Clarion-Ledger clipping
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THE MONUMENT.
Graphic Description of the Passage of Bill in the House.
Rev. Wm. Hayne Leavell, of Meridian, was present in the House of Representatives when the bill was under discussion to appropriate $10,000 to the Confederate Monument; and writes of the occasion as follows to the Southwestern Presbyterian:
On the morning of Tuesday, the 11th of February, I attended the session of the House of Representatives of the State of Mississippi. The House had under consideration a Senate bill to appropriate $10,000 to complete the Confederate Monument, the base of which was laid in May, 1888, in the State House Park, with very imposing ceremonies.
Certain ladies who had been the original and guiding spirits that had inaugurated and persistently prosecuted the movement, were freely admitted with their friends to the privileges of the floor of the House, on the occasion that was to decide their success or failure.
A young legislator, who sat at my side, whispered: "This is an occasion for eloquence;" and so it seemed to me.
The first speaker gave a rather elaborate bit of ornamented sentiment in favor of the bill, but it did not seem to catch the heart of the House, and it remained apparently listless and unsympathetic. Then arose a young man from one of the northern counties, who smiled genially and broadly as if moved by both consciousness and anticipation, and, with many uttered regrets and protestations of patriotism, fired a broadside into the bill. His county was poor, there were many Confederate soldiers living maimed; and poor there were many widows and orphans of such soldiers in very narrow straits, and besides all which, the soldiers whom it was proposed to honor, were all dead and did not desire a monument; he should vote against the bill!
This speech was the first sign of definite interest the House manifested. Many successive speakers rose to assail the young man with the genial smile, and reminded him that he was young, that his future was all before him, that any objection to this bill offered by the people now, was a mere passing sentiment, and that he should remember that he was the son of a soldier, that the monument was to be erected in honor of his father among the faithful men, and that he ought to be ashamed of himself. But there was nothing like eloquence in it all. Everything seemed dull and dead.
On my right rose a negro man of some 60 years of age, one of the few Republican members in this pretty solidly Democratic House, and said in full round tones, "Mr. Speaker." The Speaker recognized him with, "The gentleman from Washington," that being the county he represented. Immediately a perfect stillness filled the place, and the House was all attention. A smile of anticipated pleasure lighted every face, and hardly knowing why, I fell into the prevailing mood.
The colored Republican member, speaking on this bill to appropriate moneys to erect a monument in honor of the Confederate dead, said something like this:
"Mr. Speaker, I have risen here in my place to offer a few words on the bill. I have come from a sick bed, and was forced to struggle up here leaning on the arm of a friend. I stand here in considerable pain. Perhaps it was not prudent for me to come. But, sir, I could not rest quietly in my room, sick though I am, and allow this discussion to pass without contributing to it a few remarks of my own. I was sorry to hear the speech of the young gentleman from Marshall county. I am sorry that any son of a soldier should go on record as opposed to the erection of a monument in honor of the brave dead. And, sir, I am convinced that had he seen what I saw at Seven Pines and in the seven day's fighting round Richmond, the battlefields covered with the mangled forms of those who fought for their country and their country's honor, he would not have made that speech. When the news came that the South was to be invaded, those men went forth to fight for what they believed, and they made no requests for monuments to commemorate their brave deeds and holy sacrifices. But they died, and their virtues should be remembered. Sir, I went with them. I, too, wore the gray, the same color that my master wore. We staid four long years, and if that sad war had gone on till now I would have been there yet. I know what it all meant, and understand the meaning of my words, when I say that I would have been with my countrymen still had the war continued until this good day. I want to honor those brave men who died for their convictions. When my mother died I was a boy. Who, sir, then acted the part of a mother to the orphaned slave boy but my 'old missis?' Were she living now, or could she speak to me from those high realms where are gathered the sainted dead, she would tell me to vote for this bill. And, sir, I shall vote for it. I want it known to all the world that my vote is given in favor of the bill to erect a monument in honor of the brave Confederate dead."
The House burst into raptures and prolonged applause. The bill was put upon its passage and was carried by a good majority. Every colored member voted "aye."
The name of the negro who, though emancipated by the Confederate failure, and Republican in politics, voted for the bill is J. F. Harris, of Washington county, Miss.
Graphic Description of the Passage of Bill in the House.
Rev. Wm. Hayne Leavell, of Meridian, was present in the House of Representatives when the bill was under discussion to appropriate $10,000 to the Confederate Monument; and writes of the occasion as follows to the Southwestern Presbyterian:
On the morning of Tuesday, the 11th of February, I attended the session of the House of Representatives of the State of Mississippi. The House had under consideration a Senate bill to appropriate $10,000 to complete the Confederate Monument, the base of which was laid in May, 1888, in the State House Park, with very imposing ceremonies.
Certain ladies who had been the original and guiding spirits that had inaugurated and persistently prosecuted the movement, were freely admitted with their friends to the privileges of the floor of the House, on the occasion that was to decide their success or failure.
A young legislator, who sat at my side, whispered: "This is an occasion for eloquence;" and so it seemed to me.
The first speaker gave a rather elaborate bit of ornamented sentiment in favor of the bill, but it did not seem to catch the heart of the House, and it remained apparently listless and unsympathetic. Then arose a young man from one of the northern counties, who smiled genially and broadly as if moved by both consciousness and anticipation, and, with many uttered regrets and protestations of patriotism, fired a broadside into the bill. His county was poor, there were many Confederate soldiers living maimed; and poor there were many widows and orphans of such soldiers in very narrow straits, and besides all which, the soldiers whom it was proposed to honor, were all dead and did not desire a monument; he should vote against the bill!
This speech was the first sign of definite interest the House manifested. Many successive speakers rose to assail the young man with the genial smile, and reminded him that he was young, that his future was all before him, that any objection to this bill offered by the people now, was a mere passing sentiment, and that he should remember that he was the son of a soldier, that the monument was to be erected in honor of his father among the faithful men, and that he ought to be ashamed of himself. But there was nothing like eloquence in it all. Everything seemed dull and dead.
On my right rose a negro man of some 60 years of age, one of the few Republican members in this pretty solidly Democratic House, and said in full round tones, "Mr. Speaker." The Speaker recognized him with, "The gentleman from Washington," that being the county he represented. Immediately a perfect stillness filled the place, and the House was all attention. A smile of anticipated pleasure lighted every face, and hardly knowing why, I fell into the prevailing mood.
The colored Republican member, speaking on this bill to appropriate moneys to erect a monument in honor of the Confederate dead, said something like this:
"Mr. Speaker, I have risen here in my place to offer a few words on the bill. I have come from a sick bed, and was forced to struggle up here leaning on the arm of a friend. I stand here in considerable pain. Perhaps it was not prudent for me to come. But, sir, I could not rest quietly in my room, sick though I am, and allow this discussion to pass without contributing to it a few remarks of my own. I was sorry to hear the speech of the young gentleman from Marshall county. I am sorry that any son of a soldier should go on record as opposed to the erection of a monument in honor of the brave dead. And, sir, I am convinced that had he seen what I saw at Seven Pines and in the seven day's fighting round Richmond, the battlefields covered with the mangled forms of those who fought for their country and their country's honor, he would not have made that speech. When the news came that the South was to be invaded, those men went forth to fight for what they believed, and they made no requests for monuments to commemorate their brave deeds and holy sacrifices. But they died, and their virtues should be remembered. Sir, I went with them. I, too, wore the gray, the same color that my master wore. We staid four long years, and if that sad war had gone on till now I would have been there yet. I know what it all meant, and understand the meaning of my words, when I say that I would have been with my countrymen still had the war continued until this good day. I want to honor those brave men who died for their convictions. When my mother died I was a boy. Who, sir, then acted the part of a mother to the orphaned slave boy but my 'old missis?' Were she living now, or could she speak to me from those high realms where are gathered the sainted dead, she would tell me to vote for this bill. And, sir, I shall vote for it. I want it known to all the world that my vote is given in favor of the bill to erect a monument in honor of the brave Confederate dead."
The House burst into raptures and prolonged applause. The bill was put upon its passage and was carried by a good majority. Every colored member voted "aye."
The name of the negro who, though emancipated by the Confederate failure, and Republican in politics, voted for the bill is J. F. Harris, of Washington county, Miss.
Citation
Clarion-Ledger, “Clarion-Ledger clipping,” Mississippi State University Libraries, accessed December 21, 2024, https://msstate-exhibits.libraryhost.com/items/show/553.
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