Page:Confederate Military History - 1899 - Volume 12.djvu/376

360 the people of the South are as moral and law-abiding as any people anywhere in the world. It would be well if those who judge them harshly would consider what they would have done themselves, surrounded by the most grave social problem the world has ever seen ; viz., the race problem in its ugliest presentation in the South, and by the provocation of the mistake of statesmen.

The preceding part of this article was completed in 1897. Since that time the great Republic, in the year 1898, has made wonderful strides in history making. It has engaged in a most successful war with Spain, to put an end to the bad government of Spanish rule in Cuba. The people of the United States, on the score of humanity, forced the legislative and executive departments to put an end to the apparently endless bad government and inhumanity, emphasizing the rule of Spain of her colonies in the Western continent. The destruction of the warship Maine, in the harbor of Havana by being blown, up; the victory of Admiral Dewey at Manila; the destruction of Admiral Cervera's fleet by Commodores Sampson and Schley off Santiago de Cuba, and the capture of Santiago de Cuba by the American army under General Shafter, have been rapidly recurring events, which have thrilled the heart of every patriotic American with pride. These naval and military events, which may be classed almost alone for their brilliancy, when we consider the little loss of life incurred, and the results following in acquisition of territory to the United States, make an historical era hitherto unsurpassed in the history of our country.

One of the most remarkable results of this war has been the display of national patriotism and unity among the citizens of this great country—North, South, East and West. All sectional lines have apparently been blotted out forever; all bad blood, if any still lingered