear if they could save
the land they loved?
eve soldiers of the North have no
desire to revive the animosities of
the war, but by these acts we are fore.
ed to protest or always be on the de-
fensive
I'VE were eterna,Iy right or eternal
ly wroDa-there is no middle ground
If we were right we ought to cham.
pion our cause vigorously, no matter
when or by whom assaiIed, to the end
that those who stood by the old flag
may not have died IN vain"