The daily commonwealth. (Greenwood, Leflore Co., Miss.) 1916-1919, 1917-05-25
JUDGE S. r. COLEMAN'S VEL
COME
Address to the U. d. C. Convention
Here in Behalf of Hugh A. Rey-
nOlds Camp.

nOlQS lamp.
At the recent annual session of the
Mississippi Division United Daughters
Of the Confederacy, held in Greenwood
Judge S. R. Coleman, in behalf Of the
Hugh A. Reynolds Camp U. ,. c., de.
livered the following eloquent address
of wecome:
"Dear Daughters Of the Confeder-
acy-or shall l say Daughters of the
dear Confederacy-for both terms ex.
press the heartfelt sentiments of one
who, as a member Of a'le camp Of
Confederate veterans Of this place, has
been honored by the request of the
lady president Of one OF your Chap
! tiers in this city to extend to you q
greeting and a welcome from the
members of this Camp, but / will in.
clude the entire citize5ry of this coun.
ty, who l know are in full accord with
the objects and purposes of your wor-
thy organization.
GAS time rolls on taking it's toll of
death from the survivors of the ar
mics that bore the battle flags Of the
South, we the dwindling few grow
more grateful, and our love for you
but increases each year, as we more
fully realize your efforts to perpetuate
the memory, and a memory Of the
deeds Of our brothers in arms, togeth-
er with your efforts to ameliorate the
condition of the feeble and INDECENT
few, for whom homes have been es-
tablished and provided.
"Under your direction and correc,
ton historians are no longer paint
ing us as rebels and traitors, but as
patriots who endeavored to uphold our
constitutional rights and repel the in
vasion of our homes, and to preserve
the sovereignty of u native States.
"But when the Southern cross dis
appeared from the constellation of ma
tons, we became a part of a demo-
cratic empire, subject to the tyranny
Of any majority that might come into
control, with no effective power of
protest, a nation in which the auto
nomy of the States no longer existed,
and State sovereignty became a myth.
IT'S said shat all things happen
for the best" but it rests in the womb
Of time, to be yet determined, as to
whether this empire, that arose from
the downfall of States rights, will be
better for the nations welfare.
ut may be that the Almighty had
already determined in advance, if per-
chance he dabbles in mundane politics,
of which I've had my doubts since
the civil war ended so disastrously for
US, but / am inclined to the Napoleon
maxim that when submitted to the
! arbitrament Of arms, the decision goes
to the side with the most men and the
heaviest artillery, in both of which
the South wa comparatively deficient.
Gas an abstract proposition, certain
phases of our domestic institutions
were by the world considered wrong
and condemned, and many "holier than
thou" fanatics from all over the world
aided in swelling the ranks Of the Fed
eral armies until with u downfall
that institution was abolished, and
while none of us would care or con-
sent to have it restored, it seems to
me, viewing that question in the o n
crete, that there was more genuine
happiness and contentment among the
race as slaves than now as freemen.
Looking back upon those days Of
the long ago, I often think that l
would gladly give a year of the few
still remaining to me, for even a day
on the old plantation home with my
widowed mother and three sisters,
surrounded by our faithful slaves, who
were deeply attached to us jas we to
them.
"True, they were chastised for their
misdemeanors, as was l who often
participated in their minor transgres-
sions, but l don't hold it against the
good mother, long since at rest, that
she believed so thoroughly in Solo,
mons proverb, and as l then thought,
applied it a little unsparingly in my
particular case. But these personal
"reminiscences cause me to stray from
the pleasure in hand.
"Under your auspices and by your
efforts not only is history being more
truthfully written and taught in our
schools, but the deeds and memories
of our dead comrades are being kept
alive and perpetuated by mausoleums
and monuments, and each recurring
vernal time at your initiative wreathes
of Larkspur and lily, twined by your
gentle fingers, with the myrtle
and the rose, are placed upon the
graves where the Confederate soldiers
rest.
"By all their country's wishes blest,
Where honor comes in pilgrim gray,
To touch the seed meath which they