The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1914-12-25
THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES


| it the American Conflict" but Alex
ander H Stephens, in his mastery
production, denominated it as The
/, War Between the States" and it
seems that that was the proper def
milton. He defended it as such with
almost unanswerable logic.
We are led to these remarks by a
petition recently presented in the
senate of the United States by Sena-
tor Ollie James of Kentucky, drafted
by the United Daughters of the Con-
federacy, asking that the said conflict
of arms be officially designated "The
War Between the States"
The petition is set forth as follows:
eve, the undersigned committee,
appointed in Richmond, Va, in 1911,
and acting under the authority vested
in us by article II of our constitution,
which specifies, among other objects
Of our organization, that we must
| collect and preserve truthful his
tory of the Confederate states beg
+! that you will give your careful atten-
ton to the reasons herein set forth
why the mighty contest of the sixties
should be known and designated as
the War Between the States instead
of it's being variously and enormously
spoken of as the Civil War; The
War of the Rebellion or The War of
Secession
civil war is defined by the best
authorities as a war between the cit
liens of common country Citizens
of the same nation etc. Now, for
four years we maintained an entirely
separate government from that of the
United States, being an entity known
the world over as the Confederate
States.
eve had an army and navy, as
well as currency of our own. We
levied and collected our own revenue,
enlisted our armies, issued cotton
bonds, which were accepted for val
ue received in all commercial marts.
And while our navy was small, its
achievements were phenomenal, con-
sidering its resources and if nothing
else entitled it to recognition as
part of the fabric of separate gov.
eminent, it had the distinction of in
Producing to the world new system
of naval warfare, and its existence
was certainly recognized when the
United States demanded and received
many millions from England for the
damage inflicted upon her commerce
by Confederate vessels, which were
built and fitted out in England's har-
bors. The stars and bars was an en-.
sign recognized everywhere as be-
longing to nation other than the
United States.
1--WE weren't fighting for possession
of the government at Washington, nor
would we have fought at all if let
alone. So as we were not citizens
of common country during Pc
Rod of four years, it could not be
called a civil war;
| "Hon. Charles Francis Adams of
Massachusetts, says in a recent letter
that the term civil war signifies moth
| ing. There have been innuberable
civil wars, and as a matter of general
history it is manifestly absurd for us
to appropriate the term to single
civil war of our own
"Mr. Ropes. also of Massachusetts,
says in his Story of the Civil War
part l, page SO, They effected at
Montgomery, Ala, regular organi-
America. Twenty-Five states re-
NAMED united. These states, If the
views we have advocated above be
correct, possessed now the entire
sovereignty OF the nation known as
the United States. Opposed to them
stood eleven states, which had seced-
ed, now constituting the Confederate
States of America.
"Mr. Bryce, in his American Com
monwealth, speaks of the United
States as "A Union of Common
wealths; . they have over their
citizens an authority which is their
own and not delegated by the central
government. They-that is, the older
ones among them-existed before it.
They could exist without it.
And the War of Secession is equal
| ly inaccurate. Seven states had Sc
ceded and confederated without re-
sorting to arms. Secession was their
court of last resort when all other
honorable means to preserve our
rights under the constitution had fail
ed. The right to secede happened to
be involved along with the other
riohtc