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Show be a general roll rail, when those who bave des-erved well of mankind will pass In the review of the eternal awes, and the men who did the deeds honored hon-ored upon Decoration day will not IIiIhs the tribute of the wider effects of their iiiImsIoii to preserve the American Amer-ican political tie unbroken. 1'nlted. glorious and peaceful, with undlminrd vision and with unshaken faith In their primary principles, the Amerl can people are one In heart and otio In spirit In their purpose to have the IHiiKtrlous ideals of the nation niado Increahlnfily glorious for the bleswlng of mankind. It is easy enough after a war has been fought to prove the uaclessness tf It. It has often been shown how the difference between the north and the south might have been adjusted with such a terrible waste of life and treasure. Grant that within the devices de-vices of political expediency these preventions were poxalble, the fact still retnalna that the wars were fought, that great moral fnults wers purged, and the (Jod of battles enforced en-forced his ancient law of eye for ey and drop of blood for drop of blood Children are always bearing the faults of tbelr fathers, and the mon and women of '60 to '65 poured out of their own veins and out of their own souls an equal portion of blood and misery that their father drew from the Veins of an enslaved race. No moral debts long remain unpaid. What if the purging was drastic and the throes Buffered by the war ring elements brought It staggering to Its knees, was not the cleansing complete? The nation stands today the stronger and the sweeter for that conflict. For It was not merely the quarrelsome distemper of war that af fllcted the jteople, but a score of din eases; not human slavery alone, but factional Jealousy, greed. selflshneHS. attte nongovernment and federal abunes. How vastly these have Ix-en eliminated can be appreciated only by a study of the Inlustlces of that antebellum period The nation In that memorable Mruggle was expected by cynical observers In Kurope to crumble and fall Hut tbene observers failed utterly to grasp the significance of the struggle that was being fought for national purity and national unity. Instead of perceiving a giant rending himself, as they thought, they were watching a giant wrestling with the evil that was within him. As the day of that condlr! ever re cedes, and the din grow less strl dent to the ear. Its better significance makes Itself felt The bread page of history teaches a lesson that participation partici-pation In the actual war Itself might not have taught If any soldiers sfood In the trenches unmindful of th slg nlftcance of the utrugglei In which hs was a part, be Is not unmindful now as he measures his step to the beat ol the muffled drum today For time baa shown all wherein lay the universal meaning of that conflict. The nation was being bled of Its dlntempers. even through his veins And ft rose up weakened and saddened, tot with ths courage of the victor and the reo!u-Hon reo!u-Hon of the chastened , T AYS there are that E stand heroic upon the cal- I 1 eudar for all time. These B, M are days honored in com-riy com-riy mon by races and nations t They are days that en- "st the l,ar,lcu,ar re" v!C spect of nations because j they perpetuate the mem- q ll orles of persons famed for w hat they have done in one or another walk of life The tendency ten-dency of mankind la to seek to have 1 the fame of the great ones equal In duration with their bestowing upon their fellow men. There Is one day for tho American people that stands alone In solitary grandeur, separated ! In the high flights of glory that en-1 en-1 j circle It, Isolated, yet majestic, In the J pathos which will ever attend Its 1 I celebration. That day is Decoration I day In these times, when the peace i pipe are an toundful as the pipes of j I'an. when the bugle is becoming '! hoarse, while the herald's trumpet announces general arbitration fettles i to the ends of the earth. In these I times, when the progress of mankind appears to be set toward the fulfill-' fulfill-' metit ot the far-off prophecy that twonls hall be turned Into plowshares plow-shares and spears Into pruning hooks. It Is well to lay emphasis upon the 1 day that has the most distinctive ' j clory of any peculiarly American I j holiday. The glory of I proration day Is that It holds In national hallowing :he mighty deeds of brave men. Their 1 deeds will be Immortal, who fought not because they bad spleen toward ' 1 their brethren now united In the ; bonds of a common home, endeavor - and dertlny but because they aw a I 1 nhattered nation wrecked upon the nhoals of sectionalism. They will be Immortal because the tendency of mankind Is to have the fame of the ' doers of great deeds conterminous " wlih the benefits conferred. The ben-' ben-' eflts will be everlasting and augment ' Ing. bo that iH-roratlon day, far from ; having diminished glory when the ' last of the soldiers of the nation shall 1 . bave passed away, will bave even more honor paid It. The growth of the ration, the working out of Its destiny, the recession of sectionalism, the magnifying of the Incidents of t tlonal progress and national purpose , r these are all factors In th march of progress that shall forever make hallowed the day sanctified by memories) mem-ories) of the blood of the nation's defenders. de-fenders. Sad. Indeed, the orcsslon (or fratricidal strife, but the working out of the national Issue from the glorious battlefields of the nation In l?a great domestic contest make even the pathos of the warfare eloquent elo-quent with brotherhood, unity and a common devotion. ' The time may com ahen war will be regarded as barbarism outright, when the closeness of the nations and ' the Identical Interests of the powers will be such as to obviate warfare, r when the tribunals will exist for the aupport of il international causes without recourse to war. Hut the ' tJrue ran never come when the laurels 4 the warrior will te dimmed. No Iconoclast will ever arise who will seek to tear down thu monuments of the men who molded the world's destinies, des-tinies, using the blood of the battlefield battle-field as the cement for tbelr constructive construct-ive efforts. Indeed, It Is conceivable that the day I may come when there can no more be opportunity for military distinction, but this very fact will Increase the glory of the ages of heroism. Then the natlot) will look back to the deeds of the heroes who saved the Union, and they will tie honored as living In an age. the majesty of which cannot be underrated by any change of Ideas as to the utility of warfare. Hence the tribute paid the dead heroes of the nation's strife will be a less tribute trib-ute than any to follow, for every year the meed of praise and the warmth of encomium will be Increased, as the widening vista of the past lends additional addi-tional enchantment to the theme. The time will come when every part of the nation, without disparagement to the men who fought on the other aide, will unite In acclaiming the men who preserved the nation and made It the mighty leader In all movements for the peace and honor of mankind. Wnr may lie all that It has been painted and Its horrors cannot be too gravely set forth, but there Is a profound pro-found religion In the warfare that re-coriHtrurts re-coriHtrurts a nation, that re-extabllnbes Justice, that sets men free and liberates liber-ates the Intellect from shackles that fetter progrennlve thought and prohibit pro-hibit the full expremtlon of progressive progres-sive conduct. Tho south Is blossoming blossom-ing today In I's national fervor and Industries teem throughout Its do-1 do-1 main. The north Is clasping hands with all other sections In the movement move-ment of the American brotherhood toward to-ward the highest pinnacle of lofty ethics eth-ics and serviceable achievement. The organ roll of American sentiment Is heard with deep and resonant melody. All the nations of the earth are teaming team-ing from the united Amerlcao state, the great federated people of the American republic, the righteousness that exattetb a nation. American statesmen. American 'educators. American Amer-ican theologians all have done mightily toward giving this country Ita position of prestige In the realm of world affairs. Ita reputation for probity pro-bity and honesty. Hut the men who gave their Uvea for the nation made all this .poesible. They exalted an ideal that has placed upon the American Ameri-can people the destiny of necessity to support every oppressed people and to uplift the standard of freedom and moral right. Out from the furnace of the war came the gold of American Ideals, out from the blood and strife came the type of American statesmanship states-manship and the type of American ser.tlment that have caused the republic re-public to be looked up to by the pie of Kurope and Asia as the moral mentor and the efficient Ileal for all of them. The work of the men who are honored upon Decoration day Is not concluded, will never be. Their souls move majestically onward wltli the movement of the rare, of the age. of the universe. Some day there will |
