The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1913-07-01
Soeech of Hon. Vim. Howard at the Unwilling of Mon
ument Erected in Dawson to James M. GrlggS

may threaten ana caJole at It's o"n
sweet will. Gentlemen may press
unsought advice and modern inter
pretations of ancient truths to their
hearts content. Their threats and
Cabling, their admonitions and in
terpretations will fall on deaf ears;
we have no faith on a prosperity
based on confidence alone. We dc
not believe that the Great Jehovah
commanded submission to oppres-
sion, whether it comes from Egypt
or from Babylon. We shall never
believe while reason holds her sway
that too much cotton means naked
ness and too much wheat hunger. we
shall not cease our agitation until
every jot and little of the Chicago
platform is enacted into law. In
deeJ, we shall still be mindful of the
truth that eternal vigilance is the
price of liberty With the return of
that prosperity which shall be
founded on the rock of equal rights
to all will come the opportunity OF
the South. Her people, wide awake
and alert, energetic and determined,
will not be slow to grasp it. They
will utilize their God-given forces
for their own advancement. If the
end is New England's undoing (and
I do not believe it, she will owe it
to the degeneracy of her sons. But
if it must be, if silent factories and
smokeless chimneys shall be permit
ted to stand amid New England's
hills, magnificent monuments to her
former greatness, grim sentinels OF
her present distress, the people OF
the South will be grieved. but they
will not be thereby turned from their
duty to themselves and to their chill
dren. In their own way and in the
Ifullness of Gods own time they will
work out the task set before them
without dishonor to themselves and
without material harm to their
neighbors."
/ On December IA, 1898, President
Mckinley visited Atlanta, a visit
made, he said, in the interest OF re-
Cancellation between the North and
South, and amongst otner things he
said "In the evolution of sentiment
and feeling, under the providence OF
God, in the spirit of fraternity, we
should share with you for the care
of the confederate dead" On Feb
4th, afterwards, Judge Griggs made
his celebrated speech in reply to the
sentiment of Mckinley. This speech
shows most clearly how free he was
from sectional hate, yet how Loyalty
he held to all that was sacred to the
, South. He"e was the rare combination
of those qualities of the new gener'
} alton man in politics, his mind oper
, to the problems of the future without
= either distrust or compromise OF the
, mast He said: " have al
ways been an American, and the
bonds which certain well-intentioned
gentlemen are continually weaving
with which to rebind me to the nation
are CALLING to the flesh. / have new
err been at war with my fellow citi,
: zens, and it brings a feeling akin tc
| pain to hear iterated and reiterated
that my fellow countrymen are rec
: onciled to me. The ambition OF the
president is a noble one. Far be II
from me to question his words or mo-
tives. but declare the simple truth
There was already peace between the
North and South. Speaking for my
self. the son of a confederate sol
der and one who loves the memo
ries of the old South, while l thank
the president for the honor he would
do our martyred dead, and while
shall not be found blindly opposing
the consummation of his purpose,
dare declare the truth: The people
of the South don't ask it. The un
known dead who sleep amid the
mountains of Virginia and in the
green valleys of Tennessee and Ken
, lucky. and by the silent waters o.
, the Mississippi and whose last re
uuiem is whispered by the meander
: ing Chickamauga, the ripping Rap
Ipahannock and the historic james
are a heritage of eternal glory to the
people of tho South. They are ours
and they sleep we'll as they are. W.
accept the words of the president IL
good faith, Mr.. Speaker, but we insis
that this shall be the lasE reconcilia
: ton between the sections. Let this
last march through Georgia end for
; ever the differences of half centu
; nv. Let us turn our faces to thu
morning, you of the North cherishint
your memories as we shall ever cher
ish ours, all pressing forward in uni
son to a realization of the poet
: dream
"Columbia, gem of the ocean,
The home of the brave and the free
The shrine of each patriots devotion
A world offers homage to thee"
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