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JOHN J. C0RNWELL WEDNESDAY, MAY 27, 1903. DECORATION DAY Wednesday, next, is Confeder- ate Memorial Day, here. As is well known the graves of the dead soldiers are decorated and the services in connection there with are held under the auspices of the Ladies Memorial Associa- tion. This society, organized immediately after the war and some 35 years ago erected the first monument to the Confeder- ate dead placed in position in the South. The war is long since over and much of the bitterness has worn away with the lapse of time. Unfortunately the ravages of time has had its effect, too, on the disposition to do honor to the memory of those who gave their lives to the cause they es- poused. This is due to the fact that the generation of men who engaged in the struggle of 61 to 64 are fast passing away and that the new generation is largely of commercial instinct, bent almost solely upon moneygetting. This is unfortunate. It is no disre- spect to the memory of those who fought upon the other side and no disloyalty to the Government, for the surviving Confederates and their descendents to meet once a year, strew flowers upon the graves of the fallen heroes and keep green their precious memory. They gave four years to a cause they and you believed to be just; more than that they gave their lives to it; can not we, therefore, spare one day to hon- or their memory? We are heart- less, soulless, unappreciative and unworthy to be descendents of such noble men, if we can not. |
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