Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1921-current, 1922-07-16

IL tIClC 10 OHC IdSt III HISTORY
most abundantly supported, both by
documentary evidence and the tes-
timony of the intimate friends of
President Lincoln and his associates
in the administration in those days,
it is that he was most reluctant to
begin a civil war, and ready to stop
it at any time if the Union could
be preserved, even if it involved
a compromise en- the slavery ques-
ton. In fact, he said practically
that in his public documents signed
with his own signature during the
early days in the war. These senti-
ments were not uttered in a corner
They were the subject Of wide
comment and bitter denunciation of
President Lincoln in the north and
amor abolitionists ard other ad-
vocates of a war with the south to
abolish slavery. We have not read
this pamphlet by a Georgia colonel
which receives the Endorsement of
the Confederate veterans, but we
can hardly conceive that he has any
sufficient evidence to justify his
statement, SO directly contrary to
all that we have ever read about
the personal connection of Abra-
L.- 7 -.oIr ,r;%t <io xr.r I,1neS
the leading newspapers of the south
rebuke the Confederate veterans
for their action and defend Lincoln,
and that is going far for a southern
newspaper. For instance. the Nor
folk (Virginia) Ledger-Dispatch
says:
Reverence for the honorable and
heroic traditions of the Confeder--
acy does not require acceptance Of
such a teaching. With the desire
to perpetuate a fair and Just under
standing of the deeds and ideals Of
the southern states in the war, every
son and daughter of the south SYM
pathizes. The valor Of the men in
gray, the courageous endurance OF
Confederate wome have brought
to southerners a heritage Of honor
such as few peoples have had, and
it would be an unworthy son of the
south who would wish to forget
that heritage or who could see the
record dinmed without an effort
to restore its luster.
But the true and final glory of
the south is not based on a denial
Of the equal glory that enshrouds
the name Lincoln. His name is as
high in the southern states today
as anywhere in the nation. There
has been little thought of sectional
ism in the thought OIL speech where
Lincoln was concerned. Few per
sons there are who do not hold the
memory of the tall, gaunt. human
mar from Illinois in highest revcr-
ence and respect. There are few
in the south who do not regard him
as the one mar from whom this dis
tracted section might have obtained
justice after the surrender of the
southern armies. Many southern
ers rank Lincoln and Lee as incon-
parably the greatest men who came
through the trying days of internal
conflict"
The Birmingham (Alabama) Age
Herald says: What has come over
the old soldiers at this late day,
that they should be guilty of such
a foolish and uncalled for attack
on Lincoln, at a time when all Civil
war animosities should be dead be-
yond resurrection?
1T has been 81 years since Lee
surrendered. Surely the handful of
veterans who survive have lived
long enough to have cultivated a
spirit of charity and fairness? It
is said that the historical commit
tee which reported the resolution
gathered facts to support the charge
against Lincoln, but if that is true,
these facts are something new IN
history.
Lincoln was determined at any
cost to preserve the Union, and in
that he was wise, as subsequent
events have shown beyond question.
That he was a bitter and designing
foe of the south is so contrary to
all we know of his life and char
acter that it will not be credited.
except by a few Confederate vet
Grams and others misled by sec
tional prejudice, which should no
longer exist in this country.
Even if Lincoln were guilty of
the accusations made against him,
it would be both untimcly and I'M
wise to revive i'll feeling ~engcndered
by a conflict that ended nearly sixty