The Twin City star. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1910-19??, 1914-11-06
LAUDS CIVIL WAR HEROES.
Senator White Pays Tribute to Negro
Helpers Of Confederacy.


Washington. - In the Congressional
Record. second session of the Sixty
third congress. issued under date Of
Sept. ~. 1914. is found Il discussion Of
senate bill No I92 This bill has for
its purpose the creation in the war and
navy departments respectively of a roll
designate as the civil war volunteer
officers retired list" and the placing
thereon. with retired pay. of certain
surviving officers who served in the
army, navy or marine corps Of the
United States in the civil war. and 9TH
er purposes.
The motion to take up the bill was
made by Senator Townsend Of Michi.
gan. After some discussion Senator
White of Alabama was recognized by
the chair and. delivered the. following
speech favoring the adoption Of the
bill without any discrimination against
the cOlored soldiers or sailors. Sena-
tor White said in part:
'Mr President. | have been some
what diverted from the thought | was
trying to give expression to. and that
was that this bill. instead Of being an
honor roll. is Il roll Of discrimination.
a rank discrimination in favor of COM
missioned officers who held the higher
rank, who received the greater pay,
who endured fewer of the hardships
and encountered less of the perils as
against noncommissiOned officers and
privates. am speaking. sir. for the
private Union soldiers.
II know what they were. l met
them on the line. | faced them on the
field. l saw a great deal more Of them
than l saw Of the officers. 1t was
their line of cold. deadly steel our side
dreaded to meet. 1t was not the flash
Of the generals sword that made us
hesitate. We saw it CLEAN in the sun
shine; we saw the stars as they gilt
tered upon his collar. But they had
no terrors for us. We knew when real
danger approached 1t was when pri-
Yates faced privateS. one holding aloft
the stars and stripes. the other waving
over his head the stars and bars.
Eyes. Mr.. President. they are the
men we fought: they are the men who
died with Us on the field: they are the
men we honor: they are the men. while
once our enemies. we COnfederates
really love. had no quarrel with the
private soldier. He and were both
placed there in response to the call
from our sections. Our sections called
both of us. His section called him:
my section called me- We went there
In response to duty's call. We went
there not expecting hOnOrs or pay. and
up to date we have got neither. as
others have. We were not paid on our
side l never drew a dollar in my life
for service. and really. Mr.. President.
I was far removed from the commits
sary. [Laughter.l If it had not been
for the cOlOred men who accompanied
us and served with us in the war and
did our fOraging we doubtless would
have starved. l never will forget them.
"They were good foragers. and they
fOraged for good fighters. How can I
forget them now? Why. they enabled
us. sir. for three long years to con-
tinue that struggle. They did that too
when 1t was apparent to every one
that remaining with US meant their
continued slavery. while their deSer-
ton would have been rewarded with
freedom. and yet they stayed with us
and by their labor supplied cur armies
In the field. They went with us to the
field and continued by our sides in bat
tie. They carried the hndieS of our
dead heroes back to the homes. min
gled their tears with the tears of their
mothers. their wives and their children
at their graves. for they went us sin
cerely and as truly as did the fatalities
over these matchless soldiers as they
were laid to rest