E 650 .N34 Copy 1 E 650 .N34 Copy 1 Excerpts from an ilddress was ID veteran mi DELIVERED BY WALTER NE OF Washington, P, C. ON THE BATTLE GROUND OF MANASSAS, VIRGINIA July 21, 1910 I The attention of the Nation ai, Bureau for The Advancement OF Patriotism has been called t» > an address, delivered ' * On the Battle Ground of Manassas," /u/y 21, 1910. As it will be remembered, this event was broadly advertised t^r" ■■ the press of the country, and by special agencies. Those who were chiefly responsible for it set fort ^ ./.e claims that it was intended to bring into closer bonds of broth.t "L od the surviving veterans of both armies, and, in a general way. to advance the much mooted question of "Peace and Good Will." So far as we have been able v> learn the veterans of the North, whc sojourned there, and all visitors from the North, carried with them the best of feelings, fraternizing in uie freest >ind most liberal spirit with their former adversaries, and visitors from the South. Through the press, the public was assured that a perfect spirit of harmony prevailed, and that, with the passing of the first half century since the opening battle of the Civil War, the last traces of bitterness and discord had perished, and that all lingering passions were buried forever. We had hoped that this might prove true, and that all citizens of this great land would join in the proposition — '* Thai this is one country and has but one flag^^ — the Stars and Stripes. ' While indulging in these pleasant reflections, the book above re- ferred to was placed before us. We have read it, not only with aston- ishment, but also with grave apprehension. Under some circumstances we might have laid the speech aside and said, it is unworthy and not entitled to serious thought or consideration; but, in this case we cannot do so, and for these reasons : — The orator who delivered what he terms his Oration, has published a catalogue containing the names of many newspapers in this country — North and South — and also from abroad, whose editors seem to have re- 3 viewed the work, and many of them have given it their approval. (The author publishes twenty-one editorial and other commendations in his catalogue.) Among the comments published in the catalogue is one from Lon- don Academy ^ which says : " It is important to note that this is no tiere anonymous brochure, but a speech, or, as the speaker prefers to call it, an oration, publicly delivered by a responsible orator on a great occasion." ixx^ folic .j.ieuts are from within this country — North as :. as South • — " Historically and statistically the Oration is thoroughly worked out." — Chicago {III.) Evening Post. " There are times, in sooth, when the author's literary audacity almost makes one gasp ; but belated Truth, long crushed to earth, more than once has looked weird when she regained her feet." — Richmond ( Virginia) Journal. "The reader is startled by the disclosures, which are unquestionable, yet which remained concealed from him, let him be ever so well read." — Mr. John W.DuBois, Historian. " No higher praise can be given to the Oration than to say, as I do, that it is worthy of the theme, the occasion, and the locality that inspired it." — Lieut. J. R. Eggleston, Jormerly oj U. S. N. and C. S. N. " Would make a valuable text book in our high schools and colleges." — Rev. E. H. Randle, Historian. '• An oration well worthy the attention of all thoughtful students of American history." — New York Herald. " In this address is found a virile, lucid presentation of a subject that was never more vital than it is today." — Charlottsville ( Virginia) Daily Progress s ' With these brief extracts, taken from both prominent and responsi- ble sources, we respectfully ask you to read, with care, the following correctly quoted pages from the book, and then decide for yourselves whether there is not great need of loyal work being done — " To foster and stimulate patriotism — to inculcate into the minds of our fellow citi- zens the proposition that this is one country, and that it has but one flag — the Stars and Stripes — to inspire a deeper love and greater venera- tion for that flag — to educate the youth of this land that his country will honor most those who show unqualified loyalty when danger to it is threatened." EXCERPTS FROM THE BOOK From Page 1: Survivors of the Eighth Virgiiiia Regiment, Prince William County Chapter of the United Daughters < l the Confederacy, and all others that are here gathered on the battle-grr md of Manassas to honor those who fought to preserve the rights of American nations: Soldiers of the Eighth Virgini i Regiment, the war is not over, not yet may you unbuckle your armor: take up the arms that you laid down at Appomattox, then on to the front, for the hardest fighting i= yet to be done. In 1861 the American nations submitted one question rwXy to the arbitrament of arms. That question was answered in IBS'" '.• the ninth day of April, the saddest day known to Virginians, wh ..x the court of last resort decided that no nation a party to the tre^.y \A 1788 and its amendments should be permitted to withdraw from that compact; but that same court, the highest of tribunals, then decided that the rights of no nation should be otherwise affected. In construing the terms of the agreement in one respect only d\d opinions cu iTer. As the victors fought for the perpetuation of the treaty, — in all its provisions, as interpreted by them, — the decision met with their entire approval. The defeated countries lost but one of their rights, while all their other right '^ wert to be theirs forever. Each fought that her sove- 1 2'p'nt)'^ might be hers forever, and each was assured that never should her sovereignty be placed in jeopardy. Thus the defeated countries were victorious in defeat. But, Soldiers of the Eighth Virginia Regiment, the decision of the court of last resort has been disregarded by the victors. They have vio- lated the terms of surrender by which you were induced to lay down your arms, for, one by one, the rights of the defeated nations have been taken from them. The terms of surrender signed, sealed and delivered, the defeated peoples hoped that they would be permitted to exercise at least a few of the powers of sovereignty. A vain hope! The War of Reconstruction; the most hoirible of all modern wars, was forced upon them by their victors. They were to pay billions as indemnity under an infamous pension law; they were to pay billions as an indemnity under an iniquitous tariff. They were to see a vast republic made of the America^ nations; they were to see that repub- lic enter upon wars of conquest in distant lands. They were to see Cleveland tear down the flag that had been raised in dishonor; they were to see McKinley assassinate the treaty that he had fought to perpetuate. Yes, they were to see McKinley assassinate the treaty that he had fought to perpetuate, for they were to see him replace the flag that Cleveland had torn down, his face livid with shame the while. They were to see shrieking mobs, drunk with imperial power, — tasted for the first time, — gather about the flag that dishonored the heavens, while above the uproar they were to liear the more coherent among the rabble shout: " I,et the flag stay put! Get out, you little Americans ! The flag once planted shall wave for- 5 ever!" They were to hear a trutn -tf ^ ounding throughout the world : "Awake, nations of the earth, the ]->ci viOvereign countries with an initial capital .iter. There never was a "South" in America. The Confederate States of America, a temporary association, was an agreement between sovtreignties. The words in which that agreement was written never were intended to mean that sovereignties would be merged into a sin/r nation. Please pardon this brief digression T wish to say that the proper title of the war that was fought between i'i61 and 1865 is, the War be- tween the American States; or, the War between the American Nations. There was no Civil War, there was no War of the Rebellion; there was no War between the United States of America and the Confederate States of America; there was no War between the North and the South; but there was a war between American sovereignties, in which the nations were divided into two sets of allies. From Page 120. Victors and Vanquished Never Mate The irascible John Randolph of Roanoke once said: "l do not recall a single instance of cordiality between reconciled friends." Someday those who have not read the writings of the "lunatic" of southwestern Virginia should lay aside Shakespeare for awhile, then take up the writ- ings of John Randolph of Roanoke. What would the old "lunatic" have said had he been told that in the days that were to come — these days — that the people of the north, hating the people of the south for more than three centuries, should profess for them a most ardent love? Has 7 a victorious people ever loved the people that they vanquished? Has a vanquished people ever loved the people that vanquished them? Come, while we are among ourselves, let us admit that we hate our enemies, and also let us admit that we know that they are still our enemies. Dur- ing the last past twenty years I have travelled in all the southern com- munities that once were nations, and I have had excellent opportunity to study them closely; I was born in Virginia, received a part of my education there, and lived there during my boyhood. For the last past eighteen years I have lived in the city of Washington, or in the city of New York, and during those those years I have travelled in the north, the east, the west, as well as in the south. I say, with deliberation, that thf-hatred of those of the north toward those of the south is a hundred- fold greate" < han those of the south toward those of the north. There is a reason: Tne ?t- ' ired never hate those that injure them so much as the injurers hate thi. that they injure. Yes, O Shade of the Mighty " Lu- natic " of Roanok , if your spirit be about this battle-ground, the " cor- diality" that exists b. tween them that live north and them that live south of the Potomac river is of the kind that would have brought from your "crazy" brain an immortal expression. From Page 126: John Marshall indeed left but little of the Constitution of the United States for others to destroy. If a schoolboy of any part of this monarch- was asked to name the most infamous of all American traitors he prob- ably would mention the name of Benedict Arnold, a New England man. If I were asked that question, in reply I should rivtrae John Marshall, a Virginian, than who no greater traitor has lived since the time of Judas Iscariot. There have been men who by treachery have destroyed several nations; but I venture to say that John Marshall by treachery has de- stroyed more nations than any other man of recorded time. Not by the armies of Sherman and Grant was the Constitution of the United States destroyed, but by the political opinions of Alexander Hamilton judicially rendered by John Marshall. Indeed has Patrick Henry's prophecy been fulfilled. Said that great statesman: "We drew the spirit of liberty from our British ancestors; by that spirit we have triumphed over every difficulty. But indeed, sir, the American spirit, assisted by the ropes and chains of consolidation, is about to convert this country into a powerful and mighty empire." Again, was he wrong on the ninth day of June, in 1788, when he thun- dered out this question: "Will not absolute despotism ensue?" The Tentaci.es of the American Despot All in Virginia know that "Maryland, My Maryland!" recently has been made over into one of the patriotic songs of the American monarchy. The pupils of the public schools of the nation who breathed and burned, but who did not come, are to be taught the new 8 I song. Possibly the politics of the American monarchy is not taught in the public schools of the City of Baltimore as yet. But in the City of New York studies In the politics of the American monarchy and studies in her patriotism now are begun in the kindergar- ten. Here is the first lesson of a long course in each of those studies, for this one lesson combines politics and patriotism. The lesson is en- titled " Our Flag." Even now I can see the dear little boys and girls salute the Stars and Stripes, and even now I can hear them earnestly intone this chant : "I pledge allegiance to my flag and to t^ie Republic for which it stands. One nation, indivisible, with liberty a : i justice for all." There are not even state lines to separate the communi^^^v^ that form the American monarchy— not if the teachings of the public schorl:; of the city of New York be true. "One nation, indivisible,"— is the American monarchy whose institutions the pupils of Ne . / York City are taught to revere. From Page 136: Under the form of federal confederation that our fathers intended to establish, the human race in America would have been capable of its , highest development. To become higher types of man the peoples of the world may not be amalgamated. To tie contrary, degeneration v'ould certainly be the result of amalgamatic:. Provincialism and sec- tionalism are necessary to a high development of mankind. Home rule may not be too elastic, but should stretch from the family life to the life of the nation,— yes, even to the life of the world, including all nations. From Page 138, The Constitution Torn Up The Constitution of the United States has been torn up by a few persons while the American peoples slept. Indeed, the people of the American monarchy are yet asleep. When they awake after their long slumber, as did Rip Van Winkle of old, they will find that they are slaves under a despotism more powerful than any other that the world has ever known. Thus, soldiers of the Eighth Virginia Regiment, the victorious na- tions violated the terms of surrender by which you were induced to lay down your arms — before the ink dried on the paper that contained those terms. I shall not recall the details of the outrages that have been com- mitted upon the defeated nations by the victors, for those details are in- delibly written on the memory of each Virginian — written in blood, then burned into memory by countless fires. So I shall not relate the horrors of the war of Reconstruction in detail ; nor shall I trace in detail the growth of the American monarchy ; but I shall ask you to consider sev- eral of the countless outrages that have been committed by the victors upon their defeated foes. I refer to these because they are existing evils— continuing outrages — which cause me to tremble with indignation and shame as I utter these words. Indemnity by Pension Laws. First I shall refer to the infamous pension laws now in force, by which laws the vanquished have been forced to pay to the victors an in- demnity amounting to billions. While all the American sovereignties fought out a great war in order that a question arising under the inter- pretation of the treaty to which they were parties might be decided, yet the defeated nations, in pensions alone, have been required to pay out billions to their victors. Even now the defeated peoples are paying mil- lions r>nnually as indemnity in pensions. It ^s a pitiful sight as well as a shameful one, to see those old vet- eranj of the v!eieated nations yearly pay tribute to the men that they fought fift> ye-MS ago. The defeated r.ations were right in their contention that as sover- eigns they could withdraw from the treaty of 1788, and its amendments, for they had reserved that right to themselves ; but the force of might made right, so the victors, in violation of the terms of surrender, seized all the right that might give to them. Not only were the vanquished made to pay billions in pensions to those that they had fought, their widows and their minor children, but they were made to pay fully three times as much more in pensions to those that they had not fought, and' their widows and their minor children. Every dollar of indemnity save for a small amount paid to negroes — was spent beyond the lands V;' tb defeated nation, and not one penny of all those enormous paymeiu:> was returned to the defeated peoples. Moreover, unless the pension laws are changed, the posterity of the men that fought for the southern nations will continue to pay pensions during the next fifty years or more. Has any victorious people other than those who fought against the southern countries ever so horribly mutilated a fallen foe ? I contend that the peoples of the defeated nations should have received the same pension benefits as did the victors — from Appomattox to the present day. A new pension law should be enacted without loss of time, and that law should provide that the soldiers of the southern nations, their widows and their minor children, during the future should receive the same ben- efits as the soldiers of the northern nations, their widows and their minor children. Furthermore, the new law should provide that the soldiers of the southern nations, their heirs or their assigns, should receive as much as the soldiers of the northern nations, their heirs or their assigns have received. Until such a law is enacted, I shall advocate this cause so long as I live. To think of the immense amount of money that would be circulated in the South if such a law were enacted ! Yet, my friends, such an im- mense sum divided among southerners would not make them nearly so wealthy as the people of the other part of tljis monarchy. Why ? The devices of the victors by which they took the frugal earnings of the van- quished from them were not limited to the pension outrages. 10 INDEMNITY BY Tari^^ ^.''^^* ^^e been forced to bear burdens of tax^;'°"X"ies of ^^ ^o^th Java J.^^^^^.^^ ^.^^, words to describe The m ^^.^ bare-that norther ^^^^ fields of the SoBth^ave ° _, ^j the ^ast fifty y^,.^,. Scorn- be built up. Tf '°««f Uation levied »P°° f „j" the South are poo ■ stituted indirect in':^"^. They say *at we o tl^^y permit u fully do the victors 'f'^f^' steal from us t^e Wtle tn j^^^j^t;,, so But they do not ^fj .*^*X^ow by pension 1^^'^ "^ may not U. u,, ^o ^"."rhXrCan of "»^ rVm^"— "'^« T^ "l^dtsta '""i in as oration. Some day a more h ^^^^^ ^^o hav 1. 'd^ ^^ ",r f^Uenrrades, -r^oSCt^^-^of ' Inst ji."t«'^ slaves. ^HE End. [ Bein.convincedthatl^l^:-/--„::^^ to wor. infinite harm unless <=— ^';^;^^^,,„, that spirit of patriot- : co-operate wi^our N— Bu a" ^^^^^^^ „, „„ great KepubUc Unl which wiU contribute toJhr^^^^^^^_ VonrsmPatriotis ^^^^^^^^^^^^^_ ^ postal Telegraph Building, Chicago. lU. m LIBRftRY OF CONGRESS 013 763 813 7 ail tne xxg^- made to pay bilix. widows and their inii-_ times as much more r - ■ —i/inws and thei' \ \