Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1924-12-23
THE FILM PICTURE OF ABRAHAM
IINltnI "

AM an old-timer. | lived good many
| years before the Civil war, and have
personal recolections of many things
that a large majority of southerners can
only read about. | have a good many
newspaper clippings that might give some
satisfaction to the why's and wherefores
before and since that era; but | am also
that the southern people
phatically discouraged as to getting at the
real facts of the history of the fateful six
ties. The trend of our politics n Georgia
has been hostile to getting the facts, when
all our southern public men made political
capital of the continuing hatreds of us Dixie
folks. They called it the "BloOdy Shirt"
sixty years ago, and the "Boody Shirt has
always come to the front to wind up q
campaign for president or congress. 1t was
deemed a sort of hereSy to dispute any sort
of Bloody Shirt" assertion which was often
victorious with tissue ballots or stuffed
ballot boxes, after the votes were cast, and
thus illegally manhanded. | am waiting to
see how the politicians are going to stand
on the film picture of "Abraham Lincoln,
and their attitude will tell how far
have advanced from the sectional hatred
which has been instilled into the youth of
the aforetme Confederate States of America.
I never saw Mr.. Lincoln, but / have in mind
one attempt he made to stop the -eadly car
mage of actual war at the notable Hampton
Roads conference, early in February, 1865.
The Confederate government sent three
Stephens, the vice president of the Confed-
eracy. They were all notable men of their
day and generation. Hon. Mr.. Seward, sec
rotary OF state, was the u. S. comm ISIS Toner.
When they all met on U. S. steamboat at
Hampton Roads President Lincoln was there
(nOt expected to be there as | understand
and he had a long conference with Vice
President stephens before the meeting ad.
journed sine die Nobody has ever dis
puted his endeavor to stop hostilities and to
save the lives of soldiers in both armies, but
| have nowhere seen a verbatim account of
all that said that occasion. Nobody
has denied that Mr. Lincoln, being we'll in
formed of the hopelessness of the Confed-
crate movement said parting: 81 have
tried to prevent further sacrifice of soldiers
lives and L wash my hands of the sacrifice
which will inevitably continue to the end
or words to that effect. He was sorrowful
and grief stricken and perhaps cloud of
apprehension to his own future lowered
over him in that effort to stop the bloody
carnage that must continue until the final
collapse of the Confederacy In less than
three months, the surrender at AppOmattox
had occurred and this wel-intentioned presi-
dent had been assassinated by a southern
fanatic in a Washington theater when the
war was really over. [ have been in the
Museum building in Washington where the
relics of the bloody tragedy were stored Gin
the same building where the assassination
took place.
The war had been over nine years when |
looked them over, and | have never had it
in my heart to scott at the dead PRESIDENT
or to discount his effort to- secure an hon
orable cessation of hostilities since that time
He is vehemently accused of being the SUI
preme cause of the Civil war, but as 1 see
1t, and as the action of the secession con-
vention is demonstrated in the records, |
hold with my page preservedl the def
came from the south-instead of through
Lincoln.
He was not inaugurated until March 4,
1861, and nearly all the secession states had
left the federal union at that time, and as
| am reliably informed the rabid northern
leaders were vehemently accusing Lincoln
with being too considerate of the ''rebol
country" If I was we'll enough to visit
Atlanta tonight dec. 15th) | should be glad
to see the film picture of Abraham Lincoln,
and as he is conceded by outside nations as
one Of our two greatest Americans, the 9TH
er being George Washington, | should not
make any apologies for my presence, either.
| am native born Georgian and there
was never a disloyal thought in my mind
or disloyal act by any intention, while the
Civil war continued, and l had the rough
edge of it when l was overrun b. Yankee
troopers, also by Indifferent cavalry raiders
on own side, until the limit as nearly
intolerable, but enough of abuse is enough,
and | can call to mind the outrage abuse
of Lincoln Old Abe until | wonder if we
were not seriously to blame when little chill
dren have been filled with hate and scorn
to the serious detrment of their own real
education and clear mindedness as prospec-
tive citizens of our country Should the U.
d. c. kick up the dust" and feel aggreved
at the appearance of Mr.. Lncoln's life pic
lures from the cradle to the grave, so much
the for the L. d. c., because it is un-
derstood that all these scenes in Mr.. Lin
cons history are real portraitures, with real
backing to fact and certainty
Compared to many of his official col
leagues and helpers in his presidential life,