The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1915-06-02
GOVERNOR STUART
WELCOMES VETERANS
Governor. Happy In Utterance,
Cordial Greets Confederates at
Their Opening Session.
HONOR TO BELOVED oHHFTArNs
Governor Declares Irreconcilable Diff
ference Was AZ TO Location of Para
mount Soweretgn--Each Side
Fought as II Believed.

mount Sovereagn-Each Side
Fought as IT Believed.
Governor Henry c. Stuart. on be-
half of the State, very happily ex-
| tended the welcome of Virginia to the
United Confederate Veterans. He
said: General Harrison. commander
in chief United Confederate Veterans,
Confederate Veterans, your excellen-
cies. guests of honor, madam presi-
dent of the United Daughters OF the
| CoMederacy, madam president and
members of the Memorial Association,
sons of veterans. ladies and gentle
men:
Fifty years ago the sun of the Con-
federafe States of America had Just
gone down in clouds and darkness
The capital city PROSTATE. a mass of
blackened walls and smouldering
ruins, the men and women who had
borne with heroic fortitude four years
OF siege and suffering, with the last
| shots of the Confederacy yet ringing
in their ears. were laying in the ashes
of buried hopes the foundation of the
nobier and statelier city In which we
are now assembled. The smoke of
conflict scarce lifted, the blood OF he
roes not yet dry on the battlefield, the
exhausted survivors of hundred VIC
tories turning their backs for the
first time to the foe. were vending
their way footsore and weary to des-
olated homes. there to meet an after
math of war more terrible than war
itself.
Period of Reconstruction.
"A policy of reconstruction threat
| ening the destruction of Southern CIV
ilization presented dangers which
chilled the blood of many an intrepid
soldier who had faced death in every
form and feared nothing except the
degradation and dishonor which he
was called upon to resist at odds
greater than those that had con-
fronted him in the open field.
With sublime patience and I'M
faitering faith, slowly but surely the
Anglo Saxon regained his birthright
In the land of his fathers, and Mother
Earth, touched with pity, poured out
the ample treasures of forest, farm
and mine. seeking to repair by her
bounty the ravases OF man.
Five decades have come and gone.
The great majority of those who
faced the perils and endured the
hardships of war has passed away.
new generation has come upon the
stage, and to II is given the privilege
and pleasure of greeting with glad
welcome the little column of gray
which represents all that is left Of the
mighty hosts that fought so valiantiy
for their liberties and ours
Here we meet for reunion of
hearts and souls in the bonds of
common heritage of glory, TO uncover
once more in the presence of our
great and beloved chieftains as they
live again In splendid effigies Of
bronze to pay reverential homage TO
all our distinguished leaders living
and dead, and to renew our pledges
of everlasting fidelity 10 the~memory
of those who gave even more than
you who gave much. because they
gave ALL to dedicate the Confederate
Memorial Institute In which will be
enshrined with loving care the endur-
ing record of the proud achievements
and sacred memories OF cause dear
to every Southern heart, even though
ii be a lost cause; TO participate in
the first step in the belated discharge
of the greatest unpaid obligation of
Virginia, the erection Of a monument
to the immoral Stonewall Jackson.
And now as you, the veterans OF
many a hard fought battle, gather
again around the camp FIRE and look
back to the stirring days OF long ago.
what heart but feels the reminding of
the supreme devotion and matchiess
courage which won renown on so
many illustrious fields?
A Question of Soverelgns.
Men on both sides of that san
culinary conflict now recognize that
the irreconcilable difference between
them was as to the location of the
paramount sovereign. A gifted South
eFn writ eF has sasts:4'"rEs SaeH@ o. the
North responded to the call of the
sovereign to whose ailegians they
acknowledged fealty. The men of the
South did the same. II was a battle
between rival conceptions OF sover-
eign rather than one between a
sovereign and it's acknowledged citi-
zens" We of the South claimed and
still claim that there was nothing In
the Constitution as then written to
contravene the right Of Safe to AK
ercise its sovereignty even to the point
of o peaceful withdrawal from thu
Union. The issue could not be deter
mined by judicial decision. The aues-
ton was larger than any forum in
which 1t could be heard. The alter
native was the bloody arbitrament of
the sword. BY this arbitrament the
bitter controversy was finally settled,
and the settlement. contaminated at
IAppomattox. was written in the Fed
eraI Constitution in letters of blood
and tears as the first recorded express
sion OF the nations will on the Issues
which had torn US asunder.
South's Noble Women of War.
But am here not to revive the un-
happy differences of the past but TO
welcome the survivors of those somore
days. and right royalty do we wei ONE
you to our ancient Commonwealth
ITO the Daughters of the Confed-
eracy. the Memorial Association, Spon-
sors and Maids of Honor extend a
cordial greeting Your hands have
built the monuments of our dead and
have ministered to the living, and you
have preserved inviolate the truth of
history. The gallant knight prizes
the rewards of victory chiefly that he
may lay them at his lady's feet Ther9-
fore to you belong the trophies OF
both peace and war. We glory In the
traditions of Southern womanhood.
and in your grace and beauty. nnd
the assurance that YOU have main
tanned its standards and ideals. Well
come as the flowers of springtime.
sweeter than its most fragrant bios
SONS. are In the matrons and matdens