University of South Carolina Libraries
SUPPLEMENT. S^NEWHl IN THE VHIET. A nOMMEM TO JACKSON AT LEAIN6T0N, VV. Imposing Ceremonies at the I'nveil ing of the Statue Sculptured by Valentine—Wade Hampton Pre sides and the Venerable Jnbal Early ) elivers the Oration—An Immense Concourse of Survivors and Other Citizens Assembles from the Surrounding Country. Lexington, Va., .July 21,—This is the 30th anniversary of the first battle of Manassas, and Lexington, the quiet, peaceful littie village, in which was spent the lifetime.of Stonewall Jackson, the mo. t picture sque figure of all the notable men of the Southern Confederacy, is bright and bustling with life and color, while ten thousand strangers are assembled within ■ its environs to participate in the exerc'ses. incident to the unveiling of the monument symbolic of the esteem and venera tion felt for the great soldier whose brilliant career was cut si ort in the height of his fame. A crowd of admirers of the great General began arriving Saturday and yesterday, when a number of leading survivors of Jackson’s command gave a banquet at the Virginia Mili tary Institute, in which Jackson was one of the professors at the break ing out of the war, the town was full of veterans. Kaon train since yes terday afternoon/has been tilled with former Confederates. Their num bers being so large that the town’s accommodations, stretched to their ulgiost by the hospitality of its resi dents, were insufticient for entertain ing the throng.Tliere is not a house in the city, public or private, that is not tilled* This morning the country roads are swarming with people, and every highway leading through the rolling fields of ripened wheat and blossoming clovi r is pouring its con tingent into Lexington. THE WEATHER is superb. The day dawned misty and threatening, but the rising sun ; oon drove away the clouds and fog. Tiie sky cleared beautifully, aud a fresh cool breeze tempered the rays of the*situ, so that the day was as pleasant as could lie w ished. jackson’s section room. The section room at the barracks of the Virginia Military Institute, used by Jackson when professor there, has attracted thousands of ad mirers. Entering the room, on one side is a pyramid of potted flowers, growing up three feet high, near the chair occupied by Geu. Jackson as instructor, the chair being garlanded iu flowers, in front of a simple pine table; to the left a’ blackboard bear ing the inseripiion: “Tie fought the good fight.” To the front, a stand of guns with the market’s flag of a regiment. On another blackboard wai» wiitten : “Lieut Gen. Jackson’s body laid in Slats in this tower, May 14, 1803.” Next to this is printed the order' f his funeral exer cises at that time, and on an othei blackboard is the inciiption: “Elect ed to the chair of experimental philosophy and military tactics, 1851.” To the right of the profes sor’s chair were three rows of plain benches, suggestive of recitation hours. The whole was simple, but exceedingly impressiye. THE STATUE stands in a circle iu the centre of the city cemetery on Main street. A square, containing rbout four acres of ground, well set off with plants, hides the statue from view, except in the rear. The site is a slight mound crowning an elevation overlo iking the surrounding con iti^. The sculp tor is a’Virgiuian, Edward V. Valen tine, who designed the Lee monu ment. ’ 'The statue is of bronze, he- 4»ic in size, and portrays Jackson with uncovered head, leaning on his sword and left leg, and looking out upon the Held of battle,' iu his right hand at his side is a field grass. He is clad in the full uniform of a Con- : ? - . - federate lieutenant general, with gold lace on sleeves distinctly visi ble, and with htavy military boots and spurs. His carriage is easy and the attitude is one of close observa tion, with right foot advanced, ready and alert for instant and vigorous action. The scabl ard of the sword, upon which the gauntletted left hand rests, bear the letters “U. S.” an historical fact, as it was modelled from Jackson’s own sword. The statue proper measures 8 feet and surmounts a granite pedestal 10 1^2 feet high, consisting of the base, course, die and capital. On one face, the die bears the inscription : “Jackson,” “1824-1863,” and on another the simple word, “Stone wall.” Beneath the pedestal is a vaultcontainingsix sepulchred cham bers, surrounded by a circular grass plot, around which is a drive way with four approaches. The general effect of the structure is imposing, and the statue is con sidered to be a good representation. Mrs. Jackson, in an interview with an Associated Press representative to day, said : “It is strange that 1 have not yet seen the statue. I missed Valentine in Richmond and also in New York aud have not had an op portunity to see it here, still from the expressions of opinion of Prof. J. J. White and Capt John C. Boude and others who knew Gen. Jackson well, I am satisfied that it does him justice.” Oid soldiers who followed Jack- son during the war are pleased with the statue. THE PROCESSION. Programme exercises provided that proceedings should begin at 10 o’clock but owing to the confusion caused by the presence of so many people it was considerably later than the time, when the procession was ready to move. The parade ground of the Virginia Military Institute was the place of formation, which was under the direction of Chief Marchal Gen. James A. Walker, of Wythe, Va, the only surviving commander of the Stonewall Br gade. THE UNVEILING CEREMONIES. It was 12 o’clock when the pro cession arrived at the campus. Gen. Wade Hampton at that hour intro duced the Rev. H. C. Hopkins, chap lain of the Stonewall brigade, who led in a five-minutes’ prayer. Gen. Hampton then introduced Col. T. M. Semmes, of the Virginia Military Institute, who recited n ost beauti fully three poems, “Stonewall Jack- sou’s Wall,” “Over the River” and “Slain in Battle.” Gen. Jnbal A. Early, the orator of the occasion, was next introduced, and began speaking from manuscript. Gen. Early appeared in good health, but showed painfully the signs of old age. He was twice interrupted by bands that had just arrived. He stopped speaking, and turning sharp ly around, asked if there was no way to stop that fuss. The oration was received with attention and great enthusiasm. A TOUCHING INCIDENT on the stand was when Mrs. Jackson met her little grandchildren, whom she had not been permitted to see for a long time. She embraced them warmly aud appeared to be much af fected, holding little Thomas in her arms during the oration. Julia sat alone. After the oration the parade was continued to the cemetery, forming in rear of it at 2 o’clock. At 2.15 Mrs. Stonewall Jackson and her two Tittle grandchildren, Julia Jackson Christian and Thomas Jackson Christian, ascended the stand accom panied by Cupt. John Carmichael. Two minutes afterwards, -amid firing of cannon by the, Boekbridgt Artil lery, the cord was pulled by little Julia and the veil fell, exposing to view the statue. The military and civic organizations then passed in view of the statue through the ceme tery, dropping out of line as they reached their quarters. « GEN. EARLY’S IKATION was a history of the life of Gen. T. J. Jackson. Beginning with his birth, he traced his career Jo the' Military Academy at West Point, bearing hard on his powerful tena city and pluck, and bringing out fully, his obstinacy in i he face of difficulties. He reviewed briefly Jack- son’s career in the Mexican War leading up to his life at the Virginia Military Institute and his influence on the young soldiers trained at that school by'him. He then made an historic sketch of the army record of the great leader, bringing out forcibly the opinion of him by his opponents, remarking, “they thought they would have great trouble in finding the faces of Jackson’s men, but they learned afterwards that if they did it was caused by their own faces be ing turned the wrong way.” He dwelt at length on Jackson’s cam paign in the valley, going into dates and figures to show that he fought always against larger numbers and was always victor. His reference to the manner in which Jackson obtain ed the name of “Stonewall” elicited from an imnense crowd of 15,000 tremendous rpplause. He said: “But Jackson was nut a stonewall alone as he stood up behind those Virginians, but a military hurricane, and his enemies will testify to the truth.” His speech throughout was mild and full of argument, being lit tle more or less than a eulogistic sketch of Jackson’s life. He ended his speech as follows: “Let me ct include by saying, and let every honst-hearteu Confederate who fought bravely in the war say, ‘If I should ever apoligize for any part or action taken by me in the war, may the lightning of a right eous Heaven blast me from the earth, and may I be considered as the spawn of the earth by all honest men.’” THE GOVERNMENT CONTROL OF RAILROADS. It is very probable that those of our people who have been led to be lieve that it would be a good thing for the country, if the general Government would buy and control all the railroads, have ever seriously considered the subject, or have made themselves acquainted with the in surmountable obstacles in the way of its accomplishment. The first question to be considered in connection with this scheme is its cost; for it is very certain that if the roads were purchased of a fair valu ation, it would be simply impossible for Congress to devise any means by which the money could be procured to pay for them. Even if 1 onds, at low interest, and to run for a long term of years, were issued and could be taken up, the taxes necessary to pay the interest on these bonds would be so onerous, that in a few years at most, the Government would be forced to put them on the market and sell at a ruinous sacrifice, or be forced to repudiate the bonds issued for their payment The main rea son urged, in favor of this visionary measure, is that the roads may be managed by the Government for the sole benefit of the jieople; and this being the case, it of course, could not be expected that they would earn any dividends; but would simply be allowed to pay expenses, and conse quently they would do nothing in the way of paying interest on the bonds. It must also he remembered that if the Government is to own and operate the roads, it will, of necessity, be compelled to build and equip others, and the trouble will not stop with the building of the ones that are actually necessary, but Congress will be overrun with petitions for the building of roads that could not by any possible means be made to pay one-fourth of their running expenses. This would simply open the do >r for a large amount of corruption and a mans qualifications foi Congress won Id be simply judged by his ability to secure appropriations for building railroads. Even the best of Governments, like all things else of human origin, have their defects, and one of the ins tparable difficulties, in the way of an ides 1 Republican Government, is the large number of office holders that, the proper administration of the laws of the ■ country, render necessary: and that are, even under the most favorable circumstances, a fruitful source of corruption. To a very large extent, at least, the policy of both our great political partiei has been, “to the victors be long the spoils,” and the most im portant offices iu the gift of the Na tion, have been given as a reward for political service. Every one, at all familiar with the course of polities in our country, is well aware of the great struggle made by the Demo cratic party, under Cleveland, to wrest the control of the Nation from the hands of the Republicans, ami what a tremendous influence w’as ex erted by the great army of office holders, and how near that influence came to perpetuating the power of a p irty that had become insolent by victory and corrupt by opportunity. If to*this already too large an army of office holders is added the many thousands of railroad employees, it can be easily seen how impossible it will be to dislodge any party from power, that has once secured posses sion of the government, and how- vast will be the amount of corrup tion, when its lease of power can be indefinitely extended. No man, who loves Republican institutions, will give aid or en couragement to any scheme that has a tendency to change the theory upon which the whole fabric of our National Government rests; or join in any movement that will be such a long step iu the direction of centralization. It is very true that the National Constitution has, in some directions, been construed in a way its framers never contemplated, and the rights of the States, at times, have been encroached upon; but this fact should only make us more cau tious in regard to encroachments on the part of the general Government; that is if we wish to preserve our Republican institutions in their puri ty and integrity; for it may be safely asserted that all legislation of this character inevitably tends to paternal ism, and So far from being an im provement in the science of Govern ment, is, on the contrary, a backward movement and one that savoiw more of the dark ages than of the enlightenment of the present time. As a Nation advances in knowl edge, the inei itable tendency is in the direction of greater individual freedom, and this freedom once ol>- tained will bejealously guarded, and any attempt to curtail it is sure to re- sultin failure and possible bloodshed. It must also be borne in mind that the safe and systematic management of railroads requires, not only re quires great exprience, but adminis trative talent of the highest order, ai .d if the general Government con trol led the roads, the officials of the roads would be replaced by politi cians, who, in all probability, would Vie utterly ignorant of the duties that would be required ot then 1 , and the result would be inextricable confusion and great loss of life from the many accidents that would oc cur. It would be extremely diffei- cnlt to conceive of a scheme more ut terly impracticable aud visionary, and those who advocate it have not made the direction of showing how it is to he accomplished.