Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1913-05-12
AT OLD EBENEZER. "
Interesting Exercises In Memory Of Confed
crate Soldiers.
ADDRESS BY HON. JOHN L. McLAURLN
Ladies of S. D. Barron Chapter, u D. Co., Pay Loving Trb
ute to Gallant Old Heroes, and Able Speaker Recounts
Again the Glory and Righteousness of the Cause for
Which the South Pledged Her ALI.

at EbeneZer last tTluay AFTERNOON un-
der the direction of the s. D. Barron
chapter, United Daughters Of the Con-
federacy. They came from the sur
rounding country, from Rock Hill and
Yorkville and various parts Of the
county. Capt. Iredell Jones. presided
as he has been doing for many years
past. Reev d. w. Thomasson offered
the opening prayer, and the closing
prayer was offered by Rev. J. T. Den
dy. w. ]. Cherry, Esq, Of Rock Hill
read the roll Of Confederate dead
Several patriotic songs appropriate to
the occasion were rendered by the choir
and by ladies from Winthrop. The ad-
dress Of the occasion was delivered by
Hon. John l.. McLaurin, Of Benefits
Vile, and the graves Of all the old SOL
diers were decorated with flowers.
In introducing the speaker, Capt.
Jones recalled with pride the fact that
the orators on memorial occasions at
Ebenezer had almost invariably been
men of distinction, including leading
leaders In the professions, a governor,
a chief justice Of the supreme court,
and others high in the confidence and
esteem Of the people. and he was
proud to be able to say that in charac-
ter attainment and public service the
present speaker ranked with the best
and ablest who had honored the occa-
sion in the past. araa i-11F
Senator McLaurin spoke about three
quarters of an hour and held the at
tention of his highly intelligent audi
ence to the end. He reviewed the
causes Of the war in detail, showed
how it grew out of conflicting ciyiliza-
tions, emphasized the glory and hero
ism Of the men and women Of the
south, and refused to concede that abo-
lition of slavery was ever motive on
the part of the north except as a delib-
crate means to an end. He claimed
that now after fifty years by the cleo
ton Of Woodrow Wilson from Georgia,
a man Of the same high purposes Of
Washington, Jefferson. Jackson and
Lee, the south has at last come in for
complete yindication. The audience
attested its approval Of the address
with generous applause. Following is
substantially the full text Of the ad-
dress: '5s.. Ht-a.
Ladies' and Gentlemen: .as.
We are met today to do honor to
the living veterans who wore the gray,
and to deck with flowers the graves of
the dead. 1t is we'll on this day sa-
credly set apart and observed from the
Potomac to the Rio Grande to recall
the historical facts which led to the
war. The first friction of sectional
character occurred in 1917 when Mis-
souri, was to be admitted as a state.
The morality Of slavery was not ques-
toned at all, because both sides agreed
that its morality was established by
the Bible and its legality protected by
the Federal constitution, Both sides
recognized the fact, however, that free
labor and slave labor could not exist
in the same state on the same footing.
Therefore in 1920, the slavery ques-
tion was settled by what is known as
the Missouri Compromise" giving
over to the south all of the western
territory, below So degrees 40 minutes.
This went on until in 1s4S, Martin Van
Buren, ran for the presidency on what
was known as the Barn Burners"
ticket. The south at once noted this
threat against their lives and property
and began an aggressive self defense
campaign. In 1850, the southern lead
ers forced the fugitive slave law
through congress, and the enforcement
Of this law created so much friction,
that in 1854, congress, by small ma
jority repealed the Missouri Compro-
mise" This really was def1nitive
treaty between the two sections, and
the war began, you might say, right
there. Border ruffians armed with RI
fie and torch, swarmed over the line
The name of John Brown Of Ossawo-
tonne preaching insurrection and MUIR
der came to be known. The flames that
declared the coming Of a greater day
of wrath swept abroad throughout the
land, and men could see one anothers
white faces by the red glare that blaz-
ed out from the midnight sky, and
there was a deep foreboding roar as
of an approaching earthquake.
One event following another, the sol
Of Virginia was invaded by Johr
al n
ter fired upon. Both sides took dowr
their guns, the south to repel invasion
and protect its constitutional proper
ty rights, the north to preserve the
Union.
am afraid the children growing uI
now haven't the correct idea OF the
true issues which brought about the
war. Most of the histories and the
school books teach that the war wa!
fought to free the slaves. Peace mon
ument in Washington perpetuates the
falsehood that the south was fightinl
for slavery and the north for th'
causes of human freedom. Slavery may
have been Gods cause for the war
but It certainly was not recognized a!
such in the beginning by the people o.
the north and the south.
In the north, slave holding Democrat!
took down their guns and marched t.
the front to preserve the Union, wher
South Carolina fired on Fort Sumter
Take the fact as shown by the RECORD
that fugitive slaves were returned by
the Union soldiers to their masters fol
a long time after the beginning of hos
tilities, and it shows that the slavery
question was an after thought. In the
north abolitionists were hated and de-
spised. They were mobbed, shot ant
hung. United States officers hunted
fugitive slaves and returned them tC
their masters in the south. A mob o.
Yankee aristocrats dragged VIM. Lloyt
Garrison through the streets Of Bostor
with a rope around his neck and the
attorney general Of Massachusetts pre-
sided at a mass meeting in Fannie
HILL +bo+ opproyad of the killing m