OCR Text |
Show Memorial Day, 1910 1 ft & I Country's Duty to Heap Honors on I the Thinning Ranks of the Veterans III Q N tho armies during tho progross of the Civil war thore woro enrolled a total of ovor 2,000,000 mon. Tons of thousands of theso perished from wounds received re-ceived in tho strugglo or from diseases contracted through tho exposures and hardships of tho campaigns. cam-paigns. Other tons of thousands returned re-turned maimed in limb or shattered In honlth, never to become again cnpablo of carrying on tho natural struggle for existence and supremacy in tho poacoful pursuits of Ufo. Slnco tho closo or tho war, tho ranks of tho remnants of tho Union army havo boon thinned out constantly con-stantly by tho hand or death. Tho oxpoctancy of life loft to these survivors sur-vivors of tho war, taking them In tho mass tho day that tlin was hold at Arlington Heights after penco waB restored, was much less than tho normnl term of human Hfo. Still In spito or tho thinning out or tho ranks thoro remain with us today a vast host or tho "old boys in blue" who loft tholr homes nnd tho peaceful pursuits or liro to go to tho rront and protect tho homes or those left bo-hind, bo-hind, hold up tho flag of tho country nnd prosorve tho Union of the states. This groat "gray host" of tho old sol-dlors sol-dlors prosents a pathotlc but inspiring Bpectaclo to nil of us this latOBt Momo-rial Momo-rial day, when wo are called upon to commomorato tholr deeds of valor, their patriotic devotion to tho flag and and to tho Union, and to fill our bouIs as at a puro fountain with n re-nowed re-nowed spirit of patriotism, of greater lovo for our country, greater appreciation appre-ciation for our ndmlrnblo institutions and a deeper and moro devoted do-termination do-termination if tho occasion should arlso to cmulnto tholr deeds 'and to bo as true to tho flag nnd tho country as they woro, handing down to succeeding suc-ceeding generations tho Union Intact, its institutions unimpaired, ns they did for us. Tho United States has cortalnly atnmpod tho old maxim, "Republics are ungratortil," as false. Thoro novor was a country under any form of government gov-ernment which showed tho measure of gratitudo to tho mon who defended tho flag nnd preserved tho nation at all compnrablo to tho United States of Amorlca as shown by tho history of tho treatment accorded to tho sol-dlors sol-dlors who fought In tho great war. Yoar by year from that flmo to this, tho scopo of tho pension list has been steadily onlargod. Almost a hair-century hair-century attor tho first call for troops by Prosldont Lincoln in tho spring of 1881, In spito of tho hundreds of thousands thou-sands of tho old army who havo crossed ovor to tho other side, tho government is paying this yoar a larger sum In pensions than was provided pro-vided tho first year aftor tho war and almost as much as in any previous yoar In oil that have passed by. As tho years roll by wo all should cultlvato tho spirit manirestod by tho government in onlnrglng tho scopo or tho pension list. As Intimated above, this proves that tho graterul hearts or Americans arc touched moro tenderly with n sense or tho debt that wo o'wo tho old soldiers as tho years roll by. Thoso or us who see tho "old boys In bluo" marching through tho streets on Memorial day year by yoar, can scarcely miss being struck by a sonso of tho weight of years that rests upon tho shouldors of this "good gray army." Romomber it is moro than a whole generation ago, ns human Hfo goes, almost a generation and a half, slnco tho last recruit was enrolled In tho volunteer army of tho Union Just boforo the war camo to its close. There nro very row momberB or tho Grnnd Army, very row soldiers or tho Civil war, who aro only at the threo-scoro threo-scoro mark. Indeed, thoro nro not many or them who nro not at tho psalmist's term or Hfo, three scoro and ten. There nro but few nllvo who answered tho first call of President Lincoln. If tho new recruit wero only twenty when that call wont out, ho Is sixty-eight now. Tho soldier who wns thirty Is nearly eighty. It Is a touching thought to think of this noblo army and look back through tho half-contury that Is gone bynnd think or tho bright, promising, sturdy youths with life all before them, with quickened pulses, with firm, unwavering unwaver-ing trend that shook the earth in the first nrmy corps and brigades organized organ-ized In tho early days of tho war. When the great rovlew was held near Washington, aftor peaco was made, tho eyes of theso "boys in bluo" were still bright with hope, their steps still firm nnd their hearts resolute. Unlike Un-like most other nrmlos. thoy wont back to their homes glad tho war was ovor. They returned to tho occupations occupa-tions they had laid down whon tho cnll to nrms reached them. Thoy havo boen through nil theso years of business busi-ness good citizens, law-abiding, industrious indus-trious and self-respecting, taking caro of thomsolves nnd of thoso dopondent upon thoin as generally and as efficiently effi-ciently as thoso who novor heard tho rattlo of musketry or the roar of artillery, ar-tillery, nor tho shock of cavalry charging over the plain. Long livo in thousnnds and tons of thousands tho "boys In blue." May tholr ranks thin slowly. May many years pass by beroro "taps" Is sounded sound-ed over tho gravo or the last or this great army or grizzlod heroes. And whllo thoy livo may Americans or tho present nnd or coming generations never lack in their admiration and gratitudo to tho mon who protected the homes or Amorlca, who uphold tho flag of tho country, and who pro-served pro-served tho Union of states Intact, with all tho admirable institutions framed by tho fathers of tho republic. |