who will present it to the Secretary upon his return from his present trip to the Philippine Islands. I beg to thank you on behalf of the Secretary for the kind words of your letter.
Very respectfully,
Acting Private Secretary.
To Mrs. W. J. Behan,
President Confederated Southern Memorial Ass'n.
[From Indianapolis, Ind., News, August 23, 1907]
CROSSING THE BRIDGE
The Charleston News and Courier, whose kindly words and good opinion of this paper we appreciate and reciprocate, is still recalcitrant on the question of Jefferson Davis' name and the "Cabin John Bridge." It reminds us of the man that said the horse was seventeen feet high. When told that he evidently meant seventeen hands he admitted that he did, but that as he had said seventeen feet he meant to stick to it. The News and Courier "insists" that the people of the South "are not in any sense responsible for the "vandalism" that cut the name from the bridge. By the same reasoning, it declares we might as well hold the people of the South responsible for the burning of Atlanta and Columbia and the desolation of the country by Sherman's men on the march to the sea. Furthermore, it "does not care a copper" whether Davis' name is restored, but protests against any people of the South asking for its restoration. Finally, it tells us that the war "was not a civil war, but a purely defensive war on the part of the South and a war of criminal aggression on the part of the North. It is all over now," it continues, but it wants to "keep the record straight!"
All right! The horse is seventeen feet high—not hands; we shall agree on that. But that is not the subject of our story. The South was not responsible for the "vandalism" that cut the name off; nor was it responsible for the acts of Sherman's men. But we insist that it is responsible in its due share for the national opinion of the year 1907 concerning anything of national import, sentimental or material. It shares the responsibility for the
