The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-10-17
RECONSTRUCTION
 REVIEWED AT SONS
 0F VETS MEETING
Congressman Bowling De- clares Rehabllitating Days Stand as Dark Stain on
 Name of Nation
By HUGH W. ROBERTS Washington Bureau, The Age-Herald.
 BOO Davidson Building,

Washington, oetobe 16.-(Special) At the meeting of District of Colum- bia Camp, No. 305, United Sons of Con- federate We erans, held in the memo rial home 1l rmont avenue. an eX- ceedingly inteyOstlag and valuable address Waa delivered to the large southern Audience taa fled the hall, by Con reeamaH NidlAn 5. Bowling of the Fiita Alahame district
 Coneressman Eawiluss subject was. "Reeonstructivs Iase iH Ala bama" In fne hesnrin 4.g advised his hearers tn> he did uo5 wRHs to arouse their passions oe ipfsfae tlfsu in feelings that, wi5lie justified bs- longed to another day He lgst gaR ed to tell them in plain tefIas, "a sol- rowful terms. of the darkest stain upon the history of our coInu10u country, that of reconstruction fol lowing the Civil war. He said that. following the war between the states, there were many questions to arise, and among them the position of the states that had seeded. Out of this question and its answer arose the re- suit that would always stand a blot upon the escutcheon of the nation, he said. The south accepted the yer tttN pA &IlHSp SSiiu MI IoONllilE.
 'rhe south knew it was right, but 1t had been overpowered by numbers and was ready to return to homes and take up where it left off. The south Just wanted to he left alone in the pursuit of happiness and the possess sion of property and was willing to take up allegiance to the Union. The south would have rehabilitated itself. and in fact was doing so when 15 months after the close of hostilities the federal Congress under the leader- ship of Thad Stephens and Charles Sumner. who had reconciled their diff ferences, took measure of revenge upon the southern people,
 The Alabama congressman TO- viewed the proposed plans and told of the conflict between President Andy Johnson and Congress over the position in which the seceeding states found themselves. His recital of the historical data connected with recon struetion in Alabama was intensely interesting, especially as he told of the constitutional convention in .1SGT, composed of citizens of Ohio, New York Canada and Scotland and of ficials' of the Freedmens bureau: how a certain member of the convention was chiefly known by the fact that he was one of the Of the two members of the convention who possessed a clean shirt
 Pays Tribute to Negroes
 During his address MT. Bowling di- gressed long enough to pay a splen- did tribute to the negro slaves dur ing the war telling how the men of the south went to war leaving their most priceless possessions, their women and children, in the care of these negroes. and history does not recall single incident in which the trust was betrayed. 1t was only after the agents sent south for the especial purpose of humiliating her lpeople that the negroes, their simple minds filled with notions they neither comprehended nor cared about. be- came troublesome-and~ the horrors of reconstruction came about.
 The distinguished Alabamian was heartily congratulated at the close of his address and the thanks of the camp voted him.
 During the evening, just before the address of Congressman Bowling. n stand of colors "The Stars and Bars" was presentd the district division of thS sons of Veterans by Mrs. stone former president general of the ehiNVu bau HtsiS oi the Confectionery, on behalf of Miss smith, daughter of the designer of the first flag of the Confederacy. Mrs. Stone who is SO years of age, is still in splendid health and will attend the reunion in Chat tanoosa and tfterward the meeting Of the Daughters in Kansas City where she will make a plea for aid of the project by the Sons of Con- federate Veterans 10 purchase the old battlefield of Manassas and convert it into park.