Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1913-05-12

l. " In
ing over the boundary line between
the United States and Canada, and the
slogan Of "54-40 or fight was still
ringing in her ears. and making hel
suspicious on the Canadian question
So taking 1t all together, the chance!
looked very favorable to the south
believe that success rested on the slen
der thread Of the recognition Of tht
Confederacy by the European powers
and do not doubt that had the wal
been fought on the issues upon which
1t was started that after the great vic,
tory at Manassas, every European
power would have recognized the Con.
federacy, the paper blockade Of oui
ports been raised, and the war ended
by treaty Of peace between the two
sections. 81
Understand, am glad we are one
country and accept Loyalty the results
but I do wish to keep the record
straight. I assert, First, that the wal
was not undertaken by the north to
free the slaves, but emancipation came
as war measure because Of the rea-
sons have stated. assert, Second,
that the north did not whip the south,
but starved US into submission. by
blockading our ports, which was
equivalent to our having to fight the
combined world. Not only did we lack
the munitions Of war. but when one
of our soldiers died upon the field of
battle, there was no one to take his
place, while the other side had the
whole world to draw upon. ar
In the south business was paralyzed,
because Of the blockade Of our ports
and without recognition by other gov
ernments, our paper money was worth
less. In the north, instead Of trade
languishing as soon as Secretary Chase
started his greenback money system,
the country entered upon an era Of un-
precedented prosperity. Labor rose in
price and farm products increased In
value. They had the whole world open
for export trade, and with their far
reaching internal revenue tax system,
the northern people bore the burden Of
war with ease, and instead Of the dire
poverty of the south, the north grew
richer every day that the war went on.
She came out Of 1t richer by billions of
dollars, while the south grew poorer
each day. and came out Of it bank
rupt. History shows no finer sight.
than southern men and women gave
the world. sacrificing all that men hold
dear in their devotion to an ideal. Our
great leaders must have seen the in
evitable end /, of. such contest, and
what people except ours, would have
refused such an offer as came from
the Hampton Roads conference? Lin
coin said, so the Union is preserved,
write what terms you please; but the
blood of a war-like race was beating
high, and they fought on when their
whole land was scanned and SCARED by
the invaders track OF fire. They fought
in hunger and in rags by the light b. Of
their blazing homes. After Gettysburg
when like some wounded lion, Lee fell
slowly and stubbornly back. the con-
stantly thinning, ranks closed steadily
on the center with unfiinching deadly
courage until at Appomatox once
proud regiments of a thousand men
showed less than 100 muskets.t They
fought to the last ditch" where fight
ing could be no more. Before such i'm
mortal heroism all antecedent sins or
mistakes are .blotted out and the! ton-
que Of censure is forever silenced.
The institution Of slavery was not
the sin Of the south. In Gods divine
plan it brought the heather and the
barbarian under the light Of the gos-
pei. 1t took the cannibal from Africa's
jungle and turned him into a civilized
human being. With all of the pain and
suffering, the negro got more out Of
slavery than the white man. The bones
Of thousands Of our brave boys bleach
ing on the battle fields Of Virginia, Is
only part Of the penalty paid by the
south. For four years, thirty million
people in a great republic, with a COM
mon language, a common lineage and
a common destiny, were at each others
throats. The land red with blood. All
the productive energies Of the people.
with their accumulated resources con-
centrated on purpose Of mutual de-
struction. Good citizens, tender faith
ers, affectionate husbands torn to
pieces with shot and shell, wasted by
wounds and withered by disease. Our
Industrial system destroyed. and what
ever you may think Of slavery, how
ever much 1t smacks Of feudalism, one
must admit, that on 1t was founded
the sweetest and worthiest civiliza-
tions that the world has ever seen. I
often ask myself what great principle
did the rivers Of human blood, and the
billions of property lost, stolen and de-
stroyed, settle, except that when ma
ton with slaves, fights one without
slaves 1t may lose its slaves as result
Oh the war. 1Ile clilTdLCuiScluSut VI
the negro was an accident Of war and
the northern claim to 1t as primary
philanthropic motive is as utterly false
as the comforting of universal suffrage
was criminally foolish. The moral pro-
gress Of this nation halted at the 14th
and 18th amendments. The horrors OF
reconstruction, put the national con-
science to sleep, and the dragons teeth
sown then in the blood soaked ground
are continually cropping up full grown.
Oppressive trusts which make the
people their prey. The practical pass
ing away Of Democratic government In
Washington, and the glamour or III
gotten wealth dazzling the eyes Of the
people. The spread Of an atheistlc
gangrene through all the body polite,
these are what the war did for this ma
ton. The public conscience has at
last become thoroughly aroused, and
when the people sought a leader they