The Washington herald., 1914-05-31

COL. HILARY ~ hEHbEhT.
To reap ths harvest Of psrpstual pace.
. By this our bloody trial Of sharp war.
After our war. passion and prejudice
also. but only for time. ran riot.
In 1857 the seeding States were sub
tected to the horrors of Congressional
reconstruction. but In few years Amer
lean manhood had triumphed: Anglo
Saxon civilization had been saved: local
seif-eovernment under the Constitution
had been restored: ex-Confederates were
serving the national government and
true patriots, North and South. were ad-
dressing themselves to the noble task Of
restoring fraternal feeling between the
sections.
Within q generation after Congressional
reconstruction American historians con-
demned it, as unaualifiedly as Carlyle.
after a lapse of 175 years, did the treat
ment of Cromwelrs memory. James Ford
Rhodes has denominated Congressional
reconstruction as "a crime against CIV
ilization." and public opinion seems to
have approved the verdict.
Many causes had conduced to the fra
ternal relations that existed between the
North and South when the war came on
with Spain in 1sss-the exchange Of visits
between Union and Confederate organiza-
tions, the erection in 1885 OF Confed-
crate monument in Chicago, the writings
and speeches OF broad-minded historians,
editors, orators, and statesmen. but more
fundamental than all else had been two
factors: One, the memory Of the obce
much misunderstood Abraham Lincoln
and his policies: the other. the Federal
Constitution
The True Abraham Lineoln.
All men, South as well a. North. after
the grave had closed over Abraham Lin
coin. came to see him as he was. He had
warred for the Union with charity for
all and malice toward none" To him
the confederates had always been his
-erring feIlow-citizens." He had been
the avowed foe of the policy Of recon-
struction adopted by Congress when he
was in his grave and could not longer
combat 1t. and, always, he was for .
Union of co-equal States.
he South once looked upon Abraham
Lincoln as the impersonation Of all that
WAS odious. Two years ago, although
there was difference of opinion as to the
shape it should take, there was not q
single voice, Northern or Southern, in
Congress against granting him the most
costly memorial ever voted by that body.
The other factor. the Federal constitu-
tion, was more potent than even the
memory Of Abraham Lincoln. Its bed
rock is the equality of the States-home
rule. 1t was love of. and reverence for,
home rule under that Constitution. that
caused Intelligent patriots everywhere
finally to exult when the people OF the
seeding States recovered finally, in the
'7o's, their right Of self-eovernment
South Defends Flag.
They were not Southerners chafing un-
der the domination OF the alien and the
freedman, but Southerners rejoicing In
the restoration of home rule who were
seen fiocking to defend, the nag Of the
Union in The war with Spain.
The enthusiasm of the South for the
flag in the war with Spain electrified the
North. and. when that war was over.
President Mckinley, who had himself
been a gallant Union soldier, made a
speech at Atlanta, December q, 1885, that
touched the heart of the South as Il
never had been touched before. In 1t he
said:
Sectional lines no longer mar the map
Of the United States, sectional feeling no
longer holds back the love we bear each
other. Fraternity Is the national anthem,
sung by chorus Of forty-five States ana
our Territories at home and beyond the
seas. The Union Is once more the COM
mon altar Of our love and loyalty, our
devotion and sacrifice. The old nag once
again waves over us in peace with new
glories which your sons and ours have
this year added to its sacred folds"
Genesis of the Monument.
Further on he said:
"And the time has now come, in the
evolution Of public sentiment and feeling
under the Providence of God. when in the
spirit of fraternity We should share with
you in the care Of the graves of Confed-
crate soldiers"
This thought was like q seed sown in