SOURCE: The Reward of Patriotism, Lucy Shelton Stewart, Chapter 37, pp. 441-449
OTHER LAWS HONORING THE CONFEDERACY: THE MOTIVE BACK OF THEM
The Republican Congress and President not only authorized the issue of the traitor coin, but they also adopted a resolution authorizing the restoration of Arlington as it was before the Civil War, as a memorial to Robert E. Lee. Mrs. Frances Parkinson Keyes, wife of the Republican Senator from New Hampshire, in Good Housekeeping, [1] tells about the passage of this Bill:
When I read the list of the bills passed in the final crush of Congressional legislation, and signed by the President at the last moment, I discovered that among them was the measure authorizing the restoration of the Lee mansion. It seems like the irony of fate that a bill in which I had been so earnestly interested, and for which I had worked so long and for a time apparently so hopelessly, should at last have gone through so quickly and so easily that I did not even know of its passage until several days afterward. It was introduced, in its final form, in the House of Representatives by Mr. Cramton of Michigan, and in the Senate, without amendment, by Mr. Pepper of Pennsylvania-both Northerners, you will observe-and it is so brief that I am quoting it to you:Mrs. Keyes does not seem to remember any better than did Congress in adopting this resolution, that our country was reunited, so far as it had been disunited, by the surrender of the armies under General Lee (this same Lee) and General Johnston and others in 1865, a result forced on those in arms against our Government by the valor of the soldiers of the Union, which valor was not recognized by the Coolidge Administration.Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Secretary of War be, and he is hereby, authorized and directed, as nearly as may be practicable, to restore the Lee Mansion in the Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia, to the condition in which it existed immediately prior to the Civil War, and to procure, if possible, articles of furniture and equipment which were then in the mansion and in use by the occupants thereof. He is also authorized, in his discretion to procure replicas of the furniture and other articles in use in the mansion during the period mentioned, with a view to restoring, as far as may be practicable, the appearance of the interior of the mansion to the condition of its occupancy by the Lee family.The introduction to this resolution also states that "Honor is now accorded Robert E. Lee as one of the great military leaders of history, whose exalted character, noble life, and eminent services are recognized and esteemed, and whose manly attributes of precept and example were compelling factors in cementing the American people in bonds of patriotic devotion and action against common external enemies in the war with Spain and in the World War, thus consumating the hope of a reunited country."
Mrs. Keyes omits to state that Representative Cramton and Senator Pepper, like her husband, were Republicans: we have already mentioned that Senator Pepper was originally slated to introduce the traitor coin law in the Senate, but that that distingushed honor was finally bestowed on Senator Smoot, and the honor of presenting this Arlington Restoration Resolution was reserved for Senator Pepper.
After studying the traitor coin law, we are quite prepared for the introduction of the Spanish-American and World War references. They are supposed to be a spell which removes the curse of honoring treason by having the virtues of the sons ascend to the fathers!
In connection with this resolution restoring "the Lee Mansion" is the interesting fact that Lee never owned any of the Arlington Mansion. He himself says, in a letter to Reverdy Johnson, January 27, 1866, [2] speaking of the estate of his father-in-law, G. W. P. Custis:
A portion of his landed property has been sold by the Government, in the belief, I presume, that it belonged to me; whereas I owned no part of it, nor had any other charge than as administrator. His will, in his own handwriting, is on file in the court of Alexandria County. Arlington, and the tract on "Four Mile Run," given him by General Washington, he left to his only child, Mrs. Lee, during her life, and, at her death, to his eldest grandson.It is readily seen, therefore, that the restoration of Arlington by Congressional act in memory of Lee is somewhat farfetched, since he rarely was there, owing to his military life, and never owned any of it. The appropriation for the restoration was not passed and approved, however, until the last days of the Coolidge administration, when ninety thousand dollars was appropriated.
While Congress was adopting the resolution which states that the precepts and example of Lee were compelling factors in cementing the American people in bonds of patriotic devotion, The Confederate Veteran, organ of the Confederacy's four societies, during the same month, March, 1925, in an article entitled, A Voice from the Tomb, which discusses the opposition of the Union soldiers to the Stone Mountain coin, says: "Only those strange people of beatific visions who make reunion speeches assert the disappearance of the bloody chasm and the total lack of ill feeling between the sections." The article closes with the suggestion that the title A Voice from the Tomb, which is quoted from another paper, should be changed to A Voice from the Cesspool. With such pernicious characterization of the protest of Union soldiers, do the followers of Lee emulate his manly attributes of precept and example!
Other laws and resolutions honoring the Confederacy were recited in our Prologue:
By Congressional authority the Navy Department for several years has sent the Marine Band to attend the Confederate reunions; and the War Department has furnished bedding and tents to the number of 38,000 pieces for these same reunions.
In themselves these acts seem innocuous, and they might be so, were it not for the fact that they are used, as are all other such acts, as proof that the Confederacy was right, its cause just. After all, there does not seem to be any good reason for extending these courtesies in 1928 and 1929 any more than in the years from 1861 to 1865, since it is as rebels that they are being recognized and honored, and not in any resumed loyalty. At these reunions the flag of disunion is displayed and the uniform of the slaveholders' Confederacy worn, the flaunting of both of which was judged an act of hostility in loyal States by the Attorney-General of the United States shortly after the close of the War. [3]
The 70th Congress also enacted a law, Public No. 810, as follows:
Be it enacted, etc., That the Secretary of War is authorized to erect headstones over the graves of soldiers who served in the Confederate Army and who have been buried in national city, town, or village cemeteries or in any other places, each grave to be marked with a small headstone or block which shall be of durable stone and of such design and weight as shall keep it in place when set and shall bear the name of the soldier and the name of his State inscribed thereon when the same are known. The Secretary of War shall cause to be preserved in the records of the War Department the name, rank, company, regiment, and date of death of the soldier and his State; if these are unknown it shall be so recorded.The graves of Union soldiers throughout the land have never been marked by the Government, although a law au-thorizing the marking of some of them was passed February 3, 1879. But it was not as comprehensive as this law marking Confederate graves, because the latter law authorizes the marking of Confederate graves anywhere and everywhere on earth, in the phrase "or in other places." Except in national cemeteries, regardless of any law, the graves of Union soldiers are mostly marked by their comrades or by organizations allied with the Grand Army of the Republic. As far as the grateful Government is concerned, most of these graves would be unmarked: this is a reward of patriotism! The would-be destroyers of the nation are to have their graves marked in enduring stone: this is the reward of treason!
We have already referred to the singularity, if not the incongruity, of Vice-President Dawes-acting, it is true, by the direction of Congress-in accepting the statue of the Vice-President of the Confederacy when it was unveiled in Statuary Hall in our National Capitol. On that occasion Vice-President Dawes said in part: [4]
As representing the Government of the United States, a government whose flag inspires the love of a united people no longer divided, either by section or sentiment, a government under which the North is proud of the South and the South of the North, the East of the West, and the West of the East, I accept this memorial in its name, in accordance with the act of Congress. (Applause) .Later, Congress adopted a joint resolution thanking the people of Georgia for their statue of Stephens, as follows: [5]
Resolved by the house of representatives (the senate concurring), that the statue of Alexander Hamilton Stephens, presented by the State of Georgia, to be placed in Statuary hall, is accepted in the name of the Unted States and that the thanks of congress be tendered the state for the contribution of the statue of one of its most eminent citizens, illustrious for his distinguished humanitarian service....The interesting part of this resolution is the reference to "the distinguished humanitarian service" of Stephens. This, no doubt, refers to his theories concerning slavery, particularly that it was the "cornerstone of the Confederacy."
But the truly absurd measure adopted by Congress was that, whereby a committee of fifteen was sent to the unveiling of Lee's figure, on his horse, Traveler, carved on Stone Mountain.
To understand fully this absurdity, the following facts must be known: Originally, Gutzon Borglum started the carving on Stone Mountain. When the head of Lee was well under way, dissension broke out between the sculptor and the Stone Mountain Confederate Monumental Association, because of which differences he retired from the task, and Augustus Lukeman was engaged to carry on the work. A new figure of Lee on his horse was started lower down on the mountain-side, and that which Borglum had accomplished was effaced from the mountain; other figures, presumably of Jackson and Davis, were roughly sketched in. These three figures formed but an infinitesimal portion of the vast design set forth by the Stone Mountain Association as their goal.
With the figure of Lee still incomplete, his horse hardly started, and the figures of Jackson and Davis still vague sketches, the Stone Mountain Confederate Monumental Association proceeded to have an "unveiling" of the "mounted statue of Robert E. Lee," when the whole of the completed work represented not more than two per cent of the Stone Mountain project as advertised.
And Congress spent the good money of the people of the United States to send fifteen of its members to this so-called unveiling! It took much of the effrontery and presumption which has always marked the Confederate sympathizer for them to ask for this delegation from Congress to attend such an unveiling. But it was a Confederate desire, so it was granted, and later the Stone Mountain Confederate Monumental Association sent the following resolution, which was read in Congress: [6]
Whereas the Congress of the United States passed a special joint resolution providing for the appointment of a committee of 10 Members of the House of Representatives and five from the Senate to act as the accredited representatives of the Senate and the House at the exercises held at Stone Mountain on April 9, 1928, incident to the unveiling of the mounted statue of Gen. Robert E. Lee, and the Speaker of the House, Hon. Nicholas Longworth, subsequently appointed Hon. Thomas M. Bell, of Georgia; Hon. John Q. Tilson, of Connecticut; Hon. William W. Hastings, of Oklahoma; Hon. C. William Ramseyer, of Iowa; Hon. W. H. Sproul, of Kansas; Hon. Charles L. Faust, of Missouri; Hon. C. R. Crisp, of Georgia; Hon. Clarence F. Lea, of California; Hon. John J. O'Connor, of New York; and Hon. William W. Arnold, of Illinois, and said representatives visited Atlanta and were present at the exercises referred to:This is an extremely interesting resolution. It emphasizes the fact that "official recognition" is given by the Republican Congress to the Confederate memorial to the slaveholders' rebellion; delicate allusion is also made to the traitor coin in the support given "on a prior occasion evidenced in such notable and historic manner." Why was this absurd unveiling perpetrated? The answer is: in spite of the financial aid received from the sale of traitor coins, the Association was without funds: this "unveiling" was just a gesture whereby members of Congress were notified, visibly, that the Stone Mountain Confederate Monumental Association needed more Congressional aid and that they were in a receptive mood for more financial "support." When the time is ripe, they will seek it. Will future Republican administrations and congresses he as docile to Confederate bidding as those just ended?Resolved, That the thanks of the Stone Mountain Monumental Association are hereby extended to the Congress of the United States for their gracious act in giving official recognition to this auspicious event in the manner recited, together with sincere assurances of the grateful appreciation of this association and all connected therewith, we being desirous of formally testifying to the high regard we entertain and feel for this renewed evidence of the sympathy and support of the Congress for the great monument being built upon Stone Mountain, on a prior occasion evidenced in such notable and historic manner.
But what is the meaning of all these Republican crookings of the knee to the Confederacy and its leaders which we have just shown?
There are few citizens so dull of understanding that they will believe that all of these tributes have been paid by Republicans to Southern Confederate Democrats out of pure magnanimity, or out of a disinterested desire to recognize the principles of slavery and State Sovereignty as laudable ends for which to strive; and the more particularly will this be difficult for anyone to believe when he remembers that in the recognition of the Confederacy the Republican leaders are risking the alienation of two large groups which have always been in the Republican fold: namely, the Union soldiers and their affiliated organizations and the Negroes.
It must, therefore, have been a powerful influence which could cause the Republican leaders to forget the faith of their fathers and risk the alienation of these two groups, even though the passage of such acts as the traitor coin law and the restoration of Arlington were accomplished with all the secrecy possible under the circumstances, and information concerning them consistently and persistently suppressed in the North. This very secrecy and suppression are, of course, an acknowledgement that these acts will not bear public scrutiny nor meet with public approval among the rank and file of Republicans.
What, then, was the secret influence ? It can be answered in two statements of fact: the headquarters of the Stone Mountain Confederate Monumental Association were in Atlanta, Georgia; the Ku Klux Klan national headquarters, from which the imperial wizard of the Invisible Empire issues his commands, were also in Atlanta. The Klan is the offspring of the Confederate South, but has extended all over the United States. As its descriptive name indicates, the invisible empire, to be such, must be Democratic in the South, to control, and Republican in the North, in order to be really imperial. The control of the Klan, however, was in Atlanta.
If the reader has a moment of doubt, let him recall the pre-election speeches in the 1924 Presidental campaign. Mr. Davis and Mr. LaFollette were strong in their denunciation of the Klan; but Mr. Coolidge never voiced a single word of opposition to that organization. Then, when the Republican Vice-Presidental candidate, Charles G. Dawes, made his opening campaign speech in Maine, he violently assailed the Klan; but he, like Mr. Vestal of Indiana, evidently was made to see a great light, or to feel a powerful influence; for, after this maiden effort against the Klan, he was silent forevermore -- with a silence that was most oppressive.
Gradually the newspapers are revealing this close connection between Republicanism and the Klan in the North: in such States as Maine, New York, and Indiana the influence is profound. Indeed, we need no better example of its power than that it closed the mouth of Mr. Dawes, a man noted for saying what he thinks without restraint.
[1] July, 1925.
[2] Jones' Reminiscences, p. 211.
[3] O. R., Vol. 97, p. 92a
[4] Cong. Record, January 4, 1928, p. 1012.
[5] A. J., Dec 22, 1927.
[6] Cong. Record, May 29, 1928, p. 1075a
Must be gospel, if Stewart said it right? ;o)